Became an American Retro Novelist - Chapter 176



Only Noblemtl

176.

‘I can’t stand it anymore.’

‘I can’t just let this go.’

‘We must do something.’

A group of nerds, united by the suggestion of Bill, the comic book master full of determination, decided to create a joint manuscript containing their thoughts on the novel ‘Country of Losers’.

It was an inevitable conclusion, as the story about the novel that had been going on for nearly five hours showed no sign of ending.

‘Country of Losers’ is a novel with such depth that even the most serious nerds will find it difficult to digest.

This novel, largely divided into the first half and the second half, shows the birth of ‘The Book’ and the dystopia created by humans as a result in the first half, and the world changed due to the evolution of ‘The Book’ in the second half.

There were two main issues.

Will human will really bring about a dystopia like the first half?

Is the latter half of the world that ‘The Book’ created for the absolute happiness of humans a dystopia?

There were many thoughts going around, especially about the latter.

Usually in SF dystopian novels, something that dominates humans is depicted as the axis of evil. However, this novel consistently shows that human free will has brought about misfortune.

This inevitably led to a sharp division of opinions between those who supported ‘The Book’ and those who did not.

So late at night.

Mr. Keaton, the owner, had recently brought a new word processor into Kitten’s Comic Book Store, and Fred, the only one who knew how to use it, sat down and everyone gathered around him.

The nerds’ passionate enthusiasm made me feel like the room temperature had risen by 3 degrees.

“This is······.”

Bill’s rival, Nick, was impressed.

And not only that, it was the first time for everyone to see a state-of-the-art word processor machine in person.

Word processors have been used by high-level office workers since the early 1970s, but they were not popular with many people due to their high price and lack of convenience. Typewriters were still more commonly used.

This was because it was relatively cheap and, if you had the technology, there were fewer ‘fatal’ problems like typos.

But technology is bound to develop.

The new model recently released by Brother was reasonably priced and had much better performance than the previous model. It was almost like a ‘fire’ to see in such a small store. First discovered by the Dolmen tribe.

widely.

As Fred pressed the keys on the keyboard, letters appeared on the green screen and everyone was amazed.

“Oh······.”

“I got an A!”

“Ahhh-. This is called a ‘word processor.’”

“We know.”

“Erased? Is it erased?”

Fred quickly wiped away the letters on the screen with a light movement of his hand.

[Uooooohhh-!!]

Admiring nerds.

It looked like a dolmen tribe that discovered that meat cooked over a fire was delicious.

“Hey, write something down!”

Fred’s shoulders rose momentarily at Michael’s shout, and he clicked the keys on the keyboard.

Country of losers.

“This is crazy! This is a revolution!”

“Then how do I print this out on paper?”

“You all are fools.”

Fred, who had changed from Normal Fred to Cheeky Fred, pushed up his glasses.

He opened the top of the device, inserted a piece of paper into it, and ‘printed’ the text.

[Uoooooooooooooohhhh-!!]

The cheers were louder than before.

Bill, who had been pretending to be calm as a master, opened his mouth.

“Let’s use this to write a manuscript.”

“A joint manuscript that contains our opinions in a balanced way?”

“What should I do with the manuscript I made like that?”

“You can make your own printed copies and share them, or you can produce magazines in small quantities and sell them.”

“Where can I buy it?”

“here.”

It was a remark that did not reflect the opinion of the president, Keaton, at all.

But nerds of the time would often print their own magazines and distribute them, or sell them separately at their usual comic book stores. Clearing a shelf space wasn’t really that big of a deal, so Keaton would happily say, “Oh, well, okay.”

And there was one more way.

“How about submitting it somewhere?”

Bill nodded at Michael’s suggestion.

“That sounds like a good idea too.”

Submit your joint analysis manuscript to a magazine or newspaper.

This would be a great honor for them, as they would be able to receive a small amount of royalties and exert some influence in the industry.

“Then there is something to do before that.”

Everyone focused on what Bill was saying.

What direction should we take in revising ‘Country of Losers’? The volume? Or the production cost or design of the doujinshi?

These words were spoken to those who were gulping and imagining what was about to happen in earnest.

“It’s the name of the team.”

“Team Keaton’s Comic Book Store!”

Everyone turned around in surprise at Kitten’s shout, who had been watching the situation from behind.

He figured he could make that much of a request, given that he was providing a word processing machine and a place called Kittens Comic Book Store.

***

About a week after the book was released.

I had made plans to spend the last days of my vacation relaxing with my friends on a beach in California, but after that happened, I was faced with a fact I had not been aware of at all.

It was the fact that my friends were also my biggest readers.

“Hey, God······.”

Alexa, wearing a loose black T-shirt over her bikini, stepped in front of me, where I was sunbathing, and spoke cautiously.

It seems like I chose Jiwoo, but I couldn’t see it because of the T-shirt. Even if I wanted to see it, I thought I absolutely couldn’t show it, so I didn’t try to be conscious of it.

In that situation, the words that came out of her mouth were quite a masterpiece.

“Maybe we have ‘The North’ in our heads too.”

Hey, here’s your girlfriend.

We’re at the beach now.

“I think it’s a possible story! Could it be that our lives and this happiness are really the result of our own actions?! Could it be that it’s all an illusion?!”

Jiwoo Jang, wearing a T-shirt over his swimsuit, sat down next to me and shouted.

Instead of listening to their arguments any longer, I turned my gaze to the other side of the ocean. I saw Doofy coming into the sand, holding the surfboard he had been riding at his side.

Yeah, at least you’re enjoying this time.

It was like this the whole time I was on the beach.

Jiwoo and Alexa kept talking about ‘Country of Losers’ in a different way than they usually do when they read my writing. Instead of screaming about how fun, interesting, and scary it was, they talked about the content of the work in more specific terms.

According to them, it seemed like the story was shocking as they read it slowly and thought about it, even though there were parts they didn’t quite understand.

And I felt there was a point to be made in that reaction.

‘It’s certainly not a novel that’s easy for the average person of today to understand.’

Although I proceeded with a detailed explanation step by step, most of the people who praised ‘Country of Losers’ were people in the industry or people who had read a lot of novels.

I thought it would be good to find out how the novel was read from the perspective of the general public.

······I wonder why it had to be now. In front of my girlfriend’s bikini.

“God. I just finished organizing everything in my mind.”

I awkwardly smiled and asked the words of the scalp that came closer, soaking up the salty moisture.

“how?”

“I deny the existence of ‘The North’.”

“Right! We don’t need something like ‘The Book’!”

“But wouldn’t it be nice if you could?! And help me with my homework instead!”

“······?”

“huh?”

“Oh, you didn’t give me my homework? I’m a little confused······.”

It was ‘The Book’ teacher who suddenly became a homework machine.

“The Book” is a tool that helps you with your homework.

“Oh, then I guess that’s not necessary.”

Jiwoo, I don’t feel like submitting reports often.

“Well, in terms of functionality, I think it might be necessary. It’s a treasure trove of knowledge containing all the information in the world. Being able to freely exchange it through the Internet. That’s a great idea.”

“Hey, scalp. Can you explain to me exactly what the Internet is······?”

“Have you ever seen a computer?”

“Oh, I have one. I use an Apple II in the office.”

“If you upload the information you entered there to the Internet, anyone can freely report and provide opinions in real time. And judging from the description in the novel, it seems that in a world where there are more books, real-time communication is possible.”

“Why don’t you just call me?”

“Well, the phone is two-way.”

“What about the book?”

“It’s one-way. If we have a joint meeting, it will be multi-directional.”

“It’s a combination of a book, a conference, and a phone call!”

“okay.”

······I don’t know what I just heard.

As I looked at him, feeling inwardly bewildered, Doopi continued speaking with a serious expression.

“Anyway, this is something I always feel while working. I feel like I lack learning and… I want to improve. At those moments, I think it would be really nice if there was a more North-oriented presence by my side to help me.”

“Can I learn acting from The North?”

“Bass too?”

“I guess so.”

“That would be really cool.”

“Right. Then I’ll put ‘The Book’ in my head.”

They are now talking about ‘The Book’ as if it were a real thing.

“······Phuhu.”

As I let out a sigh, the three people turned around and giggled.

“Should we take a break here?”

“······I guess I was just kidding.”

“I wasn’t kidding! I really enjoyed reading it so much that I wanted to talk about it in front of you.”

“The problem is.”

Alexa came closer, grabbed my hand, and lifted me up.

“God, your reaction is really cute.”

I guess it was a joke.

I felt my ears burning and shook the sand off my butt while my friends continued their conversation.

“I wondered how I could imagine such a thing. Every time I read your novel, I feel like my world is expanding. I thought I should write a song based on this novel.”

“It’s really amazing. The person who wrote such a wonderful novel is my boyfriend. I’ve learned so much from being with you. I hope I can be someone who can inspire you. Please take care of me in the future.”

“’About T’ was also really good, but how should I put it, while reading this novel, I felt the power of the author you are. To write such a profound novel······. I am proud to be your friend.”

“······.”

If I heard even a little more praise like this, I thought I would faint.

These bad guys.

I passed through them with my eyes squinted.

The scalp asked.

“God, where are you going?”

“cola.”

I know. These guys have seriously read my novel.

Even if there are some parts that are a little difficult to understand, I would have tried to activate my brain as much as possible through my own will and to incorporate the intentions I wrote into myself.

I felt it between the playful conversations······and honestly, I was really touched.

‘Oh, I can’t stand it anymore.’

At this rate, I was on the verge of shedding tears in front of the kids.

It was just then.

“······god.”

Alexa suddenly grabbed my hand as if she had followed me.

“huh?”

“This way for a moment.”

She pulls my arm with a bashful smile.

As I was following her, wondering what was going on, Alexa took me behind a rock and asked.

“Are you angry?”

“Huh? No. Not at all. Rather, I was moved.”

When I immediately denied what I said, thinking that there might be some misunderstanding, Alexa turned around with a regretful expression. The hem of the black T-shirt she was wearing fluttered slightly.

“If you were angry, I was trying to show you something good.”

“······What the heck is that?”

It was a story that I just couldn’t pass up.

I’m angry! Alexa!

***

One week after publication.

Little by little, various media outlets began to talk about the ‘Country of Losers’.

And Simon tried to listen to every single one of them.

First of all, it was radio broadcasting.

[This is a new work by a new writer. What did you think while reading it?]

[It seems a bit difficult. I think we need to invite an expert.]

[That’s right. But once you get over that wall, it brings tremendous intellectual pleasure.]

[So, what is this novel trying to say?]

[······The dangers of the future?]

The two radio hosts gave their opinions lightly, but they did not present any well-organized thoughts, only saying, “There is something.”

Hearing that, Simon was sure that things were going as planned with God and Julia.

‘Country of Losers’ was a novel that contained much more ‘thought’ than the author’s previous works. That’s why it was fantastic, but at the same time, there was a certain level of barrier to entry.

Many people bought the book because of its name value and the ‘stock clearance’ event on the first day of release, but there are probably quite a few people who haven’t finished reading it yet.

‘It’s not something to read lightly.’

Simon was concerned about that part.

Clearly, ‘Country of Losers’ is a novel that can be perfectly understood on its own.

The concepts in the novel were all presented in it, and the joy of understanding them through the text was a special kind of fun that can only be had with novels.

Simon also cited the process of the virtual entity called ‘The Book’ coming to fruition as one of the most interesting parts of the novel.

The problem was that there were bound to be readers who didn’t want to put in the effort to understand it.

On the other hand, magazines and newspapers poured out rave reviews as if it were a given.

Guns and Sword magazine commented in its new work review section, “This work opens up new possibilities for not only the new author, but also the world of science fiction.” The Los Angeles Times, Torrance New Media, and other magazines also gave it favorable reviews.

‘And maybe······.’

With the ‘help’ of reviews, analyses, and praise from various industry insiders, including them, this novel will evolve into a work that can embrace even readers who do not fully understand it at first.

And the process itself would bring fame to many stakeholders.

In this way, truly good works interact with many things and create various added values.

In that sense, Simon was confident that ‘Country of Losers’ was progressing slowly but surely, even if it did not receive a quick response from readers right away.