Became an American Retro Novelist - Chapter 238



Only Noblemtl

238.

[Now, Kittens Comic Book Store Halloween Party······! The best costume award is!]

Fred Fury, who was standing next to Bill Fury, started playing the cassette player.

Drumroll please······!!

[Congratulations! Star Chaser of Doofy Kingston!]

[Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaagggghhhhh-!!]

For me, it was an expected result.

Amidst the thunderous cheers and applause from everyone, Doopi stepped forward, slightly embarrassed, and smiled brightly as he received a small trophy.

The nerd guys at the comic book store put a crown and sword trophy from KOG goods on a Spider-Man figure, and it was a little crude, but fantastic.

Scalp’s victory was not a simple result.

It was a reward for the hard work and loving actions that had been put into it.

Bill-Fury conducted the interview, saying he was surprised to see her scalp looking much slimmer after losing weight.

[Congratulations on winning! Please tell us your thoughts!]

[Frrrrrrrrr······ What a beautiful night.]

[How did you prepare your costume?]

[I made it myself. I prepared it as a team costume with my friends.]

[Oh, they are definitely all of different quality!]

Bill turned his gaze slightly, and everyone else followed suit and looked at us.

Everyone made adorable expressions as they watched Jiwoo confidently pose with an ‘Ahem!’ Then, when Alexa next to her did ‘Pop☆ Pop☆’, everyone looked away as if they were a little scared.

Looking at it, I realized that the scalp award is not just about the realm of emotion.

My Kung-Fury, because so many people came in costume, the quality and rarity of it went down.

Alexa would sometimes bring out the unconscious Black Mamba, even when she didn’t mean to. It was a scary soda pop. It was somewhat rare and had its own charm, but it was fatal to winning.

And Shifu is cute. He’s the cutest among those gathered today. In other words, he’s very different from the original.

But Scalp Chaser has lost over 40 kilograms (or not) for this day······!

He was the embodiment of willpower and the devil of dieting. In fact, he would not feel awkward at all if he appeared on any major American TV show right now as a willpower dieter.

[I shine the brightest when I’m with them, not alone.]

Plus, there are exquisite lines that fit the character······!

Nerds couldn’t help but be impressed by the true star chaser, Doofy Kingston’s comments.

A star chaser, a hero representing the noble ideals of America. In front of his noble ideals, we all cannot help but believe in the ideals of humanity.

Oh, scalp chaser.

‘It’s touching.’

I really meant it.

I can’t believe that the novel I wrote is loved by so many people, beyond the simple pleasure of reading it, to the point where they even enjoy creating derivative works.

And my friend lost weight and got healthy because of my work.

I wish this moment could last forever.

But of course that couldn’t be the case.

As time passed and it was around twelve o’clock, the party came to an end.

After saying goodbye to Kate, who said she would be home early, I stayed behind in the store to help clean up. After that, we left Kitten’s Comic Book Store, leaving Bill and his friends behind.

“Goodbye!”

“I had fun today! God!”

“It was really the best~!!”

Those who come from far away and wave their hands.

The street was already dark. The first place I drove across the road was Alexa’s house, which was the closest to Kitten’s Comic Book Store.

“Take care~. Today was fun!”

She smiled brighter than the moon shining in the sky, kissed my cheek, and went into the house. After that, I drove back and dropped Doofi off at home.

“It was the best night.”

After giving a thumbs up, Doopi went home with the Lulu Lala trophy.

So I finished my midnight drive and returned home.

“I had so much fun today. Oppa······! Good night!”

I returned to the house where only dim lights were occasionally on, sent Jiwoo up to the second floor first, and then finished showering on the first floor and returned to my room.

Then, without turning on the light, he opened the closet door and sat down inside.

After searching the floor, I soon found a small lantern that had fallen somewhere. I turned it on and looked around the closet full of new clothes for a while, but soon realized that there was nothing I could lean my back against.

‘Oh, this part has changed a lot too.’

In my previous life, I was a young man who had no interest in things like clothes. So whenever I was stuck in the closet, I would grab whatever clothes I could get my hands on, stack them thickly, and use them as a backrest.

If I do that, when I take it out and wear it later, it will be all wrinkled, but I don’t care.

But not now.

First of all, Alexa had a big influence.

On the contrary to me, she was very interested in fashion. However, unlike the general sentiment of the 80s, she pursued her own style rather than flashy neon-style clothes… In other words, she pursued a relatively futuristic style, and to my eyes, it was exquisitely pretty and very pleasing to the eye.

So I accepted her tastes and interest in fashion without much resistance, and I often bought clothes that Alexa chose for us on our shopping dates. She also gave me detailed advice on many things, starting with how to take care of clothes.

Combined with that, as I gradually lost the habit of locking myself in the closet, this is what happened.

But today, I felt like I had to do ‘it’.

‘Sorry, Alexa.’

Today, I wanted to recreate the old days for a moment. I grabbed whatever clothes I could and laid them out on the floor to make a small backrest, and leaned against it comfortably.

And then I fell into deep thought.

Tim Burton mentioned ’emptiness’ as a common code in my novels.

But as I continued to work with him, I realized that it wasn’t a perfect metaphor.

The word ’emptiness’ was an expression that came from Tim Burton looking at me through his camera lens. But the reason I was so intrigued by that word at the time was because I felt that it wasn’t a completely nonsensical word.

Wanting to know more about what that feeling was, I delved into Tim Burton’s world, comparing it to my own, and finally found the answer through a Halloween party.

Originally, I was this kind of person.

My father passed away suddenly. My family was sinking into debt. My mother rarely smiled.

In the midst of all this, I had to become an adult early. I had to hide myself and give up many aspects of myself that I had been able to enjoy as a boy.

Still, being a person with emotions, I somehow escaped into genre novels to relieve my stress.

Growing up in that state, and after my mother passed away, I finally started writing novels and was able to learn little by little how to express myself.

But even in a life where I tried to improve, I had to experience failure disguised as success.

‘That’s right.’

I never learned how to comfort myself properly.

I’m still haunted by memories from my childhood.

Of course, a lot has changed since I was able to repaint my life through miraculous phenomena.

Now, colorful light has come into my life. In the photos taken with the camera, not only my mother and I, but also Dupi, Jiwoo, and Alexa, who has become my precious person, were all together.

And that’s not all.

Simon and Julia too.

The friends I made when I went to college.

The nerd guys at the comic book store too.

Readers and industry professionals who respect me.

I no longer pursued hatred or wallowed in pessimism and gloom.

The me back then and the me now are not the same being.

But that doesn’t mean that my past memories of being alone have disappeared.

The human mind is a culmination of memories that stretch from the moment of birth to the present.

Now, I truly cherish the time I spend with the people around me and my life itself, but at the same time, somewhere deep in my heart, I still hold onto the moments when I sat alone in this closet, reading pulp fiction and comic books.

And I thought those memories created something special in my foundation.

Tim Burton must have been impressed by something that had seeped into my novel.

‘Two lives.’

Two photos taken at the same time.

A photo of me and my mother, who isn’t smiling, and a photo of me and my friends in Halloween costumes.

It was all me.

‘Now is the time to face my past properly.’

The new protagonist that I thought of at the comic book store was none other than ‘My Past Life’.

Days of trying to take on responsibilities that I couldn’t possibly fulfill, constantly pushing myself too hard for them, and not taking proper care of myself.

The unresolved emotions at that time ended up causing me to hate myself, distrust those around me, and eventually become helpless.

I know.

The self from back then still remains within me.

Now it was time to pull it out.

***

God has truly accomplished so much.

This young artist, who debuted at the age of 16 and is now in his 6th year, has captivated many people by revealing his colors to the world, and now, whenever his work is released, it creates a stir across the United States.

And as we work with such writers, hard-boiled publishers have also achieved tremendous growth.

From all the tax processing to copyright management and contracts, promotion and management of works, discovery of new works, and care for writers, it was virtually impossible for CEO Simon Carver to manage all of these tasks alone. That is why he hired people to take on the existing work and additional tasks such as tax agency.

But Simon Carver, who thought that was not enough, went to someone and opened his mouth as if begging them.

“The amount of money that the new writer earned last year was a whopping one million dollars.”

“······This is scary.”

Julia Chandler’s eyes widened when she heard those words.

Considering the success of the ‘Losers’ series and ‘Kung-fury’, and the fact that he was buying back his previous works on the expiration date of their respective contracts and distributing them anew, it was a natural result. Shin has now reached a point where he can truly live ‘until he dies without worrying about money’.

But in reality, for a writer, money is just a number once it passes a certain level.

Among those who work to express their world and gain recognition, there were even those who, before achieving economic freedom, classified money as nothing more than a measure of the attention people paid to them.

Julia, who knew that fact, later considered asking God to give her a car in exchange for the typewriter… but decided against it. She thought that if she said it out loud, he might not take it as a joke and buy her a car for real.

“Is that all? I don’t know what this writer does on a daily basis, but he writes novels at an extraordinary speed. I heard he’s still publishing short stories in magazines all over the United States!”

“Didn’t you say that those were all reprints of things you wrote for school assignments?”

“That’s right! No matter what, it’s a bit like that! If a writer misses deadlines and has some shortcomings, and says, ‘Editor, I can’t do it,’ then I feel like I have to help them as an editor!”

“······You sound like you’re full.”

Julia, who had recently had a huge fight with a writer who never met deadlines, opened her eyes with a glare.

“Anyway, I’m very busy with business.”

“Yeah. You must have had a hard time.”

“Meanwhile, all kinds of manuscripts are pouring into the company.”

“so?”

“Julia, have you ever thought about becoming a professional editor?”

Hearing that, Julia thought.

‘He never talks back.’

But I thought that attitude could be considered attractive from a business perspective. Simon was a very unique and good person as the head of a company who did not beat around the bush when he had to be honest, and at the same time took responsibility for everything that happened in the process.

‘Because I’m a former employee.’

It wasn’t an issue that Julia hadn’t considered until now, but it was also true that she had hesitated, wondering if she could do it well.

It was her typical hesitation, as she seemed bold and confident, but was unable to honestly reveal herself.

But recently, my thoughts have changed, albeit a little.

“I just want to ask you one thing.”

“Yes, yes. What is it?”

“You and Writer Shin······where do you want to go?”

Julia’s question had many implications.

Of course, the main intention was the business part. Julia Chandler was asking Shin and Simon how high they wanted to go with this ‘hard-boiled publisher’ company.

Will you grow the company and sell it? Or will you continue to run it?

Simon answered that question.

“Uh, I don’t know.”

“······?”

“To be honest, I never imagined it would turn out this well.”

“······Usually, the media content industry is determined by the power of the media that it owns. It means that the ripple effect that the new writer has is insane. Be thankful every day, and pray for where you are every morning. Simon Carver.”

“I guess that’s how it should be?”

“Sigh, I think we need to hire a professional manager first······.”

“No.”

“huh?”

Simon, who has a man’s face at times like this.

Julia smiled without realizing it as she looked into those sparkling eyes.

And Simon said:

“A good publisher needs good works, and good works need the help of good editors.”

“······So, Nani?”

“Yes. And there are times when I think it would be better for the two of us to work on Mr. Shin’s work together rather than just me.”

“Why did you think so?”

“Oh, that’s because of a short story by a new writer that’s being published in a magazine in Nevada this time… You said it was a recent practice piece?”

Even Simon, who deeply understands the new author, was unable to speak freely about the work due to its intensity.

A wizard who has devoted his entire life to the study of magic for the benefit of mankind realizes that he is terminally ill the moment he completes his spell. He quickly compiles the spell and uses it on himself. He then dies with the hope of saving humanity from its miserable lives.

And then the dead body came back to life and started walking.

The magic developed by the man is the ‘magic of immortality’.

But he didn’t know that if he used it on someone who was already dead, only the corpse would be revived.

The first half offered a glimmer of hope from a first-person perspective, but the ending of the novel, which follows the protagonist’s revival, was quite shocking.

I liked the content because it reminded me of the author’s early work, ‘Mother’, but I also felt like there was something more to it, which made me think this way.

“I feel like I haven’t fully recognized the writer’s talents yet as an editor.”

A story of ‘despair’ rather than ‘hope’ within God.

That’s why Simon thought he needed Julia’s help.