Novelist Running Through Time

Chapter 13: Other

Today, New Light Spring Orphanage is peaceful as ever.

Its a quiet weekend.

The physical education teacher, who comes twice a week, taught the children soccer, and in the yard, a dozen or so kids happily chased after a single ball, their emotions rising and falling with each kick.

Weekend volunteers assisted the orphanage teachers with various errands and taught the children, while those who were becoming increasingly anxious about their future studied in the study room.

Today, I sat on the stump of a large tree in the yard, observing everything within my sight.

The hurried Bang Jeong-ah teacher running somewhere, the high school couple who are an institution at the orphanage, the angelic volunteer adored and respected by all the children. And so on.

A certain vibrancy, embedded in the daily lives of many, came together to create an atmosphere that could be called peaceful.

An orphanage is fundamentally a place where people gather to help others, and although occasionally there are incidents like sexual harassment or embezzlement, at its core lies the spirit of love and sharing.

Returning to my childhood, I now understand.

My school life was hellish, but the orphanage life, which I used to be embarrassed about and found repulsive, wasnt so bad after all.

I enjoyed this tranquility in my daily life.

On the other hand.

The world inside the internet was not like that.

[Breaking News, Former B Publishing Editor Mr. Lim Exposes the Tradition of Paying for Debut]

[Baekhak Publishing, We will take strong action against malicious rumors]

[16 Literary Awards Won Simultaneously? The Answer is Money.]

That was right.

A war was raging there

EP 2 Other

Spring is the most vibrant time in the literary world.

Its not because of the good weather. Seeing the yellow sky filled with Chinese pollution dust, talk of good weather goes away, and one ends up covering their mouth with a KF94 mask.

Theres a different reason why the literary world waits for spring.

Its because the results of the Annual Spring Literary Contest are announced.

The Annual Spring Literary Contest, commonly organized by major newspapers, is a collective term for literary award competitions. Its almost the only way to become an author in Korea and boasts an incredibly high competition rate.

The most special aspect of this contest is,

It does not allow established authors to participate.

Considering the numerous evil spirits on the Korean server of StarCraft who prey on beginners, its clear why StarCraft failed despite match-fixing, while the literary world did not. Its important to introduce beginners into the industry.

Therefore, the Annual Spring Literary Contest is a writing battle royale a stage for proving oneself that the entire literary world pays attention to.

Despite the decline in prestige due to the rise of SNS, the growth of the independent publishing market, and the rapid advancement of the web novel industry, the Annual Spring Literary Contest remains the most splendid flower of the Korean literary world.

Thus,

Every year, countless literati knock on the door of the Annual Spring Literary Contest.

Wielding their pens to make a name for themselves in the literary world.

There are those who studied under famous authors from prestigious backgrounds,

Those who practiced writing erotic novels or web novels,

Terrifying warriors who have wielded their pens at newspapers for 30 years, amassing bloodshed,

And even strange beings of the demonic path who absorb others writings through a soul-stealing technique and use them as their own.

Numerous martial artists no, literati gather at the Annual Spring Literary Contest. They engage in a true battle of pens to determine victory and defeat.

The elders of the literary world evaluate the submitted works with a strict eye, and after a long period of judging and contemplation, when spring arrives and the trees start to bloom

The winners of the Annual Spring Literary Contest are finally announced.

And the festival begins.

Established authors evaluate the works of new writers and engage in sophisticated discussions, while readers who havent directly entered the industry cheer for new reading materials and enjoy the books.

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Of course, in the shadows, there are minor incidents like plagiarism, ghostwriting, duplicate submissions leading to award cancellations, or a young writer declaring to cease writing in protest against unfair contracts proposed by literary magazines, condemning the literary world.

However, the incidents this year were of a different dimension.

The beginning of everything started with the loud, mocking laughter of a strange figure who appeared in the midst of the Annual Spring Literary Contest.

The balding figure brazenly stormed into the heart of the Annual Spring Literary Contest, spilling provocative comments through various internet newspapers and social media that couldnt be ignored.

To summarize the numerous comments he poured out to the press:

-Hahaha! What is the Annual Spring Literary Contest, and what is the grand prize? Such things are trivial. My disciple has won a whopping 16 literary awards!

The mainstream literary worlds reaction to this was as follows:

-Who is this bald idiot?

-Hes Mr. Lim, from a humble literary school, no, a university thats not very well known.

-Lim Yang-wook? Isnt he the one expelled from Baekhak?

Lim Yang-wook, originally a respected literary figure at Baekhak, had committed a great mistake, resulting in public censure, the severance of his Eight Extraordinary Meridians, and expulsion, followed by punishment of being confined in a dark underground cave.

Due to his humble origins, no one wanted to help him, and he seemed to have been forgotten.

But, unnoticed by all, he had escaped from the cave and burst into the middle of the Annual Spring Literary Contest, exclaiming like this:

-Attention, everyone! Its obvious to anyone who can count that someone who has won sixteen literary awards is far more remarkable than someone who has won just one, right?

Although he didnt directly belittle the work of other literary award winners,

By babbling that the writing which won 16 awards was the most superior, it was natural for the entire literary world to be enraged.

-What outrageous nonsense from that loudmouth!

-Was this springs yellow sky a sign foretelling the emergence of this thief?

-What are you doing! Drag out this enemy of literature right now!

Thus, Lim Yang-wook, with his mere appearance, drew the attention and focus of the entire literary world. And with it, their anger.

However, upon closer inspection, it was blatantly obvious that even the 16 literary awards he proudly boasted of were bought with money. This was a well-known open secret due to the practice of paying debut fees.

Yet, since many impoverished authors had no other means of survival, the mainstream literary opinion did not openly criticize such livelihood-driven corruption.

If something stinks, its best to cover it up, right?

But Lim Yang-wook had lifted the lid and was spreading a foul smell, sullying the Annual Spring Literary Contest.

Already simmering with rage, the literary world was on the verge of exploding.

-Lim Yang-wook, you bastard!

Naturally, those most infuriated were the authors from Baekhak, where Lim Yang-wook had previously been affiliated.

-We pitied you and spared your life, yet you betray us like this! We will make a decisive battle with you, who have tarnished the name of our sect in the eyes of the world!

* * *

Naturally, the first to counter Lim Yang-wooks noise marketing was Baekhak Publishing.

It was more of a counterattack than a rebuttal.

They didnt just end with a critical statement but directly attacked Lim Yang-wook.

What do you mean its impossible to use the distribution center?

-Well, Im sorry about this. But you know its hard to do business in this field if Baekhak Publishing is against you.

Baekhak Publishing pressured the distribution centers.

Lim Yang-wook was now unable to send his books to bookstores.

Of course, Lim Yang-wook had anticipated such an attack.

He was, after all, a former member of Baekhak Publishing.

He was already prepared.

Baek Seol, ship the books to the bookstores as soon as you get inquiries.

Yes, Team Leader!

Just bear with it for about 24 hours a day.

Eh.

Lim Yang-wook employed truck drivers directly.

Since they werent part of the publishing industry, they followed Lim Yang-wooks orders to move the stacked books from the warehouse to bookstores nationwide.

Baekhak Publishing, realizing this too late, tried to pressure the bookstores to block the publishing, but it was an impossible task.

The restraint of Lim Yang-wook was not a collective will of Baekhak Publishing, but rather a unilateral move by the publishing planning department, and the bookstore owners prioritized money.

Why wouldnt we stock the hottest book these days?

Corporate bullying, corporate bullying, its all over the news and now were the victims. Are you trying to see how hot it can get?

Yes, we too can squirm when stepped on.

The bookstore owners didnt actively defend Lim Yang-wook to protect small and medium-sized enterprises from corporate tyranny.

Lim Yang-wook had conceded significant profits to the bookstores in his contracts. Instead of consignment sales, he made a purchase contract, setting the wholesale price extremely low.

As a result, the bookstores could buy a popular book cheaply and sell it at the full price. Essentially, it was like printing money.

Therefore, the majority of bookstores sided with Lim Yang-wook over Baekhak Publishing. Thats how the books of the literary author spread nationwide.

Even Baekhak Publishing (headquarters) couldnt stop Baekhak Publishing (regional bookstores) from receiving the books.

Because attacking Lim Yang-wook was the job of the Publishing Business Department, while stocking his books in the bookstores was handled by the Book Distribution Department.

The company Baekhak Publishing was divided into two.

One side makes books, and the other sells them.

Naturally, the Publishing Business Department makes the books,

And the Book Distribution Department sells them.

Although both deal with books, theres a common misconception that their jobs are similar, but publishing and book distribution are completely different fields.

Its similar to the relationship between farmers and distributors.

And the two sides can never be on good terms.

Farmers want to sell their crops expensively, and distributors want to buy them cheaply. That way, they make more profit when they sell them at a higher price.

And Lim Yang-wook already knew this.

The antagonistic relationship between the Publishing Business Department and the Book Distribution Department.

Department Head! Its me, Yang-wook! Yang-wook!

Thats why Lim Yang-wook had run early to the Book Distribution Department Head and laid everything bare.

Hey, long time no see. I heard you caused trouble?

Trouble? Im just trying to make a living. The old colleagues have been tormenting me so much, I cant even sleep these days. Look at this! This! My hair is all falling out!

Haha! Why is your joke so sad, buddy? Even Im barely hanging on with my hair these days.

Lim Yang-wook was fighting with the Publishing Business Department, and the Book Distribution Department Head had always hated the Publishing Business Department.

Of course, it was too much to openly protect and cover for Lim Yang-wook, but maintaining active neutrality was enough reason to allow Lim Yang-wook to sell his books through Baekhak Publishing.

Thank you! Thank you, Department Head!

Naturally, Lim Yang-wook gave the Department Head a performance boost by agreeing to a profit share that was almost foolishly generous.

It was beneficial for both Lim Yang-wook and the Book Distribution Department Head.

However, the Publishing Planning Department was not pleased.

Damn it. We raised a tiger cub.

An ally turned enemy becomes stronger, while an enemy turned ally becomes weaker. Lim Yang-wook knew all the ins and outs of Baekhak Publishings behavior.

In the end, the offline battle turned into a defeat for Baekhak Publishing, and naturally, the main battlefield shifted online.

And online, Baekhak Publishings Publishing Business Department was crushing Lim Yang-wook day by day.

* * *

The rules of online public opinion warfare are simple.

If 10,000 people read, 100 will comment.

And one instigator can sway 50 out of those 100 to their side.

Then, as 50 battle against 50, the forum becomes chaotic. The 10,000 observers shake their heads and develop a negative perception.

Numbers dont matter. Whats important is organization and activity.

In other words, online opinion can be easily manipulated with an organized comment army.

And hiring comment bots is a matter of money, so Lim Yang-wook, just an individual, could never beat Baekhak Publishing in terms of capital power.

Even Baekhak Publishing could move newspapers.

There was no chance in this fight.

Lim Yang-wook only had the opportunity to state his case online when he first appeared. After that, no newspapers would listen to him.

In such a situation, Baekhak Publishing unilaterally pushed the narrative that Lim Yang-wook was garbage.

[Reasons for the Dismissal of Former Editor Mr. Lim Related to Sexual Harassment]

[Critical Takedown by Critic Oh Min-sang A Disgrace to the Korean Literary World.]

[The Publishing House That Bought 16 Literary Awards Turns Out to Be a Shell Company?]

Baekhak Publishing poured out numerous articles, dragging Lim Yang-wooks reputation to the ground.

However, as Baekhak Publishing was originally a book company and not a newspaper company, there were minor happenings during the public opinion campaign.

One such incident was when they attacked the venture company where Lim Yang-wook was currently serving as president, labeling it a shell company.

It was a fact. The problem was that Baekhak Entertainment was receiving national support funds and tax benefits for this so-called in-house venture.

Therefore, Baekhak Entertainment sent a formal letter of protest against Baekhak Publishings baseless attack.

The gist of the letter was as follows:

[Hello, this is from the PR department of Baekhak Entertainment. First, we wish your company endless prosperity.

You fucking assholes.

Thank you. We wish your company endless prosperity.]

Baekhak Publishing eventually had to give up on legally binding and destroying Lim Yang-wook. They realized that doing so would also ignite a fire at Baekhak Entertainment.

That could potentially provoke the wrath of the group chairman just to catch a rat.

Taking a moment to reorganize their battle stance, Baekhak Publishing, to completely crush Lim Yang-wook, began relentlessly disparaging the books he published.

This was strongly influenced by Yang Sung-jun, the head of publishing planning, who had a history of rejecting Lim Yang-wooks proposal to publish Cause of Death with Baekhak Publishing.

If Lim Yang-wooks books were successful, it would inevitably lead to doubts about Yang Sung-juns discernment and qualifications.

Therefore, Baekhak Publishing continued its aggressive campaign not just to ignore Lim Yang-wook, but to completely trample him.

However, they overlooked one fact.

And that was also Lim Yang-wooks strategy.

The Annual Spring Literary Contest this spring was completely overshadowed by Lim Yang-wooks antics.

In the end, the noise marketing was a huge success.

Even though the reactions were negative, the publicity itself was successful.

Wouldnt you be curious enough to read it?

Its been so noisy, so I read it

And Lim Yang-wook was confident in the content of his book.

The writing is good, isnt it?

* * *

One day, a column was posted on SNS.

Someone expressed their opinion.

-The writing is good.

If it had been a regular netizen who said this, it would have been a fleeting opinion drowned out by numerous paid commenters.

But the person who spoke this time was no ordinary individual.

-I read one of the novels recently causing controversy. I was amazed. Cause of Death delicately depicts the loss of humanity gradually eroded by modern suffering. The mythologization of ontological death is not original, but the aesthetics shown in elevating private death to public death make this works literary achievement undeniable.

Gu Hak-jun. 45 years old.

Critic. University professor. And a novelist.

Winner of Frances highest honor, the Goncourt Prize.

He was someone who could be said to represent the Korean literary world. He publicly posed this question.

-But why wasnt this excellent writing submitted to the Annual Spring Literary Contest?

Lim Yang-wook replied to that post with his official account.

The author is a minor.