“Richard, do you know this book?”
“What book?”
Cypris handed Richard a book after finishing a battle.
“Manhwapia?”
“I heard it’s really popular among humans lately.”
“Interesting, a book made entirely of pictures.”
In fact, it had been quite a while since comics became a trend, but for Richard, who had been living isolated from the worldly affairs while brawling with Night’s Kin every day, this was a very unfamiliar book.
As Richard skimmed through the Manhwapia that Cypris handed him, he asked back.
“But why this book?”
“Check out the work at the end of the book.”
Following her words, Richard flipped to the back of the book and found a comic titled “Van Helsing.”
“Wait a second! This is….”
His eyes widened in surprise as he read the comic without thinking, and he couldn’t help but shout.
“Right? It’s just like our story, isn’t it?”
“No way! Was there someone who knew about us other than the Night’s Kin?”
Richard couldn’t believe it.
The vampires appearing in the comic “Van Helsing” were not just similar to the Night’s Kin; they were identical.
And the secret organization fighting against those vampires, Van Helsing, resembled his own Crimson Warden group.
Moreover, he felt that the content mirrored their own story so accurately, it was as if someone had been watching them from the side.
“Juro is just like the late Origen!”
Back when Richard was inexperienced and mentally immature, he was in danger while clashing against Sataniel.
The moment he was saved, and his master, the former leader of the Crimson Wardens Cal Origen, fought and died instead was similar to Juro’s fate in the comic.
“How could someone know these details….”
“Richard, check the author’s name.”
At Cypris’s suggestion, Richard went back to the front of the comic to see the author’s name, and he was once again astonished.
“Van Helsing by Rupert Somerset.”
Because it was created by his brother.
*
“Jenia, why did you use fire magic even though our forces and the enemies were so close together?”
“Ah? That?”
Morten, a mage supporting from the Mage Tower at Yustaf’s request, spoke to Jenia, who was resting in the tent prepared for the mages.
“I’m confident in controlling my magic.”
Jenia answered confidently to Morten’s question about why she used fire magic with allies and enemies so close.
99 times.
That was the astonishing number of times she had simulated the situation before casting and controlling her magic.
She raised her cognition to the extreme while applying accident acceleration and calculation acceleration magic, maximizing the accuracy of her spells.
If an ordinary mage tried this, they would suffer a brain overload, vomit blood, and collapse.
Even Yustaf marveled at Jenia using this method to control fire magic.
“Yes, I thought so too. The dozens, no, the scores of flames targeting only the enemies was truly art.”
“Right?”
“But thinking you can control every situation is greedy, Jenia.”
Jenia, who had been elated after receiving praise for her magic, felt doubt with the following statement.
“Of course, that’s true, but….”
“No matter how outstanding your senses and calculation skills are, it’s human nature to make mistakes if you’re not careful.”
After Morten finished speaking, he stepped out of the tent, but Jenia couldn’t agree with his words.
“I’m factoring in mistakes in my calculations….”
Jenia was not hearing Morten’s advice for the first time.
‘That’s far too risky! It’s an amount of calculation that humans can’t handle.’
‘Jenia, using both accident acceleration magic and calculation acceleration magic? Are you joking?’
‘This truly is the visionary magic that Yustaf taught me.’
Whenever she showcased her newly developed magic formula, she always received the same reactions.
Too risky, or were they joking, instead of believing that her master, Yustaf, had taught her the visionary magic.
‘Is it really that hard?’
Of course, for her, using magic in a state of heightened cognition required immense focus.
However, when she thought of just one person, those grueling magical calculations became utterly effortless.
Snap!
Jenia now raised her staff, casting accident acceleration and calculation acceleration spells upon herself.
Whenever her heart felt confused, this is what she did.
‘I need to rewind the situation before I sleep.’
Based on her drastically heightened cognition, she unleashed countless illusion magic.
Spreading visions of herself in the future alongside Rupert.
*
“Cough!”
A child started to glow, clutching their throat as if they were suffocating.
It wasn’t just one. There appeared to be dozens of children lying on sickbeds, trembling and convulsing.
“What is this….”
“It’s because of the clown mushroom powder spread by the mechanical dolls.”
Gato understood, having experienced the same pain as these children. He knew how hard of a fight they were enduring.
“So never show such a face in front of the children—”
“- To comfort the children even a little, one must always smile no matter how sad and painful it gets.”
The convent head and the people of the convent held on, taking drugs just to keep smiling in front of the children.
“This is too much… way too much….”
Gato shed tears seeing the child he had played with until yesterday succumb to the seizures.
But he couldn’t distort his expression. If he didn’t smile, the children would suffer.
So he smiled through his tears.
“Damn it! Why am I crying?”
“Calm down, I am crying too.”
“I want to smash those mechanical doll bastards!!!”
On the day the new edition of Manhwapia was released.
Usually, the top talked-about works would be “Van Helsing” or “Count Monte Cristo,” but today was different.
What everyone was talking about was undoubtedly “Puppet Theater.”
Not long ago, it had a dull phase, and many criticized it for being frustrating, but recently, its speedier pacing and dense content regained attention.
Especially in this chapter, the revelation of Gato’s clown disease made people gasp.
The portrayal of how many had been infected by the clown mushroom powder spread by the mechanical dolls and how much they suffered was depicted so desperately that it immersed readers into the work.
“And the more you look, the more intriguing this art style becomes.”
“Yeah. At first, I thought it was messy, but it feels like it wouldn’t resonate if it wasn’t this art style.”
“The scene where Gato wears a mask and cries blood while smiling sends chills down my spine.”
“Puppet Theater” showed a somewhat rough art style that looked a bit messy.
Because of this, first-time readers might feel repulsed, but as they read on, they realized that this rough style played an essential role in conveying the emotional undertones of the work.
And Jorge, who was secretly overhearing people’s conversations.
He was simply delighted by their positive reactions.
*
– Your Highness the Princess, while laying the groundwork for the development is essential, ultimately, the comic needs an explosive impact.
Ioleen recalled Rupert’s words as she visited the Imperial Palace to seek advice.
‘This art style is truly excellent!’
‘Really? Others say it’s messy.’
‘Whether it’s good or bad isn’t about being neat. This art style fits Your Highness’s work perfectly.’
Hearing harsh criticisms about her comic made it hard for her to find solace in the compliments from those around her.
But strangely, when Rupert told her how amazing and great her work was, it felt like a surge of courage.
So she drew her comic following his advice, retrieving all the foreshadowing she had accumulated, and it seemed as if the characters she created were alive and moving.
Tap!
Now, proudly displayed was her collection of books.
Among them, she took out the fairy tale book “Snow White,” which Rupert had initially created just for her.
The “Snow White” she was holding now was the only book in the world where Rupert had crafted a new ending solely for Ioleen.
“I was so terribly rude.”
Having understood the feelings of an author while drawing a comic, Ioleen felt embarrassed recalling her past behavior.
Demanding a rewrite merely because the ending didn’t align with her tastes was clearly rude.
“But it was a cute revenge.”
She returned the specially made “Snow White” to the shelf, and while looking at the next book, “The Little Mermaid,” she spoke.
As she opened the book, the illustrations drawn by Rupert appeared.
Her gaze paused at an illustration depicting the Little Mermaid asking the witch for legs.
The witch with black hair.
‘This girl has no fear!’
Ioleen, who struggled to stop the head attendant Aiden when he was furious at her upon first seeing the book.
Back then, she thought it was merely a drawing modeled after her, but now she understood it was Rupert’s cute revenge that made her rewrite the ending.
Perhaps this was why she liked “The Little Mermaid” more than “Snow White.”
It felt like she was sharing a secret with Rupert that others didn’t know.
*
“Ismael.”
“Yes, Rupert.”
“Your comic is in danger.”
As Rupert spoke with a serious expression, Ismael’s face darkened, sensing the unease he already felt.
“White Whale,” the adventure comic about a boy and the sea and whales that Ismael was drawing.
But recently, he had sensed that people’s interest in “White Whale” was gradually dwindling.
“I don’t know what to do now.”
Ismael knew the reason why his work was losing interest but was lost for a solution.
“It must be because of the finale, right?”
Rupert already knew the reason as well.
My site has received a lot of DMCA notices, lol. From now on, I will update the MTL on https://darkmtl.com/.
The site is fast and lightweight because there are no ads yet. However, the theme is different from Cybor-TL, so take some time to familiarize yourself.
Support me by donating at least $10, and you'll have the right to request any novel from Novelpia (excluding 19+ content) using a newly developed tool.
Puppet Theatre is basically Karakuri Circus
That was the vibe I got, yeah, especially when they started talking about the smiles and such.