Became an American Retro Novelist - Chapter 221



Only Noblemtl

221.

God pressed the play button on the radio cassette.

At that moment, the theme song from the 1985 movie ‘Rocky IV’, ‘Burning Heart’, started playing on the channel.

A melody full of tragedy. It was a theme song(?) that fit the current situation perfectly.

The dusty sandbag in the basement of the house was quickly transformed into a perfect piece of exercise equipment after a light cleaning. There were also boxing gloves, and Doofy Kingston, who had been overcharged with energy from eating eight hamburger sets, naturally put them on and stood in front of the sandbag.

“Frrrrrrrrrr······.”

The scalp, which had lightly brushed its lips, moved its body.

Boom! Boom!

A man is bound to be able to throw a punch, even if he doesn’t learn it, just because it’s instinctive or as seen in the media.

Doofy had fun moving his body, imitating Rocky Balboa’s movements in the movie ‘Rocky IV’, which he enjoyed watching.

Looking at that sight, God smiled brightly and shouted.

“Okay! Scalp! You’re a total star chaser now!”

He had gained weight, but perhaps it was because he had the muscle mass to support that much weight. As if his adrenaline was running high, his scalp continued to punch the sandbag without getting tired.

The god nodded as if he was satisfied, and when the sandbag was pushed away by the force, he held onto the back of the sandbag like a trainer and helped the scalp to land a good punch.

Jiwoo, who was sitting on the basement stairs and watching it, opened his mouth with a smirk.

“All men like that kind of thing.”

“······huh.”

“Alexa?”

“Oh, sorry.”

Alexa, who had been looking at the book as if she was almost buried in it, raised her head. Jiwoo, who saw ‘Kung-fury: novel’ in her hand, tilted his head and asked.

“Is it that fun? You’ve been reading books all this time.”

“Oh, yeah. This······ somehow it hits home.”

“In what way?”

“Sodapop, that’s totally my style.”

Alexa muttered with a serious face and began to immerse herself in the book again.

Jiwoo felt a strange feeling next to him.

Alexa had come to know about nerd culture to some extent by hanging out with the four of them, but she had never shown such great interest in the superhero genre.

What exactly was it about Sodapop that caught Alexa’s attention?

‘It’s amazing.’

A scalp obsessed with star chasers.

And Alexa is crazy about soda pop.

Jiwoo looked at God among them.

What was most amazing of all was that he managed to get two completely different people deeply absorbed in his story.

***

Doofy Kingston decided to believe in God.

I cut out sugar as he ordered, eat as much as I can normally, and exercise regularly whenever I feel like it.

After preparing and eating dinner together at home, the friends returned home, and Doopi, feeling his body twitching again as night fell, went down to the basement.

Bang! Bang!

Every time I listened to music on the radio and hit the sandbag, I felt good for some reason.

‘Not bad.’

Unlike when I first hit the sandbag, I was now used to hitting it quite a bit, so the sandbag didn’t shake too much. I threw a punch with all my might, and then moved my thick body to avoid the sandbag that was coming back to me after it swayed greatly.

How much time has passed like that?

His whole body was drenched in sweat, and his scalp was engrossed in hitting the sandbag, not even realizing that his parents, with whom he had spent a cozy time, had returned.

The son was not at home, and Doopi’s parents, who came down to the basement after hearing a suspicious noise, quickly opened their eyes wide in surprise.

“Scalp?”

“Oh, mother, father.”

“You were hitting the sandbag.”

“Oh, yes. I was thinking about doing some exercise.”

“······? why?”

“yes?”

“Oh, no. Sorry.”

My mother came over to me, coughing slightly.

My son, who loves junk food and grew up eating whatever he wanted since childhood, suddenly started exercising. As a parent, I was surprised.

Doopi, who understood the feelings of such parents, said this with a soft and thick smile like ham.

“I wanted to change a little bit.”

“Son, what happened?”

“I met someone who inspired me.”

“Really? Should we continue and listen to the story?”

“Okay, Father.”

His father held the sandbag, and Doopi threw punches without any worries. Doopi’s mother felt a strange sense of emotion as she listened to their conversation, watching the bond between her son and father grow as they moved their bodies together.

“Son. You are an inspiration?”

“He’s a character in a novel by my friend Shin. He’s the strongest superhero, but he’s black.”

“Oh, so being black is an important point in the story?”

“Yes. He’s a character who has a huge conflict between his own identity and what the public wants him to be as a superhero. I felt like that was me. . . . I also felt different from normal black kids growing up.”

“What do you mean? Scalp. You’re really ordinary······.”

“I think I know what you mean.”

Unlike the mother who tried to comfort her with sad words, the father nodded in understanding.

The scalp smiled.

“Actually, my family is like that. Only white people live in this neighborhood, and the kids in the black neighborhood across the street dress very differently from us. Of course, I am grateful for my life. I think I was able to grow up well because my parents raised me without giving up on me, who was sick and lacking in social skills.”

The confession was like a confession to one’s parents.

The combination of exercise passion, star chaser idolization, and realistic goals.

Doopi felt his spirit filled with passion and spoke his thoughts honestly.

“But now I want to overcome myself. I want to stop being a spoiled brat and start changing.”

“······.”

“······.”

The two are surprised that a hero from a novel could change their son so much.

Doopi thought as he threw punch after punch.

Star Chaser was the most righteous superhero in ‘Kung-fury’.

Even though he continued to struggle with racial identity issues, he never hesitated to save people, almost like a modern, more direct reinterpretation of Superman.

And it was also a character that pointed out uncomfortable aspects of the black community.

There was a contradictory attitude among black people who cried out about the discrimination and poverty they received from society, but when a black person appeared who was ‘successful in a socially acceptable way’, they called him ‘Oreo’ or treated him as a ‘traitor’.

This is how the Star Chaser first appeared.

After going through a complex testing process, concept development, and suit development, Kung-Fury finally became a federally recognized superhero.

While continuing his life of helping people in trouble, catching criminals, and promoting Shifu’s kung fu dojo, he is thrown into an operation to crack down on a criminal organization.

The first superhero to be formally tagged up with while being deployed on the same operation was none other than ‘Star Chaser’.

After the crime syndicate bust, Star Chaser has a brief conversation with Kung-Fury, who tells him that he is a new hero who has arrived in the Los Angeles area.

As the two talk about their own strong philosophies along with the mindset of a hero, they become interested in each other.

Star Chaser was one of the few heroes who was active nationwide.

He could fly faster than anyone else, so whenever his power was needed anywhere in America, he would fly there, do his job, and return.

But in recent years, organized crime has been on the rise in Los Angeles, and naturally, the two have been meeting more often.

Star Chaser criticizes the gimmick of ‘Kung Fury’ as a typical Asian stereotype, saying that Asians are seen as Bruce Lee or characters from Hong Kong cinema films because of such narrow-minded images.

Kung-Fury shrugs and replies, “Well, that’s true, but I guess Asians should use it too if they need to.”

Like Shifu’s Kung Fu Dojo or Fujiyama Kung Fu.

And Koreatown and Chinatown, which were created by people rallying around their roots.

That’s the only way Asians can survive in this immigrant country.

Star Chaser nods, saying that it’s an interesting idea.

The problem arose during subsequent operations.

Two people try to arrest the supervillain ‘Odd-Eye’ who is trying to take over a chemical plant and pollute the water supply, and a member of a criminal organization.

Kung-Fury, who fought with full awareness of the existence of guns and not letting his guard down like before, subdues the members of the criminal organization and Odd-Eye together with Star Chaser.

But their plan had already been put into action.

The water pipes that flow into the city began to leak poisonous substances. Star Chaser held on by grabbing hold of the poisonous substances and twisting them to block them, while Kung-Fury, who had destroyed the connection to the water pipes, witnessed Star Chaser’s suit melting away due to the poisonous substances, revealing the face underneath.

To withstand flight beyond the speed of sound, ‘black’ skin that is much harder and thicker than others.

He was black.

“Star Chaser. I can see your face.”

“······?!”

“It would be better to hide it so those guys don’t see it.”

It’s nothing. As he spoke, Kung-Fury slowly approached Star Chaser. But immediately after, with a thud, a giant poison tube weighing over a ton fell to the ground.

The moment I felt an ominous feeling based on my instincts, my vision became dizzy and Star Chaser disappeared from sight.

What followed was a terrible scream.

‘I try my best not to kill criminals. We exist to protect, not to destroy.’

The words of the Star Chaser that had impressed me suddenly came to mind. However, the superhero who had said those words was brutally murdering a criminal right before my eyes.

“Star, chaser?”

“I’m sorry, I’m really sorry······. I can’t help it······.”

A face covered in tears and blood.

Star Chaser, with a distorted expression and panic, approached Kung-Fury and strangled him.

“Ugh?!”

“No one should know my true self. I’m sorry, Fury. I’m so sorry······.”

Kung-Fury felt his vision slowly darken along with the horrible sensation of his breathing being cut off.

Star Chaser was a model and upright being as a superhero, but behind the scenes, he was suffering from a strong denial of his own identity as a black person.

Kung-Fury, who was revived through time travel, could not fully understand the pain of the Star Chaser, but he succeeded in solving the case through a slightly safer and faster method.

And when he returns after completing his mission, he hears from Shifu what kind of place this American society is.

Black people through the eyes of Asians. Asians as they perceive themselves.

All of this mixed together, and the story in the novel gradually began to progress.

And as he read the transformation of Star Chaser that took place in the highlight of the story, Doofi naturally placed him deep in his heart.

No, maybe it was a character that felt meaningful not only to Scalp, but also to many black people living in this era.

As they listened to the story about the scalp, their parents’ eyes became moist.

‘If I hadn’t been sick, would things have been different?’

My son had a poor heart condition during his childhood and spent a lot of time in bed.

That memory clearly had a big impact on his life. Rather than going out to play, he spent most of his time at home immersed in his imaginary world, and they unconditionally let him do whatever he wanted.

And ironically, the broad imagination and thick body he developed as a result ended up bringing him yet another agony.

But now, that imaginary world has inspired in his son the will to change.

It made me push myself beyond my limits to accept myself, regardless of race or health.

Reginald Kingston, Doofy’s father, said with a grin.

“Son, I just want to say one thing.”

“Yes, father.”

“We never once wanted to give up or think about holding on while raising you. You were always our most precious son.”

“······.”

Doopi, who felt an indescribable emotion, swung his fist with all his might.

Ppaang-!

The sandbag made an incredibly pleasant sound.

***

I definitely thought that this shouldn’t be the case.

Because I had a meeting with the film company tomorrow morning.

It was right to wash up and go to bed early so that I could meet them in the best possible condition.

But Alexa couldn’t do that.

Because I couldn’t put down the book I was holding in my hand······!!

‘This is really fun!’

I bought the new novel, ‘Kung-fury: novel’, on the day it was released, but I haven’t been able to read it because I’ve been so busy lately.

Comic book issues can be read in 20 minutes or less, but novels are different. But this guy called ‘Sodapop’ really resonated with me.

[Isn’t money the best?]

At first, I thought it was just that simple.

[If not money, what else should I pursue? What on earth should I do?]

From there, my heart began to waver.

[I have to become a complete commodity in front of the public.]

Alexa Flair’s heart fluttered.

It was as if the character was a replica of his own situation.

‘I know how you feel, Sodapop.’

Alexa, a golden retriever who sympathized with and was sentimental towards the fictional character, continued reading the novel even while sniffling.

At first, Sodapop gave a long speech in front of Kung Fury about the attitude that a superhero of this era should have, in other words, ‘becoming what the public wants’.

But in reality, contrary to her words, she was just a ‘so-so’ superhero.

A woman who is more of a model than a heroine, who became the model for a cola company because of her suit that reveals her body curves and her superpower called ‘carbonation’.

Contrary to her glamorous appearance as a hero, she actually had a rather poor past and struggled to escape poverty by using her sexual appeal and power to be chosen by capital and the public.

Even in those parts that were different from her own, Alexa was deeply immersed and empathized.

“Woah······. Cheer up······. Soda pop······.”

Even though she had a meeting with a film company the next morning, she couldn’t help but read God’s novel all night long.