Chapter 28
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 28
Chapter Title: Liu Bei and Cao Cao (3)
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Was it thanks to the massive marketing campaign that had been rolling out even before serialization began?
The Romance of the Three Kingdoms that Kim Yul had ambitiously released into this world—bundled together under the official title Two Heroes—began riding a steep wave of popularity right from the early chapters.
Especially...
"Hey, you cheap dwarf?"
"Hm?"
"I'll grant you the honor of becoming sworn brothers with me."
"Fuck off."
Even without Kim Yul mentioning it in his author's notes, was it because of some literary DNA shared across eras and worlds?
The trio of Liu, Guan, and Zhang—nicknamed the "Peach Brothers"—had sparked a movement of racial harmony that set the hearts of so-called philanthropists ablaze.
Of course, not a single dwarf ever actually became sworn brothers with a high elf.
And then...
Lady Chloe of the Wispearud family had turned her "Peach World Tree" into a tourist hotspot in the city before long.
"Ohohohot! Business is booming!"
Strangely enough, a café nearby with an unclear owner was suddenly showered in cash.
The money going into the newspaper came from Daddy's pockets.
But the money raked in from the café was hers.
It was the moment Lady Chloe's dwarven business acumen truly shone.
.
.
.
The dwarves' reactions were little more than that.
But as serialization continued, humans began to seriously enjoy Two Heroes.
"An empire crumbling from corruption... Even looking at that sewage scandal, it's clear this author Ulysses has a keen interest in politics."
Now impeached and reduced to a political has-been, his face sallow from the lingering Orange Plague...
What had driven Congressman Asterik to make his explosive revelations?
Though he had devolved into a dictator, it hadn't started that way—with the heroic exploits of young Caesar.
That's why Two Heroes became essential reading, especially for those interested in politics.
Naturally, salons buzzed with serious discussions on the topic.
"Those Ten Attendants pulling the strings of the empire... No matter how you look at it, they're aimed at the high noble houses."
"But the Yellow Turbans make that interpretation shaky, don't they? They seem to symbolize black mages and heretics."
"Fair point. A mystical leader wielding sorcery... Given what those heretics did, that's a valid read too."
"Black mages are ultimately trying to topple the empire's system too, so... hmm, this one's controversial."
If Kim Yul had heard, he'd have shouted "Right or left?!" and declared political neutrality in exhaustion.
Unfortunately, he'd been too busy writing lately to set foot in the capital's salons.
Unintentionally, Kim Yul—or rather, the author Ulysses—began to be seen as a rising storm in imperial politics.
Of course...
People seriously tackling heavy topics like politics were few and far between, even in salons.
Most were...
"So, who wins between Guan Yu and Zhang Fei?"
"Even 1v2 against Liu Bei, I bet Liu Bei sweeps."
"Honestly, Liu Bei was just some country bumpkin originally, right?"
"Take that back... right now...!"
"But is Cao Cao really the villain? Doesn't feel like it."
"From what we've seen so far, hmm, well. Liu Bei didn't exactly hide his bloodline either."
"But 15th generation? 17th? That's barely any imperial blood worth mentioning."
...enjoying character-based popularity contests.
Especially the early arcs, where the author deliberately contrasted the two protagonists completely.
Cao Cao, leading the imperial army as a prayer captain, displaying outstanding leadership and charisma to wipe out the Yellow Turbans' remnants at Yeongcheon.
Liu Bei, pooling his family's wealth with his sworn brothers to form a volunteer force and charging into battle himself.
One was the obvious elite path.
The other, a grassroots weed climbing from the bottom.
Rule by military law?
Or by benevolence?
Of course...
"A merchant handing over all the horses at a loss? Even in a novel, that doesn't make sense!"
"Foolish. If a high elf wielding dual swords flawlessly asked to buy them, wouldn't you cave?"
"I-is that how it is...?"
Because Kim Yul had written with a casual "Liu Bei is Romance version! Amp it up!" mindset.
Zhang Shiping and Su Shuang ended up as horse merchants getting shaken down by Liu Bei in this world—and worse, overwhelmed by a high elf.
In the historical records, they were more plausibly low-point buyers of Liu Bei coins, but Kim Yul couldn't spare description for novel extras.
Thus, Liu Bei was saddled with the inescapable fate of dwarven framing and haters.
.
.
.
For a while like that.
In popularity polls, Cao Cao double-scored his landslide victory.
Liu Bei had only shown the image of a big-eared, naive high elf so far.
But Cao Cao, positioned as an outsider just off the center of power, masterfully narrated the political drama.
Even refusing appointment as Eastern Army Governor to retire and build his own force.
Lightly tangling with palace intrigues while playing the observer and schemer—highly praised.
Not a dramatic failure to assassinate Dong Zhuo like in Romance, followed by betrayal, but fleeing the tyrant-like Dong Zhuo was fine.
However.
"......"
"......Huh?"
"Hm......"
"Whoa, this is something."
Cao Cao's sudden outburst finally lived up to the title.
Due to the Yeobaeksa incident.
The endless skyrocketing of Cao Cao coins slowed a bit.
"Phew."
Did I pick the wrong material...?
A pressure unlike anything from writing Caesar's tale weighed heavily on my shoulders lately.
I'd vaguely thought to crossover history and Romance, squeezing out some juicy bits.
But crafting each chapter to burst with dopamine was the real key.
Plus, simultaneous serialization meant avoiding timeline distortions or glaring narrative gaps.
Right there, the flow from the Yellow Turban Rebellion to purging the Ten Attendants was actually easy to handle.
Cao Cao was thrown into the eye of the storm.
Liu Bei just wandered around doing good deeds, occasionally embellishing to rescue a kidnapped girl from Yellow Turban remnants and sneak in some romance.
Stuff like tossing in fake heroines to pull aggro.
However.
The highlight of Romance of the Three Kingdoms, arguably.
All the warlords gathering to raise their banners against the traitor Dong Zhuo—the Anti-Dong Alliance.
...History was awkward here.
Romance made it epic, like Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors, or the empire's Seven Swordmasters, neatly tagged with "Eighteen Lords."
History? Nothing like that.
Hua Xiong fleeing in fear from continent's top dual-sword master Liu Bei? Only in Romance's Three Heroes vs. Lu Bu.
...Minus that.
Is there fun?
No, honestly, it feels boring...
Even Liu Bei's participation is iffy in historical Three Kingdoms.
At best, Heroic Tales of Wang Chan mentions it—and even then, alongside Cao Cao.
That could be spun attractively with good embellishment...
But it'd upend too many story threads at once.
"Then why not cram all the Cao Cao parts into explanations, and depict scenes in Liu Bei's part?"
"They're separate novels. That feels off."
Historie gave me a sullen look.
"Readers won't care anyway. Esthea's thrilled to binge both."
"...Is that so?"
I checked the status window.
"...Yeah."
I expected some difference.
Daily readers were almost identical.
In that case...
"Nyam nyam~"
Esthea, now part of the Peace-of-Mind faction, hummed a tune as she roamed the capital from dawn.
Life in her lair, minions fetching everything with a snap? Great, sure.
"Today's papers! All of 'em!"
"My, what a spirited little miss."
Too tamed by Historie's gourmet rice balls.
Now she devoured all genres indiscriminately, living her happiest mutt life.
Of course.
She wasn't stingy voicing opinions either, casually driving three rookie authors to quit in the process.
In her long dragon life, snapping a few pens meant nothing.
"What? Serialization halted? No way!"
She didn't even realize her "reader feedback" had stabbed authors in the heart.
Villain of villains.
"My, such strength in a little miss."
"Thanks!"
After humbly accepting lowly human praise, befitting a proper dragon.
Esthea giggled openly, skipped to a park bench, and plopped down.
First up, naturally: Truth Newspaper.
Flip flip—
Skimming past uninteresting human politics, she dove straight into Two Heroes.
First, the front section: Two Heroes: The Villain Hides His Ambition.
But.
Today's kibble was subpar.
Where was the dopamine rush? Just endless plotting to smash that bad guy Dong Zhuo.
This is fraud!
Volume padding!
Woo! Woo woo!
"Arrrng."
With a swirl of dissatisfaction and breath in her mouth, frowning, Esthea flipped ahead to Two Heroes: The Imperial Kin Hides His Bloodline.
"Wait, this guy's from the other story—why's he popping up here?"
Oddly, Villain Ambition Hidden barely mentioned Liu Bei, while Imperial Blood Hidden had Cao Cao intruding like a co-protagonist, sorting traffic.
Well, binge bonus.
Retelling the same scene from another angle was peak padding.
And.
"Waaah—!"
Sucked right in, Esthea devoured it all in a flash, unleashing a satisfied cheer heedless of stares.
Her dragon heart.
Began filling with Guan Yu hype.