Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde - 2
Mystery novels that rely on foreshadowing and twists are especially vulnerable to spoilers. And if it's a famous work, all the more so. It's human nature to want to blab about influential targets without a care.
In that sense, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde checked both boxes.
"Hey, I told you I haven't read it yet—why spoil the ending?! You call yourself human?!"
"Ha! That's on you for not reading it! You should've lined up at the bookstore at dawn like I did!"
"You bastard?! Duel me!"
"Bring it! Dying in a duel without reading Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde—you won't rest easy even in heaven!"
"Let's see who dies!"
This was an extreme example, but similar scenes were undoubtedly playing out across the empire.
One bookstore even printed flyers to promote their stock of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.
[What is the story of Dr. Jekyll becoming the terrifying criminal Hyde? Come see it now at Hans's Bookstore!]
A true nightmare of a spoiler, born from a lack of understanding of the mystery genre.
And I watched the whole fiasco unfold from beyond the window.
"Boss."
"Yes!"
"Since it's come to this, why not hold a fan fiction contest?"
"...Pardon?"
I decided to ride the spoiler wave.
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is especially susceptible to spoilers. Just recalling my past life memories makes it clear.
Because the fact that 'Jekyll' and 'Hyde' are the same person is so infamous, fewer people even realize it's meant to be the big twist in a mystery novel.
"The capital's going nuts with spoilers right now, isn't it?"
"Y-yes..."
Yet Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde endures as a classic. The reason is simple.
"Since it's come to this, let's see who can spoil it the coolest."
"Pardon?"
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde earns its place as a classic on the strength of its 'solution' section alone.
It's the pioneering novel of the split-personality genre. The conflict between the 'good self' embodied by Jekyll and the 'evil self' by Hyde has inspired countless writers, cementing it as an immortal classic. Even in my past life in Korea, the musical Jekyll & Hyde was a hit—famous for songs like This Is the Moment.
"Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is fun, but it's lacking in length, right? Especially the solution part, from 'Lanyon’s Narrative' to 'Henry Jekyll’s Full Statement of the Case.'"
"It's so brilliant that I finished it too quickly—that's my only regret."
"Exactly. So let's give readers a chance to fill that gap."
The hallmark of fan fiction inspired by Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is its focus on Jekyll's anguish and human side. That shifts it from mystery to Gothic novel territory. Elements like religious morality, romance, and mysticism are easy for people in this world to grasp and embrace. The seeds for Gothic novels are already sown.
So what I planned was straightforward.
"We'll hold a fan fiction contest for Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. A contest where entrants can tell the story of their Jekyll in any format they like."
Use the contest to cultivate Gothic novel writers!
"If we find good talent, we can sign them to the publishing house, right?"
"Author...! To think you'd say that about our publishing house! Thank you!"
"So don't betray me and run off on your own like last time."
"Haha... Sorryyy..."
And the contest's benefits didn't stop there. Copyright law had only recently passed parliament. In this transitional phase, if it wasn't enforced properly, it could die on the vine. But we couldn't just throw every plagiarist in jail.
So give existing writers a chance: let them freely draw from originals to create new works. If they break the law even with that opportunity, then crack down hard.
"Then, Boss."
"Yes!"
"Prepare the fan fiction contest well. It's a first-of-its-kind, so there'll be a lot to consider... I can trust you with it, right?"
"Yes! I'll work until my bones grind to dust and my body shatters!"
"No need to go that hard..."
[The pleasures I sought in my altered form were, as I have said, of a nature unseemly and unworthy.]
[Yet when those cravings passed into the possession of Edward Hyde, they took a direction utterly deviant and beyond reason.]
In Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, the actual information available to readers isn't all that extensive. Hyde's crimes are described in fragments, with reactions, testimonies, statements, and confessions filling the rest. The veiled parts must be filled in by imagination.
"No lover for Jekyll? He calls Hyde a man of stone, but to a woman, wouldn't the boring Jekyll seem even more wooden? Though that vulnerability to temptation is a bit to my taste."
"...I'll leave the interpretation to you, Your Highness."
"Boring, my foot."
She showed up at the publishing house out of nowhere, like the empire's prince she was. The prince in maid form lounged on the sofa, swinging her legs like a tomboy while reading, occasionally sharing her thoughts on the book.
"This Hyde character—is he modeled after me, by any chance?"
"No, he's not."
"Really? He feels similar."
Hyde's grotesque, loathsome form compared to the beautiful maid-faced prince? Anyone hearing that would shake their head. Yet for some reason, I found myself half-agreeing.
Because Hyde is the 'pure form of Jekyll's soul.' Pure, unadulterated evil, stripped of its frustrating, dualistic shell. That's the 'Hyde' Henry Jekyll beheld.
And Prince Idris is someone who overlays her soul's true form onto her face like an illusion.
"I've never seen Your Highness's true face, so it's hard to say."
"It's not much different from this. That's how the magic works."
"Is that so?"
"For example, this hair. I put a lot of effort into growing it. Want to touch?"
"How could I presume to touch a noble's hair?"
"Maids touch it every day. Whatever, if you're not into it."
I had no idea why she'd come all this way. Surely it wasn’t just to read the novel and share your thoughts on it.
My mouth felt parched.
"Um, Your Highness?"
"Yes?"
"C-could I ask if there's a reason you came all the way here?"
"I want to enter the contest too."
"Pardon...?"
"The fan fiction contest, right?"
We hadn't even announced it officially yet. Was this the imperial family's intelligence network? A bit scary.
"Ah, but don't get me wrong—I'm not asking you to pick my entry as grand prize or anything. I thought talking to the author might give me some hints. Didn't pan out much, though."
"Haha..."
"So why hold this contest? Doesn't seem like much gain in it... Just a hobby?"
"I want more good writers out there."
"Hmm?"
The prince narrowed her eyes at me. Propping her chin on one hand, she lazily wagged a finger up and down. Long lashes. Her gaze, peering into you, made a man shrink like a frog before a snake.
No, seriously—how is that a guy?*
"Wouldn't it be faster if you just wrote more good works? That's the vibe I'm getting..."
"Haha..."
Was she seeing right through me? In a world of magic and mystery, a royal using insight magic wouldn't be odd. I'd have to be careful.
"Not denying it, huh?"
"Hahaha..."
The Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde fan fiction contest kicked off, and dozens of entries poured into the publishing house daily. Judging them all was a job in itself.
But I loved reading, so no issue. If anything, it was a treat.
"More plays than expected."
The format was open: novels, epics, plays, even illustrations. Winning illustrations would go into the next print run.
But amid them, something odd stood out.
"Boss."
"Yes! Author!"
"This one's misfiled as fan mail, I think? There's something like a gift enclosed."
"Really? Let me check."
A small glass vial was inside the envelope. The boss confirmed and handed it back.
"It's a contest entry. Probably a fan gift for you, separate from the work? They're all your fans, after all."
"Hmm, maybe."
The vial held a shimmering gray liquid like mercury. Too scary to open casually, so I checked the entry first.
Inside was a handwritten manuscript aping Henry Jekyll's confession from the novel.
[I realized that our physical bodies—mere shells expressing the power and light that constitute the soul.]
[And furthermore, I succeeded in creating a certain drug that draws down that noble power from its lofty station and instead produces a wholly different body and appearance.]
Up to there, it matched the novel's confession. The divergence came next.
[In preparation for unforeseen events, I shall record the recipe for that drug here. A drug that reveals man's most fatal aspect without reserve...]
It detailed a drug recipe: ingredients, methods, tools, and apparatus, densely packed.
The format was free, but this was unexpected. Half baffled, half intrigued, I turned to the next page.
The final page wasn't Jekyll's confession but a letter in the entrant's own name.
[Through my exhaustive inquiry and contemplation of the drug in this work Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, I have realized that creating this mysterious and profane elixir is theoretically possible.]
[Kissing the ominous inspiration within this fantastical novel, I submit the fruits of my inquiry to its creator.]
[May your art and mine shine under God's blessing.]
— Alchemist, Gallen Lannyon —
"...What."