Gaining Reaction [Part 3]

Jaegun shook out his sore fingers and calmed himself. He was determined to complete an entire book in only one day.

“Rika, you’ll be the witness. Watch how fast I write.”

“Meow, meow.”

Jaegun began writing the novel, his face almost pressed against the screen. Rika came over and moved next to the bed to quietly watch Jaegun as he wrote.

“Agh, I’m tired.”

It was 6:30 P.M.—after dinnertime.

Jungjin, who’d been forced to work all night again, was wearing slippers.

This dungeon project just didn’t seem to end. The private testing date was coming up, and it was basically his fate that he’d work all night until the D-Day.

“Mr. Lee, would you like to grab a coffee?” Jungjin asked as he was passing by. Mr. Lee was one of the few people he got along with here.

“I’m sorry, Mr. Park. I’m gonna read the rest of this before getting back to work. But take your time,” Mr. Lee answered calmly with his head down. He was holding a book in his hands.

“What are you reading?” Jungjin asked, taking a step closer to him.

“I only read wuxia novels. This is quite good.”

“A wuxia novel?”

Jungjin’s eyes suddenly sparkled, because he naturally thought of his closest friend’s job.

“This writer’s previous series, well, the basics were there, but the story was so boring,” Mr. Lee continued. “There were too many unnecessary descriptions, so I dropped it after reading a few. He stopped writing for a while, and it seems like he studied a lot. I can’t tear my eyes away from it.”

Jungjin, unable to resist, looked at the cover of the book Mr. Lee was holding. His eyes went wide.

The name of the book was The Annals of the Untouchable Warrior, and the author’s name was Chunyoo Fung.

“Huh? W-wait!”

“What? Have you read this too? You know this writer?”

“N-no. It’s just... I guess I just mistook it for one I read. The title looks similar,” Jungjin answered vaguely.

Mr. Lee nodded and opened the book back up. “Well, wuxia novels do certainly have similar titles.”

“Ha ha, right. Anyway, I’ll go get that coffee.”

“Okay.”

Jungjin quickly rushed out of the office.

As soon as he pressed the elevator button, he took out his phone and dialed Jaegun. There was only one person who used Chunyoo Fung as his pen name.

Jaegun picked up right away. “Hello?”

In the closed elevator, Jungjin rushed to question him.

“Hey, are there other authors with the same pen name as you?”

“What are you talking about?”

“Dude, just tell me. Is there anyone else who uses Chunyoo Fung?”

“I don’t think so... No, there isn’t, as far as I know.”

“Then is your new book called The Annals of the Untouchable Warrior?”

“Dude, I thought you didn’t even have the time to read my book.”

“I’m sorry, but I really didn’t. The reason I called is because Senior Manager Lee at my office is super into reading your book.”

“Really?” Jaegun asked, sounding joyful.

Feeling proud as his friend, Jungjin quickly continued, “I’m not saying this to make you feel good. Mr. Lee, he’s a genre novel fanatic. He reads everything and is really hard to impress. And he says your book is good! He even rejected getting coffee with me because he couldn’t take his eyes off of it.”

“That’s amazing. Seriously.”

“How’s writing going? And the sales?”

“Well, actually, I even got additional printing. A thousand more copies.”

“What?! A thousand?!”

Jungjin leaned back in surprise, hit the back of his head on the elevator wall, and groaned.

“Argh...! Wait, really? F*ck, a thousand more copies in this market? I think this is a sign that this series is gonna do really well! All your hard work is finally paying off! You can buy a house and a car with this!”

“Don’t get ahead of yourself. Houses are expensive.”

“All right. I guess it’s good to keep our expectations low. Dude, I’m just so happy for you! I can’t stop talking. Seriously, this is amazing. Jaegun, f*ck, I’m so f*cking happy for you.”

“Just you wait—I’ll buy you a huge meal after I hit this deadline.”

“Be ready, ’cause I’m gonna eat a lot. Call me after your deadline.”

“Thanks. Goodnight!”

***

Tk!

The call ended.

Jaegun, who’d picked up the call while writing the book, set down the phone with a smile on his face.

He appreciated Jungjin’s call. It’d cheered him up, and he’d been able to take a break for a moment.

There are people who actually think it’s good?

Jaegun was still feeling skeptical. He had stopped searching for his books on the internet a long time ago because he’d only seen negative reviews. Reading things like “Is this really even a book?” or “Not worth the paper it’s printed on,” made him depressed, which made it harder for him to write.

It was better for him not to look.

I shouldn’t.

He really wanted to see the reaction to The Annals of the Untouchable Warrior, but he suppressed the impulse. He would do it after he completed this series, at least.

Vzzz!

The phone vibrated again. The call was from a random number that wasn’t saved in his contacts.

Thinking it might be a spam call, Jaegun picked up the phone.

“Hello?”

“Hello. Is this writer Jaegun Ha?”

“Uh... Who is this?”

“Ohhh, don’t you remember me? I’m editor Jonggoo Ma from Haetae Media. Ha ha ha, I hope you’ve been well.”

Jaegun’s hand, holding the phone, trembled. He bit his lip until it bled, which was his natural reaction.

Haetae Media.

This was the publication company that had published Jaegun’s debut novel five years ago. The company had hurt Jaegun a lot in the past—it was an experience he just wanted to forget. That was why he had deleted the number.

The caller kept on speaking in a friendly tone.

“I guess it’s been years already since we last spoke. A lot has happened. The publication industry is going through difficult times these days, and I had to take on other duties beyond what is normally required as an editor and—”

“What do you need?” Jaegun asked, cutting him off. “I’m busy writing right now. Please get straight to the point.”

“Ooh, yes. You’re writing The Annals of the Untouchable Warrior, right? I’ve been reading it.”

He immediately mentioned Jaegun’s new series, and Jaegun couldn’t help but smile. Apparently, Jungjin wasn’t just getting ahead of himself. It appeared that The Annals of the Untouchable Warrior was, in fact, pretty popular.

Enough to make even this hyena of a man smell it in the air and give him a call after not texting him for years.

“It’s really, really good. The story is dynamic and bold. It’s amazing, seriously. I always knew you’d write something this successful. Ha ha ha!”

For a brief moment, a “this f*cking bastard” expression passed across Jaegun’s face. When his performance had been poor, this editor had only humiliated and insulted him. It was repulsive that he was now trying to flatter him.

“As I mentioned earlier, I’d like to meet you in person soon. Do you still live in Suwon? I’ll pay a visit there and treat you with a mea—”

“No thank you.”

Jaegun outright rejected his proposal. His intentions were obvious. He planned to sneakily take out a contract while buying him an expensive meal.

However, Jaegun didn’t have even one percent interest in signing with Haetae Media.

“I’ve been eating very well. Since it sounds like you don’t have anything more to say, I should go.”

“Mr. Ha? Wait. No, Mr. Ha. Please don’t hang up, just listen to—”

Tk!

Jaegun ignored his rushed voice and hung up the call.

Ten seconds later, he received a call again. So Jaegun went ahead and blocked his number entirely. And with that, the world became completely silent.