I’m Poor and Unpopular [Part 3]

“Yes, yes. I can talk. Go ahead.”

The editor continued with a faint sigh. “To be completely honest, I’m very worried about this novel.”

“Oh...”

“It’s good that the master warrior of Murim is going to the fantasy world. But for him to just remain in fantasy, it’s a bit... Besides, the main character wasn’t super strong to begin with, and he grows slowly as he fights stronger enemies. For him to just be a smithy artisan, it’s too bland.”

Jaegun covered his mouth, which was about to let out a deep sigh. When he glanced up the street, numerous people were walking around with smiles on their faces. It seemed like everyone, except for him, was living a life full of happiness.

“I know you try very hard, Mr. Ha,” his editor continued, “I really do, but you tend to miss making the plot entertaining by excessively focusing on things like probability.”

“Yes...”

“If you want, we can publish it as is. But the guaranteed number of copies will go down a bit. I also don’t think you should expect many sales. And the series could be cut short, so I believe you should consider starting with ebooks instead of print.”

Jaegun felt like he was blacking out as he slid down to the ground.

The editor added firmly, “You might be able to surpass your previous series’s record. But it could even be worse.”

He wouldn’t even be able to surpass his previous series’s record. He knew his editor was a hardworking person giving objective opinions, but Jaegun felt as if his heart was breaking.

“Think about it. We haven’t published yet and we have some time.”

“Okay, thank you. I’ll call you.”

Hiding his despair, Jaegun purposely answered with a bright voice and hung up the phone.

Then he sighed and stuck a cigarette in his mouth.

Seriously, f*ck...!

The previous series the editor had been referring to was Jaegun’s fantasy series that’d been published last year. It hadn’t sold well at all. The series was five books long, and the total royalties were less than 1.8 million won. That meant royalties for each book were only 360,000 won.

Since each volume took an entire month of writing without rest, the profit was way too low.

As the ebook market became more active, the situation had become better, but that was still irrelevant to Jaegun. The ebook royalty payments that were deposited every month were embarrassing to even say out loud. Oftentimes they didn’t even go over 10,000 won.

“But does that pay? Does one book even get you 1 million won?”

The image of Myunghoon’s face when he’d mockingly questioned him floated into his mind.

Jaegun wrapped his head with both of his hands, the cigarette hanging from his mouth. This time, he would barely make 300,000 won, let alone 1 million won. His editor’s predictions were almost always accurate.

Should I give up now...?

He couldn’t live on an income of 300,000 won a month.

The rent of his current studio and utility payments combined came to much more than that.

There were two choices he could make: either he could keep writing while working at the convenience store like he did until last year, or quit completely.

Twenty-seven years old.

A miserable life with nothing saved.

Before he knew it, tears were falling from his eyes. It felt like the happier days he’d dreamed of would never come.

Jaegun could do nothing but stupidly stand there, unable to even wipe his tears.

***

“Get home safe,” Jaegun said, getting out of the taxi.

In the back seat was Jungjin, completely drunk. “Yuuup, urgh. Call’ya turmorrow. Shirr, le’s go. Nrgh.”

The taxi departed shortly after Jungjin’s slurred speech.

Jaegun put both of his hands in his pockets and headed home with heavy steps. He purposely had the taxi stop a little far away because his studio was quite isolated, making it difficult for a car to reach it.

On the left of the single path was a stream, and on the right was a hill. As he had many times before, he walked up the empty path with worry heavy on his shoulders.

Hmm?

Jaegun suddenly stopped. Something had caught his eye—something that stuck out from the natural environment.

He suspected that his eyes were playing tricks on him because he was drunk. But still, he looked back.

Wait, that’s...?

Jaegun’s gaze stopped across the road, in the middle of the hill.

It was a grave.

The grave was covered in weeds, as if it hadn’t been taken care of for a long time. It gave him an eerie feeling. However, it had caught Jaegun’s attention for a different reason. The gravestone had fallen on its side.

Did someone purposely push it over?

Perhaps it was out of drunken pity, but he felt bad for the owner of the desolate grave. He was curious too. What kind of life had they lived that they had been abandoned even by their family? Although he had seen the grave every day, this was the first time he’d felt this way.

Either way, that didn’t matter to Jaegun at the moment. As if possessed, he climbed up the slope of the hill and approached the grave.

Wow... This is bigger than I thought!

The gravestone that’d seemed small from far away was actually quite huge.

Jaegun rolled up his sleeves and grabbed the gravestone. As he tried to lift it, it slowly moved. Jaegun’s red face bulged with veins.

“Nnnghhh...!”

Thud!

The massive gravestone once again stood upright, just as it used to. Jaegun panted heavily as he bent down, holding both of his knees.

“Hurgh! Huff! Huff! B... Blaaachh...!”

Exerting himself while drunk had made him throw up. Jaegun puked up a puddle of stomach acid and covered his mouth. If he puked even more, he felt as if his entire dinner would come out.

“Huu... Hurgh...”

Jaegun looked down at his clothes while calming his breath. Both of his arms and hands were covered in soil.

Well, they’re already dirty.

Jaegun approached the grave and started plucking the weeds that had grown densely around it. It took a lot of force, as they were stronger than they looked. It would’ve been better if he had gardening shears, but of course, he didn’t have anything like that nearby.

He soon finished the front, and just as he was moving to the back...

“Meeeow!”

“Uaargh! Oh my god!”

Jaegun fell on his ass.

A cat was standing there, its tail pointed straight up. It had short, dark-blue fur.

“Huh? Are you someone’s cat?” Jaegun asked. It had a pink collar around its neck, which had the word “Rika” written on it. “Rika? Is your name Rika?”

“Meow.”

“Why are you here? Are you lost?”

“Meow.”

The cat only cried, looking up at Jaegun.

He suddenly realized that the cat’s eye level was higher than it should’ve been. Looking down, he saw that it was standing on a box. It was a big ramyun instant noodle box, wrapped in tape.

“What’s this now? This is definitely weird.”

In this day and age, Jaegun knew what kind of messed up things could happen, and he got nervous. He swallowed quietly and reached his hand out to the box. If this was related to a crime, it was all the more reason for him to check.

The cat jumped down from the box and stood next to Jaegun.

“Hm? A laptop?” Jaegun murmured in confusion upon opening the box.

Indeed, there lay a laptop. It was clearly old and shabby. There was also a fountain pen, a gray mug, and brown horn-rimmed glasses.

“Do these belong to your owner?”

“Meow, meow.”

As if it understood, the cat cried and lifted its head high. Jaegun cautiously reached out his hand and stroked its neck. The cat clung close to him as if it enjoyed Jaegun’s touch.

At that moment—

“Huuuh?!”