[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-literary-master-of-tokyo":3,"chapter-literary-master-of-tokyo-literary-master-of-tokyo-chapter-58":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},2354907,4607,"Chapter 58: Chapter 58: An Unreasonable Request","literary-master-of-tokyo-chapter-58",58,"\u003Cp>After Asano Aiko finished tidying up the bowls and chopsticks, it was nearly 1:00 PM. She said she still had work to handle in the afternoon, so she said goodbye and left.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Akiwara Yuto returned to his desk, took out a sheet of paper, wrote down his name and other information, and together with the manuscript he had already prepared, placed them into a yellow document envelope labeled \"Newcomer Award Submission.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After repeatedly confirming that nothing was missing from the package, he left his home and walked for 15 minutes to the nearest post office. He filled out the forms at the reception desk, confirmed the recipient address was the Mystery Writers Association located in Chiyoda Ward, and handed the envelope to the courier.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Watching the courier place the envelope into a specific work bag, Akiwara Yuto felt a rare sense of unease.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Before this, he had always operated with a \"waste not\" attitude, so he hadn't taken out the best works from his memory. He had simply chosen a foreign work that was quite good, adapted it for the local Japanese context, and submitted it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But he hadn't expected the adaptation work to be much harder than he imagined. To complete the content smoothly, he not only went to the library to look up a large amount of information but also entrusted Asano Aiko to pull strings and consult with relevant police personnel.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>To finish the work, he could say he spent about a month and a half in total, consuming a great deal of mental and physical energy.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>No one wants their efforts to go to waste, and he was no exception.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Therefore, he hoped that the results of his adaptation could successfully pass the preliminary screening of the Mystery Literature Newcomer Award committee and allow him to successfully win the grand prize!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If he got this award and told Asano Aiko about it, it should give her quite a shock, right?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Akiwara Yuto stood there thinking for a while, which made the courier nearby a bit confused. The courier took the initiative to step forward and ask, \"Is there any other service you need?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Akiwara Yuto shook his head to indicate no and expressed his thanks, then turned around, pushed open the glass door, and walked in the direction of his home.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As he walked, he began to ponder other questions.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Although \"New Novel\" was selling very well now, he also knew that today's results were due to too many coincidences and were not entirely brought about by the work itself.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Moreover, a very important issue was that the serialization was now nearing its end; what should happen next?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The content he had been serializing previously came from Otsuichi's \"ZOO,\" which only had 11 stories in total. Now that 10 issues had been serialized, the editorial department had already called to ask about the next new work.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Although he promised orally that he would make up his mind as soon as possible, he still had doubts in his heart about what he should choose for his new work—should he choose a short story or a long one?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If a short story, Edogawa Ranpo's short story collection seemed good; if a long one, he could only consider the works of Higashino Keigo or Miyabe Miyuki.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But were these works really appropriate?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He couldn't just consider sales; he also had to consider his own future.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Although he was already slightly famous, in the eyes of many in the literary world, he was still just a newcomer who only knew how to write thriller literature, with no other works in his hands, let alone any literary awards.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Newcomers like him, crowned with the title of \"genius,\" were rare in the Japanese literary scene, but one appeared every few years. However, many of them often faded into obscurity just as they began to show their talent because they had no subsequent outstanding works.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>These authors who lost their \"genius\" titles either became writing machines for small journals and magazines, competing with others by relying on their meager fame, or, after seeing no path to success, completely withdrew from the literary world to find other jobs.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Taking this as a lesson, the new work Akiwara Yuto brought out had to satisfy the readers' tastes while also making literary critics' eyes light up. Otherwise, it might not only cause \"New Novel\" sales to decline but also lead the outside world to think he had exhausted his talent.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Akiwara Yuto thought for a while and made a decision. He planned to list the outline as soon as he returned, discuss it carefully with Asano Aiko, and then start writing as soon as possible.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Only by writing the work as quickly as possible could he connect it after the current work stopped serializing, avoiding a gap that was too long.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After all, readers were very realistic; as long as they felt a magazine was boring, they would inevitably leave quickly. After a long time, they probably wouldn't even remember the magazine's name.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Besides that, the main purchasing group for \"New Novel\" came for his work, while the works of Kadowaki Yuma and others, to be honest, were still hard to satisfy the tastes of the vast majority of current readers.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Akiwara Yuto was thinking about things, but his walking speed didn't slow down much. However, just as he reached his front door, he discovered a young man wearing a professional suit pressing the doorbell.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Akiwara Yuto looked a few times and realized he didn't recognize the person, so he asked in confusion, \"Excuse me... who are you looking for?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The young man reacted immediately, stopped his movements, and asked Akiwara Yuto very politely, \"Are you Mr. Akiwara?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Akiwara Yuto did not reply immediately but instead sized up the young man.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The other party was somewhat handsome, with fairly regular features and fluffy short hair. Although the suit on him was loose and baggy, because he was about 1.76 meters tall, he still looked relatively slender.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Akiwara Yuto nodded, which counted as a response to the other party's guess, and at the same time asked in return, \"May I ask who you are...\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>On the other side, the young man got the answer he wanted, immediately bowed, took a business card from his pocket, and respectfully handed it to Akiwara Yuto.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I am Awazu Hideki, an editor for 'April Youth.' I have long admired your name, Mr. Akiwara. Please forgive my intrusion.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Akiwara Yuto was a bit surprised. \"April Youth\" was a literary journal from Kejiaoguan and was recognized as the fourth-ranked literary magazine in the literary world. However, this magazine had been a bit miserable lately; because of him, its sales had just been crushed by \"New Novel.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But in other words, the other party was a competitor of \"New Novel.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Akiwara Yuto was a bit puzzled: why did the other party come to his door, and what was their intention? At the same time, he thought of another point: how was his address leaked?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Although puzzled, he still took the business card and said politely, \"Nice to meet you, please treat me well.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At the same time, he asked in return, \"Editor Awazu, is there something special you came for?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Logically, Akiwara Yuto should have welcomed the other party into his home and then politely asked for the reason. But he still wanted to ask clearly before considering whether to invite the other party inside.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After hearing this, Awazu Hideki's expression became serious. He straightened his body, bowed deeply again, and made a request that caught Akiwara Yuto by surprise.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Mr. Akiwara, I would like to ask you to join 'April Youth'!\"\u003C\u002Fp>",1278,"2026-06-21T03:58:01.347Z",1,"Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite","38f5d7b4aeb575fed9d26653c200d7611eb13127ddb114ec3b7c15dc595ee30d","literary-master-of-tokyo-chapter-59","literary-master-of-tokyo-chapter-57",334,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fliterary-master-of-tokyo-cover.jpg"]