How To Live As A Writer In A Fantasy World-Chapter 460: Sequel (7)

A weapon widely known as the true king of all ailments and the wand of muggles: the gun. The appearance of the gun was powerful enough to overturn the course of history.

Before guns existed, training a single warrior required an enormous investment of both time and money.

Especially cavalry and knights—maintaining them was akin to feeding a money-eating hippopotamus.

Their loss directly translated into a national loss. Of course, people invested in them because they were worth the cost.

Armor that even arrows and spears had difficulty penetrating was essentially an “Iron Man” suit.

As a result, there were only limited ways to kill a knight: smash their armor with a mace or stab through the joints with a sword.

But with the invention of guns, cavalry and knights slowly disappeared.

Even during the era of matchlocks, cavalry still had tactical value, but knights? No chance.

One pull of the trigger, and steel armor or not, it didn’t matter. What meaning was there anymore?

Sure, cannons existed among gunpowder weapons, but those were for siege warfare or special circumstances—not suitable as personal firearms like guns.

[The pinnacle of science and a wand that effortlessly pierces iron armor.]

Therefore, it’s no exaggeration to say that the advent of the gun shook the very foundations of history.

It shifted the main actors of war from knights to commoners and led to the collapse of the elite class.

Above all, the key point is that guns are personal firearms. It became possible to convert population directly into military power.

And while training a capable soldier still takes time and money, what about an infantryman armed with a gun?

None of that is necessary. As long as they have basic physical strength and shooting skills, that’s enough. No need for close combat anymore—not even a reason for it.

Though, it’s a bit tricky to compare knights in this world directly. The knights here aren’t just elite warriors—they’re more like living weapons.

You could say it’s a case of science vs. magic.

[Could a gun really take down a knight?]

[No matter how powerful a weapon is, if it can’t hit, it’s meaningless—just like a crossbow.]

[How many knights could actually dodge it? You’d be better off charging like an ogre.]

[If it can pierce steel armor, what knight could possibly withstand it?]

There were others who thought similarly to me. For the record, this is how I explained guns:

A miracle wand and pinnacle of science that turns everyone into a mage. The bullets fired from its barrel can pierce steel with ease.

The part that caught everyone’s attention was that it could pierce steel. And it’s not like steel is some random weak material—it’s steel, yet it can be easily penetrated?

To the people of this world, such a weapon feels utterly unreal. How can something like this even be made in a world without magic?

And yet the question remains—can this gun really pierce even solid steel armor?

Many arguments and debates followed, but I didn’t mention yet that the gun is a personal firearm.

They already can’t believe half of what I’ve said—if I told them this was a weapon issued to individual soldiers, they’d never believe it.

[If it pierces steel armor, just make your body tougher than steel.]

That’s what one critic said. From an Earthling’s perspective, it sounds completely idiotic.

But this is a fantasy world. With proper use of mana, it’s possible to make your body harder than steel.

My father is one such person who can do it. And there are plenty of experts who can slice steel like tofu.

Often, you have to endure such attacks not with armor, but with your body. That’s why bodies naturally become tougher.

[Since the bullet flies in a straight line, couldn’t you just dodge it as the trigger is pulled?]

This, at least, is impossible. It’s not like we’ve all trained in Observation Haki from a pirate manga.

By the time you hear the shot, the bullet has already torn through your body.

[Then just wear even thicker armor than standard plate or use a shield.]

Might as well invent a tank while you’re at it… is what I thought, but from this world’s perspective, it’s actually a reasonable idea.

Of course, whoever wears that armor would be miserable—but they might withstand a rain of bullets.

It seems to prove that if your body is strong, your brain can relax.

[That’s nonsense. At that point, you’d just become perfect cannon fodder.]

But cannons do exist in this world—even if guns don’t—so this argument doesn’t hold much weight.

Realistically, armor thick enough to stop bullets would hinder mobility, making you an easy target for cannons.

With the appearance of this new weapon—a gun, with power on par with magic—people busily exchanged various opinions.

“Gunpowder seems to have made enough progress, so why hasn’t anyone tried to invent guns?” freёnovelkiss.com

Cannons, of course, were invented by dwarves and used effectively by the human alliance during the race wars, according to records.

Even so, humans focused not on gunpowder, but on mana and magic.

It’s unclear why they made that choice—perhaps because of the overwhelming power of individual elves.

It may have been a narrow-minded view: that rather than pursue science, it’s better to train a skilled knight or mage.

“Even if guns are invented, it’ll be hard for knights and mages to lose their dominance.”

That’s how alluring magic truly is—so much so that even I have to admit it.

Still, science has its own appeal. Naturally, efforts will arise to pursue both.

Though the fierce debate of gun vs. knight continues, the most important point—that it’s a personal firearm—will be revealed in the main story.

That’s when the evaluation will truly flip. For reference, this will be revealed in Volume 1.

Since Hitler was a veteran of World War I, revealing this won’t be hard. Didn’t he have the nickname “Corporal of Bohemia”?

Instead of focusing on the hellscape of trench warfare, I plan to start from the point where he is discharged. Unfortunately, his rejection from art school will probably just appear as a flashback.

“That should be enough for now.”

World War II features not only guns, but a variety of war machines—but I plan to skip that.

Just the appearance of guns alone brings tremendous impact. If I give away too much, people might grow numb to it all.

“Isaac.”

“Yeah? Go ahead.”

“Is the power of this thing called a gun… really comparable to magic?”

But it seemed our princess had even more questions. Her eyes sparkled brightly as she looked at me and asked.

Last time, Cecily and Arwen came to visit, and this time, Rina showed up out of the blue.

From what I’ve seen so far, she seems to think of me as some kind of robot cat from somewhere.

‘Well, I do know about nuclear bombs, so…’

She must be going crazy with curiosity. Currently, no one else knows about the existence of nuclear bombs—only Rina.

She was the first person I told, and based on her reaction then, I decided it’d be best not to reveal it to anyone else.

Of course, it will appear near the end of World War II, but since that’s basically the highlight, I plan to keep it hidden until then.

“I don’t know magic very well, but up to a certain point, it’s probably similar. Just think of it as a superior version of a crossbow. Didn’t I say that before?”

“You did mention the nuclear bomb,” Rina replied candidly.

I nodded in response. Luckily, there was no one else around to hear us—just the two of us.

Even Adelia, who always waited by my side, had been given a short break and sent off for some rest.

She was probably wandering around the territory with Mari by now. Since Mari is the future mistress of the house, they need to get along.

“That was an extreme example. I also talked about airplanes flying in the sky and ships made of metal. In a world where those exist, the presence of guns really isn’t all that strange.”

“That’s true, but… your world doesn’t have mana or magic, right? With weapons like that, how do people even get close to each other?”

A sharp question.

In fact, during World War I, people had no way of breaching machine guns and barbed wire, which led to that infamous hellscape of trench warfare.

The only methods were things like artillery bombardments or poison gas—but even those weren’t very efficient.

Germany’s decisive loss came mainly because the U.S. joined the war. Until then, France and Germany had been stuck in the ultimate stalemate of inefficiency.

“I think I read this in the papers. Someone once said, if bullets can pierce armor, then you just need thicker armor or a shield.”

“…That sounds like something Viscount Gillas would say.”

“Viscount Gillas?”

“One of the military noble houses.”

Ah, no wonder someone from a military family would spout such nonsense.

But judging by Rina’s expression, it didn’t seem like he was held in particularly high regard.

“Anyway, the method he mentioned could work, I guess. But only if it’s not a person—it’d have to be a machine.”

“A machine? You mean, a hunk of metal that can move and stop bullets?”

“There are hunks of metal that can fly through the sky and sail across the sea. Why would that be strange?”

“…When you put it like that, yeah, I guess it makes sense.”

If I told her that those metal things also come equipped with machine guns and artillery cannons, I wonder how shocked she’d be.

But I didn’t bother. She’d find out soon enough, and spoiling the surprise now would be no fun.

No point in trading future payoff for some present satisfaction.

After thinking for a while, Rina shook her head and quietly opened her mouth.

“Your world… the more I learn about it, the weirder it seems. From nuclear bombs to guns… Who could even use a gun?”

“Anyone.”

“…Regardless of social class?”

“Yup.”

“… …”

Rina now wore an expression that said she had no idea how to even begin processing this.

She clearly had a lot to say, but couldn’t figure out where to start.

Eventually, in a tone that sounded almost like she’d given up, she asked me another question.

“Before nuclear bombs were invented, could you also drop meteors from the sky?”

“Yeah. Entire cities turned into seas of fire.”

“Then what about attacking a city from far away?”

“That too, totally possible.”

“You might as well just say people could cast Explosions like a spell.”

“Well, it’s a single shot, but yeah—it was possible.”

“What kind of insane world is that?!”

She even raised her voice in disbelief.

But honestly, I found her world just as weird, so I just shrugged.

Rina must’ve run out of questions at that point, because she slumped back into her chair, exhausted.

Her beautiful features now wore an expression of disillusionment and resignation.

“…Focusing only on magic makes us seem like fools.”

“Well, magic can do things that science can’t. And now that steam locomotives have been invented, it’s just a matter of time before progress follows.”

“One last question. How much money was spent on that war—the one where all those weapons were used?”

“Hm…”

I had to think about that one. I needed to mentally convert the numbers.

But the amount was so astronomical that it was practically impossible to calculate in my head.

So I took out my notebook from my front pocket and scribbled in it with a magic pen.

Rina patiently waited in silence while I did all the math.

When I glanced at her face, I noticed something like unease in her expression.

At last, when the calculations were done, I carefully opened my mouth.

“Roughly 120…”

“120 million gold? Well, with all those weapons gathered, it makes sense that the cost would be huge.”

120 million gold was around 120 billion won. Rina seemed to take it in stride, as if she expected it.

But I couldn’t help but hesitate. My eyes darted around nervously, wondering if I should tell her the rest.

Rina must’ve picked up on my hesitation, because she quietly asked in a small voice,

“…Was that not right?”

“There’s… an extra zero. Not million. Billion.”

In real terms, World War II cost over one trillion dollars—that’s about 1,200 trillion won.

A number that could bankrupt entire nations. Even the U.S. trembled under its weight.

Rina blinked at me, then let out a dry laugh. She closed her eyes and drank her tea—not because she was relaxed, but in disbelief.

“Isaac.”

“Yeah?”

“I think… it’s truly a blessing.”

“What is?”

Rina took a graceful sip of tea, then said, in a voice filled with sincerity,

“That only you came to this world.”

“…?”

“If your entire country had crossed over… we would’ve become slaves.”

I felt like I’d seen something similar to this in my past life.

Anyway, a few days later…

[Zenon’s New Work! Volume 1 of World War II is finally here!]

The long-awaited Volume 1 had finally been released.