Chapter 332: A Blow to Confidence

"Hello viewers, this is Fuji Evening News. I am now reporting to you on the latest situation regarding the live writing session of Akiwara Yuto."

On the illuminated television screen, there was a beautiful female reporter holding a microphone.

Behind her was a packed auditorium, where a sea of people could be seen.

"...Currently, this is the sixth day of Akiwara Yuto's writing. After completing the work 'Witness for the Prosecution,' he also finished a novel titled 'The Clockwork Mansion Murders' three days ago."

"According to the invited Vice President of the Mystery Writers Association, Kawai Shinta, these two works are masterpieces of the courtroom genre and the New Orthodox genre respectively, and they possess an extremely high literary standard..."

The reporter paused here and added, "According to what Akiwara said during his break, he will complete the final novel tomorrow."

In Kyoto, Asano Aiko sat in her home, watching the news on the screen, her eyes filled with astonishment.

After the ghostwriting scandal was exposed, she had once worried for her Master, even posting online to argue with the "Anti-Akiwara" faction.

But she never expected that everything would reverse so quickly.

Akiwara-sensei actually used this method to prove himself; it is simply unbelievable!

Seeing this, she was completely convinced, and even felt a bit ashamed.

How could she have ever thought she could surpass him?!

While Asano Aiko felt ashamed, the interior of the Mystery Writers Association was similarly in an uproar.

Just moments ago, Kawai Shinta had invited writers from the courtroom and New Orthodox factions to the main conference room and handed them copies of Akiwara Yuto's two works.

After spending an entire afternoon reading both "Witness for the Prosecution" and "The Clockwork Mansion Murders," there was not a single writer who did not express their admiration.

Akiwara Yuto's "Witness for the Prosecution" was an adaptation based on Agatha's original work.

The content was simple: a Tokyo lawyer is asked by a man to help him with a lawsuit—the man is accused of murdering a wealthy woman, and the prosecution believes the two were lovers.

Furthermore, according to the wealthy woman's will, her massive fortune would all be left to the man.

After much deliberation, the lawyer accepted the request and began asking the man if he had an alibi.

The man said his wife could prove he was not at the scene. The lawyer felt a bit helpless; after all, as a family member, the wife's testimony had low credibility and might be hard for the jury to believe.

However, out of necessity, he still chose to have the wife appear in court to provide a defense.

But unexpectedly, the wife claimed she was not his "legal wife," that the two were in a bigamous marriage... and in the subsequent court session, she even provided testimony unfavorable to the man.

To win the trial, the lawyer had to start gathering all sorts of evidence, and he eventually won the case.

However, the man's wife began to laugh, because this was all a performance.

She had acted as a witness for the prosecution to accuse the man of murder, intentionally leaving clues for the lawyer to uncover.

After her identity as a liar was exposed, the jury naturally would not believe her lies, thereby delivering a verdict favorable to the man.

After finishing the work, the courtroom faction writers were very surprised. This work was somewhat similar to Akiwara Yuto's previous "The Devotion of Suspect X," but it was even more ingenious in its application of the law.

Through lies and deception, it achieved a very clever reversal effect.

And the ending, where the wife kills the man because he found another lover, was also highly dramatic.

Such a work was actually written by Akiwara Yuto in just two or three days!

While the courtroom faction writers felt admiration for "Witness for the Prosecution," the New Orthodox writers expressed the same sentiment regarding "The Clockwork Mansion Murders."

In a mysterious building called the Clockwork Mansion, one resident after another kept dying.

Through clever temporal tricks and hidden doors, the "murderer" successfully deceived everyone and escaped accusations time and again.

At the same time, to prove the logic of the trick, Akiwara Yuto even drew a map of the building in the book, marking the location of every room.

Seeing this, some New Orthodox writers wished they could dig open Akiwara Yuto's brain to see how it grew.

An ordinary mystery writer might not be able to write such a work in a lifetime, yet Akiwara Yuto had written it so easily.

What made all the writers present sigh even more was that these two classic works were born into the world in such a "child's play" manner.

And the other party still had to complete the final one in the remaining two days.

For a moment, everyone felt a sense of frustration.

It was as if someone could easily do what they could not achieve despite their painstaking efforts.

Seeing all the silent writers, Kawai Shinta could not help but show a bitter smile.

To tell the truth, he did not really want to bring these two works for them to see, precisely because he feared it would damage their confidence.

But as the Vice President of the Mystery Writers Association, and having attended Akiwara Yuto's "live writing," he already represented the Mystery Writers Association to a certain extent.

So, at the request of other association members, he had to bring these two works over.

As a result, upon seeing the books, everyone fell silent.

"Sigh, Akiwara, you are a monster of mystery literature."

Akiwara Yuto could not help but sigh inwardly.

The members of the Mystery Writers Association were won over, and the internet was similarly in an uproar.

Unlike the previous situation where the "Anti-Akiwara" faction held the upper hand, the "Pro-Akiwara" faction had completely reclaimed lost ground this time.

Relevant supportive posts were constantly being pushed to the top of forums, while the posts that had previously touted "plagiarism" or "ghostwriting" were trampled down by people, or even deleted.

Besides that, many previously neutral netizens also began to admire "Akiwara Yuto's" talent because of this recent series of reports.

After all, creating three mystery novels of different styles in seven consecutive days, and receiving the recognition of the Mystery Writers Association, was an extremely difficult task.

But since he could do it, didn't that prove it was impossible for him to have plagiarized or hired a ghostwriter?

If he had the energy for that, couldn't he have easily written it himself?!

Japanese society is one that worships the strong, and Akiwara Yuto's approach undoubtedly proved his strength in literary creation.

In an instant, Akiwara Yuto's online fan club gained hundreds of thousands more members.

Time quickly reached the final day of Akiwara Yuto's "live writing."

On the afternoon of this day, Fuji TV specially inserted a report. Under the questioning of a host, Funahiki Kyuji faced the screen and said in a tone of remorse:

"Akiwara Yuto did not plagiarize my work; I lied."

"However, there was someone who instructed me to do so..."