Chapter 133: Chapter 133

Baekhak Publishing has a ‘special thing’ that other publishers don’t have.

This is what made Baekhak Publishing the largest publisher in Korea.

This ‘special thing’ is their .

Other publishers only make books, but Baekhak Publishing not only makes their own books but also sells them in their own stores.

Even other publishers have to supply their books to Baekhak Publishing’s stores, so who would dare to challenge Baekhak Publishing’s stronghold?

In fact, it’s clearly unfair competition, but since Baekhak Media Group, the parent company, controls the Korean press, no one dares to point fingers.

Anyhow, the reason Baekhak Publishing can dominate the publishing industry is not because of the ‘Publishing Business Division’ that makes books, but because of the ‘Book Distribution Division’ that manages bookstores…

Oddly enough, the captain of the Baekhak Publishing ship has always come from the ‘Publishing Business Division’. Even though the ‘Book Distribution Division’ makes much more money.

Thus, I felt more welcomed than bewildered when I saw Jonathan’s daughter. She was the conclusion that had come to me.

-Didn’t you come for revenge?

-What are you talking about? Forget killing, just give me the donation money.

At that moment, I felt more bewilderment than welcome.

The donation money was the money people had given me.

It was coins thrown at me saying they felt relieved that I had avenged the woman who committed suicide due to bullying.

Some called me a martyr who alerted society to the social lynching culture rotting the country, some called me a righteous man who judged the unreasonable educational administration that put too much responsibility on teachers, and some said I was a real man who protected the honor of a lover who had been slandered to death.

Some said they pitied me for my tragic family background and upbringing that led to my downfall, some asked for forgiveness for their participation in the bullying from behind anonymity by giving me this money, and some simply said they felt relieved watching my retaliatory actions and wanted to give me money.

Those were the reasons why they gave me money.

And it was clear that all these donations were actions for themselves, not for others. It was them enjoying tormenting the girl who died by my hands, and I didn’t want to participate in this torment, so I didn’t touch that money.

Let alone hesitate to return it to the owner.

-I’ll give it all to you, take it.

-No, just give me half.

She took exactly half of the 82,412,064 won in the prison account.

Then, with a delighted smile, she offered to buy me a meal.

I could only be dragged along with a dumbfounded expression.」

Whether it was because she met a good friend or a bad one, Kim Byul developed the peculiar hobby of ‘literature’ in the 21st century.

Who in the world, in the 21st century, would painstakingly read stories that don’t make any sound or move!

Kim Byul got so immersed in this peculiar hobby that she even bought and read books by other authors besides Moon In with her own money.

It could be said that Moon In had thoroughly ruined a person.

However, as Kim Byul began to learn literature in her own way, she experienced a slightly ironic situation…

The more she read works by authors other than Moon In, the more she got to know about the author Moon In.

Interestingly, when she only knew Moon In’s writings, she didn’t know what kind of author Moon In was.

But having a point of comparison, she seemed to finally understand what kind of style Moon In had.

First of all, Moon In was weak in descriptions.

He couldn’t write beautifully about nature’s beauty, cascading waterfalls, fields full of buckwheat flowers, or any backgrounds with beautiful scenery.

His expressions weren’t particularly varied either. It felt like a writer whose habits had hardened, using similar terms repeatedly.

Overall, his writing didn’t feel like that of a young writer. Although he was famous for being the youngest. Anyway.

And, though it might be a bit much to say, the depictions of family relationships were somewhat awkward, the characters overly calculating or emotional…

Overall, the literature seemed to lack a bit of humanity.

This was the messy impression of amateur reader Kim Byul about Moon In.

Gu Hak-jun might have summarized all these evaluations with the phrase ‘not lyrical’.

But amateur reader Kim Byul’s perspective was vaguely hitting the mark, possible because she had lived a life practicing for hours to embody a single line of script.

Therefore, conversely, Kim Byul could roughly grasp the strengths of the writer Moon In.

First of all, he wrote good stories.

Particularly, it’s hard to describe, but while reading the novel, you feel a certain flow, and Moon In seemed to handle that flow with ease.

The tension would rises up to your neck and then dissolves into emptiness. It transitions from a peaceful atmosphere to a sudden, chilling presence… that kind of feeling.

To Kim Byul, all those flows felt like a meticulously designed machine. To put it in an actor’s terms, the novel felt like a pre-produced drama that had been prepared for two years.

This too could be summed up by Gu Hak-jun as ‘strong in narrative’.

In any case, the subtly professional amateur Kim Byul quite enjoyed reading the novel ‘Dark Adaptation’.

She deeply resonated with the topics of sins unpunishable by law, humans who can only live by tormenting others, and the hell created by the ugly and dark human nature.

After all, being a celebrity was a job of enduring such torment.

However, the only people who could feel entertained by such a novel were the very few who could continue the boring reading to clearly understand a single moment of irony.

It’s a world where the talent to find charm in dry text has become extremely rare.

In a world full of things more interesting than novels, there’s no place for such a novel.

Kim Byul, being someone who made those , understood that fact very well.

And as an amateur reader, she couldn’t help but feel regret.

Understanding why it failed, yet feeling so sorry that it did fail, was a paradoxical emotion.

Kim Byul closed the book, feeling such complex emotions.

There was actually one more emotion added to this.

As an artist, a reader, and most importantly as a friend of Moon In, Kim Byul had watched how much effort he put into writing this book.

He had become so thin, with dark circles reaching down to his cheeks.

She didn’t know why this particular novel was especially difficult for him, but from what she overheard him whispering with Gu Yu-na, there seemed to be a reason.

And to think that such a painstakingly written novel was ignored by the public. It even became a reason for people to point fingers, saying Moon In’s talent had dried up.

Having experienced countless failures with dramas she had acted in with all her might, Kim Byul could genuinely empathize with that pain.

There was someone who was thinking similarly to Kim Byul.

An old man closed a book.

He savored the lingering emotions with his eyes closed,

Then quietly muttered.

The old man had many people who would pick up and carefully attend to even his quietest murmurs, so there was an immediate response from beside him.

“Could you please repeat that?”

“I just said it while reading a book.”

The man in the suit, who inquired about the old man’s intentions, bowed apologetically as if he were sorry for troubling him by reacting to his monologue and retreated.

The old man accepted this attitude naturally and turned his head suddenly.

“Moon In-seop, sir. Currently a 3rd-year student at Baekhak Arts Middle School, and an author affiliated with Baekhak Publishing. Recently, he was shortlisted for the Booker International…”

“I know. Arrange a meal with him sometime soon.”