Chapter 46
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 46
Chapter Title: Zhuge Liang and Sima Yi (1)
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As always.
There was one reason Kim Yul pulled off this abrupt finale shift.
"This won't do."
There was no such thing as an endless upward trend.
Stock charts didn't have them, and neither did web novel performances.
Flowers don't bloom red for ten days straight. What goes up must come down—that was the natural order. And so, the loyal readers of Two Heroes began to slowly evaporate.
He had successfully sparked a Three Kingdoms boom and snagged an A-rank skill in the process.
But acquiring higher skills demanded far too many readers, to the point where Truth Newspaper's scale just couldn't handle it anymore.
So Kim Yul pondered.
For the long term, he needed a bold move to broaden his reader base even further.
So he devised an entirely new plan.
Novelpia.
A printing medium dedicated solely to novels.
As the name suggested, Kim Yul was naturally the one who came up with the idea.
The Schneisen Duke, receiving the proposal through Chloe, clapped like a seal and shouted to push it forward immediately.
Popularity exploded, of course!
"Get me that novel thing right now!"
"Argh! Why's there an SR grade in the limited-edition card pack?!"
"Well... I pulled the SSR Young Strategist Zhuge Liang in one go, but who's this?"
"Grab that guy! How dare he brag!"
"Me! Why don't I get an SSR?! I had bad luck with card packs too!"
...Of course, that popularity rode heavily on the coattails of Heroes Assemble.
Still, Novelpia sold like hotcakes.
People blinded by the limited-edition cards bought multiple copies.
"Hm, I don't really read novels. But I'll take this."
Too flimsy for firewood, so they started giving away unread copies of Novelpia for free everywhere.
That was exactly the point Kim Yul had aimed for.
"Madness... my old friend..."
"Are you satisfied?"
"Of course I am."
No idea who she took after, but Historie—who loved holing up in her room even more than I did—got dragged out for a rare walk.
"I always say it, but the air quality here sucks."
I brushed off Historie's complaints, spoiled as she was by the clean, artificial air from her purifier, and kept going.
Children playing in the streets proudly projected holographic Guan Yu images.
Even in broad daylight, taverns with wide-open doors echoed with cries of "It's a duel!" and "Pulling that card there?!"—classic gaming addict chatter—as I strolled along.
....
"You're wearing that 'I didn't expect it to blow up this big' look, Kim Yul."
"Yeah. Honestly."
Did Chris Metzgen ever predict his game would evolve into a folk pastime on distant Korean soil?
Probably not.
I felt the same.
Market research beforehand suggested it'd do well, but not this well.
To be fair, by contribution, it was all our UR-grade tin can here—who was pouting her lips and waddling behind me—who did the heavy lifting.
She made the rules, the illustrations, the card effects.
...Sure, by sifting through big data, but a normie like me couldn't have dreamed of it.
"We're here."
"Oh...!"
Maybe time for an expensive meal.
The place was a high-end restaurant without Michelin tires but plastered with three Michelin stars.
"Order whatever you want today."
"K-K-Kim Yul...!"
The tin can's eyes sparkled with LED colors, snapping out of power-save mode.
She had a huge appetite, so this was normally out of reach.
"Why are you so late?"
"It happens."
With a solid sugar mama lined up, no worries.
Today's wallet: Chloe.
We'd bonded a bit working on Heroes Assemble, and honestly, she felt too pathetic to keep formal with—like a cheap knockoff friend—so we switched to casual terms.
Though considering Chloe's actual age, she was a bit old for "friends."
- In human years, I'm just past twenty!
- Then call me oppa.
- ?
She trotted out that dog-years logic, so I milked it.
Chloe's gaze shifted to my side.
"Who's that with the vulgarly massive fat sacks?"
Our neighborhood-mountain-scale tin can growled at the elf like Mount Tai.
Transparent. Totally transparent.
Before the furious tin can could fire a Historie beam from her eyes.
"The illustrator. You wanted to meet her."
"Ah."
The rude elf realized her rudeness.
But her eyes stayed rudely glued to our tin can's majestic knowledge pouches.
The tin can's reaction to having "tits are tacky" shoved in her face?
"Pleased to meet you. I'm Historie."
Surprisingly polite.
Guess you can't spit in a smiling face—even here.
"Ahem! I apologize for my rudeness. I'm Chloe von Wispearoud."
Wispearoud? What was that?
The elf's broken language module was beyond even me.
"I understand. It's the historical inevitability for those without to covet others' rice cakes and evolve into red proletarians."
"What did she say?"
Hm.
The politeness was just for initiative.
I rubbed my forehead watching two goldbricks yap like dogs.
No normal people around me.
Except me.
.
.
.
I yanked the ears of the goldbricks—who'd bonded over "e"—ending the catfight over mid differences.
"This, this, this, and this."
"Kim Yul, order that one too, please."
"Yes, that too. And this, and this—"
"M-Meat is no good...!"
"Do it!"
I smacked down the arrogant vegetarian elf daring to ignore the tastes of those she was treating.
Good girl, Historie.
Ruin Chloe's wallet...!
And so.
Gluttony.
"H-How do you fit all that in your stomach...?"
"Tasty."
"Mmm, mmm."
Like kids who'd survived winter on turnips, the tin can and I slaughtered everything on the table.
Stares poured in from around us, but whatever.
Let any bourgeois among you who's eaten tear-soaked bread cast the first stone. I'll take it gladly.
"How can you butcher meat like that...!"
"Wipe your drool."
"Hmph!"
"Aren't elves supposed to cherish plants more? Why vegetarian? Can you eat world tree root salad then?"
"Wh-What...! Such blatant elf hate...!"
I ignored the stunned, jaw-dropped Chloe and dove back into eating.
After Kim Yul and Historie finished their intense battle feast.
The three dove into serious business talk.
"Mm, Zhuge Liang makes sense from the Three Visits, but who's Sima Yi? Why's he suddenly the protagonist?"
"Curious? Spoiler territory?"
"Ugh...! B-But I have a right to know as an investor! He has zero connection to Cao Cao—it's confusing as a reader!"
In truth, Chloe voiced the exact sentiments of Two Heroes' longtime fans.
Zhuge Liang was understandable, but why thrust this new character Sima Yi into the protagonist spot?
Kim Yul knew it well, so he dropped the smirk and explained earnestly.
"The protagonist switch was to vividly show how Cao Cao and Liu Bei's actions reshaped the world."
Couldn't spoil "Cao Cao falls, Sima unifies later," so he relied on the logic built through writing.
"He's still in his boyhood now... but Zhuge Liang will soon get dragged into the Xu Province massacre. Sima Yi seems to grow up peacefully in a noble house, but he'll witness the shifts in power dynamics from Cao Cao's rise and grow ambitious."
"Hm..."
"No matter how much politics and diplomacy I covered in the Cao Cao arc, it's all top-down. The Sima Yi arc will capture the bottom-up view."
"Gaoping Mausoleum..."
"Shh."
He quashed the tin can's interjection effortlessly.
Kim Yul then blabbered on, kneading Chloe's brain into submission.
Of course, he fully acknowledged the current performance fell short of his previous work.
But.
Finishing Part 1 and moving to Part 2 demanded it.
Refocusing the story did too.
For the ending he envisioned.
"The protagonist changed, but Sima Yi will eventually join Cao Cao's forces. I'll adjust perspectives to cover Cao Cao plenty, so no need to worry."
"If that's the case..."
Chloe nodded, convinced.
He'd convinced the major investor.
But winning over the readers' hearts proved tougher.
Naturally.
Swapping protagonists mid-serialization in a hit novel? Like replacing the actor for Dumbledore—practically a crime!
So early momentum relied on Novelpia bundling and card sales.
Fortunately.
Just before his grand canvas tore.
Kim Yul seized a rebound chance.
Borrowing Romance of the Three Kingdoms' power again.
Pathetically, with the previous protagonist.
Liu Bei fleeing like a dog after getting fleeced, pursued vigorously by Cao Cao's massive army.
- Dragon Child wouldn't abandon me!
- Indeed. If it's General Zhao Yun...
Even in this desperate pinch, the first protagonist's ironclad faith synergized with the second's otherworldly tactics.
And before Cao Cao's forces, hell-bent on severing and stuffing Liu Bei's ears.
At Changban Slope.
Two massive mountains appeared.