Chapter 43
Chapter 43
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 43
Chapter Title: Once Again, Writer
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This is a work of fiction and has no relation to any real names, events, organizations, place names, or individuals.
Chapter 16: My Rights.
“Haa.”
Yoon Sung-hwan let out a deep sigh as he stared at his monitor.
Unlike the bold start to his serialization, the results were disastrously poor.
Having read genre novels since middle school, Yoon Sung-hwan had secretly looked down on the writers.
To him, the novels that gained popularity seemed utterly childish.
“Why the hell won’t anyone read my stuff?”
Yoon Sung-hwan muttered in frustration.
He glared at the Munpia site.
He thought he had written something entertaining, but there was zero response.
Some celebrity had once said malicious comments hurt less than no comments at all, and lately, Yoon Sung-hwan was starting to understand that feeling.
“It’s clearly fun! The material is more than solid enough!”
After piling up some chapters on the free serialization board, he moved to the general serialization board, and views spiked briefly.
But that only lasted at first. After a few days, the climbing views were barely a drop in the bucket.
Even those pitiful views had abysmal completion rates.
“A site where trash like that gets popular, and they won’t read mine?!”
“What’s wrong?”
Unable to hold back his anger, he shouted, and his younger sister in the living room came rushing into his room, wondering what was up.
She saw him slumped in front of the monitor and quietly backed out.
She knew from experience that nothing she said would help right now.
“Why! Why does that bastard’s views keep rising while mine don’t? Why?!”
Yoon Sung-hwan vented his rage at the fusion fantasy board for “Black Chronicle.”
No matter how he thought about it, it made no sense.
Woo Ji-hyun’s low-quality writing got popular, while his own high-level, entertaining work went unread.
Even though he’d incorporated the hottest trend: isekai high school rampage.
“Aargh!”
Thud! Thud! Thud!
The more he thought, the more frustrated and irritated he got, so Yoon Sung-hwan slammed his desk.
But that wouldn’t make the stagnant views rise.
“To flatten that bastard’s nose, I need to hit number one on daily, weekly, and favorites!”
Yoon Sung-hwan still vividly remembered.
The humiliation he suffered from Woo Ji-hyun at Park Han-saem’s wedding.
That’s why he hadn’t told anyone else and started serializing under a pen name instead of his real one.
He planned to sweep the top spots triumphantly, reveal himself, and mock Woo Ji-hyun.
“Haa…”
But the results were惨烈.
His initial fiery momentum and confidence had melted away, leaving only sighs and despair.
“What’s the problem? I used the trending material, and I thought my prose was solid too.”
After hanging his head for a long time, Yoon Sung-hwan examined his work again with subdued eyes.
He thought the subtitles had a nice flair.
He’d serialized diligently every day.
But the results were right there in front of him.
“What’s wrong with it? Because I’m a newbie? Not enough chapters piled up?”
Yoon Sung-hwan kept muttering with shaky eyes.
But he couldn’t pinpoint the issue alone.
Feeling like he was adrift in a vast ocean, he clutched his face with both hands.
Woof! Woof!
Sensing his owner’s gloom, the family dog Sweet Potato slinked in from the living room and rubbed its head against Yoon Sung-hwan’s leg.
Normally, he’d pet it, but right now, he didn’t even notice.
“…I need to make money soon. I can’t keep going like this forever…”
It had been over half a year since college graduation.
Yet he couldn’t even pass document screening at the companies he applied to.
Yoon Sung-hwan felt extreme anxiety about it.
“Damn it.”
The results were staring him in the face, but he couldn’t accept them.
No, he didn’t want to.
Accepting it meant admitting he was inferior to Woo Ji-hyun.
“Uwaaaah!”
He’d never once thought Woo Ji-hyun was better than him, so Yoon Sung-hwan finally howled in anguish.
Unable to control his temper, he screamed.
And he still hadn’t realized his own problem.
* * *
It was Sunday, his one day off in the week, but Woo Ji-hyun was busy from morning.
Since regressing, he’d lived more diligently and intensely than anyone unless sick, but he always kept his days off sacred.
Even machines break if run nonstop, and the human body was the same.
That’s why he put as much care into rest as he did into writing.
“When am I gonna finish all this?”
But today was unavoidable.
He had backlog, and from now on, he needed to handle things in earnest, so after sleeping in just a bit, he turned on his computer.
It was for the copyright enforcement that had kicked off in full recently.
More precisely, preparing complaints after the crackdown.
Rrr! Rrr-rrr!
Screenshots he’d gathered piecemeal while writing over the past few days, formatted complaints, statements, and more started printing from the all-in-one.
But this was just the beginning.
“I need to finish by tonight to head to Namdong Police Station tomorrow. Without cutting into writing time.”
Woo Ji-hyun sighed deeply at the folders stuffed with HWP files by date.
It wasn’t just printing the complaints.
Each one needed clean bundling of required documents with a stapler.
“Today’s complaints to finish…”
His face paled as he looked at the monitor.
Over 200 needed completion today.
And the problem was, this was just the start.
From experience, they’d keep rising steadily until next year, then plateau.
“Some get filtered out at the station, but text files and scans won’t drop off sharply…”
Even with writers and Munpia cracking down hard, the effect wasn’t huge.
But it had to be done.
Letting unauthorized use of his copyright slide was as good as admitting it.
Plus, it was essential for the future.
He had to instill the concept of copyright in those who didn’t get it.
Too many didn’t realize it was a crime, so it was exhausting, but necessary: copyright enforcement.
“The issue is how well I’m doing.”
Even popular titles from rental shops had text and scan versions.
Hot novels drew tons of P2P interest and downloads.
Meaning Woo Ji-hyun’s flooded the scene like a deluge.
“…Haa.”
Eyes closed, he watched the all-in-one spit out prints nonstop.
His mind pictured today’s future.
Him shuttling back and forth all day buying A4 paper and refilling ink.
But the real killer was sorting each complaint individually.
“Not all day—can I even finish by tonight?”
Muttering as he stacked complaints and statements horizontally and vertically.
Over 200 loomed terrifyingly.
But he couldn’t give up.
Giving up meant forfeiting his rights.
Smack.
Grumbling aside, it had to be done.
So Woo Ji-hyun slapped both cheeks and dove into sorting.
Each complaint needed: formatted complaint and statement, ID copy, site screenshots (Korean standard time program required, site URL, confirmation uploaded file matches his work), copyright proof copy, book covers (front/back, publisher address/registration page, proof of captured section—total 4 pages), neatly bundled.
Over 200 times.
Click. Click. Click.
He stacked the bundles crosswise, then stapled each one.
Soon, they piled as high as the desk.
But key fact: even submitted complete, police summons happened in under 10% of cases.
Some untraceable addresses or stolen resident IDs, but mainly leniency toward first-timers.
Minors got auto-dismissed.
There was a three-strikes rule, but minors didn’t even get deferred prosecution.
Even non-original uploaders sometimes got suspended sentences.
Deferred prosecution acknowledged the crime, so civil suits worked, but procedures were way more complex than criminal.
Had to submit directly to court, etc.
So civil suits were rare.
“Do it, and they call you a copyright hustler. Well, some writers did that.”
Later, abuse emerged.
Copyright hustling led to bans on enforcement.
He wanted to prevent that, but it was beyond his control.
Enforcement was the copyright holder’s right.
“But before that, it must be done. Spread awareness it’s a crime, change social views. That intangible property rights equal tangible ones.”
Illegal copying was like a thief entering your home and stealing valuables.
Just invisible, so people dismissed it.
That’s why Woo Ji-hyun wanted to change the perception, the culture.
“I hope they nab Jakshin this time.”
Muttering about the increasingly notorious Jakshin.
Biggest name among heavy uploaders; later, Munpia even put a bounty on him.
But they never caught him, leaving Woo Ji-hyun with a bitter smack of his lips.
“Catch the king to catch the thieves—like ‘capture the thief by capturing the king.’ Nabbing Jakshin could curb the rampant scans and texts.”
Thinking of the illegal copying headache for years, Woo Ji-hyun refocused on complaints.
But hours in, he hadn’t even hit halfway.
* * *
Two people were summoned to the president’s office early morning.
Surprisingly, Jo Jin-gu and Min A-rang looked cheerful.
Usually, a morning summons from the boss tensed you up.
“Looks like the president was waiting eagerly too.”
“Right?”
Min A-rang answered awkwardly.
Jo Jin-gu eyed her stiff posture oddly, despite good results.
“Why so tense?”
“Oh, I just can’t get used to the president’s office.”
“Haha. Time to get used to it, no? It’s been over seven months since you started.”
“Guess I’m still a newbie.”
Min A-rang smiled awkwardly.
She subtly avoided his gaze.
“You’re too good for a newbie.”
“Thanks.”
“Heh heh! Let’s go in.”
Knock knock knock.