Chapter 72
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 72
Chapter Title: The Star Setting on Wuzhang Plains (4)
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The next day.
Kim Yul had ultimately resisted the temptations of the era and finished the manuscript for the legend of Ma Su, the Mountain-Climbing King. He strolled casually into the Novelpia headquarters.
"You've arrived~?"
Normally, he would hand the manuscript straight to Chloe, then flop onto the sofa for a moment of rest and relaxation.
But today was a little different.
He was just.
Staring intently at Chloe's ears as they twitched upright.
Sensing something off about that gaze, Chloe sneaked a glance at Kim Yul.
"Clophy."
"Don't just casually rename a sacred and noble elf like that!"
"You're hiding something, aren't you."
"Eh?"
Kim Yul's blunt words hit her dead-on, and Chloe unwittingly averted her eyes a bit.
Duke Schneisen had once remarked about his daughter:
She's such a fool that when she lies, it's obvious. How can the blood of a great elf be this dim-witted!
"Ah, ah, ah, I have no secrets at all, desu wa~? I'm a pure and innocent virgin elf, desu wa?"
The world-tree-level honesty spilling out even truths he wasn't probing for!
In front of her.
Thud—
Along with Kim Yul's manuscript, a slim book dropped with a plop.
"Hieeek!"
Her perked-up ears flushed carrot-red in an instant.
How did he find out?
I even changed the pen name so it wouldn't be recognizable!
Piercing right through her inner turmoil.
"You think swapping front and back makes it unnoticeable? What kind of story turns Liu Bei into the world's strongest overlord tyrant?"
"That's because I'm an elf, desu wa! ...Eh."
Before Chloe, who had unwittingly confessed, a soft yet firm hand reached for her ear.
She could dodge it with a slight turn of her head.
"Ow, eh, eek, uek—"
Yet strangely.
Despite the rudeness of grabbing a noble elf's ultra-sensitive ear of all things, she couldn't escape Kim Yul's touch.
As if her body were bound by some deterministic causality predestined to be used as a handle.
Though really, it was just her lack of exercise.
"If the publisher president ignores copyrights, pirates it out like this, and makes pocket money on the sly, what then, Teacher Erocle?"
"Nooooo~!"
Looking down at Chloe trembling all over, Kim Yul let out a sigh.
The name was so blatant he'd doubted it.
But to think she was this much of an idiot.
Finishing his mental reevaluation of Chloe.
Kim Yul released her ear and patted her head.
"Eh."
Her body stiffened rigidly for a moment at the unexpected follow-up.
"It was fun. You've got talent."
Wetting his lips slightly, Kim Yul encouraged her in a softer tone than usual.
Chloe's nose tilted upward proudly.
"Oh ho hot! As expected, you've recognized this lady's talent~!"
Watching her instantly reclaim her confident elf demeanor, as if forgetting her recent wailing, Kim Yul smiled faintly.
"So, here's the thing—doesn't the worldbuilding feel a bit wasted?"
"You're right, desu wa. The plot has more than a few shortcomings too~."
As Kim Yul's fingers gently stroked her ear, Chloe's majestic gaze softened back to that of a meek lamb.
"So, here's my idea—if it wraps up soon."
"...Wraps up soon? Eh?"
Ignoring Chloe's reaction.
"How about releasing the novel's copyright completely free and holding a fan creation contest?"
Ever since discovering Chloe's pseudo-fanfic, this idea had been swirling in Kim Yul's head, now spilling out freely.
Even in the modern world, Romance of the Three Kingdoms wasn't just itself—it spawned the whole genre of 'Three Kingdoms derivatives' with endless stories.
If he published the entire 'One-Volume Romance of the Three Kingdoms' as-is, held a contest to encourage fan works.
And if compelling tales gained popularity, he could scoop up those settings wholesale and sell them as 'Heroes Assemble' IF expansion packs...!
"I smell money~!"
Chloe, whose IQ shot up 300% at the whiff of cash, drooled eagerly.
For a while, the president's office echoed with.
Hee hee heek.
Oh ho hot.
Bizarre laughter that made Chloe's secretary outside think those crazies had lost their minds again—in tandem.
From ear-grabbing tears to money-scented laughs.
And nearly sprouting horns on her butt from bawling again over the 'Two Heroes' manuscript—like Chloe.
In just three days.
Including serials, six chapters.
Readers grinned ear-to-ear at the massive volume—but only briefly.
"Th-this is insane!"
"Why the obsession with mountains...!"
"They prepared defenses at the peak, but no rockslides or fire attacks—just cutting their own supply lines...?"
"Wang Ping even tried to dissuade him. So the author deliberately made Ma Su look like a fool?!"
Once more, resentment exploded across the imperial capital against the trash author Ulysses.
Lu Guanzhong could brazenly dodge with 'That's how history went!'
But Kim Yul, dropped into Fantasy Land, couldn't invoke historical accuracy and just had to eat the hate silently.
"Wooing! Ma Su's dead! So Zhuge Liang avenges him? Nope? Zhuge Liang chops off Ma Su's head himself?"
Of course, there were dragons wagging their tails in delight, content with the serials and patting their bellies.
"Yup Cham Ma Su, Yup Cham Ma Su...! Genius—the author really is a genius at demonic tongue! No wonder the character's named Ma Su, ha ha, ha ha...!"
And those shivering at the revelation of idioms' origins, regardless of plot—like Sordinang.
Such lukewarm takes were the minority.
If there was any praised scene.
- Kongming, your golden words whisper to me. This castle behind you is empty. If I enter it, won't you be a dead man?
- Whether you kill or capture me today is no issue. Your emperor is full of doubts, and his kin envy talent. Won't the bow that caught the bird be discarded?
- This Sima Yi is loyal too. Why spare my life?
- Even if you uphold loyalty, what of your son?
Like a tribute to the tragic mid-cut work 'The Empire's Number Two Hides His Ambition Well.'
The new rivalry between Sima Yi and Zhuge Liang was firmly established—a single sip of soda amid the sweet potato choke.
.
.
.
Two chapters a day.
And finally, manuscript work on 'Romance of the Three Kingdoms in One Volume,' set to publish in a form akin to its original name.
While Historie began learning basic illusion magic, Kim Yul lived on writing all day—eating and drinking well, without total abstinence.
Of course, the content was.
Northern expeditions, northern expeditions, and more northern expeditions.
Strategy clashes with Sima Yi, elaborate retreat angles with massive kilns.
Occasional domestic arcs like inventing repeating crossbows.
- Your servant Zhuge Liang has marched on Qishan five times from Hanzhong, yet gained not an inch of land. My crime is grave indeed. Let me lead all once more to Qishan, devote body and soul to exterminating the Han traitors and restoring the Central Plains—I shall not stop until I die.
Struck again by Ulysses' habit of odd scripts, complete with the bizarre phrase '鞠躬盡瘁 死而後已'(To devote oneself completely until death) in the second memorial.
At last, the curtain rose on the Fifth Northern Expedition.
The Empire's Second Prince, Eisen, had no interest in art.
Novels? If he had time to read print, he'd rather scan one more line of official documents.
But.
After watching the magical play 'Hero and the Song of the Sea' that day.
And deeply acknowledging the talent of the author Ulysses—Kim Yul—from his heart.
He slashed his workload and devoured every serialized chapter of 'Two Heroes.'
And now.
"Today's paper?"
"Here, Your Highness."
He'd normally check world affairs first, but now grabbing Novelpia was routine for Eisen.
The textbook case of total reader corruption!
That's why, meeting Kim Yul before, he'd chatted novel details alongside urging navy morale-boosting participation—and been moved by the memorial.
And.
"......"
The Empire's Second Prince.
Second in succession but top contender due to the First Prince's frailty, Eisen.
- How tragic! Heaven grants no long life to the loyal! As I set forth, I lose yet another great general!
In the lament Zhuge Liang uttered upon hearing of Guan Xing—Guan Yu's son—before departing.
"Heaven grants no long life to the loyal, huh......"
Having recently binged Kim Yul's works, Eisen.
Yi Sun-sin's loyal death.
Joan of Arc's loyal death.
Déjà vu layered upon déjà vu, instinctively sensing the thick aura of death woven subtly into the novel's lines.
Thus, the next day.
"Whew."
Before unfolding the paper, Eisen took a deep breath to shake off the oddly creeping tension.
"Why's my heart pounding over a mere novel, seriously."
Swallowing his needless mutter.
Eisen dove back into Zhuge Liang's tale.