Became an American Retro Novelist - Chapter 204



Only Noblemtl

204.

The Christmas holidays are over and another year has passed.

1986.

This is the year that heavy metal legend Metallica’s ‘Master of Puppets’ came out, and the year that the ‘Challenger Space Shuttle Disaster’ occurred, which shocked the entire United States.

As news broke on CNN about the launch of the Challenger space shuttle scheduled for January 28th, Guns and Sword Magazine went into a frenzy.

“Seven?!”

“There were more than that. I think I got close to twenty.”

“Is it okay if I say I received almost everything?”

“Hey, isn’t this honestly the first time?”

“It was a worthy piece of work.”

Arthur Reynolds, the editor-in-chief, nodded, as if he had expected it.

The work of God, the ‘Losers’ series, was unanimously selected by almost every magazine in California as the best work of the year. It was a shocking thing, but Arthur thought it was not entirely impossible when he thought about it carefully.

The best in creativity, topicality, and fun.

A science fiction novel that has all those parts down.

Arthur evaluated the ‘Losers’ series as a masterpiece that made a mark on the genre of science fiction. Everyone who read the story was completely absorbed in the ‘quiet desperation’ of the first part and the ‘overwhelming scale’ of the second part.

The future this world presented was bleak, but it also sang of hope.

It will probably compete fiercely with Orson Scott Card’s Ender’s Game for this year’s science fiction literary award.

As someone who works in publishing, this was a very interesting story.

‘Ender’s Game’ was published by the major publisher ‘Thor Books’ in New York, while the ‘Losers’ series was published by ‘Hardboiled Publishers’ in Los Angeles.

In other words, it was a story of competition between the East and the West.

The situation was similar for other magazines besides Guns and Sword Magazine.

“I find this ‘Internet’ story here very interesting.”

“The Internet appears in ‘Ender’s Game’ too. Will the Internet become widespread in the future?”

“Wouldn’t that be so? It’s human nature to want to communicate with people far away.”

“The ‘Losers’ series definitely has this contrast: the despair of Part 1 and the hope of Part 2.”

“There is a sense in which the entire work embraces both.”

“This is definitely worth aiming for a big prize.”

“Will it be made into a movie?”

“Well, part 1 isn’t a very good piece visually.”

When the new year came, all the office workers who came to work couldn’t hide their excitement as they talked about the ‘Losers’ series’ achievement of winning seven crowns. It was the first work that had such a big impact. In addition, this work broke down the barrier between the public and the maniac, just like the writer Shin originally did.

“We also saw an increase in magazine sales thanks to this work.”

Leopold Starch, editor-in-chief of Future: Science Fiction, a pulp fiction magazine specializing in science fiction, reached that conclusion in a conversation with his staff.

In fact, there was a small SF boom that came with the popularity of the ‘Losers’ series, and when you look at the sales figures immediately after, you can’t deny that they benefited from the windfall.

“That’s right. That’s right.”

The employees nodded in agreement to those words.

‘Future: Science Fiction’ was an authoritative magazine with a strong editorial influence.

There was a meeting every morning. If Leopold had something to say, the time would extend indefinitely.

Leopold, who had taken up the staff’s time again today by talking about the ‘Losers’ series, continued talking with great excitement.

“The new author will definitely become known throughout America with this work.”

There was no employee there who had the courage to say, ‘That’s already the case.’

Columbia Pictures, one of the biggest production companies in Hollywood, is pursuing a film adaptation of the work, and major news programs like CNN are explaining the significance of the work.

Amidst all sorts of ridiculous rumors, Leopold pushed up his glasses.

For the new writer, this was the lowest point.

“Should I ask for an interview? It should be a special feature.”

“oh.”

“Isn’t that a really good idea?”

“Then you didn’t really think about anything else before?”

“······.”

“Just kidding. Just kidding. Let’s do it. Percy. Contact Hardboiled Publishers and ask if they can interview a new writer. I’ll make it happen. Let’s schedule it as soon as possible and put it in the magazine as a special feature.

It was definitely not a bad idea.

All the staff agreed, and that brought the long meeting to an end.

After everyone left the conference room and returned to their seats, editor Percy immediately called the Hardboiled side and soon after heard something and opened his mouth with a dumbfounded face.

“Uh, editor-in-chief?”

“what’s the matter?”

“······They were already preparing on your side?”

Surprisingly, the hard-boiled publisher was already aware of the whole situation and was preparing a response.

***

The idea for the interview first came from Julia Chandler.

“Maybe we need to expand this a bit more?”

It was when I learned that I had won awards for the seven best-selling magazines in all of California, plus a few smaller ones, for a total of eighteen awards.

She doesn’t want to end it with just the fact that she received an award, but rather wants to create a situation that can create a bigger public opinion.

Simon and I naturally agreed with that opinion.

In the end, literary awards are decided by people.

To let as many people as possible know what my work has accomplished. It was certainly a reasonable idea to achieve our desired goal.

We immediately started brainstorming how we could expand the board a bit more, and the conclusion we came up with was ‘interviews’, which I had never officially conducted before.

Let’s contact each magazine and gather people to conduct official interviews.

“The reason is······Should we commemorate the award?”

“That would be best. When would be a convenient date for you, sir?”

“I guess the weekend would be better.”

The winter semester had started and I was already back at school.

After some thought, we decided to set the date for the notice as January 14th.

So Simon, the CEO and sole editor of Hardboiled Publishers, contacted each magazine one by one to express his gratitude for the award and to tell them the date of the interview.

As many magazines expressed their intention to attend, I thought:

‘It’s an interview.’

In my previous life, ‘Dead Man’s Heaven’ was successful and went on well.

Perhaps because the experts read a lot of novels, they didn’t base their questions on the movie version, which was completely different from my intention, but on the novel version. Maybe that’s why. I tended to talk a lot in front of them, and I remember that the conversation was mostly held in a friendly atmosphere.

‘There were a few difficult questions that came up occasionally, but the editors took care of cutting them out.’

I thought it would turn out like that this time too······.

‘Oh, right.’

I had forgotten that the people I was working with were Julia Chandler and Simon Carver.

I was wondering what was going on when I was asked to come to the daily office that was set up for the interview early in the morning.

“Come on, author. Show me your face.”

“You really have to look handsome today!”

“Because I have to take pictures too.”

I was the one who invited a professional from somewhere and started doing my makeup.

“······I will compete solely with my work.”

“Wouldn’t it be nice if your face could be a weapon too?”

“This is too much.”

While I was getting my make-up done, Julia and Simon were moving around the office busily, setting up tables for the interviewers to sit down. Every now and then, they would come by to check on my make-up or hair, give me a thumbs up, and then leave.

And from then on, I started to feel anxious.

‘It is now 1986.’

From my perspective as a future human living in the future, most of the people here are rustic.

I was shocked by the fact that my friends, like Alexa (who prefers athletic looks), Jiwoo (who prefers hoodie fashion), and Doopi (who wears business and casual attire after getting a job), who I consider to be not old-fashioned, seemed old-fashioned to the people here.

For example, Julia usually keeps her hair as neat as possible because she wants to look professional, but when we were hanging out privately over the weekend, she used some kind of tool to style her hair like a lion’s mane. And judging from the reactions of people around her, she got a pretty good response.

‘Even if the makeup is like that, it’s okay.’

The problem was the hair.

“I’m going to go in and get my hair done.”

A professional(?) who chews bubble gum while plugging in a hair dryer.

Then, all of a sudden, he sprayed a lot of water on my head with a sprayer, soaked it, and started drying my hair.

Puhuuuuuuuung-!

The hot wind felt like my hair was melting.

I felt my head swell as a large light was pulled out from somewhere. I don’t like it. I’m not myself. Such thoughts crossed my mind, and I opened my mouth cautiously to prevent the worst from happening.

“Over there, over there.”

“yes?”

“Just normally······.”

“Oh, yeah.”

The expert nodded and put down the dryer.

Then suddenly he takes out the mousse and sprays it on his palm so that it covers it all.

Puhwaaaaaaaah-!

“······.”

I stopped thinking.

***

Just before the interview began.

“Thank you so much.”

The expert who had been paid for his work went away, chewing bubble gum, and God stood before Simon and Julia, stroking his hardened hair.

With his makeup done and his hair neatly slicked back, he looked like an Asian handsome man with a style that was straight out of the 80s. He looked like he could be working at a New York securities firm right now.

But I myself felt extremely embarrassed by that appearance.

“Wow, author.”

Simon exclaimed in admiration, and the god blushed and muttered aloud.

“Don’t talk to me.”

“No, it’s really cool.”

He found it annoying that Julia was so impressed that her face turned slightly red.

“Okay, then. There’s only one task left.”

“This isn’t the end?!”

“I also prepared a suit.”

“······Am I some kind of Hollywood movie star?”

“We will make it happen.”

If there was an interview in a magazine, it would definitely include a photo of me as I am now.

Julia thought that since it was the first time he would be stuffed and revealed to the public, he had to look as cool as possible. Convinced by her words, he changed into a neat black suit and sat behind a makeshift curtain set up in one corner of the office to kill time until the magazine interviewers arrived.

And soon after, Simon welcomed a guest.

[Oh, welcome back, Mr. Cliff. It’s been a while.]

Welcoming people was a job that suited Simon very well, as he loved people.

In this way, people from eighteen publishing companies were forced to work on weekends.

They each had different thoughts about today’s interview.

Some gathered out of personal interest in the new author, some because they wanted to ask questions about the novel, and some because they felt like, ‘Oh, it’s the weekend and I can’t even rest at home.’ In the midst of all this, Julia stepped forward first and set the mood.

“This official interview was requested by the author himself, who has been focusing solely on his work without any official external activities except for autograph sessions. It seems that the author himself considers it a great honor to receive awards from so many magazines gathered here.”

“······.”

He really had a ghostly way with words.

“Then, we will invite the new writer.”

Clap clap clap-.

Amidst the applause, Shin took a deep breath, opened the curtains, and sat outside.

The interviewers who saw him had various thoughts inside, although they did not show it on the outside.

‘Oh, you said you were Asian?’

‘You’re younger than I thought.’

‘He’s so tall.’

‘So there are a lot of Asians in the work.’

Is it because such colors have been imbued into God’s work?

They weren’t particularly surprised to see an Asian young man appearing before their eyes.

Some of them had thoughts that were somewhat racist, such as, ‘It’s amazing that an Asian can write such a high-quality novel in a language that isn’t even their native language,’ but they never brought themselves up to say them out loud.

It was because of the power of the writer named ‘SEEN’.

A young writer whose influence is now beginning to spread beyond California and across the United States.

Author of the ‘Losers’ series, which has been awarded the highest honors by all the magazines gathered here.

He opened his mouth into the microphone.

“Hello. This is SEEN.”

“If you have any questions, please raise your hand.”

The interviewers raised their hands at Julia’s words.

The first question posed by one of the chosen ones was:

“The ‘Losers’ series is making waves not only in California but throughout the United States. Can you tell us your thoughts on this?”

God answered without hesitation.

“First of all, I would like to thank all the readers who love my novels so much.”

A god who, even while talking so seriously, doesn’t lose his wit and cracks a joke every now and then.

For example, it was like this.

“Simon, my editor in charge, has worked hard for me. I guess I’ll have to buy him a meal later.”

An interview conducted in a friendly atmosphere with light laughter.

The reporters couldn’t help but admire Shin as he skillfully answered the questions that followed, exuding a mature air that was unusual for a young man.

‘At this point, it wouldn’t be that strange to say that he wrote such a novel.’

‘Wow, really. How can you speak so coherently?’

‘Wow. He’s definitely the author of the ‘Losers’ series.’

It was a type of Oriental they had never met before in their lives.

In the minds of those living in 1986, the perception of Asians was that they were ‘hardworking, honest, and somewhat shy people who we only met occasionally but were never really close with.’

But the Asian young man sitting in front of me now, ‘SEEN’, looked completely different.

He answered all my questions eloquently and skillfully.

About the novel. About personal life. Julia’s questions that delve deep into the subject without giving her a chance to intervene are either answered with jokes or gently filtered out.

The final question in the interview, which had been going on for some time, was as follows:

“Do you have any plans for new work?”

“······.”

The god, who had not responded immediately to those words, soon thought.

In fact, I recently got an idea while going back to school.

‘It’s still in the idea stage, so it’s difficult to reveal anything rash.’

Thinking that he should just let it go, a word came to mind.

It was a ‘superhero movie’.