The 2 by 4 is a weapon in Problem Sleuth. The 2 by 4 is never seen to have been picked up, but Ace Dick quickly uses it to kill Monster Pickle Inspector. The Romance Novel, its innocuous double, is not as useless as other weapons similar to it. It allows Ace Dick, who wields the 2 by 4, to affect those with the Emotions status affect, greatly lowering all their stats. Since Mobster Kingpin is especially weak to Emotions, this proves helpful to Ace Dick's initial encounter with him.

The Romance Novel is part of the strange duality in Death's Scythe.