Chapter 5
Chapter 5
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 5
Chapter Title: Is the Author Omnipotent? 5
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YK Books.
A company specializing in genre novels.
It operated as an agency, signing contracts with authors and distributing their works across various platforms.
Lately, publishers had been sustaining their businesses this way.
It was a change dictated by the times.
Woo Ki-hyeon, in his second year at YK Books, was diligently checking the site as usual.
'Hmm, this one's not great.'
The job commonly known as editor involved managing authors, revising and editing manuscripts.
And there was one more task they handled in parallel.
Scouting works.
They roamed various serialization sites, contacting promising stories they came across.
With a surge of new publishers and a shortage of authors, the competition had grown fierce.
In this cutthroat environment, the key to winning was spotting gems quickly.
'Hm?'
As he scrolled down to find other works.
One post caught his eye.
'Nice title.'
[Return of the SSS-Class Hunter]
It featured the trendy "SSS-Class" hook.
Surprisingly, many authors shied away from such clichés.
They believed in standing out from the crowd.
But from a publisher's perspective, trend-following works stood out more.
Commercial viability came first.
On that front, it passed the first round with flying colors.
"Huh?"
He clicked the title to enter the thread.
What he saw made him doubt his eyes.
Only 5 chapters posted.
Yet the views had already surpassed 7,000.
Even more shocking was the first chapter's views.
'Chapter 1 at 7,832, and the latest at 7,020?'
Barely any drop-off.
Retention rate was one of the most crucial metrics for publishers.
With paid serialization systems in place, they needed stories that could pull readers through.
Retention was a reliable indicator.
Only engaging stories kept free readers hooked.
'Average retention over 50% is considered good. This one's over 90%.'
Hardly any readers dropped out.
Plus, 7,000 views in just 5 chapters was unprecedented.
Woo Ki-hyeon started reading from chapter 1, slowly.
He couldn't stop scrolling until the end of chapter 5.
"Wow......"
All he could muster was awe.
The immersion was so intense he devoured it in one breath.
No stumbling blocks.
Yet the characters leaped off the page, alive and vibrant.
"This one—we have to snag it."
Woo Ki-hyeon sprang into action.
He sought out Yang Jong-woo, the head of the editing team.
"Team Leader."
"Yeah?"
"Seen that piece called Return of the SSS-Class Hunter?"
"Nope. Where's it serializing?"
"Novel World. Only 5 chapters up, but already at 7,000 views. Retention over 90%. And the writing? It's no joke."
"Really?"
Woo Ki-hyeon wasn't the most seasoned.
But his eye for stories was spot-on.
This level of buzz meant it was something special.
"I'll check it out."
"Yes, sir."
Woo Ki-hyeon returned to his desk.
Moments later.
Mechanical keyboard clacks echoed from Yang Jong-woo's station.
'Sending a contact, huh.'
He knew the drill.
But one thing nagged at him.
'Would anyone else let a gem like this slip away?'
Competition was so fierce that contacts often went out after just chapter 1.
Only 5 chapters, 3 days in—and contacts had likely already flooded in.
His worries proved spot-on.
Multiple publishers had already sent contract offers to Return of the SSS-Class Hunter.
But not a single one had gotten a reply.
* * *
[Blue Dragon King: This chapter's amazing too.]
[Long Live Chef-nim: Lost track of time reading.]
[Yellow Chicken: The best!]
Before posting.
Tae-seong checked the comments one by one.
Views had been climbing lately, and so had the comment count.
It felt good.
People resonating with his experiences.
'Weird feeling.'
This wasn't his first life as an artist.
Painter, novelist, poet, singer, bard.
He'd lived many.
But this sensation was new.
He felt closer to his readers.
'Like when I was a bard.'
Back then, he could watch audiences react up close to his songs.
Now, posting brought real-time feedback.
It was fresh and fun.
'Today's upload's done.'
Writing flowed without hitches.
Early on, adapting to the new format had been tough.
But Tae-seong had reached grandmaster status across lifetimes.
Once adjusted, it was smooth sailing.
Especially since he was adapting his own lived experiences.
Makes it easier to write.
'Another message.'
He logged in daily to post chapters.
Checked comments, then messages last.
Yet new ones arrived every day.
'From readers, and...'
Most were from fans.
Some notified of donations.
Others shared deep impressions.
'New publishers too.'
Since starting serialization, offers had poured in.
Proposals to serialize on their platforms.
Tempting.
More readers, plus revenue.
If he needed cash or this was his main gig, he'd have signed.
But neither applied to Tae-seong.
'Ignoring them forever isn't polite.'
Some had messaged repeatedly.
No reply, so they kept trying.
Time to respond.
'Meeting them wouldn't hurt.'
His day job at the design firm.
Not bad, but no joy in it.
He stuck with it only because he hadn't found his passion yet.
Now things had changed.
Writing thrilled him.
Seeing reader reactions was fun.
Add money to the mix?
'Trying life as an author sounds good.'
Tae-seong clicked the messages and started replying.
* * *
He met with several publishers.
Lots of flowery talk, but their offers boiled down the same.
'60% of platform revenue to me, 40% to them.'
As if scripted, the splits matched.
Most dangled advance payments too.
'Highest at 20 million won, lowest 5 million.'
Tae-seong compiled it all in an Excel sheet on his computer.
He planned to meet every interested publisher—better not mix them up.
'From what staff said, getting on a platform with promo seems key.'
Common threads in their pitches.
Promo was one.
He checked major platforms at home to understand.
Now he got it.
'Platforms have main page spots. Exposure there skyrockets sales.'
He'd dabbled in advertising once.
Knew exposure's power.
On sites with thousands of works, finding yours was tough.
Word-of-mouth helped, but promo guaranteed high earnings.
'Issue is, promo slots are limited. Durations vary too. So majors beat mid-tiers.'
Concepts clicked as he organized.
'Next up...'
YK Books caught his eye.
They'd messaged multiple times.
'This week, them and a few more.'
Tae-seong replied and awaited calls.
* * *
"Team Leader! He replied!"
"Really?!"
Yang Jong-woo shot up.
He'd heard through industry contacts that the author had met several publishers.
Expectations were low.
Rookies usually signed on the spot.
Publisher reps were silver-tongued.
Excited about becoming "real" authors, they jumped.
But this one was different.
Many meetings, no deals closed.
Jeong Tae-seong was a name in publisher circles.
Stories like this didn't come often.
Era-defining potential—everyone wanted it.
A signed deal would've leaked somehow.
So he'd held faint hope.
'It finally came.'
Yang Jong-woo reported to CEO Kwon Tae-sik immediately.
"CEO! Contact!"
"Yeah?"
"Shall we set a meeting?"
"Lock it in ASAP. And come with me."
"You're going personally?"
"Of course!"
The CEO rarely budged.
This meant he loved the work too.
"Got it. Scheduling now!"