This novel is almost entirely (>95%) written using Gemini 2.5 Flash LLM (Large Language Model). As such, it was decided to disclose prompts used for the sake of transparency. Maybe some may consider these prompts as the true form of the novel. In any case, I hope these to be useful for those who want to see the writing process and inner thoughts during the writing. It should also be noted that these prompts were originally in Korean and translated into English, again with a tremendous help from Gemini.
[1:1] Write a story about a shrine. This shrine is located in the mountains, quite far from the city but not extremely remote. It has a boundary, and within this boundary, the shrine’s maidens can transform their bodies into any form, including inanimate objects. If they transform their bodies within the boundary in advance, that form is maintained even outside the boundary (but they cannot return to their original form, etc., before returning to the boundary). Because of this, once they become maidens, they no longer age or die, and various necessities for life sustenance become unnecessary. As you might notice, even the shrine buildings themselves are the body of a person who became a maiden a very long time ago, and that maiden (called the Great Maiden) creates a separate avatar within her own body to act as a proxy so that other maidens are not confused. Of course, if this fact were to become known outside the shrine, a big problem would arise, so only maidens are strictly allowed inside the shrine, and this fact is meticulously hidden. The plot of this story begins when the protagonist girl one day hears a clear voice in her head telling her to go to a certain shrine, and she formally enters as a maiden. Her paired fellow maiden is arranged to transform into each other’s clothes during outside activities so they are never separated from each other for a single moment. Describe the story up to this point in great detail.*
* I’m still not sure how the name Lua emerged. I kept this possibly awkward name largely as an inside joke for those who are aware that I had been heavily torn during the use of the Lua programming language.
[1:2] Unlike the very solemn beginning, create a scenario where the maidens are surprisingly flexible in dealing with reality. For example, there’s a maiden among them who often transforms into a television. This maiden not only simply transforms into a television but also knows all the technical requirements for being a television, such as the details of vertical blanking or the ATSC protocol, and acts as a television (even without knowing these specifics, she can transform into a television, but only simpler functions* would be possible. I’d prefer that these technical details are not revealed through dialogue—since only that maiden would know them). Describe up to the scene where Lua becomes interested that there are maidens who transform not just into clothes, but into items for convenient living.
* That sounds okayish, but I actually wanted it to be an analog television with only System M and NTSC support and thus utterly useless in the digital TV era. This small detail was later hugely bloated into a large worldbuilding as one can see from the Maiden Life Guide.
[1:3] Describe a scene where Lua asks the Great Maiden why the Divine created such a unique boundary, and the Great Maiden answers. Do not add any commentary afterwards.*
* Gemini tended to append its own commentary so I had to keep it from doing so. You’ll see this kind of prompt over and over later.
[1:4] Describe in great detail the process of Lua transforming into Shizuku’s clothes for Shizuku, who is briefly going out. The clothes Lua transforms into should be casual clothes, not the original maiden robes, and even afterwards, Lua should be able to maintain her five senses and communicate with Shizuku via telepathy. The setting is that maiden robes automatically exist as part of their bodies when maidens are within the boundary, but they become naked when they leave the boundary, so a maiden to become clothes in this way is needed.
[1:5] Depict a scene where Lua, having gone outside the shrine as Shizuku’s clothes, is flustered as she experiences various hardships that clothes might endure.
[1:6] On the way back, describe a scene where Lua, flustered, telepathically asks Shizuku if this is okay, and Shizuku explains her own experiences, specifically what accidents she endured after transforming into other objects (the most severe scene should be her breaking after transforming into a glass object), and despite that, she reassures Lua not to worry, saying that the problem was resolved by the Divine’s blessing. Indeed, Lua’s body returns to normal as soon as she enters the shrine. As a side note, for the incident where Shizuku broke as glass, the setting is that she was restored after the large glass fragments were brought into the shrine.
[2:1] Describe Lua deciding to become an electric car to help other maidens move around, and reading car maintenance manuals to the point of memorizing the detailed structure of a car. Before Lua, maidens had to walk or use public transport, which was inconvenient when visiting other shrines or for various reasons.
[2:2] Describe Lua’s debut as a car in a novel. Lua’s “fuel” is replaced by eating a lot of delicious food in advance, and Lua’s own avatar is in the driver’s seat to avoid problems if she gets caught by enforcement. Include a scene where Lua gets her driver’s license, and Shizuku transforms into Lua to drive Lua herself for car registration. A scene where delicious food is fed in real-time when fuel is low would also be good.
[2:3] This time, describe Lua, wearing clothes transformed by Shizuku, going to briefly greet her parents after a year. Since she was a student and suddenly disappeared, her parents must be very worried. While struggling to explain what happened due to confidentiality, Shizuku realizes through her mother’s remark that Lua’s mother was a close friend she knew in her childhood, and successfully uses this to prove that the Divine’s power is not just mere words (since she cannot show transformation ability, it’s good to borrow Shizuku’s knowledge). It would also be good to include Shizuku’s reaction of wondering what to do when the mother asks her to say hello to Shizuku. Oh, and of course, the names ‘Lua’ and ‘Shizuku’ are maiden names, not their birth names, so their parents should not use ‘Lua’ or ‘Shizuku’. Do not include commentary at the very end.
[2:4] Lua, walking back to the shrine, suddenly wonders why she can exist as a fully clothed avatar in the driver’s seat when she transforms into a car, but it’s impossible to choose clothing as part of her body in other cases. Shizuku also agrees, realizing it’s true and curious, then they ask the Great Maiden and hear an old story that explains the reason.
[2:5] Describe Lua discovering the unexpected side of the Great Maiden, who likes shonen manga. The Great Maiden should be a little embarrassed about it but explain the reason calmly. Do not add commentary.
[2:6] Describe Lua, wanting to revisit the piano she learned as a child, asking Aki to transform into a piano. Aki is knowledgeable about electronics and electricity but surprisingly not about this, so Lua teaches Aki about the structure of a piano. Aki’s usual demeanor should be well-described, and also depict several other maidens watching due to the unexpected sight of Lua teaching Aki. It should end with Aki transforming into a beautiful upright piano and Lua playing it.
[2:7] Describe the shrine’s appearance during winter. The setting is that when in human form, maidens and their avatars also feel cold. (Since clothes, which are part of their bodies, do not change, something else would be needed.) There would be some maidens who transform into boilers or braziers, and it would be interesting to have a maiden who surprisingly transforms into an air fryer to roast winter food. Do not include commentary.
[2:8] Describe a scene where they help with a village festival as one of the shrine’s external activities. Since they cannot enter the shrine grounds, the festival location is decided around the flat ground near the shrine entrance. Depict the maidens performing kagura as is customary for shrines, and also introduce the maidens playing the roles of costumes and bells who perform the kagura together (it would be good if one of the previously introduced maidens overlaps). Also describe what Lua does. Naturally, the shrine’s secret must not be leaked during this entire process. Please refrain from commentary.
[3:1] From Lua’s perspective (in the third person), depict the process of a new maiden receiving inspiration and coming to the shrine, just as Lua did. Describe how the maidens learn that a new maiden is coming and what preparations they make.
[3:2] Describe what happens when the girl who will become the new maiden and her younger brother appear together at the shrine. Normally, the girl would come alone, but somehow, her brother followed her and even entered the shrine. Imagine what happens when an ordinary person comes to the shrine.
[3:3] Describe the scene where the girl introduces herself and explains how her brother came along. She says that since she lost her parents and her brother is her only blood relative, if she were to disappear, her brother would not be able to live alone, so she brought him with her to the shrine. This puts the maidens, including the Great Maiden, in a difficult situation. They agonize over why the Divine would make a maiden out of a girl in such circumstances.
[3:4] After long contemplation, the Great Maiden telepathically sends a message to Lua (currently: first-aid kit) and Shizuku (currently: protective barrier), who were waiting outside in transformed states, to ask her younger brother Ren if he is willing to become a maiden (because the Great Maiden cannot go outside. Decide on your own which of the two transforms into clothes and which remains a maiden). To the obvious question of whether a boy can become a maiden, they tell him that for a boy to become a maiden means to abandon his masculinity. The moment he answers that he would gladly do so if it meant being with his sister, a miracle occurs: Ren’s body changes into the distinct form of a girl, though still somewhat boyish, and he becomes able to enter and exit as a maiden. Along with the Great Maiden, who answers that she merely discerned the thoughts of the Divine when the two are amazed by her wisdom, describe the appearance of the (now) sister maidens who receive new names.
[3:5] Describe the mischievous shrine life of Izumi, who was originally a boy. She shouldn’t cause anything too serious. And stop adding commentary at the very end.
[3:6] Akari, while taking maiden lessons, realizes that if growth stops the moment one becomes a maiden, then Izumi will have to live forever in her child’s form. She asks the Great Maiden for confirmation, and while confirming it, the Great Maiden also adds that there might be objects that are easier to transform into precisely because they are small, and wonders if this might be the Divine’s true intention. Describe this scene.
[3:7] Describe Izumi 10 years later. If she hadn’t become a maiden, she would be a young adult in her twenties, but she remains a little girl. Although her inner self has fully matured into a lady, she feels a slight lingering regret about her small child-like appearance, but finds greater joy in being able to live with her sister, now Akari, because of it. Lua asks Izumi, who is contemplating this, if she wants to go for a drive since Lua can transform into a car. Izumi agrees happily, but after a moment of thought, Lua realizes that she would need a child seat to have Izumi in the passenger seat, and the story ends with Lua being chided by Izumi, who has reached the same conclusion.*
* And that was the original end of the story as you can guess. But I still had so many things to tell so I kept writing, and oh dear, it ended up with more than three times the original text.
[4:1] Describe Lua going for a car inspection according to the law. Focus on how she feels about the process of her inner body being meticulously examined by others. The repair shop where the inspection takes place has no particular connection to the shrine.
[4:2] Describe in a novel how Izumi transforms into a small object and helps the shrine.
[4:3] Describe a scene where the Great Maiden tells the story of when she became a maiden. Since the Great Maiden is set to be the first maiden of the shrine, she must have lived for a very long time, making it likely a story from a mythical era.
[4:4] If this shrine transcends the limits of matter, set another frequently visited shrine as one that transcends the limits of time (not simply that the maidens become immortal, but that they become beings who transcend time by simultaneously perceiving past and future). Describe what happens when Lua and others visit that shrine with a letter from the Great Maiden. Given that this shrine must also maintain strict secrecy, even to fellow maidens, they can only speak of the future in a limited way.
[4:5] Tell some minor stories that happen at the Shrine of Time. In this description, mentions of the future are entirely possible (since this content is not revealed to the corporeal maidens).
[4:6] Describe the maidens who have returned from meeting the temporal maidens meeting the Great Maiden and hearing about them.
[5:1] Describe a scene where Lua’s old girlfriend*, now an adult working as a reporter, is driving and spots Lua (specifically, the avatar inside the car Lua transformed into; remember that Lua’s real name is “Suzuki Yui” and she does not use the name “Lua”) who seems not to have aged at all, and thinks she’s seen a ghost.
* The Korean word for a girlfriend is virtually the same as the word for a friend who happens to be female. Gemini confused them and thus this work became a yuri fiction among others.
[5:2] Sayuri, who memorized the car’s license plate, spots the car parked again and sees Yui (Lua) sitting idly inside. Sayuri doesn’t know this, but Yui was waiting for the maidens who went shopping and couldn’t stray far from her main body, the car, so she kept sitting there. Earlier, Yui herself had felt nostalgic seeing Sayuri and was a little nervous if Sayuri recognized her, but now, being in avatar form and unable to escape, she had no choice but to admit she was indeed Yui, leading to their reunion.
[5:3] Yui (Lua) suggests Sayuri come inside the car for a moment because it’s hot. Yui explains, within the permissible scope, that she became a maiden and, though she doesn’t quite understand why, her growth stopped after becoming one. She also mentions she’s currently waiting for the other maidens who are shopping. Sayuri is somewhat relieved when Yui replies that she meets her parents every few years when asked if she’s seen them. Conversely, continue describing Sayuri’s reply that she’s working as a reporter, in response to Yui’s question about what she’s doing now.
[5:4] Describe Sayuri wondering why a maiden would drive such a new model car, even though she thinks the car (into which Lua transformed) looks nice. Yui, pleased by the compliment to her car, talks about it (excluding the fact that she herself transformed to create it). Sayuri is slightly flustered but reassured that Yui, who was a chatterbox in her student days, fundamentally hasn’t changed.
[5:5] After the other maidens return to the car, Sayuri briefly greets them and then leaves. Describe Sayuri’s growing curiosity about what kind of shrine it is, along with her relief that Yui seems to be doing well.
[5:6] Describe the Great Maiden calling Lua after she returns from shopping, praising her for handling the situation wisely. Then, the Great Maiden encourages Lua to get along well with Sayuri, saying Sayuri will be helpful to the shrine even if not a maiden. When Lua asks if this information came from the Shrine of Time, the Great Maiden smiles without giving a direct answer, simply saying, “Perhaps.”
[5:7] Describe Sayuri, using her authority as a reporter, starting an investigation based on the car’s license plate she remembered. She finds it odd that the car model she saw was released only three years ago, but the car was registered over a decade ago, with no other changes in between.*
* Because I’m pretty sure that Lua is unable to keep the model exactly the same over the course of 10+ years. It turned out to be a good idea.
[5:8] With a headache, Sayuri goes for a drive by the riverside at night. During the drive, she realizes that “a new car is created whenever needed” would explain everything, and thus she uncovers one possibility regarding the shrine’s abilities. She does not know Yui’s maiden name (Lua) and has not yet imagined transformation (only guessing that they can simply ‘create’ things).
[5:9] The Great Maiden tells Lua to go for a drive to clear her head, and sure enough, Lua is again spotted by Sayuri, who was lying in wait. When Lua waves her hand, saying she’s not some celebrity to be secretly followed, Sayuri suggests they drive together. During the drive, Sayuri, based on her discovery, directly asks if the shrine’s secret is the ability to create objects at will. Realizing she’s been transforming into too many new model cars and can no longer avoid it, Lua reveals the exact truth. Sayuri’s reaction is disbelief at the even more shocking truth that the car she is currently riding in is Lua herself. So, as the car battery runs low, Lua offers to show her directly. After ordering a hamburger at a drive-thru, Lua demonstrates the shrine’s secret by showing the car’s battery charging (without any separate connection) while Lua’s avatar enjoys eating the hamburger. Describe Sayuri’s thrill at a truth far beyond her imagination as a novel.
[5:10] Describe Sayuri, despite being overwhelmed with emotion, intuitively understanding why this must remain a secret. She pledges to keep the secret. Yui (Lua) responds, scratching her head, saying she’ll be more careful when transforming herself.
[5:11] At the same time, a maiden examining letters in the mailbox at the shrine’s boundary rushes to the Great Maiden with a surprised expression, holding a letter. Describe the Great Maiden, guessing its contents, inwardly thinking that Lua handled it well and there’s no need to worry, then receiving and beginning to read the letter. Do not mention the recipient of the letter, and set the sender as a construction company. *
* This was originally about to be the ‘period of great turmoil’ but the event was too tame for that. So this became a mere sign of that and the true turmoil was described in Chapter 9.
[6:1] Describe the Great Maiden explaining to Lua what is happening after she returns from her drive. A construction company plans to develop apartments on the mountain where the shrine is located, and since the shrine is prominently situated in the middle, they contacted them regarding land compensation. Lua is surprised that the shrine’s land was even registered. The Great Maiden explains that maidens who are wise enough but not overly old by worldly standards were legally registered as the land’s owners, and currently Izumi holds that role, but Lua is next in line. Lua immediately understands what she needs to do and begins looking for Sayuri’s contact information.
[6:2] With the help of Aki, who transformed into a mobile phone, Lua calls Sayuri. Sayuri hears the situation and feels a sense of wonder, realizing this is why she was made to meet Yui, and promises to help diligently. Since simply refusing land compensation will likely not be enough to resist, describe various maidens beginning to investigate the company’s financial situation and illegal activities to find its Achilles’ heel.
[6:3] Imagine and describe the internal state of the company as discovered by the maidens. First, it needs to be stated that they were suffering significant financial deterioration due to reckless project acquisitions and debt-financed operations, and were therefore pursuing the apartment development project as a big gamble. Describe the illegal activities as you see fit.
[6:4] Sayuri, having received all this information, breaks an exclusive story. The apartment development project is halted as it’s exposed that it’s not merely a matter of a small shrine plot but involves various intertwined issues. Soon after, the company goes bankrupt, and Lua acquires the forest surrounding the shrine at a bargain price when it goes up for auction, bringing the incident to a close. Write a detailed novel up to this point.
[6:5] Describe the aftermath. Include the scene of Lua formally receiving the land transfer from Shizuku, and Sayuri, grateful for the exclusive information, coming right up to the shrine boundary to meet the Great Maiden and Lua. Specifically, Sayuri asks the Great Maiden to take good care of Yui, who, unlike herself, will live an eternal life. The Great Maiden responds that they owe Sayuri a great debt this time and looks forward to her continued help.
[6:6] It’s peculiar that Sayuri and Yui were in a relationship in the past. Describe this in detail, imagining it. Their last meeting before Yui became a maiden was around their first year of high school.
[6:7] Describe Yui and Sayuri going for another drive to celebrate the resolution of the incident, while chatting about their past relationship. Also, describe how Yui (Lua) feels about Sayuri being inside her body (the car), explained through Yui’s own words.
[7:1] Describe the maidens enduring the unusually hotter-than-usual summer weather due to abnormal climate*, using various methods. It would be good if there’s also a scene where they ask the Great Maiden if it was this hot in the past (the model answer is that days this hot occurred often, but continuous days of such heat are new in recent years).
* This too alludes to the ‘period of great turmoil’.
[7:2] Show a senior maiden who became a maiden at a young age, besides Izumi, and describe her setting through Izumi’s conversation with that maiden.
[7:3] Describe Mai’s daily life.
[7:4] Describe Lua’s curiosity about whether the temporal maidens are also called to become maidens at some point like the corporeal maidens, or by other means, and the Great Maiden’s response to her.
[7:5] If so-called corporeal maidens and temporal maidens exist, do other maidens also exist? Describe the content up to the point where the Great Maiden expresses interest when Lua unintentionally asks if “maidens of light” also exist, asks her back why she thought that, and later reveals that the luminous maiden does exist and is none other than the entity mediating telepathy. For reference, these maidens correspond to physics’ spacelike (matter), timelike (time), and lightlike (light), but the Great Maiden’s decision to use this explanation or not is at your discretion.
[7:6] Describe the scene where Aki talks about the luminous maiden. Aki, having basic knowledge of this type of physics (because she has to deal with satellite signals), makes the (correct) conjecture that corporeal maidens correspond to spacelike, dealing with things slower than light; temporal maidens correspond to timelike, dealing with things faster than light; and Maidens of Light correspond to lightlike, dealing with things at the speed of light. In Aki’s actual dialogue, summarize the content so that it can be understood even without physics knowledge.
[7:7] I want to describe more interaction with the luminous maiden. In the last part, there’s a scene where they pray to the luminous maiden to exert additional powers, and this needs to be justified. So, there must be an experience where something difficult happened. They first learned that they could pray to the luminous maiden (not from the Great Maiden, but from another maiden), and it worked when they tried praying. The person who tries this doesn’t necessarily have to be Aki, but it must be one of the corporeal maidens.
And I want to show more explicitly that it’s not “Maidens of Light” (plural); unlike the corporeal and temporal maidens, which are plural, I think the luminous maiden should be a much more unified being (just as all objects moving at the speed of light in reality have zero mass)*. This should not come out as an explanatory statement, but rather be realized naturally during the process of communion with the luminous maiden.
* It is actually possible to make this plural if we strictly adhere to physics, but the title explicitly says luminous, i.e. photon, so it seemed better to make it a unified entity that is indistinguishable from others.
What kind of episode would be good to achieve both of these goals simultaneously? This episode should come after Lua and Aki discuss the three types of maidens, but before ‘the period of great confusion’ (and there should be no mention of the period of great confusion)*.
* [7:7] was written to support [9:6] and thus written much later than the entirety of [9:*]. Gemini revealed the future story too much that I had to explicitly suppress that.
* This chapter was written after Chapter 9 in order to account for the Gemini’s criticism that the plot is too bland.
[8:1] One day, Lua and Shizuku go shopping. Although it’s typical for an even number of people to go shopping (one transforms into clothes and one wears them), Akane expresses a desire to go along and transforms into a wallet. Usually, they carry money in pockets, and shopping bags from stores are sufficient, so an extra person isn’t needed, but the maidens who were originally going decide to agree, thinking a wallet would be convenient. For a while, there are no problems, but suddenly Akane telepathically says that she’s moving away from the maidens, and it’s revealed that the wallet has been stolen. The person they almost bumped into earlier was a pickpocket. The remaining maidens are startled and go to the police station to report it. They telepathically contact Aki at the shrine, asking her to transform into a cell phone to receive calls at any time. Several hours later, Aki telepathically informs them that the pickpocket was caught, but the wallet was not found, leaving the maidens bewildered. This happened even though Akane’s telepathy allowed them to estimate her location to some extent. Akane despairs, asking if she’ll have to live eternity as a wallet if she can’t return within the boundary, and the maidens, unable to say anything, silently think, “Is that so…?” Describe the entire content with sufficient detail. Shiori, being not a corporeal maiden, should not appear anywhere.
[8:2] When Lua and Shizuku return to the shrine in a somber state, the Great Maiden asks if they are okay. The maidens briefly explain the situation and express concern for Akane. The Great Maiden then asks if they remember her mentioning past maidens who misused their powers, and they confirm. “Then what happened to those maidens?” the Great Maiden asks, and the two maidens recall Akane’s situation and gain understanding. However, the Great Maiden reassures them that such despair is reserved for those who maliciously abuse their powers, and since they are good and fulfilling their maiden duties well, they need not worry. She adds that although such incidents may occasionally occur, the Divine will not abandon them. Describe in detail the two maidens, still a little anxious but having witnessed divine blessings so far, tightly clasping hands and vowing to somehow overcome the situation.
[8:3] Late at night, after transmitting the Great Maiden’s words to Akane telepathically, Akane stabilizes somewhat and mentions she feels like she’s inside a trash can or something similar. The next day, at dawn, the two, accompanied by a few more corporeal maidens, descend to the village and meticulously search through trash cans. Trash collection day was the next day, so there was a risk of her being carried even farther away if not found that day. They were so desperate that even a cat’s paw would have helped, so they contacted Sayuri, who arrived late and also assisted. Soon, Akane says she hears the maidens’ voices nearby, narrowing down the location. Eventually, they discover the wallet Akane had transformed into; although quite dirty, it was unmistakably Akane. To take it back, they clean it thoroughly, and Akane, perhaps relieved, comments that it felt better than any bath she’d ever had. Upon entering the boundary, Akane returns to her original form and expresses gratitude to the Great Maiden, saying she was afraid but gained great enlightenment. Write this chapter in Korean.
[9:1] Describe the scene where information from the temporal maidens arrives at the shrine, indicating that something major will happen in early 2038. This point in time is about 4 and a half years after the current time in the story. This time, since it’s a major event, the temporal maidens visit the shrine in person, and the Great Maiden listens intently, her usual smile completely gone.
[9:2] Describe the maidens discussing what exactly the great confusion refers to within the uneasy shrine. The main opinions of the maidens were split into two: one possibility was that the widely used time system in computers, known as Unix time, would experience a range issue similar to Y2K*, and the other was the possibility of widespread power and mechanical failures in large areas due to a coronal mass ejection (CME) occurring at the peak of solar activity. Have a maiden representative for each opinion explain their respective scenarios, and if there are minority opinions, think of and add them.
* My previous work, Synchronicity, also happens to make use of 2036 NTP timestamp overflow as its core plot device. Hopefully this trope won’t last in my next work.
[9:3] The Great Maiden’s conclusion was that if the laws of the world were indeed distorting as Mai suggested, there would be no way to prepare beforehand, so no special preparation was needed. However, both leading scenarios could theoretically be prepared for by humanity, and fortunately, there was still time. Therefore, they should move towards accelerating existing solutions secretly from people. For example, if a solution existed but would only be finalized in 2040, problems would arise, so they needed to discreetly adjust things behind the scenes using various methods to ensure completion before 2038. Describe her persuasively explaining this to the maidens.
[9:4] For the first six months, no actual actions were taken. Instead, they spent time investigating which people needed to be inspired or influenced, and how resources should be allocated to efficiently accelerate the solutions. Since the number of maidens is limited, they cannot influence many people at once. For the Y2K38 problem, old embedded devices were identified as the biggest issue, so the strategy was to intentionally induce situations where old devices had to be replaced. For CME, despite being unrelated to actual scientific observations, a “mistake” was introduced to induce multiple research teams to simultaneously predict the CME, thereby forcing rapid change. Borrowing Mai’s expression, who, despite appearing as a young child, has lived for hundreds of years, she stated that never in her time at the shrine had the entire shrine been so academic, indicating the extensive review the maidens undertook. Describe the above content in great detail as a novel.
[9:5] In this plan, virtually most operations take place overseas, so it’s crucial to quietly enter foreign countries, perform operations at precise locations, and return safely. Therefore, in addition to Lua, who was originally active as a car, the very small senior maiden Mai is assigned, and the two practice transforming into energy-efficient small drones. Instead of directly crossing the Pacific, they travel by visiting inhabited areas where they can find good food, like migratory birds do, allowing them to resupply energy on time. This way, they can secretly travel across the globe, even if it takes a little longer. At the current technological level, the one-way travel time was judged to be just under a week, which was deemed sufficient. Describe Lua reviewing the structure of small batteries used in drones and giving Mai, who had never transformed into a mode of transportation before, crash course on necessary details.
[9:6] Describe Lua embarking on her first drone mission. Lua’s objective is to deliver Izumi, who has transformed into a tiny toy with a USB, to a research lab in the US. Izumi’s role is to plug the USB into the necessary computer and manipulate data according to Aki’s telepathic instructions. Lua and Izumi also know a certain amount from Aki’s teachings, but Aki knows best exactly how to fix the data, so they follow her instructions. This first drone mission also has a pilot nature. Lua successfully delivers Izumi near a computer in Denver, Colorado, USA, after a nearly week-long long-distance flight around the Pacific. While Lua hides and waits outside, Izumi moves on her own to plug in the USB, and lo and behold, it’s an Excel file format. Aki thinks that this won’t be simple to modify, so she prays to the luminous maiden, asking for temporary help to manipulate the file on Izumi’s behalf, and it happens as requested. Describe the successful manipulation of data without being detected and within the time limit, in about 20 paragraphs.
[9:7] After several successful operations, and with Mai also successfully completing her maiden flight, the plan was gaining momentum. One day, Mai was carrying Izumi and Akari to Sydney, Australia. Coincidentally, it was precisely the migratory bird season, and the drone collided with birds, resulting in an accident where Akari fell in Australia’s Northern Territory at night local time. They tried to find her immediately, but she had transformed so small and fallen from a considerable height, making it a search in an area spanning tens of square kilometers. Fortunately, telepathy was usable, so Mai began moving using a search method similar to maritime search, trying to get into Akari’s line of sight. Akari, unable to see Mai and with no distinctive terrain around, worried, but successfully calculated her approximate latitude by observing the constellations. Based on this, Mai significantly narrowed the search area and finally found Akari. Seeing Akari clinging tightly to Mai’s drone body, vowing not to fall again, Mai thinks, “So this also happens to me” (since Mai usually looks like the youngest maiden). Describe this in detail as a novel.
[9:8] While manipulating research results, other maidens decided to undertake an operation to gradually damage old embedded devices, prioritizing those that would cause serious problems if not upgraded. They wouldn’t break the devices’ functionality but would make the display act strangely or in other ways force people to replace them voluntarily. Various methods were employed: some maidens approached devices directly if they were relatively close, others received help from Lua and Mai, some manipulated documents to accelerate replacement times, and some even transformed anew and scattered excrement on exposed devices to cause them to malfunction. Describe the above content in detail as a novel.
[9:9] Sayuri, who knew Lua’s secret, wasn’t just observing. The fact that multinational research teams’ observations converged on a CME being expected around 2037-38, and the resolution to prepare swiftly being widely publicized, was largely due to Sayuri meeting various journalists and processing and disseminating the information in an easy-to-understand manner. The concentrated coverage of the Y2K38 problem was also the fruit of the investigative reporting team, including Sayuri. Although Sayuri didn’t know everything happening at the shrine, she knew Lua transformed into a drone and traveled around the world. As a bonus, she was dumbfounded when a small drone, having completed its mission, appeared before her during an overseas business trip to South America and wrote on the ground. Describe the above content in detail as a novel.
[9:10] On the night of January 19, 2038, four years later, as if to confirm their efforts, all the maidens sat in front of the television, which Aki had transformed into, watching a special broadcast. With not only the corporeal maidens but also the temporal maidens watching with bated breath, everyone breathed a sigh of relief as minor issues appeared after Unix time exceeded its range, but no fatal problems occurred, and they congratulated each other on their hard work. Meanwhile, the thought might arise, “Did the CME not occur?” Later, Aki confirms that a CME did occur on the same day but narrowly missed Earth, causing no damage. Describe the maidens and the Great Maiden feeling a sense of accomplishment for having contributed even a little to all these events.
[9:11] To thank the hardworking maidens, Kana announces she has dug an open-air bath and invites them. Kana had also worked hard for four years, but unlike the maidens who were on the front lines, most of her work was support, and she felt sorry for not being able to help with the difficult tasks directly. So, on this occasion, she used her usual boiler form to heat the stream water, creating a warm bath. Describe the maidens concluding their four-and-a-half-year journey with warm hot springs, accompanied by words of gratitude.
[9:12] Describe the shrine returning to its mundane daily life as a novel. The temporal maidens have now returned to their original shrine.
[9:13] Summarize the past four years from the perspective of the temporal maidens. Since their physical movement was relatively limited, all they could do was inform the corporeal maidens how much a specific choice could probabilistically change outcomes. (The temporal maidens can see “all” possible futures from the present, allowing them to calculate probabilities.*) Even until the very last moment, they were tense, unable to guarantee that the threat had 100% disappeared, and now, finally, they are relieved that all such possibilities have been excluded and have returned to their daily lives. Describe this up to that point.
* It may be an allusion to the interpretations of quantum physics, but the actual intent was much more about the modal logic. Yes, I learned that in my Master’s curriculum!
[9:14] Describe the scene where Lua realizes that the shonen manga (Flame Swordsman Kaen) the Great Maiden had been reading for a while had concluded some time ago, but she hadn’t had time to read it due to being busy, and has finally finished it, and Lua recommends a new series.
* This and all subsequent chapters were written because I let Gemini look for as many plot errors as possible and I successfully defended almost all questions; at this point it seemed like a waste not to make use of the resulting conversations. That’s also why prompts are comparatively long and so specific that some prompts literally made into the novel itself. Ironically enough, this chapter was much more favored than other chapters when Gemini and other LLMs were asked to review them….
[A:1] From Aki’s perspective, imagine creating a small booklet titled “Maiden Life Guide” and write its preface. It should feel like speaking informally to a junior maiden (it can start with “Hello! I’m Aki. I’m a corporeal maiden who…”). In the preface, Aki reveals the reason for writing this book: to explicitly put down what she has learned to expand her comprehension, and also for the purpose of experimenting with rapidly changing publishing media (e.g., e-books at the current time). It would be good if, during her self-introduction, Aki tries to mention her age (251 years old as of 2038, meaning born in 1787; in the actual text, only mention the age), then gasps, “Oh, this is a secret,” and slightly regrets it, but then reassures(?) the reader that if you live long enough, age is just a number. Then, the preface should conclude with a brief overview of the booklet’s contents.
[A:2] The following content begins with the
subtitle “First Steps.” It needs to cover the following:
- Confirm that if there’s nothing else happening, the maiden reading
this book has likely been called by the Divine.
- State that the maidens of this shrine are formally called “the
corporeal maidens,” that “the temporal maidens” exist in a separate
shrine, and that “the luminous maiden” exists, enabling telepathy and
such. Reveal that the fact of the luminous maiden being a single unified
entity was learned from Mai’s experience.
- Explain why they are called the corporeal maidens: because they can
manipulate matter in ways unimaginable to ordinary people and use it as
their own body.
- Thanks to this, they are immortal and can survive perfectly well
without eating or sleeping. Of course, despite this, since they are
fundamentally human, they still eat and sleep normally if they
wish.
- However, don’t forget that these abilities were bestowed by the Divine
to balance this world.
[A:3] The following content begins with the
subtitle “Transformation Ability.” It needs to cover the
following:
- Transformation is our most important ability, so it’s good to
understand it precisely.
- Within the shrine’s boundary, you can transform into either living
creatures or inanimate objects, and return to your original form at
will.
- Outside the shrine’s boundary, both are impossible, but if you’ve
already transformed and gone outside, that state is maintained. If you
need to be active in a transformed state, assume this is usually the
case.
- Since we become naked outside the shrine’s boundary (to be explained
later), when one maiden goes out as a pair with another, the other
typically transforms into that person’s clothes to cover them. This will
probably be the first thing you practice when you first transform.
- After transformation, our five senses remain the same. In particular,
senses like sight and hearing are reproduced in a way that the person
wearing the transformed clothes would have experienced if you
transformed into clothes. Otherwise, you’ll feel as if your entire body
is experiencing the outside scenery. It might feel a bit awkward, but
you’ll quickly get used to it. If you’ve played popular first-person
action games recently*, you might
adapt easily?
- The most important aspect of transformation is fidelity. Fidelity
refers to the degree to which the transformed object faithfully reflects
reality. Major factors include the size difference from your original
body, your comprehension of the object, and your physical condition. If
you’re tall but try to transform into a small object, your fidelity will
decrease. If you try to transform into an object you don’t know well or
if your body feels stiff, your fidelity will also drop
significantly.
- Among these, comprehension is by far the most important. If it’s
simply a static object, remembering how it looks is mostly enough to
perfectly mimic it. However, for example, if you try to mimic a car, you
need to understand the principles of the car in detail and perceive its
parts as if they were your own body to function as a proper car outside
without being detected (if you want to know more, go find Lua). If you
transform into a car with low comprehension, it will move, but its
wheels might be fixed and drag, making it look strange to anyone.⁑
- The more you know about the subject, the more faithful your
transformation can be, so let’s study hard!
* Refers to a classical first-person shooter (FPS) like Counter
Strike (2000). Aki isn’t that much into PC gaming so the error of
about 30 years should be expected.
⁑ But this kind of incomplete
transformation poses no threat if it is fine to publicly show that,
making the maiden’s ability extremely powerful and very dangerous to
abuse. The Guide doesn’t explicitly mention this mainly because
Aki is not necessarily aware of this fact and also it is so scary to
think about, but it’s enough of the reason why the Divine’s judgement
turns maidens to inanimate objects for eternity.
[A:4] I want to continue the content related to the “Transformation Ability” subtitle. The following is the subsequent content:
- If you transform into a sufficiently large object, you can create
an avatar that can exist near that object. (The avatar cannot be larger
than the object you transformed into.*) When you create an avatar, you
primarily perceive the sensations it experiences, but the sensations
from the original object don’t disappear, so it can be used for various
purposes.
- You might be scared of what happens if you get hurt while transformed.
Of course, if you transform into a glass marble and it breaks, it will
really hurt. However, if you bring most of the broken pieces back into
the boundary, you can return to human form, and no trace or wound will
remain. If such a situation occurs, don’t panic and keep reminding
yourself what the pieces look like and that those pieces are now your
body.⁑ High comprehension applying
to this situation as well, allowing for excellent transformation.
- We can only transform into objects that can physically exist. For
example, a car that rolls without any energy cannot exist, so we cannot
transform into one. In other words, if you transform into a car, it will
continuously need fuel, which you can usually substitute by eating. If
the fuel runs out, you’ll probably be forced back into human form, which
would be very troublesome, so you should eat regularly, right? Actually,
there aren’t many cases of transformation like this yet, so more
experimentation is needed in the future.⁂ If you find anything interesting, let me
know!
- Finally, what I want to tell you is that it’s good to have a way to
move, even if it’s an inanimate object, to prepare for unexpected
situations. For example, if you transform into a ball, it would be good
to have a movable weight inside to adjust the direction the ball
bounces. Otherwise, you’d have to hope that other maidens find you, and
isn’t that a scary thought? There’s no harm in preparing beforehand.
* If this were allowed, it is possible that a pair of maidens can
transform into each other’s clothes and give them to their own avatars.
This would dilute the original narrative intent.
⁑ While this
explanation is ordered in this way for convenience, it is actually the
opposite; the very act of “collecting most fragments” is an
extremely efficient method to convince oneself that those fragments are
indeed one’s own body.
⁂ This ought to be the beginning of
maidenology.
[A:5] The following content is under the
subtitle “Life at the Shrine.” It needs to cover the following:
- At the shrine, you’ll see a truly beautiful* maiden whose words and actions show deep
experience; that’s the Great Maiden. More precisely, the Great Maiden is
the shrine building itself (what we see as the Great Maiden is her
avatar). The Great Maiden is the first maiden of this shrine and the one
who has lived the longest, so if you have questions and other maidens
don’t know, you can ask her, and you’ll find an answer.
- To talk a little more about the maiden attire you’re wearing now, that
attire is part of your body that exists only within the boundary, but
it’s possible to shed it like a skin. Of course, the shed maiden attire
will disappear soon after. If you want to wear maiden attire again,
simply wish for it strongly in your heart, and it will reappear. The
maiden attire disappears when you go outside the boundary, so if you’re
going out, take off your maiden attire within the boundary beforehand
and put on clothes.
- As I mentioned before, we don’t need food or sleep, but it’s good for
your mental health to continue eating and sleeping regularly, just like
when you were human. This is true even if you’re not a maiden. The
dining hall and bedrooms are next to the main hall, so check them
out.
- Thanks to the Luminous Maiden, we maidens can communicate
telepathically. Telepathy can be used wherever you are, even when you
don’t know where you are, so in urgent situations, don’t hesitate to
inform us of the situation via telepathy. Of course, sending telepathy
to too many people simultaneously can easily give you a headache⁑, so it helps a lot to know which maidens
are likely to solve the problem well beforehand, right?
* The novel proper didn’t ever mention the Great Maiden’s appearance.
Without this note of being truly beautiful, it would be difficult to
immediately recognize who the Great Maiden is as the novel
portraits.
⁑ Originates from the fact that the end-to-end (E2E)
encryption for group chatting typically takes O(n2)
connections and thus is considered a difficult problem. Also that
prevents an accident like sending a message to everyone else, as it’s
common in instant messengers.
[A:6] The following content is under the
subtitle “Relationship with the Outside World.” It needs to cover the
following:
- Although we are spiritual beings, we also exist as part of the real
world, so we must respect the laws of the outside world. We must not
fight against them as long as they do not undermine our existence. For
example, this shrine’s land has been legally inherited by successive
generations of sufficiently young and wise maidens according to outside
standards. As of the writing of this book, Lua, whom I mentioned
earlier, holds that role. Perhaps someday, the maidens reading this book
may also take on that role.
- You’ve probably already received your new name, your maiden name. We
use our maiden names within the shrine, but outside, you may unavoidably
have to use your birth name. Please bear with it. If it’s difficult, you
can tell other maidens in advance, and they will help you find a
way.
- As maintainers of the world’s balance, we must continuously grasp how
the world works. Especially, televisions, computers, and cell phones
will often be needed. In such cases, come to me (Aki), and I’ll
transform to help you. But don’t use them too much. Unfortunately, I
only have one body.
- When going out into the outside world, you must be extremely careful
not to reveal our secret. In fact, it might not be a big problem for us
if we were exposed. The problem lies in the world being turned upside
down. Religious beliefs could shatter, leading to wars, and those who
wish to misuse our abilities might appear. Always remember that we are
merely quiet balancers working behind the scenes and always be careful.
In the unlikely event of an unavoidable situation, it’s best to
telepathically contact the Great Maiden first and request her
wisdom.
[A:7] The following content is under the
subtitle “Conclusion.” It needs to cover the following:
- What else have I missed? Oh, be careful not to let ordinary people who
are not maidens enter the shrine’s boundary. If they enter, they will
suffer extreme pain, unable to bear the weight of the soul. Usually, to
protect them, we take measures to immobilize them and then send them
outside the boundary, but since it’s painful, it’s best to prevent them
from entering in the first place. A mailbox is installed at the
boundary, so using letters is one method.
- The work entrusted to us is so weighty that it requires an eternity of
investment. But that doesn’t mean we can’t enjoy it, does it? Don’t be
too hasty, sometimes listen to new things happening in the world, and
try to live your maiden life so you can enjoy it for a long time. And
you never know. If new maidens join after you, you might get fresh
inspiration from them?
- (End of concluding remarks)
[B:1] As an external story, write the following as a novel. Lua observes the Great Maiden drinking tea in detail and notices that instead of filling the teapot directly from a container, she brings another container, pours tea into the teapot, and then pours from the teapot into a cup. Thinking this strange, she asks what’s special about that teapot. The Great Maiden confirms that there is indeed something special, but it will be a difficult story to tell, asking if Lua is okay with it. When Lua agrees, the Great Maiden says, “Then let’s talk while we drink tea together,” and hands her another cup. Novelize this up to just before the story begins.
[B:2] The Great Maiden’s recollection begins, maintaining the third-person narration. Approximately 700 years ago from now, the number of maidens was much larger than it is today (on the order of hundreds). While today maidens gather in response to the divine call, back then, there were many more individuals with great inspiration, so there was no reason to refuse those who had inspiration and met basic conditions and wished to become maidens. The shrine also needed many more buildings to sustain such a large number of people. (The current shrine grounds maintain their size from that time, so there is much more empty space compared to the shrine buildings.)
[B:3] Continue the recollection. And then came a period of confusion. So chaotic was it that a new nation was established in this land as a result (Lua immediately realizes this refers to the founding of Joseon and infers that the story points to the chaotic political situation of the late Goryeo period†). Maidens who voluntarily came to the shrine served the Divine well during relatively peaceful times, but during chaotic periods, it was difficult for them to resist the temptation to misuse their powerful abilities. When Lua asks back if the maidens’ transformation ability doesn’t require detailed comprehension of objects, she receives the answer that it is necessary to avoid being exposed to others, but if one disregards that and intends to misuse the power, it’s not difficult to cause chaos without comprehension. Lua needs to be startled by this possibility. Anyway, one maiden succumbs to such temptation, and when one person seems to have no problem doing so, two more follow, then four, eight, and thus, in an instant, most of the maidens fall into temptation.
† In the English version, this became the Nanboku-chō period of Japan instead. By the way did you know that the end of the Nanboku-chō period and the fall of Goryeo do coincide (1392)? I didn’t!
[B:4] Amidst rising distrust of the maidens, the last one who remained by Hana’s side was a young maiden named Yukina (around 150 years old at the time, this number should not be explicitly stated in the novel). Yukina was a maiden unparalleled in comprehension, capable of intuitively grasping the principles of objects simply by looking at them and replicating them precisely. Because she was such a Yukina, it was inevitable that she felt resentment towards other maidens who wielded power arbitrarily, disregarding comprehension. On the other hand, she was tormented by a different kind of temptation: whether she shouldn’t use her power for the right purposes. The important principle that maidens, due to their powerful abilities, should not act on the front lines, could have been broken, even if their intentions were good. There must be a small argument between Hana and Yukina at the end, and the Great Maiden’s maiden name, “Hana,” should be naturally revealed during their conversation (thereafter, maintain the title “the Great Maiden” in narration, but use her name in dialogue). Content about the teapot should not appear yet.
[B:5] That night, Yukina leaves Hana. Hana could not help but understand Yukina’s thoughts and simply wished her well. Several months later, Yukina and the other maidens who had left the shrine all returned, severely battered. What happened was that Yukina had subsequently gathered common people and formed a militia to protect them, but failed. The other maidens, overconfident in their own power, were counterattacked by human wisdom and fled back to the shrine. The Great Maiden immediately sensed that they would soon be judged by the Divine and, acting as the voice of the Divine, reprimanded them. She reprimands Yukina separately. However, having never witnessed divine punishment before, they could not comprehend the true meaning of the punishment.
[B:6] Soon, punishment descends upon them. For all maidens except Yukina, this punishment was to be transformed into tiny particles like grains of sand or earth and scattered across the world. Unable to fully perceive their own existence, their consciousness remained, but it was a terrible punishment to wander the world eternally in a fixed form. Yukina, who was to receive the punishment last, realizes its implication and shudders, closing her eyes tightly, expecting the same fate. However, although Yukina had walked a wrong path, her reasons were understandable, so she was spared the eternal punishment and instead judged to atone by becoming a teapot that holds and pours tea. Describe Yukina crying tears of gratitude for the Divine’ mercy just before her forced transformation. In the voice of the Divine, Hana is told that Yukina must endure the punishment for “ninety moons waxing and waning ninety times,” and the Great Maiden explains this, stating that she herself doesn’t know exactly how long that refers to.
[B:7] Upon hearing all this, Lua is horrified that the eternal punishment is even more dreadful than what she had heard, and she surmises that the current group of maidens gradually rebuilt after the complete disappearance of the former group. She also realizes that the reason Mai is much younger than the Great Maiden yet the next oldest (around 650 years old, similar to the founding of Joseon) is because she was the first maiden of that rebuilt maiden group. Also, express Aki, who, while trying to visit the Great Maiden, inadvertently overheard the story, realizing that such an event must have happened, considering the theory that humanity’s population drastically decreased before being rebuilt to its current size* (the two still haven’t noticed Aki, and do not use the phrase “choke point”⁑). Novelize up to the Great Maiden stroking the teapot and asking if they now understand why she keeps this teapot by her side.
* Intended as a reference to the Toba catastrophe theory, but
Gemini somehow interpreted it as massive flood myths around the world.
In any case, they are much older than the demise of the past maiden
group.
⁑ This term was used to refer to the model for the corporeal
maiden population and was not suitable for the novel setting, hence the
constraint. By the way, the simulation concluded (and eventually I
agreed) that there were close to 40 corporeal maidens in 2038; did you
get any closer to that?
[B:8] Aki reveals herself, apologizing for unintentionally overhearing the entire conversation so far (to which the Great Maiden dissuades her, saying there’s no need). Aki then proposes the hypothesis that “ninety moons waxing and waning ninety times” might mean 90 x 90 = 8100 lunar months. After converting this time to solar years, Aki, who estimated the story to be around the 1380s and did the calculations, reveals that if her estimation is correct, the punishment should be almost over now. She then asks what the Great Maiden would first say to Yukina, once freed from her punishment. The paragraph should end with the Great Maiden gently chiding Aki, asking why she would ask such a thing with her right there, but then answering that she has missed her and looked forward to being with her again, and that she would surely embrace her.
[B:9] The next day, after the Great Maiden slept as per the maidens’ habit, she woke early in the morning to find Yukina, finally freed from her punishment, sleeping beside her. She quietly thinks that Aki’s calculations were correct, smiles, embraces the still-sleeping Yukina, and then thinks that the “Maiden Life Guide” Aki wrote is now needed, and falls back asleep, concluding the story.
[C:1] Finally, write feedback from Yukina to Aki about the Maiden Life Guide. Yukina, though actually older than Mai, is still a novice in maiden life and therefore calls Aki “senior”, who has lived as a maiden longer than her. She complains, in a quite long letter, about why there’s no content for maidens like herself who’ve been freed from punishment, making an absurd request to consider a more diverse readership. As a side note, she luckily learned Hangul and modern Korean† during her time as a teapot, so there’s no need to write a Hanmun version. However, since this is her first time writing modern Korean directly, avoid foreign words and adjust the Korean to have some slightly awkward parts (since “guide” itself is a foreign word, there should also be a statement that she didn’t know what this word meant at first but guessed it meant “manual” or “handbook”‡). Also, avoid jokes or slang that a modern Korean speaker would use.
† In the English version, this became the Gothic script and (sorta)
modern English.
‡ In the English version, this point was replaced by
the fact that the word guide wasn’t originally used for books
until the 1830s. This again was a lucky coincidence for me.