Chapter 513: Side Story 3. Close Friends (1)

Side Story 3. Close Friends (1)

['Lost Fantasy Saga - The Tower of Serin' Leads the Hallyu Wave of Content!]

(Excerpt) The popularity of 'Lost Fantasy Saga - The Tower of Serin,' which is serialized on Neotin Webtoon, is frightening.

Along with the popularity of Lost Fantasy, it has been exported to about 20 countries around the world, and is gaining sensational popularity in the US and Japan.

Author Ha Yi-ryeong said in an interview, 'I am grateful to the gamers who love Lost Fantasy and everyone who enjoys the webtoon. I would also like to take this opportunity to apologize for the frequent delays and hiatuses. I will work even harder.'

Lee Baek-hoon, CEO of Neotin Webtoon, stated that webtoons and web novels are core industries that will lead the Hallyu wave of content in the future, and that he will continue to actively nurture new writers and support their overseas expansion.

***

Kwon Soo-ryun, a webtoon artist in her 4th year since debut.

When she first debuted as a webtoon artist on Neotin, she felt like she had the whole world. At one time, she was even famous on social media as one of the top 5 beauty writers of Neotin Webtoon.

However, debut was not the end but the beginning. She barely finished her first work and is currently serializing her second work, but the response was lukewarm.

Kwon Soo-ryun met with other webtoon artists at a cafe. They were writers she met because of the doujinshi sales event currently underway.

The topic among the writers was, of course, the article that came out yesterday.

"Did you see Author Ha Yi-ryeong's interview?"

"It was all over the newspaper."

"They say it's a huge hit in the US and Japan too. How much do you think Author Ha Yi-ryeong earns?"

"Wouldn't she earn at least 100 million won a month?"

"100 million? They say her sales this year will exceed 10 billion won."

"Wow! At that level, she's a walking small and medium-sized enterprise."

"Truly amazing."

"What would it feel like to earn that much money? She'll probably buy a building in Gangnam soon."

The writers did not hide their envy.

Listening to that, Kwon Soo-ryun thought.

'It's Min Ha-young again. I'm sick of it now.'

She went to the same high school as Min Ha-young. They were even in the same class once, so they were somewhat close.

Since both of their dreams were to become cartoonists, they met often even after graduating from high school to draw cartoons and exchange opinions. Although they don't contact each other now, Kwon Soo-ryun, who had been listening quietly, threw out a comment.

"She's just lucky. If you get the Lost Fantasy IP and draw, who wouldn't get that many views?"

The writers nodded at those words.

"Well, that's true."

"But how did Author Ha Yi-ryeong get the Lost Fantasy IP? She's the only writer in Korea who got it."

"Yeah. How did an undebuted writer get the IP of a Japanese game company?"

With Lost Fantasy M and Online recording unprecedented hits, there are more than a few places that want the Lost Fantasy IP. But getting the IP of a popular game was not an easy task.

Kwon Soo-ryun bit her lip slightly.

'How on earth did she get it? Does she have connections at OTK Games? Why doesn't such an opportunity come to me? I draw much better than her.'

"Did you hear that rumor? That Author Ha Yi-ryeong is close with the Princess of Norway."

"Ah! I heard that too. The Princess of Norway sometimes leaves comments on the webtoon."

"Wow! Friends with a princess!"

"They say the princess is a fan of Lost Fantasy."

"Author Ha Yi-ryeong is completely a celebrity now."

"We're the same webtoon artists, but it feels like she lives in a different world."

One writer asked Kwon Soo-ryun.

"Ah! I heard from Author Ha Eun that you're friends with Author Ha Yi-ryeong, Author Seo Ryun?"

At those words, she nodded.

"Yes. We were in the same class in high school."

"Wow! Then do you still keep in touch?"

"Yes. Well, occasionally."

In fact, they didn't keep in touch.

The reason they drifted apart was simple. At that time, the work Kwon Soo-ryun was serializing on Challenge Best was promoted to official serialization.

She became an official writer receiving manuscript fees, while Min Ha-young was still an aspiring writer.

Min Ha-young continued to show her manuscripts to Kwon Soo-ryun and ask for advice. But Kwon Soo-ryun found it bothersome and refused to meet.

'And then there was that incident.'

After that, they completely cut off contact, but one day, Min Ha-young officially debuted on Neotin Webtoon.

Her art style was familiar, and she had been using the pen name 'Ha Yi-ryeong' since high school, so it was easy to tell.

Up to that point, she had a little bit of congratulatory feeling and even thought about contacting her again. But Min Ha-young's webtoon shot up above hers in an instant.

Even among Neotin Webtoon serialization writers, income varies vastly depending on popularity. Unpopular writers end up receiving manuscript fees at the level of a salary, but popular writers easily make tens or hundreds of millions of won.

'Lost Fantasy Saga - The Tower of Serin' is the undisputed number 1 not only on Neotin Webtoon but across all webtoon sites.

On the other hand, Kwon Soo-ryun's webtoon 'Marriage with the Enemy Emperor' was almost at the bottom of the rankings.

Even though she endured the blood-drying deadlines every week and serialized, there were hardly any comments. The editorial department also seemed to want her to end it soon.

After finishing this work, will she be able to contract for the next one?

A friend whom she once thought was far below her had now risen to a position where it was hard to even look up at her. That made it even harder to contact her.

Seeing the other writers only talking about Min Ha-young, she felt jealous for some reason.

"I heard Neotin Webtoon is holding a Writers' Night gathering soon?"

"Will she come this time?"

"They say Author Ha Yi-ryeong is cute."

"I want to see her face."

Kwon Soo-ryun muttered.

"Well. If I were her, I wouldn't come out of embarrassment for doing pyramid schemes."

At those words, the other writers were surprised.

"Pyramid schemes?"

"I think I heard that rumor too, was it true?"

"What rumor?"

"That Author Ha Yi-ryeong encouraged some writers to do pyramid schemes."

Kwon Soo-ryun was slightly flustered inwardly at those words. Because she was the one who spread that rumor to the writers around her.

"Oh my! So everyone knew. I guess she contacted others besides me."

"Do you know anything else, Author Seo Ryun?"

"Please tell only us."

Pretending to think for a moment, she opened her mouth as if she had no choice.

"Do you know the Jeil Gold Coin incident?"

"Ah! That was where Kang Jin-hoo's relative was a scammer."

"I saw it on the news."

The Jeil Gold Coin pyramid scheme fraud case.

Since the scale of damage was so large and Kang Jin-hoo's relative was involved, the media reported it extensively, and even people who weren't interested in current affairs mostly knew about it.

Kwon Soo-ryun said, laughing inwardly.

"Author Ha Yi-ryeong worked for that pyramid scheme. One day she contacted me..."

***

A cafe on Cheongdam-dong Luxury Street.

It was located on the top floor of a luxury brand building and was directly operated by the luxury brand, so reservations were always full.

While men and women dressed extravagantly enjoyed afternoon tea sets, a young man in his 20s wearing a gray tracksuit and slippers sat at one table.

Judging by his clothes and appearance, he looked like a neighborhood unemployed man.

He was on the phone with someone.

"Just buy it. 90 million is cheap. They lowered the price once, so it will be hard to lower it further. We need it, so buy it quickly before it's sold."

The man sitting at the next table thought.

'Is the nearby mart selling toilet paper for 9,000 won? Is that why he's saying to buy it before it's sold out?'

He never imagined he was trying to acquire an animation production company for 90 million dollars.

He called another place.

"Send 30 million there. You can't send 20 million, you have to send 30 million."

The woman sitting at the next table thought.

'Does he only have 7,000 won in his account so he can't withdraw from the ATM, and he's asking for 3,000 won to withdraw 10,000 won?'

She never imagined that '30 million' meant '30 million dollars'.

The young man who finished the call picked up a magazine placed on the table. The name of the magazine was TIME. None other than the historic American weekly news magazine.

People around him who saw that thought.

'Did he buy it by mistake while trying to buy Maxim?'

'Why is he turning the pages so fast? Is he just pretending to read?'

'At least he's not holding it upside down.'

At that moment, a French female manager in a suit approached the young man.

'I guess she's going to tell him to leave because he doesn't fit the dress code.'

'It doesn't make sense to come here in that outfit.'

'Now he can get up and go buy the discounted toilet paper for 9,000 won.'

But contrary to everyone's expectations, the manager bowed politely and spoke in English.

"Thank you for your visit. May I help you with anything?"

Surprisingly, the young man answered in English.

"No, thank you. I am good."

"Please let me know if you need anything."

"I will. Thank you."

People who saw that stopped their movements all at once.

'Who on earth is he?'

'Who is he that even the haughty luxury store manager comes out to greet him?'

'Am I the only one who doesn't know who he is?'

The young man scanned the magazine without caring about the gaze of others.

'Our Jin-hoo's story is not missing in this issue either. Let's see. That article is... Ah! Here it is.'

While he was reading the article, a small woman with her hair tied back and wearing glasses rushed in.

"Sorry I'm late, Taek-gyu. I finished everything, but there was something to correct at the last minute."

"Did it end well?"

"Yeah. I barely made it in time."

"You're keeping deadlines well these days."

"Of course. I'm a diligent writer now."

Taek-gyu nodded with a satisfied expression.

"Very good attitude. We're short on money these days developing the VRMMORPG. So you have to draw hard without taking breaks or hiatuses."

The right to use the Lost Fantasy IP is not free. OTK Games took 10 percent of the webtoon revenue as an IP usage fee.

Of course, compared to the total revenue earned by OTK Games, it was negligible.

Min Ha-young stuck out her tongue.

"Tsk! I'm working hard even now."

"How's the new house?"

"I think it's good."

A while ago, she moved out of her small room and got a new studio in Samseong-dong. It was a luxury apartment overlooking Tancheon.

"But why Samseong-dong?"

"I, I also wanted to live in Gangnam for once."

In fact, there was another reason, but she didn't bother to mention it.

Min Ha-young was surprised to see the magazine in Taek-gyu's hand.

"Wow! You read stuff like this?"

"I usually don't, but I bought it because of this."

Taek-gyu opened the page and showed her.

There was an article about 'Lost Fantasy Saga - The Tower of Serin' along with content about Korean webtoons advancing into the US.

"Wow! To be featured in TIME because you make a lot of money. That's amazing."

Min Ha-young puffed up her cheeks cutely.

"Are you teasing me?"

No matter how much money she makes, can she compare to the second richest man in the world?

The two ordered an afternoon tea set. Min Ha-young looked happy eating black tea and scones.

"Ah! The day the deadline ends is truly the happiest day in the world."

"But another deadline will be waiting next week."

"I know."

Min Ha-young said as if she remembered something.

"Neotin Webtoon is holding a writers' gathering this time. They say a lot of celebrities are coming, do you want to go together?"

"Ho, a writers' gathering. Can I go too?"

"Yeah. You can go with me as an adapter."

"Adapter?"

"You outline the story and review the manuscript, so it's not a lie."

"I see. Then I should ask the CEO there to pretend not to know me if he sees me."

"Huh? Does the CEO know your face?"

"I met Neotin Webtoon CEO Lee Baek-hoon and Team Leader Park Se-na before."

Although he is the Vice President of the huge company OTK Company and the second richest man in the world, few people actually know Oh Taek-gyu's name and face.

In modern society, once a face is known, it spreads instantly through media and social media.

There are more than one or two annoying things if your face is known. If Kang Jin-hoo were sitting here right now, wouldn't everyone be staring?

'The protagonist should hide his face.'

***

The day of the Neotin Webtoon Writers' Gathering.

Min Ha-young was surprised to see Taek-gyu.

"W-what? Why are you dressed up so much today?"

Unlike his usual gray tracksuit and three-stripe slippers, today he wore dandy clothes and dress shoes.

He changed his glasses and combed his hair back neatly.

He looked like a different person.

'Could it be to look good for me?'

Just as Min Ha-young was thinking that and blushing slightly, Taek-gyu shook his head and said.

"I got caught by Jin-hoo while leaving the house in a tracksuit. He asked where I was going, and when I said I was going to a writers' gathering with you, he said he would tear all my tracksuits if I didn't change immediately, so I had no choice but to change. Ah! Ellie picked out the clothes and did my hair."

"..."