episode_0009

The genre called hardboiled begins with contradiction.

A life of distrust and skepticism towards humans, and a life that is tiring and difficult, unlike the bright future promoted by propaganda. As these contradictions deepen, people try to stop thinking deeply.

At such times, novels that break down refreshingly become popular.

At least I feel refreshed inside!

“I didn’t know that hardboiled would suddenly become popular.”

“Master. What is hardboiled?”

“A genre that solves problems with violence.”

“This is my first time hearing it.”

“Because I just made it.”

To call this hard-boiled, it was simply closer to violence. They say it doesn’t matter if it’s a solution to the problem, all you have to do is destroy it.

I put the book I was holding into the bookshelf.

[Mad Hammer]

[Hammett’s Revenge]

[Ariant’s swordsman]

The bookshelf was filled with violent books with similar sentiments to the book I had just read.

Most of them are poor quality short stories printed on cheap paper. With the money you could buy for one copy of Don Quixote, you could buy 200 books like this.

Because the ‘printing technology’ in this world was more advanced than expected, violent material like this, which was only popular in the early 20th century, seemed to be becoming popular.

This was another unexpected part.

“I guess there is something you don’t like.”

“No, well, for me, there’s nothing wrong with this kind of trend… .”

These poor quality short stories can be read and consumed lightly. Given that the existence of pulp fiction has become the foundation of genre fiction fandom, being popular can never be a disadvantage.

If there’s a problem… .

“It’s just not fun.”

“Definitely, it seems to be lacking compared to the novels you wrote.”

“No, it’s less interesting than article literature.”

This was just ignorantly provocative.

Robbery, murder, rape, violence, anything provocative was hit. It makes me wonder if there is any intention to create something called a ‘story’.

Wouldn’t a novel like this be created if gore porn was described through text?

A trend cannot last long if it only stimulates discomfort like this. For this trend to be completed, the existence of a ‘standardized plot’ was necessary.

“Don’t buy cheap short stories like this from now on.”

“Okay.”

“Ah, but if you read something and find it ‘interesting,’ then bring it because anything is okay. I’ll probably write a novel that goes well with this kind of pulp fiction later… .”

“Do you have any plans for a new work?”

“There are a few things that come to mind, but it’s still too early.”

Rather, the announcement of the results of the ‘2nd Creative Contest’, which had been prepared from the beginning, comes first.

The results of this contest were very important for the plan I was envisioning to come to fruition.

“Zion. Pack your bags. Oh, and make sure to take the ‘medicine’ stored separately.”

“Okay.”

Shion started putting medicines into the bag one by one.

Thanks to the impact protection magic on the bag, I didn’t have to worry about the glass bottle breaking. In the first place, the glass bottle itself was created through alchemy, so it is sturdy.

“Ah, Zion. Would you like to give me just one medicine?”

“Yes?”

After thinking for a moment, I opened the lid of the vial and swallowed the medicine.

“Wow, Mr. Ha, it hurts so much… . Don’t you get used to it even if you drink it twice?”

“Master?”

“I think it would be better than going to my face.”

It’s still okay right now, but I don’t know if there will be any problems with my novel later.

If something like ‘Why did you kill Holmes?’ happens for no reason, it’s troublesome.

It would be better to separate ‘Homer’ and ‘Ed’ altogether. There were a few people who already knew my face, but since we don’t have social media in this world, that’s probably okay.

“Good. let’s go. Zion.”

It’s time to go meet the winners.

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.

.

“Aaagh! Ji, the author of ‘Homer’ is really coming to present the award in person, right?”

“Uh, what should I do? I’m so nervous… .”

“When I meet him, I have to ask him to sign the book… . Oh, and the handshake… Is it possible… ?”

The auditorium where the 2nd Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde creative contest award ceremony was held was noisy.

This is because all of the people here were fans who participated in the contest with the sole intention of meeting the author of ‘Homer’ in person.

“Is it okay for you to follow me? Isn’t that just where magic bullets come flying from somewhere?”

“It’s okay! It was said that the winner can be accompanied by up to two people.”

“Huh… thank you. really. Having you as my friend is the greatest luck in my life… .”

Among people who enjoy literature, the name ‘Homer’ is literally like a god.

He was a superman who dominated the social world of proud nobles with his debut work ‘Don Quixote’, and he was the creator of the attractive characters ‘Jekyll’ and ‘Hyde’ with his work ‘Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde’.

“Hyde, I really love you so much… .”

“I liked Jekyll. It looks a little dangerous and you feel like you want to protect it? He’s also gentlemanly.”

“Ah, you know, you know!”

In particular, ‘Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde’ was popular among women.

This is because the characters of Dr. Jekyll, who is cultured and kind but dangerous and wants to be protected, and Mr. Hyde, a bad man who does not care about what people think of him, were a direct hit to female readers. In particular, it was more fatal because there was no immunity to the attribute called ‘dual personality’.

Among those fans, there were people from prestigious families, such as Geum Geum-ok-yeop from an aristocratic family and the daughter of a merchant.

“Hehe, can you recognize what this is?”

“That’s… , Is this the first edition of Don Quixote Part 1? How can it be that it is no longer for sale? .”

“I plan to get the autograph of the author of Homer here. Isn’t it fascinating just to imagine it?”

“… You probably don’t plan on selling it, right?”

“Is there any fool who would sell a priceless treasure for money?”

“If you promise development rights to the Prinen mine… .”

“… yes? Are you serious?”

As if it were a social circle, behind-the-scenes negotiations took place over interests.

Among them, there were people who kept each other in check.

“Did you hire a ghostwriter by any chance?”

“No way. It’s a great honor just to have the writer Homer read my poor writing… Would anyone do such a vulgar thing?”

“Well, that’s true too.”

However, such checks did not continue persistently.

As long as there are no irreconcilable differences in interpretation, a bond can develop between fans who love the same work.

“The writer Homer is like my god. You can’t dare commit such disrespect.”

“Ah! I understand.”

So, the writer Homer was a god.

In today’s world where the number of apathetic people has increased due to the development of magical engineering, he may have been a more influential writer than God.

“The awards ceremony is starting soon! All award winners must sit in their designated seats, and those accompanying them must sit back!”

“Wow, they say it’s starting soon. What should I do?”

“Is my face okay now? Doesn’t it look crumbly? I should have gone to bed early yesterday!”

like that.

“The author of Homer is coming in to present the award!!!”

The awards ceremony began, filled with adoration and confusion.

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.

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The auditorium where the awards ceremony takes place.

I was sitting in the small waiting room attached to the auditorium, waiting for my turn.

“Writer. Are you ready?”

“Ah, yes. Wasn’t there anything special I had to prepare?”

“I think you need to prepare your mind… .”

“I’m just a presenter. ”

If I were the winner, I wouldn’t know. I’m just handing over the award, but I’m not sure what kind of mental preparation is necessary.

For some reason, the Dorling boss looked a little nervous.

“Writer… !”

“Yes, boss.”

“It’s not the time to be so relaxed… .”

“Yes.”

“Ugh, the author needs to be more aware of his own influence.”

“So you changed your face like this?”

After drinking the medicine, my appearance looked like a mixture of half of my past life and half of my current life, but it was difficult to guess what ‘Ed’ looked like just by looking at that appearance.

As I said this while touching my face with my hand, Dorling suddenly raised her voice and shouted as if she was annoyed.

“That face is also a problem!”

“Yes?”

“You’re so handsome!”

“Is that so… ?”

Umm.

Honestly, I think he looks a little better.

Doesn’t this feel like a handsome mixed-race actor that often comes to mind? It looked just like that.

Do you feel like you killed off the shortcomings of both your past life and your current appearance and left only the good points?

“This is why I thought it would have been better for you to come with your original face!”

“You’re not saying that I was originally ugly, right?”

“You don’t have an ugly face to begin with… Feeling harmless?”

What does it mean to look harmless?

I’m not sure if it’s a compliment or an insult. I’m not sure, so let’s think of it as a compliment for now.

“Ahh, it’s already my turn… Writer! You know that the writer is right after me, right? You must come out immediately when called!”

“Yes, yes.”

When President Dorling went outside to give a congratulatory speech, the waiting room suddenly became quiet.

Maybe it’s because of the boss’ threats, but I feel a little nervous. I sat back in my chair and waited for my name to be called.

No, that’s not my name.

– “The author of Homer is coming in to present the award!!!”

As the name of the greatest writer in history was called, I opened the door to the dark waiting room.

There was a light beyond the door.

◦ at

“Wow!!!”

There were people cheering.

For a moment, I was overwhelmed by the cheers and lost my mind. Everyone here was only looking at me.

ah.

This is why the boss told me to prepare my mind… .