Tokyo Mystery Writers

Chapter 127 Those who hesitate are destined to lose miserably.

Upon hearing Isama Ui's words, Maishiro Kyosuke smiled and invited her to sit in the chair opposite him.

Maijo Kyosuke did this not because Isama Uguisuke was good-looking.

It was because Isama Uguisuke pulled out the second issue of "Top Hat" magazine from her bag.

Since his debut at the Edogawa Ranpo Ryusho Awards, Maijo Kyosuke has...

In reality, most of the time was spent writing in "The Soup of Longevity" or having meals with Uyama Hideomi and Eru Miri to celebrate.

Even after new works are written, most of them are handed over to Uyama Hideomi and Eri Miri for review.

Therefore, it is rare to hear feedback from outside readers about one's work.

Although over the two days of the autograph session, I heard many loyal fans expressing their opinions on "A Bellflower".

Praise for "The Tokyo Zodiac Murders".

But as soon as those loyal fans opened their mouths, Maijo Kyosuke knew that these people were all veteran mystery fans. They started talking about Ellery Queen, Dixon Carr, Agatha Christie, or Osaka Keikichi, Yokomizo Seishi, and Takagi Akimitsu.

This situation illustrates one point.

That is the work currently being written by Kyosuke Maijo. It is very refined and attracts most readers who are pure fans of classic mystery novels.

There are almost no objective evaluations from outsiders.

But the aloof and beautiful woman sitting in front of me, Isama Uguisuke, is different.

Isama Uguisuke is not a fan of classic mystery novels.

He wasn't even a person who enjoyed reading novels.

She was a completely new reader who was simply drawn to "Convergence" and had only been a fan for less than a day!

This kind of reader feedback is very important to Kyosuke Maijo!

Because his ambitions go beyond simply becoming a "master of classic mystery novels".

The reason I wanted to write "orthodox mystery" was to break the "Qing Zhang curse".

To bring forward the "Third Wave of Orthodox Revival" from the previous life, also known as "New Orthodox," to this world!

He wanted to become the "head of the new orthodox mystery" and the "father of the new orthodox mystery," and then use these titles and the diversity of "new orthodox mystery" works to unify the Japanese mystery literary world!

Ultimately, he secured his place as a leading Japanese mystery writer!

However, to achieve this, it is not only necessary to attract professional mystery critics such as Manji Gonda and Kiyoshi Kasai, but also mystery fans like Mitsuki Kenzaki who are familiar with European and American mystery novels and Japanese mystery novels.

It also needs to attract many new readers who know nothing about mystery to read its works and become interested in them.

Only by attracting more readers, generating interest in mystery, and expanding the mystery community can one achieve unprecedented fame and influence, ultimately becoming the "fourth mystery writer" after Seicho Matsumoto!

Thinking of all this, Maishiro Kyosuke looked at Isama Ui sitting opposite him and asked, "Ms. Isama, although it may be a bit presumptuous of me to ask you this so suddenly."

"But I've spent the whole day signing autographs for readers and don't know how well 'Convergence' is doing in the market."

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"So, I'd like to ask, what was your first reaction after reading 'Convergence'?"

Jiang Liu Meili and Yu Shan Richen just saw off their last group of fans.

Upon returning to the signing hall, I saw a tall, elegant, and aloof beauty sitting opposite Maijo Kyosuke.

Maybe I was annoyed by that big-eyed girl, Kenzaki Mitsuki, yesterday.

Jiang Liu Meili now feels a pang of jealousy whenever she sees any woman getting close to Mai Cheng Jingjie.

Not to mention the woman sitting opposite Maijo Kyosuke, who has very distinctive features and might be a formidable opponent.

Thinking of this, Jiang Liumei stretched out her ears, wanting to hear what the two were talking about: "Teacher Wucheng, are you asking for my opinion on 'Convergence'?"

The woman's voice was very spirited, with a hint of husky hue, which perfectly matched the image of that aloof and beautiful woman.

"That's right, I'd like to know your opinion, Ms. Isama, on the article 'Conclusion' in the second issue of Top Hat magazine."

"I'd like to know if there's anything about the story of 'Convergence' that you don't understand or don't get along with, Ms. Isama?"

When Jiang Liu Meili heard that Mai Shiro Kyosuke and the cold and beautiful woman named Isama were talking about "Convergence," she gradually relaxed and walked over to the two of them, wanting to join in the conversation.

After all, I had been helping out at the autograph session with Maijo Kyosuke all day and didn't know the feedback from the second issue of "Top Hat" magazine.

When Maishiro Kyosuke saw Jiang Liu Meili walking towards him, he stood up and said to her, "Miss Jiang Liu, it's good that you've arrived!"

Let me introduce myself!

Maishiro Kyosuke pointed at Isama Ui and said to Eri Miri, "This is Miss Isama Ui. She is a reader who has never read mystery novels before."

"But it was the second issue of Top Hat magazine that made me appreciate the charm of mystery novels, so I came to the book signing to buy a copy of The Tokyo Zodiac Murders."

After finishing his speech, Maishiro Kyosuke pointed to Eri and introduced her, "Ms. Isama, this is Ms. Eri—"

Before Maishiro Kyosuke could finish his introduction, Isama Uguisuke seemed to have thought of something. She flipped to the last page of the second issue of the magazine "Top Hat," pointed to the printed handwritten letter, and asked in surprise, "Are you Miss Eru?"

"Did you found the magazine 'Top Hat'?"

Jiang Liu Meili nodded somewhat blankly after hearing Izama Ying's words.

Immediately, Isama Uguisuke stood up, reached out and tightly grasped Eri's beautiful hand, saying something that didn't quite match her cold and aloof appearance: "So—you are Miss Eri!"

"You're so young! You look even younger than me! When I saw that photocopy of the handwritten letter, I thought Ms. Jiang Liu was a seasoned editor in her forties or fifties!"

"I never expected Miss Jiang Liu to be so young!"

Isama Uguis gripped Eri Ryumei's hand tightly and bombarded her with a series of questions, which made Eri Ryumei somewhat embarrassed.

Rather than saying that Isama Uguisuke was a fan of Maishiro Kyosuke, it would be more accurate to say that Isama Uguisuke idolized Eryu Misaki.

However, this is a very normal thing.

After all, in this era, women's status was still at a low level. Jiang Liumei was not very old, yet she was already able to become the founder of a short mystery novel magazine.

In any case, this ability is something that even the struggling actress Izama Uguis admires greatly!

"Ms. Isama, since you became interested in mystery novels after reading the second issue of 'Top Hat' magazine, could you share your thoughts?"

Which stories do you prefer?

"I noticed the voting card at the back of your magazine has been torn off?"

"Did you vote for Teacher Wucheng?"

Upon hearing Eri's beautiful words, Isama Uguisuke glanced at Maishiro Kyosuke beside her, a happy expression appearing on her cold and aloof face: "Of course! If I had voted for someone else, there would have been no need for me to come to Maishiro-sensei's autograph session."

"As for your favorite stories?"

Isama Uguis released her grip on Eri's beautiful hands, opened the table of contents of the second issue of "Top Hat" magazine, and pointed to the titles of the works, saying, "This one called 'The Movie Murder Case' is not bad, and this one called 'The Serial Killer' is also quite interesting."

"If we exclude Ms. Mai Cheng's 'Convergence,' this 'The Movie Murder Case' is probably my favorite short mystery story."

"It's just a pity that Ms. Mai's 'Convergence' is simply too strong, and in a class of its own!"

"Just like the introduction Ms. Jiang Liu wrote on the cover."

"This is the most arrogant work ever made, a masterpiece whose ending no one can predict, and whose true culprit no one can find!"

Isama Uguisuke brushed a strand of hair that had suddenly fallen from her forehead and looked at Maijo Kyosuke, saying, "If there's one thing about 'Convergence' that I don't like, it's probably that McCato is too wicked!"

"To put it bluntly, this detective who refused to help and only cared about his own interests should have been shot dead by the murderer at the end of the story!"

Jiang Liu Meili burst out laughing when she heard what Yizama Ying said.

"Ms. Isama, your assessment is indeed very accurate."

"However, if Mercator weren't such a villain, there wouldn't be a story with such a unique structure as 'Convergence'!"

Kyosuke Maijo was overjoyed to hear that his work was attracting readers who were not mystery fans at all.

After neatly signing Isama Uguisuke's bookmark, he bid farewell to this special fan.

Today's autograph session has come to an end.

"That's how it is. This kid is a hundred times more arrogant than I imagined."

"But that's normal, isn't it? If I were as young as him and had achieved what I have now, I'd probably be even more arrogant than him!"

January 22, 1980, 8:00 AM.

Inside the president's office at the Takarajima-sha building in Shibuya Ward, Tokyo.

Nishimura Toshiyuki raised his golf glass, downed all the whiskey in it, and tapped the table with his fingers.

He gestured to the sales manager, Matsushima Shunma, to pour himself another drink.

When the president of Takarajima-sha saw that one-fifth of his whisky collection had been drunk by Toshiyuki Nishimura in less than ten minutes, he couldn't help but feel a little heartbroken.

He then covered Nishimura Toshiyuki's cup with his hand and said with a smile, "Mr. Nishimura, why don't you drink less?"

"You'll be fifty this year. If you keep drinking like water, even if you have an iron body, you can't take it."

Nishimura Hisayuki clearly wasn't going to give Hosho Shirakawa any face, and slapped his hand away, saying, "Shirakawa, look at yourself, so stingy! Where's your father's demeanor?"

"You practically wear your heart on your sleeve after just a couple of sips of your drink!"

"If your father were still alive, he wouldn't say a word against me even if I took your entire liquor cabinet, let alone drink a bottle of your wine!"

Nishimura Toshiyuki tapped the table with his hand and looked at Matsushima Shunma beside him: "Pour it over!"

Hosho Shirakawa dared not say anything more and could only turn to the title page of the "collector's edition" of "The Tokyo Zodiac Murder Mystery" on the table.

Looking at the challenge letter written by Maishiro Kyosuke, Nishimura frowned: "Teacher Nishimura, has this guy named Maishiro Kyosuke taken the wrong medicine?"

"Does he really want to challenge you with hard-boiled reasoning?"

Nishimura Hisayuki took a sip of his drink, then frowned impatiently. "Shirakawa, how many times do I have to say it before you're satisfied?"

"I'm a drunkard, but I'm not a senile one!"

"I'm not deaf or blind, isn't it written in the book?"

"He's going to beat me in my area of ​​expertise!"

"What's my area of ​​expertise? Hmph, isn't it 'hard-boiled mystery'?"

Hosho Shirakawa dared not refute Nishimura Hisayuki's attitude, if it weren't for the fact that his father had a relationship with Nishimura Hisayuki.

"With thirty million yen, it's simply impossible to hire a writer of Nishimura's caliber: 'Mr. Nishimura, what do you mean?'"

Nishimura Toshiyuki raised his wine glass and slammed it hard on the table with a loud thud!

He then rolled his eyes at Hosho Shirakawa and said, "Shirakawa, sometimes you should really be grateful that your father only has you as his son."

"Otherwise, I really don't know how a loser like you could ever become the company president!"

"Even though Maijo Kyosuke is incredibly arrogant and not very likable, he's still much better than you!"

Nishimura Toshiyuki drank the whiskey in his glass and tapped the table again with his hand.

After Matsushima Shunma poured the sake into his glass, Nishimura Toshiyuki continued, "Shirakawa, do you know why Takarajima Publishing, which you lead, has always only been a second-tier publishing house?"

Hosho Shirakawa shook his head, his expression somewhat grim.

Nishimura Toshiyuki leaned closer to Hosho Shirakawa and pressed his hand against Hosho Shirakawa's temple: "Because you're fucking brainless, you're missing a screw here."

"Do you know what he would do if the person who challenged me to a duel with Maijo Kyosuke was that fat kid from the Kodansha family?"

Hosho Shirakawa shook his head again.

Nishimura Toshiyuki stared at Hosho Shirakawa for a long time, a look of great disappointment on his face: "If it's that fat kid Noma Genjiro, he wants me to take down the ace writer being cultivated by the other publishing house."

"Then he will accept the challenge without hesitation!"

"And they also told me that I could write freely and boldly, and that I would be paid generously regardless of whether I won or lost."

"This is Kodansha's way of employing people; this is their cleverness."

"Unlike you, always looking back and forth, always hesitant and timid."

"If it weren't for the favors I received from your father, I really wouldn't want to work with a piece of trash like you."

Hosho Shirakawa felt somewhat aggrieved after being scolded by Nishimura Hisayuki.

But I have to admit that I am indeed not decisive enough.

Many times, it is precisely because of my own personality that Takarazuka has become what it is today.

Thinking about all this, Hosho Shirakawa knew he couldn't continue to be so weak.

He gritted his teeth, stood up, and bowed to Nishimura Hisayuki: "Mr. Nishimura, I'll leave the rest to you!"

Nishimura Hisayuki looked at Hosho Shirakawa, the disgust on his face lessening considerably: "That's more like it! The business world is like a battlefield!"

"Whether we live or die is just a matter of a single word!"

"While decisiveness doesn't guarantee victory, those who hesitate are destined to suffer a crushing defeat!"

After speaking, Nishimura Toshiyuki opened Hosho Shirakawa's liquor cabinet, selected the most expensive bottle of whisky, and left the president's office.

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