Chapter 184

Chapter 184

TL: KSD

There is a sad legend in Baekhak Publishing.

“Ah, this is driving me crazy……”

It’s the legend of a bald man who, after being wrongfully expelled, returned with an SSS-class novelist, completed his revenge, and rose to great success.

If you ask why it’s sad even though it ended with a happy ending, the answer is simple.

It’s because the state of that very ‘legend’ himself is ‘sorrow’.

“Why the hell are you doing this to me…!”

The ‘Sad Legend of Baekhak Publishing’ was slumped over the desk in the Department Director’s office at the Publishing Management Division Headquarters.

On the gleaming crystal nameplate were the words: ‘Director Lim Yang-wook.’

Lim Yang-wook had become a Legend.

A legend is a fantastical and extraordinary tale, like a fairy tale. And someone from a low-tier university rising to an executive position is indeed the kind of story you’d only find in fairy tales. Lim Yang-wook had gone from being the subject of a ghost story in the underground parking lot of Baekhak Entertainment to a legend among the salaried workers of Baekhak Publishing.

But legend or ghost story or whatever, the real ‘legend’ was the situation he found himself in now.

“Is this for real, fuck, ah……”

The Hugo Award-winning author had run away.

Lim Yang-wook had been feeling SSS-class sadness for half a year now.

EP 11 – Evening Bell

You can’t cover the sky with your palm.

As time passed, the truth naturally came to light.

So.

The heavens knew, the earth knew, Baekhak Publishing knew, and the organizers of the World Science Fiction Convention, ‘Worldcon’, knew exactly what kind of shady tricks Lim Yang-wook had pulled to win the Hugo Award.

-This is a rigged election! A rigged election, mmph! Mmph! Mmmph!

-Get that bastard out! Get him out right now!

-You fucking racist!

At the time of the incident, everyone banded together to silence the mouth of ‘Simon Publisher’ who had caused a ruckus at the banquet. But once the truth floated to the surface, everyone’s expressions became subtle.

Especially the expressions on the faces of the ‘Worldcon’ organizers were the most peculiar.

It was as if they had been caught off guard by an unforeseen loophole.

Realizing that <In a literary award decided by vote, the author who campaigns has the upper hand>, ‘Worldcon’ quietly tweaked the Hugo Award process once public opinion settled down.

They increased the weight of the judging panel and expanded the voter pool to block shady tactics like those in the recent incident.

In this way, Worldcon’s expression of fixing the barn after the cow was lost could be described as a reluctant grimace.

But when some cry, others laugh.

Baekhak Publishing laughed.

-Lim Yang-wook…! He is a god!

Having not only fulfilled the company’s long-cherished goal of entering the U.S. market but also bringing back a Hugo Award, Lim Yang-wook became the second coming of Jesus. Baekhak Publishing was overrun with a cult that worshipped Lim Yang-wook as a living god.

Just like Go players review their matches, the editors at Baekhak Publishing dissected Lim Yang-wook’s American invasion strategy piece by piece.

From the issue handling between Kyosensha and Collins Press, to the calculated media play targeting the Hugo Award election where Asian authors were trending.

It was a perfectly connected masterpiece of a match.

-This… we have no choice but to acknowledge it.

Now, no one brought up his low-tier university background in front of Lim Yang-wook.

Lim Yang-wook had finally made the haughty elites of Baekhak Publishing kneel with his own ability.

-Lim Yang-wook, you are now equal to or greater than us!

-Welcome to being a member of Baekhak Publishing!

-We acknowledge your victory. We won’t throw a fit over your promotion to director!

Lim Yang-wook could feel the changed atmosphere in the company.

-Ah…. Is that so…….

It didn’t particularly make him feel good.

-Crazy bastards… I didn’t think they’d still pull this bullshit just because I didn’t graduate from a prestigious university…….

Thus, Lim Yang-wook could only atone in his thirties for the sin of not having studied well during his three years of high school.

But Lim Yang-wook knows something is wrong with a reality where not graduating from a prestigious university is treated as a sin.

And he knows that the moment he slips, the talk about low-tier universities will be the first thing to resurface.

That’s why Lim Yang-wook didn’t pay much attention to the internal praise within the company.

What he cared about was something else.

<First Korean to win the Hugo Award!>

<Youngest recipient of the Hugo Award!>

<Ranked No. 1 bestseller in 17 countries worldwide!>

…… and then the damn author vanishes.

“Th-this, this isn’t right……!”

While Moon In was escaping from reality, indulging in the faint (no, not really) nostalgia of a past life from his corner of the room, the terrifying aftermath of the real world had to be handled by Lim Yang-wook.

What was so terrifying about it? You could tell just by looking at the exploding email inbox.

A terrifying tsunami of appearance requests surged in.

Not only Korea’s most famous variety shows but also a TV show supposedly watched by nearly every American came looking for Moon In.

People love geniuses, and they love them even more when they’re young, and they go absolutely crazy for the word “youngest.”

It’s an instinctive yearning for beauty.

That primal desire was poured onto one person.

And that alone made him great.

Whether it was money, fame, or anything else, he could have it all!

But watching a boy who gave all that up and locked himself in his room, Lim Yang-wook couldn’t help but experience the extreme end of the emotion called ‘desperate anxiety’.

If there was one fortunate thing, it was that a strange misunderstanding had spread among Baekhak Publishing employees.

“Even with all this popularity pouring in… he is not pressuring the author?”

“Does that mean he really trust Moon In…!”

“Indeed, it takes this level of composure to be worthy of holding a phoenix in your arms.”

“If it were me, I’d have either shouted or begged to get him in front of a camera… I guess true geniuses really think differently from us.”

People admired Lim Yang-wook’s calm attitude as he accepted Moon In’s seclusion without complaint.

A genius unfazed by popularity and an editor who trusts such a genius!

What a beautiful picture that is.

“……”

But Lim Yang-wook had never just stayed still.

In truth…

He tried everything.

-In-seop…? Are you feeling a bit better today?

-Hey! Are you seriously going to keep doing this? This isn’t right, you little brat!

-Author Moon! No, Author Moon-nim! This Lim nobody is begging you like this!

Be it encouragement, threats, or pleas.

Lim Yang-wook did everything imaginable to end Moon In’s seclusion.

But that bastard simply refused to step outside the house.

So what can you do?

If Moon In says he won’t come out……

What is there to do…?

Absolutely nothing.

And so, Lim Yang-wook just sucked his fingers while working at the office. That was the whole story of what had happened over the past few months.

Which is why Team Leader Kim Ga-ryung’s excited voice couldn’t help but feel irritating.

“How do you make a bird that won’t sing, sing?”

Kim Ga-ryung was talking to three newly hired staff who had joined during the department’s expansion, citing a famous Japanese proverb.

“Oda Nobunaga threatened with a sword, Toyotomi Hideyoshi danced and entertained, and Tokugawa Ieyasu waited until the bird sang. In the end, it was Tokugawa who unified the country. Director Lim Yang-wook’s method is just like that. How could a sparrow understand the will of a phoenix? Ultimately, what binds an author and an editor together is-”

Thwack-!

A paper calendar slammed down vertically onto Team Leader Kim Ga-ryung’s crown.

As he collapsed in pain, behind him stood Lim Yang-wook with a weary expression, clicking his tongue.

“Go ahead, do a complete ideological indoctrination, why don’t you. Is that what you want, clinging to the newbies like that? What are you, a communist?”

But in the end, it wasn’t Kim Ga-ryung who made the newbies the most nervous. It was Lim Yang-wook.

The nervous newcomers sitting in front of Kim Ga-ryung all jumped up in unison at the sudden appearance of the Director.

“Ah, hello, Director-nim!”

“This isn’t the military. Stay relaxed. Mm-hmm.”

“Yes! We’ll stay relaxed!”

To genuinely help them relax, Lim Yang-wook swiftly disappeared.

And the moment he was alone in the executive office, he let out a hollow sigh.

“Sigh……”

What good does it do to be successful at the company?

When Moon In isn’t here……

“You’re late… Moon In……”

He was going to turn into a grandfather waiting for Moon In.

Each day without Moon In was a hollow, achromatic world.

It might sound like the kind of thought only someone who’s lost their mind would have, but surprisingly, Lim Yang-wook was perfectly sane.

You can’t solve the problem by focusing only on attitude. To understand Lim Yang-wook’s despair, you have to look at the core. And Lim Yang-wook is a publisher.

The publishing business is more profitable than you’d think.

It’s just that the Korean publishing industry is screwed, not that publishing itself is unprofitable.

You only had to look at Gu Yubin to understand. Gu Yubin may be a B-list celebrity, but she earns like an A-lister. That’s because popularity translates directly to book sales.

Therefore, in the publishing business, ‘popularity’ equates to ‘profit’.

In other words, Moon In spending a time of overwhelming popularity holed up in his room was no different from watching a fortune go up in flames.

Stacks of money were burning away.

He might not know, or even if he does, he probably doesn’t care, but Lim Yang-wook cannot ignore it.

Because he can see it.

The numbers.

“Ah……”

Even without rowing when the tide of immense popularity rolled in, a terrifying amount of publishing revenue was being deposited.

Then what if Moon In had rowed when the tide came in?

He would’ve made an unfathomable amount of money.

“Agh……”

But the opportunity was already gone.

There was nothing Lim Yang-wook could do now.

He had to wait for the next one.

Still, there was at least one thought he could have.

“Seriously… what am I supposed to do with this kid…….”

Lim Yang-wook had never once tried to control Moon In.

In fact, he couldn’t.

Contrary to public misconception, Moon In wasn’t some lonely genius boy who knew nothing but art.

Moon In’s social intelligence was clearly on par with that of a grown man, and Lim Yang-wook was the first to recognize that fact.

That’s why he gave him that much trust.

People thought Moon In was Lim Yang-wook’s marionette, but the two were truly equal partners. Sometimes, it was Lim Yang-wook who was swayed by Moon In.

This was one of those times.

Despite Moon In being in seclusion for nearly half a year, Lim Yang-wook hadn’t been able to take any action.

The most seemingly unreasonable refusal, that of Gu Yu-na, was actually the most rational. Gu Yu-na was a fickle girl wary of media attention, and under the protection of a heavyweight like Gu Hak-jun, Baekhak Publishing couldn’t possibly pressure her into appearing on TV. It was logically sound.

On the other hand, Moon In, who appeared rational, could not be predicted even a step ahead.

The guy who won the Hugo Award sank into depression and disappeared. Lim Yang-wook kicked into high alert and started digging around. And so, he learned the truth. Apparently, Gu Yu-na confessed to him and he turned her down.

At a glance, it looked like a typical teen dealing with romantic drama.

But Lim Yang-wook knew this boy wasn’t a child suffering through puberty’s fever. Because they were close. Because he had seen him since the old days. Because he had looked at Moon In from the closest possible distance……

And so Lim Yang-wook knew that within Moon In’s heart existed an eerie darkness that could never be fully grasped.

He vaguely believed that the nature of that darkness stemmed from a complicated trauma directed toward his parents, something any orphanage child would inevitably carry.

That would explain the occasionally incomprehensible behavior Moon In displayed.

But not this time.

Moon In rejected Gu Yu-na’s confession, then suddenly turned into someone with apparent depression.

He then went and found a youth rental apartment somewhere in Seoul, handed the tenant a large sum of money, and started living there himself.

This was not the behavior of a sane person, but of a madman.

If he were just a mentally struggling child, Lim Yang-wook could have patiently tried to open his heart. He could have asked, Why are you doing this?

But Moon In was already mentally mature, and peering into the heart of someone like that was, without question, impossible.

Children ask for help, but adults hide their wounds.

Lim Yang-wook never for a moment expected some kind of immature magic of friendship to happen between him and Moon In that would allow their hearts to connect.

That belief was as firm as his faith in Moon In’s emotional maturity.

Moon In is not a kid.

He is mature, temperamental, emotionally closed off, and a quirky, fastidious genius novelist who carries an incomprehensible darkness within him.

Until now, Lim Yang-wook had managed to overlook things, but having now borne a staggering business loss, he felt a chilling fear he had never felt before.

‘If Moon In says tomorrow that he’s terminating his contract with Baekhak Publishing… is there anything I can do?’

There wasn’t.

‘Can I believe that Moon In will continue to cooperate moving forward?’

He believed, and it backfired this time.

‘Then, a way to control Moon In…….’

‘Should I create one…?’

He didn’t know.

Logic said yes, but emotionally, no.

As a director at Baekhak Publishing, yes. But as Editor Lim Yang-wook, no.

One ironic fact was that the very inability to control Moon In served as proof that Lim Yang-wook was giving him special treatment.

Baekhak Publishing, and the Baekhak Group as a whole, was by no means an easy company.

Media power is power. Baekhak deals in power, not money, and thus operates more like a political party or a military organization than a business corporation.

Therefore, Baekhak Publishing is always ready to banish anyone who displeases it from the industry. In fact, that’s exactly how it became a dominant player in the field.

Then logically speaking, shouldn’t Baekhak Publishing-

Shouldn’t Lim Yang-wook, Director of Baekhak Publishing-

Be putting a leash on its most powerful weapon, Moon In?

“……”

Lately, Lim Yang-wook had been thinking that often.

And so, he was gradually withering away.

Each day without Moon In was a hollow, monochromatic world.

Then, one day.

Team Leader Kim Ga-ryung burst into his office without even knocking.

“Moon In went to school!”

Lim Yang-wook couldn’t help but blurt out a line eerily similar to one spoken by the new teacher at Baekhak Arts High School.

“He showed up?! Moon In!”

***

In life, there are moments that send you into meltdown.

What I went through recently was exactly that.

The confession I received from Gu Yu-na……

It was really……

Something I could barely endure.

Even now, I still feel the same.

So pathetically, I stayed in my old home for a long time, escaping reality as though I have not traveled through time.

Damn it. Summarizing it in one sentence makes my disgraceful behavior crystal clear. It’s embarrassing.

In any case, I chose literature as my way of fighting against time, and I think I handled the mentally shattering situation fairly well.

I isolated myself from the world and locked myself inside literature. Thanks to that, I was able to keep a safe distance from a world that could disappear at any moment and protect myself.

Because the world is not eternal, but literature is.

But what I overlooked is that literature is a discipline rooted in ‘me’, and ‘I’ am gradually changed by others’ influence.

Therefore, literature can never completely isolate me from this world.

I must accept the world, which could vanish at any moment.

Even if tomorrow morning I wake up and everything is gone and I’m back ten years in the past……

Even then, I must step into this world little by little.

Even if I’m scared, I must find the courage.

Only then can I continue with literature.

That was the lesson I learned from this mental breakdown.

“So… um…”

With that lesson as my foundation, I carefully chose my response to deliver to Lim Yang-wook.

This world is no longer a second priority.

It’s no longer something that can be sacrificed at will for the sake of the top priority, literature.

Therefore, the response I had to give Lim Yang-wook was.

1. Well, fuck, this kind of thing can happen when you’re writing. Please understand.

2. I regret the business losses to Baekhak Publishing. I will handle things more maturely in the future to avoid causing trouble for the company.

It was number 2.

“I’m sorry……”

But Lim Yang-wook did not accept the apology so easily.

“What exactly are you so sorry about?”

“For causing trouble to the company by disappearing right after winning the Hugo Award……”

“Trouble? Ha! You think I’m doing this because of the money? Are you trying to make me sound petty?”

“You are doing this because of money though……”

“Tsk… you know me too well.”

Like a finicky girlfriend, Lim Yang-wook had been deflecting the apology with ironclad defense, only to finally reveal his malicious intent.

“Yeah, damn it! I mean seriously, how could you just vanish right after winning the Hugo Award? Do you have any idea how much damage the company suffered?”

“Damage?”

“Okay, technically there was no actual damage! But not making money we could have made still counts as damage! Ah- my stomach! My stomach hurts!” (TL Note: The last part in Korean has 2 meanings. The 1st is the literal meaning, which is “my stomach hurts” and the second is idiomatic meaning something like feeling of regret, which in this case when translated would be “It’s frustrating! Frustrating!” But the MC is ignoring the idiomatic meaning, which is the intended meaning by Lim Yang-wook, and interpreting it literally.)

I nodded in agreement with Lim Yang-wook’s words about stomach pain.

Of course I wasn’t particularly convinced, but what could I do when a patient was insisting?

“We’re not just a publishing company that sells books when you toss us a manuscript, we’re publishing management! Management! Don’t you remember we decided to conquer America together and take over the world?”

“Did I?”

“Of course, that never actually happened! But still, you should pick up the vibe and understand me telepathically!”

‘My will to apologize is vanishing fast.’

Lim Yang-wook had a strange way of speaking that made the guilt vanish from the heart of the person who came to apologize.

But the truth was, the part I truly felt sorry about wasn’t even that.

When Lim Yang-wook dropped his playful tone and let out a deep sigh, my heart sank.

“Sigh… I was really worried about you, you brat.”

“I’m sorry……”

“If you’re struggling, you should at least tell me what’s wrong.”

I honestly had no rebuttal, so I just kept repeating how sorry I was.

But there was no helping it.

Who in this world besides me could possibly understand why I’m suffering?

And even if I don’t want to say it, if I did, would anyone even believe me?

I was too young to be detached from the pains of the world, but too old to spill every little detail of my suffering to someone else.

Because I know that wounds can become weaknesses.

So I have no choice but to hold onto my worries alone and endure.

Still, I tried to put it nicely.

“Yes… Next time, I’ll try to get counseling or something.”

“Tsk, what a delicate little brat……”

Thankfully, Lim Yang-wook changed the subject at that point.

“Well, I didn’t come here to get an apology, so let’s drop it. And thanks to you, I got promoted, am I in any position to receive an apology? If anything, I should be thanking you.”

I didn’t bother pointing out that he sure seemed determined to get that apology.

“Alright! Anyway, now that our dear Author Moon is finally reporting to work! I, Lim Yang-wook, shall now present the carefully collected list of appearance requests!”

“Appearances? Are they still coming in?”

“Of course they are. Your popularity hasn’t died down yet.”

Lim Yang-wook handed me a neatly organized stack of papers. Essentially, a request list.

There were invitations to appear on variety shows, offers to shoot commercials.

Among the more unusual ones were requests to wear certain clothing brands, and even offers to pay just to have a single lunch with me.

“Interesting. I’ve heard that lunch with Warren Buffett is sold at auction… but do things like this really mean anything?”

“Are you looking down on people who pay hundreds of thousands of won to attend fan meetings?”

“Ah, no, that’s not what I meant……”

“If fan meetings sell for that much, imagine lunch. And over lunch, if you chat smoothly enough, you might even exchange numbers and become friends. That’s what this is about. It means, ‘Let’s meet once, and if you seem decent, let’s become acquaintances.’”

“Oh.”

Besides that, Lim Yang-wook introduced me to a whole bunch of other big and small jobs.

And among them, there was one job he strongly, almost forcibly, recommended above all others.

“You have to go on this variety show!”

“What is it?”

“It’s an educational program where Professor Gu Hak-jun is a regular… haven’t you seen it?”

“TV is a box for idiots.”

I agreed to appear on at least the one variety show Lim Yang-wook recommended and wrapped up that day’s meeting.

But that promise didn’t go smoothly.

Not because something happened to me, but because something happened to Gu Hak-jun.

***

Novelist Gu Hak-jun.

He had been nominated for the International Booker Prize.

*****

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