NOVEL NEXT WORLD Ch 30
He kept writing.
While writing the novel, he thought over and over again.
‘Hyungnim said he had this thought at this point, but inserting this here might be a problem. Readers are bound to get bored.’
‘The character description should be simple. Most readers won’t care much about the character’s outfit. They’re more focused on speech and actions. This part should probably be deleted. Simple. Humor shouldn’t be used here.’
‘Let’s see. This is a genre novel, but since I’m writing about Hyungnim’s experiences, there’s no need to change people’s names to pseudonyms. Let’s use real names. People who ran companies or serial killers, etc., let’s use them as they are.’
He wasn’t typing on the keyboard, but instead writing on a notebook with a pen, working in an old-fashioned way, but his speed was fast.
Jeongbin didn’t stop.
As for the real names and such, if there’s a problem, they can always be fixed later. Right now, he just wanted to focus on writing.
He had to unravel the story.
He needed to share the story of those who had been forgotten, the ones whose stories no one knew, with the world.
This was a novel, but it wasn’t just a novel. It was a man’s memoir, a narrative of the things one man had seen and experienced, the traces of 200 people that no one else would ever know.
Scratch, scratch.
The sound filled the room.
* * *
There was something that had to be made clear.
The watch that Jeongbin was currently using was indeed the one that the 200th Apostle had used.
But like with most famous people, they usually wore at least two watches.
One for personal use, and the other for official use.
Jeongbin hadn’t even received the Apostle’s watch for official use. He’d been told to destroy it and even had the number deactivated.
The watch Jeongbin was currently wearing was one that only a few people, including his sister Jin Song-i, could contact him through. The messenger account was the same.
Bzzz.
The watch vibrated.
The name on the screen was “Team Leader Kwon Hyeok-jae.”
The 200th Apostle was primarily a genre fiction writer, and of course, as a writer, he had a management team.
Kwon Hyeok-jae was the general team leader of JH Media.
He had been the 200th Apostle’s editor and PD.
[Team Leader Kwon Hyeok-jae: Author, are you about to start a new work?]
[Team Leader Kwon Hyeok-jae: But the title is a bit dull. Would you be okay with using “Titan” instead?]
[Team Leader Kwon Hyeok-jae: You said you wanted to write a zombie novel next, but now you’re going for fantasy?]
[Team Leader Kwon Hyeok-jae: Author, could you speak?]
[Team Leader Kwon Hyeok-jae: Author, are you available?]
[Team Leader Kwon Hyeok-jae: Author…….]
…and so on.
It hadn’t been five minutes since he stepped out of the room.
Apparently, Jeongbin had registered the new novel, and it seemed like Team Leader Kwon Hyeok-jae had seen it. As for the title, Jeongbin hadn’t said much to Jeongbin about it.
He’d simply told him to choose the title he wanted.
The title “Titan” was great. It was simple.
The novel “Titan” had left Jeongbin’s hands. He didn’t plan to worry about it anymore.
Since the watch was connected to the messenger on the computer, Jeongbin would probably check it soon.
Then, his gaze shifted slightly upward.
There was one unread message.
[010-2222-7777: Hello, sir. You need to repay your debt. Please contact us as soon as you confirm.]
What was this?
Jeongbin frowned. It was unpleasant.
Anyway, what he’d said to Jeongbin about going to a good place wasn’t a lie. Jeongbin truly intended to go somewhere good.
This was a hotel. A hotel suite.
He was thinking of smoking a cigarette, but smoking indoors was rude. There was a designated smoking room, so he decided to head there.
He fiddled with the cigarette in his hand and made his way to the smoking room. There was an elevator there, and just as the elevator door opened, Jeongbin saw the face of a man.
What the…
“Why are you here?”
“I couldn’t reach you.”
It was Secretary Yoon Young-su.
He seemed to have business with him.
Jeongbin asked him.
“Do you smoke?”
“Occasionally.”
“Well then, let’s smoke one together. I’ll light it for you.”
“…Okay.”
“Let’s talk as we walk. We have enough time for a cigarette, right?”
“Yes, we have plenty of time. We can talk now.”
As they walked, Jeongbin asked.
“What’s going on? What do you need to say?”
“An SSS-class gate has appeared in the Uyuni Desert.”
“Oh, really?”
“Yes. All the unique Awakened have been moved to Switzerland.”
Switzerland?
“Is the Uyuni Desert in Switzerland?”
“No, it’s in Bolivia. Switzerland is home to the World Awakener Association. All unique Awakened are called there.”
“Is my sister going too?”
“Yes. She was redirected to Switzerland mid-flight while heading to Korea.”
“Busy.”
“Yes.”
He took a cigarette and handed one to Yoon Young-su, lighting it for him.
As he exhaled, he stared at Yoon Young-su, who said,
“I came to inform you because there might be an emergency situation.”
“Like the last time?”
“Yes. It looks like the Apostles are approaching not just you, but also the Master. We need to watch closely to see if it’s a one-time thing or something more. By the way, I heard you’ve hired a ghostwriter?”
“I did. A very reliable guy.”
“The ghostwriter Jeongbin… Honestly, people like me don’t know much, but someone like you probably sees something different. Personally, I have high expectations.”
“Expectations, huh.”
“Oh, and the case of Jin Tae-seop’s death has been concluded as suicide. Do you remember Officer Kang Hyun-su, who identified Jin Si-hoo as a suspect in the Kim Min-jae murder case in Gimcheon and called him in for questioning?”
“I do.”
“That was handled yesterday. And I’ve processed everything regarding the hospital discharge as well.”
Jin Si-hoo exhaled smoke and laughed.
“Wow. You’re pretty efficient. But when you say handled, that means…?”
He made a gesture across his neck with his hand, and Yoon Young-su answered, as if to say, ‘Why ask?’
“Yes, he’s dead.”
“Wow, this guy kills people in the city, huh? Not a good person.”
“You’re one to talk. At least I didn’t throw someone out of an apartment.”
Jin Si-hoo had nothing to reply to that. He suddenly became curious.
“Does my sister know?”
“No.”
“Oh, she doesn’t?”
“No. The Master is a person of moderate gray, but he’s almost completely tilted toward white. I’m tilted toward black.”
It was clear now. Jin Si-hoo felt much more reassured with Yoon Young-su than before. But…
“Are you alright?”
Yoon Young-su paused when Jin Si-hoo asked that. He sensed something unusual in those words.
“You look fine. I’m good.”
He didn’t think too much about it. Yoon Young-su spoke.
“Let me know if you need anything.”
Jin Si-hoo smiled.
“Since you take care of everything so smoothly, I don’t think I need to say anything. By the way, I plan to stay here in the suite for a while, so if you’re bored, feel free to visit. This place is nice.”
“Yes, please stay as long as you’d like. This hotel is owned by our Salvation Guild.”
“I didn’t know that. Do you offer any discounts?”
“If you’d like, I can offer you a discount. The tax situation is a bit complicated, but I can handle it on my end.”
“Just saying. What’s there to discount? If not now, when else would I spend the blind money that the Apostle has stashed away?”
He crushed the cigarette and extinguished it.
“Anyway, if anything strange happens, contact me immediately. I’ll contact my sister separately.”
“Yes, take care. Also.”
“And.”
“I must say, I’m personally looking forward to your new work.”
“Don’t get your hopes up. They say the bigger the expectation, the bigger the disappointment.”
Yoon Young-su smiled.
“It’s an unfair game, but even if the work is just average, it will get adapted into a drama, manga, movie, or whatever. It will be worked on right away.”
He was sincere. Honestly, several of the works by the 200th Apostle had already been adapted into webtoons and dramas, but that was mainly due to Jin Song-yi’s influence. The Salvation Guild and Jin Song-yi had never once asked for the Apostle’s works to be promoted or pressured production companies.
But this time, it would be different.
They were going to take a proactive stance. As for the quality of the novel? It didn’t matter if it was low. Ghostwriter? Didn’t matter. If needed, they would openly announce the ghostwriter. They were going to tell the whole world about the events that happened on the planet Titan.
Yoon Young-su was curious about how the world would change once the 200th Apostle’s work was revealed.
“And what will you do about Jin Tae-seop’s funeral?”
“I was going to do it once my sister arrives. Why?”
“Since we’re not sure when the gate in Bolivia will be cleared, the funeral schedule might keep getting delayed. So I was thinking…”
“Thinking?”
“How about skipping it?”
Jin Si-hoo looked at Yoon Young-su with a strange gaze.
“What you want is the personal information of those who played gambling games with Jin Tae-seop, right?”
“That’s pretty much it. I heard he even borrowed money from loan sharks, and that’s a bit annoying.”
Yoon Young-su took out a file from his inventory and handed it over.
“I did some investigation.”
When Jin Si-hoo opened it and looked at the papers, he was a little surprised.
“Is this correct?”
“Yes.”
“There’s a lot. And there are even military people here?”
“Colonels, brigadiers, majors, even a general.”
It was surprising, but Jin Tae-seop was a military veteran, and he came from a military academy.
Yoon Young-su pointed to one name on the list.
“This guy, he was called ‘Jjak-gwi’ (Cheating Dog) from the Majang-dong gambling world.”
“Colonel Jang Mak-su?”
“Yes.”
“Really? A colonel was a gambler? But how could a gambler become a military officer?”
“He was never caught, and his identity was never made public, so it’s possible. He was originally a soldier who frequented various gambling dens. This Jang Mak-su is the one who set it all up.”
Jin Si-hoo was skimming through the list when he noticed something odd.
“Na-rat-nim Capital?”
“It’s a loan company, but some awakened ones are involved in it. They call themselves a capital, but in reality, it’s a guild. A guild that clears gates.”
“That’s a strange mix.”
Thinking this, Jin Si-hoo looked up as Yoon Young-su continued.
“At first, Jang Mak-su lured Jin Tae-seop into the gambling den, and later, the Na-rat-nim Guild took the lead in bleeding him dry. All those people there made money off him.”
“Made money?”
“They all bought at least one house in Gangnam, thanks to Jin Tae-seop.”
“So my sister’s money and mine must have flowed into this, huh?”
“Yes. The rough estimate is over 98 billion. With the yachts, foreign cars, and the money he still owes, it’s almost 110 billion.”
Jin Si-hoo was dumbfounded.
This wasn’t just being a fool. He could have been called the king of fools.
And the money was so unreal. It wasn’t just tens of millions, but billions?
Jin Si-hoo suddenly became curious. How much did his sister earn a year?
He would have to ask later. On that note, Jin Si-hoo showed Yoon Young-su the strange message he received earlier.
It was a text demanding money, and after reading it, Yoon Young-su narrowed his eyes.
“010-2222-7777…”
“Do you recognize this number?”
“Wait a moment.”
Yoon Young-su tapped his watch. It didn’t take long—about a minute.
“After checking, it’s the vice president’s number from the Na-rat-nim Guild.”
“What’s his name?”
“Jeong Gil-tae. He’s an A-rank Awakened, and he used to be active in the New World Guild before switching to the Na-rat-nim Guild. When he was active as a clearner, he had the nickname ‘Yellow Hair Hater’ because he despises yellow hair.”
It was a ridiculous nickname.
Jin Si-hoo nodded vaguely, and Yoon Young-su asked.
“What are you going to do?”
“What do you mean, what am I going to do? I’ll take everything from them.”
“Are you going to kill them all?”
He laughed.
“Well, maybe.”