Chapter 28: The Reading Club (1)
How did you come up with such a thought?
When will the next volume be released?
Damn it...
As soon as I entered the gates of the Zhuge Clan, people from the clan rushed over like a swarm of bees, asking where they had heard about my arrival.
I hadn't planned to live in the Zhuge Clan, but upon thinking about it again, it seemed like a good decision.
“Huh! How can you ask the author for spoilers?”
“Spoilers?”
Oops! Mistake.
As the actor who was me, boldly asking about the next content, a modern phrase slipped out.
“Hmph... It’s called ‘Seopoira’—the act of revealing the contents of a book that hasn’t been read yet.”
Of course, it was a word I thought of quickly, but even upon reflection, it’s a perfect phonetic transcription.
I’m afraid of someone with such wit.
“Seopoira...? No, this teacher, there’s a word called ‘geuktu’, so why are you using that word?”
“Hey, this guy. Since it’s what this teacher is saying, it has meaning. Moreover, Seopoira? I think this teacher wrote it, so I rather like it more?”
“Upon hearing it, it seems like that... Geuktu has a fighting feel, whereas Seopoira has a softer feel, which has a certain charm.”
Indeed, as long as popular culture exists, there are spoilers.
So, there are words that mean spoilers like Geuktu.
I didn’t know that.
“Hmph, there was a word called Geuktu...? Anyway, you shouldn’t ask the author such things.”
“Then when will the second part come out? My neck is about to break from waiting!”
What a disappointing remark.
The first edition has been out for just one day.
But already talking about the second part.
“No, what are you talking about? The second part? The first part came out yesterday, and you’re already pressuring me like this? If you press me like this, the second part won’t come out.”
My shout made the Zhuge Clan people pause for a moment.
They realized their request was unreasonable.
“Anyway, since I came to see the lord, I should go visit him.”
I turned my back on those shouting my name and headed to the lord’s residence.
Upon arriving at the lord’s residence, the lord looked at me with an unusually fierce gaze.
“You’re disappointing me.”
“Eh?”
Zhuge Hyeok suddenly spat out the word “disappointing” while looking at me.
Startled by the unexpected words, I asked him the reason.
“How can there be no next content? It’s just a little added to the content I first read! Why isn’t the ‘Three Kingdoms Division of the World’ coming out?!”
The reason Zhuge Hyeok was angry was simple.
Just that the book’s content was lacking.
But the sample I showed the lord at first and the story printed this time were as different as heaven and earth.
“Lord, do you really think that? Explanations about the era have been added to allow readers to immerse themselves, and it’s written why Zhuge Liang became a Qingliu faction.
And the plan for ‘Three Kingdoms Division of the World’ that you were curious about isn’t coming out either? Should I tell you more?”
That’s why I boldly told Zhuge Hyeok.
“Hmph... But the plan isn’t coming out, but there’s no info on how the Three Kingdoms Division of the World will proceed! Isn’t that just like a dumpling without filling?”
Zhuge Hyeok shrank a bit at my bold words, but since he couldn’t stand the frustration, he questioned me again.
“Lord, how can you fit the biography of our ancestor Zhuge Liang into one book?”
“What are you talking about...”
“If you try to fit everything into one book as you wish, the achievements of our ancestor will be reduced. Do you really want that?”
“No... I didn’t mean it that way—”
Zhuge Hyeok’s voice gradually became smaller at my words.
But before Zhuge Hyeok’s words ended,
Bam!
The door opened roughly, and
“Lord, what are you saying!”
A sturdy, burly old man appeared.
“Wh-what... Father-in-law?”
“Did you hear my strange voice outside? I heard that the achievements of our ancestor might be reduced. What does that mean?”
The suddenly appeared father-in-law of Zhuge Hyeok, who was very angry, questioned Zhuge Hyeok as if challenging him.
“No, that’s a misunderstanding.”
“Misunderstanding? I clearly heard it that way!”
Zhuge Hyeok tried to clear up the misunderstanding with a face on the verge of tears.
But since it was impossible, he eventually asked for help from me.
“Hey, you know I didn’t say that, right? So explain it to the father-in-law quickly!”
So the situation between the two was resolved with my explanation.
“Hmph... It was a mistake for the lord to say something that could be misunderstood.”
The father-in-law of Zhuge Hyeok avoided responsibility, saying to Zhuge Hyeok.
And then he looked at me and opened the case.
“First time meeting. I am Ma Sonsa, the Grand Elder of the Zhuge Clan.”
“Nice to meet you. I’m Lee Munhyuk.”
After a simple greeting, Ma Sonsa started explaining why he came to see me.
“So, did the Grand Elder also come because he was curious about the result of the Three Kingdoms Division of the World?”
“Hmph, yes.”
“Grand Elder...”
At my words, Ma Sonsa perked up his ears, preparing for the words coming from my mouth.
But I couldn’t forgive the bad reader who asks the author for spoilers.
“Both you and the lord have disappointed me greatly.”
“What? What are you suddenly talking about?”
“Both of you didn’t ask me for spoilers, did you?”
I used the words I learned just before coming to the lord’s residence.
“Spoilers! We don’t do that...”
Spoiler.
The words “spoiler” made Zhuge Hyeok and Ma Sonsa try to say they didn’t, but closed their mouths.
Because even they thought their current behavior was asking for spoilers.
“The author has no children, but you say to tell him that? Isn’t that like saying to sell your children?”
Is it?
Well, since they asked for spoilers, I blurted out without thinking.
But upon thinking, I likened the work to a child, but the author maintains his livelihood by selling the work.
That means selling children.
I realized belatedly that I had spoken out of turn and checked their faces, but fortunately, they were rather looking at me with caution.
“If the young master thought that way, I’m sorry.”
“Hah... I’ve been spreading the routes to spread Zhuge Liang’s reputation across the Central Plains to raise his fame, but... how can you two do that to me!”
In my voice that sounded like a sob, the two were at a loss for words, unable to speak due to guilt.
After a while, when I showed a calm appearance, they each checked their faces and cautiously spoke to me.
“I didn’t know you respected our ancestor so much. And what do you mean by spreading routes?”
“I told Lim Gongja of Cheonpung Merchant Group last night, and he agreed. He said to discuss the matter later with the Zhuge Clan.”
“What? Already?”
“Hahaha, Lord Zhuge seems to truly respect our ancestor. The first edition has only been out for a day, and you’re already pulling in the merchant group.”
“Father-in-law, isn’t that because of the respect for our ancestor Zhuge Liang that wells from the heart?”
“Of course it is. The day when the name of the Zhuge Clan will rise is not far off!”
The two bickered among themselves and started asking if the Zhuge Clan had no work to help.
“Hoo...”
It was just a short time in the Zhuge Clan overflowing with Zhuge Liang fans, but I felt drained of energy.
There are many things to do today, and I can’t get tired yet, but worry comes first.
On the way back, glancing at the streets, I saw that in every bookstore, a stand had been set up with the Zhuge Liang biography ready to be stocked.
It was probably provided by the Zhuge Clan, but the bookstore owners aren’t fools.
Since they heard the buzz and it would sell well, they installed the stand.
Passing through the streets and returning to the merchant group, I tried to greet Soso and enter the room.
“Master.”
But when I heard the voice calling me, I turned my head with fear.
“Miss Hualian... what is it...?”
“Why did you skip morning training today and wander around like that?”
Emotions were in the voice.
“Uh... I stopped by the clan for a bit because of the book and came back.”
“Is that so? Was it urgent? To the point of skipping training?”
“... Of course.”
In fact, I had left early in the morning without Zhuge Hualian knowing, with the purpose of skipping training.
Because I thought I should rest even for a day with the training intensity gradually increasing.
A good excuse came at the right time.
I immediately put it into action, but judging by the atmosphere, it seemed Zhuge Hualian had decided not to forgive me.
“If it was urgent, there was nothing to be done.”
The anger of Zhuge Hualian had calmed, so no emotions in this answer.
“But, you can’t just skip training. There’s still time, so prepare and come out.”
“... Miss, I have to write.”
“Daily self-training, two-day self-training, three-day self-training, as it was said.”
“Da... what?”
A long unfamiliar word came out unexpectedly, so I really couldn’t understand and told Zhuge Hualian.
“If you neglect one day of training, you’ll know yourself, if you neglect two days, your master will notice, if you neglect three days, the world will know.
Even if you pretend not to know to skip training, it won’t help. You can’t not know this saying, right?”
Zhuge Hualian firmly believed that I could interpret the difficult sentence.
I was just someone who had read Romance of the Three Kingdoms dozens of times in the military.
That’s why Zhuge Hualian, thinking I was pretending not to know to skip training, looked at me sharply.
“So, prepare and come out.”
“Hic...”
“Again, he’s like that. Sometimes he makes strange sounds like a child.”
Soso muttered at my helpless voice, and I received the training disguised as a reprimand from Zhuge Hualian.
“Have you seen that?”
“By that book?”
“Yes! As expected, you! I knew it!”
“Haha! Of course!”
Two men sitting opposite each other in the inn were drinking and talking in low voices.
And the content that was the center of that story was the Zhuge Liang biography written by Lee Munhyuk.
“However, it’s hard to get, so I still haven’t seen it.”
The man in blue clothes said with a sad face, and the man in dark clothes smiled.
“I knew you’d be like this! Look! I got it hard!”
The man in dark clothes took out a book from his pocket.
The book with “Zhuge Liang Biography” written on it was as clean as any book printed and bound by the Zhuge Clan, without any flaws.
“Oh! This is it! How was it? Was it really as good as the rumors?”
The man in blue clothes asked curiously if the content was really great as rumored.
Then the man in dark clothes began to show a face as if he had a wonderful experience.
“It was the first time in my life to read such a book.”
With that response to the wonderful expression!
It could be the best reaction, so the man in dark clothes couldn’t help but wonder how great the book was to elicit such a reaction.
The man in dark clothes who saw that expression started smiling.
“You seem curious.”
“Of course, how can you not be curious? If it were you, you wouldn’t be?”
“So I brought this book, didn’t I?”
“Wh-what? You?”
“We’ll be together for life, right?”
“Haa... Thank you! I’ll read it soon and return it!”
The man in blue clothes, with a grateful face, hurriedly put the Zhuge Liang Biography into his pocket, wondering who would steal it.
“However, this isn’t a spoiler, right?”
“Why?”
“If you read this too, you’ll have one question.”
“A question?”
“Huh! If I say that, it becomes a spoiler! So, just listen for now. I made a gathering with some friends to solve that question, and you can join that gathering too?”
“A gathering?”
“Yes, for now, the name is... um... ‘True Reading Club’.”
“‘True Reading Club’... A true reading club... Have you ever refused my request? There’s a reason you’re saying that. I haven’t read it yet, but how can I join today?”
“Hahaha! This person? Even if I say to read it first?”
People who read [Zhuge Liang Biography] in Hyeongju City started having gatherings among themselves.
It was a gathering to explore and find out how the ‘Three Kingdoms Division of the World’ would proceed.