Chapter 597: Soccer(1)
Chapter 597: Soccer(1)
There were two things I overlooked while running the TRPG.
"Can I hit the opponent with a book?"
"Uh... sure, that's possible."
"Then I'll shout, 'You heretic! I merely forgot the prayer, but my faith in God remains unchanged!' and slam the book onto the infidel's head."
"..."
The first was that children's imagination and acting skills are limitless.
[Hmm. Using weapons and martial arts. Quite a unique ability for a stone statue. But since it's a statue, there must be stiff joints. I shall aim for those.]
"..."
The second was that the experience and veteran intuition of a hero who once saved the world were difficult to handle, even with my gift of gab.
Even Grandfather Clark was so intelligent that I couldn't even rely on the dice to trip him up.
Between being the Game Master for Ariel and the kids in the morning and becoming everyone's favorite resource for the family in the evening, my days grew busy.
It wasn't like they held me captive every single day, though. Since I had my own work to do, we only played occasionally.
Games are always more fun when played in moderation. Above all, with Call of Duty out, there was no time to feel bored.
'I feel like I've spread some kind of poison...'
Call of Duty alone was achieving success beyond imagination, and now I was spreading TRPGs on top of that?
In a way, TRPGs might be even more dangerous. In a world without computers, a TRPG was essentially the only RPG available.
Of course, unless I personally created the settings and systems, it wouldn't spread far. Being a role-playing game, it had many difficult aspects to manage.
Perhaps because of that, public interest was currently skewed more toward Call of Duty than TRPGs.
Furthermore, as a Trading Shop opened in the territory, a Meeting Plaza formed exactly as I had expected.
There, people could exchange cards by mutual agreement or simply play the game.
Since it offered various board games in addition to Call of Duty, it was easiest to think of it as a board game cafe.
"I'm warning you, gambling is strictly forbidden here. The moment I catch anyone, I'll shut this place down."
"Then what about playing a game with cards on the line?"
"..."
Is the Shadow Duel already making an appearance? Regardless, I designated that as gambling too.
Since the cards held value, wagering them was gambling. However, I turned a blind eye to children playing for fun.
Originally, the standard for gambling was the amount of money involved. Betting a few cents is fine, but the moment the units move into the hundreds of dollars, it becomes gambling.
However, given the era, I had to define any wagering of money as gambling.
For now, I had only relaxed the rules slightly by using the loophole of the cards.
[The Maishal Territory is gradually growing into a cultural city. As long as Xenon exists, it is practically an independent territory.]
Occasionally, some people said the Maishal Territory was slipping away from the Empire's influence, which was half-right and half-wrong.
While growing into a cultural city, it received massive support from the Empire, and I was soon to enter a political marriage with Lina.
It was just that my influence had transcended the Empire's power; it would take at least several hundred years to truly escape their influence.
The political marriage with Lina was like a safety measure to prevent a situation like the Stavirk Independence War from happening again.
[More magical locomotives are needed. Demand for coal is skyrocketing due to factory operations.]
[Helium. Paved roads to be installed using oil. More convenient roads are expected to be built.]
[The Duchy of Bellua proposes the installation of 'stations.' Many countries, including the Minerva Empire, have agreed...]
[An invention duel breaks out in Machina? Which is faster: an airplane or an ironclad?]
Even if I did nothing, the world changed rapidly. It was a pace so fast that even humans, with their quick learning ability, were left scrambling.
The Minerva Empire, which had been struggling through the Great Depression, began to industrialize rapidly after the swift introduction of factories and magical locomotives, leading to an explosion of work.
If the Great Depression felt like a pitch-black void with no clear solution, the current situation was like swimming desperately through a rough tide.
With Call of Duty being released in the midst of all this, I wouldn't blame the leaders if they called me a total bastard.
"Can't you just stick to writing?"
Lina looked just like that right now. She wore an elegant smile, but her face looked somewhat weary.
She was already busy enough to die, and then Call of Duty popped out of nowhere—it must be giving her a splitting headache.
But even if I was responsible for other things, I felt a bit wronged regarding this. I was just watching from the sidelines; the overall management was handled by Musk.
"Musk is the one who handled Call of Duty, not me."
"Right. As you say, President Musk is in charge of Call of Duty overall. But I heard that you were the one who spearheaded the game mechanics themselves?"
"...I have nothing to say to that."
When I answered with an embarrassed expression, Lina curled one side of her mouth as if to say, 'See?'
"Future historians will say it. If something strange happens in the world, it's all because of you. Don't you agree?"
"You mean I'm like England?"
"I don't know what England did, but I can tell it was a country just like you. Anyway, yes."
I expected this to some extent. Such evaluations were already surfacing.
The question 'How did a guy like this appear?' was spreading across the world. I was seen as a figure who ignored the flow of history.
Occasionally, figures who twist the flow of history—the 'what ifs'—do appear. In my old world, someone like Yi Sun-sin would be an example.
However, I wasn't just twisting the flow of history; I was ignoring it entirely. Instead of developing step-by-step through accumulated technology and experience, I was just bypassing the process.
"It's a good thing the gods are protecting you, but you could be in danger if things go wrong. What if demon worshippers incite the public and frame you?"
"Frame me how?"
"By saying you're becoming a shield for the gods. In fact, many people were already cursing you because of the Great Depression."
"Hmm."
She had a point. To others, the relationship between the gods and me probably looked somewhat precarious.
But there was one thing Lina didn't know: even the gods couldn't do anything to me.
Since she didn't know that, she might think the gods were using me as a shield, but in reality, we were in the same boat.
"You don't have to worry about that. I have my own cards to play."
"I'm glad to hear that, but... the recent changes have been too abrupt. It's only been two or three years since you rose to prominence. But the world? It's being evaluated as having advanced by several hundred years."
"Can you tell me what you want?"
"Stop just shitting things out... ahem."
It seemed Lina had a lot of pent-up frustration. Even she, who usually used noble speech, was on the verge of using slang.
Despite the brief slip, she cleared her throat and made a request in a serious voice.
"It's fine to spread the culture from your world. It's good for us if you spread good culture. But I wish you'd be a bit more cautious. The Call of Duty you released this time has already caused controversy due to its speculative nature, hasn't it?"
"Well..."
"What I'm talking about is healthy culture. A culture that trains the body and mind, with absolutely no speculative elements like Call of Duty."
"Something like soccer?"
The answer came out of my mouth instinctively. I had already been considering soccer since my last conversation with Luminous.
There was nothing quite like soccer for training the body and mind. Unlike other games that people either loved or hated, it was a culture that could be enjoyed by everyone, regardless of age or gender.
I had shown my past life to others, so they knew about soccer, but Lina didn't. She blinked and asked.
"...Soccer? What's that? I know it was mentioned a few times in Blood and Iron."
"It's a type of ball game. You know how commoners sometimes play by kicking round objects? There are even rumors about them playing with the heads of executed prisoners."
"Was that so?"
Lina tilted her head as if hearing it for the first time. For a moment, I was puzzled, but considering her status, it wasn't strange.
Lina was the Imperial Princess of the Minerva Empire. She was one of the powerful figures in charge of part of the state affairs.
She only needed to check if the people were eating well and if the national treasury was filling up; she likely had no interest in commoners' games.
She paid attention to Call of Duty because Musk and I collaborated on it and the religious world was wary of it, but she probably didn't care much about other pastimes.
'She's probably only seen knights training when it comes to physical exercise.'
I realized once again that Lina was a princess. I had almost forgotten she was a civil servant crushed by state affairs, thinking of her only as a woman with unique fetishes.
"I feel like you're thinking something very impious."
"It's your imagination. Anyway, soccer is..."
I gave her a brief explanation of soccer based on what I knew. When I mentioned it was the most famous sport in the world I came from, she immediately showed interest.
And after the general explanation was over, Lina's reaction was quite a sight.
"It sounds boring. It's just people fighting over a single ball."
"If you said that in a country called Brazil, you would've been shot."
"Is it really that serious? How strange."
Showing her once would be better than explaining it ten times, but that was difficult right now. Lina also had a mountain of work to do and had to leave soon.
Above all, the reason she was negative about soccer was that jousting between knights already existed.
She questioned the need to create another spectacle when one already existed.
"Well, if you're not interested, then never mind. Even if it's not the Minerva Empire..."
"Can you tell me what's needed?"
However, Lina already treated me like a bag of knowledge. A bag of knowledge that would bring great success no matter what was pulled out.
Furthermore, the Minerva Empire was, as always, very hungry for culture. It was growing steadily thanks to the Maishal Territory, but it was too limited.
It meant that relying solely on the Xenon Biography and Blood and Iron lacked diversity.
Moreover, my existence itself had transcended the Emperor. It was bound to be burdensome.
"I'm busy right now, so I'll think about soccer slowly. If it's not feasible, you can spread it first. It certainly seems like a culture that trains the body and mind."
"Got it."
Two days passed, and the new volume of Blood and Iron was released.
[The extermination of the Jews has begun. The death camps are operational!]
[Jews heading to the gas chambers. They met a death not like animals, but like insects.]
[How can humans be like this? Shouldn't they at least be given the right to die as humans?]
The 'gas chambers' were put into operation just before Operation Blue and the Battle of Midway.
Readers couldn't help but be horrified by the scene of a massacre that was unimaginable as an act committed by humans.
The evaluation was that while Japan committed cruel acts within the realm of what humans could do, Nazi Germany committed acts that humans should not be capable of.
[Let's kill Nazi Germany. Nazi Germany is the incarnation of the devil.]
[I hope they are crushed miserably.]
[Between the US and the Soviet Union, who will be the one to step on Berlin?]
The growing anger toward the Axis Powers was a bonus.
Afterward, the book explained the precursors to Operation Blue and the Battle of Midway, with famous battles set to appear one after another.
Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union would face the Battle of Stalingrad, a hell manifested on earth.
The United States and Japan would face the Battle of Midway, a naval and aerial battle unfolding over the vast ocean.
[Newly updated Call of Duty. Nazi Germany nerfed, Soviet Union buffed. Japan remains the same, and the US Air Force has been buffed.]
Call of Duty was also updated in line with the new volume.
[Children only play Call of Duty instead of going outside to play. Parents' worried gazes increase.]
A reason to introduce soccer early had just been created.