Tokyo Mystery Writers

Chapter 95 Book Signing Event Announcement

When Maijo Kyosuke heard Jiang Liu Meili's words, he finally understood what question Jiang Liu Meili was asking.

Although it was a little awkward, Maijo Kyosuke gained a completely new understanding of Eri Miri.

Whether it's Jiang Liumei's "Hakusan Murderer Theory" based on "Conclusion" or her "Who is Ryoko's Child?" based on "Summer of the Ubume" this time, both are incredibly imaginative ideas.

Although these ideas deviate from the original work's theme, they are still very worthy of discussion.

"Well, Ms. Jiang Liu, first of all, I must say that your idea is excellent and brings a deeper level of thought to the work 'Summer of the Ubume'."

"Unfortunately, your reasoning is completely wrong."

"Although Tatsumi Sekiguchi in the story always says that he is sorry to Ryoko, in reality, Tatsumi Sekiguchi and Ryoko did not cross any lines at all."

Jiang Liu Meili was somewhat puzzled by Mai Shiro Kyosuke's words:

"That's not right, Ms. Maishiro. The story seems to explicitly mention that Sekiguchi has special feelings for Ryoko, and he mentions more than once in the book that he feels guilty towards Ryoko, and he has interacted with Ryoko in his dreams more than once."

"No matter how you look at it, this is evidence that Sekiguchi and Ryoko had a relationship, right?"

Maijo Kyosuke shook his head and held up two fingers:

"There is no evidence of any boundary crossing between Tatsumi Sekiguchi and Ryoko; there are two such pieces of evidence."

"The first piece of evidence is the narrative trick I mentioned to you before."

"I set Tatsumi Sekiguchi's identity as an unreliable narrator. Simply put, in the story of 'Summer of the Ubume,' Tatsumi Sekiguchi is a mentally abnormal character who cannot be trusted at all. When you read the book, you will also find that he is very strange and different from ordinary people."

"To put it more simply, if you believe what Tatsumi Sekiguchi says and the dreams he has, then you have been completely deceived by this character."

"The second piece of evidence is that, near the end of the story, Ryoko, holding the baby she had snatched, coldly said the following to Tatsumi Sekiguchi."

"I thought you would save me from the clutches of the evil doctor twelve years ago, but you didn't come!"

"Miss Jiang Liu, please pay attention to what Ryoko said."

"What I want to ask is, what personality is Ryoko in at this moment? Is she the normal Ryoko? The violated Kyoko? Or the 'mother' who has been tormented and assimilated by her mother Kikuno?"

Jiang Liumei answered without any hesitation:

"When Tatsumi Sekiguchi and Ryoko first met, Ryoko was not pregnant yet, so naturally the 'mother' personality would not have appeared."

"And since Ryoko insists that she has never met Tatsumi Sekiguchi, it's obvious that the personality who said that is Kyoko's personality!"

Kyosuke Maishiro nodded in satisfaction and continued to provide his answer:

"Based on this conclusion, it becomes quite obvious whether Ryoko and Tatsumi Sekiguchi overstepped their boundaries."

"First of all, Ryoko developed the personality of Kyoko after being violated by the perverted doctor Hiroyuki Kanno. In order to avoid recalling that painful experience, she split off her personality into Kyoko."

"Under these circumstances, Ryoko will lose that painful memory, while Kyoko will inevitably have an extreme aversion to that kind of thing!"

"Even though the psychedelic effects of mandala are very powerful, if Kyoko's personality and Tatsumi Sekiguchi have crossed the line."

"This will inevitably lead to Kyoko losing trust in Tatsumi Sekiguchi."

"But it's clear that Kyoko's personality, throughout these twelve years, has always hoped that Tatsumi Sekiguchi would come to save her. Unfortunately, Tatsumi Sekiguchi failed to live up to her expectations..."

Jiang Liu Meili opened her mouth in astonishment upon hearing Mai Cheng Jingjie's answer, then lowered her head sadly after a while...

-

Thanks to the excellent marketing efforts of Kodansha President Genjiro Noma and Sales Manager Yasunori Mikoshiba to Kyosuke Maijo.

The Tokyo Zodiac Murders has achieved a level of discussion and popularity that is difficult for ordinary mystery books to reach.

The 200,000-copy "paperback" edition of "The Astrological Murder Mystery" sold out within two days of its release due to its low price!

Thus, "The Tokyo Zodiac Murders" became the first "phenomenal" novel to sell over 400,000 copies in 1980, and also broke the record for bestselling mystery novels once again!

The original plan was to sell 200,000 copies in three days, but now it's only been two days to sell 200,000 copies!

Kodansha celebrated the remarkable achievement of "The Tokyo Zodiac Murders" selling 400,000 copies.

They immediately announced that they would be inviting Kyosuke Maijo to hold a signing event starting this Sunday!

At the same time, 50,000 copies of the "Collector's Edition" of "The Astrological Murder Mystery," which is currently being urgently printed, will be sold on-site!

As soon as the news was released, it was immediately reported by many newspapers in Tokyo, because the writers all knew that Kodansha President Genjiro Noma was going to give Maijo Kyosuke a big push this time!

As long as you write news related to Kyosuke Maijo, you can contact Kodansha and receive an extra payment!

Under such overwhelming propaganda.

Kodansha's design department also received orders to begin urgently designing the "single volume," or hardcover edition, of "The Tokyo Zodiac Murders."

This batch of "single volumes" is intended for readers who enjoy collecting all versions or who live in other cities and cannot attend the signing event.

The popularity of Maishiro Kyosuke is soaring, which makes not only Maishiro Kyosuke, Uyama Hideomi, Eru Miri, and the Kodansha members happy.

The happiest people were Maijo Kyosuke's group of admirers, including mystery critic and writer Kasai Kiyoshi and Kenzaki Mitsuki, the heiress of the Kenzaki Group.

There's even a well-known collector of mystery novels, Otto Penzel!

Since these admirers were all capable and well-connected, they quickly managed to get tickets to the book signing event through connections, eagerly anticipating meeting the genius mystery writer, Kyosuke Maijo, and obtaining a "collector's edition" of "The Tokyo Zodiac Murders" personally signed by Kyosuke Maijo!

While some are happy, others are sad.

Takara-sha's president, Hosho Shirakawa, has been completely demoralized by Kodansha's relentless attacks over the past six days!

Not only did his hair turn mostly white, but he also looked like he had aged more than ten years.

Because the losses suffered by Takarajima Publishing this time are almost incalculable, many of the suppliers of the "Fiction Mystery" magazine have successively issued statements that they will no longer cooperate with them!

Under these circumstances, when Hosho Shirakawa heard that Kodansha was going to hold a signing event for Maijo Kyosuke on Sunday, Takarajimasha felt that things were getting even worse!

Because, based on Hosho Shirakawa's understanding of Noma Genjiro... the vicious business battle that had lasted for a week was not over, but had just begun!

By Monday, that fat bastard Genjiro Noma will definitely have Top Hat magazine publish Maijo Kyosuke's latest short mystery story, sending a deadly shockwave at all mystery magazines!