Tokyo Mystery Writers

Chapter 121 An Indescribable, Wonderful Aftertaste

According to the latest announcement released by Kodansha this afternoon.

This work has won back many readers' opinions of Kyosuke Maijo.

The second issue of Top Hat magazine, which had been experiencing stagnant sales and extremely poor popularity, suddenly took a dramatic turn for the better!

A large number of readers began buying the second issue of Top Hat magazine.

Everyone wanted to see what kind of short mystery story Maijo Kyosuke would publish in the second issue of "Top Hat" magazine.

What kind of short mystery novel could be so arrogantly called by Maishiro Kyosuke as something that other Japanese mystery writers can only look up to?

Tokyo, Minato Ward.

Standing at 1.7 meters tall, with a slender figure, long hair, and wearing a black trench coat and light blue jeans, Isama Uguis walked out of the NTV building with a frown.

Because my fifty-second job interview this month ended in failure again.

The reason I failed the interviews one after another was not because of my poor acting skills, nor because of my unsatisfactory appearance.

It was because the movie adaptation of "You, Cross the River of Wrath," a work by that hard-boiled author named Nishimura Juyuki, was incredibly popular!

This led to a great deal of fascination among viewers, directors, and screenwriters with "My Lord, Cross the River of Wrath".

Mayumi in the story.

I like actresses like Mayumi—free-spirited, cheerful, radiating youthful energy, and with a bright smile.

Although every director at every TV station in Tokyo says that looks don't matter, what matters is acting skills, the actor's understanding of the role, and the compatibility between the script and the actor.

But—because of the popularity of "Kimi, Cross the River of Wrath", most of the female characters in TV dramas and movie scripts are written based on Mayumi's personality and appearance!

This kind of gentle and straightforward character is actually very easy to portray, and as a top student at Tokyo University of the Arts, Uguis Isama is naturally able to portray her well.

But—she has a cold, alluring, and melancholic face.

In addition, there were three beauty marks under her left eye, a high nose bridge, and a height of 170 centimeters.

Even with Izama Uguis's outstanding acting skills, she couldn't bring any sense of brightness to the audience.

This is also why she has not been able to become a well-known female star for so long.

With annoyance on her face, Isama Uguis kicked a trash can by the roadside.

He then lit a cigarette, letting the pungent smoke rage through his lungs.

Isama Uguis stood forlornly in the snow, pondering her next steps.

Just as the cigarette burned out, Isama Uguisuke's thoughts drifted away with the snowflakes floating in the air, not knowing where they would go.

But I saw a lot of people running towards the bookstore across the street.

They flooded into the bookstore as if they were rushing to buy some limited edition book.

Isama Uguisuke is not a book lover, and has little interest in literature or novels.

However, seeing so many people rushing to the bookstore to buy books...

Everyone who came out was holding a magazine and had a happy expression on their face.

This strange scene, however, aroused Isama Uguisuke's curiosity.

He raised his hand to look at the watch on his wrist. There was still more than an hour before the audition at three o'clock in the afternoon.

Should I buy a book to read?

Just consider it a way to kill some boredom.

With that thought in mind, Isama Uguisuke inexplicably walked into the bookstore across the street.

The bookstore was packed with people, unusually crowded.

Without Isama Ui asking the shop assistant, she could tell what magazines everyone was buying.

Because everyone who enters the bookstore goes to the same spot, Isama Uguisuke only needs to follow the crowd to find the best-selling magazine at that moment.

A book with a black top hat splattered with blood on the cover caught Isama Uguis's eye.

The cover also features a bright red slogan: "Possibly the most arrogant work ever made."

"Kyosuke Maijo is going all out, using this to challenge the masterpieces of all Japanese mystery writers!"

"If you haven't read 'Convergence,' don't say you like mystery novels."

"An ending no one could have predicted, and no one can find the real killer!"

Isama Uguis held the second issue of "Top Hat" magazine, looking at its sensational slogans with a disdainful expression.

I saw this kind of thing a lot when I was studying acting at Tokyo University of the Arts.

It's nothing more than a gimmick to attract people to buy the magazine.

Although I have no interest in books and have never read any mystery novels.

However, I have a high school friend named Kenzaki Mitsuki and another named Mikoshiba Kyoko. Kyoko's father is a department head at some publishing house.

Mitsuki is a rich heiress who loves reading mystery novels.

Although the three of them saw each other much less after high school.

But whenever Mitsuki is at a party, that guy would excitedly talk to me about Ellery Queen and Dixon Carr, even though I had absolutely no interest in those old relics.

But through exposure to it, I've gained a rough understanding of what detective novels are.

Simply put, it's a puzzle game played by writers and readers, or a word game?

In short, it's not much different from crime movies. A murder occurs, or there's a crisis, and the protagonist, the detective, has to find out the murderer or the truth behind the crisis.

"What do you mean by saying absolutely no one could guess the ending? No one could find the real killer?"

"I'm a top student from Tokyo University of the Arts, how could I not guess the killer?"

After paying 500 yen at the cashier, Isama Uguisuke took the second issue of "Top Hat" magazine and went to the café next to the bookstore. She found the title on the cover, "Conclusion," through the catalog and began to kill time.

After seeing the three consecutive shooting incidents at the beginning of the story of "Convergence".

Isama Uguisuke's face showed a look of sudden realization.

"I thought it was some kind of novel writing technique."

"Isn't this just the flashback technique the scriptwriter mentioned?"

"Should we place the real culprit at the very beginning of the story, leaving the reader to guess the process or outcome of the murder?"

"I think this writer named Maijo Kyosuke is nothing special."

Isama Uguisuke had a smug, victorious expression on her face.

With the assumption that she had already seen through Maijo Kyosuke's scheme, she continued reading.

"What... what's up with this guy named McCarteau?"

"Is this guy really a detective? How come he's taking money from several sources at once? Is he trying to profit from both sides?"

"I remember Mitsuki telling me that detectives should always be righteous, right?"

As Isama Uguis watched McCartney commit evil in the story, she felt filled with doubt, but she still maintained her own opinion and continued reading the following story.

But then, strange mysteries arise as a dusty reference book appears in the sanctuary, along with strange indentations on a chair and a large clock deliberately placed on the floor to the left.

Isama Uguisuke was deeply shaken by her own assumptions.

They completely failed to understand what kind of story "Convergence" was trying to tell.

But then, Isama Uguisuke saw the Little Needle Cult Leader shot dead on the cobblestone path leading to the Sanctuary.

This unexpected death completely disrupted Isama Uguisuke's thinking.

This caused a brief period of confusion in Isama Uguisuke's mind.

Isama Uguis counted on her fingers, muttering with some doubt: "Terasao killed Yoko, Yoko killed Uchino, and then Uchino killed Sekiya Hiroshi. If this is a flashback writing technique..."

"Then the correct order of the killers should be—"

"Hiroshi Sekiya was killed by Uchino, then Uchino was killed by Yoko, and finally Yoko was killed by Terao."

"Following this logic, the only person who could have killed the Little Needle Cult Leader would be Hiroshi Sekiya, right?"

Isama Uguis scratched her head in confusion and turned to the final chapter of the story.

But then we saw the astonishing reasoning that Mercator provided!

The story of "Convergence" is not written using the flashback technique at all, because the three shooting incidents at the beginning occur on three different timelines!

The book doesn't reveal any truth, nor does it provide any clues to identify the real killer!

Everything depends on tomorrow, when we can deduce the killer's identity based on the victim's height.

But—this author named Maijo Kyosuke abruptly ended the story on today, without giving any indication of what would happen the next day!

"Damn it! What a cunning fellow!"

"I actually believed him, only to be completely deceived by him in the end!"

"And I was completely and utterly scammed!"

An evil detective, bizarre cases, a broken ending, unknown victims, an unknown killer, a perplexing solution, and a tomorrow that will never come.

These unprecedented pieces of information, intertwined together, made Isama Uguisuke feel utterly deceived!

But this feeling of being deceived also brought Isama Uguisuke a wonderful reading experience, an indescribable and wonderful aftertaste.

This surprised Isama Eri, a down-on-her-luck actress who originally had no interest in mystery novels.

I found myself involuntarily developing a desire to continue reading mystery novels.