October arrived, and the first Harry Potter book, The Philosopher's Stone, was officially released—though sales were only average.
Katherine wasn't in a hurry. While the Harry Potter series did leave a mark on history, it wouldn't have become a massive success without real substance behind it. How long did it take for the Harry Potter series, which began publication in 1997, to turn into a global phenomenon?
It probably wouldn't be until the second and third books were released that it would truly take off.
Besides, times were different. The aesthetics of 1960s America were very different from those of the 21st century. Although Katherine adjusted parts of the plot to better fit the era and revised sections of the original text that felt awkward to her, its success was still uncertain.
So then—
in an era without even video games, what could a twelve-year-old girl do to make money?
Oil?
Yes, it could be extremely profitable, but starting small wouldn't be worth it, and going big… well, that would mean bankruptcy.
Singing?
She had a wonderful voice and sang very well, but in her previous life she had no musical training—no sense of pitch, no ability to read sheet music, and no idea what would be popular in the future. She could clearly recognize certain melodies, like "The Soviet March" or "The Spirit of the Chinese People," but actually singing them… that would just be asking for trouble.
"Ugh! I really wish computers existed in this era!" Catherine sighed.
Catherine finally joined the gymnastics club and returned to her dorm after practice.
"Yes!"
The moment she walked in, she heard Lily's excited shout.
Looking around, she saw two girls from the neighboring dorm room sitting in their room, with writing materials spread out in front of them.
"What are you doing?" Catherine asked.
"Playing Monopoly."
Catherine nodded.
Monopoly was released by Parker Brothers in the United States on November 5, 1935. Later, the rights to the game were acquired by Hasbro, the company that also publishes Transformers.
Catherine took off her coat and flopped onto the bed.
"Kate, I think you should change and take a shower," Lily said.
"Okay, I'll rest for a bit first."
Catherine was still wearing her gymnastics uniform underneath. At home, she was often too lazy to change and sometimes even used it as pajamas.
Although she felt uncomfortable and wanted to shower if she got sweaty or dirty, perhaps because of her constitution, she rarely sweated much. So most of the time, she just lay lazily on the bed.
"Hm? Monopoly?"
Catherine glanced at the board on the table, and suddenly, an idea struck her.
A game.
More precisely, a game that would later become the predecessor of most modern games: Dungeons & Dragons, abbreviated as D&D.
It was a tabletop game, similar in form to Monopoly. For a long time, most computer games were based on it—such as Neverwinter and, more famously, World of Warcraft. Even if the latter merely borrowed elements from it, that alone demonstrated D&D's influence.
The release of The Lord of the Rings trilogy was the catalyst for the creation of Dungeons & Dragons' iconic ruleset—but even then, it took nearly ten years of development before its official release.
So why not take this path?
Catherine jumped off the bed, her face glowing with excitement.
At that moment, the neighboring girls left, leaving only Lily and Catherine in the room.
"Kate, sometimes you really act like a little kid," Lily said, standing in front of her with her hands on her hips.
Are you kidding? My mental age is way higher than yours!
Apparently noticing Catherine's dismissive expression—or perhaps feeling she really needed a lecture—Lily continued, "Kate, girls shouldn't be this careless. Look at you—you're not even wearing underwear. What if someone sees you?"
"Wearing underwear is uncomfortable, and it's a hassle when you go to the bathroom."
Catherine was wearing tights with an open crotch, with her underwear worn on the outside.
These tights were originally designed simply to make it easier for girls to use the restroom—you'd put on the tights first and then the underwear. That way, you didn't have to constantly take the tights on and off, which also made them more comfortable. Plus, girls' fingernails are often long, and it's easy to tear tights when pulling them on and off.
However, to save time, Catherine usually just wore her leotard as underwear under her gymnastics outfit, since the leotard had a wider crotch area—hence Lily's comment.
And during dance and training, Catherine genuinely felt uncomfortable wearing underwear.
Of course, aside from this situation, she wouldn't forget it at other times. After all, she had no intention of experimenting with going "braless." It sounded interesting, sure, but it didn't really appeal to her right now—probably because she hadn't developed yet.
"You see the world as your heart desires"—who said that? In any case, Catherine felt perfectly fine about it.
"Mmm… so convenient," she murmured, lying comfortably on the bed.
"Girls should have some dignity!" Lily was about to say more when she suddenly paused and looked at Catherine thoughtfully. After a moment, she picked up the camera from the table.
Click.
The flash went off again.
"Huh?" Catherine turned her head and saw Lily's half-smiling face.
"That pose was so cute."
"Let's drop that, Lily. I've come up with a really fun way to play."
Catherine wasn't sure whether the rules of Dungeons & Dragons would be popular at this point in time. After all, the original D&D rules emerged after the hippie movement, and it was hard to rule out that influence.
However, tabletop role-playing games had a long history in Europe and America, so even if D&D itself didn't catch on, she could always design a more suitable ruleset.
After all, as long as TRPGs existed, there had never been a game as detailed as D&D—one that simulated an entire fantasy world.
She briefly explained the rules to Lily.
At its core, D&D was based on dice—everything was determined by dice rolls.
"It sounds fun, but it also seems kind of complicated," Lily pointed out.
In fact, the original D&D rules were indeed quite complex.
After all, what Catherine was familiar with was the third edition of Dungeons & Dragons. Before that came the first and second editions, which, while not especially famous, laid the groundwork for D&D's later development.
Would this really work?
Catherine froze for a moment.
In truth, anti-intellectualism was quite widespread at the time, as reflected in an old saying:
"If you dare to underestimate the intelligence of Americans, you'll succeed!"
At that moment, Catherine felt she might need to underestimate American intelligence to the extreme…
…probably.