Chapter 59
Chapter 59
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: uly
Chapter: 59
Chapter Title: Again, Writer
-----------------------------------------------------------------
# 59
Again, Writer Episode 059
22. Writers' New Year Party.
"It feels a bit earlier timing-wise, but it's not a huge deviation."
*Blood Link: Lord of Blood Tribute* was steadily drawing readers in the fantasy genre, while *Solar Chronicle*, *New Wind Machine Alliance*, and *Nine Thousand Demon Gods* were doing the same in the martial arts category.
In other words, Woo Ji-hyun was leaving a massive footprint in both the fantasy and martial arts genres.
Of course, this was only possible in the early days.
Lanius Publishing had moved quickly too.
"But what matters is performance and results. Fundamentally, it has to be fun for readers to keep reading."
While other writers were scrambling to revise manuscripts late and floundering in the shifting market atmosphere, Woo Ji-hyun had prepared well in advance.
He had been waiting solely for this moment.
That created a significant gap between him and the rest.
On top of that, quite a few writers still hadn't caught on to the trends and were clinging to past glories that weren't even that impressive anymore.
"You can never take serialization lightly. Not every editor works hard either. Just roughly splitting up the word count doesn't make it serialization."
Writing engagingly was important, but so was knowing where to cut off—no less crucial.
That was why the term "cliffhanger mastery" had emerged even during free serialization.
You had to end at a point that made readers crave the next part.
Only then would they pay to read on.
"Let's check the serialization status."
Woo Ji-hyun clicked his tongue briefly and navigated to the board where only his serialized works were compiled.
They were neatly sorted by date, including his own titles among them.
He had originally planned for five updates a week, but at Jo Jin-gu's advice that there was no need under the same contract terms, he settled on three.
To maximize the "advance preview" system, however, he fully leveraged his strengths.
He stockpiled as many reserved chapters as possible to drive paid reads.
"I can't check everything one by one, but sales aren't bad, from what I hear."
Kakao Page didn't let authors view real-time sales data for each work.
But he could check through the publisher, so Woo Ji-hyun simply smiled at the rising traffic and comment counts.
It wasn't a massive blockbuster yet, but his series ranked in the upper tiers among ongoing serializations.
"Seong-pil's doing great too."
Ye Seong-pil was maintaining an impressive pace, making Woo Ji-hyun's earlier worries seem unfounded.
Unlike some big-name writers who missed deadlines or went ghost despite their reputations, Ye Seong-pil was consistent.
He hadn't stockpiled quite as much as Woo Ji-hyun, but he was diligently serializing.
His ongoing *Perfect Pitch* was performing well too.
"They call him the reliable same-age peer."
Kakao Page staff were reportedly sighing daily over disappointing turns from hyped writers.
The situation wasn't much different at Naver, which had pioneered web novel serialization.
Plenty of authors were giving them headaches.
But that's precisely why Woo Ji-hyun and Ye Seong-pil stood out.
Even combining all fantasy, martial arts, and romance writers, they were among the youngest—and the most diligent serializers.
"It's about time we shine. Me and Seong-pil both. Hmm? This novel started serializing too?"
As Woo Ji-hyun browsed Kakao Page, his eyes lit up.
The sports novel—practically a barren genre, and a soccer one at that—had not only achieved strong results but sparked a boom, and now it was starting serialization.
Woo Ji-hyun was especially pleased that the title remained unchanged.
"I'd planned to ride its coattails, but things turned out this way somehow."
Woo Ji-hyun gave a slightly apologetic look.
Originally, all the spotlight should have gone to the novel *Pitch*.
It wasn't the first soccer novel, but it had made a meaningful impact.
Now, however, it was overshadowed by Woo Ji-hyun's *Maestro on the Field*.
"But it's fun and well-written, so it'll succeed again this time."
In *Pitch*, the protagonist gains a fateful encounter and rises as a striker.
Woo Ji-hyun's story, by contrast, involved growth via a game system.
No overlaps, no similarities—so Woo Ji-hyun smiled and wished *Pitch* success.
"Back to work."
Wrapping up his break, Woo Ji-hyun dove back into writing.
He hammered the keyboard with terrifying focus.
The blank monitor screen rapidly filled with text.
* * *
Before long, 2014 dawned.
He'd just been diligently writing, and yet another year had passed.
Woo Ji-hyun was now twenty-seven.
"Time flies way too fast. If saving money weren't so satisfying, I'd really feel cheated."
Woo Ji-hyun tsked at the white breath escaping his mouth with every word, like smoke.
January lived up to its reputation, with biting cold blanketing the city.
"Whew."
The chill was so intense that standing still felt like turning into an ice statue, so he pulled a mask from his coat pocket.
A black one that matched his black long coat.
Then he quickened his pace.
"Ji-hyun-ah!"
"Hey."
"'Hey'? Coming from someone who's late?"
"I didn't want to be late. Got held up working."
Arriving at the largest chicken joint in front of Bucheon Station, Woo Ji-hyun ran into Ye Seong-pil, who was smoking outside.
His face looked much brighter than last time—probably thanks to his success.
"You're killing it lately, huh? Total dynamic duo. Be honest—how much you making? Gotta be getting something from Ready Books too, right?"
"Pretty decent."
"More than decent, I bet. Heard your settlement split with Lanius Publishing is sweet too. They wouldn't shortchange their star author."
"It's definitely good."
Ye Seong-pil's eyes sparkled.
He was earning more monthly than during the print market heyday—by far.
Plus, extra from the advance preview service.
But even that paled against Woo Ji-hyun's earnings.
"So, how much? While everyone else started with two or three chapters, you dropped a whole volume right out the gate. Most stockpiled too, even combining fantasy, martial arts, and romance."
"A fair bit?"
"I'd guess it's massive."
"Still a ways off. My target is much bigger."
Ye Seong-pil looked exasperated.
His gaze was like staring at a money demon.
"You're already raking it in. Heard you're living in a jeonse place worth 150 million won?"
"Just a midpoint. First goal: my own place. Ideally a new-build apartment with underground parking."
"Sounds great."
Ye Seong-pil nodded eagerly, just from the description.
Owning a home was his dream too.
"Right? Next up: a foreign luxury car."
"Ooh! A man needs his ride!"
"Then a building."
"Landlords above the Lord himself!"
Ye Seong-pil chimed in, forgetting his cigarette.
His eyes stared off into the distance.
Probably imagining himself as a landlord.
"If something pops off in China, we could hit it big in one go."
"You've got martial arts too."
"Exactly. But radio silence so far. Maybe aim for webtoons first."
"Any offers?"
Ye Seong-pil's eyes lit up.
He too dreamed of his novels becoming webtoons.
No—virtually every genre novelist did.
"Nope, not a peep. Market's not there yet. Means it's still our own league."
"But growth is explosive, so plenty to hope for. E-book platforms popped up, and publishers' bosses are upgrading their rides again."
"Heard that too. Same as during the rental shop boom."
"They've got mountains of accumulated content to rake in cash. And splits are mostly 5:5 or 6:4."
Even if publishers took 50% or 40%, multiply by dozens or hundreds of titles, and it added up.
Especially 5:5—straight fifty-fifty, so they pocketed more overall.
"Mine's 6:4 on *Heavenly Thunder Sword Hero* only. Already reclaimed rights from Phil Media; Barun Publishing's next."
"You're hoarding too, huh. No wonder you went jeonse."
"You'll get there soon enough. Keep this up."
"Easier said than done. Writing daily drains your stamina and mind. How do you keep it up for years?"
Ye Seong-pil shook his head as he asked.
He knew firsthand how grueling it was to stay consistent and maintain quality.
"Grit?"
"That work on command?"
"Dream big. Manage yourself strictly. Skipped gym for jiu-jitsu now—keeps the stamina up. Writing needs endurance."
"Totally get it."
Some might scoff—sitting and typing needs stamina?
But without it, focus faded fast.
Couldn't even sit in a chair that long.
"You kids yapping so much? My ears are ringing, you brats!"
"Nah, hyung, you just came out."
"Saw and heard everything from the second floor, kid. Your voice carries."
Despite Yeo Woo-jin's lingering dialect and gruff tone—which might sound snappy to outsiders—Ye Seong-pil just grinned.
He knew it was just the rough accent; no real irritation.
"My voice that loud?"
"Dunno. Second floor seems noisier to me."
"Voices from below rise right up, kid."
"Yeah?"
Woo Ji-hyun greeted Yeo Woo-jin while tilting his head.
He glanced up at the second floor.
A few women by the window hurriedly looked away.
"H-Hey, don't stare out of nowhere! Scares the kids."
"Look at that. Women too. Romance writers?"
"Some prepping webtoons. Not sure how many'll stick around. Oh, and this."
"What's this?"
Woo Ji-hyun eyed the small rectangular name tag Yeo Woo-jin held out.
It resembled an employee ID companies used.
"Name tag. Cha Won-hyung distributed 'em. Rounded up all affiliated writers via contacts. Mandatory. Courtesy to others too."
"Hmm?"
Following Yeo Woo-jin's explanation, Woo Ji-hyun glanced at his chest and Ye Seong-pil's.
He hadn't noticed before, but both wore tags around their necks.
Crudely printed with their pen names.
"But we do it ourselves?"
"Printed some, but misses and misprints happened. Some got real names instead of pens."
"First time, so mishaps."
"That's why this gracious soul brought a Sharpie. For you."