Became an American Retro Novelist - Chapter 190



Only Noblemtl

190.

“You have a good friend, God.”

“huh?”

After a review session that lasted nearly several hours, this was what Doopi thought.

The rest of the members were sent back to their dorms first, and we were taking a big lap around Stanford. We felt bad about sending Doopi back just like that, after he had taken the time to come all this way. Also, unlike Alexa, Doopi didn’t have a curfew, so he could run around the night without worry.

A story that suddenly came out while I was feeling romantic for the first time in a long time while watching Doopi being amazed by the university environment for the first time.

The scalp looked at me with a soft smile.

“I thought you’d be like that wherever you went, God.”

“Hey, why are you suddenly like that? It’s embarrassing.”

“It’s something I’ve always thought about. It may not have been intentional, but you have a knack for gathering people. I guess it’s because of your inherently good nature.”

“Even though we’ve known each other for so long, you still don’t know me well.”

I am a villain. A villain who does not care about the means and methods.

Doofi joked, “Then you’re on the Sith side,” and I laughed, saying, “Jedi?!!”

While we were feeling that we were a good match for each other, I said this.

“I’m thinking about making a proper club and starting activities.”

“That sounds like a good idea. They both obviously write well.”

“Yeah. I think it would be fun to publish it later through our Hardboiled Publishing.”

“The ‘your’ company I mentioned last time?”

“······Well, to be exact, it’s Simon’s company.”

“I heard it’s totally Shin, your company.”

“Hey, no.”

“Wow. You’re already starting a business.”

“You too. That thing you showed me earlier, isn’t that your business?”

After thinking about those words for a moment, Doopi nodded.

“Similar. The ‘About T’ figure is something we are preparing to release at Comic-Con.”

“Ah~. So that’s what I thought.”

While working as a designer for a toy company, Doofy was also making a name for himself by creating detailed figures.

Still, I had no idea that they were making ‘About T’ related figures, so I felt a slight burning in my ears when I remembered that fact again.

“Why did you have to make it my own? There are so many better ones.”

“There are several reasons. One of them is directly related to the reason I make figures.”

“For what reason?”

“I wonder if I wanted to save memories that will never return.”

“······.”

“Even though we are far apart, you are my first and best friend. And I always feel like you are with me when I look at your work. I wanted to save that feeling in a frame made of resin.”

“That’s a nice saying.”

I deeply agreed with Dupi’s statement that his work was ‘art’.

“And that’s what saves my moment right now.”

“It’s the same for me. When I write a novel, I tend to include the emotions and thoughts I felt at each moment.”

“So the more I read your novels, the more I feel like I understand you. Your recent novel, ‘Country of Losers,’ was a bit confusing, but after meeting your college friends, I think I understand you a little bit.”

“Oh, I suddenly wonder how you came up with that idea.”

“People who are unfortunate because of their own imperfections. Kate would be one of those people.”

“Hoo.”

I couldn’t help but be amazed.

It felt like a one-word summary of the humanity I was trying to express through ‘Country of Losers’.

Because of that misfortune, people will be divided into those who rely on the existence called ‘The North’ and those who try to carry it on their shoulders and move forward.

“That’s amazing.”

“That’s too much praise. I’ve been looking up interpretations of that novel.”

“Still, it’s great.”

“Because it was fun.”

“Part 2 will be coming out soon, so please look forward to it.”

“Of course, God. Because I want to be your best friend and reader.”

Doopi again reaches out with a clasped hand along with wonderful words.

We bumped fists lightly, and we continued to run through Stanford like that for a while.

***

Beginning in April 1985, Country of Losers began to be published in other regions.

Starting with the states bordering California, Arizona, Nevada, and Oregon, we then moved on to New Mexico and Texas, in keeping with Noir Publishing’s policy of “targeting the Sun Belt first.”

In this way, the name ‘Lost Land’ spread to other states like a drizzle, and slowly became known to people in the United States.

And among them, the first ones to catch sight of the novel were the nerds who knew that there was a genre novelist who had risen to stardom in California through various routes.

They were shocked by ‘Country of Losers’ with its shocking setting, story, and deep implications, and soon they were discussing it with each other and chatting excitedly about the novel.

“Is the happiness that the North gives truly useful to humans?”

“No, it’s already stated in the work that it’s perfect.”

“That’s just a description in the work. We have to see it with our own eyes.”

“Now, look. How are you now? Are you happy?”

“substance······?”

“That happiness is when someone divine is helping you. And you can definitely be happy. It’s like an absolute promise, so to speak. Do you think that’s a bad thing?”

“No, it’s different from reality!”

“The world we live in may already be under the control of the North!”

Most of them reacted similarly to those who first read the novel in California.

Like other great science fiction works such as Isaac Asimov’s “Foundation’s End,” Arthur C. Clarke’s “The Fountains of Paradise,” and Larry Niven’s “The Builders of the Ringworld,” “Nation of the Losers” leaves room for imagination in many ways, both deep and wide.

But the ‘imagination’ that came from it was never simple. And it wasn’t always fun.

It was because of the time period of 1985.

An era where everyone desperately tries to erase the pain of the past and dream of new hope.

A time when people were desperately optimistic that all suffering would disappear and happiness would return, thanks to technologies like computers that were becoming widely available to the public, and Ronald Reagan’s economic development plan and the collapse of the Soviet Union.

An era where individuals hope that even if the ‘present’ is miserable, the ‘future’ will definitely be better.

In such a time and place, the story about the ‘coordinator of happiness’ was bound to have a big impact.

It was so obvious.

Human free will, happiness and unhappiness. Through stories that explore such topics through the future world, America began to boil very slowly, from the ‘bottom up’, like water boiling spaghetti.

People who have read this work have expressed fear of this dystopia that is not a dystopia, either in agreement or disagreement.

And after some intense debate, the nerds couldn’t stand it anymore and decided to self-publish their own manuscripts, similar to the Kitten’s Comic Book Store.

Chris Tanaka discovered it by chance at a comic book store across from his office, where he occasionally stopped by.

I stopped by on my way to work and saw a very crude booklet bound in pulp paper on the stand. I wondered what it was, and it turned out to be a personal magazine.

Naturally, his eyes turned to the novel ‘Country of Losers’, which he had placed a few copies of right next to him, and his eyes widened when he saw its cover.

‘The author is ‘SEEN’? Is that the author I know?’

Although it was a chance encounter, he was intrigued by this strange encounter.

As an employee of Knights of the Wisdom, the company that previously wrote the setting book, Chris bought the novel and magazine together and then walked to work.

As usual, Chris Tanaka was the first to arrive at his seat.

Rather than starting work right away unless there is an urgent deadline, he has a routine of spending short periods of time alone in the quiet of his office waiting for people to arrive.

He opened the book naturally and without much thought.

And about 30 minutes later.

Team leader Jack Danforth, who was the last to arrive at work as usual, noticed something different about him.

‘That guy?’

Everyone was working hard, but Jack’s eyes sparkled as he watched Chris, who was burying his face in an unknown black book and not moving an inch.

He quietly approached from behind, coughed lightly, and pretended to stretch, trying to get Chris’ attention.

But he didn’t respond. He just turned the pages occasionally.

‘What on earth are you reading that makes you do that?’

Jack, unable to contain his curiosity, spoke up.

“Hey, Chris.”

“Huh?! Tea, Team Leader?”

“I started work. I’ll read the book later.”

“······Yes? Already?”

“Why, what is it?”

“Oh, um. No.”

“Are you supposed to ignore what your employees ask their team leader?”

“Hey, isn’t that privacy!”

Chris raises his voice for a moment.

At that sight, other setup part staff members nearby gathered around.

“I’ve always wondered, too.”

“What book is it?”

“So······ First of all, it’s a book by the author ‘SEEN’.”

“SEEN? You worked with us?”

“Yes. I think it’s that person. According to the description in the book.”

Last year, when the setting of the replay novel ‘Princess Quest’ was incorporated into Knights of the Wisdom, the additional rulebook included a description of the world imagined by the author of the novel.

‘Actually, it was an unusual thing. It suited our rules and I liked it.’

Thinking back to that time, Jack Danforth looked at the book Chris was holding.

‘Country of losers’.

“The title is quite gruesome.”

“The content is even more so.”

“Please lend it to me. I’ll read it briefly and return it to you.”

“No! I have to see it too!”

“Inma, you have to work at the company.”

“I will do the work, but if you take it like this, I don’t think I will be able to get it back.”

“······Is this really that fun?”

“This is crazy.”

Chris raises his thumb and declares.

That review piqued Jack Danforth and his staff’s curiosity, and on their way back, they all stopped by a bookstore and bought a copy of “Country of Losers.”

And the next day.

“chris!”

Jack Danforth, who arrived at work early in the morning, entered the office with dark circles under his eyes.

He opened the book ‘without thinking much’ and finished reading it overnight, and he was eager to share the thoughts floating around in his head with someone else.

The problem was that he wasn’t the only one who thought that way.

“Ah, team leader.”

“Are you here?”

“Please take a seat. We are in the middle of a discussion right now.”

All the employees who were sold(?) by Chris yesterday came back after reading the novel all night.

“Damn, what kind of drug is this?”

Feeling astonished at the fact that everyone else had done the same, Jack pulled up a chair and sat down.

***

‘Country of losers’ was cruising.

Contrary to expectations that it would take time for the book to settle into the market because of its somewhat difficult subject matter, sales reportedly exceeded somewhat conservative estimates, as people actively discussed their thoughts with each other while reading the novel, just like in California, which promoted sales.

It’s now been about a month since its release, and as Noir Publishing boasted, the book has been distributed to most Sun Belt states.

And Simon, who checked the sales index they sent, stuck out his tongue.

“Wow, they really have a huge distribution network.”

“okay.”

“Oh, you’re not as surprised as I thought.”

“You have to do this much.”

I answered confidently.

I was deliberately acting arrogant by taking over-the-top actions like I deserved this level of treatment for my work, but I wasn’t really surprised because I already knew the power of Noir Publishing.

“As expected, everyone recognizes a good piece of work.”

“What will the publication schedule be from now on?”

“I want to check the distribution stabilization and sales trend, so I’m going to stop for a while. They said they’ll prepare for about a month and then publish it in the next week. Oh, I got a call from them a while ago.”

“Where?”

“I bought Knights of the Wisdom. Jack Danforth asked me to give him his congratulations.”

“Oh, the company is in Texas, so people there might have seen it.”

Knights of the Wisdom is headquartered in Texas. I’ve been working with them for a long time, but I didn’t know they would remember me and contact me, so I figured I’d contact them later.

‘Because I have special memories with that company.’

Suddenly, I remembered the time I played TRPG, and a smile naturally came to my face.

Anyway, I decided to finish talking about work first, so I took out the revised manuscript I had brought. Then Simon also took out the manuscript he had received from me by fax and placed it in front of him.

“Things seem to be going well, so I guess I should hurry up and release Part 2.”

“That’s right.”

We went into editing work while checking the manuscript for Part 2 for a while.

I usually don’t work with my editor to make follow-up revisions. But maybe it was my experience with the Pulp Fiction Club that led me to propose this method, as I wanted to think more deeply about it, rather than simply revise the manuscript based on Simon’s feedback.

And since these days(?) are not the times when we can freely communicate with each other via cell phone like in the future, it was more convenient to meet and talk like this.

“Even if it’s a battle scene, wouldn’t it be better to provide a proper explanation of ‘fast travel’?”

“If we add more explanation in an urgent situation, the flow will be lost. Let’s continue like this.”

“Well, let me think about it a little more.”

“Yes······.”

In Part 2, Lucy, as part of the resistance, pilots a fighter plane and enters at superluminal speeds right in front of a space fortress under the control of the North.

I wrote it quickly with a “bang!” feeling, but Simon seemed to want a little more in-depth explanation.

I crossed my arms and debated which one would be better.

As such, Simon’s editorial approach has always been to ‘keep it simple.’

If there were many criticisms about the insufficient explanations in the first half, in the second half, I hoped that the metaphors and hints used to make the story flow more smoothly, or that the logic of the topic would be explained in more detail and more clearly.

Suddenly, the smell of Miss Brown’s cigarette tickled my nose.

After a considerable amount of time had passed while we were putting our heads together and fine-tuning the manuscript, I came to my senses and noticed that the office had become dark.

Is it because the sales of Part 1 are going smoothly?

We fought fiercely until the very end, doing our best to decide how to present Part 2 to the world, and we were completely exhausted.

“Phuhu.”

“······Author.”

“Yes, Simon.”

“Would you like steak for dinner?”

“Okay. With company money?”

“You are going too far······.”

We sat sprawled across the table and chairs, giggling.

Then Miss Brown came over and cleared away the pile of coffee cups on the table, and made this observation.

“You are young.”

Yeah, that’s right.

Because we still had a long journey ahead of us.