Chapter 54
“Please, take a seat.”
Watching the black-haired man who timidly entered his office, the troupe leader collected his thoughts.
Kim Yul, Ulysses.
That name had already been firmly etched into the troupe leader’s mind even before he received the business card.
The troupe leader liked works with expansive worlds.
Of course, by “world,” he did not mean something as simple as the size of the continent in the story or the number of races that appeared.
Is it a world where the characters feel alive?
Or is it merely a flat, mechanical world that serves as a plot device?
Ulysses’s writing belonged to the former.
Concise yet brisk sentences.
The kind of pace that could wrap up a massive episode—one that another novel would spend dozens of chapters on—in just three or four installments.
Even if the subject matter was a bit niche.
It was obvious he understood the strengths of serial fiction and was trying to write accordingly.
And.
Though it was an intuition he could never explain rationally.
He loved the world he was creating itself.
He gave meaning and narrative to even the smallest character, even to a place that only briefly passed through the story.
Though there were limits to the pages he had to work with, he overcame them cleverly.
Hero Assembly.
Many people criticized it as nothing more than a business-minded cash grab.
But looking at those cards, the troupe leader was certain.
Wasn’t it meant to show as many people as possible the richly textured prose that only someone overflowing with uncontrollable love for the world in his head could produce?
The fact that they even imbued the cards with illusion magic showed it was a decision that valued quality over profit from the start.
Or maybe it was Chloe’s crazy idea.
“Um, it was entirely my idea. Still, thank you for the overly generous praise.”
Kim Yul scratched his head and said sheepishly.
That expression had half humility and half pride.
Contrary to his ominous first impression, he was a fairly likable man.
Well, he was already married and had a child, after all.
But.
Why did it have to be Chloe?
“As you may have heard, our troupe ‘Fantasy Horizon’ doesn’t really have any ties to the works of Truth Daily. Since it’s the same investor, Novelpia is no different either.”
“So it really is because of that idiot elf?”
“You heard that?”
“Yes. She was jumping around saying she had her own side of the story, so I pulled her ear and subdued her.”
“Her ear...?”
Watching Kim Yul spout such terrifying things, the troupe leader tilted his head.
As writers tend to do, there was probably some exaggeration mixed in.
Still, imagining Chloe’s face making those ridiculous cries while her ear was being yanked...
For some reason, it felt like a knot that had been lodged in his chest for ages was being washed away just a little.
Back when the troupe leader was enrolled at the Tower of Magicians.
At the center of the incidents and accidents that cropped up from time to time was Chloe, the Magic Tower’s most notorious useless elf.
She was a good kid.
She was definitely a good kid...
- If there’s no bread, why not eat meat? If you’re a commoner and can’t even afford meat, then I’ll be generous!
- Just what is that filthy excuse for clothing? It’s unspeakably unclean, so why not change into this top-of-the-line dress I was wearing!
For some reason, her elf dialect was just irritating enough to annoy people, and that devilish mouth of hers could make even kind intentions sound infuriating.
- You said what? That trash-tier illusion magic, fit only for children’s games? That’s more than enough to let you meet your dead mother again, isn’t it?
And once that trigger circuit was etched into her, she had a habit of going off the rails instantly.
Well, as someone in the same illusion-school major, that was pretty satisfying.
She wasn’t from a ducal house back then, but if she hadn’t been a High Elf, she probably would have been in a bind several times.
And each time, it was the troupe leader himself who covered for that stupid, kind friend.
“Certainly Chloe had some sharp points when it came to criticism, but when it came to creation, she was severely lacking in imagination. So she had little talent for high-level illusion magic.”
“That’s true.”
Kim Yul readily admitted it.
It was a bit much to call it the reason they became close, but their current relationship had in fact grown out of a bet with Chloe, who knew nothing about novels.
If he’d listened to Chloe’s advice and changed direction then, historical accuracy would’ve been one thing, but the story itself would have flown straight off the rails.
“Of course, I could still bear it until Chloe... said, ‘Are you getting old and losing your edge, desuwa?’ and started hurling insults.”
Kim Yul saw the glass in the troupe leader’s hand trembling violently.
He seemed to have finally lost it, but Kim Yul wasn’t particularly sympathetic toward elves in this situation.
“If she apologizes, I might forgive her, but I want no professional entanglement with her. I’ve explained the circumstances this far, so I’m sure you understand──”
“Um, pardon me for interrupting.”
Kim Yul gently cut the troupe leader off.
“I’m not trying to turn ‘Two Heroes,’ which is serialized on Novelpia, into a magical play. It’s an entirely new work.”
Kim Yul held out the manuscript he had prepared.
And then he added,
“I’ll bring Chloe here soon and make her apologize, too.”
Even as the troupe leader took the manuscript on reflex, he sent Kim Yul a distrustful look.
How was he supposed to deal with that idiot Chloe, so proud for no reason?
Kim Yul only gave a small smile.
“If you’re wrong, you apologize. It’s a truth of the world even a child knows.”
* * *
The next day.
In Novelpia’s president’s office, as Chloe’s “Kuaang!” cries echoed through the building after she’d had her ears pulled since dawn, right from the moment she arrived at work...
“I hope today’s morning paper gets here soon!”
“Can Cao Cao really escape?”
“Even if he runs, he won’t be able to make a comeback.”
“Quit spoiling it, you bastards! I haven’t read that far yet!”
“Hmm... isn’t it the fault of anyone who still hasn’t read it by now?”
“Shh. The delivery’s finally here...!”
“No cutting in line! I was here first!”
At last, the readers were gifted the long-awaited escape segment for Cao Cao.
- Hwahaha! Look at this! They say guys like Zhuge Liang and Zhou Yu are smart, but they’re still lacking! If I were them, I’d have hidden an ambush in this Wulin Forest!
Even while thoroughly defeated and fleeing, Cao Cao kept laughing heartily to show the majesty and composure of a leader.
But, as the saying goes, the mouth is the root of all trouble.
- Changshan Zhao Zilong is here!
A silver spear was aimed at him.
- Hwahaha! It seems Zhuge Liang’s miraculous stratagems can’t reach this far after all. If it were me, I’d have planted someone like Zhang Fei in this Huarong Gorge! And since even the name is Huarong Gorge, it reminds me of the memory of shouting “bastard” in front of Hulao Pass back then──
- Bastard who slept with three married women! Your lover Zhang Fei has arrived!
With his PTSD from Changban flaring up, Cao Cao even threw away the helmet that symbolized command and fled, slapping his horse’s rump like a madman.
But old habits die hard.
- Hwahaha! Hwahaha-hah!
Once again, Cao Cao hoisted another comedy flag.
- Chancellor, why are you laughing again? Please, just hurry up and go. Every time you laugh, I get scared.
Zhang Liao, who had stayed with Cao Cao to the bitter end, was horrified and tried to rein in Cao Cao’s loose tongue, but.
- Do you think I wouldn’t see through Zhuge Liang’s flimsy trick of setting fire on the narrow road to lure us onto the main road? So if we take the narrow road, we can surely escape!
- ……
Zhang Liao’s spiritual pressure was still far too small to block that Pele-class Wind Release: Mouth Jutsu.
Still, Cao Cao’s reasoning made quite a bit of sense, so he thought that if they could just get past this one, they’d finally be able to return home.
Alas.
- Hwahahahaha! Exactly! If it were me, Cao Mengde, I’d have had troops lie in ambush on this road. Then we’d all be rats in a trap!
- Chancellor. Have you been well?
- Y-you, Guan Yu...?!
The readers’ hearts were set ablaze by the satisfying realization that even at the very end, Cao Cao’s every move had still been in Zhuge Liang’s palm.
If they turned the next page, Cao Cao would probably meet his end.
And so the readers turned the newspaper pages half in delight, half in regret.
“Uh...?”
“Huh?”
“What is this...”
They were met with an unexpected turn.
Instead of Cao Cao’s story,
An unseen behind-the-scenes story, buried beneath the Battle of Red Cliffs and never properly shown until now, unfolded through a flashback.
Along with Zhuge Liang’s genius insight into the train of thought that led him to predict Cao Cao’s escape.
And the heated exchange between Guan Yu, who was furious at having been assigned no mission, and Zhuge Liang.
And, after taking the fact bomb that “You used to be Cao Cao’s lackey, didn’t you?” straight to the face, his face turned red as a jujube.
- If Guan Yu lets Cao Cao go, Guan Yu gets punished. If Cao Cao doesn’t come to Huarong Road, Zhuge Liang gets punished. That should do it, right?
With the atmosphere suddenly drifting into a full-on delete-your-account showdown, the whole thing took a very aggressive turn.
The readers were blown away.
This match was impossible to predict.
And the first person to come to their senses was...
“Yes... this is it...!”
After having an epiphany on the spot, they immediately ran to a board-game salon.
He shouted at the people with shadows under their eyes who had spent the night playing board games, especially those who enjoyed Hero Assembly.
“Let’s play a prediction game!”
Strictly speaking, it wasn’t a board game, though.
It was one of the games they often enjoyed: a “prediction game.”
As the name suggested, it was a game of betting on the outcome of something. It was absolutely not gambling.
Instead of explaining in painstaking detail the material he had brought along, he simply took a quick lap around today’s Novelpia, and
Jingle! Jingle! Thud!
Coins and coin pouches piled up neatly.
Around the same time.
A similar situation unfolded elsewhere.
Even at the Jean Renobil Salon.
“Looking at Guan Yu’s actions so far, he values loyalty. Cao Cao should be able to survive.”
“A man made a bet on his pride—how could he possibly let Cao Cao go? And from a storytelling standpoint, wouldn’t that just be a frustrating slog?”
“Then, shall we bet?”
“Sure! I’ll bet that Cao Cao dies.”
* * *
After all, the reason the Empire’s emperor had been able to seize hegemony in the first place was...
Because the gambles he made from extremely disadvantageous positions kept winning one after another, ultimately letting him seize victory.
The DNA shared by the Empire’s people.
The Empire’s capital began blazing fiercely with the creed: ‘If you’re scared, then just die.’