"I did warn you…" A light voice drifted into Victor Wang's ear from behind.
Xingqiu then turned to explain to Hu Tao and the others:
"You guys don't read much… I mean novels. I read a lot of miscellaneous books, so the moment I finished The Butterfly Lovers, I realized… this was probably written as an imitation.
If you want to publish it… passing the review will be very difficult. But even so, it's already quite well done. The way certain scenes were adapted, the setting was rewritten, and the butterfly ending—those were all solid revisions.
…You really shouldn't be mad. Victor only made the kind of mistake every young writer does. I… I've had a similar experience myself."
To prevent his friends from getting angry over being misled, he even revealed one of his own little secrets. Xiangling and Chongyun were easier to handle, but The Butterfly Lovers had been written at Hu Tao's request. She had the most reason to be upset—yet she remained eerily silent, her brows lightly furrowed, saying nothing at all.
There's a saying: anger can be resolved—cold silence is the hardest to overcome.
In truth, Xingqiu was angry too. He'd been full of expectations, only to find out it was a plagiarized work. Even though he was speaking in Victor Wang's defense, his goodwill had taken a big hit.
Plagiarism… was far from chivalrous.
He glanced toward Hu Tao. Of the four in the Bubblegum Squad, if anyone carried the most secrets, he'd rank himself second at best.
Xiangling was the most innocent, followed by Chongyun, then himself. Hu Tao was the most enigmatic—filled with secrets no one could quite see through or guess. Just like right now.
In those few seconds, the air had turned to ice. They couldn't let it stay like this…
"Victor, say something already…" Xingqiu whispered toward the figure with cartoon-styled designs on his back.
"Ah… sorry, I was lost in thought…"
Victor Wang… oh, Victor Wang… he scolded himself internally. If The Book of Five Springs existed in this world, of course a story like The Butterfly Lovers might exist too. How could he have forgotten to check?
And to make it worse, he'd boasted about dedicating the story to Hu Tao… Now he was humiliated beyond words.
The gazes of all four were on him, and he didn't even dare look back… Ha, after all that effort building these relationships, it might all be over in an instant… Stay calm. Stay calm. Face crisis with composure.
He swallowed hard and turned to Ji Fang. "Could you tell me… what exactly my book is accused of plagiarizing?"
If he was going down, he at least wanted to understand why.
"Romeo and Juliet. The male and female leads are torn apart by family conflict, leading to tragedy. Both of them ultimately die together," Ji Fang said with a sigh. Young people just never seem to learn until they hit a wall… but with friends watching like this, it was a hard situation to manage.
Romeo and Juliet was Ji Fang's current favorite. Mentioning it now gave her the impulse to recommend it. Even if the one who plagiarized had clearly already read it, the others in the group might not have.
So, she raised her voice and continued:
"Your The Butterfly Lovers even has a similar title. Though the rewrite was decent, honestly—when it comes to tragedy, Romeo and Juliet still comes out ahead.
"That story begins with the feud between Romeo and Juliet's families. Romeo ends up killing Juliet's cousin Tybalt. Later, due to a tragic misunderstanding, he mistakenly kills Paris, Juliet's suitor, at her tomb—then takes his own life.
"Poor Juliet… thinking they were about to elope, only to wake and find her lover dead. So, she chooses to die as well…"
"Romeo and Juliet…?" Victor Wang murmured in a daze.
"That's right. Too bad it's been selling so well—we're out of stock. Otherwise, I'd give you and your friends a copy to compare."
"I see."
"That's how it is. You've got talent, so go home and come up with a fresh idea. Trying to go toe-to-toe with that author is a dead end."
"Could you tell me the author of Romeo and Juliet?" Though he had his suspicions, there was always the chance of another transmigrator… Just to be safe, he had to ask.
"It's the one and only Dust! That genius who burst onto the scene—his first book Tales from the Box was an instant hit a few months ago. His second, Alice in Wonderland, also performed brilliantly. And now Romeo and Juliet—his third book!
"To become famous with your first book—authors like that only come along once in decades. And what's more, his follow-ups didn't dip in quality at all.
"Honestly, I'm starting to suspect Dust is just a new alias of some already-famous author. But colleagues in Mondstadt swear he only recently started writing… makes us ordinary folk feel hopeless by comparison!"
"By the way, Tales from the Box and Alice in Wonderland are past their peak hype now—we do have those in stock. Want to take a look?"
Ji Fang was positively gushing at the mention of Dust.
But while she was so thrilled, the four companions behind Victor Wang were all feeling increasingly gloomy. The more she praised Romeo and Juliet and Dust, the harder the blow landed. Didn't that mean Victor had deliberately chosen a famous story to copy?
Only Xingqiu had already weathered the storm of truth. He muttered, "This… isn't the time for book shopping."
"Ah—sorry, I got carried away recommending books again," Ji Fang apologized, realizing her faux pas. This was plagiarism, caught red-handed in front of friends. Handled poorly, it could end a friendship for good.
"Victor, let's go. Let's… let's talk about it later." Xingqiu couldn't stand staying there any longer and patted Victor's shoulder.
"No. We're not leaving yet."
Victor Wang turned around and gave his companions a reassuring smile.
"Victor…" Xiangling tugged at his cloak discreetly—even in front of Hu Tao, she still wanted to be subtle.
"Don't worry. This whole plagiarism thing is a misunderstanding. We can't leave before clearing it up.
"This is the story I meant to give to Hu Tao."
Victor looked Hu Tao calmly in the eye, then turned back and placed The Butterfly Lovers back on the counter at Wanwen Bookhouse.
"Please take another look."
"What's there to look at? I know the story inside and out—I could recite it. It's a great story, but it's clearly plagiarized," Ji Fang said, not impatient, but definitely feeling like Victor was being stubborn.
"Look at the handwriting. If you're unsure, compare it with a copy of Alice in Wonderland. If the Liyue printings haven't changed, there should be a handwritten line on the title page: 'To the most beautiful and fantastical of all treasures possessed by humankind—imagination.'"
Seeing Victor Wang's confident smile, Ji Fang had a bold hunch. She walked to the bookshelf, pulled out a copy of Alice in Wonderland, and opened up The Butterfly Lovers...
As she compared them, her head slowly nodded in agreement. Eventually, she gave her verdict: "It really is just like Dust's handwriting. Almost identical. So, you're not only plagiarizing Dust's book—but also copying his handwriting?"
"…" Victor Wang opened his mouth but couldn't find the words.
Xingqiu stepped up to compare the handwriting himself. He hadn't noticed before, since he'd been so focused on the story itself—but now, upon inspection…
He took a deep breath. All his anger, frustration, and disappointment melted into hope. He was about to ask one question—if the answer was yes, that hope would explode into sheer exhilaration.
"Victor! Don't tell me you're—"
"That's right. Cards on the table. I'm done pretending. I'm Dust."
"!"
The mood flipped instantly. Xiangling and Chongyun rushed forward to compare the handwriting themselves. The conclusion was undeniable.
"Victor! You're that famous author?!"
"Totally didn't see that coming."
"Wait, wait! Everyone calm down!" Ji Fang raised her hands to gesture for control, though she herself was getting excited. She turned to Victor and asked, "Just because the handwriting matches—how can you prove you're really Dust? Handwriting can be forged with enough practice."
"Ugh…" That was true. While those in Mondstadt's publishing world knew Dust's real name was "Victor," that didn't help in a foreign country. How do you prove that you are you?
It was the kind of question that seemed simple—but might actually be life's ultimate mystery.
"Didn't you say you had contacts in Mondstadt's publishing scene? You can ask them to verify my identity." Victor pulled out his Adventurer's Certificate and handed it over for inspection.
"That might work… but if someone else has the same name, what then?" Ji Fang posed the question with the weight of the soul.
"Ugh!"
Yeah, this world's systems were still flawed. Only the official IDs issued by each nation had unique serial numbers. The Adventurer's Certificate couldn't handle name duplicates.
Ji Fang twisted the knife. "Also, if you want to get this book published, you'll need to pass the publisher's review. To avoid accusations of plagiarism, you'll need hard proof that you really are Dust."
Victor looked up at the ceiling and sighed…
"I know the illustrator for Alice in Wonderland, Chalk. And I know Emma Ina, the editor for both Tales from the Box and Alice in Wonderland. I can have them write a letter of proof—will that do?"
"Oh!" At the mention of real people—especially Chalk—Ji Fang was already convinced. She was even switching honorifics. "You can just request verification directly from Romeo and Juliet's publisher—Mondstadt Publishing. That'll definitely work!"
"Wait—if you're Dust, why did you act like you didn't even knowRomeo and Juliet?" Ji Fang's tone snapped back into suspicion.
"Yeah," Xingqiu added. "That's what I was wondering too."
"That's a long story…"