Hikigaya Hachiman won the Japan Mystery Writers Association Award, which came as no surprise to those directly involved or to the writers in the association. However, for readers and other publishers, it felt like a bolt from the blue. Last year, at just 15 years old, Hachiman set a record for the youngest winner of the All Readings Newcomer Award. Yet, since that was merely a newcomer award from a magazine, the impact was limited.
This time, Hachiman won a prestigious award that is well known among mystery readers. The judges consisted of a group of men in their fifties and sixties, with the representative, Soji Shimada, being over 70 years old. By awarding this significant prize to Hachiman, the judges—who represent the authority and status of Japanese mystery writers—recognized the remarkable talent of this young man and indicated that the future of Japanese mystery literature could rest in his hands.
Other Japanese publishers were envious of Sakuraba Publishing House, where Hachiman is signed. They felt frustrated, as they had no idea how to lure this talented young author away. Sakuraba offered him the highest salary in the industry, and even if other publishers were willing to offer more, they couldn't break the longstanding rules of the industry.
Meanwhile, Sakuraba Publishing House began rapidly producing new book covers, boldly announcing that Hachiman's book, "Confessions," had won the Mystery Writers Association Award. The accompanying publicity efforts were extensive, contributing to a surge in sales for "Confessions" in June.
All Readings, the magazine tied to the Newcomer Award, was extremely busy. Due to Hachiman's recent accomplishment, the number of submissions increased dramatically, with expectations that submissions for this year's Newcomer Award would rise by over 50% compared to previous peak years.
Since the excitement surrounding Hachiman's win is expected to last for several years, Ryutaro, the chief judge of the All Readings Newcomer Award, proposed to Sakuraba Publishing House that they change the Newcomer Award to focus solely on "historical era" novels. This change would significantly reduce the number of submissions and lessen the workload for the magazine and judging team.
After several rounds of discussions and weighing the pros and cons, the publishing house agreed to the proposal. It was decided that this change would take effect officially next year, transforming the "All Readings Newcomer Award," which had been in existence for over 60 years, into the "All Readings Historical Novel Newcomer Award" (the official change occurred in 2021).
These events illustrate the various impacts of Hikigaya's award win. However, he remained largely unaware of them, as he was deeply engrossed in his intense studies once again.
Before he knew it, two months of the first semester had passed. In the first-stage exam, Hikigaya ranked ninth in his grade, causing him to reflect deeply on this outcome.
"Damn it, it must be Yukinoshita Haruno's fault!" he concluded.
Hikigaya quickly came to this realization. When school started in early April, he had promised himself he would dedicate weekends to studying and structure his writing and study time properly.
Now, two months in, he found that his weekends were primarily spent either hanging out with Haruno or communicating with her through calls and emails. As a result, he attributed his declining academic performance to this distracting senior.
"I need to call her and scold her for affecting my studies!" he resolved.
The two of them chatted on the phone for a long time again, but this time, when Haruno learned that her junior's grades had dropped, she became genuinely worried.
"No kidding, Hikigaya-kun, I think you really need to get some tutoring. You should know that your competitors may have all signed up for tutoring classes. If you only rely on classroom learning and after-school self-study, it will be difficult for you to compete with them," she urged.
Haruno's own academic performance had vastly improved thanks to her tutor's instruction and the consolidation of knowledge through the test papers he assigned. She understood the importance of extracurricular tutoring very well.
"Senior, you're in a critical stage of review right now. Don't worry; I'll find a way to manage it myself," Hikigaya replied, still rejecting Haruno's offer for tutoring. If she had suggested going out horseback riding, he might have agreed. But tutoring, especially when spanning three school years, seemed pointless to him. He questioned how much he could actually learn from his senior.
Realizing that Hikigaya truly would not accept her tutoring, Haruno decided not to push it any further. After a brief chat, she hung up the phone, hoping to give Hikigaya enough time to study.
"Hikigaya-kun, you must be admitted to Sobu High School," Haruno prayed silently. She also recognized that she had been spending too much time playing around with Hikigaya Hachiman.
Although Hikigaya consistently ranked in the top ten of his grade during exams and seemed impressive, he was keenly aware that the average level of students at Tsubakimori Junior High, where he studied, was not very high. Competing against a group of less skilled players wouldn't help him improve his chess skills much, and given that there were eight students he couldn't beat, it meant he was just one of the poorer chess players.
After discussing this with her mother, an idea suddenly struck her: Wasn't there a top student from a prestigious university nearby? Why not just seek them out?
That student was none other than Machida Sonoko. Along with Imamura Naho, she had graduated at the top of her class from Meiji University. Tutoring a junior high school student felt rather absurd for someone of her caliber.
However, Machida Sonoko was more than willing to help Hikigaya. After a week of corporate life, spending half a day teaching him junior high school knowledge sounded like a delightful break for her.
So, starting the first weekend of June, Hikigaya spent a day receiving math and science tutoring from Machida Sonoko.
He had to admit that she was an excellent teacher, thoroughly explaining all the key concepts and providing only brief breaks throughout the afternoon. She believed that Hikigaya had significant gaps in his knowledge of math and science that needed to be quickly addressed.
Thanks to Sonoko's effective teaching and the assignments she gave him afterward, Hikigaya felt that his math and science skills had improved rapidly. Now, all he had to do was wait for the final exam in late July to see how he performed.
However, something very important had happened during this time that Hikigaya was so absorbed in his studies that he failed to notice. The July issue of "All Readings," which contained the fourth part of "Malice," had officially been released, meaning that the complete volume of "Malice" would be published soon.
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