Tokyo Literary Godfather

Nishikido Uchihara bought the latest issue of "Spring and Autumn Literature Appreciation", browsed the catalog, and couldn't help but frown.

The price of a magazine is more than 300 yen, but there are not many novels that are really worth reading, so I always feel like I'm losing money.

There are about eight to ten novels serialized in each issue of the magazine, but there are only two or three works that are of real interest. In other words, he spent three hundred yuan, but only bought something worth less than one hundred yuan.

In order to try not to make up for his losses, he would read every article in the magazine carefully, even if he was not interested, he would read every word. I paid for it, why wouldn't I watch it?

It's like buying a bad meal in a restaurant and gritting your teeth to finish it all.

After returning home, Nishikido Ukihara opened the catalog and first found the novel "Samurai Atomic Heart" and read it carefully from beginning to end.

While reading, record in detail on paper the possible conditions, timeline, and possible motive for committing the crime of each person who appears in the book.

Then find clues between the lines of the author's words to deduce the identity of the murderer and his modus operandi.

This "Samurai Atomic Heart" is the latest work of the author who won this year's Ranpo Prize, and has been serialized into its eighth chapter. This is a relatively original work, without the fancy routines of other genres.

Benge's works have become popular again in the market. The reason is that there seems to be a trend of "Return of Benge" recently. Many Benge works that were originally regarded as old-fashioned have been selling very well recently.

And this "Samurai Atomic Heart" is a work that just won the Ranpo Award not long ago. Both in terms of conspiracy design and plot, the level is quite high.

Nishikido Zahara is a loyal fan of true reasoning. His greatest pleasure in reading mystery works is to deduce the murderer and the modus operandi before the author gives the final answer.

Mystery novels appeared in this way when Japan was born. As the author writes, he leaves clues and hints for readers to make inferences. The initial case reasoning is not a unilateral story-telling by the author, but more like a gambling game with the readers.

This is also the original charm of mystery novels, and what attracts Nishikido Kihara the most. He enjoys the moment when he solves the mystery before the author announces the answer.

After reading this issue of "Samurai Atomic Heart", nearly two-thirds of the clues about the conspiracy in this book have been collected. Nishikido Kihara looked at the relationships and clues recorded on the paper, and the corners of his mouth curled up slightly.

Sure enough, it was exactly as I thought, the murderer was a daimyo, and the modus operandi was...

Nishikido Kihara happily twirled the ballpoint pen with his fingers, then opened the computer and entered the reasoning forum.

His forum ID is "Lantern King", which means the person who illuminates the fog. In the past, he would publish the answers to some mystery novels that were still being serialized in advance to show off his reasoning abilities.

Of course, before announcing the answer, he would write a "spoiler warning" to avoid ruining other people's reading experience.

And precisely because he can guess the truth of the novel in advance almost every time, many people in the reasoning forum also remember his name.

Nishikido Kirihara compiled his derivation of "The Atomic Heart of the Samurai" into an article and published it on the forum. After a while, it sparked a discussion.

"So that's it, is the murderer actually a daimyo?"

"Actually, it's not too unexpected. I suspected it was him from the beginning, but I don't have Lantern Master's reasoning ability, so I couldn't deduce his motive for killing."

"Mr. Lantern is really smart, he must be a top student, right?"

Nishikido Uchihara nodded with satisfaction in front of the computer screen. He was not only a top student, but also a top student at Ying Kei University.

"I hope Mr. Lantern can solve the mystery of Asoud's dismemberment as soon as possible."

"Are you talking about the one in "Genius Detective Mitarashi Kyousuke"?"

"Yes, the new issue has come out. I have read it, but I still have no clue about the case from forty years ago."

Seeing this, Nishikido Ukihara picked up the magazine at hand, searched the catalog, and turned to page 42.

"Genius Detective Mitarashiyoshi - Astrology Murderous Magic Chapter" immediately came into view.

Nishikido Kihara scratched his face and looked down. He is a loyal reader and loves puzzle games, so he doesn't like either the changer or the socialist.

Although the author's previous book "White Night Journey" caused a sensation, he felt that it was very ordinary because it caught everyone's attention.

As for the "Furuhata Shinsaburo" currently being broadcast by Fukuyamadai, he doesn't like it very much because the murderer and the method of committing the crime are announced from the beginning, and the puzzle-solving process is lost.

As for the book "Genius Detective Mitarashi Kiyoshi", as far as his personal feeling is concerned, well... it's just so-so.

In the case of the first "Bandage Mansion", although the horror atmosphere was created well, the trick itself was not amazing. Although hiding a human head in the stomach was indeed a bit scary, the technique was not interesting enough.

Nishikido Kihara has always wanted to come across a mystery story that is interesting enough to surprise him, but such works are rare.

However, the new chapter of this novel, "Astrological Killing Magic," is a bit interesting. Nishikido Zaihara has written down many clues, but the "Mystery of Asod" in this novel has not yet been solved.

Who killed that painter?

What is the truth about Assold?

He still hasn't figured it out clearly.

But I have to say that this case is quite fascinating. Many of the parties involved in the case forty years ago have passed away, and can only be solved through some letters, notes and memories of the families of the parties involved.

But that's it for the Biange school. The beginning is stunning, giving readers a creepy feeling. But when the final mystery is revealed, readers often have a big question mark in their hearts: Is this it?

Nishikido Kirihara seriously doubts that this is the case in "Genius Detective Mitarashi Kiyoshi". The case is written in a foggy way at the beginning, but when the truth is revealed, the readers will have a feeling of "nothing more than that".

But so far, Nishikido Mihara really can't solve the "Mystery of Asod" in the book. He even dug out the previous issues of "Astrological Killing Magic" and read it again, but there is still no clear answer. clue.

He threw the magazine on the table with some depression and muttered in his heart: If you can't reasonably explain this case at the end, I will send dead rats to the publishing house every day!

…

Nanako Togada closed the magazine gently, her mind filled with thoughts about the mystery of Asod mentioned in "Genius Detective Mitarashi Kiyoshi".

It seems that it is not an easy task to solve the mystery of forty years ago? In the novel, Mitarai is confused; outside the novel, readers like them are also puzzled.

Nanako Togada couldn't think of the answer, but she didn't want to go to the forum to find the answer. If she just pursued the answer blindly, she would lose the fun of reading novels.

After reading "Genius Detective Mitaraike", Togada Nanako went to read other novels. At this time, she noticed that there was a color page in the novel. The color page was filled with delicate illustrations, and the illustrations The content is about various detective images, all of which are detective characters in novels and comics.

There is a line of large characters written on the coloring page as its title: [Who is Japan’s first detective? 】: Please write down who you think is the strongest detective in the reader feedback form. We will count the number of times the name appears and make a list.

Nanako Togada suddenly remembered that when she was watching TV yesterday, this special event was also mentioned on TV after the episode of Furuhata Rensaburo ended.

At that time, Furuhata Jinsaburo, played by Konemon Matsumoto, was still asking the audience to vote for him on the screen...

Countless images of detectives flashed through Togada Nanako's mind.

Since mystery novels entered the country, Japan has produced many excellent mystery writers, and naturally countless "famous detectives" have also been born.

Some of these detectives are characters in comics, but most of them are characters in novels. For example, the famous Edogawa Daigoro was a well-known detective image at the time. He was first born in a series of novels and was later remade into many movies and TV series. It has a place in many people's childhoods.

However, after some thought, Togada Nanako still wrote the name "Mitaraike" on the feedback form.

There was no way, although she also felt that Edogawa Daigoro might be more classic, but who made Mitarai Keita the work of teacher Shiba Keita...