Tokyo Mystery Writers

"bite--"

The wind chimes in front of the coffee shop rang.

A man wearing a trench coat, leather gloves, and carrying a briefcase, with an uneven expression, walked into the coffee shop.

The man looked around and found that, apart from the staff, there was only a man who looked to be nearly forty years old and a young man with a calm demeanor in the coffee shop.

Judging from the young voice of the person who submitted the article over the phone, the man sat down in front of Maijo Kyosuke without thinking.

"Hello, you must be Mr. Maishiro, right?"

"I am Matsuura Kuni, the editor in charge of the First Publishing Division of Literary Books at Kobunsha."

"Please give me your manuscript."

Matsuura Kuni took off his leather gloves and placed them on the table, sniffed, and waved to Maijo Kyosuke.

Although Matsuura Kuni's words and actions were not exactly rude, his uneven eyebrows and impatient attitude made it seem as if Maijo Kyosuke owed him tens of millions of yen.

Kyosuke Maijo was well aware that requesting a meeting with the editor during the New Year's Day holiday was somewhat inappropriate.

But my rent is due soon.

If I can't submit my manuscript soon, I'll be kicked out by my landlord and freeze to death!

So, let alone the New Year, even if the "little boy" were to arrive in Tokyo.

As long as I don't get blown up instantly, I should keep trying to submit my work and become a writer!

"Mr. Matsuura, this is my work, titled 'The Astrological Murder Magic'."

Maishiro Kyosuke placed the manuscript he had prepared beforehand into Matsuura Kuni's hands:

"This book mainly tells the story of how, forty years ago, the painter Umezawa Heikichi was murdered in a secret room. He left behind a notebook in which he wanted to use astrology to cut the perfect parts from the bodies of six young girls—namely, their heads, chests, abdomens, waists, thighs, and calves—and combine them to create the perfect goddess 'Asode'..."

Before Maishiro Kyosuke could finish his introduction, Matsuura Kuni took the manuscript, raised his index finger to his lips, and said impatiently:

"Shh, don't speak."

Maishiro Kagami naturally understood Matsuura Ken's meaning, so he nodded slightly, hoping that the other party could calm down and read his work.

Unfortunately, after receiving the manuscript, Matsuura Shun, like the previous editors, only casually flipped through a few pages before revealing a lack of interest and slowly closing the manuscript.

"Tsk—after all that, it turns out to be a classic mystery?"

"In my opinion, there is absolutely no need to participate."

Matsuura Kuni impatiently tapped Maijo Kyosuke's manuscript with his index finger, frowning as he spoke.

Mr. Maishiro, please don't take offense at my harsh words.

"Since you've chosen to become a mystery writer, you should be aware that the current world of social mystery is led by Seicho Matsumoto."

"Although we receive many submissions for the Japan Mystery Writers Association Award every year, you should know that our editors and judges have very limited energy."

Matsuura Kuni pushed the manuscript back to Maishiro Kyosuke and shook his head:

"Excuse my bluntness, but pure classic mystery has been completely abandoned by the times. There's no need to waste our editors' and judges' time on this kind of book."

After finishing speaking, Matsuura Shun reached out to grab his leather gloves in preparation for leaving.

Unexpectedly, before his hand even touched the leather glove, Maishiro Kyosuke slammed his hand hard onto the table!

Matsuura Kuni looked at the hand that Maishiro Kyosuke was holding down, completely unexpected that the other would do something so outrageous, and his expression turned serious:

"Mr. Maishiro? What do you mean by that?"

Maishiro Kyosuke suppressed his anger and looked at Matsuura Kuni sitting in front of him:

"Mr. Matsuura, I should be asking you what you mean!"

"You only skimmed through a few pages of the manuscript, so why are you completely dismissing the value of my entire book?"

Upon hearing Maishiro Kyosuke's words, Matsuura Kuni's uneven eyebrows furrowed even more.

"The most important thing about a mystery novel is its genre."

"At a time when social realism is rampant, if you choose traditional mystery, it's like you've chosen the darkest path from the very beginning."

"You dismiss your book after only flipping through a few pages?"

"If I had known you were writing classic mystery novels, I wouldn't have come over."

"Because the classic mystery genre is long dead. Even the grandmaster of classic mystery, Seishi Yokomizo, was forced to stop writing by Seicho Matsumoto's social realism mystery! No matter how strong you are, can you possibly be stronger than Seishi Yokomizo?"

When Maijo Kyosuke heard Matsuura Kuni's words, he never expected that the orthodox mystery of this era would be so difficult, but no matter how difficult it was, he would never give up!

Kyosuke Maijo is not a staunch traditionalist; given the right opportunity, he may choose other factions.

But now, the only way for me to break the "Kiyoshi Zhang Curse" is through classic mystery!

In the realm of mystery novels, a completely new track has been opened up!

Otherwise, I'll just end up as that insignificant little figure in the history of detective fiction.

"Mr. Matsuura, please take back what you just said."

"Traditional mystery is the most important cornerstone of detective fiction; it will never be abandoned by time, nor will it ever die out. It still has a lot of potential waiting to be explored!"

"Once you've carefully read my manuscript, you'll understand that the social realism genre has reached its end. What's best suited for mystery novels are still famous detectives, bloody tragedies, impossible crimes, and earth-shattering plots!"

As the editor in charge at Kobunsha, Matsuura Kuni was already used to the unusual reactions of those whose manuscripts were rejected.

Hearing Maijo Kyosuke's passionate words...

It's natural to assume that Kyosuke Maijo is an extreme fan of orthodox crime fiction.

Thinking of this, Matsuura Kuni forcefully pulled his hand away from Maishiro Kyosuke's grasp, rubbed his wrist, and let out a cold snort:

"Heh~ Wasn't my explanation clear enough?"

"Books that don't fit the market are garbage."

"In the current climate of popularity for social realism mystery novels, if you insist on getting bogged down in writing some kind of orthodox mystery novel that nobody reads, it already shows that you're not suited to make a living by writing books."

Matsuura Kuni pulled out a cigarette from his pocket, lit it, and looked at Maijo Kyosuke in front of him with a smile:

"To put it bluntly, isn't this exactly the kind of thing that ignorant kids like you like to do?"

"I always thought of myself as some kind of chosen one, able to go against the market, defeat the predecessors in the mystery genre, and open up a completely new track."

"Or they're shouting something like 'Restore the glory of classic mystery novels'."

"In reality? It's just vanity at play, always feeling that you're different from others."

"Honestly, I've seen far too many people like you over the years!"

"Besides having ambitions that are too high, their lives are as fragile as paper, easily broken!"

"In the end, either their dreams are shattered and they become corporate slaves, or they change their style to write social realism, or they stubbornly go all the way and starve to death."

Matsuura Kuni looked at Maijo Kyosuke and shook his head helplessly, then grabbed the leather gloves from the table and put them on. His expression became somewhat complicated.

"Kid, since you have a decent writing style, I'll give you a few words of advice."

"Before we starve to death, let's change our style!"

"Like I said before, classic mystery novels are completely dead. Don't hold any hope for them anymore."

"Let alone Yokomizo Seishi, even if Edgar Allan Poe from across the ocean were to come back to life, he couldn't change the overall environment of Japanese mystery fiction."

"What do you mean by saying that classic mystery novels won't be left behind by the times?"

"People have been saying this for over twenty years, but what's the result now?"

"Isn't this still the domain of the social realism school?"

Matsuura Kuni stood up and grabbed his briefcase:

"Mr. Maishiro, if you don't want to starve to death on this road, there's only one way!"

"We must follow in the footsteps of social realism giants like Seicho Matsumoto and Seiichi Morimura."

"Because now all editors have an unspoken rule in their hearts."

"Those who write classic mystery novels have absolutely no right to be nominated for the Japan Mystery Writers Association Award!"

Maijo Kyosuke was speechless upon hearing Matsuura Kun's words. He never expected that he would receive such a evaluation when he held a masterpiece that could change the history of mystery!

Taking a deep breath, Maishiro Kyosuke grabbed the manuscript, stood up, and looked at Matsuura Kuni resolutely, saying:

"Mr. Matsuura, thank you for your suggestion, but I will not change my style because of it."

"Because I believe that as long as the mystery novel genre exists, classic mystery fiction will never die!"

"I don't understand why you have such disdain for classic mystery novels?"

"But I'm going to tell you!"

"I will make this astrological murder mystery book a sensation throughout Tokyo, all of Japan, and even the whole world!"

When Matsuura Kuni heard Maijo Kyosuke's bold words, he was stunned for a moment, not even noticing that the cigarette he was holding had fallen to the ground!

However, Matsuura Ken quickly reverted to his uneven eyebrows and clapped his hands with a forced smile:

"Good, good, good, that's very principled!"

"I look forward to the day when I see your name, Kyosuke Maijo, on the list of winners of the mystery prize, instead of seeing news of your starvation in the newspaper."

"bite--"

The wind chimes in front of the coffee shop rang again.

The crisp sound brought Maijo Kyosuke back to reality; Matsuura Kuni had already left the café sometime earlier.

It was as if Maijo Kyosuke was exhaling the last breath from his body.

He plopped down on the sofa and silently pulled a black notebook from his pocket, which contained the phone numbers of editors he had collected.

Immediately afterwards, an X was drawn over Matsuura Kuni's name in the Kobunsha.

By this point, Maijo Kyosuke had met with all the editors at Kobunsha who accepted submissions.

For Kyosuke Maijo, participating in the Japan Mystery Writers Association Award is now impossible.

Feeling the few coins left in his pocket, Maijo Kyosuke decided to go to the phone booth outside and call the editor at Kodansha.

But before he could even stand up, the middle-aged man who had been sitting silently not far away sat down opposite him with his coffee cup in hand.

"Mr. Maishiro, right?"

"I've been sitting next to you the whole time, and from what you've said, I feel that you are a very thoughtful young person."

"So, could I take a look at your manuscript?"