Tokyo Mystery Writers

Jiang Liu Meili was surprised by the sudden visit of these five masters to Kodansha.

However, a little thought reveals that these five people must have come for the 26th Edogawa Rampo Award.

The Edogawa Ranpo Award, as Japan's most important award for new mystery writers, attracts 300 to 500 submissions every year.

Winning the Edogawa Ranpo Prize is like having a guarantee to become a professional writer!

Despite the large number of submissions each year, the competition in the literary world is exceptionally fierce, and only one or two people can make it into the literary scene.

These manuscripts first go through layers of screening by all the editors at Kodansha, and then are selected by cross-voting by the editors-in-chief of each department, which is what is known as shortlisting.

Finally, from the pile of manuscripts, five of the strongest works were selected for the judges to make the final selection.

Because it is not a public vote, but a selection by judges.

Therefore, the judges for the Edogawa Rampo Prize each year must be influential figures in the literary world to be convincing!

However, everyone's taste is subjective, and it is impossible to be completely objective.

Therefore, in order to ensure that the judges' personal tastes do not affect the reputation of the Edogawa Ranpo Award.

Several masters, including Edogawa Ranpo, Oshita Utaro, Kiki Takatsuro, and Matsumoto Seichō, jointly developed a detailed set of evaluation criteria.

That is the "theory of influence on posterity"!

If the five judges disagree due to their personal tastes, or if the two works are difficult to distinguish as superior.

Then we need to choose the most influential book!

This influence refers not only to bestseller status, but also to the impact of the book on the Japanese literary world after its publication, as well as its influence on other authors in later generations!

Simply put, whoever's style is more likely to lead the times, whoever is more capable of being a standard-bearer of the new era and leading the Japanese literary world to new heights, will win the Edogawa Rampo Award!

The reason why the five judges argued so fiercely on stage must be because a work that can rival "The Tokyo Zodiac Murders" has emerged!

Jiang Liu Meili peered through the crack in the door at the Kodansha audience below, intending to find Uyama Hideomi or editor-in-chief Akimoto Naoki to ask what the current situation was.

Before they could find Uyama Hideomi, they saw a little girl in the crowd, holding a red hat and leading a yellow and white Akita dog.

Jiang Liumei initially thought she was seeing things, but after rubbing her eyes, she realized that the dog was indeed her beloved pet, "Watson"!

That girl was none other than my younger sister, Eri Miya!

"How did this guy end up here?"

Jiang Liu Meili raised her eyebrows in confusion, half-squatted and squeezed into the conference room, moving towards Jiang Liu Meiya.

Fortunately, the five judges on stage were arguing so loudly that they didn't notice Jiang Liumei sneaking in.

"Misa, what are you doing here?"

"Where's Mommy? Didn't Mommy say she'd take you to Yomiuri Land in Tokyo today?"

Jiang Liumei's words made Jiang Liumeiya pout:

"Sister, let's not talk about this anymore."

"I was all ready and about to leave."

"As a result, a manga artist at my mother's company, named Yoshito Usui, said that he had created a manga with a strange name called 'Bad Department Store' and insisted that my mother give him some suggestions."

"So the Yomiuri Land event was canceled, and my mom sent me here to prevent me from telling others about the manga's plot beforehand."

"Since you weren't here, Mom left me with Dr. Ochazuke to look after."

Jiang Liumei pointed to the side with her chubby hand.

Jiang Liu Meili looked up and saw Yu Shan Ri Chen scratching the back of his head with an embarrassed expression.

"Excuse me, Mr. Yushan, this child..."

Uyama Hideomi, probably already used to being called the "Otome" (tea master), smiled and said upon hearing Jiang Liu Meili's words:

"Miss Jiang Liu, please don't worry. Children say the darndest things, and I won't hold it against them."

"I never expected that Mrs. Jiang Liu would actually be the president of the Futaba Society. Seeing her bring Misae over really surprised me!"

Jiang Liu Meili seemed unwilling to talk too much about her mother. Upon hearing Yu Shan Hideaki's words, she merely smiled slightly, then pointed towards the podium, changing the subject:

"Mr. Yushan, what's the situation now?"

"What are these master detectives arguing about?"

Upon seeing Jiang Liu Meili's question, Yu Shan Hideomi's smile vanished, replaced by a serious expression as he spoke:

"Ms. Jiang Liu, you may not know this, but Kodansha, as the most important publisher of long-form mystery novels, naturally relies on the Edogawa Ranpo Prize as its foundation."

"Although the Edogawa Ranpo Prize winner is announced every year without fail in September."

"But this year is a little different! Faced with this unexpected situation, all the top executives of the Otowa Group have decided to add a special prize to the Edogawa Ranpo Award!"

"This grand prize was originally supposed to be the 26th Edogawa Rampo Prize, but it was held just over 100 days after the last one."

"Therefore, the newly added Edogawa Ranpo Prize has been named the 'Rising Dragon Prize'!"

Seeing Uyama Hideomi's serious expression, Jiang Liu Meili naturally knew that this emergency was no small matter, and asked curiously:

"Is it because of Ms. Maishiro's 'The Tokyo Zodiac Murders'?"

Uyama Hideomi nodded solemnly, then subconsciously shook his head:

"Yes and no, the reason why the Otoha Group holds the Rising Dragon Award is indeed related to Professor Maishiro's novel, 'The Tokyo Zodiac Murder Mystery'!"

"But geniuses are a strange thing. Sometimes a genius doesn't appear for decades, but if a genius is born, it will inevitably lead to the emergence of another genius!"

"Just like the story of 'Romance of the Three Kingdoms,' there's Zhuge Liang, and there's also Zhou Yu!"

"This time, several masters of literary mystery are arguing about who is the real Zhuge Liang and who is the slightly inferior Zhou Yu!"

As soon as Yu Shan Ri Chen finished speaking, before Jiang Liu Meili could ask who the other genius was...

A loud "Bang!" suddenly rang out from the podium!

Not only did Jiang Liu Meili hiccup in fright, but Jiang Liu Meiya was also so frightened that she hugged "Watson" tightly!

On the conference room table.

Miyoshi Toru pressed his hand, which was red and swollen from slamming the table, and looked at Tsuchiya Takao beside him with raised eyebrows, saying:

"Takao Tsuchiya, I know you have a heart that wants to keep the orthodox mystery genre alive!"

"But you can't assume that Kyosuke Maijo's *The Tokyo Zodiac Murders* is better than Motohiko Izawa's *Sarumu Gensou*!"

"As you know, I started out as a journalist, and the books I wrote were mostly historical or spy-themed mystery novels. What I value most in mystery novels is their rigor!"

"You might think 'The Astrological Murder Mystery' is a good book, but its rigor and feasibility are extremely poor!"

"As the chairman of the Japan Mystery Writers Association, I naturally believe that this year's 'Rising Dragon Award' should be awarded to Motohiko Izawa's 'The Mystery of Sarumaru'!"

Tsuchiya Takao was old, and upon hearing Miyoshi Toru's words, he was clearly furious. His hand trembled as he pointed at Miyoshi Toru and said:

"Miyako! Don't think that just because you're the chairman of the Japan Mystery Writers Association, you can use that title to put others on their level!"

"The Edogawa Ranpo Award is Edogawa-sensei's most important legacy!"

"I was mentored by Mr. Edogawa in my early years, and even though the social realism school is all the rage, I will still uphold the future of orthodox mystery!"

"If Edogawa-sensei were still alive, he would definitely choose 'The Tokyo Zodiac Murder Case' instead of 'Sarumu Gensou'!"

As soon as Takao Tsuchiya finished speaking, Chen Shunchen, the master of historical mystery, slowly began to speak:

"Although I am a historical mystery writer, I do not support 'The Mysterious Adventures of Sarumaru,' which also involves historical mystery. On the contrary, I admire 'The Tokyo Zodiac Murders' much more!"

"Because detective fiction has been around for nearly 140 years, it's time for a change!"

"Didn't Seishi Yokomizo once say that the future of mystery novels should soar into the sky!"

"When I read 'Shadow of the Demon King,' I could really feel the genius of Motohiko Izawa."

"But the grand scheme devised by Maijo Kyosuke, and the unparalleled solution that surpasses all others, truly lifted my feet off the ground and sent me soaring into the sky!"