Chapter 483
Because Sera Masumi's hotel was very close by, the group quickly arrived at their destination on foot.
I thought all hotels were pretty much the same, and I was just curious to come and take a look. I didn't think there would be anything surprising. But when we got on the elevator, arrived at our destination floor, and the elevator doors opened, everyone was stunned.
Because the corridor, which is usually deserted except for a few guests and staff, was surprisingly empty, there were several people standing or sitting there, looking serious and anxious, as if something big was about to happen.
Sonoko Suzuki immediately assumed that some gang was having a meeting at the hotel and wondered if the hotel was unsafe.
Hearing Sonoko Suzuki's suspicion, Sera Masumi explained, "No, there's a novelist on this floor, and those people are editors who came to urge me to finish my manuscript..."
"Huh? What novelist?"
Sera Masumi recalled for a moment: "It seems to be called..."
"Kyougo Hiura." A strange voice suddenly came from a room with an open door that Usaba Saiki was about to pass by. "In the world, I am known as a romance novelist."
Everyone looked in the direction of the sound and saw a bald middle-aged man walking confidently out of the room, flashing a professional smile at them.
Ran Mouri, who had initially shown little interest in these editors, suddenly rushed forward excitedly: "Teacher! I've read your books! My favorite now is 'The Telephone, the Sea, and Me'!"
The novelist smiled and thanked Ran Mouri for her kindness. After Ran Mouri politely took her leave, he turned to the room attendant and asked, "How are the preparations going?"
The door was always open because the waiters were inside, serving dishes to the dining table in the room as if preparing some kind of banquet. More than a dozen plates of various sizes were piled up with food, filling the table. It didn't look like someone was eating alone at all.
Just as Conan Edogawa was feeling a bit confused, he heard the novelist beckoning the editors who were secretly watching to see if he had slipped away to come in and have dinner together.
Usakabe slapped his head: "Stop looking, you're going to bang your head against the wall... He's stalling for time."
Since everyone had already passed a corner and weren't worried about being overheard by the person involved, Ran Mouri asked directly with a puzzled look, "What do you mean by delaying time?"
Sera Masumi chimed in, "The deadline is already here, but I can't write anything, so I'm trying to divert the editors' attention. Those three editors don't seem to be from the same agency, so deciding whose manuscript to submit to first is also a problem..."
Usoppei smiled and said, "Yes, and some people even use and deceive editors to avoid submitting their manuscripts... For example, the famous manga artist Osamu Tezuka serialized too many manga at the same time, often missing deadlines and failing to meet deadlines. To ensure their own serialization, editors would scheme against each other. There is a famous legend that if two editors came to urge him to submit his manuscript, one of them would hide Osamu Tezuka and draw his own manuscript first. So in the end, it became a situation where three editors had to be present to keep an eye on each other."
Sonoko Suzuki couldn't help but turn her head to look at the corridor, which was now practically empty: "Does this novelist really need three editors to keep an eye on him?"
“No, it should just be a simple delay in the manuscript.” Usakata Saiki stroked his chin. “Speaking of which, Tezuka Osamu’s editors used to fight over the order of submission, and Tezuka Osamu said, ‘Whoever wins the fight, I’ll draw their manuscript first.’… Following this trend, that novelist might use ‘Whoever eats the most, I’ll write their manuscript first’ as a reason to make the editors compete.”
Ran Mouri exclaimed in surprise, "Would they really make things difficult for someone like that? Surely not?"
Conan Edogawa said, "That's possible."
People like Osamu Tezuka and the novelist mentioned earlier are already highly respected figures in Japan, often referred to as "teachers." Japanese companies are known for exploiting their employees, with publishing houses and magazines ordering their staff to "find ways to ensure the teachers submit their manuscripts on time and not leave any gaps in the submission." The editors have no choice but to work themselves to the bone, agreeing to any difficulties they face, or they risk losing their jobs.
Ran Mouri's expression became conflicted.
It's obvious that she might like the novelist's works and has a good impression of the novelist, but this kind of troublesome behavior is slightly at odds with the image she has in mind.
Sonoko Suzuki coughed and changed the subject: "What's that novel you're talking about?"
Ran Mouri immediately perked up again, and as she followed Sera Masumi to her room, she launched into a long-winded explanation of her favorite work: "It's like this, the heroine, Ota Jun, one day finds a cell phone from the future on the beach..."
Even after Sera Masumi opened the door and everyone went inside, Ran Mouri was still talking.
"Actually, it seems like the teacher stopped writing novels for a while, and I didn't really like his previous novels, but this one he wrote after he came back is really great!"
Bo Yezaki stood behind, playing on his phone, and found something through an online search: "But this person seems to have recently been involved in some bad scandals. The news is saying that he seems to have found his new assistant to be his mistress... um."
He suddenly stopped, seemingly lost in thought.
Mary Akai was hiding in the bedroom to the left of the entrance. After hearing the door open, she quietly tried to see Potts through the keyhole as soon as possible.
Although her eldest son, Shuichi Akai, and her youngest daughter, Masumi Sera, had both had contact with Potts, Mary Akai still doesn't know what Potts looks like because the latter is very wary and they don't want to alert him.
However, Akai Mary doesn't think appearance is that important; what's most useful is a precise assessment of psychology and personality.
Does the fact that the other person looks like Tom Cruise mean she'll go easy on him when she wants to take advantage of him?
This is of course impossible, so Mary Akai has never really cared about Potts's appearance.
But today, one mystery will finally be solved, and Mary Akai is quite looking forward to it.
From the moment she heard the door open, she suppressed the coughing caused by the side effects of the shrinking drug and stared at the keyhole until her eyes ached. In the end, she could only see half of Sera Masumi's body walking in as the door opened, while everyone else was at the door doing something.
I couldn't hear the sounds outside clearly, but I could see Sera Masumi turning her head to say something to the people outside.
Mary Akai tensed up.
Why did Potts refuse to go in even though he was already at the door? Had he discovered something?
Don't even mention that she didn't install any surveillance cameras or listening devices. Potts didn't even go inside; how could he possibly know there was a problem inside?!
Wasn't Potts present when Masumi almost caused Shuichi's undercover work to be exposed a few years ago?
According to Shuichi, Potts is very good at judging people, so it's impossible that he didn't know that Masumi is Shuichi's sister, right? If he was going to be wary, he would have been long ago. Why did he hesitate when he entered the room?
Sera Masumi was also puzzled, wondering what Usui Saiki had seen while suddenly falling several steps behind everyone and standing in the middle of the corridor looking at his phone: "What's wrong?"
She suspected that Potts felt something was off about the room and didn't want to go in... Seriously?! There's a wall between us! Do you have X-ray vision?!
If I let my mom see you, will you lose a piece of your flesh?
Didn't you help my brother before? Why are you suddenly acting like a stranger now?
Conan Edogawa was quite perceptive in this regard, and he felt that Saiki Usaba seemed to have noticed something amiss—but he didn't think that there was something wrong with Masumi Sera's room.
After all, Sera Masumi and Akai Mary were both feeling guilty, and he knew nothing about their arrangements, so there was no way he could have guessed it.
He was just guessing that his brother Bo Ye had noticed something in the news that no one else had.
"Bo Ye-san, what's the latest news?" Conan Edogawa asked.
“Hmm…” Bo Yezaki pondered, “This news says it might be the assistant of the novelist’s affair partner, named Minazuki Chiaki.”
Sonoko Suzuki looked bewildered: "Huh? What's wrong with that name? You know her?"
Sera Masumi and Conan Edogawa suddenly realized the truth at the same time.
"I see... So this news might actually be true!" Sera Masumi said.
Ran Mouri panicked: "Why did you suddenly confirm it's true?"
Sera Masumi wanted to explain, "Because—uh, do you remember that novel you just mentioned, there was a code word, the same as the title, which was 'Telephone, Ocean, and Me,' right?"
"That's right. At first, the female lead didn't understand what the code meant, but later she seemed to understand and started using the code to reply to the other side. The next episode is the finale, and we should be able to unlock the secret of the code then..."
Bo Yezaki seemed to be thinking: "Is Xiao Lan really looking forward to the ending of this book?"
Ran Mouri nodded vigorously: "Of course!"
“Alright.” Usui sighed, “Although it’s a little awkward…”
Others: "...???"
Conan Edogawa was bewildered as he watched Usaku Saiki suddenly turn around and walk back: "Wait a minute, Usaku-nii, what are you going to do?"
Sonoko Suzuki paused for a moment: "Did he go to help Ran catch up on her manuscript? There's no need to be in such a hurry, is there?"
Sera Masumi frowned, stepped out of the room, and closed the door: "Let's follow."
Conan Edogawa also had a bad feeling and quickly ran over.
Because they were on the same floor, just a few turns away, they quickly caught up with Usakabe Saiki and found him knocking on the novelist's door.
Perhaps because more people were coming to serve food, the door was not actually closed. Everyone following behind saw that Usakata Saiki knocked on the door symbolically, and without waiting for a response, he simply stepped inside.
When everyone caught up, they found an editor trying to stop Usaku Saiki.
"Wait, you're not a waiter, are you? Even if you want an autograph, why choose this time..."
The stopped person, Usui Saiki, looked at Sera Masumi: "Open the bathroom door."
"Okay!"
Without hesitation, Sera Masumi listened to Usaku Saiki's words, turned around and launched a flying kick at the bathroom door in the novelist's room.
Conan Edogawa: "...???"
Wait a minute?! Are you two very close?! I never realized you listened to Brother Bo Ye so much!
Despite his thoughts, Conan Edogawa knew that since Saiki Usaba had given such an order, there must be something going on. He just didn't quite understand where Sera Masumi's trust in Saiki Usaba came from.
Although Sera Masumi mainly practices Jeet Kune Do, women's lower body strength is naturally stronger than their upper body strength, so with one more kick, the door opened.
She froze, and then the next second, she angrily pounced on him and punched the novelist into the wall.
"What are you doing?!"
Usakabe Saiki then entered the bathroom, surveyed the situation, and, with great gentlemanly manners, draped a towel over his assistant, who was naked, nearly strangled, and coughing.
"Looks like I've arrived just in time."
Conan Edogawa: "…………"
It was indeed the perfect time; a few minutes later and the person might have died—but how did you arrive at that conclusion?! Isn't this the first time we've all met this novelist?!
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