Chapter 12
Chapter 12
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 12
Chapter Title: Is the Author Omnipotent?
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[Return of the SSS-Class Hunter] had surpassed 250 chapters.
For other stories, this would be the point where they started to drag.
But [Return of the SSS-Class Hunter] kept stimulating readers' nerves with fresh, engaging plots every time.
Thanks to that, it was still dominating the number one spot.
And then, another bombshell news dropped.
[[Return of the SSS-Class Hunter] Webtoon D-10]
An event page had popped up on Grape Books' main site.
Return of the SSS-Class Hunter was becoming a webtoon.
The news spread like wildfire among the readers.
[Black Dragon King: Whoa! My favorite series is turning into a webtoon!]
[Strong Invincible: Hold on, lemme change my panties....]
[Seira: Anyone seen the teaser webtoon? The quality is insane!]
[Iri's Day: But who's the webtoon artist? It's a style I've never seen before. And the credits only list the original author, Jeong Tae-seong.]
The webtoon event page had opened, revealing a teaser episode.
It was like a movie trailer.
But the trailer's quality was the talk of the town among readers.
It was on a level they'd never seen before.
Colors, characters, backgrounds, action scenes, direction—everything was flawless.
Naturally, people were dying to know who the artist was.
But the webtoon info only listed the original author: Jeong Tae-seong.
Kang Min-woo, the team leader in charge of webtoons at Grape Books, grinned as he checked the readers' reactions.
"This is it! Exactly the response I was hoping for."
He had held back on revealing much when releasing the teaser.
Putting only 'Original Author: Jeong Tae-seong' in the info section was his idea.
"No one would ever guess the original author drew this themselves."
"Who could?"
Deputy Manager Lee Hyeong-beom, his subordinate, chimed in.
"Right? You don't believe it either, do you?"
"Of course not. I was floored when the manuscript first came in. Like, 'How does a novelist draw like this?'"
"Same here. Readers will be the same."
"When the info drops, that'll be a huge topic in itself."
"Heh, I know. That's the point."
In modern society, the key to selling anything is marketing.
There are many ways to market.
One of them is generating buzz.
That's what Team Leader Kang Min-woo was aiming for.
[Return of the SSS-Class Hunter] was the hottest title not just at Grape Books, but in the genre novel scene right now.
Sure, time had passed and the hype had cooled a bit, but it still drew massive attention.
And now, the original author was drawing the webtoon.
At a quality level that would slap pro webtoon artists in the face.
That alone would make waves.
Team Leader Kang was banking on it.
'Though, even without the marketing, this one's a surefire hit.'
Since joining Grape Books, he'd handled countless webtoon projects.
Both publicly released ones and unreleased ones.
His eye for quality had sharpened as a result.
Lately, it was hard to find anything that satisfied him.
But this one was different.
He couldn't look away from the moment he saw it.
The pull was that strong.
'Just who is this Jeong Tae-seong guy who writes and draws stuff like this?'
His curiosity about the author was growing.
* * *
"Let me introduce you. This is Han Seong-ho."
"It's an honor to meet you!"
A young man in his early twenties bowed deeply.
"And this is Yoo Min-kyung."
"Hi there!!"
Yoo Min-kyung, around the same age, greeted him energetically.
"These two will be assisting you starting today, Writer Jeong."
They were assistants.
Webtoon work was too much for one person to handle alone.
That's why most pros had assistants.
Sometimes apprentices, sometimes pros helping out.
These two were the latter.
"Thank you for arranging this."
"No problem."
Representative Kwon smiled.
Truth be told, when the assistant topic came up, Tae-seong had said he was fine without.
He could handle it solo.
But common sense for normal people was different.
At least, every author Representative Kwon had seen needed assistants.
So he'd provided them.
On the company's dime.
He couldn't ignore that kind of sincerity.
'Assistants do boost efficiency, to be fair.'
Whether he could work alone and improving efficiency were separate issues.
"I'm Jeong Tae-seong. Looking forward to working together."
"It's truly an honor to work with you!"
First greeting was an honor, second one too.
"They say Han Seong-ho here is a huge fan of yours, Writer Jeong. He was super determined when applying."
"Thanks for enjoying my work."
"I'm a fan too!"
Yoo Min-kyung shot her hand up.
Tae-seong smiled at the pair.
* * *
They were pro assistants.
Young, but experienced.
Thanks to that, the workflow sped up.
[New file uploaded.]
Tae-seong had set up a cloud server for the studio.
Finished files went up there for real-time sharing.
'Han Seong-ho's done.'
He opened the file to check.
Han Seong-ho's specialty was backgrounds.
Modern fantasy meant lots of contemporary buildings.
He had a knack for them.
'Excellent.'
Every building was top-notch.
There are two ways to do backgrounds.
One: take photos and turn them into drawings via software.
Efficient.
Saves time.
But Han Seong-ho did them by hand.
More hassle, but pure creation.
And at a solid speed too.
[New file uploaded.]
Another notification followed.
[CatTalk!]
[Yoo Min-kyung: Writer Jeong! Just uploaded my work!! ^0^]
Yoo Min-kyung's message.
Her specialty was adding effects to the panels.
Effects were crucial in webtoons.
Especially in [Return of the SSS-Class Hunter], packed with action.
One effect could change a panel's entire impact.
Hers nailed that.
They brought his intentions to life perfectly.
'Both of them are seriously skilled.'
Representative Kwon had picked well.
* * *
An author's life was monotonous.
Deadlines every day.
Drawing and writing.
Doing both at once was tough.
If not for Tae-seong, impossible.
The reason he could? Extraordinary mental fortitude.
999 lives of repetition had transcended human limits.
Strong mind meant strong focus.
Once at the desk, 3 hours, 4 hours—no budging.
Immovable.
Trance-like.
Words that came to mind watching him work.
"Hoo—!"
He stretched, exhaling deeply, and checked the time.
'Already that late.'
It was past 1 p.m.
"Let's grab lunch and get back to it."
"Yes, sir!"
"Got it!"
They replied like they'd been waiting.
"Representative! White rice place again today?"
"Hm? Craving something specific?"
Tae-seong asked, puzzled by Yoo Min-kyung's comment.
She usually didn't fuss over menus.
"Nah, not really~ But isn't today special? Shouldn't we do something special?"
"Special day?"
At Tae-seong's question, Yoo Min-kyung glanced at Han Seong-ho.
Then back at him.
"You really don't know?"
"Know what?"
"Whoa—! No way! You actually don't!"
"Representative... today's the [Return of the SSS-Class Hunter] webtoon launch."
Han Seong-ho, who'd been listening, filled him in.
Tae-seong glanced at his monitor.
Seeing the date in the bottom right, his face lit up with an 'Aha!'
"Forgot all about it."
"Haha! Happens to me too. Lose track of days when you're deep in work."
"Same here!"
They chimed in.
Writers did lose their sense of time mid-work.
"Let's check it out first."
Tae-seong pulled out his smartphone and loaded Grape Books.
No need to search.
Event banner right on the main page.
[320,000 viewers live!]
Launch day.
320,000?
'They're pushing hard.'
Gratitude toward Representative Kwon and Grape Books welled up.
They push it because it sells?
True.
But separately, their hard work made his work sell.
He knew that, so he was always thankful.
"Reactions are solid."
Solid? They were glowing.
Comments were pure praise.
Best comment caught his eye.
[Grand Army: Whoa...... The original author drew the webtoon too...... Unreal.]
[Yellow Chicken: This is really by the original author?]
[Woo-hyun: Bringing the novel to life like this! So fun!]
Most reactions were similar.
Tae-seong smiled reading them.
"Let's treat ourselves today."
"Yay—! Writer Jeong is the best!"
"Meat, any meat works for me!"
The webtoon's successful debut.
A day like this called for celebration.