manynovel Chapter 601: Take the old ancestor out for a walk
Chapter 601: Take the old ancestor out for a walk
Chapter 601: Take the old ancestor out for a walk
The day before the final selection, the voting entrance for the online judging panel of the Neon Mystery Writers Association Awards was closed. The total number of votes reached 500,000, which was unprecedented and shocking.
The Neon Mystery Writers Association Award is the oldest award in the Neon mystery novel community and also the highest award in Neon mystery novels. It receives far more attention than most people imagine.
It can be said that if a novel's waistband reads "Neon Mystery Writers Association Award - Novel Award", then this book will still be a classic even after fifty years. The awarded works may not necessarily suit everyone's taste, but there are definitely no parallel imports. This is a throne built up with one masterpiece after another since 1948, and every mystery novelist is proud to receive this award.
A once-in-a-lifetime prize!
However, such an award with a long history that is almost equivalent to the history of Japanese mystery novels has been changed as if by a joke, pushing the selection system that has been passed down for more than half a century in an unpredictable direction.
The oldest award combined with the latest technology is like customizing a solid wooden keyboard with coffin boards. To paraphrase a veteran mystery writer in the newspaper these days:
"If Mr. Edogawa knew this, he would jump out of the ground and smash your head with his pipe!"
There are countless similar comments. Although the attention paid to this year's Mystery Writers Awards has shocked everyone, it does not prevent them from criticizing this reform.
In response to this, the powerful Kenzo Chikano also responded directly in the newspaper:
"Mr. Edogawa is the father of Japanese mystery novels. He created the history of Japanese mystery novels and is a first-class pioneer and innovator. If any of you can bring my reforms to the Sanzu River and let Mr. Edogawa know, I'm sure he will regard me as his adopted son..."
This man spoke a long and eloquent speech, and even used the dead Edogawa Ranpo to endorse his actions. He also boasted that he was the second Ranpo. Every word in his humorous and interesting speech was shameless.
Such a talented article, of course, cannot be without the advice of Hojo Kyosuke. In fact, the counter-article was written by Hojo Kyosuke. The two are now completely on the same front. Anyone who wants to attack Kenzo Chino and the Mystery Association will have to fight him. However, the ghostwriting fee still needs to be collected. As the president for so many years, Kenzo Chino has collected a lot of good things. There are even a lot of original manuscripts of Matsumoto Seicho and Edogawa Ranpo. Hojo Kyosuke took the opportunity to ask for a lot of them.
These shameless words once again caused a number of literary predecessors to curse endlessly, not only in the mystery novel world, but also in the general serious literary world. Writers who have long served as judges for the Naoki Prize and the Akutagawa Prize also made comments in newspapers and television programs. Without exception, they all said that Kenzo Chino was disregarding tradition and acting recklessly.
During this period, major newspapers and weekly magazines have been living like Chinese New Year every day, with daily sales rising by several points. Sales department staff are sitting at home and are overjoyed. Sensible newspapers have taken the initiative to increase the remuneration for these writers who participated in the verbal battle. Yes, yes, although the published content is not serious, there is still money to be made. This is the happy life of Japanese writers. On the other side of the sea, only during the Republic of China period could writers be so happy.
Readers across the country thought that the verbal battle between Matsumoto Motohiro and Futami Jiraiya, each of whom stood on the side of Hojo Kyosuke, was exciting enough. They were laughing so hard watching Hojo Kyosuke's direct threat of force and warning on TV. They didn't expect that there was a bigger drama to come. Hojo Kyosuke, a mere newcomer in the literary world, actually dragged down many leading figures in the Japanese literary world by himself, and everyone put aside their dignity and shame and started to fight fiercely.
Although he is not a person of integrity, such a direct war of words still makes many readers feel very excited.
Do you understand what the traditions and inherent systems of this country represent? The lifetime employment system is oppressive, but why don't you immigrate? Perhaps most people don't have a deep feeling when they see the five words "lifetime employment system". So, if we change the term to "all employees of state-owned enterprises", the two cannot be said to be exactly the same, but we can say that there is basically no difference.
It may seem that the Neon Mystery Association's reform of the review system is just something they do on their own, but it is not.
"If you dare to vote online today, will you burn down the Capitol building live tomorrow?"
The spark of reform and innovation must be extinguished in its infancy. The Neon Mystery Association, which is thriving due to the change in the judging system, is like a mirror, exposing the true colors of the traditional awards on the other side.
The organizers of the major awards envied the national attention and credibility of the Mystery Association, but they felt like they were on fire. Although their funds for hosting the competition were not raised by the general public, the publishers and magazines behind them all needed the support of readers. In the past few days, many people have called or sent letters to ask if they have any plans for reform. If so, they should quickly open a voting website so that they can vote for Hojo Kyousuke.
Hojo Kyosuke and Chikano Kenzo are not without allies. Awards such as the Honya Awards and a number of emerging awards took the opportunity to launch an attack. When the public was questioning traditional awards, they took the opportunity to promote their own awards. It turns out that the effect was really good.
Art or the masses, literature or the masses, this is an enduring topic. For example, the title of "teacher", whether it is a cartoonist or a voice actor, it seems that everyone can call him "teacher", but in fact, these teachers dare not call themselves teachers in front of serious literary writers, they will laugh their heads off.
"Weekly Shonen High", as Hojo Kyosuke's mentor, is also a comic magazine famous for its voting book-cutting system. Not to be outdone, it actively spoke out about the various innovations they have embraced in the new era, taking advantage of the momentum. At the same time, it also placed an advertisement, hinting that a mystery comic will be released after the Neon Mystery Writers Association Awards.
The words almost directly implied that the grand prize winner, Hojo Kyosuke, had already prepared a new work and was waiting to start serialization after the award ceremony.
Under the watchful eyes of the public, the online voting channel for the Mystery Association Awards was officially closed. The total number of votes reached 500,000. The number one was undoubtedly "The Devotion of Suspect X", with 320,000 votes, which was more than the total number of votes for the other four candidate works, showing a cliff-like lead.
The crucial vote was secured before the final selection officially began, and fans of Hojo Kyosuke's books have already started celebrating.
The members of the Neon Mystery Writers Association were also celebrating. The association has two awards, one is the Edogawa Ranpo Award for new writers, and the other is the Mystery Association Award. Both awards have a tradition of attracting ordinary audiences from the society. Before the Internet era, information and mailing addresses were published in newspapers, and people who wanted to watch the award ceremony were asked to send letters to register. They would then send tickets in return, which were free. After entering the Internet era, it became much faster and was changed to sending emails.
This activity has always had a rule that if too many people sign up, a lottery system will be adopted. In the past, the staff responsible for sending tickets to the masses had an easy job. But this time, just counting the letter writers made the person in charge feel overwhelmed, and he had to seek help from colleagues in the technical department. Because there were too many people, the identity information of the letter writers showed that there were even many people from China, South Korea, the United States, etc.
When the person in charge saw those messages, he thought someone was playing a prank, but after selecting a few emails to verify, he found that they were all real. Some people even asked directly if they could pay for the tickets directly. They just wanted to witness the glorious moment when Mr. Hojo won the award.
As we all know, diplomacy is no small matter, let alone such a face-saving matter. Developed countries all have a common problem - worshipping foreign things. This problem is particularly evident in the citizens of occupied and colonized countries. Neon, which received the Emperor's "Gyokuon-hosou" declaration of surrender, had its spine broken, and then developed under the care of the American father, has brought this trait to the fullest.
Even if there were no foreign audiences, they would have to pay for a few extras to come, and the level of prestige would be raised instantly, not to mention that these real fans came to watch. Doesn't this mean that the influence of their Neon Mystery Writers Association has spread to the world? In the past, the influence of their association was actually quite good. The winning novels and candidate novels were favored by foreign publishers, but they were mainly in several Asian countries with Chinese cultural circles. The popularity in Europe and the United States is not that high, and it is only spread among mystery fans, far from reaching the level of spread in Japan and China.
So upon hearing the report from the person in charge, President Kenzo Chino immediately issued instructions to give priority to foreigners, well, those who live abroad, not those who work in Japan. This way, when the media interviews, it will be more authentic, and it will also add some value to Hojo Kyosuke's award. In fact, even if there was no such accident, he had prepared other means to establish his authority.
Just like Hojo Kyosuke helping the association is actually helping himself, Kenzo Chino helping Hojo Kyosuke is actually helping himself. He wants to tell the outside world that the Neon Mystery Association Award has not only not declined because of his reforms, but has become more authoritative.
Even Matsumoto Motohiro, who had been mocking Hojo Kyosuke, and a group of old-time writers who had come out to oppose the Mystery Association, seemed to have seen the scene of Hojo Kyosuke winning the award. They lamented that he was going to ruin Japanese mystery novels. Some even jumped down from their seats on a Fuji TV program, crying and saying they were sorry to Mr. Matsumoto Seicho for not protecting the Japanese mystery world that he had pioneered. They even asked Mr. Matsumoto Seicho to possess them and take Hojo Kyosuke away, as if they were summoning a spirit.
So the respect for ancestors in Japan is really strange. On the one hand, they attach great importance to tradition, and the ten family rules are hung on the wall and recited three times a day. On the other hand, they often use their ancestors as weapons. Before, it was Edogawa Ranpo, now it is Matsumoto Seicho, and soon they will drag Edgar Allan Poe to play Landlord.
Hojo Kyosuke wanted to laugh when he saw this. He felt as if he saw Ji Dian monk holding his golden statue of Arhat and feeding it to wild buffaloes, and the whole room burst into laughter.
However, Hojo Kyosuke was not the kind of person who would just take the blame without fighting back. He used this thing of his ancestors, and I will use it too! He made a lot of money directly and neatly, and the editor of Asahi Shimbun kept thanking him.
"The social mystery novels created by Mr. Matsumoto Seicho have popularized mystery novels, allowing them to appear in the eyes of more people and giving them such a special status today. If I am a demon, a devil, or an evil god, then what is Mr. Matsumoto Seicho?
A considerable number of my readers are not simply fans of mystery novels, and they do not read my books because they enjoy the fun of mystery and the charm of tricks, but simply like the emotions in my works and the world they describe. As you said, I have indeed lowered the threshold for reading mystery novels infinitely.
But, is what I am doing now any different from what Mr. Seicho Matsumoto did?"
Willful, flamboyant, unrestrained...
Hojo Kyosuke changed his previous artistic scolding style, not at all humble, but full of youthful arrogance. Especially the last sentence, the confidence between the lines almost overflowed from the paper, making everyone who saw it gasp and feel the extraordinary appeal.
mad! How arrogant!
He even compared himself to Matsumoto Seicho. This guy is so arrogant when he succeeds, and he doesn't hide his mean side at all.
Regardless of whether they were trying to discredit Hojo Kyosuke for money or were literary giants who sincerely wanted to crush this young man who was too prominent, they were all shocked by Hojo Kyosuke's outburst and launched even more fierce attacks. Some even said that they would go directly to the award ceremony venue to protest tomorrow.
Hojo Kyosuke didn't say anything else, but instead posted the video of him slashing with a knife on TV last time, and attached a picture.
The picture shows a samurai sword. The scabbard is made of black wood, which is as luxurious as lacquerware. There are light brown lines on it, like segments of lightning. The shank is round and has a maple leaf pattern carved on it. Except for the black scabbard, the shank, handle and other decorations are all silver.
The text is an introduction: The name of the sword is "Silver", it was given to me by my friend Lily, it was forged by Mr. Tsukiyama Sadaichi, a treasure on earth, and he never gets tired of polishing it day and night.
Some literary giants who had not yet learned how to use the Internet had their children, nephews, and disciples tell them about this. They were so angry that they were shaking all over. This guy's meaning was too obvious. He was just short of saying, "If you dare to ruin my good deeds, I will chop you to death." But this time he was not using a prop knife!
Kenzo Chikano and Tsuyoshi Oosaka laughed out loud and said that if those old seniors were really scared to death, Hojo Kyosuke would be guilty of a great crime.
"Friend Lily" hid in her room and laughed so hard that she squealed like a pig, looking so proud. Because her stage name was written on the poster~
The only problem was, her chores didn't get home again tonight.
Thanks to the big guys for their monthly tickets, recommendation tickets and reward support, thank you.
(End of this chapter)