Chapter 9

I am an author, Chapter 009

Chapter 9

The emergency at the publishing companies didn't just affect the employees. The CEOs, who directly reviewed and contacted authors, were even more on high alert. One of them, Kim Doo-sik, the CEO of Blue Forest Publishing, was no exception.

Kim Doo-sik blinked several times.

For a moment, he thought his eyes were deceiving him.

But the performance of the work titled "Emperor Loki" remained firmly displayed.

"How could a work that's been up for less than a day have such results?"

With the thought that he would try to bring the author on board if the writing was good, Kim Doo-sik began reading "Emperor Loki."

From the very first line of the prologue, he got a strong feeling.

"I will become your emperor..."

Kim Doo-sik's muttering seemed to convey a mix of emotions.

Despite the prologue being just one line, a light bulb seemed to turn on in his head.

"The prologue is just one line, yet it gives me a strong feeling. Let's see the next part."

It didn't take Kim Doo-sik long to read from the one-line prologue to the 10th chapter of "Emperor Loki."

But that short time was a blessing for Kim Doo-sik.

He was so engrossed that he couldn't even breathe.

Blue Forest Publishing had a unique setup where the CEO shared the same space as the department heads. This allowed the section chiefs to act like they had real power.

Since CEO Kim Doo-sik always arrived at 9:00 AM, the department head, Jang Do-cheol, also came early to the designated executive room.

However, while reading "Emperor Loki," Kim Doo-sik completely lost awareness of Jang Do-cheol, who was right across from him.

All his nerves were focused on the manuscript of "Emperor Loki."

Even though he knew it was the last chapter, Kim Doo-sik pressed the 'Next' button on the right side.

Click, click!

He kept pressing it, but the next chapter didn't appear.

The manuscript he had just read was the last one in the series.

"Damn, what happens next?!"

His curiosity was so intense that he even swore.

Jang Do-cheol, who was across from him, tilted his head at Kim Doo-sik's intense reaction.

"Why are you so worked up, CEO?"

Kim Doo-sik called out to Jang Do-cheol, who had asked the question.

"Jang, come here!"

If the CEO said to do it, he had to.

Jang Do-cheol, who usually read the newspaper first thing in the morning, folded it and went to Kim Doo-sik, who had placed it on his desk.

Standing across the desk, Jang Do-cheol asked, "Why?"

Kim Doo-sik pointed to the seat next to him with his index finger.

"Come here and take a look."

What exactly was he supposed to look at?

With a puzzled expression, Jang Do-cheol moved over.

As soon as he arrived, Kim Doo-sik pointed to the monitor.

"Find this author for me!"

"Is that what you want me to do, contact the author?"

Kim Doo-sik often asked Jang Do-cheol to contact authors when he found a work he liked.

Most of the authors Kim Doo-sik liked did quite well.

If an author caught his eye, Blue Forest Publishing would support them to the best of their ability.

So, who was the author he wanted to contact this time?

Jang Do-cheol checked the work Kim Doo-sik pointed to.

"Emperor Loki"

Author: Lee Jun-kyung.

If Kim Doo-sik wanted to contact the author, he had to bring them in, regardless of their performance.

So, Jang Do-cheol only confirmed the title and the author's name, but he reacted when he saw a familiar name.

"Huh? Lee Jun-kyung?"

Kim Doo-sik, noticing Jang Do-cheol's reaction, asked, "Do you know this author?"

Lee Jun-kyung was definitely a new author.

If he could write this well, Kim Doo-sik, who had been in the genre market for a long time, would have known him.

Could he have changed his pen name?

No.

None of the authors he had read wrote with such flair.

Most genre market authors only showed their best parts once or twice in a chapter.

But "Emperor Loki" by Lee Jun-kyung was packed with highlights in every chapter.

It had a faster pace and was more entertaining in every episode than any other author's work he had read.

Sure enough, Jang Do-cheol mentioned that Lee Jun-kyung was a new author.

"Didn't we have a submission author come in a few days ago?"

Kim Doo-sik also remembered.

However, since submission authors were handled by Jang Do-cheol until a contract was signed, he didn't know the author's name.

So, he was puzzled as to why Jang Do-cheol suddenly mentioned a young-looking author.

"Why him?"

"I heard the author's name was Lee Jun-kyong."

Kim Doo-sik's gaze returned to the monitor, remembering the name of the submission author who visited yesterday.

He pressed the back button on the mouse to return to the work page.

Pointing to it with a nod, he asked Jang Do-cheol, "Why would an author with this kind of performance submit a manuscript? Is it just a coincidence with the same name?"

Jang Do-cheol looked at the monitor in response to Kim Doo-sik's question.

While they were talking, the views for "Emperor Loki" had already surpassed 200,000.

It did seem unlikely.

If an author could achieve this level of performance, there was no need to submit a manuscript.

But there was one question.

"Well, what you say makes sense, but..."

Jang Do-cheol spoke cautiously.

Frustrated, Kim Doo-sik cut him off and demanded the main point.

"Why?"

"I remember the title of the manuscript he submitted was also 'Emperor Loki.'"

The name is the same, and the title is the same.

Kim Doo-sik, alternating his gaze between the work page and Jang Do-cheol, asked in surprise.

"What, are they the same author?"

"I'll check with Yang."

The report only mentioned that Lee Jun-kyung, the author of "Emperor Loki," had come to submit a manuscript, but the meeting results hadn't been shared yet. So, Jang Do-cheol decided to confirm.

Kim Doo-sik urged Jang Do-cheol to act quickly to avoid losing Lee Jun-kyung.

"Check it out quickly!"

"Yes, sir."

Jang Do-cheol, the department head, quickly left the executive room at the command.

He immediately looked for Yang Kyung-chul.

"Hey, Yang!"

But Yang Kyung-chul hadn't arrived yet.

Hong Sung-yong explained, "He said he would be late today because he had a meeting with the CEOs of other publishing companies yesterday."

In other words, he was late because he had been drinking all night for business.

Jang Do-cheol, hearing this, said loudly, "That guy, even the CEO and department head come on time, but the section chief acts like he can come and go as he pleases. Anyone would think he's the CEO."

He was quite angry because Yang Kyung-chul hadn't arrived on time.

As a result, the employees were all on edge.

Although Yang Kyung-chul was a bit of a troublemaker, he was generally a light-hearted person and didn't cause tension unless the mood was really down.

In contrast, CEO Kim Doo-sik and Jang Do-cheol were different.

Being in high positions, they were very mindful of their words and actions with employees below the rank of manager.

In that sense, the fact that the two of them shared the executive room was one of the few advantages of Blue Forest Publishing, at least from the employees' perspective.

Anyway, seeing that Jang Do-cheol was angry about Yang Kyung-chul's late arrival, Hong Sung-yong quickly responded.

"Should I tell him you're looking for him when he arrives?"

"No, I'll call him. Oh?"

As Jang Do-cheol was about to call, he remembered that not only Yang Kyung-chul but also Hong Sung-yong had met with Lee Jun-kyung, who had submitted the manuscript.

Moreover, Hong Sung-yong had been responsible for reviewing the submitted manuscript.

So, he would know if the Lee Jun-kyung Kim Doo-sik wanted to contact was the same person who visited yesterday.

"Manager Hong."

"Yes, sir."

"Did you check BookJoy today?"

"Checking the submission site Tube is the first thing I do when I arrive, so of course I did."

"You're really diligent. Hey, 'Emperor Loki' is currently number one on BookJoy Tube."

"Author Lee Jun-kyung?"

"Is this the same author who submitted a manuscript to our publishing company?"

"Yes, it is."

The current number one on BookJoy, Lee Jun-kyung, was the same person who had submitted a manuscript and came to sign a contract yesterday.

Hearing this, Jang Do-cheol had a question.

"What? Then, is the current serialization of 'Emperor Loki' a failure?"

Normally, a manuscript submitted for a contract would be published after an editorial meeting.

If the contract had been successful, Lee Jun-kyung would be in the hell of revising the manuscript, not serializing it.

In other words, the fact that he was serializing the manuscript he had submitted meant that the contract had failed.

Hong Sung-yong nodded, agreeing with Jang Do-cheol's thoughts.

"Yes, that's correct."

"Why did the contract fail?"

Jang Do-cheol, the department head, was furious to learn that the contract with Lee Jun-kyung, who had come to submit a manuscript, had not been successful.

He knew he would be in trouble if he reported this to CEO Kim Doo-sik.

Hong Sung-yong explained why the contract had not been signed.

"He said he would prove himself through the performance of the serialization."

"What? He came to submit a manuscript and wanted a contract, but suddenly decided to prove himself through serialization?"

"That's..."

Hong Sung-yong explained what had happened during the meeting with Lee Jun-kyung.

Jang Do-cheol looked at him with a rather displeased expression.

While Yang Kyung-chul had made a mistake during the meeting, Jang Do-cheol seemed to think that Hong Sung-yong, who had been present, was also at fault.

However, from the story he heard, it was clear that the fault was entirely Yang Kyung-chul's.

Finally, he sighed deeply and kept calling Yang Kyung-chul on his phone.

Yang Kyung-chul wasn't answering, probably still sleeping.

Jang Do-cheol, frustrated, shouted, "Yang, that guy, how many years has he been in this business, and he can't even tell if a manuscript will succeed or fail? He kicked away a golden egg. Why isn't he answering the phone?"

As a result, the office atmosphere became tense.

The employees, who were already on edge because of CEO Kim Doo-sik and Jang Do-cheol, became even more nervous.

Hong Sung-yong, sensing the need to change the mood, called out to Jang Do-cheol.

"Hey, sir!"

"What?"

"But something is strange."

"What is it?"

While continuing to call Yang Kyung-chul, Jang Do-cheol motioned for him to speak.

Hong Sung-yong explained what was strange.

"When Manager Yang and I saw the manuscript, it wasn't in this state."

The manuscript wasn't in this state.

That meant it had been revised.

As Jang Do-cheol had just said, Yang Kyung-chul had been in the business for quite a while.

So, he would have acted as Hong Sung-yong described during the meeting.

In other words, the original manuscript was very poor.

But the revised manuscript achieved unprecedented results on BookJoy.

Jang Do-cheol looked at him in disbelief.

"So, you're saying that after the contract failed, he revised it in two days and created this work?"

"Yes."

"Does that make sense? He's a new author, right?"

"That's why I'm also a bit puzzled..."

"Alright, forget it. The important thing is that the CEO is interested. Damn, why isn't he answering the phone? Manager Hong, tell Yang to come to the executive room as soon as he arrives."

"Understood."

With Hong Sung-yong's response, Jang Do-cheol entered the executive room, bracing himself for a scolding from CEO Kim Doo-sik.

At that moment, editor Lee Jin-woo, a regular employee, moved his chair closer to Hong Sung-yong and whistled.

"Whew, Manager, what's going on?"

"I'm not sure, but one thing is certain."

"What is it?"

Suddenly, what was certain?

Hong Sung-yong smiled and revealed one certainty to Lee Jin-woo.

"That we can buy the Ant Rider figure this month?"

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