Episode 62: Gender Role Reversal as a Motive for Writing (1)
The participants belatedly realized that [I’m a Cleric, But I Want to Date!], installed at the contest announcement venue, was still only a prologue.
As I watched them, far more immersed than I had expected, screaming out the names of various characters.
A few days after I became certain this was a one-hundred-percent success.
-What is the true identity of the new game [I’m a Cleric, But I Want to Date!], which left onlookers aghast and players trembling on their knees?!-
-Now you can even date characters straight out of a comic?
A mysterious experience where you become the protagonist!-
-Is the advisor for [I’m a Cleric, But I Want to Date!] the Saintess?
What sort of Goddess Church historical details did the Saintess personally review?-
-Overwhelming immersion that makes everyone who plays it howl! We analyzed the secret behind that immersion in depth!-
As articles covering it were published one after another like mushrooms after rain.
Just as I had expected, waves of anticipation and desire once again began to surge among the people of the kingdom.
“A new game came out?
And it’s a completely different kind of game from the fighting game?
They should’ve let us play something like that at the interim evaluation too!”
“It wasn’t made by Author Wei, but doesn’t that make it even more intriguing and exciting in its own way?”
“Just how fun is it that people supposedly cried and made a fuss to let them play more?
Damn it! Show us what you saw too!”
But there was a small problem here.
Unlike the other award-winning works that were scheduled to begin serialization immediately.
[I’m a Cleric, But I Want to Date!] did not yet have its main story completed, so there was no way to satisfy that anticipation and desire.
As a result, those suffering from unrelievable frustration even got angry, asking why they had been told about it already when it had not even come out yet.
Of course, if they really hadn’t been told, they would have gotten angry about that too.
“People’s reactions are the same in my past life and here.”
At that contradictory behavior, I was reminded of people suffering in exactly the same way in my previous life, and let out a faint chuckle.
As expected, places where people live are all pretty similar.
In any case.
No matter how much they got angry like that, the finished product wasn’t going to pop! down from the sky.
In the end, they had no choice but to wait until its official release.
“Phew, can’t be helped.
If it’s come to this, I’ll just have to prepare so I can buy it and play it the moment it releases.
Just you wait, seriously.”
“I suppose buying the game separately to enjoy it is the right choice after all?
They say they’ll install it in arcades and rent it out too.
But the waiting lines will probably be long, and if I want to enjoy it quietly alone without anyone else butting in, I’ll have to save up money.”
“At least they said it’ll be cheaper than the fighting game and its machine.”
“Tch. Guess I’ll have to cut back on wasteful spending for a while.
Let’s see... first, arcade expenses and the cost of following Author Wei’s serialization are essential expenditures, so those are excluded...”
And so, more people began saving money in advance so they could buy and enjoy it as soon as it was released.
“Should I see this as similar to saving money to buy a next-generation console in my previous life?”
Maybe some people were actually feeling secretly relieved inside that they now had time to save money.
Well, seeing how they still refused to skimp on money for cultural life even then.
It was clear that the culture of the kingdom’s people had changed quite a lot.
As the person responsible for bringing about that change, I feel a little proud.
However, it was hard for people to simply wait without doing anything.
So they began enthusiastically digging into information about the game, seeking something that would motivate them through the wait.
And as that happened, the people who had either tried it first at the award announcement venue or watched it there.
A small number of people who, in terms of my previous life, could be called beta testers.
Briefly, but powerfully, seemed to gain an authority as pioneers.
“You’re asking what kind of game [I’m a Cleric, But I Want to Date!] is for there to be this much fuss?
Ha, it’s really good, but I just can’t explain it.
It’s the sort of thing only someone who’s tried it themselves can truly get immersed in. Ahem.”
“In truth, I only tasted a small fragment of it myself.
Considering the number of romance candidates and the choice system, won’t the full version unfold with a much more varied and complex story?”
“You don’t know who the romance candidates are or what the choice system is?
Oh dear... Then I suppose you’ll have no choice but to read the newspaper articles.”
Perhaps they too felt that intangible authority.
Their subtly smug, flexing tone made people’s anger rise, but.
Thanks to the information they released.
Even those who had not played it themselves could roughly grasp what kind of game it was and let their anticipation burn.
Naturally, newspapers containing related reviews and analysis articles sold like hotcakes too.
Amusingly, the newspaper that sold best among them belonged to the Publishing Guild.
Apparently, one of the few people who had actually played it, given the time constraints, was a reporter from their side.
Shylock looked somewhat conflicted when he heard that the newspaper from the Publishing Guild, which was closer to a rival, was the most popular.
“Tsk. I shall let this much slide.
They must be suffering quite a stomachache thanks to this contest as well, after all.”
In any case, since the promotion was going well, he was roughly satisfied and moved on.
And so, the series of incidents related to the dating simulation game was more or less wrapped up.
Now, all that remained was to complete the main story by incorporating feedback on the lacking parts.
Honestly, I’m looking forward to it too, so I hope it comes out quickly.
“Well, that’s that.
Now it’s time for me to return to my own work.”
And once that side was no longer a major worry.
I immediately shifted my attention to the next matter.
“It’s about time to release a new work.”
My new novel, that is.
Originally, after finishing the [Genius Mage of the Slums] series, I had planned to start writing a new work right away.
But it overlapped with the contest, and while I was paying attention to that side, I had temporarily stopped writing the new work.
Of course, even during that time, I had not skipped the background story of [Races Fighter], which I was serializing in the newspaper with Melissa, and had continued it steadily.
“That one is getting close to its conclusion too, isn’t it?”
The contest was over, and if the serialization of [Races Fighter]’s background story was also starting to look close to its ending.
Then I would once again have a lot of free time, and I couldn’t just play around then, could I?
So it meant the time had come to write a new work.
“And I feel a little sorry for the Publishing Guild, but the timing is just right too.”
The Commercial Guild is planning to formally launch magazines gathering the award-winning works from this contest, you see.
Just like how they gathered the contest entries and made them into something during the market evaluation.
The novel magazine [Adventure]
The comic magazine [Frontier]
Two magazines with titles full of the spirit of advance scouts.
The plan I had once tried to create but failed because there weren’t enough authors to serialize alongside me.
Through this contest, authors to join in had been secured, making it possible!
How could I resist that?
This huge event that might perhaps remain forever in the history of this world, beyond even the Justia Kingdom?
No, I absolutely couldn’t resist!
Therefore, I decided to take part in the beginning of this historic incident as well.
In other words, the discussions had already concluded for me to serialize a new work in the novel magazine [Adventure].
The Commercial Guild was pleased too, saying that if my new work was included, the magazine would be able to take root more stably.
“I see.
Then, what sort of work are you thinking of writing this time?”
After calmly listening all the way through my long explanation, Aria nodded and asked.
What kind of work was I planning to write and publish in that magazine?
“I do already have a theme in mind.”
“Oh! May I ask what theme it is?”
“Well... To be honest, saying this now.
The novels I’ve written so far have tended to start not purely from my own tastes, but with external necessities added in, haven’t they?”
“...Now that I think about it, that is true.
To begin with, your very first work began because I requested it.”
“Of course, I’m obviously not saying I forced myself to write the novels up until now.
I wrote them because I chose to, and I enjoyed writing them as well.”
That was simply the order of events.
Even now, I didn’t think that was a bad thing at all.
Still, at this point.
A desire was creeping up in me, wondering whether it would be all right to choose a theme that contained one hundred percent of my personal tastes, without really taking public opinion or external circumstances into consideration.
“You could call it my motive for writing.
And it just so happens I’ve confirmed that the kingdom’s culture has stabilized quite a bit.
So this time, I thought it might be all right to try something a little challenging, writing exactly what I want to write.”
“I think that sounds good.
After all, creativity shines brightest when one writes what one wants to write.
And I’m also looking forward to what a novel filled with your personal tastes would be like.”
As she said that, Aria asked me with her gaze, her large, clear eyes brimming with curiosity and expectation.
What kind of novel I planned to write.
The answer was simple.
The genre I most wanted to see right now, but that would probably never appear first in this world.
A genre so far ahead of its time that I had no choice but to supply it myself.
Namely.
“A gender role reversal story.”
“...Pardon?”
As if it was an answer she had not anticipated at all, Aria awkwardly shifted her eyes, which had been sparkling with expectation just moments earlier, to the side and asked again.
“Gender role reversal...? What is that?”
“In the small sense, it involves chastity between men and women.
Beyond that, it is a genre that enjoys the gap and changes in perception that arise when things like physical ability or social roles are reversed.”
“...So. Men take on women’s roles, and women take on men’s roles?”
“That’s roughly similar. Though the details are a bit different.”
“What... What would be... interesting about that...?”
As though she could not understand it with her common sense.
Aria’s trembling voice was filled with bewilderment.
Her eyes were full of confusion.
I understand.
It may be a concept that is still a little too early for this world to accept.
But I could guarantee it.
“Hehehe. You’ll understand once you see it for yourself, Aria.”
Once you acquire a taste for gender role reversal stories, their appeal is tremendous!