How To Live As A Writer In A Fantasy World-Chapter 454: Sequel (1)

Days had passed since the Gray Desert Expedition entered the Kingdom of Gerios. People waited in silence, wondering what truths would be uncovered there.

Although the expedition was launched rather abruptly, the elite members gathered ensured that they faced no major difficulties.

Most of the powerful nations participated, including Alvenheim and Helium.

Even the biggest anticipated challenge—supply issues—was resolved smoothly, allowing the expedition to cross the Gray Desert without trouble.

Monsters, some of which had never been seen before, startled the expedition, but these encounters passed without major incident.

Then, exactly a week after news spread that the expedition had reached the Kingdom of Gerios…

[The origin of demons was human. The records are there.]

[A catastrophe caused by the misuse of forbidden magic.]

[A kingdom that lost everything in its greed for something small.]

The origin of demons, as described in The Chronicles of Zenon, was proven to be true.

Other revelations emerged as well—claims that the Kingdom of Gerios was destroyed due to improper magic use, that it had a port, that its fishing industry was highly developed, and so on. But the most significant discovery was the truth about demons.

The realization that demons were not beings from another dimension but rather once-human entities sent a massive shockwave through society.

[Were demons truly once human? Then what about the demon race…?]

[Zenon denied being a prophet, but with this revelation, he has effectively proven himself to be one.]

[The dangers of magic have resurfaced…]

Naturally, the news was reported in every newspaper.

Countless articles were published, but ultimately, they all converged on a single conclusion—“This changes everything.”

More importantly, the Kingdom of Gerios was an ancient city that had been buried for 3,000 years.

Even a single coin found in the ruins would require dozens of scholars to analyze it.

Because of this, investigations into the royal palace proceeded at a sluggish pace, and experts predicted a long stabilization period.

Yet, even if that was the case, the revelation that demons originated from humans was shocking enough. It was a bombshell of a discovery.

Discussions erupted over how humans could have transformed into demons, and what circumstances led to the birth of the demon race.

After all, the fundamental nature of an entire species had been altered—something akin to divine intervention.

[Shouldn’t we just ask Zenon? He would know the answer.]

‘I don’t know either, you idiots.’

I chuckled as I read a critic’s remark in a newspaper article.

The only reason this revelation came to light was because of a story I heard from my grandfather, Clark.

I knew that demons originated from humans, but I had no idea beyond that.

Still, I could make a reasonable guess that divine forces had intervened at some point.

I just couldn’t ask about it outright. Honestly, at this point, this was beyond my control.

It was like throwing bait into the river and leaving it up to others to catch the fish. Right now, my priority was the side stories and sequels.

‘I just need to finish the final touches on The Passing Hero…’

The side story, The Passing Hero, which was inspired by Clark, was already in its final stages. Only the editing remained.

That meant my focus had to shift to the sequel—the Second World War. But this was proving to be much harder than I expected.

If I only covered a few battles from World War II, it wouldn’t be an issue. The problem was that without proper context, people in this world wouldn’t understand it.

In other words, I had to explain everything—from Hitler’s rejection from art school to the rise of Nazi Germany.

The most important thing was making the world-building clear. Only then would readers experience the full impact of the setting.

‘A world without gods, mana, or magic. Instead, a world with an industrial revolution built around machines…’

Even my close friends and family found it hard to believe when I first explained my fictional world. If even they struggled, how much harder would it be for my readers?

‘I should just give up on explaining everything. I’d have to go back to the 1700s to do that.’

There’s a saying: If you try to grasp everything, you’ll lose everything. Sometimes, you have to let things go and focus on what matters.

Unlike The Chronicles of Zenon, which was grounded in this world’s history, the sequel had no starting point.

In other words, I wasn’t just an explorer—I was a creator. My true abilities would be tested here.

Fortunately, The Chronicles of Zenon had already introduced steam locomotives. And in reality, a magic-powered engine based on steam technology had recently been invented.

These elements would help readers understand the upcoming novel.

‘I have memories of my past life, but how did Tolkien do it?’

I suddenly found myself respecting Tolkien all over again. The man created the foundations of all fantasy literature without having any memories of a past life.

Honestly, I couldn’t help but wonder—was he really just an ordinary person? Maybe he, too, had memories of a past life.

Given my own experiences, it was a reasonable suspicion.

‘I need to explain fighter jets, tanks… There’s so much to cover.’

Even The Chronicles of Zenon took 30 volumes to finish. Afterward, I had to release two more side stories before it was truly complete.

I couldn’t even imagine how long it would take to finish writing about World War II. What if I ended up writing 100 volumes? That thought terrified me.

No matter how much I tried to compress the content, it was still overwhelming. I’d probably have to split it into multiple parts—Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, and so on.

Right now, I was considering using the Battle of Stalingrad and the Pearl Harbor attack as major dividing points.

Stalingrad was when the Soviet Union finally turned the tide, and Pearl Harbor was when the U.S. entered the war.

As I looked at the historical events I had listed by year, I let out a deep sigh.

I was starting to worry that I might burn out and abandon the project midway.

“Hoo…”

“Why? Are you thinking about something bad?”

Just as I was holding my head in frustration, a clear voice rang in my ears.

I turned my head to see Leona, her golden eyes sparkling as she leaned in close.

I reached out my hand.

Swish—stroke—

“Purr… Purr…”

As I gently stroked the fur between her perked-up ears, Leona let out a satisfied purring sound.

Her ears folded slightly as if asking for more, and her tail wrapped around my arm.

Ever since our first night together, her affectionate gestures had grown bolder. Even Marie had started giving us knowing looks.

I, too, found solace in these moments, easing the frustration in my mind.

‘She really is just like a cat.’

The cold, cynical, fierce girl from before was nowhere to be seen. Now, there was only an affectionate, cat-like companion.

As I continued to stroke her head, I even pinched her soft cheeks and played with her tail.

I used Leona to relieve all the stress I had built up from outlining my story.

“Leona.”

“Hm?”

“You know it too, right? That I came from another world. I told you before, didn’t I?”

Originally, I had planned for the two of us to have a conversation alone on the first night to set the mood.

The problem was that at the time, I had smoked a World Tree Leaf cigar and hadn’t ventilated the room.

Adding to that, my heat cycle and my rather provocative outfit led to Leona losing control.

As you know, things became a complete mess after that.

Thankfully, I managed to pull myself together somehow, and by dawn, we were finally able to have a normal night.

In the process, I ended up revealing my true identity as a bonus.

“Yeah. Actually, I want to write about that world, but I just can’t seem to grasp the right feel for it.”

“You can’t grasp it? You?”

Leona blinked her golden eyes, looking as if she couldn’t understand what I was saying. I gave a wry smile at her reaction.

Well, from her perspective, I must seem like a literary genius.

So it would be hard for her to comprehend that I’m struggling to get a feel for it.

But even I am human. And once I hit a mental block, I tend to spiral endlessly.

I had all the timeline details organized, but I couldn’t even figure out where to start—how to craft the prologue.

It’s easy for people who already know me, but trying to explain it to readers? That’s the tricky part.

After all, in these kinds of stories, the prologue is the most important thing.

“Hmm…”

Hearing me out, Leona looked up in thought, her perked-up ears twitching occasionally.

A habit of hers that always appeared when she was deep in thought.

I stayed quiet, waiting for her to speak.

Honestly, I didn’t expect much. I was just grasping at straws because I was so stuck.

“Then why don’t you just tell the readers upfront?”

She spoke as if it was the simplest thing in the world.

Of course, I had thought about that too.

Once The Passing Hero is published and The Chronicle of Zenon is officially concluded, I planned to add an author’s note.

I wanted to use that space to share my thoughts and introduce the concept of a sequel.

But even then, I wasn’t sure if readers would truly understand the world I was creating.

After all, even Tolkien built his fantasy world by reinterpreting Earth’s myths and legends.

But this? This was completely different.

I had to build everything from absolute zero.

Where should I even start?

“…It’s easy to say, but making people understand is the hard part. What did you think when you first heard my story?”

“About another world? I wasn’t completely convinced, but… it was you, so I believed it.”

“See? Even you had doubts. So imagine how much harder it will be for the readers.”

“That’s exactly why you shouldn’t try to make them understand. It’s a completely different world—how could they possibly understand it?”

“…?”

I raised an eyebrow.

I couldn’t quite grasp what she was getting at.

But Leona wasn’t the type to speak without thinking. If she hadn’t been sharp-minded, she wouldn’t have done so well at Halo Academy. freewēbnoveℓ.com

There had to be a reason for her words.

“Let me ask you something instead. In your world, could people understand a world like ours?”

“What do you mean?”

“A world without magic or mana. A world where humans are the only race. Even gods—whether they exist or not—is uncertain.

Could people in your world truly understand ours? Could they comprehend magic? The way non-human species live and think?

How gods interact with the world? Did they fully grasp all of it?”

“To some extent, yeah…”

“Alright, then imagine someone from your world asking how to use teleportation.

What do you think would go through their mind?”

Her words made me recall the reaction of Cecily and Arwen when I had explained my world to them.

A world that could achieve the impossible through science—yet they couldn’t believe we didn’t have teleportation.

At the time, I had joked that Einstein would have clutched his neck and collapsed if he heard them.

But now, thinking about it from Leona’s perspective, it made more sense.

To them, it wasn’t just unfamiliar—it was incomprehensible.

No matter how much I explained the technological advancements of Earth, they would just nod along, saying, “Oh, I see,” but never truly getting it.

Because to them, it was simply fantasy.

Magic and mana were fundamental truths here.

But on Earth? Completely impossible concepts.

“…They’d probably think I was crazy.”

“Exactly. So you don’t need to force understanding. It’s an entirely different world—so why should they understand it?

It doesn’t matter if something seems impossible. It’s a fantasy world.

As long as it’s fun and engaging, that’s enough.

Of course, you still need to clearly establish the rules of the world.”

“Hmm…”

Now that I thought about it, she had a point.

I didn’t need to explain everything in painstaking detail.

After all, imagine trying to explain a massive chunk of metal soaring through the sky or floating across the sea to the people of this world.

Even with the upcoming invention of magic-powered locomotives, they’d still shake their heads in disbelief.

But it didn’t matter.

Like Leona said, all I needed to do was provide a simple explanation: “This machine is used for this purpose.”

Then the readers would just nod and accept it.

The world itself was already fantastical—so introducing strange things wouldn’t be that out of place.

Maybe I had gotten too caught up in making the story feel real rather than treating it like an engaging fantasy world.

‘There’ll be some controversy, though.’

Even setting aside mana and magic, the uncertainty of the gods’ existence would stir up debate.

Of course, I could just preface the story with, “This is a work approved by the gods.”

Then people would accept it without issue.

If I had tried to publish this work before gaining Zenon’s reputation, I would’ve been accused of heresy and dragged away.

This was a world where divine authority was absolute.

But thanks to Leona’s words, my mind felt clearer.

I could just introduce the world briefly in the author’s note and then dive straight into the prologue.

“Still… will that really be okay?”

“Of course! And besides, who’s going to criticize your work?”

Leona reassured me by pulling me into a tight hug, rubbing her face against mine.

The soft sensation of her cheeks was transmitted fully to my head.

I chuckled at her affection and stroked her hair in return.

Her tail curled around my arm.

Maybe it was because she was a beastkin, or maybe it was just her unique scent, but she smelled warm and comforting.

With my worries eased, another thought popped into my head.

‘…I wonder if they’ll accept the concept of nuclear bombs.’

That was the real question.