Chapter 155

45. Author, It’s Due Soon. (3)

The moon cannery was now in full swing. Young-hoon and the other writers packed their bags and moved in nearly immediately. While the other two came with a lot of luggage, in the case of Young-hoon, he only brought his clothes and a laptop. It didn’t matter, even if he only brought his body.

After all, the Moon Cannery provided everything needed for work. There was no such thing as a welcoming party. As soon as they came in, Zhuge Mi-xian’s feedback that broke their mentalities began. Young-hoon was accustomed to it, but the other writers weren’t. For the first time in their lives, they tasted such humiliation and despair.

“Sob…”

“Ah…”

Kim Moo-won and Lee Hyung-jin covered themselves in blankets and wept. They couldn’t say anything because every word was accurate. Their bloody efforts continued. Zhuge Mi-xian never forced it, but for some reason, they didn’t receive meals if they didn’t write 60,000 characters a day. Even if they wrote 60,000 characters, it was too early for them to feel relieved.

If the quality did not satisfy her, she sent it back after tearing them down. Kim Moo-won and Lee Hyung-jin trembled as they wept tears of blood.

“Sob! No blood, no tears!”

“I can’t sleep because I’m upset!”

Kim Moo-won and Lee Hyung-jin, recovering their mental strength, put their heart and soul into writing the manuscript with the desire to set a good example. Young-hoon just shook his head with sorrowed eyes as he watched the two. It was as if he were watching himself from a little while ago.

Zhuge Mi-xian confronted them directly and broke them down. Her cold eyes, calm but cold tone of voice, polite but heartbreaking choice of words! Kim Moo-won and Lee Hyung-jin also gradually grew accustomed to it, and their hearts began to pound.

[Writing Slaves, Kim Moo-won and Lee Hyung-jin have acquired a new technique.]

*[D] Slavery

‘Slaves don’t bark, only obey.’

They feel a strange vibration under the whip of the Person in Charge S. They feel at ease when they open their hearts and accept it.

Zhuge Mi-xian headed to their room. All three were standing front and center, like prisoners on roll call. It was a kind of rule they arrived at naturally at some point. Their clothes were training clothes with the JW Books logo and stripes, oddly reminiscent of a prison uniform. Jin-woo specially made it, and it had the effect of increasing stamina. Additionally, a slightly hypnotic effect was added.

Thump-thump!

Everyone waited for Zhuge Mi-xian’s words with restless hearts. They rocked back and forth between heaven and hell at her words. Zhuge Mi-xian remained silent for a moment before speaking.

“All of the manuscripts were good.”

The three’s expressions were colored with emotion.

“T-thank you.”

“I worked hard!”

“It’s all thanks to you!”

Young-hoon, Kim Moo-won, and Lee Hyung-jin shouted so.

“I made a report to the Chief Editor. If you pass the screening, you can publish it.”

Finally, they could publish their writing! Those days were like hell. The three of them burst into tears. Then, they wondered for a moment. They had never met the Chief Editor.

“Follow me.”

The three followed after Zhuge Mi-xian. After passing through the first door, a dark hallway greeted them.

Tap! Tap!

Only the sound of Zhuge Mi-xian’s high heels rang out in the hallway. The three of them unknowingly gulped, sensing the unusual atmosphere. Young-hoon watched Zhuge Mi-xian’s back. A drop of sweat was dripping down her cheek, indicating her nervousness. Just saying the title Chief Editor was enough to make her nervous.

‘What kind of person is the Chief Editor…?’’

A person who made her who had no blood or tears so nervous! A door marked as the Editor’s Office soon came into view. It was the first time they saw the door, but it was quite large. Zhuge Mi-xian looked at the door for a while before knocking. Strangely enough, it opened itself.

Ssshrrk!

Zhuge Mi-xian stepped aside. She didn’t go in but looked at the three.

“Please head in. I will be waiting outside.”

Young-hoon grew anxious. Why? Zhuge Mi-xian, who felt such wicked moments before, now seemed like their over-protective guardian. The three hesitated for a moment and then went inside. An old-fashioned room reminiscent of a study greeted them.

An old man was sitting at the desk set in the center of the study. This was the Chief Editor. Currently, he was reading the authors’ manuscripts.

“Hmm…”

The General Manager stood up. He was wearing a butler uniform, but it didn’t hide his muscles. As soon as he moved, the three faltered and stepped back. A terrible pressure weighed them down, sending their legs shaking. The three bowed their heads naturally, not daring to make eye contact with him.

“It’s terrible. Did you write this?”

The three felt goosebumps prickle upon their arms as their instincts told them to run away. Young-hoon barely turned his head.

Drrr! Bang!

The huge door closed by itself.

“Hmm, I guess you all need to renew your mindset.”

The General Manager took out his white gloves and put them on. The three thought the same thing simultaneously: compared to the General Manager, Zhuge Mi-xian was an angel.

* * *

All the serials were huge hits, and JW’s status was rising day by day, now being called a dream publisher. Jin-woo received a report that Young-hoon and the writers were growing smoothly. He felt reassured now even the General Manager actively stepped up to educate them.

The morning sun from the moon was quite special. Jin-woo went down to the studio after watching it for a while.

“Haa, haa!”

“Kugh!”

“Aargh!”

The writers were doing physical training. It must have been the General Manager’s education. Looking with the Magic Eye of Information, their physical abilities had risen a lot. It was not at the level of a competent person, but they were up to an average athlete’s level.

‘That’s incredible.’

The General Manager’s training would certainly help, not only in their lives as writers but also their futures. As soon as they finished physical training, they headed straight to the studio. Without a single ounce of hesitation, they typed like machines and followed Zhuge Mi-xian’s instructions to the letter.

Jin-woo went to Young-hoon’s studio next. It was originally a pleasant environment, but Young-hoon himself changed it to a gloomy room. It felt like a closet.

“How’s your work going?”

“Yes! It’s good!”

“I see.”

Young-hoon jumped up and shouted so. For some reason, his way of speaking changed completely. A warrior-like vibe flowed from his expression as well. However, it was better than before, so it would be okay, right? Jin-woo thought so and moved on.

“Hmm?”

While looking around Young-hoon’s studio, his laptop caught Jin-woo’s eye. It was a very old laptop with an outdated operating system. Besides, the LCD was half burned-out, and something like a black stone was stuck in it.

“There’s a stone in it.”

“Yes, it was hit by a stone that bounced off while passing through a construction site. Had it not been for this laptop, I would have been seriously injured. It works just fine, and I love it, so I keep using it!”

It looked very uncomfortable to use, but it was a waste to throw it away. In fact, until recently, Young-hoon couldn’t even pay his cell phone bill properly.

‘It’s not an ordinary stone.’

Jin-woo looked at the black stone. It seemed normal at a glance, but it was by no means a common thing to Jin-woo. He felt weak but familiar energy from it.

[SS+] Fragment of Wish

A form in which the fragments of the Devil and the primordial Emperor are combined. Thanks to Young-hoon’s powerful delusion, all its energy was expended, leaving only the shell. If you grant his wish, you can separate the fragment and acquire it.

*[A] Young-hoon’s Wish

Becoming a great writer, making a box office hit, and turning it into a movie! Let’s go to Hollywood!

‘A fragment of the Devil and Emperor, huh…?’

Jin-woo didn’t expect to find something like this on his original Earth. He didn’t even know if it was the reason that Jin-woo’s world was merged and separated. In terms of the setting, the Devil was comparable to the God of Creation. If there was even an Emperor added to it…

However, many questions remained.

‘Was the Devil created by God, or was it born from the original setting?’

His thoughts grew complicated. It was like thinking about whether the chicken or the egg came first. No matter how much he thought about it, he arrived at no answer. Anyway, obtaining that fragment was a priority. Jin-woo reached out his hand to touch it.

Whooong!

The fragment responded to Jin-woo’s energy.

Spark!

Sparks splattered from the fragment, and the laptop’s screen completely turned off. Hot smoke started to billow out.

“Huh!?”

Young-hoon was startled and tried to turn on the laptop again, but it wouldn’t work. Fortunately, there were no manuscripts that were lost as he just started working again today. Jin-woo looked at Young-hoon.

“I’ll exchange this laptop with mine.”

“Pardon?”

“Wait a minute.”

Jin-woo pretended to go back to his office and brought out a laptop from his inventory. It was an expensive laptop, not a used one either, but a completely brand new one.

“Use this.”

“A-are you giving it to me? It looks very expensive…”

“Yes, it is a gift. I will give you something better if your work goes well.”

“Thank you!”

Young-hoon was fond of the broken laptop, but that feeling completely disappeared when he saw the new one. Besides, it broke down and was now useless. Jin-woo took Young-hoon’s laptop away.

“Ah, about that… cough, in the hard drive, there…”

“I see. I will take care of it.”

Young-hoon nodded with clear relief, then fell into ecstasy as he looked at the dazzling appearance of his new laptop. Jin-woo spared him a second glance before leaving the studio.

It was noisy outside the studio.

“M-Master Sutra!”

“Please teach me!”

Kim Moo-won and Lee Hyung-jin were clinging to Sutra, who regarded them with haughty eyes.

“Can you follow me?”

“Yes! I’ll risk my life!”

“I will burn up my passion!”

Sutra nodded, quite satisfied with their answers.

“Good. Come to my studio.”

“T-thank you!”

“It is an honor.”

It was the moment Sutra gained two disciples. Sutra, who was heading to her studio, noticed Jin-woo standing in the hallway.

“Oh! Hello! My Lo… no, Manager! It is an infinite honor to meet you this early in the morning!”

“Yeah.”

When Jin-woo awkwardly raised his hand, Sutra was touched and began to tear up.

“S-sob… he waved at me. To someone so triviall… it’s the honor of my entire family! No, it’s the honor of my entire race!”

Sutra sobbed, surprising Kim Moo-won and Lee Hyung-jin. This person was Sutra, who continued to be a huge hit. They couldn’t believe that she was moved by a single Team Manager’s hand wave! But soon, they understood. There was an interview with a writer affiliated with JW Books online on the serial site.

Lee Jin-woo, the legendary Editorial Team Manager.

The story was already famous. He was the God of Editing, who made a great hit out of every novel he touched and led the author to a new level. All the interviewed writers regarded the Editorial Team Manager as sacred. Naturally, the rumors spread, and now he was becoming an object of admiration for all writers.

‘Indeed! The legendary Editorial Team Leader!’

‘I will follow him for the rest of my life!’

Kim Moo-won and Lee Hyung-jin greeted Jin-woo by bowing 90 degrees. Their eyes were full of respect.

“Greeting!”

“G-Good morning! Sir!”

Jin-woo greeted them and left the building. As he came out of the shield, a barren moon greeted him. Jin-woo looked at the laptop and reached out to the fragment. He was going to force it out. When he gathered his mana, the ground under him vibrated. An enormous mana wave spread around Jin-woo, and black flames soared.

Paaaaaassh!

A huge shock wave spread out and completely blew away the surrounding area. A river was formed on the moon’s surface as the ground melted down and began to flow. The laptop was intact, and the fragment hadn’t fallen out. Jin-woo gave it a little more power.

Dddddrrrrrrr!

The moon’s surface cracked, causing an earthquake. Parts of it soared, becoming a huge mountain. However, the fragment still did not come out. The shockwave stretched into outer space. An unmanned probe coming to observe the moon’s anomalies in detail was swept away by it and exploded.

Fortunately, there was no effect on the Earth.

“As expected, it doesn’t work.”

The area around Jin-woo was filled with molten rock. Meanwhile, the laptop was fine. It seemed that Young-hoon’s wish had to come true to remove the fragment.

‘It would be much easier to beat an Emperor.’

Still, he had all the infrastructure in place, so it was worth giving it a try. Since Maze was also there, making it into a movie wasn’t an issue. The most important thing was Young-hoon’s writing skills.

Jin-woo, re-entering the base, called the General Manager, Zhuge Mi-xian, and Yoo-na over.

“Make him write harder.”

A small success alone couldn’t fulfill his wish. Yoo-na nodded.

“All right. I will also take part in his training.”

When the Person in Charge Q, who was stronger than the Person in Charge S, appeared.

[Kim Yoo-na has acquired a new title.]

*Person in Charge Q

‘The serialization should be done with the heart of fighting on the battlefield.’

By introducing the Knight training system, it is possible to completely reshape the Writing Slaves’ fundamentals.

*Q stands for Queen.

All of his subordinates were angels compared to her. Screams echoed through the Moon Cannery.

* * *

Young-hoon’s body and mind were remodeled. When the Person in Charge Q introduced the Knight training method, his body, mind, and everything else improved. Meanwhile, the Person in Charge S drove him violently with her whip. The General Manager coldly evaluated and educated them. He brought books he needed to improve his writing skills and forced them into his head.

By the time he grew used to the training, Young-hoon’s appearance had completely changed. When he first came to the Moon Cannery, he was skinny and weak. But now, he had become a muscular and sturdy man. When Yeong-hoon’s body and mind were completed, his manuscript was finally given a passing mark. The score was 3.3, which could be said to be quite good.

‘A Hero Story’

Young-hoon’s story was authentic fantasy, a classic story of fighting against a great evil. The title was also quite vague. It was a title that could not survive in the serial market these days. Besides, his previous novel was riddled with malicious comments. However, it was a new novel by JW Books.

He signed a contract with JW Books even though he was the author Life-or-Death Twist. The readers, who had burst into fits of rage while reading his previous novel, flocked as the rumors spread.

‘Let’s see how well you will write it.’

“I’ll laugh at you!”

They thought they were going to laugh at the first episode, but they couldn’t comment. Everyone was so absorbed from the first sentence, and before they knew it, they were reading the latest episode.

White: That’s crazy. Hella fun. Wow… it’s the birth of a masterpiece.

Fantasy addict: How can you write like this after shitting on your previous novel? Your writing skills are crazy.

Yupman: LOL. The author was kidnapped by aliens. The previous novel was garbage, but this work is great. It’s like one of the best novels I’ve ever read.

Haen-jin: Wow, I enjoyed reading A Hero Story, so I went to read the previous one… author, did something happen?

Non-polar: It looks like you came back from training in the mountains. Thank you for writing such a masterpiece.

Dorek: You upload five episodes a day… the publishing interval is crazy. Writer, take a break. If you’re stuck somewhere bad… please leave.

By the time the paid service started, it easily surpassed 300,000 views. Life-or-Death Twist’s image had been completely reversed. Readers bombarded him with questions via direct messages and comments. Most of the questions were ‘How can it be so different?’ and ‘Are you Life-or-Death Twist?’

‘I was trained at JW Books.’

He only answered with that one sentence.

“Mr. Author, you have 30 minutes left until the deadline.”

“G-Gasp! A little more time… I’m in a little slump these days…”

“It’s not possible. You must fill in 60,000 characters within 30 minutes. Can you do that? You can do it, right? Right?

“Ah… yes! O-okay!”

But there was no time to enjoy such glory. Under the surveillance of the Person in Charge S, the manuscript was being extracted from him in the Moon Cannery.