MC Bookstore Chapter 180 The Myth of Founding a School
Chapter 180 The Myth of Founding a School
Chapter 180 The Myth of Founding a School
Kiyoshi Kasai gave a polite smile to Misa Yamamura below the stage.
Then, in the most polite tone, she uttered the most impolite words: "Ms. Misa Yamamura, if Kyotaro Nishimura's 'The Hyperbola Murder Case' were nominated as the 'King of Misleading,' I would have nothing to say."
"But you? I'm sorry, whether it's your 'The Coffin of Flowers' published by Kobunsha in August 1975, or your 1978..."
"The Hyakunin Isshu Murder Case," published by Tokuma Shoten in October of that year, was a work that was difficult for me to swallow."
"It's fair to say that your work is not qualified to compete for this title."
"So please sit down. If Mr. Nishimura Kyotaro himself is vying with Mr. Maijo Kyosuke for the title of King of Misleading, then Mr. Nishimura Kyotaro should stand up and speak to me personally."
Misa Yamamura was completely taken aback when Kiyoshi Kasai directly commented on her work, leaving her momentarily at a loss for words.
After all, the tricks in his two works were indeed somewhat unsatisfactory.
So, even though Yamamura Misa was full of resentment, she could only roll her eyes at Kasai Kiyoshi after being hit where it hurt, and slowly sit back down in her chair.
Despite being hailed as a "master of travel-themed mystery," Kyotaro Nishimura has an ambiguous and ambiguous relationship with Misa Yamamura.
For example, Misa Yamamura bought a huge villa despite having a husband and daughter. However, her husband and daughter did not live there. Instead, it was Misa Yamamura and Kyotaro Nishimura who lived there year-round.
Although the two have always claimed that they live separately, their relationship is definitely not as simple as it seems, judging from other aspects.
For example, Misa Yamamura is very concerned about the adaptation rights of her novels and even demands that film and television companies film the novels exactly as they are written, which has angered many film and television companies.
Even so, no one in the film and television company dared to say anything.
Because any film and television company that has a dispute with Misa Yamamura will never be able to obtain the rights to Kyotaro Nishimura's works!
It's worth noting that Kyotaro Nishimura was a "master of travel mystery" who led an era. From his debut until the late 1970s, his total sales were conservatively estimated to have reached over 80 million copies!
With such popularity and sales, it's practically a major player in adaptations; what film or television company can afford to mess with it?
That's why Misa Yamamura had the confidence to sit in the front row.
However, this time, Misa Yamamura has really bitten off more than she can chew!
Kiyoshi Kasai held an absolute belief in protecting and defending Kyosuke Maishiro's position!
If Uyama Hideomi is the divine weapon in Maijo Kyosuke's hands...
Jiang Liu Meili is the goddess who illuminates the path to literary greatness for Maijo Kyōsuke.
Then Kasai Kiyoshi is a samurai who protects Maishiro Kyosuke with a death wish, vowing to kill everything that blocks Maishiro Kyosuke's path to becoming a literary master!
Kyotaro Nishimura was, after all, a "master of deduction," and although he had been all smiles just moments before, his expression had now turned somewhat unpleasant.
However, no matter how good his relationship with Misa Yamamura was, it was inconvenient and impossible for Kyotaro Nishimura to stand up and argue with Kiyoshi Kasai.
If he were to stand up now and argue with Kiyoshi Kasai, a relatively unknown mystery critic, it would be humiliating to lose, and there would be nothing to brag about even if he won.
Not to mention, Kyotaro Nishimura was the "standard-bearer of the new era" in the previous election, and now he's competing with Kyosuke Maijo, a newcomer who's only been in the industry for a month, for the title of "King of Misleading." It's hard not to feel like he's bullying the other way around.
Kiyoshi Kasai, having anticipated that Kyotaro Nishimura wouldn't stand up to argue with him, continued, "Just now, Misa Yamamura mentioned that Kyotaro Nishimura's 'Hyperbola Murder Case' is the real king of misleading stories."
"I cannot deny that Kyotaro Nishimura's 'Hyperbola Murder Case,' published by Kodansha in August 1977, is an immortal masterpiece."
"The novel use and interpretation of the twin trick is truly a pinnacle of the misleading trick."
"However, whether it's Kyotaro Nishimura's *The Hyperbola Murder Case* or the earlier misleading masterpiece *The Mystery of the Monster Villa* by Dixon Carr, they are almost all textual misleadings."
"These types of misleading texts all use the same writing technique: foreshadowing!"
The author cleverly concealed all the foreshadowing in places the reader wouldn't notice.
"The truth is hidden within the text, in just a paragraph, a word, or even a single character, so that if the reader misreads even a single line, they might miss it."
Ultimately, once the truth is revealed, the foreshadowing is so subtly hidden that readers need to go back and search for it to find the clues concealed within the vast amount of text!
Kiyoshi Kasai paused for a moment, then smiled and continued his analysis: "Everyone here is a writer and critic, so of course you know why the foreshadowing had to be 'hidden' so subtly."
"The reason is naturally that if there were any more foreshadowing, it would be easily guessed," so in order to prevent readers from guessing the truth, every possible method and means must be used to "hide" the foreshadowing in places where no one will notice.
Even Dickson Carr, hailed as the "King of Escape Rooms," is no exception!
"But 'Dear Mr. S' is different!"
"Because 'Dear Mr. S' fundamentally transcends the realm of 'literary trickery,' it directly misleads readers by delving into the very essence of humanity, into the very thoughts etched into human genes!"
"Because any normal person in a modern society who understands the law and knows right from wrong knows that consuming R is a completely immoral act that crosses the line of humanity."
"So, Ms. Maishiro cleverly chose this rather bizarre subject."
"Simply using this subject matter is no longer sufficient to substantially mislead readers, after all, Lord Lord Dunsony's famous story 'Two Bottles of Seasoning' came about decades ago!"
"If the same misleading tricks continue to be used," then *Dear Mr. S* will only become a second *A Bellflower*, continuing the old tricks in a new package.
"Therefore, Ms. Maishiro further elevated the subject matter, utilizing a letter structure and a rather unconventional mystery setting to reveal the truth of the story: Jack's dream is not to eat meat, but to turn himself into food."
"This change is actually very simple, but it completely goes against the thinking that is etched into human genes."
"Because no one can imagine such a bizarre motive as turning oneself into food—a motive that defies humanity, logic, thought, and reasoning!"
"In this situation, Ms. Mai only needs to use her unique writing style to make the story believable, ultimately revealing a truth that is both unexpected and logical."
"That way, you can successfully fool all the readers!"
"Because there's no need to hide it at all, because the motives are too twisted. As long as the truth isn't revealed, the reader can continue to be misled!"
"Because! This is a 'blind spot' originally rooted in human genes!"
"Even if Edogawa Ranpo himself read this work, he wouldn't be able to guess the truth of the story at all!"
"So! Whether it's a masterpiece of illusion or the king of misleading stories, this essay by Kyosuke Maijo is titled 'Dear S'."
"You truly deserve the title!"
Kiyoshi Kasai's words were forceful and his analytical conclusions were very convincing.
On the other hand, Haruhiko Oyabu, though still angry, had completely lost his earlier arrogance and could not utter a single word in rebuttal!
After his speech, Kiyoshi Kasai had no more worries, since he was not afraid of either the "Queen of Tricks" Misa Yamamura or the "Master of Travel Mystery" Kyotaro Nishimura.
Why fear Haruhiko Oyabu, the "master of hard-boiled mystery"?
"Mr. Oyabu? Do you have anything else to refute?"
"Even now, you still refuse to admit that Mr. Maijo Kyosuke's standards haven't declined? That he's not living up to his reputation?"
Upon hearing Kasai Kiyoshi's words, Ōyabu Haruhiko looked around and realized that no one was on his side.
Because everyone clearly understands that the guy on the stage named Kiyoshi Kasai is simply a hothead, a "terrifying radical commentator," the kind of guy who will attack anyone he meets!
When faced with a mystery critic like this, everyone would run away as fast as they could, let alone dare to stand up for Haruhiko Oyabu.
Seeing that he was in a bad situation, Haruhiko Ōyabu naturally did not dare to continue to fight against the hothead Kiyoshi Kasai. After all, he had been in this industry for 22 years and had written more than 40 books.
Although Haruhiko Ōyabu is very confident in his writing style and techniques, among his more than forty works spanning twenty-two years, there must be a few awful works that even he himself cannot bear to look at, or works that are blatantly designed to scam royalties.
Haruhiko Ōyabu was afraid that if he continued to argue with Kiyoshi Kasai, he might be scolded by this junior in front of so many people!
After weighing the pros and cons, Haruhiko Ōyabu snorted coldly, turned his head away, and stopped looking at Kiyoshi Kasai.
Gonda Manji was very pleased with Kasai Kiyoshi's bold approach.
Even Kazutaro Nakajima, who had always stood by Kasai Kiyoshi's side, greatly admired Kasai Kiyoshi's fearless and reckless spirit!
Because the most important thing for a critic, whether it's literary criticism or mystery criticism, is to dare to speak out!
If a work has merits, then praise it to the fullest extent without hesitation!
If a work has flaws, we should boldly point them all out!
This kind of work seems simple, but it is very easy to annoy some senior colleagues.
This is also why there have been very few outstanding critics in recent years.
After all, we're all in the same circle, and we see each other all the time. If things get too awkward, it can easily limit an individual's development.
This trend has turned critics into paid writers, which contradicts the original intention of Edogawa Ranpo in establishing the "Japan Mystery Critics Association".
Therefore, Nakajima Kazutaro was very fond of Kasai Kiyoshi, and immediately gave Kasai Kiyoshi a thumbs up to show his appreciation and recognition.
Although the movement was small, there were only three people on the stage of the Japan Mystery Critics Association.
Except for those sitting in the back row who couldn't see it, the writers and critics in the front row had already seen all of Kazutaro Nakajima's actions.
The writers and critics in the audience all knew what was going on.
From this moment on, Kiyoshi Kasai will no longer be a fringe mystery critic.
He is very likely to become the representative of the fourth generation of mystery critics, following Edogawa Ranpo, Nakajima Kazutaro, and Gonda Manji!
Kazutaro Nakajima coughed lightly, silencing the whispers from the audience.
He then shook the fifth issue of "Top Hat" magazine in his hand and said with a smile, "What Xiaojie said just now was very good. Mr. Maishiro Kyosuke is indeed a rare genius writer in recent decades."
"His works, whether it's 'The Astrological Murder Magic,' 'The Summer of the Ubume,' or 'The Convergence,' all achieve groundbreaking innovation!"
"I can understand how Haruhiko Oyabu and Misa Yamamura feel."
"After all, it's really hard for you to accept that I'm praising a writer who's only been in the industry for a little over a month as a standard-bearer of the new era."
"But I must tell you all, this is already my most conservative assessment of Mr. Maijo Kyosuke!"
Kazutaro Nakajima looked at the audience, including Seicho Matsumoto, the "father of social mystery," Tsutomu Mizukami, the "master of social mystery," Hiroshi Sano, Sasazawa Saho, and Seiichi Morimura —
These representatives of the "social realism mystery" genre continued, "As everyone knows, twenty-three years ago, the Japanese literary world produced a grandmaster who could rival Edogawa Ranpo's mentor, Yokomizo Seishi—Matsumoto Seichō!"
"Matsumoto Seicho single-handedly created the 'social mystery' genre, thus making the mystery novel a blend of literary merit and entertainment, breaking free from the confines of 'niche literature.'"
"Matsumoto Seichō's contribution to mystery novels is no less than that of Yokomizo Seishi, no less than that of Edogawa Ranpo, and no less than that of the three great masters of the same era: Sakai Fuki, Ōshita Utō, and Koga Saburo."
"If we were to talk about Matsumoto Seicho's contributions alone, we could go on for ten days and still not finish, so—I'll talk about his shortcomings instead."
"To be precise, let me first clarify that while Seicho Matsumoto and his works are flawless, the social realism mystery wave he sparked—the so-called 'Matsumoto curse'—is the darkest curse in the Japanese mystery genre!"
"Because of the 'Qing Zhang Curse,' social realism mystery fiction has become a money-making tool for various publishers and a bargaining chip for mystery writers to cheat on royalties."
"Any trivial matter will be linked to the social environment and the decline of morality, then rambling on for hundreds of thousands of words, labeled as 'social realism mystery,' and sold in bookstores, ruthlessly deceiving unsuspecting readers and pocketing huge sums of money!"
Kazutaro Nakajima, as the supreme master of the mystery genre and the beloved disciple of Edogawa Ranpo, is a top-tier figure in terms of seniority and experience.
It's clear that they don't tolerate any writer.
His previously kind eyes suddenly fixed on Sasazawa Saho in the audience, turning unusually cold: "Here, I want to specifically criticize Sasazawa Saho-sensei!"
"You were originally destined to be a leading figure in the social realism mystery genre, and unsurprisingly, you've become a master-level figure who, after Seicho Matsumoto, carries the banner of the social realism mystery genre!"
"But what have you been doing all these years?"
"You've packaged sensationalist novels and love stories—those kinds of gritty stuff—as social realism detective stories!"
"You could even say that the social realism genre went astray and went astray, and you deserve much credit for that!"
Sasazawa Saho had been criticized by mystery critics led by Nakajima Kazutaro since the 1970s, so he was already used to it and just pursed his lips without retaliating.
Kazutaro Nakajima looked at Sasazawa Saho and shook his head helplessly: "As the president of the Japan Mystery Critics Association, I despise the unhealthy trend of 'social realism' mystery fiction to the extreme!"
"That's why I devoted five whole years to compiling 'The Mystery Handbook,' solely to awaken the authentic spirit of Japanese mystery writers!"
"Because I believed ten years ago that the landscape of Japanese mystery fiction needed to be changed by another genius!"
"And now, this genius has appeared!"
Kazutaro Nakajima picked up the two books, "The Tokyo Zodiac Murders" and "Summer of the Ubume," and smiled admiringly: "The genius they're talking about is none other than Professor Kyosuke Maijo."
"Don't be fooled by the fact that Mr. Maijo Kyosuke only has two long-running works right now: 'The Tokyo Zodiac Murders' and 'The Summer of the Ubume'."
"But I want to tell everyone here that both 'The Tokyo Zodiac Murders' and 'Summer of the Ubume' are groundbreaking masterpieces!"
Kazutaro Nakajima held up "The Tokyo Zodiac Murders": "I believe that as long as we give Mr. Kyosuke Maijo some time to grow, and his sales increase and his popularity reaches a certain level, then..."
"Countless mystery writers will pay homage to Kyosuke Maijo's *The Tokyo Zodiac Murders*!"
"And 'The Tokyo Zodiac Murder Case' will give rise to a completely new genre of mystery!"
"I'll tentatively call it 'Maijo Style'!"
"Specifically refers to a focus on the mystery itself, highlighting elaborate riddles and astonishing solutions!"
Kazutaro Nakajima put down *The Tokyo Zodiac Murders* and picked up *The Summer of the Ubume*: "And this book, *The Summer of the Ubume*, will also pioneer a new genre of mystery, namely folk mystery," or "supernatural mystery!"
"This genre will inherit the eerie atmosphere, character behavior, mystery setup by Seishi Yokomizo, the astonishing solutions, and the superhuman academic assistance of Mushitaro Oguri!"
"This type of mystery will undoubtedly bring a unique charm to the world of Japanese mystery fiction!"
Kazutaro Nakajima paused, a look of pride and elation on his face: "Professor Haruhiko Oyabu just asked me if Professor Kyosuke Maijo could reach the level of Professor Seiichi Morimura?"
"Here, I'll briefly respond to the question that Professor Haruhiko Oyabu just asked me."
"To call Mr. Maijo Kyosuke a 'standard-bearer of the new era' even feels a bit unfair to him."
"Because in my opinion, Mr. Kyosuke Maijo will not only become a standard-bearer of the new era in the 80s," but will surpass Mr. Seiichi Morimura!
"He will become someone who influences the future of Japanese mystery literature!"
Kazutaro Nakajima looked at Seiichi Morimura in the audience, clasped his hands together in a gesture of respect, and said, "Mr. Seiichi Morimura, I'm not targeting you personally; your contributions to the social realism of mystery are evident to all."
"But it's undeniable that, Mr. Seiichi Morimura, you've followed the path pioneered by Seicho Matsumoto in the social realism mystery genre," a path that has already been proven successful in the market.
But Master Kyosuke Maijo took a completely new path, one he forged himself!
"Its difficulty is comparable to Matsumoto Seicho's use of social realism to 'sweep away' traditional mystery genres!"
"So—no matter what, even if ten days later, Mr. Maijo Kyosuke loses to Mr. Nishimura Hisayuki for some reason and stops writing."
"His name will still have a place in the annals of Japanese mystery fiction!"
Kazutaro Nakajima's comments surprised everyone present!
Since the founding of the Mystery Criticism Association of Japan in 1960, it seems that no one has ever received such heartfelt praise from Kazutaro Nakajima!
If it weren't for everyone's understanding of Kazutaro Nakajima's personality...
They might even think that Nakajima Kazutaro was bribed by Maishiro Kyosuke.
A group of writers and critics in Ikebukuro, Toshima Ward, Tokyo, were arguing fiercely over Kyosuke Maijo.
But Kyosuke Maijo, who lives far away in Kabukicho, Shinjuku Ward, Tokyo, was completely unaware of this.
Because at this moment, Maijo Kyosuke is accompanying Cheng Yi, shuttling between various places in Kabukicho.
Of course, Maijo Kyosuke didn't come here just to feast his eyes.
It was simply because Kyosuke Maijo wanted to collect as much real material about Kabukicho as possible to enhance his work.
As soon as possible, present the world with "The City That Never Sleeps," a "hard-boiled masterpiece"!
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