Chapter 40: The Orthodox, Unorthodox, and Social Schools

Akiwara Yuto put down the newspaper, walked out of his house, went to a nearby family restaurant for lunch, and then went to a slightly further post office to mail the script for "Seven Rooms" to Ikawa Akemi.

After getting everything done, he returned home, spread out his manuscript paper, and pondered whether it would be better to submit to the Mystery Literature Newcomer Award as a practitioner of the orthodox school, the unorthodox school, or the social school (though there were actually a few other minor subcategories).

The division of these three major categories is actually quite simple. To give a simple example, suppose a woman dies in a locked room with a knife wound on her body.

The orthodox school would write it like this: the detective investigates the clues in the locked room, discovers how the murderer killed the victim step by step, and finally identifies the culprit: "The murderer is you."

The social school would investigate the woman's interpersonal relationships and discover that besides her husband, she had a married lover, and this lover's wife was very jealous of the deceased. The detective investigates along the way, only to find that there was a fourth person who killed the woman for their own purposes.

The unorthodox school is more bizarre; for example, the woman's body disappears after she dies, and it turns out her husband is the murderer; he killed his wife and ate the body. And the reason he invited the detective to investigate was that he wanted to kill and eat the detective as well.

Akiwara Yuto was a little worried that if he wrote a social school work and submitted it, but the judges were all writers from the orthodox school, would he be rejected outright?

What about submitting to the orthodox or unorthodox school? It seemed that such a possibility could not be ruled out either.

He thought it over and felt that this kind of thing was not something he could predict, so he decided not to overthink it.

Actually, if possible, he would directly write works in the style of Agatha. Agatha is the world-recognized Queen of Mystery Novels, whose works have been translated into 103 languages, published in 157 countries, and sold over 2 billion copies. In the Japan of his past life, there was also no shortage of a large number of fans.

He could completely choose a suitable one from her works and change the foreign elements inside to local Japanese elements, as long as he kept the appropriate mystery core.

If a work selected this way were submitted, as long as the judges weren't blind, the chance of winning would be nine out of ten. But for a mere newcomer award, would it be a bit of a waste?

He stood up and paced back and forth. After walking for a while, a story suddenly popped into his mind—

A man returns home to find his wife and daughter have killed someone and buried the body. After learning the truth that his wife and daughter acted in self-defense, he decides to help them escape punishment and begins to match wits with the police...

He pondered for a moment, sat down, took out paper and pen, and tried to write a portion first, the tip of his pen flying across the manuscript paper.

"Takamatsu Daito is a mystery fan whose hobby is reading all kinds of mystery books. This day, after finishing his management work, he returned home as usual, only to find the house in a mess. What on earth happened?"

But to his surprise, retelling this story was harder than he had wanted. By 3:00 PM, he had only completed less than 10,000 characters, far below his expectations.

He put down his pen, prepared to rest for a while, and suddenly heard the doorbell.

He went downstairs to open the door, and as soon as it opened, a man and a woman in suits appeared—Takei Kohei and another woman he didn't know.

Seeing Akiwara Yuto open the door, they immediately greeted him: "Teacher Akiwara, sorry to disturb you."

Akiwara Yuto looked at the "politician-style" smile on their faces and couldn't help but feel a wave of nausea. He intended to drive them away, but after all, they hadn't fallen out, and they were in the same publishing house.

Forget it, let's see what they are up to.

Holding this approach, he welcomed the two into the living room to sit down and poured them water.

Takei Kohei took the water glass and said with a smile: "Teacher Akiwara, I heard that your work has been praised by many people recently, and I would like to express my congratulations here."

Seeing Takei Kohei's demeanor, Akiwara Yuto found it hard to say anything; after all, as the deputy editor-in-chief, with the editor-in-chief not managing affairs, he was the most influential person at "Tokyo Literature."

He also politely expressed his thanks, thought for a moment, and decided to get straight to the point, testing him directly: "Editor Takei, you must be busy with official business, so what is the matter with your visit this time?"

Hearing this, the smile on Takei Kohei's face suddenly faded. He turned his head and suddenly shouted at the woman kneeling beside him: "Misaki, it is time for you to apologize!"

The woman in the suit next to him heard this and said, "Yes."

Then she turned toward Akiwara Yuto, knelt directly on both knees, pressed her forehead to the ground, and said loudly: "Teacher Akiwara, I am sorry, please forgive me!"

Her action was a *dogeza*, a way of prostrating oneself on the ground, often used on occasions of apology or request. Generally speaking, this action is regarded as a supreme humiliation.

Seeing her move, Akiwara Yuto was a bit suspicious and uneasy for a moment. He didn't know why the other party did this and asked in confusion: "May I ask what this is?"

The woman kept her forehead on the ground and said in a low voice: "Teacher Akiwara, I am Misaki Sawako, an assistant editor at 'Tokyo Literature,' previously responsible for reviewing manuscripts."

Akiwara Yuto heard Misaki Sawako's self-introduction but still didn't understand the reason for her doing this. He wanted to help her up, but knew that doing so was not quite in accordance with etiquette.

Misaki Sawako did not lift her head and continued facing the ground.

"At the time, Editor Takei handed your manuscript to me, hoping I could review it properly, but due to personal reasons, I handed my work to Asano and missed your excellent manuscript!"

"For this, I express my deepest apologies. But I still hope you can reconsider 'Tokyo Literature'!"

Akiwara Yuto didn't know how to respond for a moment. He subconsciously glanced at Takei Kohei and probed: "Editor Takei, is this your intention as well?"

Takei Kohei adjusted his sitting posture slightly, coughed lightly, and took over the conversation.

"Teacher Akiwara, if you can transfer to 'Tokyo Literature,' I can guarantee that the editorial department will focus on you in the future. This will be good for everyone, whether it is for you, for 'New Novel,' or for 'Tokyo Literature.'"

He paused and continued: "Teacher Akiwara, you should also be aware that the recent surge in sales of 'New Novel' is purely because it caught some hot news topics. But we at 'Tokyo Literature' have a solid fan base of 150,000. As long as you can come, we will coordinate with 'New Novel' and provide compensation in other resources."

His voice became increasingly sincere.

"As an author, you should also know the importance of the Man-dan Publishing Newcomer Award. If you become a writer for 'Tokyo Literature,' the editorial department will nominate you for the award. Not to mention the Gold Award, even the Grand Prize is possible... In addition, regarding manuscript fees and royalties for single volumes, we can make greater concessions, which will definitely satisfy you."

His current attitude could be described as very sincere, a world of difference from when he first met Akiwara Yuto—but he didn't feel there was anything wrong with doing so.

Japanese society values the strong; since the other party has proven their worth, it is only right for his own attitude to change. If the other party needed him to kneel to be satisfied, then he could immediately satisfy the other party's request.

He is currently at a critical period for competing for the editor-in-chief position, and for the sake of advancing his career, he can discard many things. As for dignity, what does that count for?

He had already learned through other channels that Akiwara Yuto would be sent by "New Novel" to compete for the Gold Award. Once it reached this point, the fact that he missed this genius writer would undoubtedly become a reason for other factions to attack him.

Hearing these conditions, Akiwara Yuto couldn't help but feel a bit dazed. For himself, the basic problem of food and clothing had been solved, and what remained was how to go further. The money and future that "New Novel" could give him were indeed not as good as what the other party could provide.

Moreover, he also had a very subtle feeling: a person who once didn't take him seriously was now requesting him so sincerely.

He was silent for a while, then slightly raised his head, looked at Takei Kohei's eager face, and gave his answer...