Chapter 51
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 51
Chapter Title: Zhuge Liang In, Sima Yi Out (6)
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Previously.
Esthea had already attempted spatial teleportation once before to invade the cheeky author Ulysses.
But the result was a disastrous failure.
Her noble dragonship had failed at spellcasting, plummeting from midair to the floor in a pathetic splat.
The first crisis of her long dragon life!
Esthea didn't exert the vast wisdom and intellect accumulated over eons to unravel that mystery.
She just...
"Kyarruk, kyaruk!"
Eh, it'll come out by tomorrow!
She simply rolled around comfortably.
And gobbled up the endless snacks supplied from every direction.
The pinnacle of all lifeforms.
The noble and mighty dragon practicing non-action in person!
If Zhuangzi had seen Esthea's utterly carefree demeanor, he would've clapped in delight and polymorphed into a butterfly to ascend to immortality.
But sadly...
Unless one reached the level of an angel formerly a Shine Muscat farmer, the foolish masses needed the emperor's moral guidance.
[“Using the Linked Camps followed by fire attack—it's a solid plan, no doubt. But the wind is blowing toward us right now, so wouldn't our losses be greater?”
“I have a way to change the wind.”
Zhuge Liang swished his white feather fan.
- To be continued in the next chapter.]
"Right thereee! Cut off right theeeere──!"
The evil Heavenly Demon Kim Yul's Severing Blade Technique had cleanly sliced through Esthea's sanity.
The mongrel was pissed!
But...
Splat!
"Ungh!"
She ended up with another dismal report card: Teleport Failure, Season 2 Edition.
Rubbing her not-particularly-sore butt, Esthea mentally pasted on a mustache.
The current literary world was rotten.
Fun novels should be published legally three times a day.
Morning edition! Midday edition! Evening edition!
With that fury in her heart...
Esthea whooshed straight toward Kim Yul's house like a cannonball.
.
.
.
She could've just teleported right in front of the house, but Esthea bounded over energetically with her patter-patter feet and flung the door open with enough force to break the knob.
But no one, nothing was there.
Instead...
"Hmmm!"
A trace of mana lingered ever so faintly.
An ultra-high-dimensional energy that only a transcendent being like a dragon could possibly detect.
"Aperi ianuam et ostende mihi veritatem!"
Esthea declared it proudly, hand on hip, but regrettably, nothing happened.
"Grrr."
And that fact provoked the light dragon.
Her suppressed horns popped out sprong.
And from the vestigial tailbone, a long, floppy tail sprouted swayingly.
Not comparable to her true form, but...
The mongrel transformed into full-power Esthea and chanted the spell again.
Only then...
"Oh!"
A tiny gap revealed itself.
Thanks to that, the surroundings shook like an earthquake, a sudden storm raged in the streets, and the sky darkened as if the world was ending—minor side effects, really.
Trivial to Esthea, anyway.
She promptly shoved her horn into the minuscule hole.
A long-forgotten childhood memory bubbled up.
Back when his family was reasonably harmonious and he got along decently with relatives, they'd often visit the house.
Especially his same-age cousin.
That guy was a total menace, even in hindsight.
- Hey, Kim Hyun! Don't eat that!
- Nom nom!
He'd scarf down the precious Baby Shoes frozen in the fridge for that icy crunch.
- Sword fight!
- Too annoying. Wanna read.
- Take my sword!
- Argh!
His antics were so endless, you could've written a whole book about the hassles.
Still, they got along okay, but after adulthood, contact basically vanished.
He's probably living well, though.
The guy's nonchalance was next-level insane.
Why the random flashback? Well...
"Argh! My cola!"
"Tasty...! Bring more! No, bring it all!"
"Don't drop crumbs on my bed...!"
"Whoa! It bounces up and down! So squishy!"
The rascal mongrel was tearing through the entire lab like a Chuseok-visiting cousin kid, tail wagging wildly.
At least she wasn't whacking stuff with her tail everywhere—that's her conscience showing.
And at the end of those antics...
"Alright! Consider it an honor! I hereby recognize this place as equal to my dragon lair!"
The mongrel declared proudly, clutching my Lupin-brand Nin■do Switch 2.
Like roaring, 'Get out! This is now the Manches■ter United Gallery!'
Actually, my lab...
Was it the Loser Gallery...?
.
.
.
"Esthea's so cuddly, huh."
"Yeah! Noble dragons have cold blood running through their veins!"
Yet here she was, a supposedly ruthless being wrapping her tail around a lowly tin can's waist and stomping her feet in delight.
Reptiles are cold-blooded, so she's just snuggling for warmth, right?
With that thought, I sighed and booted up the laptop.
Work's work.
As I started typing...
A horn poked up from the side.
"What's this? So many cool magic gadgets!"
"Careful. Break that and I can't write."
Ignoring my warning, the mongrel prowled around like a cat, ruining my focus.
No choice.
Time for emergency measures.
1. Pick up Esthea.
"Nngh...!"
"Heh! A puny human trying to lift this body? You're a thousand years too early!"
Failure.
Had she cast 1322.77lb Weight spell or something?
My plan to hoist the stubbornly planted mongrel capsized immediately.
If she emitted killing intent, I could've suppressed her with Hector's power as a peer.
But the current mongrel was a total stray begging to be picked up, so no borrowing that strength.
In the end...
I gave up everything and plopped the rascal on my lap, clack-clacking away at the keyboard in a live public exposure show for the readers.
"Whoa!"
The mongrel's eyes sparkled right under my chin.
Can't blame her.
After only seeing medieval typewriter junk in this primitive fantasy land, who'd not gawk at an ultra-high-end gaming laptop?
"So, what novel are you writing?"
"?"
What?
Did the mongrel just say something she shouldn't?
"Sima Yi's story, obviously. ...You haven't been reading lately?"
"Yep!"
Fuck.
That instant, I resolved to early-finish or long-hiatus Sima Yi's tale ASAP.
Even that insane mongrel's skipping my feed...?
This was... doomed. No hope.
Only after clapping like a seal at the midnight miracle cola refill...
Did Esthea finally waddle out of the lab, one hand cola, one hand Pringles, kyarruk-ing away.
"Kim Yul back then had no idea. This wasn't mere lab tour. It was the terrifying onset of Dragon Domination Period and forced daily triple serialization..."
"Pfft!"
Historie teased Kim Yul mercilessly, his dark circles deeper than ever.
That day.
She finally fully grasped the unfamiliar emotion called Schadenfreude.
Today too, Historie internalized theory through practice, advancing one step toward full biological evolution.
Now, not even ripples could stop her.
"Southeast wind! Southeast wind! Southeast wind!"
Chloe, clutching Kim Yul's manuscript, danced joyfully with wild steps.
The white feather fan in her hand had wind spirits nestled within, fluttering paper everywhere in sync with her silly dance like erratic fans.
Kim Yul chuckled at the foolery, but his chest felt heavy.
Because...
Not a commercial failure, sure.
And it was stitched from historical scraps.
But Kim Yul's efforts weren't light.
Gathering fragmented records, ensuring consistency as much as possible.
Sacrificing sleep until shadows haunted his eyes, organizing, agonizing, reviewing.
And all without Romance of the Three Kingdoms reference—purely squeezed from pre-isekai drama memory.
So, with profound dismay...
"The Empire's Number Two... might need early conclusion or long hiatus."
"Early end? Long break? Hmm, that story could use it wheeere── Whyyy──"
Seeing Chloe so readily approve Sima Yi's mercy kill, rage-overcome Kim Yul yanked her ears hard.
And vowed deep in his heart.
This humiliation.
He'd pay it back for sure.
As tension gripped the imperial capital with Zhuge Gongming atop the Seven-Star Altar chanting the Anti-Magic Incantation for climate-change magic only legendary archmages of the 8th Circle could cast...
Kim Yul, eyes bloodshot like a whipped clerk, pored over 'World History in One Volume'—a book he'd never even glance at normally.
"Protagonist who's special... extraordinary life... ultimate victory..."
Myriad candidates flashed through Kim Yul's mind.
First up: Liu Bang and Xiang Yu.
Solid rivalry, but fresh off Three Kingdoms, wrong timing.
Next: Alexander the Great.
...Terrified Hephaestion BL drift might be historical fact. No red pills from classics for Kim Yul.
Countless figures sparkled past, but no knee-slapping epiphany.
Watching him groan...
"If you only think long epics, any material's tough. Better something wrapping in ~100 chapters quick."
Historie, cheeks red from the 'Mudaguchi Ren'ya' pinch fiasco, offered advice.
"This lady don't talk with Japs, Historie-milady."
Inspired by the Shadow Independence Fighter?
Before long, Kim Yul's heart brimmed with Joseon pride.
And his thoughts veered inevitably elsewhere.
He was already digging texts to vividly depict naval battles.
Once national pride and sea pride shared electron pairs in chemical synergy, exploding in his brain...
"Indeed, no one but him."
Gazing at 'Song of the Sword' on the shelf, Kim Yul murmured solemnly.
And began meticulous prep work for writing.