Chapter 55
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 55
Chapter Title: Immortal Loyalists (4)
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Newspapers were published every day at a set time.
7:00 a.m.
Aside from those grabbing a paper on their way to work, or folks eager to see their own work printed in it.
Hardly anyone bothered coming out just to buy one at that hour.
Sleepy, lazy, cold.
Of course, there were a few diehard readers who showed up specifically to catch the latest serialized novels fresh off the press.
For those very people.
Vendor Arnold at the newsstand would rise three hours earlier than everyone else each day, swinging by the printing press first thing to haul back stacks of steaming-hot copies of the day's edition.
Rattling along with his handcart.
And without realizing it, he found himself thinking of one particular girl.
- Bring the papers! All kinds!
She seemed poorly raised in the manners department, but just gazing into those pure, sparkling eyes always warmed him through the dawn chill.
He even thought of his own daughter, just hitting puberty and barely speaking to him these days.
Today, too, for that adorable little grumbler who'd soon be chirping happily, he pulled his cart energetically all the way to the square where his stand was set up.
The moment he arrived...
"They're here—!"
"Papers! Papers!"
"Coming through, vendor! Got enough stock?"
"Heh heh heh, I've bet all my SSR cards on Cao Cao's head!"
Arnold got swept up in the madness.
Before he could even sort the papers at his stand, half-crazed citizens were already glaring at his cart with frenzied eyes.
Some of them even...
"Just sell 'em already! Hand 'em over now!"
"Ugh! Ugh! Ugh!"
"Novelpia! I reserved it first!"
"Please wait just a bit! There are no reservations!"
Arnold shouted, but some folks crossed the line and started reaching for the cart anyway.
But then...
"Look at that bastard!"
"That guy's got grabby hands even during duels!"
"Stealing from the bottom of the stack!"
"Fine him! Hit him with a fine!"
Even if they'd lost their minds to bets, dopamine, or sheer anticipation, most Imperial citizens still kept order.
It had nothing to do with the Capital Guard charging in from afar.
Arnold was just left dumbfounded.
Sure, something like this had happened before.
Back when that upstart paper Novelpia bundled in some limited-edition Hero Assembly cards.
First time he'd seen papers wrapped for sale.
First time seeing people line up overnight, pitching tents and all.
But today, there weren't even any promotional giveaways.
So why all this?
"You haven't seen those two heroes yet?"
The one who cleared up his confusion was old man Cordi, manning the stand right next door.
"Sir, you're out early today."
"You bet. Big sales day like this, gotta be."
Arnold glanced over and saw...
"...You only bought Novelpia?"
Nothing but stacks of that one paper.
"Heh heh, you got a variety? No need today."
Arnold tilted his head.
No plastic wraps today. No limited cards.
Just your standard paper, maybe with a bit more novel content.
So why?
The moment the bell tolled seven times, signaling the official 7 a.m. start of sales...
"Novelpia!"
"One Novelpia, please!"
"Bring Novelpia!"
"Two for me!"
"Who buys two? Scram and go eat tofu!"
Only after fending off the Tatar-like horde of readers did Arnold finally sense something was deeply off.
From that moment, he was swamped nonstop, selling out the day's stock in a blur—and right in his ears...
"Krah! Lies! It's all lies!"
"Hahaha! Victory for me!"
"Guan Yu...! Growing a beard like some girl, knew it! You crazy commoner bastard!"
"You just insulted Guan Yu? Duel me, you punk!"
"Knew it! No way Cao Cao dies here!"
"But does that even make sense? Letting him go for loyalty?"
"You got no loyalty?"
"I'm rich! RIIIICH!"
"Nooo! My SSR peach brothers!"
All the joys and sorrows came flooding in.
"Surprisingly merciful side to you, Mr. Kim Yul?"
"Me?"
The troupe leader I met again was overestimating me.
I was just a ruthless capitalist frontman, squeezing every last drop out of a broke grad student and that foul-mouthed elf.
"Sure, the clever bet between Zhuge Liang and Guan Yu was great. But you just couldn't bring yourself to kill off Cao Cao, the protagonist from your last work, right?"
What nonsense was that? Like saying Lü Bu was a model son.
Cao Cao simply couldn't die there. That was all.
...Not like I could say that out loud.
Instead...
"Listen up, Chloe."
"Eek...! To humiliate this lady like thiiiis, such shame and disgrace!!"
I flicked the tip of Chloe's ear hard while she knelt with arms raised, holding a sign reading "I said mean things to my friend."
Ignoring the elf's pitiful howl, I pressed on with the troupe leader.
"Guan Yu's biggest character trait is his loyalty."
Of course.
Again with loyalty and righteousness.
"Loyalty, huh. Fitting. The plot really hammered that home. Even if Cao Cao came off a bit pathetic."
- Gave him the Rear Marquis title! Gave him Red Hare! Forgave the Five Passes and Six Generals! Did everything! Just spare him...!
Guan Yu shows mercy to Cao Cao's tear-streaked pleas, mocking his waist while recalling his millet porridge days—scholarly consensus.
Of course, there was the argument that yielding Lady Du could've recruited him from the start, but then Romance of the Three Kingdoms wouldn't have been such a smash.
And...
I'd just learned tons of people had bet on whether Guan Yu would kill or spare Cao Cao.
Damn.
Wish I'd known—I'd have shorted Cao Cao too.
"I even bet with my husband. Two more kids if Guan Yu kills Cao Cao, one more if he lets him go. Hm, pity—two's off the table."
Don't say stuff like that with a smile...
What interdimensional sex joke is this?
"How daaaare you pleeeease stop—!"
Chloe, trembling and pouting nonstop, tried mouthing off again, so I yanked her ear hard.
I glanced at the troupe leader.
She'd clearly caught the vulgar wording anyone could recognize as trashy.
But...
"Wow."
Far from offended, she stared at me with sparkling, intrigued eyes.
"Been feeling it since earlier, but I never imagined a human handling a high elf so roughly."
The nuance felt a tad like she was calling me a beast.
Daring to insult me by comparing to Hate Nation and Ape Country!
...Not worth getting mad over, so I vented by pinching and twisting Chloe's ear tip.
"Ow, stooop, nooooo!"
Hm.
Feels good letting off steam.
The troupe leader looked just as refreshed, gazing fondly at the wailing Chloe.
"Looks like you finally met your match, huh?"
"It's not like thaaaat—!"
I didn't particularly want to keep this foul-mouthed beast-elf as a slave or anything.
But either way, I could feel the troupe leader's anger toward Chloe melting away.
One major obstacle to my grand business cleared.
.
.
.
Leaving Chloe slumped in the rocking chair, strength drained from the ear assault, snoring away with snot bubbling...
I continued my discussion with the troupe leader.
Maybe from toppling our common foe.
Her tone had softened noticeably.
"Read the novel and script. You've got good instincts—cut the fat from the novel, kept only the essentials. Turning those monologues into songs instead of plain lines? Fresh idea. Who thinks to add music to theater?"
"Haha..."
Well, yeah.
Past: opera.
Modern: musicals.
Movies: OSTs.
Theater and music go hand in hand.
At least by modern sensibilities.
But this fantasy world's magical theater? Flashy effects and dynamic moves aside, it was just monotonous dialogue after dialogue.
"Especially these lyrics... 'Noble Joseon, our pride, glory built on millions' loyalty, our lands crumbling under pirate threats...' Reading it alone, I can almost hear the tune. You got lyricist chops too?"
"Uh... well, my little cousin wrote 'em."
Couldn't think of anything, so I plagiarized on impulse—why fixate on that?
Sorry, Canned.
Borrowing your name...
"But."
The barrage of praise that made my hands and feet curl finally ended as the troupe leader snapped the script shut with a sigh.
"You know rifts keep popping up across the Empire, right?"
"Yes."
Hard to miss when I read the papers daily.
"Closing or suppressing them without a hero means massive mana—specifically, magic stones. That's why our troupe hasn't made a new play lately."
"Has to be magic stones?"
"If mages kept supplying mana during rehearsals, maybe. But they won't cooperate. Unless you've got something packed with insane mana."
Money can't buy everything, huh.
Things had been tense lately, sure...
Still, too bad to give up.
"Like what for 'insane mana'?"
"Hm..."
The troupe leader tilted her head.
"Random, but there's a legend from the Illusion School Chloe and I attended."
"Legend?"
"A great genius mage founded it. He developed a spell creating illusions like falling into another world entirely."
Sounds exactly like VR.
"Lineage died out, and judging by the listed materials, recreating it seems impossible..."
"What materials?"
"Dragon heart."
"What if the dragon itself helps?"
The troupe leader stared at Kim Yul like he'd lost his mind.
However.
Kim Yul's expression was strangely earnest.
"...Kim Yul, do you even know what a dragon is?"
Even for a writer with boundless imagination, this was beyond lacking common sense.
Ultimate strongest, most vicious beings.
Guardians of order and balance.
Arrogant race viewing humans as less than dirt under their scales.
Dragon hearts held vast mana, cross-verified in countless texts—but how do you even find a dragon, fight it, let alone win?
Reinforced her bias: writers can't function in society, common sense lacking. The troupe leader thought, as always.
Aware or not of her inner thoughts...
"I'm a dragon expert too, you know."
Kim Yul lied straight-faced.
The troupe leader's brow furrowed slightly.