DKIE CH9: Publication

The next morning, Maya knocked on the door to deliver breakfast.

With the cleaning spell from his feather quill, Luka could freshen up anytime, anywhere. Within a minute, he was spotless as he opened the door. “Good morning, Sister Maya.”

Who could resist a beautiful young man flashing a sweet dimpled smile first thing in the morning?

Maya’s gaze had softened considerably since their first meeting. “Good morning. As an apology for the bathhouse incident, the guild will be providing free meals for the next few days.”

After setting down the breakfast, Maya turned back and said, “Shadow guard No. 7 is here. He wants to see you.”

“Shadow guard No. 7?”

“One of the guild leader’s shadow guards—the one you caught red-handed yesterday.”

Luka said seriously, “He’d be better off as Light Guard No 7 instead.”
Where’s the ‘shadow’ in that? The implication is that No. 7, despite being an “elite shadow guard,” was not stealthy at all—he got caught easily. Luka is joking that such a person doesn’t deserve a “shadow” name and should have one that means “bright” instead.

Maya couldn’t help but laugh.

Not making the visitor wait, Luka quickly finished his breakfast and followed Maya to meet him.

Everything related to the merchants’ guild was lavishly decorated. The hallways were lined with stained glass full of religious symbolism, and golden crucifixes were firmly embedded in bronze pillars.

No. 7 sat on a high stool, but since he was already tall, he could almost “sit with both feet on the ground.”

As soon as he saw Luka, he recalled the strange mist in the bathhouse yesterday and still hadn’t figured out how he’d been exposed.

As a seventh-tier mage, No. 7 didn’t put on any airs in front of Luka. Instead, he took the initiative to nod in greeting.

“The guild leader is busy today, so I’m here to relay a message. The bet is settled—you win. Future profits will be split 70-30, with you taking 70.”

Luka was surprised. Overnight, the terms had improved this much?

What he didn’t know was that, to Cullen, publishing profits were insignificant. Since his mother liked the book, he couldn’t be bothered to fuss over minor gains.

No. 7 handed over an invitation.

“In a couple of days, the Rhine Merchants’ Guild will be holding an auction. Word from the city lord is that dragons will be attending. We’ll include a preview booklet among the auction items that catch their interest.”
“Additionally, when the book officially launches, the guild will instruct local distributors to give you some promotional space.”

As No. 7 spoke, his gaze instinctively swept over the parchment scroll Luka was holding.

Their eyes met. After he finished speaking, Luka took the initiative to offer, “Wanna take a look? I wrote a new chapter yesterday.”

He was about to open it.

No. 7 had personally read the first chapter before. Just thinking about it gave him goosebumps.

The tall, well-built man immediately bolted.

Luka, still holding a grudge over the bathhouse incident, decided to get his revenge.

He adjusted his stance, curling his toes against the floor. “Many years later, the barely rational beast recalled that day…”

Run! Without a teleportation portal and without the ability to tear through space, let’s see if you can outrun my voice.

Luka’s voice grew louder. “…but couldn’t quite explain why he didn’t bite down.”

Suddenly, the sky flashed with a brilliant blue light, accompanied by an explosive roar. The sheer pressure made the birds in the nearby trees shiver in fear, too terrified to make a sound.

The reading came to an abrupt halt.

Luka instinctively stepped back. Was his temper that bad? Did he just launch a magical attack over this?

But soon, Maya hurried over with excitement. “He broke through! No. 7 has finally advanced to an eighth-tier mage.”

“He’s been stuck at the seventh tier for years, always just a step away. I never expected him to break through his bottleneck today.”

“This is incredible.” Maya looked at Luka like he was a living miracle. “How did you do it?”

Luka: “…”

The feather quill cackled mercilessly, sending a private message: A mage… broke through just to escape listening to your writing? Not bad.

You should turn this into a business. You’d make a fortune.

Before long, No. 7 returned from his breakthrough and sincerely said, “Thank you.”

Even though the book’s content was unbearable, he would still buy a copy after publication as a show of support.

Luka calmly pointed at the door. “Now that you’re done thanking me, get lost.”

No. 7 left.

Maya offered some words of comfort. “It doesn’t necessarily mean your work is bad. No. 7 had been accumulating power for years—his breakthrough was due.”

Luka closed his eyes briefly. “No need to comfort me.”

Years of accumulation meant years without a breakthrough, and today, suddenly, he succeeded in one go.

What a coincidence.

After letting out a dry chuckle, he glanced at the thick storm clouds in the sky that hadn’t yet fully dissipated and shivered.

Thankfully, faith magic didn’t require tribulation lightning. He never wanted to get struck by lightning again in this lifetime!

Maya went off to handle her tasks, leaving Luka alone. The smile he usually wore slowly faded.

On the surface, Guild Leader Cullen was being extravagantly generous, using the auction as bait to help promote him.

But in reality, Luka could clearly sense Cullen’s skepticism. Even if, by some miracle, a dragon read his book, the audience would still be limited.
Dragons were naturally aloof—adult dragons rarely communicated with their own kind, let alone actively spread recommendations.

Besides, special promotional slots only mattered in Boulder City. Whether distributors elsewhere would actually follow through was uncertain. They were the ones who truly determined sales.

The feather quill sensed Luka’s unnecessary worries and scoffed. Other than dragons, no one else would be interested in this book anyway.

Why do you need so much promotion?

Luka: “Just because only the dragon race is interested doesn’t mean only the dragon race will buy it.”

The quill pen found this amusing—would anyone really buy something they weren’t interested in?

“A debut work is very important. It directly affects how much of an equal say I will have in future collaborations.”

As Luka spoke, he thought for a moment, then stood up.

He left the guild hall and headed somewhere, deciding to make a move.

·

Luka had a good grasp of Cullen’s thoughts.

His mother’s approval last night had piqued his interest in an unfamiliar genre, but after careful consideration, he still didn’t see much value in it. Even if a dragon did take a liking to Luka’s work in the future, it would only result in benefits for Luka himself.

The buyer could even bypass the guild when the time was right and arrange private, exclusive commissions.

For the guild, the profit margin was minimal.

However, considering Luka’s mysterious background, Cullen still decided to keep the book under his control and sell it. He would only put in the bare minimum effort for appearances’ sake—later, he could even use it as a favor.

Just as Cullen made his decision and was about to summon the head of the bookstore, Shadow Guard No. 6 delivered the latest intelligence.

There were many spies from different guilds in the city, all keeping a close watch on Luka, with any information about him being gathered and reported immediately.

“Fresh news—Luka went to the newspaper office.”

Was he planning to submit the same manuscript to multiple publishers?

Cullen frowned.

The Holy Magic Continent had long had newspapers and magazines.

If civilians wanted to publish content, they had to submit it for approval first. Only after multiple rounds of screening by the editor-in-chief could they pay for publication.

No. 6 continued his report: “He went to Stone Magazine.”

Even though the entertainment industry wasn’t well-developed, there was one type of serialized content that thrived.

…Erotic novels.

That ever-popular genre.

Stone Magazine had a section specifically for publishing erotic fiction and personal ads.

“Ignore him.”

Just youthful recklessness.

Cullen shook his head. To increase exposure, Luka actually chose such a platform.

·

Elsewhere, the quill pen was swearing furiously:

“I would rather self-destruct and erase my intelligence than help you write erotic fiction!”

Stone Magazine survived in a bleak market precisely because it took an unconventional path. Any valuable manuscripts got approved quickly—but only if they were extremely explicit.

Luka waved a hand dismissively. “Relax, I’m interested in the newspaper they operate.”

Cullen might not see the value in a “group favorite” novel, but at the very least, Luka had to ensure that he himself was recognized.

He pulled open an iron door and followed a narrow hallway up to the second floor. At the front desk sat a beautiful young woman, who, upon hearing footsteps, didn’t even look up as she said:

“Submissions covering anything below the neck and above the waist go in the left box—half the usual manuscript fee.
Full-body descriptions go in the right box—priority approval.
Submissions focused above the neck—get lost.”

“…”
Luka: “What about submissions about real people?”

The beautiful young woman finally looked up at him.

Pale skin, rare black hair—he was too thin to estimate his age properly.
Sixteen or seventeen? Or possibly malnourished, making him eighteen or nineteen.

His gauntness somewhat diminished his good looks, which was probably a good thing. Otherwise, with a face too striking, he might have been kidnapped and sold into slavery.

Luka flashed an innocent, harmless smile. “I’ve got a big deal for you. I guarantee your newspaper will sell out.”

The young woman didn’t take this kid seriously and was about to toss him out.

Luka quickly murmured a few words under his breath.

Her expression became a bit more serious. After listening to everything, she gave him another once-over. “So you’re the one President Cullen made an exception to meet?”

Luka took out his guild badge.

A flicker of interest flashed in the woman’s eyes. “Wait here, I’ll get the editor-in-chief.”

The entire afternoon, Luka negotiated with the editor-in-chief. Near the end, he asked, “How soon can it be published?”

“Don’t worry, we can run a daily issue. I’ll set it up right away.”

·

The day passed quickly. After returning, Luka didn’t do anything unnecessary. He briefly planned out his next piece of writing, then went to bed early.

The next morning, he got up bright and early to proactively pay for an extended stay with the patrol guards.

Because he had gone before dawn to handle the payment—and had suspiciously worn a cheap mask bought from a roadside stall—the patrol guards found his behavior baffling.

On his way back, he ran into Maya. She was also surprised to see him entering through the back door.

Luka gave her a mysterious smile. “Soon, this face won’t be so easy to see anymore.”

“?”

Back in his room, Luka brewed some magic beans to replenish his energy. His carefree singing drifted out with the morning breeze:

“Yellow-skinned people walk the earth,
Standing tall with a new chest.
…
Walking with pride in all directions,
Five thousand years—finally, it’s my turn on stage.”

Maya stood frozen in place, staring at his retreating figure with utter confusion.

On stage? What stage?

Meanwhile, magic beans had recently disappeared from President Cullen’s diet.

That morning, Cullen dressed neatly, first greeting his mother before elegantly taking his seat and sipping his tea, habitually reading the newspaper.

After several days, the Storm Dragon attack incident was still occupying a large portion of newspaper content.

The authorities repeatedly emphasized that relations between the human and dragon races had not deteriorated, and that a delegation of dragons would soon be attending an auction.

The implementation of the trial reading booklet was merely a pretext. In essence, it was an initiative directed by the city lord to strengthen ties with the dragon race and use the meeting after the auction to quell rumors.

Cullen, as usual, only paid attention to the main headlines. After finishing, he casually stacked the newspaper to set it aside, but a bold, enlarged headline caught his eye from the corner of his vision. He hesitated for a moment before reopening the newspaper—

“Shocking! Men and women of all ages sneak into the bathhouse just to spy on him.”

Cullen spat out a mouthful of black tea.

Within the article, he spotted a familiar alias attempting to “conceal” its identity.

[“Recently, a young man named Luka was bathing in a hot spring when he was unexpectedly targeted by four voyeurs. Shockingly, the voyeurs were not limited to a single race. Among them, a dark elf even went so far as to steal his undergarments and conceal them in his embrace—an outrageous act!

Patrol guards on the scene were dumbfounded by this perverse behavior!

And that was not even the most astonishing part—there was also a quasi-Eighth Tier mage recording the entire incident on-site.

A hot spring, a place so pure, yet secretly harboring sin.

This young man is currently residing at the Rhine Merchant Guild hall…]

Sitting across from him, Lady Beryl frowned at her son’s inelegant display of spraying tea.

The next second, as she caught sight of the newspaper headline, the elegant noblewoman froze for a moment. Taking out her specially crafted reading glasses, she meticulously examined each word to confirm she had not misread it.

She was not the only one shocked. At this very moment, for the first time in history, Boulder City was swept into a small-scale media frenzy.

Not only newspapers but even magazines released that day extensively covered the bathhouse incident.

• “Shocking! A beautiful man attracts a dark elf who steals his undergarments.”
• “A distortion of humanity or the collapse of morality? A dwarf brings his bird just to catch a glimpse of him.”
• “Heavens! A face more beautiful than the Elven King’s!”

The headlines were utterly alarming.

Some anonymous sources even claimed that President Cullen himself had succumbed to this young man’s beauty.

“A low-tier mage, yet he was granted a private audience with the president.”
“That’s right, I saw it with my own eyes at the Rare Treasure Pavilion that day.”
“Not only that—he’s now staying at the guild hall. Otherwise, how do you think he got the opportunity to enjoy the hot spring?”

The people of Boulder City, who had rarely indulged in gossip before, now eagerly joined the discussion.

And the person responsible for igniting this media storm was peacefully arranging flowers.

The quill pen trembled slightly, shedding tiny feathers, and remarked in exasperation, “Just how thick-skinned are you? You dare claim to surpass the Elven King?”

Objectively speaking, Luka’s natural looks were indeed astonishingly exquisite. However, he was still under twenty, and his features had not yet fully matured, retaining a touch of youthful innocence.

Compared to the mature and refined Elven King, there was still a gap.

A cornflower was delicately placed at the very top, standing out alone.

Luka lowered his gaze and smiled faintly. “Of course, I need to create controversy!”

“The Elven King is an exalted figure. I, an unknown nobody, being compared to him? That’s what you call boosting my status.”

Readers buy books for the content, but they also buy them for the author.

In this era, no one had ever marketed themselves before.

He was going to be the first.

“?”

The quill pen felt as if a whole new world had just been forcibly unveiled before its eyes.

“Aren’t you afraid of offending the Elven King?”

“The report specifically highlighted the dark elves. Take that headline, for example: ‘Shocking! A beautiful man attracts a dark elf who steals his undergarments.'”

“The light elves will definitely use this to mock the dark elves. Just wait, Boulder City has light elves, and soon enough, they’ll send this newspaper back home.”

Good news never travels far, but bad news spreads like wildfire.

And in the midst of all this, he could simply enjoy watching the storm unfold from the shadows.

“Controversy brings visibility. At this rate, it’ll be impossible for me not to become famous.”
“With so many reports circulating, there’s no way distributors won’t take notice.”

Having encountered the concept of clickbait for the first time, the quill pen felt as if it had just swallowed a fly. Yet, when considering it from a neutral perspective—if it had been unaware of the context and had simply come across those headlines—it would have indeed been compelled to read further.

Excluding the part about the Elven King, the content was, in fact, mostly accurate.

The quill pen stared at him. “Your thought process… is certainly more expansive than most.”

The warm sunlight bathed Luka, making him appear as if he were enveloped in a golden glow.

“It has to be. Because from the very first day I started writing novels, I told myself—”

“I, Luka, will become the most renowned marketing genius in all of the Holy Magic Continent.”