Chapter 20
Chapter 20
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 20
Chapter Title: Is the Author Omnipotent?
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Tae-seong spoke first regarding the contract renewal.
Mr. Kwon’s eyes widened at the unexpected words.
“Of course, that’s under the premise that the conditions are right. But the time I spent working with YK Books wasn’t bad at all. In fact, I liked the editing that fit my style and the various ways you promoted my work.”
Every publisher had its own editing style.
Writers, too, had different preferences for editors.
Some authors preferred publishers that paid close attention to every detail in editing.
Others wanted their work left untouched.
Even revisions varied by author preference.
Knowing this well, Mr. Kwon had hired a diverse range of editors.
He also made sure to quickly gauge an author’s style and assign the right editor accordingly.
Thanks to that, Tae-seong had never felt stressed by editing.
Promotion was handled the same way.
Mr. Kwon had rotated *Return of the SSS-Class Hunter*, along with most of YK Books’ titles, into events appropriately.
Getting into an event boosted an author’s earnings significantly.
Some publishers only featured their top sellers in events to maximize profits.
YK Books rarely did that.
Even underperforming titles got fair rotation, ensuring steady income for authors.
The events for *Return of the SSS-Class Hunter* had been satisfactory, too.
“I’m grateful you feel that way. Truth be told, we had a lot of internal discussions about renewing with you. And we’ve settled on offering these terms.”
Mr. Kwon handed over a single sheet of paper.
It was the document he always carried to meetings with Tae-seong.
It resembled the standard contract but with many revisions.
Notably, all secondary rights clauses were gone.
“As with the previous contract, we’ve excluded all the clauses you requested. If we need secondary rights, we’ll discuss it separately and proceed only with your approval.”
Tae-seong appreciated these fine details.
‘The terms have improved, too.’
The standard 7:3 split had bumped up to 8:2.
Just a one-point shift, but considering total sales, it was a substantial concession.
“And the advance fee…”
Mr. Kwon took a deep breath.
It was arguably the most crucial part.
“Write down whatever amount you want, and we’ll prepare it.”
It was essentially a blank check.
YK Books was doing well in the industry.
But strictly speaking, it was still a mid-sized company.
For them to offer a blank check meant they were going all out to keep working with him.
‘It’s nerve-wracking.’
He’d signed many authors so far.
But he’d never felt this tense.
Then came the sound of Tae-seong writing something.
Mr. Kwon waited like a student eyeing his report card.
Soon, Tae-seong set down the pen and handed back the contract.
* * *
A few days later.
Mr. Kwon was reading a manuscript.
It was the first volume of *The Black Knight’s Lady* that Tae-seong had sent.
Once again, he lost track of time devouring every word.
Only when the scroll stopped moving did he snap back to reality.
“Ha… Romance, huh.”
Tae-seong had labeled it fantasy romance.
It wasn’t pure romance.
Nor was it typical romance fantasy.
The setting was modern, and the protagonist was a prosecutor.
Black Knight was his nickname.
The story followed this cold, work-obsessed protagonist who gains a female lead as his aide.
Working together sparks love.
It was straightforward, but the characters breathed life.
The protagonist was cool-headed and just.
Yet his workaholic nature made him clumsy in love, revealing his human side.
The female lead started out inept at her job but grew over time.
Above all, their teamwork solving tough cases left an impression.
‘It’s plenty enjoyable as a novel. But as a video…’
YK Books’ mainstay was fantasy.
They handled romance and romance fantasy well, too.
They had a dedicated department, and the staff there were competent.
Mr. Kwon immediately uploaded the novel to the company’s cloud server.
Then he messaged the staff.
[Check the manuscript on the cloud server.]
‘A male author writing romance this well…’
Mr. Kwon marveled once more at the writer Jeong Tae-seong.
* * *
Tae-seong, who’d been holed up in his studio daily, finally went out with his parents after a long while.
“Grandma’s been dying to see you.”
Tae-seong smiled silently at his father’s words from the driver’s seat.
‘Come to think of it, there’s Grandma.’
She was over ninety.
She’d doted on him since childhood.
“She was pretty upset you didn’t visit for New Year’s.”
“Sorry.”
“You’ve been busy with work, so it couldn’t be helped.”
His father shielded him from his mother’s gentle scolding.
When he quit the company.
His parents had been very worried.
Quitting a stable job to become a writer had shocked them.
Writers were a starving profession.
At least in his parents’ generation, that stereotype lingered.
Reality had changed, but prejudice was a scary thing.
The royalties hitting his bank account had convinced them most effectively.
After seeing the deposits, they stopped opposing his career.
“It’s been ages since the whole family gathered.”
“Yeah, everyone’s been so busy. Nice to have us all together again.”
His parents seemed quite excited.
‘Relatives, huh…’
Truth be told, Tae-seong’s memories of relatives weren’t great.
There was that phrase: holiday stress.
In his first life, he hadn’t escaped it either.
‘Well, it doesn’t faze me much now.’
* * *
A bit past lunchtime.
They arrived at Grandma’s house.
“Grandma, happy New Year.”
“Yes, my dear grandson. Happy New Year to you, too.”
Seeing her kind voice and expression brought back old memories.
‘She really doted on me.’
In his early childhood.
He’d lived briefly with her.
She’d spoiled him rotten back then.
‘She looks healthy overall, but…’
She was over ninety now.
Age had inevitably weakened her.
“Grandma, let me give you a massage.”
“A massage?”
“Yeah, lie down here?”
“Shall I try a massage from my grandson, then?”
He approached her as she lay comfortably and pressed the acupoints on her shoulders, back, and waist.
‘I’ll open her energy channels to help her absorb a bit more natural qi.’
Massage transfers the practitioner’s energy to the recipient.
With internal energy or mana, there were easier ways.
Techniques like striking acupoints or mana transfer could expel blockages.
But in this life, he couldn’t use internal energy or mana.
He did have innate true energy, though.
Innate true energy was the vital force one was born with.
A kind of life force.
Massage transferred that, along with the acquired true energy built up naturally over life, to invigorate the recipient.
Reaching that level was incredibly tough.
Tae-seong had, of course.
He’d once been called the god of massage.
World leaders sought him out.
Just for one session.
His massages healed pains and restored health.
He couldn’t expect that level now.
But it was more than enough to please Grandma.
“Oh my, oh my! That feels amazing. When did my grandson get so good at massages?”
Seeing her delight, Tae-seong smiled.
After thirty minutes, he was drenched in sweat.
Transferring energy to restore someone’s vitality naturally exhausted the practitioner.
“Whew! It’s tougher than I remember.”
He took a quick shower and stepped out.
The relatives were all off doing their own things.
Adults with adults, kids with kids.
“Tae-seong!”
“Yes.”
“Grab us a soda.”
“Sure.”
Answering his uncle’s request naturally slotted him into the adults’ group.
The grown-ups were playing a light round of go-stop.
The stakes were low, so the mood was decent.
He handed out the drinks and sat next to his father.
“So, Jin-cheol, you made some money in stocks this time?”
“Oh, brother, even if I did, how much could it be? Just pocket change.”
The adults’ talk naturally turned to finance.
They were all nearing retirement age.
Life after quitting was long.
Savings were nice, but you couldn’t rely on them alone.
So folks in their fifties and sixties picked between two: investments to grow their money, or starting a business.
Lately, self-employment was a bloodbath.
Failures were rampant.
The media scared people daily with talk of market saturation.
Retirement didn’t mean easy living.
Relatives were no exception.
“At least it’s better than a chicken joint. Another one opened in our neighborhood.”
“Another? Wasn’t there one just recently?”
“Everyone thinks of chicken when they retire.”
Tae-seong got the relatives’ griping.
Some think adults have no worries.
But worries just change with age—people agonize endlessly.
‘It’s just that different situations breed misunderstanding.’
That’s how generational gaps form.
Tae-seong, though, could understand and empathize with it all.
“You all know saving in banks won’t cut it anymore, right?”
“Yeah.”
“The ‘80s were the best. Money grew just sitting in the bank.”
“Interest was 20% easy back then.”
“Haha! Right. You could buy a house off savings alone.”
As nostalgia warmed the mood.
His younger uncle spoke up.