Became an American Retro Novelist - Chapter 155



Only Noblemtl

155.

『People ended up knowing too much.

In the old world, the poor had their own kind of happiness. Although they may not be as affluent as the capitalists, they thought that anyone could enjoy the trajectory of life from childhood, growing up, having children, and dying in a family if they tried. They believed that its value would be immortal.

But as the world developed and people’s lives became more affluent, people’s hearts became sick. They lost happiness. Everyone thought only of their own comfort and became obsessed with what others could see.

The beginning of that change occurred one day when human life was becoming increasingly abundant.

Presentation by ‘Wiseman’, a multinational giant corporation that emerged along with the development of the world.

A man spoke to me.

‘Have knowledge.’

In that one word, all the knowledge in the world was gathered in one place.

Wiseman sold the device he had created to many people, a tool that allowed them to communicate with anyone who had it and to share their knowledge and ideas in various forms, regardless of location or distance.

It was about the size of an adult male’s palm. Inside, there was a complex calculation device, and a small television screen was attached, which could be operated by hand. And people could freely use the tool to see almost anything they wanted.

People called it ‘The North’.

The first to take notice of the device were the world’s leading intellectuals. They had no doubt that the Der Book would bring innovation to the world, and insisted that more of this tool should be made and distributed to everyone. In the process, they made their knowledge available for free through the Der Book.

It was the ‘Internet’.

At first, everyone was fascinated by the knowledge available on the Internet.

The book seemed to be a beacon of hope for those who had the will to learn but were unable to do so.

But then a man who was not an intellectual but a businessman suggested to the people another way to use the North: the pornography industry.

The intellectuals laughed at those words. What kind of fool would want to make money by showing off his naked body and ugliness to the world? Would he want to erase his own dignity as a human being?

Unlike paper, which fades and disappears, the Internet records forever. What fool would endure such a humiliation? But surprisingly, it did. And quite a few people volunteered to do so. Because it was easy to make a lot of money.

And contrary to what the intellectuals thought, things that could only come out of the Bible began to unfold.

The world has become like Sodom and Gomorrah, seeking only stimulation through the Internet.

Pornography and other content dominated the world and people were obsessed with it. Successful porn stars came out and slandered and cursed intellectuals, shouting at the public: Look at this! I am successful and living a life of happiness that you cannot enjoy! My child is doing the same!

People dreamed of becoming porn stars.

I compared their lives with my own.

They put their own consciousness on them and slandered others.

It was like Sodom and Somorra before the judgment of God.

But the biggest problem was that even though everyone knew the fact, no one could escape from that enthusiasm.

“······.”

Simon Carver, who had read the novel up to that point, put the manuscript down without realizing it.

Internet.

It was a concept I learned while studying in college. I heard that it was a system that helped connect computers to exchange information. It was initially developed for military use, but now it is a kind of telephone network that is being actively used and researched and developed by major universities.

The new author’s work, ‘Country of Losers’, began by showing the popularization of the ‘Internet’ through a tool that added science fiction imagination and what kind of results it would bring.

And Simon thought that the story that unfolds through this logic is unique in its own way compared to existing dystopian works, while also being very plausible.

Traditional dystopian novels have shown a world after some system has been fully established.

And it was usually the destruction and control of humanity that was carried out by some great power.

But the novel tells us that the public itself created the dystopia.

A world where people who make money on the Internet become stars in a materialistic society, and then make money by broadcasting their appearances, is becoming increasingly impoverished.

Simon, intrigued by the story of God, continued reading the novel and became deeply immersed in the dystopian post-Internet world depicted by the author.

Act 1 of ‘Country of Losers’ begins by showing the world changing due to the development of the Internet and the spread of the North through the perspective of a scientist named ‘James’.

[When you’re depressed, look at the sky.]

James raises his head and looks further out into the north.

But even that was merely an order from the North.

James, a scientist, also indiscriminately accepted information through the device.

I thought it was wrong, but I couldn’t help it.

Because the world was so cruel to him.

The highly developed world has rendered obsolete the classical values ​​that were common in the previous world.

James, a scientist, earned a modest salary, but he always compared himself to the truly rich people he saw in the Internet world through The Book.

An Internet star who smokes a cigar while riding a yacht and talking about masculinity yelled at me to come lecture me because this life is real and yours is fake.

James’ life, which had been contributing to the world through research and quietly doing his part in his position, became completely useless.

Even though he was pretty good as a scientist, he wasn’t a great man. That’s because even that standard was based entirely on what the internet said.

The height must be over 180 centimeters, the body must be moderately muscular, and have a good appearance.

You need to have the eloquence to talk to women and know how to make them laugh and tell funny jokes.

And you have to be good at sex.

The criteria lumped together here, such as ‘adequate’, ‘good-looking’, ‘fun’, and ‘good’, differ depending on the lecturer or community that calls for success, but the general principle was the same.

And for James, who had never had sex before, the whole thing was a huge stumbling block.

James ultimately chose to live on the Internet.

You pay money to Internet porn stars and fool yourself into feeling the emotions you get from a fake bond with them.

And then one day, James, a scientist living in a world where everyone except a very small number of successful people are considered losers, realized something was strange.

As if receiving a revelation, I went further north and looked up at the sky on my own.

‘This can’t go on.’

If things continue this way, the world will be destroyed.

Everyone ends up unhappy.

The scientist thought.

Just as people become unhappy through the internet.

I’m going to make you happy through the Internet.

“······.”

Act 1 ended right there.

Simon swallowed hard and continued turning the pages.

***

There were two main points that I had the most difficulty with while writing ‘Country of Losers’.

The first one was about the ‘Internet’.

In other words, I foreshadowed the rise of the smartphone and Internet society represented by Steve Jobs in the first act of this work. I tried to appropriately process it so that readers in 1984 could accept it, while also clearly considering the influence this novel would have on future life.

‘In 30 years or so, people will look at this work and be surprised, saying that it predicted the development of the Internet and smartphones.’

And secondly, I used my imagination to ensure that this novel didn’t end at just that point.

If it had ended on a smartphone, my dystopian novels would have been nothing more than cheats using future knowledge. As a novelist, I felt I had to show more than that, so I adjusted the future brought about by the rise of the Internet to be merely a prelude to the true dystopia that would come later.

‘I’m not sure how Simon will take that part, though.’

Anyway, I had already delivered the novel, and I was thinking of doing something else until I heard back from Simon.

A short two-week break after the fall semester ends.

My schedule was jam-packed.

Family day with mom, date with Alexa, having fun with Doofy and Jiwoo, etc. Of course, those were all important, but today’s schedule was no easy feat.

Because it was time to check the results of ‘About T’, which I had worked hard on for a while.

LBS, a local broadcasting station in California, located right next to Hollywood.

After getting a ride in Julia’s car and arriving in front of the LBS building with its huge transmitting and receiving antennas on the roof, I was guided into the broadcasting station by an FD from California Pictures who had come to greet me in advance.

“I’m looking forward to it.”

While I was filling out the visitor’s paperwork, Julia smiled and said,

I felt the same way. The reason I say ‘similar’ rather than ‘same’ here is because I’m not as happy as Julia that ‘my work has been adapted for the screen’.

‘Because I’ve experienced this in my past life too.’

This is ‘Dead Man’s Heaven’, which can be called my sore finger.

In addition, even in 1984, movies and dramas based on novels were produced quite frequently. The works of Stephen King, the master of horror novels, and the 007 series are also based on novels. It’s just a little surprising that my work is proudly included among those brilliant works.

I was actually more excited to see how Alexa would appear on screen.

‘It’ll definitely be pretty.’

When I think of her, a smile comes to my face.

I suddenly remembered the day I returned to Los Angeles, when Alexa came out to greet me and was all excited and chatty.

When she first said she wanted to be a model, I worried a lot about whether she would be able to do it well, but now she seems to be doing well on her own. With the addition of her screen appearances, it seems like she has been getting quite a few modeling jobs recently.

After finishing filling out the visitor documents, we were guided by the FD to the screening room.

After greeting Jeremy Thompson, the executive producer of the work I met while signing the contract there, and high-ranking officials from LBS and California Pictures, I sat down.

A screening room like a small movie theater.

Jeremy Thompson first gave a brief briefing on the background of the work.

[In this work, we tried our best to capture the innocent emotions of teenagers in the video. The cute and lovely situations presented in the sentences by the original novel writer, Shin······.]

That explanation felt pretty solid.

‘It’s a lot more serious than I thought.’

Everyone listened to Jeremy Thompson’s briefing with serious expressions, and I felt how sincerely people were treating my work. Although it was a business, it was a valuable experience to have my writings considered precious in this way.

My expectations for the drama have gotten a little higher.

‘It was like that in my past life too.’

I couldn’t help but feel a twinge of emotion from the day the pilot episode of ‘Dead Man’s Heaven’ premiered.

I was happy that people kept praising my work and that so much effort and manpower went into one visual piece.

······But then the problem arose because the work went in the exact opposite direction from what I had thought.

But this time, Julia, who understood the exact intention of my work, was there by my side the whole time and helped me out in various ways, so I didn’t think I had to worry too much.

Anyway, I had let go of a lot of my old trauma.

The screening has started.

In conclusion, it was a better piece of work than I expected.

The acting of the two actors who played Tony and Alice was also excellent. In fact, I felt a sense of incongruity between Alice’s big hair and Tony’s short hair style with the sides cut short and the back and top hair grown out, but as the story progressed, that part became irrelevant.

‘Well, at that time, everyone had this style.’

As I was watching the pilot episode with such concentration, about 5 minutes passed.

Finally, ‘she’ appeared on the screen.

“············.”

And I desperately held back the laughter that was about to burst out.

It was because, in front of Alice, who was filling out the library management card, Alexa Flair, with her hair in a ’80s style’, opened her mouth with an awkward, teenage smile.

[thank you!]

Alice nodded silently.

And then, for a brief moment, Alexa was visible, and Tony, walking around the library with a curious look in his eyes, took over the screen.

‘Wow, this is driving me crazy.’

I find it more awkward to see someone I know on screen than I thought.

***

“Really?! Did it really turn out well?!”

Alexa Flair, sitting across from me, screamed in excitement.

“Yeah, I got it right up to the part where he shouts ‘Thank you!’”

I nodded, feeling that the sight was really cute.

Late night, diner near downtown.

After watching the pilot episode and finishing writing my review, I came to see Alexa.

My rating for the pilot episode of ‘About T’ was a 10 out of 10.

I don’t often watch dramas from this era, but this one was so well-made that I thought it would be quite popular. I thought that if there was a visual example of the vague word ‘teenage sensibility’, it would be something like this. In particular, the subtle emotional acting of the two main actors was excellent.

But for Alexa, it was more important that she was properly included in the pilot episode. Even if it was filmed, it could be deleted during the editing process if it was deemed unnecessary.

She, who had been nervous the whole time, jumped for joy when I told her that I had definitely seen it.

“Thank goodness! I practiced that line for three days!”

“For three days?”

“Yeah, yeah! I carried my script book with me wherever I went to do my best!”

It seems that he was much more serious about this than I thought. And I felt a little touched by the fact that the reason for this was me, but at the same time, I felt a little indebted to him.

In a previous conversation, Alexa had told me that she had auditioned because she wanted to be a part of my first visual work.

‘······Should I have just quietly told the PD to take a good look at it?’

In fact, I almost gave in to the emotions that came to me in the moment several times.

But that wasn’t the situation Alexa wanted.

She was lovely and pure and wanted to confront this world with her own strength. Although it may not be enough to call it a dream, she sincerely approached the work of modeling and acting, and through her own efforts, she finally succeeded in putting her face on the screen of ‘About T’ as she had wanted.

It felt really great and admirable.

“Oh, God, how was it? I did well!”

“Good job. I didn’t know you practiced that line for three days.”

“Really? But I couldn’t help it. I had a reason to work hard.”

“Because it’s my work?”

“Of course that is true.”

Alexa nodded and continued speaking with a mature smile.

“While I was waiting, FD-nim said that it was hard to find a white-faced actor these days, so it was good that you came. In other words, it wasn’t because I was chosen based on my skills. I thought that I should do my best in the role I was given, even if it was for the sake of those who were better skilled than me but were rejected just because they had tanned skin.”

The moment I heard those words, several thoughts came to mind.

She clearly had her own reasons for working so hard.

It was a wonderful sight to see people living their own lives, different from the people depicted in ‘Country of Losers’.

End

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