Episode 4: Otherworldly Cultural Revolution
Influenced by the paper-making revolution and the printing revolution, it wasn’t only books that grew in scale.
Wasn’t there something far more accessible than books, and much more closely tied to everyday life, dealing with useful information?
That’s right.
Newspapers.
Perhaps because things like adventurers’ bulletin boards and organizations such as information guilds had already existed.
Right after the paper-making and printing revolutions, newspapers quickly appeared and began to develop.
The fact that one could gather all sorts of information while sitting at home, without having to go through the trouble of running around in person, made newspapers an extremely attractive medium.
Thanks to their usefulness, it was a booming new industry—so much so that there were many people who read newspapers even if they didn’t read books.
Unlike the newspapers of my previous life, crammed full with capitalism where every single letter translated into money.
The volume was still not all that great, and even that changed from issue to issue.
Still, they were useful for obtaining information from the capital and major cities far from our territory, so our family made sure to read them as well.
—Shocking! The Royal Family’s Secret Revealed!
Did demonic blood truly flow in the royal family?!
What is the ancient truth personally revealed by the royal family?—
“No, what the fuck?”
I never dreamed that my story would be plastered across the front page of such a newspaper in huge letters.
Was this how celebrities felt when they were immortalized in the controversy section of Jangjak Wiki?
The incident I thought had ended safely.
The terror of having it shoved back in front of my face through a completely unexpected route!
I’m not exaggerating in the slightest when I say I almost pissed myself.
Not in a good way, but in a bad way.
“I was sure Aria and I had settled things without any hard feelings…”
Did she suddenly get pissed off again midway and spread what I’d done?
‘Kuh, Aria, did you betray me!’
I wrote an interesting story like you asked, allowed the performance, handed over my book because you said you wanted it, I did everything for you!
And now you do something this dirty?!
“Wait. Hold on, Oppa. This doesn’t really have anything to do with you, does it?
There’s no mention of you at all.”
“Huh? Really? Let me see… It’s true?
There’s nothing about me at all, only about the book I wrote?”
Mm.
Of course!
I believed in you, Aria!
I never once thought you were a faithless, petty elf who went around blabbing about things that were already over!
“Huh? Then what’s this newspaper article about?
Why does it only mention the contents of the book I wrote, without talking about me?”
I knew now that Aria hadn’t been spreading nasty rumors about me this and that.
Then why on earth were the contents of the book I wrote in here?
That question, which naturally came to mind, was resolved surprisingly quickly.
“Lord Wade. No, Author Wade.
It seems you have already grasped the situation to some extent through the newspaper.”
“Lady Aria? What on earth is going on?”
“Well… Might you please give me a chance to explain?”
Because Aria, who had left our territory, returned to explain herself.
***
To explain the whole story behind this incident, we had to turn back time for a moment.
The masterpiece completed by Wade, [The Betrayed Hero Takes Revenge].
Aria, who had splendidly completed even the performance of “Betrayed Hero” for short, left the Byron territory for her original destination.
‘If I could, I’d like to stay here forever…’
It felt somewhat unfair that after discovering a genius author named Wade, she had to leave his side.
Even so, she had to keep the invitation she had already accepted beforehand.
The inviter was a die-hard fan who had supported and sponsored her for decades until now.
At the same time, he was a great noble who held the rank of duke.
She could not treat such a fan carelessly.
As compensation, if one could call it that, she held a book in her hand.
It was the original manuscript of “Betrayed Hero,” personally written by Wade.
‘Are you truly giving this work to me?!
And not a copy, but the original?!’
‘Yes. To begin with, I wrote it for the sake of showing it to you, Lady Aria.
Naturally, I believe it is only right to give it to you.’
The genuine original, whose ownership Wade himself had acknowledged and handed over.
Since Wade had also printed and kept a copy for himself as the author, this was not the only book in existence.
Even so, the sense of superiority that came from being one of only two people to possess this incredible work did not change.
And so, her steps as she left the Byron territory became a little lighter.
It did not even end there.
When Aria asked for permission to spread the artistic value of “Betrayed Hero” through performances.
“Well, our family has already performed it anyway.
And it would be a waste to let what we made just rot away.
If you wish, you may use it as much as you like.”
“How generous you are!”
Wade readily granted permission for the performances as well.
And that was the very starting point of the problem.
“…And so, before the Hero, who had finally been freed from revenge,
his precious companion, the Demon King, awaited him.
And the kingdom they founded was promised long prosperity!”
At the party hosted by the ducal family to which she had been invited, Aria proudly performed the contents of “Betrayed Hero” right away.
“My goodness! Such beautiful love!
This must be true love, transcending race and faction!”
“A radical, yet extremely fresh interpretation!
But that is precisely what makes it good! It’s been so long since I heard a story that drew me in this deeply!”
“Sir Aria! One more time! Sing it just one more time!
It would be far too regrettable to hear such a performance only once and have it end!”
Naturally, all the partygoers who saw the performance were plunged into shock and admiration.
They either called enthusiastically for an encore, or, unable to overcome the swelling emotion in their hearts, quietly wiped away tears.
Since it was a piece of writing that had even captivated Aria, an outstanding minstrel, it was only natural.
If it had only gone that far, it likely would have ended without any major problems, simply as a successful performance.
But Aria was a superstar, a trendsetter.
Therefore, the contents of the “Betrayed Hero” performance she sang quickly spread through the mouths of nobles and servants who were itching to boast.
And once the leaked contents spread even to ordinary citizens, the problem began to take a strange turn.
‘This story is interesting and all.
But doesn’t it feel like we’ve heard something similar somewhere before?’
‘Isn’t this the story of the First Hero, our founding king?’
Claims began to circulate that the founding king and First Hero of this country, the Kingdom of Justia, was the protagonist of this very story.
Naturally, there was nothing about him taking the Demon King as his companion or being betrayed.
However, every other detail was strikingly similar to the deeds of the First Hero, the founding king, and that was how this happened.
If that claim had merely been speculation, it might have been laughed off.
The problem was.
“What? Duke, what do you mean?
The contents of my performance were all true?”
“Shh. Keep your voice down, Sir Aria.
It has not yet been officially revealed as truth.
Even so, it is a top-secret matter passed down only among the royal family and a few great nobles.”
That claim was truly fact.
“You really didn’t know? I thought Sir Aria had adapted the story knowing everything.”
“…I had no idea at all. To begin with, this story was not something I created.”
When the duke who had invited her secretly called her over and told her the truth, Aria was left dazed and dumbfounded.
But then, a thought suddenly occurred to her.
‘Perhaps Lord Wade knew this fact?’
The fact that it was top-secret information of the royal family, something only great nobles could know, could not stop Aria’s speculation.
A genius on Wade’s level could have found it out somehow.
In vulgar terms, she was seeing him through rose-colored glasses!
But that was precisely why she became even more worried.
‘Could they perhaps try to harm him under the charge of revealing a royal secret?’
If the duke had called her in order to ferret out the author who had disclosed that secret, she would never open her mouth!
Aria hardened her resolve in her heart like that.
But that resolve never ended up being used.
“Ah, there is no need to worry about having spoken of the secret.
The royal family has supposedly decided to officially announce that secret on this occasion.
So no harm will come separately to the author of this story.
If anything, they would more likely give him a reward.”
“They are going to announce it truthfully? Will that be all right?”
“Mm. The kingdom’s rule is stable anyway, and support for them is solid.
And after investigating separately, they found that people’s reactions were surprisingly not bad.”
“Not bad?”
“To be honest, they say support has actually risen instead.
Quite passionately at that.”
As the citizens immersed themselves in the story of “Betrayed Hero,” they came to feel deep affection for the protagonists.
Therefore, even upon learning that the founding king’s companion was the Demon King, they supported the royal family without much resistance.
The royal family, having caught that favorable reaction, did not miss the opportunity and immediately decided to make an official announcement.
They could take the goodwill the citizens currently held and use it to increase the royal family’s popularity, grant them the mystique of having the Demon King’s bloodline mixed in,
whitewash the demons whom they had secretly felt indebted toward all this time while keeping the matter hidden, and even gain authority and legitimacy for the royal family.
Only a fool would not do this.
And in order to carry out that task, there was something that had to be done alongside it.
So that people would not reject the secret to be announced from now on, but would instead be able to sympathize with it.
They had to make as many people as possible know the contents of “Betrayed Hero.”
“So we would like to spread that story a bit.
Since there are limits to what minstrels’ songs can do, we would use the original book you possess.”
“…That is not something I can permit.
I will explain the circumstances directly to the author who wrote this and seek his permission.”
“Very well. Then I shall make preparations in advance.”
And so, carrying a grave secret and mission, Aria visited the Byron Viscounty once more.
And after hearing the whole explanation, I—
‘This is huge!’
I shuddered at the thrilling sensation that shot through my entire body.
I was a little surprised by the coincidence that the topic I had happened to choose had actually happened in the past.
But that was not why I trembled in shock.
It was because I instinctively realized that a once-in-a-lifetime jackpot opportunity had arrived!
I was not talking simply about commercial success from books that would be distributed throughout the country.
I meant an opportunity that could change my boring and tedious cultural life!
‘If my work can create this much influence,
couldn’t I use that influence to guide this world into creating a culture similar to that of my previous life?’
Originally, when a work became popular, people naturally wanted to make something like it.
I was not talking about plagiarism. I meant that it stimulated the desire to write something like that themselves.
Should I call it a kind of trend?
Even if the world and era were different, I did not think that aspect of human nature would change.
‘Then couldn’t I take on the role of a pioneer and guide who introduces the culture of my previous life?’
What if people saw the culture of my previous life that I spread, and began imitating it?
Among them, surely one or two things worth reading would come out!
Then that would mean farewell to this dullness and boredom.
Right now, I was moving beyond mere self-sufficiency for myself alone.
I was standing at a crossroads where I could change culture itself entirely.
You could call me the standard-bearer of a revolution, I suppose?
‘Since I’m changing culture, is it a cultural revolution?’
…The wording feels a bit off.
For some reason, I felt like I should point at a sparrow and shout, “That is a harmful bird.”
Shake, shake—
Ugh, was I possessed by a ghost?
I shook my head and cast off those dreadful thoughts.
Then, having made up my mind, I shouted my consent to Aria.
“Very well. What the hell, let’s give it a try!”
A revolution with absolutely no red flavor.
An otherworldly cultural revolution!