Chapter 121

Author Na Bit, whom I met at a café, could not bring herself to lift her head.

“It is all right, Author.”

“Hngh……!”

At one word from me, Author Na Bit groaned as if sobbing.

Author Na Bit did not know what to do with herself and made excuses to me.

“I am truly sorry. I was trying to delete the message, but I accidentally sent it…… I truly had no intention of sending it…….”

So she had accidentally sent the message, then panicked and even pressed the call button.

Yesterday, I had received contact from Author Na Bit that was not quite contact.

So we had a brief call, and I learned that Author Na Bit was in the middle of going out of control while working on her manuscript.

Of course, after I left the company, a new editor had been assigned to Author Na Bit.

So I first asked whether she was communicating well with her current editor, but Author Na Bit rambled incoherently, then asked if I could make time for her.

Making time was not difficult.

And there was no particular reason I could not meet an author I had communicated with for over 3 years just because I had left the company.

I immediately applied for permission to go out, and with that, I came to meet Author Na Bit in midsummer.

“You have been well all this time, yes?”

“Yes, I am always the same…… But Editor, you have become very, healthy……?”

Author Na Bit asked how I was, then made a puzzled expression.

Ah, come to think of it, I was someone who had resigned because I was sick.

And such a person had appeared with a decent amount of muscle attached, no matter how anyone looked at it.

“Ah, yes. I am focusing only on managing my health.”

“That is truly fortunate. You look well.”

Author Na Bit nodded without much doubt.

At that sight, I somehow felt as if I could breathe.

Even though I had only met an author at a café, it felt as if I had returned to my original place.

“So what matter did you ask to see me about?”

Feeling my mind settle, I asked Author Na Bit.

But that author had called me out after causing an even bigger accident than I had thought.

“You changed the ending…….”

“It turned out that way…….”

“Then do you only need to revise the ending part?”

“No…… I need to touch the whole thing overall…….”

“Publication is next month.”

“…….”

Author Na Bit stared at me with empty eyes.

At that hollow gaze, my heart rapidly became desolate as well.

No, after delaying the deadline like that and barely finishing the manuscript, she overturned it again?

Even after the publication schedule had been set.

“Wh, what did your editor say?”

“That we should just publish this one…… and do the ending I want to revise and write as a new work instead…….”

Yes, I would have said the same.

“But you will not do that, correct?”

“Yes…… I am truly sorry, but I do not think I can…….”

At Author Na Bit’s words, the feeling of nostalgia vanished cleanly.

Instead, I felt as if I could hear her new editor clutching the back of their neck.

Delaying publication at this point did not simply mean the book would come out 2 or 3 months late.

The printing house they had secured would be blown up.

The promotion discussed with major bookstores would be blown up.

All sorts of marketing and press releases would be blown up.

The publisher’s projected revenue would be blown up.

It was no different from firing trouble in every direction.

I swallowed dryly at this total disaster, then barely recalled the fact that I was no longer involved.

Ah, I am fortunate to belong to the Bureau.

No, of course, it still cannot compare to that world where people die at every turn, but…….

“I know I did wrong too. But there truly was no other way…….”

This nightmare author, who had already done everything and was now complaining.

It was certainly a major accident, but, mm.

Still, since no one would die, I felt it was all right.

Because of it, the publishing company would take various damages, but there was what Author Na Bit had earned them until now, so it would be offset to some extent.

But let me keep that thought to myself for the sake of my former colleagues.

“So what made you contact me?”

“That is, I wanted feedback on the revision plan…….”

“Would it not be better to discuss that with your current editor?”

It would be troublesome for an author to avoid their assigned editor.

It would be even stranger if a former editor slipped in between them.

I could meet Author Na Bit, but interfering in that work was a separate issue, so I declined indirectly.

Then Author Na Bit hurriedly explained.

“O, of course, I will discuss it with my current editor too. But since I have been stubborn, I want to show them something they can understand right away if possible…….”

So she was scared to show it to her current editor directly and wanted me to look at it once in advance.

“I will also pay you a fee, so…….”

Author Na Bit pleaded earnestly.

I could not bring myself to refuse.

The truth was, I wanted very much to see the revised manuscript.

---

I read through the synopsis Author Na Bit had printed out and the manuscript of the revised ending part.

When I finished the last page and closed the manuscript again, Author Na Bit asked almost in a whisper,

“How is it……?”

First, I covered my mouth with my hand.

In case the corners of my mouth rose on their own.

What do I do? I’m happy…….

I am happy even though I am only seeing the ending without proper build-up……?

“Um…….”

“Mm, I think it is good.”

Still resting my chin on my hand, I spoke in a calm voice.

Then Author Na Bit’s face brightened radiantly.

It was the moment when the nightmare author once again looked like a genius author.

Good, as expected.

As expected, I was someone who should sit at a desk and dig into words for my entire life.

How did I get tangled up with such insane spaces and lose my calling?

“But Author, why did you suddenly change the ending? You originally decided the ending first before writing a work.”

“I had a personal change of heart…….”

“Hmm…….”

If I had heard this when I was her editor, I would have clutched the back of my neck too.

But now, fortunately.

Fortunately, you are a nightmare author who knows no compromise.

Author Na Bit’s current work borrowed the concept of “Akashic Records.”

The Akashic Records were a kind of cosmic library where all information and memories in this world were stored.

It was a fictional concept blending occult and science-fiction elements.

Of course, human memories were also included in the information and memories of the Akashic Records, and in the work, several humans became able to make contact with the Akashic Records by following the path through which their own memories were stored as Akashic Records.

Meanwhile, these people’s world raced toward destruction for complex reasons, and so the survivors sought to connect the records of the Akashic Records and make a path toward paradise.

……That was the broad outline of this work.

“I think both the existing ending and the changed ending have good plausibility. So whichever one you adopt, I do not think there will be a problem with the overall flow, but the existing ending was faithful to resolving the development, while also being somewhat safe.”

The existing ending was a typical happy ending.

The protagonists who had been making a path in the Akashic Records eventually found paradise after many twists and turns.

And the survivors following the protagonist settled and lived in the new paradise.

“Compared to that, the changed ending has a tragic reversal and much room for interpretation, so I think it will be advantageous for hooking readers who dig deeply. It also has an ironic aspect, like a Greek tragedy.”

On the other hand, the changed ending was a bad ending.

The protagonist’s party ultimately failed to enter paradise, and the survivors dissolved into the Akashic Records, becoming faint wills wandering that cosmic library.

An ending where the protagonist readers had accompanied on a long journey became particlized.

It already felt as if I could hear the readers’ resentment.

And my taste was definitely on the changed side.

……It felt as if the corners of my mouth would rise, so I covered my mouth with my hand again.

“But with this kind of ending, what will you do about the narratives of the supporting characters in each episode? In the existing ending, the structure of ‘the protagonist who reaches paradise with the help of many people’ and ‘the people remembered through the protagonist’ was an element symbolizing solidarity. But if the protagonist fails like this, even the supporting characters’ sacrifices and aid become meaningless.”

At my question, Author Na Bit cautiously watched my reaction.

Then she nodded shyly.

……She means she will make the protagonist fail and even turn the supporting characters’ hard work and sacrifices into wasted effort?

This can only be called a scheme to wring bloody tears from readers…….

I was inwardly flustered by Author Na Bit’s bold choice.

Because I wondered whether an ending that reduced all the narratives and efforts to nothing like this was not a little dangerous.

“It is impressive, but if you do this, is it not too harsh on the helpers……?”

I thought of the soldiers who suffered like dogs throughout the work and died, and murmured without much thought.

Then Author Na Bit’s eyes widened.

She looked at me for a long while with those surprised eyes, so I asked why.

“What is it?”

“No…… It is the first time I have seen you use such a direct expression.”

“……?”

I wondered what Author Na Bit was talking about, then soon realized.

If it were my usual self, when giving feedback, I would have said something like, “If the characters’ efforts are negated too excessively or the result feels too futile, readers may also become tired.”

But, “is it not too harsh?”

Even to me, it was an expression I was saying for the first time.

As if the character inside the work were a real person.

Has my sense dulled because I rested from work for so long……?

It was while I was inwardly flustered by my own remark.

“Um, specifically, which part is harsh……?”

Perhaps intending to adjust the intensity, Author Na Bit asked for an example.

I thought for a moment, then said the first thing that came to mind.

“Parts like the soldiers who help when the protagonist and survivors take refuge in the Akashic Records. Those soldiers are a group that voluntarily maintains an organization and rescues people even after the military has already been dismantled. I do not think you should bury the opportunity created by such characters through their sacrifice so mercilessly.”

At my answer, Author Na Bit tilted her head as if surprised again.

“I thought you would mention the sacrifices of the protagonist’s mother or friend…… But the soldiers actually do not have much individual narrative, so is it not fine? The occupational nature of soldiers itself makes it unsurprising if they die at any time too.”

“To call that fine is…….”

I reflexively argued, then flinched and stopped.

Because there was nothing wrong in Author Na Bit’s words.

In the work, numerous people sacrificed themselves for the protagonist’s journey.

Family and friends alike left hope to the protagonist and ended their lives in various ways.

The soldiers I had mentioned were one of those, and compared to the family or friend, their narrative weight was not very large.

So what Author Na Bit had just said was right.

Structurally in the story too, and even if I estimated the readers’ reactions.

But why am I alone fixating on the soldiers like this?

I felt puzzled by my biased perception, then soon realized it myself.

That I was doing this because of the Bureau’s house guardian serpents.

Ah, this.

Without realizing it, I had been overlapping the Special Management Bureau’s agents with the soldiers in the work.

When I realized that and was about to take back what I had said earlier, Author Na Bit asked me first,

“Then Editor, what do you think should be done with these soldiers?”