Became an American Retro Novelist - Chapter 202



Only Noblemtl

202.

SHIT

‘fizzle’.

Those words came from the mouth of the most unlikely person I know to say them.

‘Oh, oh my?’

······Have I really committed an unforgivable sin?

To make an excuse, I really used it sparingly. Typewriters were a nostalgic item to me, and the black, well-made ‘Hard-boiled Nine Thousand’ was my style from an aesthetic standpoint.

But the problem was that I used it to write novels and do homework.

‘Because it was something that someone had been using until then.’

When I say that it feels like it’s broken when it could be broken······, Julia gets angry.

No, it’s just the Z key that’s broken, so it would be fine if I just got that part repaired.

While I was thinking of various excuses in the brief silence, Julia laughed, “Ha.”

And then he laughed the loudest laugh I’ve ever heard.

“······sorry.”

I quietly apologized, realizing anew that it was scary when someone who didn’t usually do that did that.

So Julia, who had been laughing out loud, soon opened her eyes wide and looked at me.

“Why are you suddenly apologizing?”

“I broke my precious typewriter.”

“Did you hit someone over the head with that thing? Like that scene in Misery?”

“No, that’s not it. It’s just that one key is broken.”

“If it was used properly for its intended purpose and ended up like that, then it’s a good thing, right? If many works were written with that typewriter, then it must have done its job well. And at that level, isn’t it a failure that can be repaired and used again?”

“Yes. I will definitely repair it and use it again when I get back.”

“You don’t have to go that far. Wouldn’t it be better to move on to a word processor?”

“But after hearing Julia’s words today, I feel like I want to fix it and use it more.”

“Thank you for your kind words, but it’s time to let it go. Since Raymond Chandler, there’s a God, and Hard-Boiled Nine Thousand should make way for the next generation.”

When I heard that, I fell into thought for a moment.

‘It’s a word processor.’

Or, there was also the option of buying a PC. However, at the time, the PC was not a product that had any particular merit as a writing tool compared to a word processor. Still, both were tools that solved the shortcoming of the typewriter, which was that it could not be modified, so they were quite popular despite their high price.

“Now that we’ve brought it up, I think I should think about it seriously.”

Not long after that conclusion was reached, Simon arrived.

Even though he was out of breath from running in a hurry, he apologized with his signature bright smile.

“Sorry I’m late. The meeting ran a little long.”

“It’s okay. Thanks to you, we had a really good conversation.”

“yes?”

“That’s right. It’s thanks to Simon’s delay.”

“huh?”

Julia and I looked at each other and smiled meaningfully, with Simon between us, who didn’t understand at all.

Through the story just now, I understood Julia a little more deeply.

After hearing about her fascinating and somewhat complicated past, who she is and why she chose to become an editor, I realized that my life is also connected to hers.

Then naturally my thoughts went further.

On to the next work.

Simon, who had been tilting his head, soon sat down and began to talk.

The second part of the ‘Losers’ series, ‘Universe of Losers’, was a huge hit across the United States, just like the first part.

Sales were slightly less impressive compared to the first part, but Simon said this result was to be expected and tried to explain the reason in his own way.

Anyway, the two novels have already sold nearly a million copies combined.

······While doing that, I realized that, just like in my previous life, the amount of money I received as royalties had become so much that I didn’t really calculate it one by one and check how much money had come in, but rather just checked whether it had come in or not.

Anyway, the so-called ‘economic freedom’ will have been achieved by the time I write ‘About T’.

But interest in how the novel would be received continued.

Because the novel was, in other words, ‘me’.

“Part 1 was a novel that was good for ‘talking about’.”

Perhaps that is why it created a huge buzz immediately after its release.

A dystopia chosen by humans due to technological advancements.

Is ‘The Book’, which destroyed it, really the righteous one or not?

With the name value I originally had in California, the half-intentional shortage of stock, and all of that, the first part sold like hotcakes. And with the media, each magazine, and individuals talking about it, it became so famous that even people who hadn’t read the book knew the content.

And they discussed.

[Does the ‘Internet’ Really Bring Misfortune?]

Someone answered like this:

“’Will the Internet, where there can be no discrimination based on race, skin color, gender, or wealth, really function as a place that causes human misery as predicted in this novel?’ This is a question that cannot be answered now.”

“······.”

Well, that part is, well… how should I put it······.

Should I have written that we discriminate freely because we don’t know about the discriminatory aspects that I mentioned earlier?

“There was a lot to argue about that way. So everyone was talking about this piece.”

That’s exactly what helped the novel sell well.

People who have read this novel and those who want to do something with it, such as on the radio or in magazines, have poured out various analyses of the writing. As a result, even people who are not particularly interested in it ended up buying the novel, thinking, “What on earth is this fuss about?”

But part 2 wasn’t like that.

The topics of debate have diminished, and it has become a novel that each individual can savor deeply in their hearts.

A piece about a vast world in the distant future that humans can only conceptually imagine.

A novel that depicts the process in which Lucy, who is so small and helpless in it, eventually comes to feel pity for ‘The Book’.

Part 2 was as in-depth as Part 1, but its direction was the complete opposite of Part 1.

“If Part 1 was about reading a novel and expressing one’s thoughts to others, Part 2 was about the depth of one’s inner self and maturing. That’s why I highly rate the perfection of these two works.”

However, Simon explained that because there are fewer cases covered by the media, the topicality is bound to be lower than in Part 1.

Simon smiled and said, “Isn’t that okay?”

“I love this novel.”

“······suddenly?”

“Was it more about novels than people?”

“That, that’s not what I meant.”

Simon narrows his eyes at our prank.

“It started out as a dystopia, but even in that world, there is value to humanity. It was refreshing because it was humanistic and felt like a big blow to the North that had been tormenting humanity. I think it is definitely a theme and story that is hard to find in existing SF novels.”

Then he spoke carefully.

“Isn’t it worth looking forward to?”

“······The subject is missing. Simon.”

“Now, the magazines’ ‘Best Work of the Year’ awards coming out next week, and the literary awards that will continue until next year.”

Simon’s eyes sparkled with vague anticipation and ambition.

And as I listened to his aspirations, I felt a connection between what I had just said to Julia and what Simon was saying now.

Julia told me to continue to change the world with my work.

In some ways, what Simon said was similar.

The ‘Losers’ series has had a huge impact on many Americans living today. The visible result of this is the sales of this novel, which reached one million copies.

It may seem small considering the size of the United States, but given the nature of the medium called ‘novel’, its influence was much greater than the numbers show.

‘Novels don’t tend to sell as much as their popularity suggests.’

Still, those who heard the interpretation on the radio or in magazines would surely have had their own deep thoughts about the vision of the future presented by the ‘Losers’ series.

Through conversations with the two people, I suddenly felt one emotion.

The weight and responsibility that comes from returning to this era and writing a novel.

‘Of course, that would be so.’

People like Raymond Chandler, mentioned earlier, would not have written with any sense of weight or responsibility in this era.

I just thought that a novel is just a novel, and that people who use it to compare it to reality are more problematic. If the novel was really a problem, it would have been filtered out by the editorial department.

But my case was a little different.

Because of the element of ‘regression’ that can be said to be a characteristic that only I possess, I thought that I could not ignore the influence that my work would have on the present or the future.

As my work won more awards and became more famous, people would discuss it and it would definitely influence them.

‘Well, it’s a very dreamy situation.’

Especially for me, who had disliked some aspects of this American society both before and after my return, this must have been a situation I only dreamed of.

But when that situation actually arose, I started to worry a little.

In the midst of all this, the next novel topic slowly began to emerge.

‘I’d like to talk about racism against Asians.’

It seemed like it would be an incredibly difficult story, but I think I could probably turn it into a novel in my current state.

Genre-wise, it’s fun.

Then, suddenly, this thought occurred to me.

‘I guess I need to buy a word processor.’

As Raymond Chandler did in the past.

It was finally time for me to steel my resolve by engraving my name on my weapon.

***

A few days later, I went alone to the largest department store in Los Angeles.

In the future, it was possible to shop as efficiently as possible through online shopping and price comparisons, but of course, that wasn’t the case now. It was natural to buy the best items at the most expensive department stores, and even then, there was no guarantee of stock, so you had to order the models you wanted from magazines or catalogs separately.

Of course, I didn’t look at any magazines or anything.

Because the features I wanted in a word processor were impossible to measure without seeing it for myself.

So, as soon as I entered the store, I started by saying this to the employee who was waiting.

“Black, the most expensive and high-performance model.”

Just like when James Bond orders a martini in the 007 series, I briefly told him what I wanted and looked at the various models the staff recommended, contemplating which one to buy.

“Customer~ If you look here, you can see that it’s a new Panasonic model that was recently released~. If you look, you can see that the monitor can be removed separately to boast a comfortable working environment~.”

“······.”

The dazzling customer service of department store employees remains the same, past or present.

The explanations that stick in your ears, are they all technical?

Feeling interested, I continued listening to the explanation.

A word processor is, so to speak, a device that leaves the ability to type text on a computer and adds the ability to print it to the device itself.

The early models had about four lines displayed on a monitor integrated with the device, but the latest models seem to have a separate monitor.

‘Oh my.’

I decided to buy a model with a detachable monitor.

After making up my mind and saying that, the staff recommended a model with a dull, deep black color, and I looked closely at the design. Since it was something I would keep close by and cherish for a long time, I wanted to put a lot of effort into the design as well.

“If you look here~. This is a model that can hold a 5.25-inch floppy disk~. As you can see, this model here can hold an 8-inch~. The 8-inch model is quite large, so it might be inconvenient~.”

Indeed, the 8-inch floppy disk was huge, almost as big as a person’s face.

So the model I chose was… almost like fate.

“Let’s do this.”

‘Hardboiled Nine Million’.

A digital version of ‘Hardboiled Nine Thousand’, where the numbers suddenly jumped to a huge level.

A separate monitor with a black exterior. It can also print and can hold a 5.25-inch floppy disk.

The design was good, and the matte black paint color added a touch of luxury. The price was pretty heinous, but I didn’t really care about that.

I heard it was the latest version of the hardboiled series.

After finishing my calculations and picking up the new product in a large box, not a display model, I left the department store and drove home.

And when I came back home carrying a big box, Jiwoo opened his eyes wide and asked.

“Did you buy something?”

“Yeah, I’m thinking of changing to a word processor machine this time.”

“Oh······! Can I take a look too?”

“As much as you want.”

Jiwoo seemed to have grown up a lot these days.

I ended up doing things on my own more and more, and sometimes I would hum a melody saying, “Hmm, hmm,” or I would often play the bass in my room. I still keep in touch with the members from high school, but the band had disbanded, so it seemed like I was writing songs on my own.

‘That’s great.’

But in front of me, Jiwoo returned to being the same high school freshman he was.

I felt Jiwoo following me up the stairs, carrying a box as if he was bouncing around. He was cute.

After entering the room, I unpacked the neatly packaged ‘Hard-Boiled Nine Million’ in a box and placed it on the desk.

As soon as I connected the monitor and the main unit and booted it up, the screen came up.

“Oh······.”

Jiwoo’s eyes sparkle from the side.

“Want to write something?”

“Shall we try writing lyrics?”

Jiwoo sat in front of me and typed on the keyboard with awkward hand movements.

[Tear Satan the Devil to pieces! Tear him to pieces!]

······Jiwoo. Why are you getting aggressive again? Are you having a hard time these days?

Thinking that her world of work was deeply concerning, I took out the white permanent marker I had bought along with the word processor at the department store as if to change the subject.

And then I wrote some text like this on the side of the monitor.

[SEEN

[1985.12.21.]

Finally, I put my signature underneath it.

This was a ritual.

In the past, Raymond Chandler engraved his name when he bought the ‘Royal Manual Lighter’, and his will was passed on to me when Julia Chandler transferred it to the Hardboiled Nine Thousand.

It felt as if the countless novels I had read had hurt me and made me grow at the same time.

I too decided to take up the challenge of creating my own ‘custom’ word processor.

I’m going to write something as entertaining as Raymond Chandler and many other great writers.

A few days later, as the Christmas season began, each genre magazine began announcing the ‘novels that shone in 1985’.