“Boss. Don’t you have any sharp, gritty novels? These days writers have gotten full in the stomach or something, there’s no hungry mindset in their writing~. If they feel like it’s going well for them, they toss out one book every few months like they’re dumping a bucket of diarrhea. Maybe it’s because my head works well, but if other guys were like me, the contents of the book would all get mixed up and they wouldn’t even be able to tell whether it’s book one or book two.”
“Heh heh. Dong-sik. Don’t get mad. Originally, experts like you leave the mainstream because of that. If you don’t like it, then you write too. Even the bookstore owner I know became a writer.”
“Whoa~ amazing.”
“What’s so special about being a writer. All the fantasy and martial arts novels we’ve read so far probably exceed ten thousand volumes. That’s enough to take a shot at the mainstream.”
“Do you think so? These days if something spreads on the internet and looks decent, publishers rush to scout them…”
“They scout, sure. The problem is the back-end royalties are garbage.”
“Huh? Back-end royalties?”
“As far as I know, if you enter as a new writer, for books one and two, they guarantee seven percent on two thousand copies, then eight percent afterward. With eight thousand won per volume, that’s about a million won or so~.”
“A million won? Oh! That’s more than I expected?”
“More? If you flop at volumes three or four, you get around two hundred thousand won out of ten.”
“R-really?”
“You can barely write one book a month and you think you can live on two hundred thousand won?”
“Wow… damn, this world is screwed.”
In a small neighborhood secondhand bookstore in Eungam-dong, Eunpyeong-gu, Seoul, the owner andDong-sik were in the middle of a heated conversation.
“Sigh. Dong-sik. I’m screwed too.”
“Why?”
“The video rental business is truly finished, and I barely survive off books, but even that’s reaching its limit. I think I’m going to have to look for another job in a few months.”
“Your income dropped that much?”
“Because of those bastards doing illegal distribution. This line of business is also on the way to the slaughterhouse.”
“…I see.”
Dong-sik flinched slightly.
He himself had once downloaded novels through the illegal sites running rampant on the internet.
“Those bastards are going to get screwed soon too.”
“Why, why?”
“The writers banded together and are filing criminal complaints under copyright-law violations. And there’s a rumor that some writers have already started civil lawsuits.”
He jerked his head. “Agh! If I could get a few hundred thousand won per case I’d have no more wishes!”
“Whoa.”
Dong-sik's face turned pale.
“What’s wrong? Are you sick somewhere?”
“No, no. My stomach suddenly hurts.”
It wasn’t the only thing Dong-sik was worried about.
To earn points on P2P sites, he had uploaded a few works himself.
“Anyway, take a look at this work and give me your evaluation.”
“Huh, what work?”
“It was released fresh today, but the title is unusual. <Cloud Warrior>? Looks like a game novel, and the writer is a newcomer.”
“A game novel?”
Dong-sik, half worried, accepted the book.
The cover showed a figure riding a cloud and creating weapons out of clouds.
“Hm, at least the cover is decent.”
Dong-sik opened the book and dove into the pages, easily turning them as only experts do.
Twenty minutes passed.
“Hey, mister!”
“Why? Something wrong?”
Dong-sik urgently called the owner, who had been organizing books.
“This work is amazing! Hurry and order several more copies. It’s completely my style!”
Joy filled Dong-sik's face.
He fully recognized the scent of a hit that only experts could perceive.
“That good? I thought the protagonist was a bit irritating…”
“That’s why it’s a hit! He’s irritating but addictive. Even while dragging things out, the story moves fast. The supporting characters have great flavor. Wow, this is seriously fun.”
Dong-sik did not put the book down.
“I’m taking this one first.”
“All right. The response will probably be good, so go bring it back quickly.”
“I’ll bring it this evening!”
Being a college student on vacation, Dong-sik had plenty of time.
It was comfortable at home, so he didn’t even work part-time.
His footsteps grew faster.
Holding the magic-work he’d found for the first time in a while, he rushed back home.
He deleted the files he had uploaded to the P2P site, hummed to himself, and spent the whole day thrilled at the thought of reading <Cloud Warrior>.
And at that same time, identical reactions were happening in bookstores across the country.
The publisher had printed only six thousand copies, but within a few days the order volume grew to the level of a full reprint.
Nice Media entered a frantic reprint.
They printed four thousand more at once, bringing it to ten thousand copies, and sent advertisements to every serial site.
It was the basic rule everywhere to row when the water came in.
* * *
“Sigh.”
A long sigh flowed across the breakfast table.
“……”
Everyone’s spoons stopped.
Only I continued eating with good appetite.
Pumpkin soybean paste stew, cucumber muchim, stir-fried kimchi, and some eggplant taken from the field sat on the simple table.
I mixed stew into the warm rice and scooped it with a spoon.
It was Mom’s food that never got old no matter when I ate it.
I chewed each grain firmly and enjoyed the flavor of the broth.
In the past, Jang Tae-san would have made a miserable face at the table, but now he didn’t.
My father’s sigh went in one ear and out the other.
Mom’s breakfast, which I faced every morning, was more precious than anything.
“Hey, honey…… why, do you have no appetite?”
Mom looked at the head of this house, the one who was sighing.
The protagonist of the sigh, my father, didn’t look well.
My father, who had once become a failed farmer in the neighborhood after getting into speculation.
He was tall but slightly skinny.
His once gentle face was now pale from the harsh summer sun.
The father I saw in the year I died had been even more dried out.
He had lost everything to debts, even the farmland he’d inherited, and worked himself ragged as a day laborer.
My poor father.
“Dad……”
Since it was vacation, my younger twin sisters—who didn’t have extra study classes—were eating breakfast with us.
The older twin, my kind-hearted sister Ju-a, called Father.
The children, knowing the family situation, had become gentle.
They were truly good kids.
In the past our relationship had been a bit strained.
They were two younger sisters who always heard they were pretty wherever they went.
They had firm calves, light skin, tall height, and large round eyes.
To me they looked like heroines from a pure romance comic.
Their personalities were gentle too, but I had a reason to keep my distance.
When the girls entered a nearby high school, I was a senior in high school.
The local punks didn’t stay still.
Somehow they learned information about my twin sisters.
They tried to get close to me, telling me to introduce my sisters who were going to that girls’ high school.
So I acted colder to my sisters.
I stayed as far away as possible because I didn’t want them to get tangled up just because I pretended to be a friendly older brother.
The twins felt hurt.
And just like that, the distance between me and my younger sisters grew.
During my university days, I lived in a dorm, so I barely ever came home.
Since I was always doing part-time work, I only came home a few times a year.
The younger sisters were busy with studies, so we had no chance to get close.
Since the family was struggling, the two girls received scholarships thanks to their good grades and attended the vocational college near home.
Taking after Mom, my artistic older sister Ju-a went to an industrial design department.
But the program didn’t fit her personality, since she liked watercolor painting.
My younger sister Juhee loved animals and dreamed of becoming a veterinarian, but she left school and became an animal groomer.
They were good kids who earned money after graduating and gave it to Dad.
But because of the school they had attended, both of them were only non-regular employees.
And the family situation was a venomous trap we couldn’t escape.
Because Father’s debts were large, their income alone couldn’t fix anything.
Of course, I also perfectly fulfilled the role of parasitic pest, sucking money from my younger sisters.
And it was exactly this period right now when the biggest crisis of our family struck in earnest.
“Dad. Why are you like this? Your complexion hasn’t been good lately. Shouldn’t you go to the hospital?”
Father had a good relationship with his daughters.
But my youngest sister Juhee, whose sense wasn’t the fastest, asked anxiously.
Ju-a didn’t tell her younger sister it was because of money.
Ah! Suddenly my cheeks turned hot with shame.
Back then I lived with stubborn pride, acting like an idiot.
I hated being poor, and I resented my father for being incompetent.
Before the new semester I demanded he buy me new sneakers.
I dismissed all family matters as “adult business” and ignored them.
It seemed now was the time to break the first seal of poverty.
“I ate well. Mom, your soybean paste stew is art no matter when I eat it!”
Mom looked at me.
She smiled faintly.
She had kept her mouth shut until now because she had made a promise with me.
But when she saw her husband struggling, she looked at me holding a secret envelope.
“Mother, don’t worry.
I will force Father, whose shoulders are drooping, to perk up today.”
“Does everyone have anything busy today?”
I asked while drinking the scorched-rice water down to the last drop.
My stomach felt very solid.
Mom’s cooking was the sound of a soul being nourished.
It was also a son’s duty to maintain that sound for her.
“Wh-what’s going on?”
Mom asked with eyes filled with anticipation.
Oh dear, she’s so transparent!
That’s why our mom is so kind.
“Oppa, why?”
My cute younger sister with her short bob hair, Ju-a, looked at me.
In those big eyes……
I would no longer let those eyes shed tears.
“Today I’m going to make a declaration. To everyone in our family.”
“……?”
“Oh, Oppa is?”
My cute younger sisters were surprised.
My children, you should put your faith in your brother and be grateful.
“Tae-san. Today…….”
Father, unable to fulfill the role of head of the household, stammered his words.
“Whew. Father, don’t feel small.
From now on, I’m going to walk around the neighborhood with my shoulders fully spread.”
“Mother, are you taking Father out with you?”
“Yes, yes.”
Mom looked at me, asking with her gaze if it was really okay.
Of course!
Hahaha.
Let’s begin with a laugh.
“Dad, Mom. Bring your ID cards. The twins should bring your student IDs.”
“ID cards? Why?”
“There is such a thing.”
I neatly organized the situation.
I was the eldest son of this house, though still young.
Father was far more fragile inside than he looked.
Even if he had education, he couldn’t survive in this harsh world.
He was the type who couldn’t force down his conscience by deception.
He was someone who said and acted on the belief that rice or apples our family couldn’t eat ourselves should never be sold to the world.
He wasn’t strong, but that made him even more respectable.
He could have just sold pesticide-soaked apples without worry, but he never sold his conscience.
That is why my dad is the best.
He was salt and light in this shitty world.
“Oppa, what is it? Did you secretly do a part-time job or something?”
Curious Juhee looked at me with sparkling eyes.
Only at times like this, the youngest one’s sense was sharp.
“You kids don’t need to know.”
“Piii…… even though we’re only two years apart.”
Kiddo…… your brother…
Contrary to how I look, I lived life intensely for three years and came back.
If you haven’t crossed it, don’t talk.
I once crossed the River Jordan of tears with my skull cracked open.
And so our family headed downtown.
Riding Father’s trembling fifteen-year-old legendary used car.
Ah!
I was trembling too.
Because starting today, my money-throwing would begin.
I planned to earn like a deer and spend like a wolf.