City ​​of Witches 768

Chapter 768 – #Sidestory01_Twins And The Contest

#Special Feature 1
1.
Gehenna, a city separated from the real world and created solely for witches.
Unlike the remarkable progress of the present world over the past few centuries, Gehenna’s scenery remains largely unchanged from its creation in the 14th century.

This is because most of the witches living in Gehenna are conservative and have aristocratic mindsets.

Abandoning formality for convenience is considered vulgar.

When traveling long distances, they still use carriages.
The clothing considered elegant is the refined Belle Époque era dress.
For research or paperwork, they prefer fountain pens and quills over convenient ballpoint pens.

The architectural style is also strictly controlled according to building codes….

As a result of these elements coming together,
Gehenna has established a completely different world from the modern one.

However, even in Gehenna, which seems to be eternally stagnant, a great wind occasionally blows.

The ‘Special Feature Witch,’ who was researching magical engineering, wanted to change this stifling city.

Therefore, she built a towering spire on her mansion and installed a huge antenna to establish a wide-area network between the present world and Gehenna.

As a result, the internet was introduced to Gehenna overnight.

While the witches of the city hall stared at the hideous antenna with their mouths agape, and the high-ranking witches pondered how to handle this matter, what would happen?

This is that story.

2.
If you were to name the most prestigious families in Gehenna, the Geminai Black Twins, the singing black and white birds, would certainly be mentioned.

Odile and Odette, apprentice witches of the renowned Geminai Black family, were lying on their stomachs on the bed, heads close together.
The twins’ appearances were so identical that they were almost mystical.

Their semi-curly black hair, carefully washed with fragrant oils by the maids every day.
Their luminous eyes, resembling the light of amethyst, shone like those of fairies.
Healthy peach-colored cheeks and moderately plump lips.
Even lying down, their outstanding elegance was reminiscent of princesses who had popped out of a movie set in the Rococo era.

However, their attire was far from that of princesses.
They were wearing shark pajamas and rabbit pajamas, respectively, which they had bought in the present world.

The reason the twins couldn’t close their eyes, even though it was long past their usual bedtime, was entirely due to the device of civilization in their hands.

The unidentified object emitting a pale light and illuminating the twins’ faces was….
A smartphone that they had begged their great master for, taking advantage of the unprecedented event of data being available in Gehenna.

“Haaawn….”
“Haaang….”

Odile and Odette yawned every minute until their eyes welled up with tears.

The twins had always been interested in the present world.
However, as apprentice witches, they couldn’t go to the dangerous present world often, and as you know, Gehenna is a space cut off from the present world.

Therefore, the twins had to be satisfied with occasionally hearing stories from their assistant.

Now, a new world called the internet, where they could gather all the information of the present world, had opened up in their hands, so it was only natural that they would stay up for more than three days.

“Sister, look at this.”
“What? I’m looking at a different document right now.”
“Still, I’m curious….”
“Heh, don’t worry, Odette. Your sister has discovered a new function. If you do this and then this…. You can come back anytime without having to search again.”
“Wow! It’s like a bookmark! As expected of you, Sister! Amazing!”
“Ahem!”

At first, they couldn’t even adjust the brightness of their smartphones, but now they had grown to the point where they could use the bookmark function.

The twins had been frantically absorbing new knowledge through YouTube, Wikipedia, and other sources.
Tonight, they had also stepped into Google and were collecting various information when they kept noticing ad banners.

The unique, deformed illustrations that they had become accustomed to seeing so often.

[If you’re done, get lost]
[What’s done?]
[Novelpia]

It was roughly this kind of ad banner.

Until then, it seemed less important, and the amount of information to explore was so vast that they had ignored it….
But suddenly, Odette showed interest first.

“Sister, what is this? Is it okay to click it?”
“Odette, take your hand off right now!”
“Whoa! Why, Sister! What is it?”
“You saw it too. These things are likely malicious software disguised as ads. It’s obviously waiting for someone to click it.”
“Isn’t it just an ad?”
“I told you not to click on just anything. You might break your precious smartphone.”

Odette’s point was accurate, and Odile’s concern was excessive.
It was just a normal Novelpia ad.

“Is that so?”
“Yes, it is. Trust me.”
“Okay, I understand.”

However, it was a smartphone that they had managed to get after begging their great master.

Since there were still about three weeks left until the antenna was removed after going through various administrative procedures, they had no intention of losing their treasure due to foolish actions.

But that was only for a moment.
The twins confirmed the scary thing about ads.

That is, they repeatedly and unconsciously expose consumers to phrases that stimulate curiosity.

“Sister, Sister.”
“Yes, Odette.”
“This spam ad, what does it mean by ‘done’?”
“…I don’t know?”

And Odile and Odette were the type of people who had to see things through to the end if they became curious.

“Should we try clicking it just once?”

Odette looked at her sister with serious eyes.
Odile had excitedly scared Odette by showing off the information she had recently acquired, but that didn’t mean she wasn’t curious.

“Okay, then let’s do this.”
“How?”
“We’ll install a vaccine application and then click it.”
“Vaccine?”

They had seen the same material on the same wiki, but Odile was more interested in computers and engineering.
Therefore, she proudly explained to her sister, who was tilting her head.

“It’s just like its name, a vaccine. It’s an application that prevents smartphone viruses. You can get it from a place called the app store.”
“Oh? Then we don’t have to worry about viruses! Let’s do it!”

They had already installed apps before.
The twins, in high spirits, searched for ‘vaccine.’

A list of apps appeared in a row.

“Oh, there are so many….”
“Shouldn’t we install them all?”
“I don’t think we should? Originally, if you take multiple potions at the same time, you don’t know what kind of side effects might occur.”
“Hmm, then we should choose the best one….”

Two pairs of wandering purple eyes were fixed on one app.

“Odette, how about this one?”
“The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency COV?”
“The name itself is something special.”
“That’s right. The name has authority. It must be an organization that manages diseases in the present world, since it has ‘Agency’ at the end.”

Odette accepted her sister’s theory with utmost seriousness.
And so, the twins completed the installation of the COVID-19 electronic vaccination certificate.

“It feels like the internet has become cleaner.”
“Definitely, something…. I don’t know exactly, but it feels hygienic.”
“Shall we click it now?”
“Yes, one, two, three!”

The twins, who had become living proof of the placebo effect, clicked the banner with their adorable fingers.
But the twins’ adventure did not continue easily.

“Huh?”

However, there was another barrier blocking the twins….
The adult verification and login process.

“There’s something else annoying.”
“I understand the login…. But why do we need adult verification?”

Odile and Odette’s heads tilted in the same direction.

“Let’s try it first.”
“Okay, Sister.”

But Odile and Odette were proper adults.
After struggling and putting their heads together, they easily completed the membership registration and adult verification.

“Wow, I’m already tired.”
“Why are the procedures so complicated?”

The twins were already sweating, but there was still work to be done.
Of course, they had to check the contents of the ad, right?
But unfortunately, they missed what the work was while registering for membership.

But that was no problem.
The twins’ speed of switching interests was comparable to a kitten chasing a laser pointer.

“What kind of site is it?”
“It’s so flashy…. My eyes are spinning.”
“It’s all women.”
“Yeah.”

Odile and Odette looked at the Novelpia homepage with the eyes of researchers exploring the unknown.

Then, one phrase caught their eye.
A banner that was spinning at the top of the main page.

[If you use it well, 2000 kicks a month! You too can be a novel writer!]

“It’s a novel site.”
“What’s 2000 kicks a month?”

When they clicked it, they were met with unfamiliar phrases such as how to register new works, how to register episodes, and how to register plus.

Let’s go back.
The banner they clicked this time was….

“2022 Novelpia Adult Web Novel Contest?”
“Masterpiece?”
“Total prize money of 100 million won?”
“Plus alpha?”

They didn’t understand the other complicated things, but what caught their eye was the list of ‘Detailed Award Details.’

Grand Prize: 50 million won.
First Prize: 20 million won.
Second Prize: 2 works, 10 million won each.

“Won is the money from our assistant’s hometown, right?”
“Yes, Sister, 50 million won is roughly…. 62 gold coins.”
“Oh…. They give money for writing erotic novels?”

They didn’t understand the other things, but they understood this much for sure.

Odile and Odette’s eyes met.
The privilege of twins who had been born and raised together, eye contact conversation.

“Sister, let’s do it.”
“Okay, let’s do it.”

And so, the chaotic Novelpia Masterpiece Contest of the reckless twins began.