Chapter 14: The Birth of a Bestseller

About a month had passed since I started attending school.

So many things had happened to me.

─ Author, your work is scheduled to be published on the 12th of next week.

“Thank you!”

The novel I wrote was about to be released as a physical book for the first time.

Hearing that it would be available at book rental shops made my heart race.

In my previous life, I had only serialized web novels and never published a physical book.

The emotion I couldn’t experience back then overwhelmed me deeply in this life.

My parents celebrated by buying gochujang samgyeopsal, and my father even wrapped the meat and fed it to me himself.

“I wonder how people will react?”

As the joy settled, worries crept in.

When serializing on internet platforms, I could see readers’ reactions in real time through comments, ratings, and recommendations.

But now it was 1999.

Most books were published physically, and the internet was still in its infancy, making it hard to predict sales.

“In the end, I’ll just have to wait and see the sales numbers.”

If sales were poor, I’d get an early termination notice.

If it sold well, I’d hear about reprints and requests for more content.

“I keep thinking about it and can’t focus. No, I have to concentrate more on writing, especially now.”

I lightly slapped both cheeks to regain my focus.

Then I entered my room and turned on the computer.

Zzzziiiiiing.

Windows booted up with its distinctive noise, and I opened the Hangul word processor.

Placing my hands on the keyboard, I moved my fingers gently as if playing the piano.

Tack, tack, tack.

Before I knew it, my mind focused on the writing, and words flowed out quickly and continuously.

[Who are Han-gyeol’s parents?

Looking at Han-gyeol, it was clear he wasn’t from an ordinary family bloodline.]

“I rushed the parent background too much before. It felt like a melodrama.”

Reflecting on the forced emotions I tried to evoke in the past, I changed direction this time.

No matter the reason, abandoning one’s child isn’t something to sugarcoat.

[The whereabouts of the birth mother were unknown. That left only the birth father.

“If we trust the orphanage director’s words, he is likely an American tycoon.”

“...Anything else?”

“We’re checking with brokers to find anyone with a similar description...”]

This time, I completely cut out the birth mother and subtly left curiosity about the birth father.

Instead of a sensational or forced plot, I aimed to evoke natural curiosity.

In this novel, which focuses on healing and vicarious satisfaction, unnecessary mysteries or frustrations are poison—a hard lesson I learned in my previous life.

“Good, that’s clean.”

I brushed my hands off and stepped away from the keyboard.

The writing was becoming more satisfying than before.

“It really feels like I’ve been to the Room of Spirit and Time.”

Like the protagonist of a certain Japanese manga, I got so engrossed that five chapters had already been completed.

“When I look back, maybe I should use the pen name ‘The Writing Factory.’”

I joked briefly and shook my head.

“But honestly, my current pen name is the best.”

‘Unreal Oppa.’

That name held my personal affection.

It embodied my vow to make my little sister happy.

I thought there could be no better pen name.

“If this continues, ten volumes will be a given.”

At first, I planned to finish with eight volumes.

But if I kept weaving the story as densely as now, I had a hunch the finale would be between twelve and fifteen volumes.

Of course, that depended on sales.

I wanted to avoid early termination and conclude the story properly.

“Before, writing 150 chapters was hard, but now 250 is easy. Haha.”

I stretched widely and stood up.

It was time to rest.

For my body and mind.

I tidied the keyboard, saved the manuscript file, and turned off the computer.

“Time to go to the pull-up bar. And then play with Dahye.”

I prepared to go outside for some healthy activity.

A hum escaped my lips.

Each day was joyful, and my steps were light.

“Hehe.”

A smile never left my face.

I couldn’t control the involuntary grin slipping out.

Stopping in front of the store, I looked at my reflection in the glass.

Thanks to the makeup my mother taught me, my pale face looked much more mature and, even to myself, incredibly pretty.

The fancy dress my oppa bought fluttered in the wind, making me stand out even more.

“Pretty. Hehe.”

I struck various poses while watching my reflection.

I framed my face with both hands like a flowerpot and made a ‘V’ sign near my eyes.

Feeling like the heroine of a drama, my heart floated happily.

“Dahye!”

From afar, Arin ran toward me, her bobbed hair flying.

I smiled brightly and waved.

“Arin!”

“Wow, Dahye! You look really pretty today!”

Arin’s compliment made my face flush.

“Oppa bought all this.”

My bag, shoes, indoor shoes bag, dress, headband, and makeup—all bought by my oppa!

Thinking of him, I straightened my back.

Usually, I shrank in front of friends, but today I felt confident and proud.

I was itching to brag.

“Oppa went to the department store and bought this and that...!”

My bragging wouldn’t end.

“Wow, Seunghyun Oppa is really amazing! I’m jealous. I wish I had an oppa too...”

Arin nodded with envy.

I used to envy Arin a lot.

She was an only daughter from a wealthy family.

But now, that wasn’t the case.

“Oppa even bought me a doll. A Mimi doll!”

Couldn’t forget the doll.

“Wow!”

“And he gave me pocket money too! And you know what?”

My oppa made my wish to learn piano come true.

To me, oppa was

“Sending me to piano lessons.”

“Wow... really?”

“Yeah! You can come with me!”

He was my best friend and someone I could never replace.

“Kyaa, I’m so excited! I was actually lonely going alone!”

Arin’s face blossomed with a bright smile.

“I wanted to go to piano lessons so badly. Let’s go together every day!”

“Yay, sounds great!”

Holding each other’s hands tightly, we tapped our indoor shoe bags on our knees and walked toward school.

A delivery truck stopped in front of the video, movie, and book rental shop near school.

The driver got out and carried several boxes of books from the cargo area inside.

“Hello, boss. The ‘Genius Adopted into a Chaebol Family’ you ordered has arrived.”

“Oh, finally here.”

The owner received the boxes with a pleased expression.

He remembered how disappointed he was when the serialized chapters were suddenly taken down on HiTEL.

[Due to a publishing contract, all serializations have been removed.

We will see you soon with physical books. Thank you.]

That notice had left him empty that day.

He’d been drawn to the fresh material at first and had deeply identified with the protagonist.

He stayed up nights eager for the next chapter.

The disappointment when the serialization suddenly stopped was immense.

So when he heard about the physical volumes, he immediately ordered two copies each of volumes one and two.

He eagerly awaited this day.

“Thank you for your hard work.”

“Safe travels.”

The driver got back into the truck, and the owner carefully unpacked the books, sticking barcodes on each one and arranging them in the new release section.

“Hmm, will people actually read this?”

Among shelves packed with fantasy and martial arts novels, he cautiously inserted this new genre called ‘modern fantasy.’

Though he enjoyed the serialized story on HiTEL, his worries came first now that he was running a shop.

He wondered if he had been greedy.

Then.

“Oh, it’s that chaebol story! I used to really enjoy this on HiTEL. It’s finally out. Boss, I’ll take this one!”

Someone looking at the new release section picked up a book.

“Perfect timing!”

The customer said and rented the book.

That was the beginning.

Others who were wandering inside the rental shop followed the man’s voice and rented all copies of ‘Genius Adopted into a Chaebol Family.’

“...Haha. I was going to read it first. What a reaction.”

The owner scratched his head and gave an amused smile.

The books went out on rental before he could even read them.

But strangely, he wasn’t unhappy.

It was gratifying that the members enjoyed what he had found interesting, and his worries eased.

“Boss, I heard the chaebol novel came out today. Is it here yet?”

Another customer came in.

After looking around, the customer noticed the empty shelf and looked disappointed.

“A customer came earlier and took them all.”

“Oh... Boss, please save one for me next time. I’ll come back in three days!”

“Haha, alright. I’ll contact you as soon as it arrives.”

After that, customers kept coming in unusually steadily.

Everyone was asking for the ‘chaebol novel.’

Especially customers in their thirties and forties.

Having just lived through the foreign exchange crisis, those were tough times, and the story of a genius adopted into a chaebol family seemed like a small comfort.

It was a very timely novel.

“Hmm, I guess I should order more volumes.”

After some thought, the owner decided to place an additional order for each volume.

“Let’s keep three copies per volume.”

This work definitely seemed poised to gain popularity.

Ding dong ding dong.

The lunch bell echoed through the classroom.

“Maybe it’s out at the rental shop by now.”

I glanced toward the rental shop visible beyond the window.

“I wonder how it’s doing? If only it made two million won a month.”

In 1999, and at fifteen years old, two million a month was an enormous amount.

It would cover my sister’s tuition, shopping, school supplies, and even my parents’ pocket money with plenty left over.

I might even be able to buy a house for them before I turned twenty-five.

“Hey, what are you thinking about?”

Taeho came over and put his hand on my shoulder.

“Nothing, just thinking.”

I shook off the thought of the rental shop and looked at Taeho.

‘Man, his face looks exactly the same whether he’s fifteen or thirty-nine.’

A friend who seemed to defy time.

The person I envied most in the world.

“Let’s go eat tteokbokki.”

“Heh, let’s.”

Right.

Sometimes we ate proper meals at school, but other times we just had tteokbokki from a snack bar.

We sneaked past the school fence and headed to the snack bar.

That was part of the charm of this era.

I ordered cup tteokbokki, a sundae skewer, and Pikachu tonkatsu, and I paid for everything.

I wasn’t about to rob my generous friend’s wallet.

“Taeho, let’s stop by the rental shop before going back to school.”

I pointed across the street at the rental shop.

“Oh, right. I should see if the hip-hop manga and I's are in yet.”

Taeho was totally into hip-hop manga and I's these days.

We hurriedly finished eating and went into the rental shop.

“Boss, has ‘Genius Adopted into a Chaebol Family’ come in yet?”

While Taeho searched the manga section, I approached the owner who was tidying up behind the counter.

“Ah, that? Oh no. They just all went out. If you’d come ten minutes earlier, you could have gotten them.”

“......”

Thump.

My heart skipped a beat.

Did I hear wrong?

I stared closely at the owner’s face.

“Haha, I kept three copies aside to read first, but they were all rented out in an instant.”

“...Really?”

At those words, my hands clenched involuntarily.

“Boss, did you read it? How was it?!”

Before I knew it, my voice was excited.

A reader—a vivid reader—was right in front of me.

I wanted to hear their thoughts.

“Well, it’s different from the usual fantasy stories, so it’s easy to read, and I felt like I learned about life through the writing.

It was nice to have little moments that reminded me of the past.”

“Haha...”

I couldn’t help but smile.

The story I wrote in 2022 was resonating even in 1999.

“I didn’t expect teenagers to read something like this.”

“Thank you so much, boss.”

I bowed sincerely.

Book rental shop owners are never naive.

They have an exceptional sense for books that make money and attract customers.

They don’t stock books that won’t sell.

If the owner’s reaction was positive, I could look forward to it.

“Someone rented it already. Seunghyun, let’s go.”

Taeho approached with a sullen face.

“I’ll come again, boss. Thank you!”

I forced my pounding heart down and quickly left the rental shop to head back to the classroom.

“Huh? That cover looks familiar.”

As I entered the classroom, a friend was holding a book whose cover caught my eye.

“...Whoa.”

The golden title, ‘Genius Adopted into a Chaebol Family,’ came into view.

I walked toward my devoted reader friend.