episode_0007

Mystery novels that rely on foreshadowing and twist structures are vulnerable to spoilers.

This is especially true if it is a famous work. This is because it is human nature to want to make fun of influential people.

In that respect, ‘Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde’ was a novel that satisfied both requirements.

“Hey, I haven’t read it yet, so tell me the ending in advance?! Are you still human?”

“Ha! It’s the fault of the person who didn’t read it! Don’t you just have to wait in line in front of the bookstore from early in the morning like me!”

“This bastard?! It’s a duel!”

“Sure! To die in a duel without even reading Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, you won’t be able to rest in peace even in heaven!”

“Let’s compete to see who dies!”

This was a somewhat extreme example, but it was clear that similar things were happening throughout the empire.

There were even cases like this. A bookstore created a flyer to promote the availability of ‘Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.’

[What is the story of Dr. Jekyll becoming a fearsome criminal named Hyde? See you now at Hans’ Bookstore!]

─, a truly terrifying spoiler.

It was a disaster that occurred due to a lack of understanding of the genre of mystery novels.

And, I watched the entire process through the window.

“Boss.”

“Yes!”

“Since this has come to an end, let’s hold a second creative contest.”

“… … Yes?”

I decided to jump on the spoiler bandwagon.

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‘Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde’ is a work that is particularly vulnerable to spoilers.

I could tell just by recalling the memories of my past life. Because it is so famous that ‘Jekyll’ and ‘Hyde’ are the same person, many people do not know that it is a twist in a mystery novel.

“The capital is full of spoilers right now, right?”

“Yes… .”

Nevertheless, ‘Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde’ remains a classic.

The reason is simple.

“Now that this has come to an end, let’s compete to see who can do the best spoiler.”

“Yes?”

This is because ‘Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde’ is a masterpiece that is worthy of being considered a classic just by its ‘answer’.

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is a novel that is a pioneer of dual personality novels. The conflict between the ‘good character’ represented by Jekyll and the ‘evil character’ represented by Hyde has itself become an inspiration to numerous writers and has remained an immortal classic.

In a previous life, a musical called ‘Jekyll and Hyde’ was popular in Korea. It was famous for the song ‘This Is The Moment’.

“Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is an interesting work, but it leaves a lot to be desired in terms of length, right? This is especially true of the answer section that leads to ‘Dr. Lanyon’s Statement’ and ‘Henry Jekyll’s Confessions’.”

“It was such a wonderful work that I was a little disappointed that I read it so quickly.”

” Right? So, let’s give readers a chance to alleviate their disappointment.”

The characteristic of secondary creations based on the motif of ‘Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde’ is that they focus on the agony and human aspects of a person named Jekyll.

In that case, it becomes a gothic novel, not a mystery novel.

These elements of gothic novels—religious ethics, romance, and mysticism—are elements that people in this world can easily accept and understand. The seeds for the creation of gothic novels had already been sufficiently sown.

So, what I was going to do was simple.

“We will be holding the second Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde creative contest. A contest where you can tell the story of a person named Jekyll in your opinion in a free format.”

With Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde’s second creative contest, we are training ‘Gothic novel’ writers!

“If there is a good writer, wouldn’t it be possible to sign a contract with a publishing company?”

“Writer… ! I can’t believe you think of our publisher that way! Thank you!”

“So, don’t betray and run away alone like last time.”

“Haha… . Sorry… .”

Moreover, that was not the only positive effect of the second creative contest.

It hasn’t been long since the Copyright Act was passed by Congress. If the law is not properly enforced during this transitional period, there is a high possibility that the law will become obsolete.

But that doesn’t mean we can’t put all the plagiarists in jail.

So, give existing writers a chance. An opportunity to create works using the original work to your heart’s content. Even though we are given this opportunity, if there are horse breeds who dare to break the law, we can beat them as much as we want.

“Then, boss.”

“Yes!”

“Please prepare well for the 2nd creative contest. Since this is a contest that has never been done before, there are a lot of things to think about… It’s okay if I trust you, right?”

“Yes! I will work hard to prepare until my bones turn to dust and my body breaks!”

“You don’t have to work that hard… .”

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[The pleasure I quickly sought through my changed form was, as I said before, undignified.]

[But when that pleasure fell into the hands of Edward Hyde, it went astray in an absurd direction.]

In ‘Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde’, the amount of information that the reader can know is actually not that much. Hyde’s events are depicted fragmentarily, mainly consisting of reactions, testimonies, statements, and confessions.

We have no choice but to fill in the parts hidden in a veil with our imagination.

“Did Jekyll ever have a lover? Jekyll says that Hyde looks like a man made of stone… From a woman’s perspective, wouldn’t Jekyll, who is boring, be much more like a rock and a rock? The appearance of being vulnerable to temptation is a bit of a preference.”

“… I will leave it to the prince’s interpretation.”

“It’s not fun.”

Like the prince of an empire who suddenly visited the publishing company.

The prince, dressed as a maid, was sitting on the sofa, wiggling her legs like a tomboy, reading a book. He also expressed his impressions of the book from time to time.

“Is this character named Hyde, by any chance, based on me?”

“That’s not true.”

“Really? I think it looks similar.”

Hyde, with his ugly and disgusting face, and the prince with the face of a beautiful maid look alike.

It was a story that would make anyone shake their head when they heard it, but for some reason, I somewhat sympathized with it.

This is because Hyde is the ‘pure soul’ of Dr. Jekyll.

Pure, unmixed evil that has shed its stuffy, double-faced shell. The ‘Hyde’ that Henry Jekyll saw was such a being.

And the prince named Idris is a person who walks around with the image of his soul over his face like an illusion.

“I’ve never seen the prince’s bare face, so it’s hard to say anything.”

“It’s not much different from now. It’s that type of magic.”

“Is that so?”

“For example, this hair. I cultivated this with great effort. Would you like to touch it?”

“How could you carelessly touch the hair of such a noble person?”

“The maids touch each other every day? Well, if you don’t like it, it’s okay.”

I don’t know why I came here.

I guess he didn’t just come here to read the novel and share his impressions.

My mouth feels dry.

“Um, prince?”

“Why?”

“Well, do you mind if I ask if there was a reason you came all the way here?”

“I also want to participate in the contest.”

“Yes… ?”

“I heard you’re holding a second creative contest?”

It hasn’t even been officially announced yet, so how do you know?

Is this the intelligence power of the imperial family? It’s a little scary.

“Ah! However, I am not asking for my work to be selected for a manor or anything like that. I wondered if I could get some clues by talking directly with the author. Well, I didn’t have much fun.”

“Haha… .”

“So, why are you holding this contest? I don’t think there’s anything to gain… Just a hobby?”

“I hope there will be more good writers.”

“Hmm?”

The prince narrowed his eyes and looked at me. Support your chin with one hand and move your fingers up and down lazily.

Eyelashes are long. The gaze that seems to be looking into the other person makes a man shrink like a frog in front of a snake.

No, really, how can that be a man?

“Wouldn’t it be faster for writers to write several good works than for the number of good writers to increase? I feel like that somehow… .”

“Haha… .”

Are you really seeing through something?

Since this is a world where magic and mystery exist, it would not be strange for the royal family to use the Attention Act.

I have to be as careful as possible.

“You’re not denying it?”

“Hahaha… .”

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The second creative contest for ‘Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde’ began, and dozens of works poured into the publisher every day.

Evaluating all of this is also a task.

I liked reading, so it wasn’t much of a problem. Rather, it was good.

“There are more plays than I expected.”

The format of the contest was free. Novels, epics, plays, and even paintings were possible. Drawings will be evaluated separately and, if selected, will be included as illustrations in the next printed edition.

However, there was something strange mixed in between them.

“Boss.”

“Yes! Writer!”

“I think this fan letter was misclassified? I think there’s a gift enclosed inside.”

“Yes? That can’t be possible. Just a moment.”

Inside the envelope was a small glass bottle.

The boss checked the envelope and handed it back to me.

“It is a contest entry. Isn’t this perhaps a gift to the author, separate from the work? Because these people are all fans of the author.”

“Hmm, maybe so.”

Inside the glass bottle, a gray liquid that sparkled like metal was sloshing around. This isn’t mercury, right?

I was afraid to open it, so I looked at the work first.

The work contained in the envelope was a memoir imitating Henry Jekyll’s confessional in the novel.

[I realized that our body is nothing more than a shell that expresses the power and light that makes up the soul.]

[And furthermore, they succeeded in creating a drug that brought down that noble power from its lofty position and instead created a completely different body and appearance.]

Up to that point, it was no different from Jekyll’s confession in the novel.

The part that changed was after that.

[Just in case an emergency arises, I will write down the recipe for the medicine here. A drug that completely exposes the most lethal side of a person… .]

What was written in the letter was a recipe for some medicine.

A recipe that contains detailed information on ingredients, manufacturing method, and necessary tools and equipment. Although the format of the contest was said to be free, I was a little embarrassed because it was completely unexpected.

I turned the next page of the letter with a mixture of half bewilderment and half anticipation. The last chapter was not Jekyll’s confessional in the novel, but a letter written by the participant in his own name.

[After researching and thinking about the medicine in the work ‘Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde,’ I realized that it is not theoretically impossible to make this mysterious and profane medicine.]

[I kiss the ominous inspiration contained in this fantastic novel and submit the results of my search to the story’s creator.]

[May your art and mine shine under God’s blessing.]

[-Alchemist, Galen Lanyon-]

“… What.”