Novelist Running Through Time - Chapter 120

TL: KSD

Baekhak Group.

Commonly referred to as Baekhak ‘Media’ Group, Baekhak is a giant media conglomerate that dominates various media outlets in South Korea.

It essentially means a nationwide gang of thugs.

However, in the proudly authoritarian state of South Korea, where the tradition of controlled finance and press guidelines flourishes under an imperial presidency, no matter how much a gang of thugs flaunts their power, they are still within the palm of Buddha’s hand.

As recent cases have shown, no matter how much thugs swagger, Baekhak Group cowers when the government merely hints at the ‘cancellation of the comprehensive programming channel’s re-approval’.

But Japan is different.

The political and financial landscape of Japan is a bit more sinister.

It’s not that Japanese people are more sinister than Koreans, but that a parliamentary cabinet system is more sinister than a direct presidential election system.

Unlike Korea, which undergoes some degree of reshuffling every five years through elections, Japan is well-known for the Liberal Democratic Party’s decades-long domination.

While it can be seen as political stability, where money and power flow, conflict is inevitable.

Therefore, Japan’s political activities often take place in the shadows, away from the public eye—in the internal factional conflicts of the ruling party or in the hidden chambers of those who have ostensibly retired but are still effectively in power.

In the shadows, monsters easily grow.

The ‘Hitokawa Group’ is one such monster.

A behemoth in the Japanese publishing industry, holding multiple giant publishing houses with sales exceeding 1 trillion won.

Kyosensha, a major publishing company that owns the studio that produced the animated film ‘Gitar’, is also part of the Hitokawa Group.

It’s akin to one of the Four Heavenly Kings of a massive evil organization.

It’s indeed terrifying.

What is the evil plan of Kyosensha, which kidnapped (not really) the rights to ‘Gitar’ and made it into an animated film?

How far will the conspiracy of this shadowy major corporation that dominates the Japanese publishing industry extend?

The answer is…

‘They themselves don’t know.’

“What the hell, why did this became a hit?”

EP 8 – Dark Adaptation

Recently, Baekhak Publishing was startled by a new competitor appearing in the neighboring town, but Kyosensha was equally shocked by a new competitor appearing in their own town.

In other words, the success of the animated film ‘Gitar’ was not something Kyosensha had predicted.

Kyosensha’s staff only realized they had the rights after the film was released.

“That studio is certainly… under our company, right!”

“Hey, you idiots! How can you not properly manage media mixes!”

“S-sorry! We’ll check it out immediately!”

It wasn’t particularly strange. Rights aren’t as grandiose as one might think. And they’re not that expensive either.

However, since they might be used someday, hundreds or thousands of them are stored in a warehouse.

If it’s the rights to a literary novel that had a brief hit in the neighboring country, with little possibility of a film adaptation, its importance decreases even further.

But if the author is nominated for the Booker International Prize, the story changes. The rights to the novel ‘Gitar’ should have been meticulously managed from that point.

Of course, there are excuses for the poor staff.

“B-but, our company isn’t primarily focused on animation in the first place, right…?”

“Hmm.”

“Moreover, the studio involved in the production is a startup. Please be lenient…”

That was true.

If there’s a monster in the publishing industry, there’s also a monster in the film industry.

No matter how much Kyosensha is a part of the Hitokawa Group, they are nothing in the film world.

It’s what one might call a different ‘territory’.

Here’s a question.

1. To properly produce an animated film, you need at least 200 million yen, over 2 billion won.

2. The film adaptation of a novel is a kind of promotion, that is, publicity. And Kyosensha has no intention of promoting a genius boy from the neighboring country over legitimate Japanese authors.

3. So, who made ‘Gitar’?

Kyosensha, having thought this through without much trouble, started the hunt for the culprit just like Baekhak Publishing.

Which bastard did this!

Hey, come out now, and I’ll let you off with just one finger…

As expected from a company with a history of having yakuza threaten directors when bored, unlike Baekhak Publishing, they exuded a certain vibe from experience.

Thanks to that, like Baekhak Publishing, it didn’t take long to identify the culprit. Because all they had to do was look into the production committee of ‘Gitar’.

Surprisingly, the animated film ‘Gitar’ was essentially funded by a single investor.

It was an unusual case that went against the industry’s norm of joint investments by multiple sponsor companies.

So, who is the protagonist behind the unusual act of investing more than 2 billion won in an animated film?

“Ah, that’s me. Is there a problem?”

“No! None at all! Absolutely not! We were just slightly curious and carefully asked. We apologize for any inconvenience!”

It was the novelist, Eisaku Siedehara.

* * *

Kyosensha decided to quietly overlook Eisaku Siedehara’s somewhat overstepping actions in respect of his great literary achievements as one of Japan’s literary giants.

Indeed, the great fame of a literary giant, who has left deep marks in Japanese literary history, carries a subtle fragrance that naturally impresses the ignorant masses.

Of course, the fact that Eisaku Siedehara was friends with the chairman of the Hitokawa Group, and that Siedehara’s foster daughter was married to the chairman’s third son, also had a slight influence.

But the question remains.

Why did Eisaku Siedehara invest in the film adaptation of ‘Gitar’?

Fortunately, the spirit of the samurai has not disappeared in Japan, and Kyosensha’s senior editor and translator, Yohei Iwamoto, bravely asked with the determination to cut his belly open.

“Author! It’s not that I dare question your actions, but could you allow me to ask the reason why you invested in the film?”

“Oh, that? It’s because I wanted to see it.”

“…”

Yohei Iwamoto remained silent. Then, the shishi-odoshi in Siedehara’s traditional house garden quietly tilted, making a clear tapping sound. (TL: Shishi-odoshi is the name of the bamboo thing you might have seen in animes that makes the tapping sound)

Drip, tap.

Drip, tap.

The sound of bamboo and stone hitting each other brought Yohei Iwamoto back to his senses.

Indeed. Eisaku Siedehara was a person who lived in a house with such a large garden. Considering this was in the heart of Tokyo, it concluded that 200 million yen was a sum he could easily spend as a hobby.

But still, the question remains.

Who? Eisaku Siedehara.

Why? Because he was bored.

Then, the remaining question is ‘how?’

Fortunately, the answer to that question came straightforwardly from Eisaku Siedehara.

“Ah, the director came to me so earnestly, how could I coldly ignore him? He was about to perform a dogeza (TL: deep bow by kneeling), so I barely stopped him.”

“Ah, ah…! How could someone cause such an inconvenience to Author-nim!”

“It’s fine. It’s fine. It’s not like this old man is going to take his wealth to the grave. I trusted in the young man’s spirit and invested gladly.”

Yohei Iwamoto’s eyes, deeply bowing to Eisaku Siedehara, became noticeably sharper.

Found it. The culprit.

* * *

Thus, the mystery surrounding the film adaptation of ‘Gitar’ was solved through the detective work of Yohei Iwamoto.

Without even needing to put his grandfather’s honor on the line, he resolved the issue with flexible thinking, not unlike the famous detective Kindaichi Hajime. (TL: Reference to ‘The Kindaichi Case’)

Now, all that remains is the clean-up.

All that needs to be done is to show the director, who chose to adapt a Korean author’s novel instead of a Japanese one purely out of fandom, the ‘bitter taste of the organization.’

This is not merely Yohei Iwamoto’s personal opinion. Rumors were already high within the company.

That unpatriotic traitor betrayed the company…?

What good is making a good movie if there’s no company loyalty…?

Is he possibly a Zainichi? (TL: ethnic Korean in Japan)

Of course, the situation slightly changed when ‘Gitar’ came in first place.

“Damn it! I knew you could do it!”

“You’re a hero!”

“A genius director has emerged from our company!”

In this situation, Kyosensha also had to slightly adjust its policy. After all, flexible business thinking is the lifeline of a company, isn’t it?

So, they had to jump on the bandwagon.

The ‘Gitar’ bandwagon.

Fortunately, the original novel ‘Gitar’ was already being published in Japan. This was because it had been contracted before the controversy surrounding the Booker International Prize.

Naturally, thanks to the movie adaptation effect, it was selling like hotcakes, and in fact, this was essentially the only profit the author and the publisher could make.

In this industry, the movie profits are split between the production committee and the distributor anyway.

And the production committee was essentially funded solely by Siedehara, while the distributor was not the Hitokawa Group but a monster from the neighboring industry that monopolized the film sector.

Moreover, even the director couldn’t get a piece of the pie, so how much could the publisher get? If they were bitter about it, they should have put their name on the production committee and invested.

Therefore, the publishing revenue turned out to be the only source of money.

Yohei Iwamoto devised a wicked plan to embezzle those profits.

Recalling the cold-faced chaebol princess he encountered at the Booker Prize ceremony…

“Why would I do her any favors…!”

He never forgets an insult. The sharp blade prepared for the cruel witch who turned him into a mere sideshow at the Booker Prize ceremony was ready.

Yohei Iwamoto’s bloody revenge began.

It aimed to minimize the revenue heading to Korea. For this, all sorts of terrifying and sinister methods were employed.

Yohei Iwamoto was a senior editor and translator at Kyosensha. He had both the ability and political power to translate novels by Eisaku Siedehara, a Nobel Prize in Literature candidate.

Burning with vengeance, he personally retranslated ‘Gitar’ from start to finish. He even improved the quality significantly.

In return, he subtly siphoned off some of the publishing profits.

But the revenge didn’t stop there.

He couldn’t tolerate the poorly produced books that the Koreans had made to cut costs, so he re-bound them in a luxury lineup.

He used Hitokawa Group’s distribution network to display them extensively in bookstores nationwide, redesigned the book covers to match Japanese sensibilities, leveraged Kyosensha’s political clout for bookstore promotions, ran TV ads, planned events linked to theaters, included book-related gifts, created character merchandise, made limited edition books to commemorate the movie adaptation, placed banners on online bookstores, begged the singers of the movie OST to leave positive comments on social media, produced an e-book version, controlled critics’ opinions, and held post-publication events at the publisher level.

And in return, he took away the publishing profits.

Thus, Yohei Iwamoto sent only a few remaining pennies to Korea after he had completely plundered everything.

“Heh heh heh…”

The completion of cruel revenge.

What kind of expression would that cold-faced chaebol princess make?

A dumbfounded look? A face full of anger? Or perhaps a look of resentment?

Whatever it was, it was a pity he couldn’t see her face in real-time.

* * *

“…….”

Lim Yang-wook’s expression hardened as he checked the publishing profits that had come in from Japan.

This was no ordinary matter.

It was significant enough to necessitate a complete overhaul of the pre-planned future business direction.

Originally, Lim Yang-wook had planned to expand into the American market.

The goal was to cover the decline in domestic popularity due to Moon In’s excessive image consumption and to achieve results significant enough to make Baek Seol the CEO of Baekhak Publishing.

Lim Yang-wook had even reluctantly lowered the Taegeukgi in his heart for this sole purpose.

But today, even the Stars and Stripes, which he had raised after lowering the Taegeukgi, slowly descended from the flagpole in his heart.

The Star-Spangled Banner thus descended from Lim Yang-wook’s heart.

Instead, the Hinomaru, the Japanese flag with the red dot, gradually ascended.

No! You crazy bastard!

Aren’t you ashamed to face your ancestors!

His last shred of patriotism tried to stop him, but the temptation was too great to resist.

“How many zeros are there…?”

Behind the dazed Lim Yang-wook, who was sitting in front of the monitor, the cheers of the Publishing Management Headquarters staff shouting ‘Long live the Division Head!’ echoed.

It was spring.

* * *

The year passed, and as a new spring arrived, several changes occurred in daily life.

I became a third-year middle school student, moved to a slightly larger studio, and so on…

But the biggest change was that Ma Ki-hoon, who had graduated from high school, got his driver’s license.

“Hey! Get in!”

“People might think it’s your own car.”

Although Ma Ki-hoon graduated this year, he had repeated a year in middle school, so he could have gotten his license earlier. In fact, he already had his license.

However, neither the school nor the company had allowed Ma Ki-hoon to drive a car, as there was a social convention against high school seniors driving.

But as a high school graduate, Ma Ki-hoon was freed from all the constraints that bound him.

As a result, Ma Ki-hoon was sitting in the driver’s seat of a van loaned by the company.

Getting to drive a luxury van as his first car after getting his license—Ma Ki-hoon certainly had some good luck.

His eyes still sparkled as he looked at the shiny driver’s seat.

“Hey, In-seop. Can I use this car to drop Hye-jin off at school just once?”

“Just don’t let Department head Lim find out.”

“Yay!”

I chuckled softly, watching Ma Ki-hoon laugh like a boy even though he was now an adult.

But Ma Ki-hoon, who had taken care of children while playing the role of an adult since he was a boy, quickly snapped back to his duties.

“Okay, what time do we need to be at the airport?”

“The flight to Tokyo leaves at 12:40, so we should get there by 11:30 at the latest.”

“Alright. Off to Incheon Airport!”

Our destination was Japan.

Tokyo.

We’re going to sell books.

*****

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