Became an American Retro Novelist - Chapter 240



Only Noblemtl

240.

The editors of Legendary Stories, a pulp fiction magazine published in Nevada, hoped that publishing Shin’s short story would give them a sudden sales boost. And indeed, they did.

People who were browsing through the magazines in comic book stores everywhere noticed the advertising text on the magazine cover and showed interest. They picked up Legendary Stories, which they usually don’t buy, and talked excitedly.

“Oh, I heard a new writer’s work was published here this time?”

“God? The one who wrote the ‘Losers’ series?”

Nevada is mostly desert, and until the mid-20th century, before the development of Las Vegas began, it was treated as little more than a stepping stone to the neighboring state of California.

The effects still remain in some places, with areas where there is only one road and a few poor signs in a complete desert. And in those places, many people do not go to high school and instead make a living by helping their families in the business, such as ranching or mining.

A town full of people who drive cattle while wearing cowboy hats, chewing tobacco under their lips, and humming country music that has been passed down by word of mouth.

But even in a place where every problem can be solved with a shotgun and a tequila shot, there are bound to be nerds.

“Oh, I used some force on the cover.”

“Okay. Should I buy one?”

“The novel here is not interesting.”

“Hey, hey, aren’t you curious about the fact that God serialized short stories?”

“Oh, that’s definitely true. Let’s buy one.”

Nerds who are intrigued by the mere fact that a novel about a god has been published and buy the book.

Legendary Stories also anticipated such a reaction, and separately asked the writers to develop the most interesting episodes to match the timing of the new writer’s short story publication. Even when they heard that the new writer’s work was published, wholesalers from other states bought the magazine and sold it without going through the general distributor.

Many people read the magazine that spread like this, and they all had similar reactions to ‘Magician’s End’.

‘What is this?’

‘It’s very unique.’

‘I had a rough idea that the ending might turn out like this.’

‘Hey, it’s still so vain.’

Most readers could not help but be impressed.

The main character, the wizard, was certainly a difficult character to sympathize with, but his philosophy and the description of his research into immortality within the work were extremely interesting.

And in the middle part, the part where he uses the magic of immortality while risking his life for the glory of humanity was portrayed in a very noble way.

Finally, only the body of the dead wizard came back to life and began to walk slowly.

As I read the calm description of how he, who was arrogant but had dignity, suddenly turned into a piece of meat and walked around, readers felt a variety of emotions. Are humans just beings that return to nothingness?

So, that absurd ending might have been a foregone conclusion.

In the end, the wizard met a futile end without achieving anything he wanted.

Many people felt bitter at his end, where even his dignity as a human being was destroyed in vain. And that is why the last scene strangely remained in their memories.

It has been said that comedy is limited to emotions, but tragedy involves reason.

Many people have read the short story ‘Magician’s End’ in Legendary Stories and enjoyed its aftertaste for a while.

“I’m sure the new author is good at writing these kinds of articles in an appealing way?”

“Really? I felt a little awkward?”

“Why?”

“This novel has a very dark feel to it. It feels completely different from the ‘Losers’ series or ‘Kung-fury’. ‘Country of Losers’ was secretly like that, but ‘Universe of Losers’ ended with a completely different feeling.”

“Haha, that’s because you don’t know the true nature of God.”

“The real thing? Huh, then how do you know that?”

“That author wrote a debut novel called ‘Mother’. It’s a horror novel, and it’s really fun. You should read it. It’s the kind of novel that’s extremely dark.”

“Ugh, I don’t really like horror novels.”

“What? You say horror novels aren’t that great? Seriously, you’re just being nerdy without any hardships. I really find it more fun than any other novel. After going through hardships in life, even that feels too easy now, so I wish the new writer would write one more work like that old, poisonous ‘Mother.’”

Even in New York, a long way from Nevada, those who somehow received the package and read ‘Magician’s End’ had small talk mixed with nerd pride.

Anyway, the reactions to that were mixed.

Readers who know Shin’s early works will smile at the extremely cynical and dry ‘Magician’s End’, but those who started with the ‘Losers’ series or ‘Kung-fury’ will be surprised to find that Shin’s novel is completely free of the ‘hymn to humanity’ tone.

And there was also some talk from DC Comics, which produces ‘Kung-fury: Comics’ about it.

Lunch time, a chance to take a breather after finishing your morning work.

Robert, the editor-in-chief of DC Comics, suddenly heard this in the company cafeteria.

“Director, have you seen the new writer’s short story this time?”

“Oh, that? I read it. Why?”

DC Comics stocks comic books, magazines, and novels from various publishers in-house.

Robert, who occasionally looked for it whenever he wanted to take a breather, happened to read the promotional copy of a magazine called ‘Legendary Stories’ and read the new writer’s short story.

“I definitely feel like this writer is not simple.”

“In what sense?”

“While writing a piece like ‘Kung-fury,’ I felt it was truly amazing that I could write something that could so coldly touch people’s hearts.”

“I disagree.”

Robert, who was advised to go on a diet by his doctor, replied while receiving a salad he disliked.

“It’s basically a cold, sinking feeling, so you can write something like ‘Kung-fury.’ It’s actually funny, it’s cheerful, and you can feel the affection for humanity… and that’s what makes it popular, but the underlying tone is basically black comedy.”

“Oh, right. That’s why the cheerful part shines even more.”

Therefore, ‘Kung-fury’ is by no means a simple piece to watch.

In a way, it was surprising. ‘Kung-fury’, which started as a black comedy, succeeded in connecting the limitations of an individual to a discourse on heroes and ultimately achieving a perfect ending. In terms of the work and business.

‘At that young age.’

Creativity, genre, and commerciality.

A work with three beats evenly distributed and a ‘character’ that makes such a work shine are not that common.

‘Kung-fury: Comics’ was going to follow the original series, and even after that, it was going to be a new series or an expanded universe through collaboration with the talented writer Shin. That’s because it was a very popular work among the current lineup within DC Comics.

Robert sat in the cafeteria, munching on his salad, not particularly surprised that God had written something like ‘Magician’s End’, but wondering what new work he would come up with next.

***

After returning to Los Angeles after finishing the fall semester of my junior year, I received a call from an unexpected person.

It was none other than Julia Chandler.

She said she wanted to talk to me for the first time in a while, asking how I’ve been.

After saying okay without thinking much about it, I headed straight to Hardboiled Publishers, where I found myself sitting at the conference table with a smile on my face that I couldn’t read.

Our eyes met and we immediately exchanged greetings.

“Hello, author.”

“······hello?”

Why are you suddenly being so polite?

Didn’t conversations usually start with something like, “Are you here?” “Okay.” “Let’s talk.”

As expected, Julia slipped a business card across the table.

Only after I confirmed it did I end up chuckling.

Hardboiled publisher.

General Manager, Editorial and Marketing Team 1.

Julia Chandler.

“Author, I ask for your help in the future.”

“When did we start talking without me knowing?”

“Simon was crying and begging, so I had no choice.”

“Well, Julia is trustworthy. Please take good care of her. Rebecca, who remains in Lo-Tam, will be sad, though.”

“I decided to continue to outsource that work for the time being. It was something I asked you to do, but I thought it would be disrespectful as an industry professional if you just irresponsibly leave it at that after completing the handover.”

······I suddenly remembered a crazy person who, as soon as he decided to quit his job, yelled at his boss and made a scene. Incidentally, that crazy person was currently away at an external meeting.

“Anyway, I think I’ll be taking over Simon’s current work and mainly taking charge of the work and overall marketing. In that sense, as the first plan, we’re currently working on a project to collect the short stories that the writer Shin has published in various magazines and make them into a book. There must be many readers who want to read the writer’s short stories that are scattered all over the United States. We’re going to make it with a high collection value. I’ll show the writer the plan as soon as possible.”

He is competent. He is definitely an extremely competent person.

I was amazed when I rediscovered Julia’s abilities.

Certainly, I thought it wouldn’t be a bad idea to collect the manuscripts currently being published in various magazines and publish them as a book someday, but I didn’t know that the planning was already in progress.

“In that sense, I’d like to ask, why did you give the manuscript to Legendary Stories?”

“Oh, actually, Simon is in charge of that part.”

“I see. ······I’ll have to scold him later.”

My remarks were about to create a bizarre situation where the employee was scolding the CEO.

“Oh, no, because I agreed?”

“Why?”

“······Is there really a need to give it to you?”

“From now on, I will thoroughly manage the request for manuscripts. I can’t just let some random magazine company use your work. It’s not just a matter of the size of the magazine, but the content of your work is not reflected at all on the cover, so I don’t know how they would have allowed it to proceed.”

scary.

This is really scary, Julia Chandler.

When I heard her declaration that she would only allow serialization in places that properly use my work, I couldn’t help but laugh awkwardly. I was certainly trustworthy, but I was also a bit worried about Simon, who would be nagging at me, so I tried to calm her down by changing the subject.

“Oh, what was your first project here?”

“First of all, it’s the author’s new work.”

“Oh, I’m looking forward to that. ······Yes? Me? Why?”

suddenly?

My eyes widened at the completely unexpected answer.

Then Julia asked with a gentle smile.

“Why are you so surprised? We used to work together often.”

“No, that’s not it. You knew what I was going to write for my next new work, so you put Julia in charge of it?”

“I think I have a rough idea.”

I felt a little embarrassed.

Julia was not one to easily make vague statements, even as a joke. Which meant that she had a rough idea of ​​what kind of novel I was going to write.

When the thought reached that point, I felt somehow naked. It was the way novelists tend to become sloppy when someone digs into their novels and tries to guess their thoughts.

‘Because a novel is a result of projecting one’s own ego.’

Julia looked at me, my cheeks turning red for a moment, and answered playfully.

“You’ve been a bit dark lately, haven’t you?”

“······Me?”

“You can tell by looking at the short stories that have been published recently.”

“Do you know when I wrote that?”

“I have a rough idea. I want to know everything about the author.”

“······This is a very dangerous statement. Please be careful.”

I looked around briefly as if I was worried that someone might hear me, and lowered my voice. Of course, Julia looked completely indifferent.

In the end, he snickered and relaxed his shoulders. Simon is not good at accepting jokes like this, but Julia is different. The relationship between a writer and an editor is such that they can lightly exchange even the most ridiculous situations.

“So, when did you notice?”

“Actually, it was Simon who noticed it first. He said that the manuscripts you’ve been writing lately have started to feel like your early works. So I read them with interest and wanted to hear what you had to say about it. Since you’re so prolific, it definitely stands out more.”

“Well, I can’t deny it.”

I nodded slowly.

Julia Chandler was a capable editor in a different sense than Simon Carver.

For example, let’s say I suddenly became overly obsessed with artistry and declared that all my previous novels would be developed as if they were the protagonist’s dreams.

Simon was the type who would rather go along with the madness and throw himself into it if it meant something, and if it definitely reflected my will.

But Julia was the type to calm me down by saying, ‘Author, are you laughing now?’

Since I’m usually a cool-headed person, I feel like I work better with Simon, who quietly encourages me rather than being aggressive, but Julia is also a great working partner.

Moreover, it seemed like it would be a better fit to work with her on this novel.

Thinking like that, I opened my mouth.

“Julia, what comes to mind when you think of ‘hard-boiled’?”

“Well, there are a lot of different works from different eras, but of course it’s ‘Philip Marlowe.’”

By Philip Marlowe.

A fictional character appearing in a mystery novel written by Raymond Chandler, a relative of Julia Chandler, he was a detective character who was synonymous with hard-boiled detective work.

But just because he’s arguably one of the best characters in the long history of hardboiled fiction doesn’t mean he represents everything about the genre.

I wanted to say this about hardboiled.

“Can I swear a little?”

“As much as you want.”

“Hardboiled is a novel about a man who follows his own rules in a ‘shitty world.’”

“Oh, when the writer swears, it’s somehow sexy.”

Julia giggles without denying what I said.

“The genre of the new work is hardboiled.”

“That’s right. And we’ll mix in elements of crime, mystery, etc.”

“Is it some kind of noir? What kind of drug-like novel will you make this time?”

While the atmosphere of this place was becoming extremely ‘hard-boiled’, I thought of the main character of this novel.

A city ruled by a huge criminal organization.

A man who has lost everything lives only for revenge, while even public power is incompetent and corrupt.

And then a girl appears in his life, which was filled with nothing but struggle.

“Are you by any chance the main character’s buddy?”

“No. There is only one role given to a girl. It is to simply ‘exist.’ What kind of meaning does that give to a man?”

With the goal of being a ‘good son to his mother’, the protagonist borrows some of his past self’s appearance to somehow adapt to and survive in this American society, where he lived alone and did not trust others.

His name is Jack Bitters.

‘Nightmare of Bitters’, in which he appears, has already begun writing.