Chapter 4

As time stepped into October, the first book of the Harry Potter series, *The Philosopher's Stone*, was officially released. However, its sales were not particularly good, barely satisfactory.

Kathleen was not in a hurry. Although the Harry Potter series in history did indeed have a hint of hype, there had to be something substantial to hype. Moreover, from 1997, when the Harry Potter series began to be published, it took quite a while to become a global sensation.

At least, it would take until the second and third books were published for this book to slowly gain popularity. And times had changed. In 1960s America, the aesthetic standards were somewhat different from those of the 21st century. Although Kathleen had modified some of the plot to fit the era and made changes to parts of the original text that she found annoying, whether it would truly become popular was still a question.

So, in this era without video games, what could a 12-year-old girl do to make money?

Oil?

Yes, it was indeed very profitable, but if done on a small scale, it wouldn't make much money. If done on a large scale... then she would be waiting to "go bankrupt."

Singing?

She had a good voice and sang well, but in her previous life, she was a tone-deaf person who couldn't even read sheet music. She had no idea what would become popular in the future. However, she did remember some melodies, like "The Soviet March" and "The Spirit of the Chinese Army," but singing these... would just be asking for trouble.

"Ah, if only there were computers in this era," Kathleen couldn't help but sigh.

Kathleen eventually joined the gymnastics club and returned to her dormitory after training.

"Yay!"

As soon as she entered the room, she heard Lily's joyful shout. She then noticed that two girls from the neighboring dormitory were in her room, and there was something laid out in front of them.

"What are you doing?"

"Playing Monopoly."

Kathleen nodded. Monopoly was released by Parker Brothers in the United States on November 5, 1935, and later, the game's copyright was acquired by Hasbro, the company that also produced Transformers.

Kathleen took off her outer clothing and plopped onto the bed.

"Kate, I think you should change your clothes and take a shower."

"Okay, I'll rest for a bit first."

Kathleen was wearing her gymnastics uniform underneath. At home, she often didn't bother to change clothes and sometimes used the gymnastics uniform as pajamas.

Although she would feel uncomfortable and want to take a shower once she sweated or got dirty, due to her physical constitution, she rarely sweated. Thus, most of the time, she lazily lay on the bed.

"Huh? Monopoly?!"

Kathleen looked at the board on the table and suddenly had an idea.

A game.

To be precise, it was the ancestor of most later games—Dungeons & Dragons, or D&D for short.

This was a tabletop game, similar to Monopoly. For a time, the majority of computer games were based on this, such as *Neverwinter Nights* and the more famous *World of Warcraft*. Although the latter only borrowed from it, it was enough to show its influence.

The appearance of the *Lord of the Rings* trilogy was the catalyst for the birth of the famous D&D rules, but it took ten years to gestate before it officially appeared before the public.

Why not take this path?

Kathleen jumped off the bed, her face full of excitement. At this moment, the girls from the neighboring dormitory had left, leaving only Lily and Kathleen.

"Kate, I've noticed that sometimes you really act like a child."

Lily stood in front of Kathleen with her hands on her hips.

What a joke? My mental age is much older than yours!

Seemingly noticing Kathleen's "dismissive" expression, or perhaps thinking that Kathleen needed to be educated, Lily said, "Kate, girls shouldn't be so casual. Look at you, not even wearing underwear. What if someone sees you?"

"Wearing underwear is uncomfortable, and it's also inconvenient when using the bathroom."

Kathleen was wearing open-crotch tights, with the underwear worn on the outside. The initial purpose of these tights was to make it easier for girls to urinate. By wearing the tights first and then the underwear, one wouldn't have to take them off and put them back on repeatedly, making it convenient for children. Additionally, girls with long nails could easily tear their tights during the process.

However, to save time, Kathleen wore the leotard as both underwear and outerwear when she put on her gymnastics uniform—since the crotch of the leotard was wide—hence Lily's comment.

And during dancing and training, Kathleen really felt that wearing underwear was uncomfortable.

Of course, except for these times, she wouldn't usually forget to wear underwear. After all, she didn't want to go "commando," even though it might look interesting, she had no interest in it now, probably because she hadn't developed yet.

Your heart determines the world you see. Who said that? Anyway, Kathleen thought it was a good idea.

"Um... it's more convenient this way." She lay comfortably on the bed.

"Girls should be dignified!" Lily was about to say something more but suddenly looked at Kathleen in deep thought. She thought for a moment, then picked up the camera on the table.

"Click."

The flash went off again.

"Huh?" Kathleen turned her head and saw Lily's half-smiling face.

"That pose was so cute."

"Let's not talk about that, Lily. I found a fun game."

Kathleen wasn't sure if the rules of Dungeons & Dragons would be popular in this era. After all, the D&D rules in history were created after the hippie movement, and it was hard to rule out the influence of the hippies.

However, TRPGs had a long history in Europe and America. Even if D&D wasn't popular, she could come up with a more suitable set of rules.

After all, although there were TRPGs, there were no detailed games like D&D that simulated an entire fantasy world.

She briefly explained the rules of the game to Lily.

The core of the D&D rules was the dice, which determined all outcomes.

"It sounds good, but it seems a bit complicated."

Lily hit the nail on the head.

Indeed, if the original D&D rules were followed, they would be quite complex. After all, the D&D rules Kathleen knew were from the third edition, and before that, there were the first and second editions, which, although not very famous, provided the foundation for D&D's development.

What if...

Kathleen was momentarily stunned.

Indeed, anti-intellectualism was prevalent in this era, as a popular saying went:

"You can boldly underestimate the intelligence of Americans and achieve success!"

Kathleen now felt that she should infinitely underestimate the intelligence of Americans... probably.