Novelist Running Through Time
Chapter 61

TL: KSD

“Longing is the emotion farthest from understanding.”

It’s one of the pretentious lines Lim Yang-wook occasionally utters. I guess it probably originated from some Japanese otaku manga.

But sometimes, the act of yearning feels like ignoring the essence of something.

And overlaying one’s expectations on it, turning it into an idol.

For now, at least.

“Author Moon~nim!”

A reporter who seems to have been waiting for quite some time at the entrance of Baekhak Entertainment asked.

“Is it true that ‘A Love Story’ is the sequel to ‘Red Hunter’?”

“What?”

The reporter seems to have misunderstood my “What?” as an affirmation. (TL: The korean used here 예 has multiple meaning so it can also be misunderstood as Yes)

“Thank you for allowing the interview. Author Moon~nim, you hinted in the conclusion of ‘Red Hunter’ that for the noble goal of independence, internal divisions were endured, and sacrificing the few for the many ultimately caused the ideological and emotional divide that everyone ignored, leading to the 6.25 Incident right after independence, destroying a whole world.” (TL: 6.25.1950 is North and South Korea war start date)

“What?”

“And the protagonist of ‘A Love Story’ is described as an infant victimized by the project that sent numerous orphans abroad, amidst the ashes of Korea devastated by the 6.25 Incident. Did you meticulously consider the continuity between these two works in advance?”

“Uh. Hmm.”

“And! It might be a bit sensitive, but according to what you’ve revealed on a broadcast, the theme of ‘Red Hunter’ was the pain of the most sacred love being destroyed. Meanwhile, ‘A Love Story’ is about the journey of someone searching for an everlasting love. Could we say that your view as an author has evolved and continues seamlessly from one work to the next?”

“……”

What is he talking about?

He spoke so fast I honestly didn’t understand half of it.

I glanced around, catching Lim Yang-wook’s eye. A bead of sweat was rolling down his smooth scalp.

Then, I shifted my gaze towards Baek Seol. Her eyes were trembling as if an earthquake had occurred.

After a moment of thought, I answered like this.

“Um. You could see it that way.”

EP 5-A Love Story

Since ancient times, people have been content.

This is a law much older than ambiguous and hastily concocted concepts like ‘human rights’, which are preserved due to political necessity.

People enjoyed watching others sing, dance, hang, die, give birth, already dead, ascend to the throne, etc.

To give a concrete example, the hottest content medieval people enjoyed was the beheading show.

Moreover, the modern French royal family publicized the queen’s childbirth scenes, and contemporary mortuaries displayed dead bodies like zoos or museums, charging admission.

In such a context, even though one could argue that it’s harsh for people to be consumed as content in a media-informed society, it wouldn’t be accurate to call it unusual.

It’s a very ancient practice.

「Korean literary circles are really rotten」

└Why?

└They didn’t give Author Moon any awards this year because he exposed the practice of debut fees when he debuted.

└?

└???????

└(Link to article)

「Tsk. He must have known what happens to whistleblowers. It seems like the publisher pushed him into it rather than him blowing the whistle himself, but he should have been prepared not to receive any awards.」

└?

└Is this what’s trending now, being a whistleblower?

└Typical) They can’t stand it when it happens to them

└Really?

└You’re seriously saying this to a primary school student?

└Our Author Moon is now a middle schooler

└(Photo 1 of Author Moon going to school in uniform)

└(Photo 2)

└(Photo 3)

└;;

「There are too many people who believe that literature can exist without the public. How long does the literary world intend to show such disappointing aspects before readers decide to stop buying books?」

└But I kinda understand. Honestly, it must have been hard to give a literary award to someone who is hostile to the whole system of literary awards. Not that it’s without fault.

└Hello, part-timer

└How much do you get paid per comment?

└I’m not a part-timer!!!!!

└So you think if someone exposes the business of literary awards and debut fees, they shouldn’t receive a literary award. Then, what do you think about the Choi Sang-hee case?

└Sorry, my bad

└Answer.

└5.

└4.

└3.

└2.

└I’m sorryI’m sorryI’m sorryI’m sorryI’m sorryI’m sorryI’m sorryI’m sorryI’m sorry

└I’ll forgive you

「The shock isn’t just that literary awards are being sold for money, but that the entire industry ostracizing a single author is beyond shocking,,, If Author Moon hadn’t been nominated for an international literary award, would this issue have been brought to public attention? Truly a shameful self-portrait,,,」

└Why is it a self-portrait when I did nothing wrong?

└Poetic license,,^^

└The literary award Author Moon was nominated for is the UK’s Booker International Prize. It’s a highly prestigious award, known for its transparent selection process and strong consideration of reader opinions in the final judgment. It’s thought to bridge the gap between experts and readers, ensuring that the most deserving authors are selected as winners. We could learn a thing or two from such a system in our country.

└Then wouldn’t authors just focus on mass appeal when writing their works,,? ,,^^

「Breaking news) CEO Seo Woon-pil…. The literary award judging was fair. Please refrain from excessive speculation for the honor of the awardees.」

└Comments 2,387 (Expand)

I turned off the news screen and put down my phone. Sigh. I couldn’t help but let out a lifeless sigh.

Seeing the storm of issues surrounding me lately makes me feel fearful.

I’m someone who feels suffocated and claustrophobic just being in the middle of a crowded mall, but now, so many more people were paying attention to me, even in places I couldn’t see.

They were happy on my behalf, angry on my behalf, and sad on my behalf.

And yet, I didn’t regret not receiving a literary award at all.

Because……

I’m used to this kind of pain……

What do they think a budding novelist is? I’m someone who’s been rejected from literary awards not just once but over a hundred times without exaggeration.

“Really?”

“Of course.”

“But how does a middle schooler get rejected from literary awards 100 times?”

“……Let’s just say I exaggerated a bit.”

“Hmm~”

Kim Byul looked at me like she was looking at a kid caught bragging. I couldn’t help it. Being human, I sometimes make mistakes when I speak.

This is the company cafe on the 8th floor of Baekhak Entertainment. Unlike the cafe on the first floor, this place feels more like a cafe.

For example, if the first floor is a supply base for office workers’ Americanos, the 8th floor offers a space where you can relax, drink beverages, and listen to calm music.

Naturally, it was a place where you’d feel self-conscious visiting during work hours, whether you were an office worker or a celebrity. If you weren’t somewhat established, it could be slightly awkward to use.

Of course, Kim Byul, who had been working at Baekhak Entertainment for almost 10 years, was an exception.

“Ah, to have worked for 10 years…”

“Ahem!”

“So, as a veteran actor, you don’t feel self-conscious in the cafe?”

“Do you want to get hit?!”

Eventually, I ended up getting hit on the arm. I could feel the heavy strength that was honed in Manchuria.

When I brought up Manchuria, the life faded from Kim Byul’s eyes.

Kim Byul looked at me with eyes so dark and chilling it gave me goosebumps.

“Why, what’s wrong?”

“It’s all your fault.”

“What did I do?”

“Me. I returned to the screen as a scene-stealer after 10 years, and no one is praising me.”

“Ah.”

“So, was me rolling around in the snowfields of Manchuria, smelling horse dung, all for what? Just to help sell the original author’s book?”

Eventually, I appeased Kim Byul’s anger with a strawberry yogurt smoothie as a sacrifice.

After enjoying something sweet and improving her mood, Kim Byul offered me some advice as payment for the drink.

In fact, that was also why I sought out Kim Byul today.

“You don’t know how to behave?”

“Yes.”

“Hmm…”

Being the center of attention across the nation.

Kim Byul had experienced this 10 years ago, when she was popular in dramas for her cute appearance and quirky acting skills, creating catchphrases left and right.

She gave me advice.

“People, you see… Ah, don’t tell anyone I said this!”

“Of course.”

“Hmm.”

Kim Byul took a moment to catch her breath, then leaned in toward me and whispered as if she was sharing a significant secret.

“In fact, everyone has a Kwak Cheol-yong inside their heart.”

Kwak Cheol-yong…

“Who’s Kwak Cheol-yong?”

“Ah! The one who gets rid of the arrogant ones, sends away the incompetent, and kills the betrayers like a nerd with glasses.”

“A scary person.”

“Yes, a scary person. So, don’t try to look too good, nor too bad, and don’t act deceitfully.”

“……Interesting.”

Kim Byul now seemed like someone who had attained enlightenment.

Just as someone who has spent decades making pottery would speak of ceramics with a sparkle in their eye, a person who has been a celebrity since they were young spoke of the entertainment industry with wisdom.

“People like you just the way you are. They already know you’re great, so don’t act superior. Acting inferior will only reveal your flaws, and obviously, don’t commit crimes out of deceit.”

“……Don’t try to change my image?”

“Right. Show them what they want to see.”

At that moment, I felt I slightly understood what it meant to be a celebrity on TV.

Presenting only the aspects that people want to see. That was a very hard task.

“……Surely I don’t have to behave like this forever?”

“Don’t worry. Just hang in there for a week.”

“A week?”

“Yeah. Everyone’s enthusiastic now, but give it a week, and it’ll all cool down.”

A week, not even a month?

I couldn’t believe that people’s attention and interest could fade so quickly.

However, despite my doubtful look, Kim Byul, with a triumphant expression, continued to slurp her strawberry yogurt smoothie until she was scolded by her road manager for consuming fattening foods and was dragged away.

Soon enough, Kim Byul’s prediction proved accurate.

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It quieted down.

In just one week.

Even those who claimed that Author Moon, nominated for the Booker Prize, one of the world’s top three literary awards, had left his Japanese counterpart, Shidehara Eisaku, trembling in fear.

Even those who held pitchforks, declaring that all the domestic literary magazines that didn’t award Author Moon should be utterly destroyed and their publishers exiled to the middle of the desert.

Even those who boasted that Koreans, having produced a genius teenage author, were the superior race, arguing that Japanese were inferior since Shidehara Eisaku only managed to match Moon In-seop at the age of 68.

Everyone became quiet.

The reporters who had surrounded the studio were now sparse, and visiting Baekhak Entertainment no longer meant being surrounded by dozens of people.

Ordinary life returned. The past week felt like a dream. It was as if being caught in a rapid current of people had made everyday life impossible.

But there was proof that it wasn’t a dream.

“In-seop, can you see it? Do you see?”

“My goodness…”

“This is all your money.”

150,000 copies of the book were sold.

In just one week.

The sales of ‘Love Story’ and ‘Red Hunter’ skyrocketed like a two-horse chariot, pulling the graphs into the clouds, and the sales of previously published works also surged dramatically.

Lim Yang-wook, unusually, smiled kindly and said this was just the beginning. Based on his experience, the books would sell well for about the next six months.

If this was the money coming to me, how much was going to the company? And all of that was credited as Lim Yang-wook’s performance.

Lim Yang-wook looked at me with a smile as warm as sunlight. The lack of hair made the vibe a bit weird.

“Don’t smile so benevolently. You look like a religious person.”

“I’m already prepared to let go of all my earthly desires and the seven emotions.”

“Don’t reach nirvana on me.”

“Take care. I will cast off all the fetters and shackles of this mundane world and depart in search of my happiness…”

However, Lim Yang-wook did not become a Buddha through his windfall.

Because urgent news flew in from Japan.

“Hello?”

It was, perhaps, the karmic balance of this world.

If you’re praised in Korea,

You must be criticized in Japan.

“No, if you say it like that… No, sir. It’s difficult if you suddenly act like this, on our side too!”

The publication in Japan was blocked.

* * *

Swoosh. Clack.

Swoosh. Clack.

Each time water flowed into the shishi-odoshi, the bamboo tilted and momentarily produced a quaint sound. However, this quaintness is an addition by the mass media.

The essence of that sound is merely the resonance of the empty bamboo hitting a rock. It’s human perception that finds it quaint.

“Wasn’t it originally a scarecrow created to chase away deer?”

The shishi-odoshi, a practical tool, transformed into a decorative item for Japanese gardens and became a symbol of Japan in the media, which sought to represent “Japanese-ness” whenever possible.

Perception overwrote essence.

“It’s the same with literature.”

An elderly man, looking out at the garden from the house, sipped his tea calmly.

A businessman sitting formally in front of him listened intently to the old man’s words.

“The work we do is not that remarkable. There’s no need for a capable businessman like yourself to show me such respect.”

“How can you say that, sir? You are a pride of our nation.”

“Books, literature, they’re just stories. Those who want to speak write their words on paper, and those who want to listen buy the books and read them. It’s merely a tool that connects people. But when did we start to worship this tool as a shining piece of art?”

“Ah.”

“Of course, it’s true that our country’s writers deeply explored the essence of the East during hard times to preserve the soul of the East, and as a result, they received societal respect… But it’s somewhat embarrassing to receive applause for being nominated for a literary award in England.”

“……”

“How ridiculous.”

The novelist, Eisaku Shidehara, said that and then sipped his tea again.

The bottom of the teacup was visible.

“It was a pleasant time. I’ll be going now.”

“Yes, please take care. Goodbye, sir.”

The businessman carefully stood up, showing his respect.

As he left the mansion’s walls, the unique Japanese interpretation device ran through his head.

The current literary awards are overly embellished

-> The Booker Prize has reached its limit

-> How did I end up being compared to a Korean middle schooler?

-> Displeasing!

Interpretation complete.

The businessman picked up his phone.

“Cancel the book import for Author Moon.”

*****

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