Crossover Anime: The Heroine is in Trouble? I Take Advantage of the Situation

"Ah."

Shimizu Shin only came out of courtesy, and his face showed a bit of perfunctoriness.

But when he picked up the manuscript, his expression completely changed after reading only a dozen pages.

His brows furrowed more and more, his eyes shifted constantly, and finally, he held the manuscript and read it in one go, oblivious to everyone else!

Snapped!

After reading it, Shimizu Shin slammed his hand on the table, startling all the executives.

He stood up, his body trembling slightly with excitement, but his voice was loud and clear as he pointed to the manuscript in his hand and exclaimed in admiration:

"masterpiece!"

"A masterpiece that appears only once in a century!"

"Its tricks remind me of Ayatsuji Yukito! But its structure surpasses most of its predecessors! If this work doesn't win this year's Rampo Award, then the Rampo Award should be discontinued."

Hearing such high praise from this master of renown.

The executives and supervisors present all had their eyes light up and showed expressions of surprise.

moment.

All eyes were on Ryuji Aida.

"Aida... whatever you plan to do, the group will fully support you!"

"That's right, what we want is more than just an award for Ranpo."

"We want the name 'Seiji Fujiwara' to become a golden brand, just like Osamu Tezuka!"

……

……

Just as the massive machine of the Shinazugawa Group was quietly operating for Seiji Fujiwara.

A late-night literary interview program on TVS is currently airing.

The studio was brightly lit.

The host wore a warm smile, facing the camera and also the young writer sitting opposite him—Tetsuya Nishio.

"Good evening, viewers! We are very honored to have with us today Mr. Tetsuya Nishio, who is known as the 'Waseda prodigy'!"

The host glanced at the cue cards and said in an exaggerated tone, "Speaking of Nishio-sensei, he's truly remarkable! A graduate of the Faculty of Letters at Waseda University, he won the Mystery Writers of America's Newcomer Award at the age of twenty-one with his debut work, making him a highly anticipated young writer!"

Tetsuya Nishio adjusted his glasses and smiled modestly: "The host flatters me. I only have a superficial interest in literature."

"Oh, Mr. Nishio is too modest!" the host immediately chimed in. "I've heard that you've been praised by many renowned mystery writers, who say you're 'the most promising rising star of the next decade'! That's extremely high praise!"

A hint of pride flashed in Nishio's eyes, but he still said, "That is the teachers' guidance and encouragement to the juniors. I am unworthy of such praise."

"That's not all!" The host's enthusiasm rose even higher. "As far as I know, your masterpiece 'The Lament of Nothingness,' which you submitted to the Edogawa Rampo Award, passed the review of Kodansha's editor, Onizuka, who is known for his 'devilish' strictness, even on its first draft! The fact that it caught his eye speaks volumes about the quality of your work!"

Tetsuya Nishio simply smiled and nodded this time, without saying anything more.

But that confidence and composure have been conveyed to every viewer through the lens.

The show quickly went viral online after it aired.

"Holy crap! This resume is incredible! He's practically the chosen one!"

"High academic qualifications, favored by famous experts, and passed Onizuka's review—if I don't win the award, I'll do a live stream of myself washing my hair while doing a handstand!"

"Nishio-sensei is so humble, I love it! I'm buying all of 'The Hollow Cry'!"

"This year's Ranpo Award is a foregone conclusion. Congratulations in advance to Nishio-sensei!"

……

However, within the small inner circle of the mystery novel industry, the atmosphere is much more complex.

Several authors who had also submitted their work to this year's Rampo Award were gathered in an izakaya, watching the radiant figure on television with varying expressions.

“Sigh, it’s Nishio again…” one author sighed helplessly, taking a big gulp of sake. “It’s truly our misfortune to be born in the same era as him.”

“Yes, their starting point is our finish line.” Another author smiled bitterly, his face full of frustration.

"Damn it! I'm not reconciled! My work isn't bad either!" a young author said defiantly, but his voice was filled with helplessness.

Most people, however, remained silent.

They had no choice but to accept it.

Tetsuya Nishio is someone they look up to in terms of talent, experience, and resources.

……

After the program ended.

As Tetsuya Nishio looked at the praise online and the various expressions of "awe" from his peers, his smile grew even more confident.

no one knows.

A manuscript titled "After School" was submitted to the judging panel of the Edogawa Rampo Award.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

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text

Chapter 43 "After School" Quick Pass Review Meeting! (1/4)

The preliminary judging room for the 56th Edogawa Rampo Award.

Thick stacks of manuscripts piled up on the table like small mountains.

A dozen or so editors, engrossed in the sea of ​​words, looked exhausted, each with faint dark circles under their eyes.

Each round of judging receives hundreds or even thousands of submissions.

Most of them are excellent, with only minor flaws.

But that's where the problem lies!

Editors must carefully review and precisely identify the minor flaws in order to achieve the evaluation and selection.

However, the effort required to carefully review it is terrifying.

The preliminary review room was already piled high with various coffees, energy drinks, and cigarette butts, but the editors were still yawning and everyone was drowsy.

"Another book that starts strong but ends weakly..."

A young editor, rubbing his sore eyes, dejectedly threw a manuscript into the "discarded" cardboard box.

If I had known, I wouldn't have paid so much attention to the earlier parts.

Unexpectedly, he later had a huge bowel movement, causing all his enthusiasm to go to waste.

“You’ll get used to it.” The old editor next to him didn’t even look up. “Only a few can maintain a high standard from beginning to end, so don’t have too many expectations for comparison at the beginning.”

"What you said makes perfect sense!" the young editor nodded vigorously.

Just then, an editor in the corner suddenly exclaimed in surprise.

"what?!"

His voice wasn't loud, but it sounded particularly out of place in the quiet office.

Everyone cast puzzled glances at them.

The editor, Takahashi, leaned forward slightly, almost lying on the manuscript, his blank expression replaced by intense surprise.

"Takahashi, what's up? Did you see something good?" the old editor next to him joked.

Takahashi did not answer. His breathing became rapid, his face flushed with excitement, and sweat poured out quickly.

Everyone in the office stopped what they were doing and looked at him curiously.

Finally, Takahashi finished reading the last page.

He let out a long breath, slumped back in his chair as if completely exhausted, and muttered to himself, "A monster... a real monster..."

"Hey, Takahashi, stop keeping us in suspense, what's the manuscript?" someone urged impatiently.

Takahashi then came to his senses, picked up the manuscript, and said to everyone in an admiring tone, "I think I might see... the grand prize winner of this year's competition."

These words immediately caused everyone to be taken aback.

"Takahashi, are you still half asleep?"

"Even if someone is very skilled, we shouldn't jump to conclusions so quickly."

"Exactly, this is only the first day of the preliminary review!"

Everyone frowned.

Takahashi didn't argue, but simply handed the manuscript to the most senior editor in the group, 030: "Senior, please take a look."

The veteran editor took the manuscript with some skepticism.

Then, history repeated itself.

The old editor's expression changed visibly, from disbelief to doubt, to seriousness... and finally, to the same shock as Takahashi's!

"This this……!"

The old man couldn't even utter a complete sentence; his hands trembled with excitement.

This time, everyone couldn't sit still.

It's absolutely abnormal for a single manuscript to cause two senior editors to lose their composure simultaneously!

"Quick! Let us see it too!"

"What exactly did it write?"

Is the quality really that good?

soon.

The manuscript began circulating wildly among more than a dozen editors.

Then, gasps, exclamations, and whispers began to echo in the preliminary hearing room.

"My God! This is a fake answer!"

"The author's malice towards human nature is so profound, it's terrifying!"

"This writing style is so skillful, is it by a veteran author?"

"While Tetsuya Nishio's manuscript is good, it is still significantly inferior to this one."

"I'm sorry, Mr. Takahashi, I understand why you said that you saw this year's winning entries... This one is indeed of superior quality to the other submissions!"

"I think so!"

The atmosphere in the entire review room was ignited by this manuscript.

Ultimately, during the voting process, the manuscript titled "After School" received an unprecedented unanimous vote!

Furthermore, it was unanimously rated as the highest grade, "S," by all the editors!

The manuscript was immediately sent to the review panel.

……

The review panel consisted of several well-known industry critics and senior editors.

When they received the report from the preliminary review panel that it had passed unanimously and received an "S" rating, their first reaction was surprise.

"Really? Everyone got an S rating?"

A critic wearing wire-rimmed glasses frowned: "Is this Tetsuya Nishio's work? Even if it's a top contender, isn't this blatant favoritism going too far?"

The preliminary review team can provide feedback and comments on the manuscripts they review.

The review panel will also respect those evaluations and opinions and conduct further examinations on the submitted manuscripts.

"Let's wait and see," said another female editor with a serious expression, whose attitude was relatively neutral.