Became an American Retro Novelist - Chapter 175



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175.

‘Country of Losers’ continued to sell explosively.

The ‘drama’ was so popular that the first edition was sold out in less than a day.

The news, which spread through the Los Angeles Times, soon spread throughout California, and with the usual buzz surrounding the author known as God, people were buying the book as if it were a must-have.

20-30 thousand hardcover books per edition.

The first edition was 30,000 copies, followed by the second edition of 20,000 copies, and the third edition was again 30,000 copies.

It took three days for the second edition to sell out after the first edition. Hardboiled Publisher had contracted with an additional printer due to the previous incident, and immediately started the third edition to ensure that the quantity would not run out, so the book was supplied to the market steadily without any accidents like before.

The response to ‘Country of Losers’, which went into its third edition, was… greatly mixed.

It was a ‘place’ where things would go wrong.

‘This is not a novel that the new author has written before.’

Arthur Reynolds, editor of Guns and Sword magazine, thought:

Late one night, sitting in his office unable to leave work, he closed the new book by the author, ‘Country of Losers’, which he had read to the last page with trembling hands.

It was a thrill ride the whole time I was reading, and when I reached the final twist, I felt as if I had surrendered to this novel.

Yes, that would be the most appropriate word.

‘submission’.

To submit and become dependent.

That’s how I feel to ‘The Book’ right now.

Just as I was deep in thought, one of the editors, Ryan McFly, came into the office.

“Hey, you haven’t gotten off work yet?”

“······Uh, not yet.”

“Why do you only hire writers who are good at keeping deadlines?”

“There was another problem.”

“Would you like a donut?”

“Where are the donuts?”

“Landis. Of course.”

‘Randy’s Donuts’ was a donut chain that was founded in California in 1952. Arthur Reynolds, who loved the cream candy donuts there the most, took one of the cream candy donuts in the box that Ryan handed him and took a big bite.

There was no hot coffee, but it was adequate to recover the ‘brain’ used while reading this novel.

“Why didn’t you go home?”

“······Because I was reading this.”

“ah.”

“I originally planned to go in right after receiving the work report.”

Arthur noticed that Ryan’s face turned pale and he realized that he too had read the novel.

“Now, wait a minute, Editor. If we bring that up now, we’ll have to discuss it all night.”

“Yeah, well. We have donuts too.”

“Damn, I read that and my brain felt like it was fried like a donut, so I bought a donut.”

“······When did you read it?”

“I was working earlier. Oh my, I read it while waiting for the author’s manuscript.”

“Yeah, that could be possible.”

The precious book that was hard to obtain was put aside to avoid getting sugar coated on it.

Arthur sighed and reached for a second donut as he asked Ryan.

“What do you think this will be like?”

“At the market? Well, I don’t know. I think everyone will have a hard time.”

“right?”

“Yes, especially since it’s so different from your previous works······. Mr. Shin, you know how to write like this too.”

“It’s not just that I can write. This is definitely a work that deserves to win an award at this year’s SF awards.”

“I agree.”

Ryan nodded without hesitation.

He shuddered as he recalled the contents of the novel he had read while working earlier.

To be honest, I thought that the ‘future vision’ that God initially presented was a bit exaggerated.

“No matter how much I explain about ‘Wisemen,’ I still think that the idea that one company can control the entire world is a bit exaggerated. It’s not like there’s a Cold War or anything. In other words, doesn’t that mean that these guys called Wisemen can sell things to the Soviets and exert influence?”

“What if the world had no Soviet Union?”

“Hey, even though the Soviet Union is a bit shaken up now, will it ever disappear? It’s such a big country.”

Ryan chuckles.

Arthur’s sleep was completely erased as they exchanged ‘imaginations’ in that way.

There was a brief silence, and the two went to the pantry and returned with coffee and some snacks. Then they sat across from each other at the desk, spread out donuts, coffee, Twinkies, and other snacks on the table, and continued their serious conversation.

“Even if there were ‘The Book’, would people still be into porn?”

“Of course. There’s Morgan Fairchild. Everyone buys all kinds of books to get a picture of her. We do the same. All the female characters in our illustrations have exaggerated bodies. Huge butts, small waists, protruding breasts. And they’re half-naked when they’re warriors.”

“Consumers like it.”

“······Yes, there are no morals or ethics in porn. In fact, we are all slaves to porn.”

“I agree to some extent. But, do women feel the same way?”

“Do you think women don’t watch porn? They enjoy it too, just in different forms. Think of cool motherfuckers like Clint Eastwood and Harrison Ford. Women go crazy for them. I bet if they published a nude photo book, it would sell like hotcakes.”

“I can’t even imagine.”

“How about this? A women-only strip bar.”

“ah.”

Ryan nodded without realizing it.

The women-only strip bar, where male performers danced with her, was a culture with a long history. He was convinced that his claim that women did not tend to enjoy pornography was an old-fashioned prejudice.

‘But even so, do people blindly pursue pornography?’

As Arthur said, without morals or ethics.

So, in terms of Ryan helping me ponder these thoughts, I swear I’d rate ‘Country of Losers’ as the best novel I’ve read this year, or at least in the past three years.

Every single imagination was outrageous, yet strangely enough, it made it impossible not to accept it.

“Honestly, it’s a novel that feels unpleasant even if you only read the first part.”

“I admit it. It’s terrifying to even imagine what the future of advanced humans might look like.”

“It presents dystopia in a different direction than ‘1984’ or ‘Brave New World’.”

“Funny enough, humans have come to govern themselves without a ruler.”

“A surveillance society where people watch each other.”

“Yes. A society that repeats the cycle of slandering, belittling, hurting, and taking sides.”

“It would be truly terrible if such a time came.”

“Looking at the current state of affairs, I think it could have happened. Even 20 years ago, when I was a boy, we treated the Soviet Union as an evil empire. Are you a communist? That statement itself was a huge insult. Now that I think about it, it was just a means.”

Arthur looked around, sighed, went to the bathroom, washed his hands, and came back.

Then he opened ‘Country of Losers’ and found the page he was looking for.

“Is this even fate?”

He chuckled and began to read the sentence.

『People were constantly looking for targets to attack.

There was an Internet star in a small country in East Asia called ‘Korea’. As time went by, people changed the term ‘porn star’ to ‘Internet star’. But the reality did not change. She used her voluptuous body and beauty to sell sex to people.

One day, she appeared on a broadcast and showed an aggressive attitude that was different from her usual easygoing appearance, and she received a lot of criticism for it. People ridiculed her through ‘The Book’ as if they were looking at an uncomfortable hangnail. Well caught. Let’s attack her until she commits suicide. Many people slandered Internet stars who seemed to have a much more ‘comfortable’ life than they did in order to vent their frustrations from their lives.

Unable to bear it any longer, she committed suicide, and the situation changed dramatically.

Everyone was desperate to erase their traces and avoid responsibility, and they created a ‘virtual being’ who drove her to suicide. Naturally, it was the ‘other side’ who had been biting her even before the Internet star caused controversy. People were shouting all sorts of reasons, saying that they drove her to death, that they were trash.

That’s why in the end, no one killed her.

“It gave me goosebumps.”

“It was like a medieval witch hunt.”

“Yeah······. It seems like some kind of McCarthyism, but surprisingly, no one was tracked down.”

“Because everyone is hiding behind the anonymity called the Internet.”

“It must have had an effect that each person shared their guilt. In any case, it is a really well-written novel. That is why I said this novel is ‘difficult.’ If you do not read it while deeply savoring each part, Part 1 will feel more like a simple ‘history book’.”

“As we enter Part 2, that tendency is somewhat reduced······.”

“If you don’t properly understand Part 1, you won’t understand Part 2 either······.”

It was just then.

The office door burst open and someone came in. Arthur and Ryan, wondering who it could be at this hour of the morning, found themselves face to face with Archibald Pfeiffer, the vice president of Guns and Sword magazine.

He, a handsome man with a cold impression, tilted his head as he looked at the two people.

“You haven’t left work yet.”

“Ah, yes······!”

As Arthur stood up and said hello, Ryan deftly pushed the donuts and cookies under the table, leaving only the coffee behind.

This is truly a fantastic combo play.

Although Archibald wasn’t the type of person to particularly care about such things, he couldn’t let himself be seen being relaxed in front of the vice president.

Archibald, who had come closer to greet me, looked down at the ‘Country of Losers’ on the desk with cold eyes.

“This book······.”

“Ah, this is author Shin’s new work. Do you remember it?”

“Yes. You wrote ‘Princess Quest’. I heard you published a book this time. It seems to be doing quite well.”

“Haha, they say the first edition sold out in less than a day.”

“That······ I don’t think any of our writers could do it.”

“Right, right?”

Arthur averted his eyes for a moment at Archibald’s cold gaze.

Neither Ronan the Barbarian, Detective Rem, Defiant Dungeon, nor any of the other big-name writers who have been serializing in Guns and Sword magazine so far have been able to surpass the impact that the new writer is currently making in California. It is truly a monstrous activity.

Archibald, who was newly aware of that fact, quietly looked down at the ‘Country of Losers’.

‘Interesting.’

Unlike Arthur or Ryan, his eyes shine sharply as he views novels from a strictly business perspective.

***

This novel is difficult.

But that is why it has great value to the ‘real’ ones.

A week after the publication of ‘Country of Losers’.

Here and there, the occasional radio broadcast would gossip about how this novel was a huge hit and was doing well.

Meanwhile, a man entered the comic book store exactly at the appointed time.

It was Michael, the guy with square glasses at the comic book store.

“You’re here, Michael.”

Bill, the comic book master, stood up from his seat and politely ushered him inside.

All the members gathered together, with Michael at the end.

AKA The Avengers of Kitten’s Comic Book Store.

It was ultimately decided to be called the Avengers because everyone wanted to be Batman, so it was called the Justice League.

They sat at a long table and took out the soda and snacks they had brought.

The reason they were gathered here today was self-evident.

The purpose was to conduct a joint review of Shin’s new work, ‘Country of Losers’.

“Okay, let’s begin.”

Normally, everyone would joke around during the critique time and share their opinions on how funny it was, but today, no one did that. That’s because the weight of this novel had a huge impact on their nerd lives.

Bill evaluated the novel as follows:

“A novel so perfect it’s disturbing.”

“······hmm.”

“Oh, Master. Is that all?”

Bill’s sidekick, Fred, sitting right next to him, asked.

Bill added to that.

“I think the novel itself may be liked or disliked. However, once you overcome a certain ‘barrier to entry,’ this novel has tremendous value. The social situation presented in the work is perfection itself, and I cannot find any flaws in it.”

“Huh, I see what you mean.”

Nick, Bill’s rival(?), smiled and crossed his arms over his thick belly.

“Are you saying that the world is so perfect that it actually makes you feel bad?”

“That’s right! As expected, you know, Nick.”

“Bill.”

“Nick.”

“Bill.”

“Nick.”

Two people strengthen their friendship by softly calling each other’s names.

Only then did Fred nod, understanding Bill’s intentions.

“I, I think so too! Master! I think that in this world… it wouldn’t be bad if it were under the control of ‘The Book’! A world that only gives ‘happiness’! Wouldn’t it be perfect? ​​No, couldn’t we think of the unhappiness we feel in this life as a process toward happiness?”

“Yes, that’s right. This novel neither castrated nor controlled happiness, nor did it castrate or control unhappiness. They were all just people freely choosing what they wanted. I think the world this novel presents is a ‘utopia.’”

‘The Book’ is simply acting for the people.

It cut off the misery that had been caused to each human being because they were too free, which was not allowed in the previous world, and it led them in the right direction, respecting human free will without boasting or making it known.

At the same time, he ‘controlled’ it, but it was only a ‘recommendation’.

‘Recommendations’ tailored to each individual’s genes and level of knowledge.

“For example, let’s say this story.”

Bill explained it in a way that nerds can understand.

We all probably remember when we were in high school, there was a girl cheerleader who was a little chubby and always smiled brightly at everyone. When all the nerds heard that, they all nodded as they recalled the ‘her’ in their heads.

But it was impossible to get together with her, because they were nerds.

In that situation, if there was ‘The Book’ in the head, it would have informed Bill and other nerds that ‘a woman’s value is not determined by her looks alone. It’s more important to have similar hobbies’ and made them interact with other nerd girls. And in fact, that was the best ending.

“That day, you stopped me from confessing to Patricia······!!!”

Boom!

Bill screams as he recalls past trauma(?).

Likewise, the nerds cried out names like ‘Amy’, ‘Jessica’, ‘Rita’, etc.

As time passed in confusion and chaos, they, who had perfectly understood ‘Country of Losers’ through all kinds of research, prior knowledge, and multiple readings, continued to hold discussions and chat excitedly for hours.

That was the moment when ‘The book’, which they had all been waiting for, was born.