Surviving as a Plagiarist in Another World

< Chapter 18: The Sorrows of Young Werther >

Romanticism is the soul of literature.

Poetic imagination, personal insight, suffering—these elements, considered symbols of art even today, were a paradigm completed through Romanticism.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

And, the work that breathed the breath of Romanticism into literature was indeed.

“This, this is—too painful, isn’t it? But it’s incredibly beautiful… and, it feels like it’s stealing my soul…”

It was Johann Wolfgang von Goethe’s The Sorrows of Young Werther.

After reading the manuscript, President Dorling Kindersley appeared dazed as if her soul had left her, but soon she was enraptured and exclaimed with a flushed face,

“This novel is bound to succeed!”

“Yes. It probably will.”

“If this work succeeds, it’s likely to cause some troublesome issues.”

“Troublesome issues?”

The Werther Effect.

The Sorrows of Young Werther ends with the protagonist committing s*****e with a pistol.

After the publication of The Sorrows of Young Werther, there are anecdotes that many young people who read the book committed s*****e following Werther’s death.

It’s not certain whether The Sorrows of Young Werther actually induced these young people to commit s*****e.

It’s difficult to find meaningful statistics, and it’s a completely different story whether someone who was already suicidal imitated Werther or if imitating Werther caused them to commit s*****e.

“We might be criticized for endorsing or glorifying s*****e because of this book.”

However, its influence is undeniable.

This novel could become the bible for young people prone to suicidal impulses. The church might panic and try to regulate this novel.

“It might even be banned.”

“Ah, it’s a great masterpiece, but… it’s just literature, isn’t it?”

“It’s literature that shakes the soul.”

“That might be—well, it seems possible…. Especially since the Vatican is very sensitive about youth s*****e.”

Of course, I think I’ve prepared somewhat.

For example, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde also ends with the protagonist’s s*****e. The protagonist, torn between sin and reason, ends his life with s*****e.

However, this can also be considered a martyrdom, as Jekyll sacrifices himself to kill Hyde.

Thus, it’s a s*****e yet not a s*****e—a vague ending.

This experience of reading the novel will lessen the shock felt from the conclusion of ‘the protagonist’s s*****e.’

“Even if it’s a book by the author, wouldn’t it be alright? There are even talks of beatifying Author Homer because of ‘The Little Prince’!”

“Authors and their works are separate entities. It’s not impossible that this book alone could be banned.”

“That’s true…”

And ‘The Little Prince’ was a mirror that made the reader reflect on themselves.

It freed them from blinding desires, encouraging them to look around.

This helped prevent those at risk of s*****e from being driven to death due to blindness and narrow-mindedness.

“Ugh… It’s tough! But we can’t just not publish, right? Keeping such a masterpiece to myself would be a sin against countless bibliophiles! Ahhh…”

“You do want to publish it yourself, right?”

“Of course! I have to be the one to publish it! Hehe.”

Additionally, the pulp fiction saga of Conan provided an escape from reality—a drug called dopamine released into this world.

A cheap drug that helped weary people endure their difficult days.

That was the role of lowbrow pulp fiction. It could also be considered a harmless opium.

“That’s why President Dorling’s role is important.”

“What can I do…?”

I had done all the preparation I could.

It was time to breathe the ‘soul of Romanticism’ into literature.

“First, please gather all the addresses of the readers who sent fan letters.”

“Huh?”

“Let’s have an event for our fans.”

With this, literature would take another step forward.

“All of them? It seems like it might be thousands, maybe even tens of thousands…”

“Will it be difficult?”

“Of course, I can do it! Just leave it to me!”

* * *

The readers who had sent fan letters received an ‘invitation’.

[You are invited to a meeting with Author Homer.]

It was a sort of fan meeting.

A fan meeting where you could meet Homer, the most influential author in the empire. For any citizen of the empire, it was a golden opportunity that everyone would envy.

“Ahhh! An invitation? Is this not a dream?! Am I really going to meet Lord Homer?! Thank the heavens!”

“Author Homer is a god!”

Naturally, the news of the fan meeting spread quickly, stirring excitement throughout the empire.

“Lady Isolette! Could that possibly be─ that?”

“Hehe, yes. It’s an invitation from Author Homer. I had the opportunity to meet him once at the previous contest, but now that I have been invited, I can’t possibly decline. Hehehe…”

“Uh, then are you selling it to me─.”

“Oh? Sell an invitation? How could I do something so vulgar?”

“Right….”

The invitations from Author Homer were traded for a price similar to their weight in gold.

No, they were traded for even more than gold.

“Is it true?! If I sell the invitation… you will cover all of my father’s medical expenses?”

“Of course. I’m not just thinking about the treatment; I plan to support everything you need for living. Just give me that one invitation.”

“It’s regrettable not to meet Author Homer in person… but it can’t be helped. My father’s treatment is more important. But you must keep your promise!”

“Here, I have prepared a contract.”

People’s fortunes fluctuated depending on whether they acquired an invitation or not.

And finally, the day of Author Homer’s first official fan meeting arrived.

* * *

At the venue of the fan meeting.

Unlike the awards ceremony, which only had a few hundred attendees, this time thousands participated.

I was sitting in the green room.

Next to me, President Dorling was overly animated in cheering me on.

“Author! Cheer up! Relax!”

“It seems like you’re more nervous than I am…?”

“Hehe. I need to be ready to handle any incidents that might occur, so I can’t afford to relax!”

I looked in the mirror.

I saw the features of my past and present life blended together, having consumed the Hyde Potion.

After taking a deep breath, I stepped out of the green room.

Thousands of people were looking at me.

“I am delighted to be here with you today.”

As rehearsed, I began the opening speech.

This speech was the very reason I held this ‘fan meeting.’

“Before we start our time together, there is something I want to tell you all.”

There’s a saying that while humans make plans, heaven determines their success.

There’s also a saying that humans are heaven.

“Dear readers─”

Thus, by orchestrating plans and moving people’s hearts, one can accomplish tasks.

“I have a dream,” he declared.

To move people’s hearts, one needs only to plagiarize the writings that move people’s hearts.

And so he plagiarized. A speech.

“This dream is deeply rooted in both my literature and yours. I have a dream that the children who grow up reading my books, and the adults who reminisce about the past through them, will help and understand each other through the precious ‘Word’ bestowed upon us by the Lord.”

The speech from Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream.”

He plagiarized it.

“The greatest boast a thousand years ago was ‘I have heard the Word of the Savior myself.’ Today, with the Savior returned to the side of the Lord, the greatest boast in the world has become ‘I can read the Bible.’”

From John F. Kennedy’s “Ich bin ein Berliner” speech.

He plagiarized it.

“There are those who say our faith must now be dispensed with as an outdated hindrance. Let us read them the Bible. Those who call devout people foolish, let us read them the Bible. Those who say religion is an obstacle to human will, let us read them the Bible. To the indifferent, let us read them the Bible!”

Although he changed all the contents of the great speeches to be about reading the Bible, the essence remained unchanged.

It was an appeal.

“Life could be free and beautiful, yet we have forgotten the way,” he implored.

A desperate appeal to people’s hearts, striking not their reason but their emotions.

“I have a dream!”

The Sorrows of Young Werther, though certainly a book irreverent in biblical terms, also possessed a powerful magic strong enough to seize and shake the human soul.

Thus, the only thing to do was to make the words of the Bible even more powerful.

In today’s world, where tens of thousands of Bibles are printed daily, and everyone owns a Bible on their bookshelf yet turns away from faith due to the busyness of life, it was not difficult to encourage people to reflect on the Bible.

“Our children who love literature─, the greatest literature created by the Lord Himself─ will learn about love and peace from His words and realize them on this earth by reading the ancient hymns together!”

The Bible was indeed the greatest piece of literature.

All literary works─novels, scripts, poems, and speeches were merely reinterpretations of the great literature of the Bible.

And so, he plagiarized.

He changed the history of the Christian world in his previous life by plagiarizing, patchworking, editing, and reinterpreting numerous famous speeches into one speech.

“I have a dream!”

The speech lasted quite a while. He had practiced numerous times, but he wasn’t sure if he had memorized it properly.

And finally, when the speech ended.

“Thank you for listening to this long speech. Now, let’s begin the handshake session─.”

“Kyaaaaaaah─!!!”

“Waaaaaah!!!”

The roaring cheers forced him to cover his ears for a while.

* * *

“Ah, Mr. President. You’ve worked hard preparing for the fan meeting. It ended well, thanks to you.”

“Sir…. That speech, was it really just for publishing a book…?”

“Yes.”

“Sir. I didn’t want to say this, but… you seem a bit mad.”

“I hear that often.”