Chapter 62
Normally, the first time is the hardest for any task, which is why the saying that the beginning is half the battle exists.
But this wasn't even his first rodeo anymore.
How many protagonists had Kim Yul slaughtered by now?
Hercules.
Caesar.
Yi Sun-sin.
Just counting the main characters, that's already three.
If you include the supporting cast, Achilles, Hector, Antonius...
He had brought countless deaths into the world.
He might as well be called a novelist of death, writing novels just to depict characters' deaths.
And so.
The very next day, before the lingering aftereffects of Guan Yu's death had even faded.
The serialized installment showed the wicked Dongwu Jerry—the dark mage Sun Quan—packing a fierce curse into Guan Yu's head and tossing it over to Cao Cao.
- The realm is still unsettled, so don't wear mourning clothes. Ministers, don't mind my death; just do your own duties, and don't build me some fancy tomb for nothing.
Even Cao Cao, whose poor health had been foreshadowed little by little over nearly twenty chapters, bit the dust.
In the novel, his chronic illness worsened, and...
It also added that he had been disheartened by Guan Yu's death—the object of his lifelong love and hate, his lifesaver, and the ideal model of a general.
But what did the official canon know?
"Cao Cao died... So Liu Bei really was the true protagonist of the two heroes, after all."
"He was a villain, but there had never been a bad guy who left such an overwhelming impression. I'll have to reread the Two Heroes' Cao Cao story today."
"At this point... are Sun Quan and Wu the final villains the author has in mind?"
"Zhuge Liang should have wiped them all out with the southeast hurricane back then...!"
Both Guan Yu's death and Cao Cao's.
The readers couldn't shake the reasonable suspicion that both had been brought about by Wu's scheming.
.
.
.
Even as the readers were burning with suspicion toward Wu, Kim Yul's writing never stopped.
Kim Yul went to Novelpia's headquarters today as well with another completed death manuscript in hand, but...
"Huh? Mr. Guilford. What are you doing here?"
He looked a little surprised to see the face of the old editor, whom he hadn't seen in a while, instead of the elf who always greeted him.
"Writer! It's been a while. You don't even stop by the Truth Daily very often anymore."
"Hmm, well, I don't serialize anymore now, do I...? Still, it's nice to see you again after so long."
After a brief catch-up.
"What about Chloe?"
"Ah, the boss has been laid up with illness. So for now I'm coming in as the temporary acting boss."
"Huh?"
Guilford tactfully explained that Chloe's illness was hwa-byeong, and Kim Yul understood immediately.
"Uh... hmm."
A little guilt twitched inside Kim Yul's heart.
He filed away the thought of later coaxing the saint to ask whether healing would also help treat hwa-byeong, and maybe go visit her together.
"For now, please look at the manuscript."
"Lately I've only seen it through Novelpia... a raw manuscript, huh. I'm looking forward to it."
Guilford flipped the manuscript pages open.
## ====== ##
The night wind of Baxi was especially cold.
White banners fluttered throughout the camp, almost tearing apart, and the wind's cutting howl rang like a ghostly lament for Guan Yu.
Zhang Fei was kneeling before the altar set up in the middle of the tent.
With his naturally deft hands, Zhang Fei had personally carved Guan Yu's memorial tablet and placed it there.
"Big brother..."
The tiger who had once commanded the battlefield was now gaunt, shedding only bloodshot tears.
At last.
"General, we present the offerings."
The lieutenants entered the tent.
Their expressions remained as respectfully polite as ever, but today they carried a meaningfully chilling killing intent.
Ever since Jingzhou had been lost.
They had constantly guarded against Shu's growth and had laid countless schemes to thwart it at the decisive moment.
And the lieutenants.
Fan Jiang and Zhang Da.
They were shadows planted long ago by Grand Commandant Lü Meng and Lu Xun, even before Liu Bei marched into Shu.
"Big brother, this younger brother offers the last cup..."
In his despair, Zhang Fei set the things they brought onto the altar without the slightest suspicion, then poured the wine onto the memorial tablet.
And drank it.
Since he hadn't eaten or drunk anything for days, the harsh liquor flowing down his throat felt just like drinking poison.
No.
It really was.
"Gah...!"
Zhang Fei clutched his chest and staggered, then spat out dark red blood in a gush.
"General Zhang. Please don't resent us too much. We too only acted for our lord."
Though he served a different lord, Zhang Da had always been unable to suppress his admiration for Zhang Fei's martial skill and strategy, and he muttered bitterly.
…….
…….
Fan Jiang, Zhang Da.
And even the Wu spies who had quietly been building their power bit by bit rushed him all at once.
They still couldn't bring down that one man who could face ten thousand by martial prowess.
Only Zhang Fei's rough, ragged breathing remained inside the tent.
But.
The poison had already seeped into his bones.
He no longer had the strength to twitch even a finger.
Even so.
Zhang Fei used all his strength to straighten his upper body.
Then looked once more toward the place where Guan Yu's memorial tablet stood.
Thanks to having protected the incense he had lit even amid the bloody struggle, while disregarding his own body.
The incense placed before the intact tablet was rising in dignified wisps of smoke.
"Ha, haha..."
What a pathetic older brother he had been.
He himself had been a truly pathetic younger brother.
They had agreed to die together on the same day.
Yet the two younger brothers were so foolish that they ended up leaving the world before their older brother.
But...
He didn't have much regret.
If he could uproot the demonic grasp hanging over Shu with his own life, then his big brother would be that much safer.
So, please.
"The great undertaking..."
At the tip of Zhang Fei's nose.
The scent of peach blossoms drifted into view.
## ====== ##
"Ah..."
The moment he read the last sentence.
Guilford let out a sigh without even realizing it.
Three chapters.
It was only three chapters.
Yesterday, Guan Yu died.
Today, Cao Cao died.
And tomorrow, Zhang Fei was scheduled to die.
And all of those deaths.
Were being elevated into a heartbreaking narrative, granted legitimacy by such exquisitely crafted foreshadowing that it was hard to believe he hadn't noticed it until now.
Of course, that was from the editor's point of view.
From the reader's point of view, coldly.
"It'd be better not to show this to the boss, right?"
"Probably not."
The two men reached an unspoken agreement.
* * *
Fortunately for Kim Yul.
Apart from the small number of loud, die-hard fans.
Even with Guan Yu, Cao Cao, and Zhang Fei dying one after another, the readers weren't complaining of mass depression to that extent.
At least not yet.
Of course.
"O one darker than twilight, redder than the flow of blood...!"
"Whoa! They're casting a spell over there!"
"Stop them!"
"Ulysses! I didn't think you'd be that kind of man!"
"Former Assemblyman Asteric, this is a bit much..."
"You honorless bastard! Where are you hiding? Get out here this instant and take my gauntlet!"
"You're going to get sent flying by a single club swing anyway."
"What! Then duel me first!"
After all, that's how it is—small groups of loud superfans are the ones who do the big things.
The Novelpia headquarters building was soon glossy with all kinds of thrown eggs and magic.
And Wu's reputation, which Kim Yul had reduced to a punching bag, kept plunging day by day.
Instead of the traditionally used insult "puppy," the insult "rat" began to be used more often because it carried a more insulting meaning.
"All right, let the duel begin... hm?"
"Go ahead and start. What's wrong?"
"...Wait, are you seriously pulling out a Sun Quan-Lu Xun deck?"
"Of course. To counter your Liu Bei-Guan Yu deck──"
"You rat! You're insulting Guan Yu twice over!"
The board-game scene where 'Gathering of Heroes' was enjoyed, the so-called duel board, also underwent a literal shift in its meta.
The fact that the trading card game's name settled into Duel was the world's own corrective force, something bound to happen in any world.
That's why the people who had been collecting Wu cards like hipsters while muttering, "Why is it so strong?" were crying bloody tears.
Honestly, the fact that no Bunka-gangyu (焚card坑user) incident had occurred was something to be thankful for.
It was a time when the ominous public opinion, impossible to reverse even if Sun Quan ran a Caesar-style villain-image laundromat, hovered around the imperial capital like a ghost.
Kim Yul was strolling down the street without a shred of fear, savoring that public sentiment with his whole body.
If the ghost of Sun Quan had seen him, it would have wanted to possess him on the spot and shout, "I am Sun Jerry!"—he was that defenseless.
Of course, if the ghost of the dead Sun Quan appeared before Kim Yul, he would have been exorcised at once by Domain Expansion, 'Conflict of the Two Palaces,' so it wasn't much of a problem.
And he also had company.
"Among your acquaintances, do you have a patient?"
"Yes. They say it's hwa-byeong, but, hmm, I'm still a little worried..."
"All right. Let's go."
What reason would a saint need to heal a patient's illness?
But if that goodwill came back as a love story so sweet and heart-throbbing that her chest went pitter-pat, she could even carve out time that didn't exist to help.
Even so.
"Rune finally realized his own feelings. So he gathered the courage to confess to Xiao. But since he wasn't the kind of man brave enough to say it outright, he left a letter saying, 'Meet me in the piano practice room at the Art Academy.' Unfortunately, that letter ended up in Chen's hands instead of Xiao's."
"Oh my."
Lately, Kim Yul hadn't been able to spare time to write, so he had no choice but to tell stories instead.
It was still an interesting, sweet, and heart-fluttering story.
Even the title.
"A Secret I Can't Whisper," of all things.
"How romantic!"
"You really should be writing romance novels..."
"Ahem, I'll seriously consider it. For now, we've arrived."
"Huh?"
Even though Kim Yul's story had been cut off at the most tantalizing point.
"Was this the destination?"
Roselyn could only blurt out her confusion instead of whining.
"Yes. As expected of a saint, you must know this place."
"W-well... no."
Roselyn was about to kindly add an explanation for this idiotically kind Kim Yul, but swallowed what she wanted to say instead.
Either way.
He'd understand once he saw it.
.
.
.
A little while later.
"Though I may shrivel up, I could never let those words pass an elf's lips! You busty saintttt!"
A loud shout erupted from Chloe's room.