[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-literary-master-of-tokyo":3,"chapter-literary-master-of-tokyo-literary-master-of-tokyo-chapter-45":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"chinese","Literary Master of Tokyo",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},2354894,4607,"Chapter 45: The Terrifying Joy","literary-master-of-tokyo-chapter-45",45,"\u003Cp>Katsumi Takamura’s book review was just one among many in magazines and newspapers; as news of the *New Novel* reprint fermented, more and more reviewers began to pay attention.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Because the story design of *ZOO* was clever, most reviewers gave it favorable reviews, believing it worth a read.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Although these reviews were mostly published in newspapers and professional journals with smaller audiences, they added up, attracting many interested book buyers.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Besides these buyers attracted by reviews, a considerable proportion of purchasers were drawn in by reports of the Iwate Prefecture little boy incident.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At the time, these readers were very curious about the article *Sofar* and why it could prompt a couple to adopt the little boy, so they flocked to buy a copy of the magazine.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A significant proportion of readers became loyal fans of Akiwara Yuto after finishing it, and repurchased every issue.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Not only that, they even recommended it to their friends around them.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Through word of mouth, the first-day sales of the fourth issue of *New Novel* did not fall as the outside world expected due to the fading of the hot topic; instead, 17,000 copies were sold on the day of release, 15,000 copies were maintained on the second day, and the rate of decline in the following days was also very slow.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>According to this trend, the statistics department estimated that the sales of the fourth issue of *New Novel* should reach over 75,000 copies, and reported this result to the distribution bureau to arrange for the latter to carry out reprint work.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This good news excited the *New Novel* editorial department collectively; during the regular meeting, the voice of Tai Kikuchi was several octaves higher, and the joy in the corners of his eyes could not be hidden.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As the responsible editor for Akiwara Yuto, Asano Aiko’s status rose with the tide—during the meeting, her seat was the third furthest from the door, second only to Editor-in-Chief Tai Kikuchi and Deputy Editor-in-Chief Kazuhiro Matsushima.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After the meeting ended, Asano Aiko immediately called Akiwara Yuto three times, forcing Akiwara Yuto, who was catching up on sleep in bed due to staying up late to write, out of bed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>However, the latter’s morning grumpiness vanished without a trace after hearing the good news Asano Aiko told him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Through the phone, Akiwara Yuto learned that because of the four-issue serialization of the article, he already had a group of loyal fans; the most effective evidence was that in the latest reader feedback, the popularity gap between him and Yuma Kadowaki had further widened, with 90% of readers loving his work, while Yuma Kadowaki only had 34%.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This proved that a huge proportion of readers bought *New Novel* because of his work.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This was very good news, proving that he was fulfilling his promise step by step—that is, while raising Asano Aiko’s status, he was also helping himself climb to the peak of the literary world step by step.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Asano Aiko was also very happy, but she still maintained a certain cautious optimism; she repeatedly emphasized to Akiwara Yuto on the phone that he must maintain the quality of subsequent manuscripts, and if he had other problems in life and creation, she would definitely be able to satisfy them on her end.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Akiwara Yuto indicated he understood, then said the manuscripts for the next two issues were ready and asked her to come get them tomorrow. At the same time, he informed Asano Aiko that his work on the screenplay part had come to a temporary end, and he would continue to write manuscripts well in the future, telling her not to worry.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After ending the call, Akiwara Yuto picked up his pen again, preparing to continue his adaptation work, but he had no ideas in his mind.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He thought about it and decided to go see what others were saying online, so he headed to the internet cafe he had been to before.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>……\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Arriving at the internet cafe, he paid, found his cubicle, sat down, opened the computer, entered the forum from last time, and browsed posts related to *New Novel*.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>To his surprise, compared to the situation last time, there were now over a hundred related posts, and some hot threads with high reply rates.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He opened a thread titled \"Let's talk about how terrifying ZOO is.\" This post was newly published, but it already had over 40 replies.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He glanced at it a few times, then read it carefully.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I felt simply horrified after finishing *ZOO* published by Teacher Akiwara this time.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The user who posted this also wrote a bunch of content, saying that because they were scared by this story, not only did they not dare to go to the bathroom alone for two days, but they also always felt there was a corpse hidden in the closet at home, which left Akiwara Yuto stunned—is your house that gloomy?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He continued to drag the mouse downward and found that many people also expressed the same view, leaving comments and replies one after another.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"This story is so scary; I had originally made an appointment with a friend to go to the zoo, but after reading it, I don't dare to go anymore.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Yeah, when I sleep at night, scenes of rotting corpses always appear in my mind, scaring me so much I have no sleepiness at all.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Is it that scary? I'll go buy a copy to see tomorrow...\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Akiwara Yuto was a bit speechless seeing these readers' reactions; is it that scary? After all, it's just a novel, not a horror movie. However, he also felt a little smug inside; after all, being able to scare readers is also a skill.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He roughly looked through it and found there were no profound insights, so he closed the post and opened another, only to find that these people were discussing him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Teacher Akiwara must be a psychopath, otherwise how could he write such an article.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I suspect he put himself into the perspective of the murderer; he clearly loved his girlfriend so much, yet he still killed her.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Asking the person above, does he have a girlfriend? Where did the news come from?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"He should have one, but I don't know if she's still alive; after all, it's hard for the police to find out if a mystery writer like this kills someone, right?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"That's unlikely, right? It shouldn't be difficult if the police want to investigate.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Akiwara Yuto was speechless; he felt that after writing a novel, he was labeled a murderer, and since coming to this world, he hadn't even dated a girlfriend, so where would he get a target for murder.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He thought for a moment, registered an account named \"Isumi Miyamura\" for himself, and replied at the end of the post:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"According to inside information, Teacher Akiwara has no girlfriend, so the person above doesn't need to guess. And even if a mystery novelist commits a crime, it's only a matter of time before the police want to investigate.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After replying, he closed the forum homepage, leaned back in his chair, and began to think seriously about other problems.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Although many readers replied on the forum saying they felt the story was very scary, these readers would still continue to buy it if there were no accidents. Just like some horror movie fans, although they are often scared, they are often afraid and happy at the same time.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After all, judging from the reader feedback received earlier, the popularity of his work was very high, which proved this point.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>So, should he add some horror elements to the story content for the current fan base?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He sat in the chair and thought for a while, then stood up and walked around twice, considered it for a long time, and finally gave up this plan.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The most important thing about an article is the main story line, explaining the time, place, characters, and plot clearly; if he rashly added some horror elements to please readers, I am afraid it would destroy the connotation of the story.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At that time, it would be very likely that he would please neither side—neither pleasing readers who like horror elements, nor satisfying readers who want to read the story in its entirety, which would be a bit counterproductive.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He gave up this idea and planned to go home to continue working—his adaptation work had encountered some difficulties and needed more careful thought on how to proceed...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Perhaps, could he ask Asano Aiko for a favor?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But would asking for such a thing be not so good?\u003C\u002Fp>",1434,"2026-06-21T03:58:01.347Z",1,"Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite","eabde0d0df73fda4bf1489d11d4cf73430ac6a592740a5b555f49df3efb52617","literary-master-of-tokyo-chapter-46","literary-master-of-tokyo-chapter-44",334,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fliterary-master-of-tokyo-cover.jpg"]