Chapter 52: Mythology of Another World in Comics (4) Fin
For better or worse, [Mythological Tales in Comics], which had begun by delivering an unexpected visual shock—
turned out, contrary to expectations, to be so easy to understand and entertaining that it surprised Eric.
-In the beginning. In other words, the first form of this world was originally a world of nothingness, where nothing existed at all.-
-Wow! Then the continent we live on didn’t exist from the start?-
-That’s right. And the one who was first born in that world of nothingness,
and made the world into a state of chaos where all manner of things were mixed together from nothing, was none other than the Goddess of Chaos.-
-Not the Goddess of Love and Light?-
-The one who rules the world now is the Goddess of Love and Light, so I thought she was the oldest god...-
-That is precisely the interesting part of mythology.
The Goddess of Love and Light appears a little later.
It all connects, so don’t doze off and listen carefully.-
To begin with, it interpreted things using easy words and vocabulary so that they were simple to understand.
And by making use of the in-story concept of a professor speaking to students, adding supplementary explanations here and there made it even easier to follow.
If this had been a real class or actual studying, it would have been boring no matter what.
But because it was delivered through the format of comics, it was received as entertainment rather than study.
“Hoho. So the world wasn’t governed by the Goddess of Love and Light from the very beginning?
Just what happened in the Age of Gods that led the Goddess of Love and Light, who was born later, to rule the world?”
Thanks to that, Eric was able to take an interest in mythology without feeling any resistance or boredom at all.
And his reaction was also influenced by the changed form of the comic compared to before.
It had broken away from the four-panel comic format that first appeared.
The size and arrangement of the panels were no longer uniform, and the characters’ dynamism had greatly increased as well.
Because of that, the art conveyed the content with far more vitality.
“At this level, even a little child really might be able to understand it.”
Since that thought naturally came to mind, what more needed to be said?
Eric had now completely shaken off the anxiety and doubt that had occupied one corner of his heart: “Can mythology really be explained in an easy-to-understand way?”
-With the birth of the Goddess of Chaos, gods, giants, spirits, monsters, and demons coexisted, and a confusing world began, where things like the earth rising high above and the sky spread beneath one’s feet were all jumbled together.
This first world is called the Age of Chaos.
This refers to disorder before order came into being...-
“Aha. So when the church always emphasizes that order comes after chaos, and that we must strive to overcome confusion and preserve order, this is what they meant.”
He began to enjoy [Mythological Tales in Comics] completely, with nothing else on his mind.
He gaped in admiration at the overwhelming scale of the Age of Gods, which a mere human could never dare approach.
Conversely, he burst into laughter at the secretly petty and mean-spirited appearances of gods and monsters.
And in the sections that interpreted the doctrines hidden in between, he broadened his horizons with the new facts he learned.
Little by little, he began to fall into the mythological tales within the comic.
Now, he was even looking forward to what myth and interpretation would follow next.
-Professor, so what happens next?-
-Does the Age of Chaos end now and the Age of Order begin?-
“Pfft. It seems I’m not the only one curious about the rest of the story.”
That was true not only for Eric, but also for the students within the work.
At the drawing of the students, who had somehow awakened from their drowsiness and were now focusing on the mythology the professor was explaining with sparkling eyes, Eric let out a wry laugh full of sympathy.
And then, in the very moment when everyone’s curiosity and concentration had reached their peak—
-All right, break’s over. Let’s start class again.-
“Ah?”
The professor, the narrator within the work, ended the story.
“It ends here...?
...Damn it! Author Wei, is this your doing again?!”
Cutting it off as cleanly as a blade at such a thoroughly calculated moment was, no matter how one looked at it, clearly the skill of Author Wei, a seasoned practitioner of the demonic art of cliffhangers.
-Aaaah! Professor! How can you cut it off here?!-
-Just a little! Please, just a little more!-
-You’re already wide awake now, aren’t you?
I’ll continue the next story during the next class.-
“Kraaaagh! Did you really have to end it here?! Even if you were going to end it, you could at least have shown us to the end of the Age of Chaos!”
No matter how emptily he muttered, the fact that [Mythological Tales in Comics] ended here did not change.
In the end, Eric too had no choice but to scream in frustration, just like the pleading students within the work.
If there was one small mercy, it was that this was not the complete end and hinted that a sequel volume existed.
Of course, when he thought about waiting for that sequel volume, that brought out another scream of agony in its own way.
And perhaps naturally enough—
similar scenes began to be observed all across the kingdom at the same time.
***
The effect of [Mythological Tales in Comics] was tremendous!
Everyone fell into a state of frenzy!
It was to the point that one could almost hear such narration ringing out.
The ripple effect of [Mythological Tales in Comics] was causing an uproar across the entire kingdom.
“To think I’d end up waiting this eagerly for the next part of mythology, something I’d never even cared about until now.”
“That’s because it was that easy to understand and fun.
I only learned this time that there was such a thing as the Age of Chaos.”
“This is the first time in my life I’ve ever wanted to study.
Tsk. If other studies had been this fun, I would have worked harder.”
“But why isn’t there a next volume?!
Kraaagh! I’m saying I’ll study, so why won’t they let me?!”
Seeing people voluntarily wanting to learn more about the mythology they had found so difficult—
should I say it made me realize anew just how great the power of comics was?
“Looking at it now, maybe this should be considered a kind of educational comic too.”
It wasn’t intended, but [Mythological Tales in Comics] had effectively pioneered a new market called educational comics.
And that wasn’t just empty talk.
Once it was actually confirmed that comics could easily convey difficult educational content and draw people’s interest and concentration,
Duke Lucid and the royal family also showed interest.
‘Hooh. This is interesting.
With this method, it could be useful when announcing or teaching something on a national level.’
If things went well, perhaps an educational comic produced by the royal family might come out soon.
Anyway.
Thanks to that effect, it was said that the number of people deliberately visiting churches had also increased greatly this time.
“Ugh, I’m so curious about what happens next that I can’t stand it!
I’ll go to the church and listen to the original mythology at least.”
“Will you be all right? If you’re not seeing it as a comic, it’ll be hard to understand, you know? There’s no telling whether it’ll be fun either.”
“I don’t know. I’ll find out once I hear it.
Wouldn’t it be better for my head to burst because it’s difficult than for my insides to burst because I’m curious?”
Apparently, many people came gratefully to listen to even the original version, saying they were curious about what came after the comic cut off.
Of course, most of them were disappointed by the original, which, unlike the comic, was difficult and uninteresting, and went back.
But occasionally, there were also people who became interested and fully changed jobs into believers, so they said it was truly an unprecedented boom.
“The Saintess was delighted, saying she couldn’t remember the last time so many believers voluntarily visited the church.
She asked me to convey her thanks to you too, Oppa.
She wanted to come in person, but she’s busy at the academy right now explaining mythology and doctrine to the students.”
Therefore, the client, the Saintess, was also extremely satisfied!
It seemed the academy students who had read [Mythological Tales in Comics] had all clung to the Saintess and requested worship, so she couldn’t come to greet me in person.
But through Lena, she had sent an extremely courteous message of thanks.
Well, with this, I had fully repaid my debt of gratitude to the church, and on top of that, I had strengthened our relationship, so it was a win-win.
No, perhaps I benefited even more.
‘In the future, when I make other works,
if I ever need to include religious content, it’ll be easier to ask for understanding.’
Even if I end up writing something slightly unfavorable to the church, considering this incident, they’ll probably give me at least one warning before smashing my head in.
It felt a little strange to say this about the church, but it was like I had gained a kind of indulgence.
Ah, of course, [Mythological Tales in Comics] does not end here.
It will continue as a series, spreading mythology going forward.
‘At the very least, it should be serialized up to the part where the current world comes under the reign of the Goddess of Love and Light.’
The upper leadership of the church had said they planned to assign even more people after confirming the power of [Mythological Tales in Comics], hadn’t they?
Then the serialization speed would probably get faster too.
I, too, should wait happily as a reader.
I don’t know the mythology of this world in detail either, so there’s fun in learning about it.
‘I’ve gained another thing to enjoy.
It really is rewarding to spread culture so diligently.’
Anyway.
Now, even if I take my hands off [Mythological Tales in Comics], it seems like it will roll along just fine on its own.
I’ll probably only need to check things like character designs now and then.
So that the art style doesn’t suddenly change drastically midway through, like a certain mythology comic from my past life.
And since things have been wrapped up on that side for now—
it’s about time for my own work to be wrapped up too, isn’t it?
“The [Genius Mage of the Slums] series. I think it’s about time to bring it to an end.”
The time was approaching for my first long-running serialized work to reach its conclusion.