Chapter 58: The Publication Decision

“Isn’t the contest announcement today?”

After class ended, Daesik, who was walking beside me, slung his bag to the front, took out his phone, checked the date, and asked me.

“Yeah, that’s right. I’m planning to check right away when we get to the studio.”

My heart was pounding twice as fast as usual, wondering what kind of result awaited me.

It had been a while since I felt this kind of nervousness.

“There’s no way you didn’t make it. It doesn’t make sense for your work to be rejected.”

On the way to the studio, Go Daesik kept repeating that there was no way my work wouldn’t be chosen, cheering me on several times.

“I think so too, but you never really know.”

I stayed up all night studying how to write a novel on any given topic, digging into research for days on end to give more depth to each word, and kept writing as I developed.

Together with Daesik, I read it over and over, correcting anything that felt off, trying to balance emotion and entertainment.

The result of that effort was ‘You Are the Star Within Me.’

Even after reading the finished manuscript several times, its readability and fun stood out.

I was confident this was the most profound piece I’d written so far.

“We’ll know once we check. Let’s hurry and find out.”

Daesik, seeming just as eager, bounced lightly up the building with a slimmer body than before.

As we opened the studio door, a chilly air and the smell of ink greeted us.

We turned on the computer right away.

The heavy sound of the boot-up echoed, and the Windows screen appeared.

I moved the mouse to open the browser and clicked the ‘Contemporary Literature’ website I’d bookmarked.

[March 2002, Announcement of Youth Newcomer Award Winners.]

A new post was up in the notice section.

“It’s here.”

“Let’s see.”

I moved the cursor, clicked, and scrolled down slowly.

Judges’ Comments, Winning Entries, Runner-up, Recommended Works......

We checked the names together.

“It’s not here……”

Neither my name nor the title ‘You Are the Star Within Me’ appeared there.

A sigh spilled from Daesik’s lips.

“It’s not here.”

We stared at the screen in silence for a long while before I slowly put down the mouse.

“I don’t get it. Why isn’t your work up there?”

Daesik was more disappointed than I was.

“Well, it happens. Maybe there were flaws we didn’t notice. And there might have been better works than mine.”

“Hm, no. There’s definitely something going on. I heard somewhere that all this is rigged, the judges just divide things among themselves.”

Daesik recalled something he’d heard and grew indignant.

To be honest, I’d heard those rumors too.

I’d never seen it with my own eyes, but I’d heard more than once about the corruption that went on.

There were even cases where a writer’s award was canceled because of such scandals.

“Enough. Let’s just say I wasn’t good enough and move on.”

Since dwelling on bad things wouldn’t do any good, I asked Daesik not to drag out the conspiracy theories any further.

“Alright. But what about ‘You Are the Star Within Me?’ Are you just going to throw it away?”

“Why would I throw it away? That piece is so precious to me.”

Just because it didn’t win an award didn’t mean it couldn’t be published as a book.

In the end, it all depended on the writer’s abilities and choices.

“So you’re going to publish it?”

A spark of hope shone in Daesik’s eyes that had been gloomy.

Please, please, just this once, please.

Even without him saying, I could guess what Daesik wanted.

“Of course. If I put in the labor, I should get the reward.”

If you do the work, you deserve the compensation—that’s the way of the world.

Especially if you’ve worked hard and poured your soul into it.

I’d already decided to put ‘You Are the Star Within Me’ out into the world from the beginning.

“What about the publisher?”

“I’m going to ask Mideum about it.”

“Will they do it?”

“I don’t know, I’ll have to call and see.”

I said it like that, but I figured Mideum Publishing would go for it.

Even though the genre was different, my works had been selling well at Mideum, so they’d help out.

“Still, that’s a relief. All your other works are doing well. Even if you didn’t win, your book will sell better than the winning ones—I’ll bet my name on it.”

“Haha, thanks, Daesik. Let’s leave this topic here and talk about you now. How’s your comic coming along?”

“If all goes well, I think I’ll have volume three ready by next month.”

“Isn’t it hard to do it all by yourself? At least find someone for the coloring and someone else for the backgrounds.”

I was getting worried, since Daesik had been losing weight rapidly lately.

I didn’t know much about comics, but in my previous life I’d seen videos about how webtoons were produced.

Backgrounds were often outsourced, and there were separate people for coloring; roles like story and planning were clearly divided.

Daesik was handling all this alone, while going to school and academy.

“If I can’t even do this much by myself, how can I hope to succeed? My dad always said—try it all, and it all becomes yours. If it doesn’t truly become mine, even if I hire someone, I’ll just end up going in circles. I agree with my dad, so I’m going to do it all myself.”

Really.

That confidence and ability to act is something to admire.

“Alright. But if it gets too tough, you have to tell me. I’m going to go call the publisher, so take a break before you get started again.”

Just in case, I mentioned it again to Daesik and headed outside with my phone, careful not to disturb his work.

---

Mideum Publishing, around six o’clock. In every corner of the office, employees shared warm coffee as they prepared for a night of overtime.

Some headed outside for a smoke, unwinding from the day’s fatigue.

Deputy Oh Jooseon sat at her desk, organizing materials and clicking her mouse.

Three hours left till the end of the workday.

Blinking away the fatigue in her eyes, she moved her hands busily to get through today’s tasks.

Rrring.

It was then. The phone on her desk rang.

[Author Unreal Oppa.]

The name appeared on the screen.

“Yes, author-nim. This is Oh Jooseon.”

She introduced herself and waited for the caller’s next words.

─ This is a bit sudden, Deputy. I’ve written a general fiction novel, and I was wondering if Mideum could publish it, so I reached out.

“Excuse me? General fiction?”

─ Yes, actually, I’m quite attached to this piece and didn’t want to let it go to waste. So I thought maybe I could entrust it to Mideum. Is it difficult since it’s not genre fiction?”

“Author-nim, that’s impressive. Even writing just genre fiction is tough. But, as for general fiction, it’s not something I can decide alone. May I report it to the higher-ups and get back to you?”

She was genuinely amazed that he, still a minor, not only wrote genre fiction but was now tackling a whole new kind of writing. Managing that while balancing school was an insurmountable feat for most.

─ Of course. No matter what happens, I won’t be disappointed, so I’ll be counting on you.

“Yes. I’ll try to get back to you as soon as possible.”

As soon as the call ended, Oh Jooseon jumped up from her seat. She approached PD Lee Taegwon, who was sitting nearby.

“PD Lee, I just got a call from Unreal Oppa. He wrote a general fiction novel and asked if we could publish it. What do you think?”

“General fiction?”

Lee Taegwon looked up and blinked.

The two exchanged glances and took a moment to think about Unreal Oppa.

“That writer, really lives life to the fullest. Way beyond his years.”

It was Lee Taegwon who broke the silence. He shook his head in awe, thinking about Unreal Oppa’s age.

Back at that age, he’d been preoccupied with playing with friends or studying.

He’d asked his parents for money and never really taken initiative himself.

Compared to him, it was a bit embarrassing.

“I know, right. I often feel embarrassed when I deal with that author too.”

That’s why he was motivated every day and put even more effort into his work.

Even if he couldn’t surpass him in writing, he was determined to become the best in his own field.

“Tsk, alright. I’ll report it to the CEO for now. The author’s done so much for us already; I don’t think the CEO will refuse outright.”

Unreal’s works had become bestsellers that basically carried the company’s sales.

The CEO clearly wanted to maintain a long-term relationship with Unreal, so he figured this request wouldn’t be rejected so easily.

“What’s this about me not refusing? What’s going on?”

Just then, the CEO, Hwang Gyuyoung, who had been getting coffee at the end of the hallway, was walking over. Holding a paper cup, he stopped in front of them, having caught wind of their conversation.

“Unreal Oppa wrote a general fiction novel and asked us to publish it. We were just about to report it to you.”

Lee Taegwon stood up in a hurry and relayed every detail of what he’d heard to CEO Hwang.

“Hm.”

CEO Hwang took a moment to think.

Normally, this would have been brushed off as nonsense, but the one making the request was Unreal Oppa, now the company’s most important author.

With age, his writing had become richer, and he was on a rapid upward trajectory.

Rejecting a request from such an author and risking the relationship would be a terrible move. So, Hwang decided to take a positive stance.

“Go ahead and publish it. For this book only, set the royalty rate at 11%. Print 3,000 copies. If it sells, do a reprint.”

This was both a favor and a kind of debt to him.

Hwang dropped this order and walked straight back into his office, not waiting for a reply.

Thud.

“......What did the CEO just say?”

“He said set the royalty at 11% and print 3,000 copies……”

As the office door closed, silence fell around them.

Lee Taegwon and Oh Jooseon stared blankly at the closed office door.

They were both dumbfounded by this surreal situation. The CEO, who never even glanced at unprofitable books, had just ordered the publication of an untested novel.

“Deputy Oh.”

“Yes.”

“What are you doing?”

“......?”

“Aren’t you going to tell the author the good news?”

“Ah, what’s wrong with me. I’ll call right away.”

She’d been so shocked by the CEO’s unprecedented response that she’d spaced out, but Lee Taegwon’s voice snapped her back to her senses.

─ Yes, author-nim. This is Oh Jooseon. I just reported to the CEO. He said we’ll proceed with publishing right away. The royalty rate is 11%.”

Oh Jooseon’s voice soon rang out over the phone.

A deep smile appeared on her lips, making the atmosphere around her softer.