Novelist Running Through Time - Chapter 86

TL: KSD

‘The fact that almost all employees of Baekhak Publishing dislike Lim Yang-wook,’

implies that ‘almost all employees know who Lim Yang-wook is.’

And Baekhak Publishing is a very large company.

It’s very difficult for one employee to become famous in such a company.

Unless you happen to run into the chairman’s son around a corner with toast in your mouth…

Fortunately, Lim Yang-wook has never run into the chairman’s son with toast in his mouth.

But he has run into quite a few other people.

-To think that was submitted as a plan is questionable.

-I think it’s nonsense.

-Don’t think about adding anything here, just do as you’re told. Is that so difficult?

There’s a ghost story that gets told in Baekhak Publishing. Long ago, in the publishing planning department that decides the business direction of Baekhak Publishing, there lived a devil…

The moment you make eye contact, your project gets overturned, and despite the seniority order, this devil devours seniors whole with great ability, leaving no room for objection…

Of course, it’s all an old story.

The devil was exorcised, and the ghost story gradually forgotten.

But today, the devil from the ghost story has returned.

“You, you can’t possibly…!”

“Ah, it’s been a long time. Sunbae.”

Publishing Planning Department Head Woo Ki-tae was as shocked as if he had seen a ghost.

Indeed, the difficulty of resurrecting the dead and bringing back the demoted might be similar.

The very image of ‘that bastard’ from Woo Ki-tae’s memory, just without the hair.

The devil in a suit approached Woo Ki-tae.

“You…! How could you be here…!”

“We’ll be working together again, so I came to say hello.”

That day, the employees of Baekhak Publishing remembered.

The fear of being dominated by the devil, the humiliation of having their proposals rejected…

“Publishing Management Department Head Lim Yang-wook.”

Lim Yang-wook has returned.

EP 6-The Show Must Go On

Anyone familiar with the Village Hidden in the Leaves knows that originally, a rogue ninja is much stronger than just a ninja.

According to traditional subculture grammar, the exiled are strong.

And the returnees are also strong.

So, what about someone who was exiled and then returned? They are much stronger.

Therefore, it’s common sense that someone who was exiled and returns gains cheat abilities and becomes 999 times stronger. This is also mentioned in Japanese light novels.

Lim Yang-wook was somewhat similar.

When he left, he was a team leader, but upon his return, he was a department head.

Moreover, having a reliable (figurehead) head of the division backing him, he could be said to be a Lü Bu on Red Hare, or Mario with a star. (TL: Horse of Lü Bu)

However, Lim Yang-wook’s impression upon entering the lobby of Baekhak Publishing was a bit distant from the traditional subculture clichés.

Rather than wielding cheat abilities to slaughter everyone, a bitter and nostalgic longing took precedence.

“The scenery remains the same…”

He remembered the day he first entered the lobby of Baekhak Publishing. It was a time filled with hope and ambition.

Although he soon realized the company’s deep-rooted disdain for ‘inferior universities’ and was frustrated, the dream of making the Korean publishing industry a better place was vividly remembered.

And now, Lim Yang-wook is slowly realizing that dream.

At this rate, he wouldn’t be ashamed in front of his younger self.

With that lingering sentiment, Lim Yang-wook glanced at Baek Seol ‘division head’ beside him.

Gone was the disheveled office worker, wandering the office with a cup of coffee and yawning.

Baek Seol, neatly dressed, certainly looked the part of her position, but her eyes, wavering incessantly, undermined the atmosphere.

‘What should I do, what should I do, what should I do, what should I do, what should I do, what should I do?’

Easily reading her inner turmoil, Lim Yang-wook smiled and offered her some guidance.

“You should probably start by going to the division head’s office. Director~nim.”

“Yes, Ye-Heh?!”

Baek Seol still found it awkward to hear polite speech from Lim Yang-wook, her eyeballs spinning round and round.

“But, shouldn’t we still greet the company’s people…?”

“In what company does the head of a division go around greeting the department heads?”

“Then, maybe in a slightly anti-authoritarian, venture company vibe…?”

“Baekhak Publishing is a company of stubborn old farts. Just sit nicely in the division head’s office.”

After setting Baek Seol’s course of action, Lim Yang-wook went around Baekhak Publishing to greet the stubborn old farts.

Roaming around, he saw many familiar faces. Lim Yang-wook warmly smiled and greeted every acquaintance he encountered.

“Ah, how long has it been, Assistant Manager Lee?”

“Ah, ah, hello! Team Leader! No, I mean Department Head~nim!”

“I see you’re a team leader now, too, Lee Eun-bi, huh? I thought you would become one someday. I saw the ambition in your eyes every time you laughed at the CEO’s jokes.”

“Hey, Assistant Manager Park!”

“Team Leader Li, Li, Lim?!”

“What’s wrong? You look like you’ve seen a ghost. Oh, you’ve become a Deputy Head? Congratulations. Are you in sales department?”

“Uh, uh-huh……”

“Heh, I’ll be seeing you around. Let’s greet each other again later.”

Lim Yang-wook exchanged brief greetings with acquaintances and department heads he encountered in the corridors.

There were strange murmurs like, ‘Lim Yang-wook… smiled?!’ and ‘What did I just see?’ but he didn’t bother much about them.

From his first round of reconnaissance, Lim Yang-wook learned something important.

This company, it hasn’t changed much.

Then, the story becomes very simple.

Lim Yang-wook returned to Division head Baek Seol and reported the outcome of his reconnaissance.

“I think for the time being, we just need to do our own work.”

“……?”

“We don’t have to worry about other departments.”

Lim Yang-wook, knowing the company Baekhak Publishing better than anyone else, was able to give Baek Seol a pinpoint lecture.

The ideology dominating Baekhak Publishing is ‘elitism’.

The one thing that allows them to endure the harsh working environment is the pride of being the pinnacle of the Korean publishing industry.

This mentality applies to the organization as well. It’s about delegating all decision-making power to capable people.

“That’s the Publishing Planning Department. Where I used to be. You know where that is, right, Director?”

“Ah, yes…”

Perhaps in the Book Distribution Department, which manages offline bookstores and distribution networks, but at least within the Publishing Business Department, the Publishing Planning Department holds all the power.

Thus, other departments are essentially just tools to facilitate the projects attempted by the Publishing Planning Department.

In other words, you only need to worry about the Publishing Planning Department.

“But now, it’s a mess there.”

“……!”

The Publishing Planning Department where Lim Yang-wook had been was a place of fierce meetings and debates, primarily between conservatives and innovators.

However, after the entire minority of innovators were ousted due to the Publishing Management Task Force explosion, the department became a den for conservatives.

In other words, a robust leadership system under the Kim Sang-guk – Yang Sung-jun line was completed.

But that’s been ruined.

Yang Sung-jun was gone, and Kim Sang-guk was out of sorts. And to Lim Yang-wook, Department Head Woo Ki-tae seemed incapable of returning the Publishing Planning Department to its normal state.

Therefore, in Baekhak Publishing’s existing power structure, the only person who could think, have a say, and exercise that power was CEO Kim Sang-guk, but his threat melts away in front of Baek Seol’s dignified lineage.

Whether it’s simply a good situation or orchestrated by CEO Baek Do-hyun, Lim Yang-wook was not so dull as to not know what to do next.

“Now, we just have to change the Publishing Management Department into the Publishing Management Division.”

“……!”

“We’ve gained a level of independence within Baekhak Publishing that could be considered an in-house venture, or even a subsidiary. Now we just need to leech, no, utilize Baekhak Publishing’s manpower and capital to expand our business and build our achievements.”

So, when such impressive achievements are accumulated, there will be justification for promoting Baek Seol to CEO.

He omitted that part.

“……I know it’s very confusing for you right now. But once you get used to it, it’s nothing. I’ll guide you as quickly as possible, so for now, just get used to the company.”

“Ah, okay!”

“Um!”

“Uh!”

The two exchanged determined glances.

Lim Yang-wook bowed to Baek Seol and then left the office.

He headed towards the Publishing Management Department.

As he opened the office door, he saw the employees, waiting like baby birds, with their eyes wide open in surprise.

Lim Yang-wook smiled, showing his white teeth.

“Tadaima.”

Assistant Manager Kim Ga-ryung, with a deep understanding of Japanese otaku light novels, sprang up from his seat and responded.

“Okaeri!”

Even the regular employees, who didn’t understand what the two were talking about, sprang up and rushed to Lim Yang-wook.

“Department Head Lim!”

“You’ve returned!”

“Department Head Lim……!”

The employees of the Publishing Management Department welcomed Lim Yang-wook as if they were reuniting with lost family members.

All the original staff of the Publishing Management Department were from Baekhak Entertainment, and for them, it was as if they had suddenly been dropped into a different world one day.

Lim Yang-wook affectionately consoled the lost lambs, who had been struggling in his absence, as he subtly explored the Publishing Management Department office.

“Ho ho……”

About half of the Publishing Management Department was new personnel, likely dispatched from various departments of Baekhak Publishing intending to terraform and swallow the department whole.

But while entering is voluntary, leaving is not.

The Publishing Management Department, no, the Publishing Management Division, is at a precious moment that must be transformed into an <Entertainment Agency for Novelists>.

Lim Yang-wook began to devise a wicked strategy to gulp down the spies planted by Baekhak Publishing.

But that was one thing, and this was another.

There was a more pressing matter at hand.

“Ah, but where’s Author Moon?”

“He’s gone missing.”

“……?!”

* * *

Saying that Moon In-seop has gone missing is an overly Baekhak Publishing-centric point of view.

It’s true that Moon In-seop disappeared from his workshop and escaped the grasp of Baekhak Publishing employees, but from Moon In-seop’s perspective, it wasn’t a disappearance.

It was an escape.

“Ah, it feels so refreshing.”

Although Moon In-seop’s path is that of literature, he is still a resident of the New Light Spring Orphanage.

He had inherited the skill of Golden Cicada Shedding from Ma Ki-hoon, who had single-handedly defeated a gang of evil villains three to one and escaped from a hopeless situation.

Especially with Ma Ki-hoon himself by his side, how much more could it be?

The two boys had easily slipped from the grasp of Baekhak Publishing and ‘disappeared’.

Baekhak Publishing employees even contacted the New Light Spring Orphanage to inquire about Moon In-seop’s whereabouts, but ultimately they could not track down Moon In-seop and Ma Ki-hoon.

And the two were at the New Light Spring Orphanage.

Under a large tree in the yard, they lay on a platform spread out on the ground.

The cool summer breeze blowing under the shade of the tree cooled the heat.

“The breeze is cool and just perfect.”

“Right? How did you come up with this idea?”

“Hehe……”

Moon In-seop had used his knowledge as a returnee for the first time in a long while.

Only Moon In-seop knows the future.

A few years from now, a large platform will be laid out in the yard of the New Light Spring Orphanage.

The platform, installed without much thought by Director Moon Chung-jae, became a beloved fixture among the children.

The feeling of lying sprawled under the shade of a tree in summer is something those who haven’t experienced it wouldn’t understand.

Moon In-seop had simply brought that future a little earlier.

Thanks to him, not just Moon In-seop and Ma Ki-hoon but other children were also resting sprawled out on the large platform.

A passing orphanage gym teacher came over and tapped on Ma Ki-hoon’s leg protruding from the platform.

“What are you kids doing?”

“Resting.”

“Are you a dried fish? It’s not like drying peppers in the countryside, what is this?”

The gym teacher boisterously squeezed himself among the children and lay down on the platform. The primary school kids shrieked about the sweat smell, but the gym teacher chuckled and clung to the children.

Ma Ki-hoon also watched with a playful smile, and Moon In-seop glanced over with a slight roll of his eyes, enjoying the warm scene.

Amidst the loud chirping of cicadas, a peaceful summer day at New Light Spring Orphanage was passing by.

-!

Just then, an alert sounded on Moon In-seop’s phone.

It was a call from Kim Byul.

“Hello?”

-In-seop… we’re friends, right?

“Yes?”

-Friends… right?!

“Me?”

If Moon In-seop had known that Kim Byul was calling during a variety show filming, he might have thought a bit more about his response.

*****

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