“This is a magic pen. Of course, I’ve had its stability checked by the professor and even the headmaster.”
Sitting in the workshop, Rupert reflected on Amelia’s words as he examined the pen.
When he first heard that it could automatically draw whatever image the user envisioned, he was genuinely astonished.
The surface of the magic pen he held was intricately engraved with a magic circle.
“But this is a failure.”
He couldn’t comprehend how a pen meant to draw whatever one imagined could be a failure, but after hearing Amelia’s explanation, he had no choice but to concede.
-To enhance stability, if the user’s mental strength isn’t above a certain level, it won’t activate at all.
During practical tests, all the students had been unable to use it, and even the professors of the Magic Department could only use it momentarily.
Only Yustaf had managed to handle it properly.
“Yustaf as a hurdle? That’s just too high, isn’t it?”
Rupert found himself puzzled about how to measure something like mental strength.
While it might be possible to measure things like mana or physical abilities objectively, could one really assess something as subjective as mental strength?
Rupert eyed the pen and attempted to follow Amelia’s instructions.
It was a simple method—hold both ends of the pen and twist them in opposite directions to activate it.
Whoosh!
As Rupert twisted the pen, light began to seep out from the engraved magic circle.
“What? Did it work?”
Seeing that it seemed to be functioning, Rupert grabbed a piece of paper.
Following Amelia’s instructions, he closed his eyes and envisioned Aida’s figure.
Aida, dressed as Snow White and declaring joyfully that she was Snow White, left quite an impression on Rupert, making it easy for him to picture it.
Swish.
“Ah!”
As he envisioned Aida, Rupert felt his hand moving involuntarily.
To be precise, it felt like the pen was moving on its own, and his hand was just going along for the ride.
Opening his eyes, Rupert was shocked to see that a drawing of Aida was being sketched on the white paper right in front of him.
“This is… amazing…”
The speed at which the picture was being drawn was incredible.
It was as if the pen were printing on paper, moving on its own, with Rupert’s hand struggling to keep up.
Yet, it wasn’t haphazardly drawn; the pen accurately captured the clear image Rupert had in mind.
Had it been about a minute?
The drawing of Aida he envisioned was now complete on the paper.
‘If I could apply this to my comics or even animations, it would be astounding!’
Excited, Rupert began to feel that just having this pen could resolve many issues he’d never dreamed of solving.
‘I should try drawing a comic, too!’
The ongoing project [Van Helsing] already had many action scenes, so this would be particularly useful.
Swish.
Looking at the storyboards he had prepared, Rupert organized the cuts in his mind and imagined the completed drawing.
Then, the pen began moving on its own again, sketching the images he had imagined.
After about a minute passed like before, he saw the finished drawing.
However,
“There are quite a few missing parts, huh?”
Unlike the previous drawing, this time not everything he thought of was captured in the output.
Rupert deduced that perhaps his concentration had been lacking, or maybe the pen had a fixed capacity for what it could remember and draw at one time. So this time, he would try drawing one frame at a time instead of a whole page.
This time, he was satisfied with the result; it turned out just as he envisioned.
“This is a miracle!”
He was so thrilled to have such an incredible item, something he had never expected, that he didn’t know what to do with his excitement.
While he was happily continuing to draw comics with the magic pen, he suddenly started to feel dizzy after finishing the first volume of a four-chapter comic according to Manhwapia standards.
“Ugh…”
It felt like a severe headache, as though he hadn’t slept for several nights, and exhaustion washed over him, sapping the strength from his entire body.
-This pen is influenced by mental strength.
Rupert gripped his temples, trying to keep his mind intact as he remembered Amelia’s warning.
Using an item with such capabilities would surely come with some risk.
He realized too late that he should have paced himself on his first use; in his excitement, he had pushed himself too hard. Finally recognizing this, Rupert staggered toward the makeshift bed in the corner of the workshop and collapsed onto it.
Had he pressed on a little more, he might have fainted like last time.
As soon as he lay down to rest, Rupert slipped into unconsciousness.
*
“Argh!!! Why isn’t this working?!”
The next day, a barely awake Rupert summoned all the artists to the workshop.
Although he couldn’t call Ioleen from the Imperial Family, he passed the magic pen to the others, urging them to try it out.
‘I can afford to take my time, but if the other authors can use this pen, it would be a huge help.’
Rupert thought it more beneficial for his fellow authors, who were struggling with bi-weekly serialization, to confirm whether they could activate the pen.
However, Sena and Ismael couldn’t activate the pen at all.
The only one who managed to get it working was Duma.
“Ugh… my head is pounding.”
“Already?”
“Actually, I felt something fuzzy in my head from the moment the pen started moving, but it just got worse…”
After drawing about a page’s worth, Duma complained of a headache and urgently stopped using it.
‘Could it be that Sena and Ismael can’t use it because they’re so young and have weak mental strength?’
Rupert recalled Amelia’s words that even the students at the academy couldn’t activate it.
Only Yustaf had managed it.
‘So why was I able to use it without any issue?’
Even including his age before reincarnation, Rupert was younger than the current Duma.
If he thought about how he had used it many times more than Duma before reaching his limit, it seemed clear age alone wasn’t the problem.
‘There’s no standard for measuring mental strength.’
Is there anything harder to assess than mental strength?
Though it’s not completely unexpected.
Rupert mused that Duma’s ability to activate it was likely due to his experience.
His past stories, which he accidentally overheard while discussing their works, were nothing short of horrific.
Perhaps it was because Duma endured such tragedy that he possessed the mental strength necessary to wield the magic pen.
‘Is that how it is?’
If so, it made sense up to a point.
He began to understand why he was capable of using the magic pen.
“Duma, please don’t overdo it today and take a rest.”
Having instructed Duma, who was still clutching his head in discomfort and the younger Sena and Ismael, who were disappointed about not being able to use it, Rupert left the workshop.
Now that he had made some progress in verifying the pen’s capabilities, he started crafting new plans using it.
*
“Ioleen, are things going well these days?”
“Thanks to Your Majesty, Father, everything is peaceful.”
The emperor frowned at Ioleen’s response, displeased.
In the Imperial Family, the rules were exceedingly strict, so even princes and princesses should not use the term ‘father’ casually.
However, Leonious allowed his only daughter, Ioleen, to call him “father,” yet she still referred to him as “your majesty.”
“Is there anything you need?”
“Nothing. I have more than enough already, so it’s actually concerning.”
The emperor thought to himself that he had expected something like that from her.
Ioleen was always a child with extraordinary qualities.
There were days when she would shut herself in her room for days, fully engrossed in music, swordsmanship, or studies.
But none of those interests lasted long, and she seemed to have lost interest in everything after reaching a certain stage, always displaying a bored expression.
The last time she came to him with a lively face was when she suggested a comic book distribution project.
“Father! This is truly a product for the Empire’s citizens!”
When Ioleen, calling him ‘father’ while advocating for the comic project to lower the Empire’s illiteracy rate, had a beaming expression like no other.
That’s why he had ordered full support without even verifying the content at that time.
It was his precious daughter’s request, after all.
“Hmmm… I’ve also been reading a thing called comic books in my leisure time.”
“Really?!”
“Of course. I’ve been reading a magazine called Manhwapia, created by that Professor Rupert.”
Ioleen’s eyes widened, and she leaned in, eagerly awaiting the next words.
“I’m particularly intrigued by a piece called The Puppet Theater.”
“Really? I love that piece too, Father!”
“Ha-ha! What a coincidence!”
It wasn’t a coincidence.
-Your majesty, casually mentioning and praising your daughter’s work in front of her could yield good results.
The advice from Ioleen’s head attendant, Aiden, had clearly taken effect.
“Haha! I never imagined your majesty would read that comic. But isn’t Van Helsing more entertaining?”
At that moment, the Crown Prince, Alex, chimed in, and the emperor shot him a sharp glare.
“Are you the one who’s been spouting that ridiculous phrase in the marketplace?”
“N-no, that’s not it, it’s just… how did you even find out about it?”
“That’s what’s trending right now. Shouldn’t you, as the Crown Prince, know about the public’s interests?!”
Having not been scolded by his father in quite some time, Alex was now in shock.
When on earth did his father start reading comics and picking up such phrases?
“Both The Puppet Theater and Van Helsing are great works, but if we’re talking artistic merit, I believe The Man of the 2nd Century stands above them…”
Even Edric, the Third Prince, who had been quietly enjoying his meal, joined in on the conversation.
‘This is insane.’
Seeing how the situation was shifting, Prince William, who had been sitting silently, could only watch his father enthusiastically discuss comics with Ioleen and his brothers.
Then, he exchanged a quiet nod with the Empress, who was sitting nearby.
For both of them, this meal, which had previously felt tense, had transformed into another challenging dining experience.
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