Chapter 43: Newspaper Serialization and Competition (1)
Melissa, the wilted young lady who had once joined forces with Wade to write the spin-off work [The Villainess Does Not Fall], had recently found herself troubled by a certain concern.
"No one’s been playing board games with me lately..."
It was the very sort of concern befitting a wilted young lady: for some reason, no one had been playing the board games Melissa herself had become so absorbed in.
Yes. This concern began from the moment Melissa fell completely in love with board games.
Blue Marble, The Game of Life, Find the Dark Wizard.
All three games had suited Melissa’s tastes so perfectly that she had played them every single day since their release without fail.
Of course, as the young lady of the strict and dignified House of Count Gideon, someone who even acted in order to hide her timid personality, she could not recklessly visit an arcade where all sorts of people crowded in.
"I even went out of my way to pay a lot for official copies..."
She simply had to buy the board games and play them at home.
They were somewhat expensive if one wanted to buy proper official products imbued with magic, rather than shoddy imitations.
But the royalties from [The Villainess Does Not Fall] were more than enough to cover the cost.
And board games were fun enough to be worth that much.
"Lady Melissa, why is this game called Blue Marble so much fun?!
Ugh... I want to play another round too, but it’s time for me to go work now...
Instead, the next time I have a day off, you absolutely have to call me again, all right? Not the other girls!"
"Author Wei made this?
To think he not only writes novels, but also creates fun games like this—no wonder people call him the Apostle of Culture. He really is amazing."
"You think so too, don’t you?
As expected, Author Wei is incredible."
Moreover, it wasn’t just Melissa herself; even the servants she was close to and enjoyed the games with were full of praise.
It made Melissa feel proud for having bought the board games in the first place.
"But why won’t anyone play with me now?"
At some point, however, the popularity of board games had gradually begun to decline.
Even the close servants who used to pester her every time to let them play had noticeably stopped doing so as often.
Now, even when Melissa was the one to suggest playing together first, it had become difficult to gather the required number of people.
Had everyone already grown tired of board games?
Melissa, worn down by frustration, personally set out to find the reason.
"It’s because of the new fighting game?"
"Yes. Everyone’s gone to either play or watch [Races Fighter]."
The reason was that everyone around her had become utterly absorbed in the newly released fighting game, [Races Fighter], and no longer played board games with her.
And the person who had generously installed [Races Fighter] even in the servants’ lounge so the servants could enjoy it was none other than Melissa’s father, Count Gideon.
"Author Wei is truly an extraordinary man.
After turning the kingdom upside down and causing such a stir,
to think he would even create an object so perfectly suited for knights to enjoy with honor. Hahaha."
When Count Gideon, the head of the family, praised the fighting game and Author Wei who had created it so generously, calling it excellent,
it was only natural that the servants’ attention would be drawn in that direction as well.
"No, why would Father...?"
"He said fighting games embodied the honorable duels of knights, so he viewed them very favorably.
He was even delighted, saying there was already a place that resolved a territorial dispute by holding a proxy battle through a fighting game instead of a duel."
"What? Is that true?"
From what she heard, there was a piece of land ambiguously situated between two noble houses, which had led to repeated disputes.
But its value was also too ambiguous to justify a true territorial war or duel, so it had apparently been left half-abandoned.
Then a fighting game appeared, allowing them to determine an honorable victory without directly shedding blood!
It seemed they had agreed that whichever side won through the fighting game would gain rights to the land.
"And they’re going to hold another match periodically every year to decide ownership again.
So both families are apparently already busy finding or training proxy knights to take part in the proxy battle."
"...If that’s true, it’s an incredible story.
It’s hard to call it a simple game anymore."
Melissa did wonder whether such a thing could really happen, but if it was true, she could understand why her father liked fighting games so much.
He did not see fighting games as mere games.
Rather, he must perceive them as a new battlefield where knights could clash safely, without staking their lives.
'That must be why he calls them games for honorable knights.'
Her respect for Author Wei, who had created such a thing, began to well up in her once more.
But separate from that, it was troublesome that everyone’s attention had shifted to fighting games and no one was playing board games with her.
'Because... board games are games you can’t enjoy alone without friends...'
To be precise, she could play alone if she really wanted to.
But when she had actually tried it by herself not long ago, playing multiple roles alone felt so pitiful that she had quickly given up.
Then one might ask whether she could not simply ask more forcefully, or even order them, to play board games with her.
'That’s way too coercive!
How could I do something like that when I’d feel so sorry?'
Doing that to people enjoying another game was not easy for Melissa, who concealed a wilted nature deep inside.
Thus, after much thought, she came up with another plan.
"If the problem is that their attention is on fighting games instead of board games,
then I just have to increase interest in board games, right?"
She decided, conversely, to increase interest in board games.
It was somehow an idea like that of a tragic heroine abandoned by her lover, thinking he would come back if she drew enough attention.
But for Melissa, who found it difficult to express herself directly, it was the best choice.
Then what method could she use to raise that interest?
"Should I try writing another novel...?"
The answer was a novel.
Through Author Wei’s works, and, embarrassingly, through Melissa’s own work [The Villainess Does Not Fall],
she already knew that a well-written novel could improve people’s perceptions.
So, after racking her brains, she succeeded in writing the opening of a novel about board games.
But she felt anxious about whether it had been written properly, and she wondered if perhaps she might receive some advice.
So she sent it to Author Wei and asked him for an evaluation.
"This is good, Miss Melissa. Would you be interested in doing something called a regular newspaper serialization with me this time?"
"Pardon?"
And from Author Wei, yet another completely unexpected proposal returned.
***
"Haha. This work seems like it’ll be very interesting too.
It’s good enough that you didn’t really need to ask me to evaluate it."
"Really? Hehe. Thank you!"
An unexpected gift sent by Melissa, the first seed of my cultural revolution plan, who had written [The Villainess Does Not Fall].
The opening of the novel she planned to write next was extremely intriguing.
'It feels similar to a movie I saw in my previous life.'
It was a movie called [Jumanji], and I had enjoyed it so much that I watched it several times over.
Like that movie, it dealt with incidents that occurred when the protagonists played a board game imbued with ancient magic, causing the events in the game to happen in reality.
The difference was that, in this world, magic and martial arts actually existed.
So the incidents unfolded based on that.
After reading it, I immediately invited Melissa over and expressed my admiration, sparing no praise.
'Melissa definitely has talent as a writer.'
She hadn’t even seen it in a previous life like I had, yet she could come up with content of this quality on her own.
If she had been born in my previous life, she might well have become a fairly popular author.
So, trusting in that talent, I made her another proposal.
"This is good, Miss Melissa. Would you be interested in doing something called a regular newspaper serialization with me this time?"
"Pardon?"
I had already been thinking it was about time to try regularly serializing novels in newspapers, just like comics.
'Newspaper serialization will probably create an environment that’s easier to challenge oneself in than formal publication.'
You could call it a kind of stepping stone.
I thought it would be nice if there were a place where writers who felt burdened by or afraid of formal publication could challenge themselves by writing in short installments.
That way, wouldn’t there be more works worth reading for me?
For the newspapers as well, they could publish works as a simple test, drop the ones with poor evaluations, and profit if a big hit appeared, so it would be good for them too.
In other words, it was a win-win for both sides.
My ultimate goal was to launch a specialized novel magazine that gathered serialized novels, like the manga magazines from my previous life.
'Well, that’s impossible for now, so I’ll have to look at it from a longer perspective.'
There were still only two suitable writers: Melissa and me.
So for that very reason, I needed to start newspaper serialization first, serving as an example while also acting as the priming water to draw in more writers.
"Still, I thought serializing alone would be a little lacking in volume and impact.
And just in time, a proven talent named Miss Melissa appeared."
"Ah. So that’s how it was."
After hearing my explanation, Melissa seemed to finally understand and nodded several times.
"In that case, I’d like to do it.
I’ll join you."
"Oh. Are you sure?"
"Yes. It seems like it would help continuously draw attention to board games, just as I intend.
And more than anything, I don’t want to miss the chance to work together with you, Author Wei."
Since it satisfied both practical interests and her fan feelings, she had no reason not to do it, and she accepted at once.
"Ah, come to think of it, I don’t think I’ve heard what you’ll be writing yet, Author Wei.
What kind of novel will you be serializing in the newspaper with me?"
And now that we had become “nakama” who would be serialized together in the newspaper, she asked what kind of novel I intended to write.
The novel I would write, huh.
That would be...
"Contrary to you, Miss Melissa, I plan to write a promotional novel about the fighting game [Races Fighter].
I intend to unfold the stories of the characters appearing in the game as a novel."
"Pardon...? So, that means it’s... opposite to my goal?"
"Exactly the opposite."
Melissa had said she decided to write this novel in order to increase interest in board games, so she could gather people to play board games with her.
I was sorry, but I had entered the fray in order to raise interest in fighting games even further.
In other words, strictly speaking, the two of us were not “nakama,” but “competitors.”
I grinned at Melissa, who was stunned after realizing this truth, and declared,
"Now then. Let us have a fair and square match to see which side can draw more attention!"