January 2, 1980 (Showa 55), night.
Inside a cafe in Otowa Town, Bunkyo District, Tokyo.
Maijo Kyousuke was waiting here half an hour earlier than the agreed time, wearing a somewhat ill-fitting suit.
Although there are crowds of people outside the window, many men and women are wearing kimonos and holding fireworks and firecrackers in the streets to celebrate the New Year.
But such a beautiful scene made Maijo Kyousuke unable to be happy.
The scene outside the window was gradually blurred by the frost formed by water mist.
At this moment, Maijo Kyousuke finally understood that the joys and sorrows of human beings are not the same. I only felt the true meaning of the sentence that they were noisy.
A month ago, I was a mystery novelist living in late 2023.
What the original name was is irrelevant now.
The point is that I was sitting at my desk writing a book about the history of European, American and Japanese mystery novels.
But something unfortunate happened.
Due to the need to search for a large amount of historical information, Maijo Kyousuke had been confused with black and white for a whole month, and his work and rest were disordered. Under this situation, he only felt a pain in his chest and his vision went dark.
When I woke up again, I was already in Tokyo, Japan at the end of 1979!
Incredibly, Tokyo here is still a parallel world.
It's just that the historical process and cultural customs of this world and the original world are not much different.
Well-known mystery writers in previous lives, such as Edogawa Ranpo, Yokomori Masashi, and Matsumoto Seicho, also left brilliant works in this parallel world.
Regarding this situation, Maijo Kyousuke, who had just traveled through time, was not surprised at all.
Because as a time traveler, the first problem I have to solve is how to survive in this world!
The original identity, like himself, is also a mystery novel enthusiast, and he is also half a mystery writer.
But it may be that my talent is too low, or the things I write are not popular in the market. In short, I have been immersed in writing for two full years, but there is no way to win any awards for my debut.
Finally, under heavy pressure, he chose to hang himself, ending his life of poverty.
This also gave Maijo Kyousuke the opportunity to travel here.
At first, Maijo Kyousuke thought that his predecessor would leave some savings for him to support his life.
It's a pity that this guy has long been poor and has no food to eat. He only has enough money to pay one month's rent.
As a mystery novelist in the 21st century, Maijo Kyousuke deeply sympathizes with his original experience.
But after seeing several works written by the original person and learning about the original person's past...
However, Maijo Kyousuke felt that this guy's death was not unfair at all.
Because everything written by this guy is all nonsense "socialist reasoning", it is not an exaggeration to say that it is a pile of waste paper.
At this time, Tokyo was on the eve of the bubble economy and an important era of rapid economic development.
Because this era has not experienced the impact of the technological explosion.
Brick-shaped portable mobile phones are still rare items for ordinary people, and the best TVs only have a resolution of 480P.
Therefore, books, newspapers, and comics are the most popular entertainment reading materials in this era.
I have read very few comics, newspapers, and Maijo Kyousuke’s previous life, so I don’t know much about them.
However, as a later generation mystery novelist and a loyal Japanese mystery fan, Maishiro Keisuke, who has read tens of thousands of books, understands that in Japan in 1979, the most popular reading materials were mystery novels!
At this time, Matsumoto Seicho, one of the three peaks in Japanese mystery literature, was dominating the mystery literature world.
Through the work "Points and Lines", Seicho Matsumoto uses keen observation skills and calm reasoning and analysis to describe the collusion and fraud between the contemporary political and financial circles, and exposes the stubborn diseases of society and the times.
Precisely because of the publication of "Points and Lines", Matsumoto Seicho single-handedly swept away the "variable reasoning" represented by Edogawa Ranpo and the "original reasoning" represented by Yokomori Masashi.
Let the trend of the reasoning literary world turn to "social reasoning"!
Seicho Matsumoto has also been dubbed the "Father of Social Mystery Fiction"!
And it was this important change that no one could surpass for thirty years, causing later generations to call this vigorous history the "Qingzhang Curse"!
The mystery novels written by the original person are "social mystery" novels.
For Keisuke Maijo, who was originally a mystery novelist, what this guy wrote was cunning but not cunning, logical but not logical, and had nothing to resonate with. To put it simply, it had no nutrition or value.
Let alone the Showa era when mystery was most popular and there were the most masters, even if it were placed in later generations, writing mystery novels of this level would only end in starvation.
However, this is a perfect opportunity for Maijo Keisuke, who is originally a mystery novelist.
Because I am a mystery novelist myself, and I am a serious fan of Japanese mystery novels. I have read at least 10,000 mystery novels.
Therefore, whether it is basic pattern, deformed pattern, logical flow, trick flow, monster reasoning, daily reasoning, setting system, multiple solutions, BAKA reasoning, or even reverse reasoning... As long as it is a novel related to reasoning, I can recite it backwards and forwards!
Even though there are still five mystery men and three peaks in the literary world in this era, this does not hinder Maijo Keisuke.
Because I can use my powerful memory and use the classic reasoning masterpieces of later generations to open up a new track in the era of "Qingzhang Curse"!
Thus becoming a veritable god of reasoning!
With great confidence, Kyousuke Maishiro spent more than twenty days handwriting the "Astrology Killing Magic" which was his favorite in his previous life and also the greatest one that could change the world of reasoning.
But what he didn't expect was that just a few lines of history contained so much history of blood and tears!
I hold in my hand a supreme masterpiece that can change the structure of the reasoning world and break the "curse of Qing Zhang" that has plagued the reasoning world for thirty years, but there is no channel to publish it!
The fantasy of being appreciated by the editor, quickly published as an author, reprinted 10 times a month, a total of 40 times, and sold 1 million copies was quickly crushed by reality.
Because at this time, Tokyo already had its own reasoning circle.
As a newcomer, I had no reputation and no background. I had almost no channels for my book to be exposed.
In the end, after many inquiries by Maijo Kyousuke, he discovered that in this era, there were only three options to present his book in front of readers.
The first way is to join the Mystery Novels Research Society of Kyoto University and make a debut using the club publication "Crow Castle" within Kyoto University.
But it is a pity that Maijo Keisuke was originally a student at a third-rate university and was not qualified to contact the contacts of Kyoto University's "Crow Castle" magazine. It was even more difficult to publish a novel on it.
The second way is to join the "Phantom City" magazine founded by the mystery novel critic Mr. Shima Qihiro.
But it rained all night, and before Maijo Kyousuke had even sent out the manuscript, he heard that Mr. Shima Qihiro had left Japan and returned to the island to promote culture, and the "Phantom City" magazine was also canceled.
In the end, there is only the most difficult and the only way left, which is to win the Japanese Mystery Novel Grand Prize!
Because in Japan at this time, if you want to become a mystery writer, except for the two special circumstances mentioned above.
Only by winning an important award and standing out from a crowd of mystery writers can you make your debut as a writer and get the chance to be published!
At this time, Japan did not have as many messy awards as later generations.
The only awards that specialize in mystery novels are the Japan Mystery Writers Association Award and the Edogawa Ranpo Award.
These two important mystery novel awards are all related to Mr. Edogawa Ranpo.
The predecessor of the Japan Mystery Writers Association Award was the "Detective Writers Club" founded in 1947 with Edogawa Ranpo as the center. In 1963, it was officially renamed the "Japanese Mystery Writers Association", and Kobunsha was responsible for the selection.
The Edogawa Ranpo Prize was established to commemorate the 60th birthday of Edogawa Ranpo, and is selected by Kodansha.
Although it sounds very detailed, in fact, both Kobunsha and Kodansha are publishing houses under the Otowa Group.
On New Year's Day, Maijo Keisuke came to Otowa Town, Bunkyo District, Tokyo, and made an appointment with the editor-in-chief of Kobunsha.
I am not that greedy and want to become a double champion. I just want to win one of the awards so that I can successfully take the first shot in Tokyo!
While this sounds easy, it’s actually…
Prior to this, Maijo Kyousuke had already met with seven editors.
When these editors saw that Maikiro Keisuke was not old, had no recommenders, and was writing a book that was still biased towards "individual reasoning," most of them symbolically flipped through a few pages before closing the manuscript.
The reason for rejection is also very simple and straightforward. The manuscript is not in line with the market environment and is not eligible to participate in the selection of reasoning awards.
Maijo Kyousuke recalled the editor who rejected him before.
I also understand their difficulties in my heart. The world of novels is cruel. As long as it is not in line with the market, it will not make money. This is an obvious truth.
Of course, Maijo Kyousuke can also use his powerful memory to write a "socialist reasoning" and impress the editor.
But whether it's love or work, the order of life is crucial.
The same goes for your first work as a writer.
If you rely on "socialist reasoning" to make your debut at this juncture when "socialist reasoning" is rampant, then no matter what you write in the future, you will be titled as a socialist mystery writer.
In that case, wouldn't he be trapped in the shadow of Matsumoto Seicho for the rest of his life?
No matter how brilliant your achievements are in the future.
Whenever his name is mentioned, he will always be put together with Matsumoto Seicho, the "father of socialist reasoning"?
If other mystery writers knew about Maijo Keisuke's idea, they would probably be scolded as arrogant!
After all, being able to be compared with Matsumoto Seicho is something that many people would never dare to dream of.
But as a time traveler, Maijo Kyousuke has the support of all the famous mystery works of later generations.
On this basis, it should be compared with Matsumoto Seicho.
For Kyousuke Maijo, this is really unacceptable!
