Chapter 43
Chapter 43
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 43
Chapter Title: Is the Writer Omnipotent? 43
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"Ah......"
The other actors nearby nodded in agreement.
It reminded them of the time they'd spent living in the bathroom after getting food poisoning since arriving in Japan.
"While simmering the samgyetang, I took special care to use mostly herbal medicines with warming properties to protect your chilled stomachs."
"That must have been hard to source......"
"It was a bit of a struggle."
Tae-seong smiled as he replied.
"Wow...... Your knowledge of cooking is impressive too."
"When you're a writer, you end up learning about all sorts of fields."
"I see."
Kim PD, who didn't know much about the profession of writing, nodded.
"If I ever do a cooking drama next time, I might have to ask you to consult on it."
"I'm not skilled enough for that. You'd be better off consulting an actual expert."
He politely declined.
Watching Tae-seong like this reminded them of the answer he'd given during the final shoot.
'Let me ask Writer Jeong a question. Many Japanese fans have become admirers after seeing you in the drama. Are you considering a full-time acting career?'
'My appearance in the drama was just a small gift for all the readers who enjoy my stories. I'm a novelist. What I want to do is write entertaining tales and share them with as many people as possible.'
Those words made it clear.
This man was born to be a storyteller.
"Then please cook for us again sometime."
"If the opportunity arises."
"Ah! Me too! Invite me when you make something next time!"
Lee Sang-woo, who'd been listening in, whipped around and chimed in.
"Don't leave me out!"
Park Eun-bi pleaded with her big, doe-like eyes sparkling toward Tae-seong.
The other actors and staff felt the same.
They'd all become slaves to Tae-seong's cooking.
* * *
Back in Korea, Tae-seong slipped right back into his routine.
Returning to everyday life after three days of being surrounded by crowds and cheers wasn't easy.
But Tae-seong was the same as always.
He clocked in at the usual time, worked, and spent his days as before.
Fortunately, being away for three days hadn't caused any disruptions to his work.
'I could probably step away for a bit longer next time.'
It was a kind of experiment.
The only way to know how long he could be absent before issues arose was to test it himself.
Tae-seong logged into his work email to check the backlog of messages.
'I should start with Team Leader Kang's email.'
He'd skimmed the rough contents while in Japan.
It wasn't urgent enough to demand immediate contact, so he'd put it off.
Now that he was back at the company, he planned to go through them carefully.
The email was about the sales figures for *The Return of the SSS-Class Hunter*, which was being serialized on Grape Books Japan.
'Sales aren't that high overall, but in terms of Grape Books Japan's own market share, it's doing pretty well.'
In other words, it meant Grape Books Japan itself didn't have much recognition in Japan yet.
It was as expected.
Tae-seong pondered as he reviewed the data.
He wanted to show his work to more readers.
To do that, he needed to grow Grape Books Japan's reader base.
*The Return of the SSS-Class Hunter* hadn't achieved that.
It was Korea's top webtoon, but its awareness in Japan was still low.
'I need to think on this some more.'
He couldn't cling to a problem without an immediate solution.
While handling other tasks, he'd brainstorm solutions, so he opened the next email.
* * *
"I'm thinking it's time to make *The Return of the Divine Physician* paid content."
CEO Kwon brought it up.
*The Return of the Divine Physician* had now finished serializing three full volumes.
The response had been phenomenal.
Daily views hit 65,000, average views surpassed 110,000, crowning it the top work on Gulse World.
'In fact, we could've switched to paid after just the first volume without issue.'
During the first volume's serialization, daily views had broken 45,000.
It was a work that could've pulled in at least that many paid views right away.
But Tae-seong had held off.
"Yeah, it's about that time."
What was most crucial when transitioning to paid serialization?
It was ensuring existing readers would still click through to the next chapter even after going paid.
To achieve that, you needed to make them crave the next installment.
Tae-seong believed that moment came at the end of volume three.
That's why he'd convinced CEO Kwon to set the paid switch at the very last chapter of volume three.
"Then we'll proceed. Just like with your other works, we'll serialize up to volume four before expanding to platforms like Grape Books."
"Yes. Oh, and there's something else I'd like to move forward on together."
"Yes? What is it?"
"I'd like to start translation work right away."
"Translation, you say......?"
"I want to ask Eun-ha once more."
It meant Chinese.
"You're aiming for the China market?"
"Yes."
There was no reason to hide it.
"From the moment I started writing this one, China was in mind. *The Return of the SSS-Class Hunter* succeeded, but the barrier of it being a foreign work kept it from massive success."
CEO Kwon wanted to argue.
By his standards, *The Return of the SSS-Class Hunter* was already a huge hit.
But tastes differed, so he held back.
"I'd like to translate all the volumes we have and start negotiations with Baikcent."
"Hmm...... Understood. If that's your will, I'll reach out right away."
"Thank you."
The continent of 1.3 billion people.
He wanted the countless readers there to enjoy his stories.
* * *
Two months later.
*The Black Knight's Girl* premiered nationwide in Japan on NHK.
Tae-seong hoped for strong results.
It wasn't just about money or more eyes on his story.
There was another reason.
'So much effort from so many people went into this.'
Countless individuals had poured their hearts into the production phase.
And even more had given their all during promotion.
That's why he wanted it to succeed so badly.
Did that wish reach them?
[*The Black Knight's Girl*, which began airing in Japan, kicked off with a stunning nationwide rating of 22.1%.]
22.1%.
Japan still saw higher drama ratings than Korea.
Even so, this opening was unprecedented in the last five years.
"Yes!"
Tae-seong clenched his fist small as he read the article.
It was the moment when the hard work of everyone who'd toiled in Japan paid off.
Bzzz-!
His smartphone vibrated then.
[Kim PD: Jackpot!!]
She'd checked the ratings too, sending a short message with the article link.
Tae-seong smiled and replied.
That's when a flash of inspiration hit him.
'I can use this......'
A great idea sparked.
Tae-seong immediately contacted Team Leader Kang at Grape Books.
* * *
Grape Books headquarters meeting room.
Team Leader Kang Min-woo, Section Chief Choi Hyeong-su, Tae-seong, and CEO Kwon sat there.
The meeting wasn't scheduled.
But the four had gathered at Tae-seong's request.
"Thanks for coming out on such short notice."
"No problem. So, what's this about?"
"I'd like to serialize the novel version of *The Black Knight's Girl* on Grape Books Japan."
"*The Black Knight's Girl*?"
"Yes."
Tae-seong nodded.
Section Chief Choi Hyeong-su followed up.
"It's not a big issue, but I'm curious why the rush."
"It aired on Japan's NHK yesterday."
Team Leader Kang Min-woo looked unaware.
But Section Chief Choi Hyeong-su and CEO Kwon nodded.
"Yes, I knew that."
"The ratings came out today: 22.1%."
"Oh-! That's great!"
"Congratulations!"
After the well-wishes, Tae-seong nodded and continued.
"Thank you. The real point is the high chance it'll keep getting a great response in Japan."
Tae-seong slid over his tablet PC.
"Ratings for *The Black Knight's Girl* in Korea."
The tablet displayed the ratings summary.
Starting from episodes 1-2, they steadily climbed.
There was a brief plateau midway, but they kept rising overall.
It was clearly a positive trend.
But the three didn't know why he was showing it.
Tae-seong pushed the tablet to the next page.
"This is the online streaming counts. Same upward curve as the ratings."
"Yes, definitely."
"I expect Japan will follow the same path."
At those words, Section Chief Choi Hyeong-su shot up from his seat.
"Brilliant!"
"Huh? What's up?"
Team Leader Kang Min-woo asked, puzzled.
"If the ratings keep climbing in Japan like they did here, more people will get hooked on the show. Know what happened to the novel's performance when Korea saw the same reaction?"
"What?"
"Sales jumped about threefold compared to during serialization."
"Ah-!"
"I see!"
The other two nodded vigorously.
Section Chief Choi Hyeong-su looked at Tae-seong.
"We'll prepare as fast as possible."
"Please do."
What Tae-seong anticipated?
Synergy effects.
* * *
Just as Tae-seong predicted.
Episodes 3 and 4 of *The Black Knight's Girl* in Japan surpassed the premiere ratings.
It even claimed top spot in its time slot, generating buzz.
It wasn't just ratings.
"These are the play counts for *The Black Knight's Girl*-related videos online."
Nakamura Tetsu, the novel handler at Grape Books Japan, reviewed the report from his subordinate.
"Plays are steadily increasing."
"Yes, it's following a similar trajectory to Korea's data from HQ."
"It's clearly mirroring the Korean numbers."
HQ had messaged last week to track *The Black Knight's Girl*'s ratings and video plays.
Knowing what that implied, Tetsu checked the figures daily.
"If it continues like HQ predicted, securing the original novel could make massive waves."
"Hmm. If we could get it next week, how many outlets could run it?"
"Five are locked in. Asahi looks positive too."
"Good. HQ will confirm the timeline, so contact the press now and get firm commitments."
"Got it."
Tetsu immediately reached out to Korea.
* * *
Tae-seong waited at a café for someone.
Soon, one person entered.
"Eun-ha!"
"Ah! Writer!"
It was the person he'd been waiting for: Choi Eun-ha.
She looked even more beautiful after so long.
Before, she'd still had a student vibe, but now she carried the poise of a mature woman.
"How've you been?"
She greeted him with a bright smile.
"Oh, same as always. Deadlines on deadlines."
"Come on~ And yet you went on a drama and did all those interviews?"
"Haha, you saw?"
"Of course~ I'm your fan, after all."
"Thanks. Americano?"
"Yes!"
Americano placed before them, they got down to business.
"I need your help again this time, Eun-ha."
"The Chinese translation, right?"
"Yes. This one's wuxia, and it's loaded with medical terms too."
"Medical terms?"
Her big eyes widened even more.
One of translation's toughest challenges was specialized terminology.
The terms themselves were often universal, but slang varied by country.
Same meaning, different expressions—thorough research was essential.
That naturally extended timelines.
Eun-ha was worrying about exactly that.
Knowing it, Tae-seong continued right away.
"For the technical terms, I have notes from writing the novel, so use those. I've also researched the slang separately and will provide it. Shouldn't be any major hurdles for translation."
"Ah! That would make it so much easier!"
"So, will you take the job......?"
"Of course!"
Eun-ha agreed instantly.
Truth be told, she'd mostly decided on her way here.
The pay was good, so she'd accept unless it was unreasonably tough.
"Thank you."
"No, no! It's work I'm getting paid for."
Eun-ha beamed innocently.
Then, as if remembering something, she rummaged in her bag.
"Oh! Writer...... If it's not too much trouble......"
She pulled out a book.
The standard edition of *The Black Knight's Girl*.
"Could I get a signature?"
Tae-seong smiled at her shy request.
"Of course."