Chapter 36
Chapter 36
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 36
Chapter Title: Is the Author Omnipotent? 36
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“Martial arts novel?”
“Yes.”
Representative Kwon asked again, his eyes wide with surprise.
“You’re really going to write a martial arts novel?”
“Is it that surprising?”
“No, not at all. It’s just a bit unexpected. Have you been reading martial arts novels for a while?”
“A little.”
It was a lie.
He had only started reading martial arts novels recently.
In fact, it had been less than two years since Tae-seong first encountered genre fiction.
But he had experienced the world of martial arts firsthand.
That was why he was confident.
Confident in unfolding his own martial arts tale.
“I’ve already started writing the new work. I think I can finish the first volume’s draft in about half a month.”
“Haha… You’re truly amazing.”
The completed manuscript for the previous book had arrived just ten days ago.
Even starting from then, finishing a whole volume in twenty-five days.
The first volume, which authors put the most effort into.
“So, what I wanted to say is, have you finished negotiations with Grape Books?”
Tae-seong—more precisely, TS Media and YK Books—had not yet signed a contract.
If Representative Kwon couldn’t give a proper answer by today.
Tae-seong planned to schedule meetings with other companies.
Representative Kwon was well aware of that.
Today’s meeting had been arranged at Tae-seong’s request.
It was easy to predict this topic would come up.
“The negotiations are all done.”
“Is that so?”
“Yes. We’ve fixed the platform distribution ratio for future contracted works at a maximum of 4, as you specified.”
“No other conditions attached?”
“Of course not.”
This was unexpected.
Though he had set the condition, Tae-seong thought Grape Books might accept it but add strings attached.
For example, a clause demanding exclusive serialization on Grape Books.
But no such clauses.
Proof of Representative Kwon’s excellent negotiation skills.
“And one more thing: we’ve also changed the ratios for existing works to 6 to 4.”
“Oh, really?”
This time, he was a bit surprised.
Existing works were already contracted.
Grape Books had no reason to change ratios during the contract period.
Tae-seong hadn’t expected it either.
Yet Representative Kwon had renegotiated even that.
‘He’s highly capable.’
Representative Kwon had pushed hard to change the contract terms to showcase his abilities.
Grape Books was the same.
Knowing the value of author Jeong Tae-seong, they altered terms to win his favor.
Signaling they could yield this much for the author.
“And naturally, we’ll adjust our conditions as per your requests. This applies to existing works like *Return of the SSS-Class Hunter* and *Otherworld Chef* as well.”
Jeong Tae-seong.
A writer who had debuted just under two years ago.
Yet the stories he created had elicited massive responses from the public.
Especially to secure this incredible author who spanned fantasy and romance, they were willing to accept any conditions.
“If you’re willing to do that, I’m grateful. Shall we draw up the contract then?”
“Yes!”
It was Representative Kwon’s brightest smile of the day.
* * *
The reason Tae-seong chose martial arts was due to his experience in China.
‘Without that experience, it would’ve been useless.’
He could help the man who suddenly collapsed in China because of his two lives.
Tae-seong had once lost someone precious to illness.
Back then, with no medical knowledge, he couldn’t save them.
Plagued by regret and guilt, he could do nothing.
And he vowed.
If given another chance, he would conquer all diseases in the world.
The chance came again.
From childhood, he delved into medicine.
Having already reached the pinnacle of magic studies, learning was not difficult.
He immersed himself obsessively in medicine.
After becoming a doctor, he focused solely on research and surgeries to save lives.
But perhaps he overdid it?
At 45, Tae-seong ended his life.
Back then, research came before his own health.
Dying young was, in a way, inevitable.
‘I was so foolish back then.’
People often have a misconception.
That repeating life multiple times would prevent the same mistakes.
But humans aren’t creatures with such great learning ability.
Anyway, when he lived again.
He was born into a world called the murim.
His mother, from an ordinary martial clan, had been frail since childhood.
So from the moment he could walk and move on his own.
He made medicine for his mother.
That’s how the story began.
‘Cut out the front part first. No need to include unnecessary bits.’
When writing, Tae-seong didn’t include everything he experienced.
He adapted it sufficiently for readers to accept.
*Divine Physician’s Return* was the same.
‘No need to show why he chose medicine.’
The story starts with the protagonist dying of illness.
Then, upon opening his eyes again, he’s reborn in the murim.
Not as a child, but as the wastrel eldest son of a martial clan.
Showing the wastrel eldest son’s transformation as protagonist, with those around him amazed and in awe, was sure to win big responses from readers.
Because readers project themselves onto the protagonist.
As he began writing, there were no blocks.
The protagonist’s sense of purpose was clear.
Saving people.
And one more.
Witnessing the pinnacle of medicine.
A protagonist with purpose faced no obstacles.
* * *
A month had passed since *Otherworld Chef* concluded.
The top-ranked paid serialization on LitWorld, *Otherworld Chef*, was gone.
“Phew! Nothing worth reading.”
Lee Su-taek, under the nickname Ryeonghyeol, logged into LitWorld out of habit today as well.
And as usual, scrolled down searching for new stories.
But since *Otherworld Chef*, he hadn’t found anything noteworthy.
Stories he might’ve enjoyed before didn’t catch his eye.
This wasn’t unique to Lee Su-taek.
Many LitWorld readers lately felt there were no good stories.
A kind of aftereffect.
With *Otherworld Chef* ending perfectly, their standards aligned to it, making other works unappealing.
“Huh?”
Then, a familiar name caught Lee Su-taek’s eye.
[Jeong Tae-seong]
“No way! A new series already?!”
Just one month after completion.
A new work already?
From Tae-seong’s perspective, he had submitted the *Otherworld Chef* manuscript four months ago.
But it had only been public to readers for a month.
This gap made it feel too fast to readers.
“The title… *Divine Physician’s Return*? Martial arts?”
It was a bit odd.
Jeong Tae-seong had only written modern fantasy before.
A new work in martial arts?
With the genre seen as outdated, he hesitated to click.
“Eh, whatever! It’s Jeong Tae-seong!”
But the author’s name was enough to dispel the hesitation.
Including the prologue, five episodes were up.
Posted just one minute ago.
“Views already over 100?”
Many were waiting for Jeong Tae-seong’s new work, like him.
Lee Su-taek clicked the prologue.
“Hm? Starts in the modern world?”
That’s what Lee Su-taek muttered after the first line.
And he didn’t speak again.
Until finishing episode 5, his finger didn’t stop scrolling.
* * *
Having started serializing *Divine Physician’s Return*, Tae-seong rose from his chair.
“Whew—!”
Stretching, he shook off the tension.
Releasing a new work to the world was always nerve-wracking for him.
“My part’s done.”
He had written it with his best effort.
Whether readers accepted it was up to them.
He had scheduled up to volume 2.
The daily two episodes would release on schedule.
“Representative!”
Then Han Seong-ho entered.
“The interview prep is ready.”
“Yes.”
Tae-seong nodded.
Today was the interview to form a new team.
*Otherworld Chef*’s webtoon adaptation was confirmed.
The date wasn’t set, but it would be serviced via Hanul Portal.
He headed to the interview room to select team members for the webtoon.
The entire team of one participated in the interviews.
At Tae-seong’s suggestion.
“These are people we’ll work with going forward. Though we’ll split into teams, I want you all to choose them.”
The team members all agreed.
Entering the interview room, the seated team members stood up in unison.
“Stay comfortable. Here, we’re all interviewers on equal footing.”
“Yes!”
Though told to relax, tension filled their faces.
Sitting with the company representative?
No.
It was their first time as interviewers.
Smiling at them, Tae-seong checked his watch.
“Deputy Choi. Bring in the first interviewee.”
“Yes… Yes!”
The youngest, Choi Gil-yong, went out.
And returned with the first interviewee.
The woman in her early twenties sat tensely.
Once Choi Gil-yong sat, Tae-seong spoke as representative.
“We’ll begin the interview.”
TS Media’s first interview commenced.
* * *
There were 30 interviewees.
A considerable number.
But perhaps expected.
Base salary of 2 million won plus incentives.
Benefits rivaling major corporations.
For cartoonists or aspiring ones, conditions didn’t get better.
Above all, it was the company where Jeong Tae-seong, creator of hits like [*Return of the SSS-Class Hunter*] and [*The Black Knight’s Her*], was CEO.
Many applicants were natural.
“By the way, most of their questions are similar.”
Lee Chang-o said with a laugh.
“Makes sense. No other company runs a system like ours.”
Lee Sang-jun’s words drew a nod from Han Seong-ho.
“What do you all think?”
“A few really caught my eye.”
“Same here. Skills were already filtered via portfolios, so they’re similar. We should pick based on mindset.”
“We need to exclude those unfit for team work personality-wise.”
Yoo Min-kyung added her opinion.
“Yeah. Some seemed too used to solo work.”
“Experiencing it firsthand, our system relies heavily on communication. With multiple people on one project, poor communication makes it tough.”
Tae-seong quietly observed the meeting.
If he joined, he could settle it instantly.
He had already selected candidates from documents and interviews.
But he didn’t mention it.
A company doesn’t run on one person’s power.
Employees must combine strengths.
Above all, letting them voice opinions fosters ownership.
That’s why Tae-seong included all in the interviews.
“Hm, so these four are the ones we each liked?”
Han Seong-ho said, organizing photos.
They were the result of compiling five opinions.
Team members nodded, and Han Seong-ho looked to Tae-seong.
“Representative, this is the final list from the team’s consensus.”
“Hm, good. All skilled, and from interviews, great social skills too.”
Tae-seong echoed similarly.
Only then did the team sigh in relief.
They had only drawn pictures before; social activities like this were new, so tense.
“But we need five team members.”
“Ah….”
The team made “oh no” faces.
Focused on favorites, they overlooked the headcount.
Then Tae-seong picked up one photo.
“Let’s include this person too.”
“Huh?”
“That one too?”