123

Chapter 123 - Publication - 5

Copyright.

One of my friends was studying for the civil service exam and tried to earn some pocket money by uploading movies to a web hard drive, only to end up being dragged to the police station.

"It wasn't me who uploaded it, it was my elementary school-aged little brother. I didn't do it. I'm sorry. I made a mistake. Please forgive me."

My friend ended up taking his brother to write an apology instead and received a cautionary dismissal, but every time he thought about that incident, he shivered with horror and seethed with anger at having embarrassed his brother.

We giggled and teased him over it, but separately from that, my friend never used a web hard drive again.

Thanks to the valuable laws that protect the rights of creators nowadays, numerous creators around the world are able to make a living. However, copyright laws have not been around for very long.

Of course, in this world, there is no copyright law to protect creators either.

If there's a good story, people share it and divide it, saying things like, "Ah, you've taken the wrong tech tree."

"Hwarin, let's close up and go!"

"Okay!"

If my book becomes famous, illegal copying will be inevitable. It's not something unexpected.

To protect my rights, I need a network that informs me where my book is being sold illegally, and the administrative or military power to judge pirate copies, but would the barbarians even have such a thing?

But this applies all to outside the city of Uichang, where I work. I never expected such a thing to happen inside Uichang.

"They're really selling it."

My family affair novel was indeed being sold at another bookstore.

"Welcome. Are you looking for the recent hit, Family Affair? It's much cheaper here than at Daso... What! You're from Daso, you barbarian!"

Recognizing my dark hair, the bookstore owner's face immediately creased with displeasure.

"What do you think you're doing!"

"What do you mean? I'm simply selling the popular Family Affair for cheap."

The bookstore owner dodged my stern gaze, pretending not to notice. Wasn't his conscience pricking him?

"This is not the way of commerce!"

I raised my voice loud enough for passersby to hear.

"The way of commerce, they say."

"Family Affair was created with the support of Daso! And yet, you ignore the commercial code and engage in such despicable acts?"

Just because there are no copyright laws to protect creators doesn't mean the world lacks commercial morality.

Even in this world, it's fairly common for publishers to sponsor authors to help with their writing, and then publish and make money in return. Hwarin's maternal grandfather has also been doing such work, hasn't he?

It's not about the rights of creators but the rights of publishers in the world, existing as a nascent form of commercial code.

"There's no commercial code to protect you, you barbarian!"

Wow. Raw discrimination against barbarians. Indeed, these are the people of the Central Plains I know.

"Hey. What did you just say to Yoonho?"

Hwarin suddenly pulled a concealed weapon from seemingly nowhere and stepped toward the bookstore owner. What the? Where did that come from?

"Ma, ma, martial artists are going to beat people!"

"Hwarin, let me handle this."

I stopped Hwarin, whose voice had dropped with intent. The competitive bookstore owner had turned pale, flicking looks between Hwarin and me, before he spoke again.

"Barbarian! You should be the one upholding the commercial code. How dare you search for the commercial morality!"

"What commercial code have I violated?"

"Your foreign bookstore has disturbed the waters of Uichang. Do you have any idea that all the bookstores in Uichang have been frowning because of your guy? Don't you?"

"What on earth..."

"Thought you could swindle some money with a good author, didn't you? We can't stand that! All the bookstores in Uichang have decided to recoup their losses with this book. You got that!"

The bookstore owner finished his speech stepping back sneakily, his volume belying fearful glances at Hwarin.

Is that how it turned out?

Daso is the largest bookstore in Uichang. With a three-story building entirely dedicated to books, it has a large collection and is located on an accessible main road.

There are reasons why, even with minimal maintenance over 50 years, the bookstore has done well. When such a bookstore introduced a modern sales method, swarms of customers flocked.

Naturally, the sales of neighboring bookstores shrunk drastically.

"Yoonho, should I step in?"

"Even if you cut down one or two, it won't solve the problem!"

"If they hate being cut, I have a remedy for that."

"Yikes!"

"Don't."

I stopped Hwarin once more. If every bookstore has agreed to print Family Affair, then threatening just a couple of people won't solve anything.

It's a blatant mockery.

Using a book that's the talk of the town to make money and incur losses on Daso. They had no reason to choose their actions.

"But, Yoonho."

"I have a plan. Follow me."

Without looking back, I walked out of the competitive bookstore.

------------------

Since the other party started the fight first, I have no intention of enduring it quietly.

No, once you endure in such a fight, you'll have to keep taking hits in the future.

As Kang Yoonho, the owner of Daso bookstore, and as Hopil, the author of Family Affair, this battle must be won at all costs. So, what would be the way to win?

The easiest way to fight between companies is a price war. The problem is that if we start a price war, the other side has an overwhelming advantage.

"Their printing press is overwhelmingly better."

Daso's printing press is decades old. Moreover, we don't even have the type foundry to make the characters.

On the other hand, the other side surely has a better printing press and a supply chain that can produce books at a low cost.

We're likely to lose in a price war.

"Should I just poison them all?"

Hwarin, looking concerned, suggested to me.

"If you do that, it wouldn't just be over Family Affair, people from the Sacheondang clan would come to catch you."

Her mind is in the right place, but her method is too extreme. This is not a mortal combat among martial artists, but a competition between merchants.

On top of that, if the competing business becomes an enmity relationship, we could be forced out of business in Uichang.

"Damn... So what do we do?"

"There's a way."

"What way?"

Hwarin looked at me with curiosity.

If Daso engages in a price war through publishing, we'll be overwhelmingly defeated. They must think it's a fight they can win single-handedly.

But there's no rule saying I have to fight where my opponent has the advantage.

If the opponent has the upper hand, then I'll simply flip the game board.

"There's a time-consuming method I have in mind. Since we can't just let things slide, we'll need to intervene. Time to shake things up."

Let's deliver a one-two punch that will pack a real punch.

If they're exploiting the weaknesses of my bookstore, then I'll make use of my strengths.

"Intervene? How do you plan to do that?"

"I'm thinking of 'pinpointing.'"

Using the advantage of being an author.

**********

Teacher Huang visited Daso, as usual, today.

Waiting for the second volume of Family Affair is excruciating. As Teacher Huang read Family Affair over and over again, his thirst for the next volume grew as if he were drinking seawater.

"Thank goodness for Dasohoe."

A gathering to discuss Family Affair. Dasohoe (Tea and Book Club).

At least the meetings with other members of Dasohoe quenched his thirst for the new volume a bit. As Family Affair became more popular, the number of members grew.

Today, Teacher Huang entered the bookstore and immediately looked at the bookstand stacked with Family Affair.

"This can't be! Unbelievable!"

"This has to be a dream! It must be!"

There, Dasohoe members who had arrived earlier were in despair.

"What in the world happened?"

Teacher Huang asked the wailing people, but they couldn't reply and just pointed desperately at a sign with writing on it.

Teacher Huang looked at the sign to understand the situation.

[It's Hopil here...]

Hopil is the author of Family Affair. Could it finally be news about the release of the second volume? Teacher Huang began to read.

[I had a drink... I agonized over it day and night, wrote diligently. With the help of Daso, I did my best. I was happy that my sincerity reached the readers. But even that joy was short-lived. I discovered that my work, not in Daso which had helped me, but in other bookstores, was being used. I am so shocked that I cannot write.]

[I will take a break and stop writing for a while.]

"What kind of bolt from the blue is this?"

Teacher Huang clutched his head in disbelief at the news.

"It seems there might not be a second volume of Family Affair."

The store manager of Daso revealed himself among the crying people and started arranging books while speaking.

"Manager, what in the world is happening?"

"Why won't there be a second volume?"

Avid readers of Family Affair surrounded the manager, demanding an explanation for how things had come to this state.

"Well... Family Affair is a book created by an author that Daso fully supported. Fortunately, the story was successful, and author Hopil was happy to be able to give back. But then he witnessed a shocking scene."

"A shocking scene?"

"Recently, other bookstores have been selling Family Affair without permission. Because of that, Daso's sale of Family Affair has been slow for several days. Seeing this, the author fell into shock, stopped eating, and fell ill."

The manager lowered his head in sorrow.

"Do those people not understand commerce! If a bookstore sponsors an author to write, it's understood that only that bookstore has the right to print the book, isn't it?"

"How wouldn't they know? They're doing this because Family Affair was selling so well."

"All the money should go to the bookstore, right?"

"Yes, unfortunately. Daso was giving all the profits to the suffering Mr. Hopil, but we haven't been able to give him a single penny for days now."

"What kind of scumbags are these!"

"It's because of such scoundrels that good authors die young!"

"Manager, what are we going to do now?"

"Sigh. What can a single bookstore manager do against all the bookstores in Uichang? We might just have to give up on publishing the second volume of Family Affair."

Is Family Affair really ending? 

The faces of Dasohoe members varied, but all shared the same expression of shock.

"We can't just let Family Affair end with one volume."

With a heart fallen into shock, Teacher Huang steeled his resolve and spoke to the members.

"Ye, yes! That can't happen! We will put our collective strength into this."

"How do you mean?"

The manager's face brightened as he watched their actions.

"Wait and see."

Dasohoe members began to discuss plans for the future.

"I've been looking forward to seeing friends at Dasohoe. There must be at least dozens. If I can convince those friends..."

"There are also friends in my school waiting for the next volume..."

"I'll try to convince my master. As an avid reader, he will gladly agree."

"Dear customers?"

"""Just trust in us!"""

The eyes of Dasohoe members burned with more determination than ever before.

--------------

"What's this?"

The next morning, all around the city of Uichang, numerous flyers were posted in places where people passed by.

[Such great talent indeed.]

[Ever since the times of Yao and Shun, supporting talented yet impoverished individuals has always been an act of timeless virtue and value. Daso, which has sponsored a hidden author of today, has done the same.]

"What does it say?"

"It seems like Daso sponsored the publication of Family Affair, but other bookstores went ahead and printed it without permission."

"The popular novel these days?"

"Yes. Truly despicable scoundrels. The author got so shocked that he's refusing to release the second volume."

"No way! I really wanted to see the top courtesan of Hubei be won over!"

[The act of handling someone else's work without permission is appallingly disgraceful. Leeches sucking the blood of poor authors. Wicked groups who even steal from them the desperate means of survival—how are they any different from corrupt officials?]

[Our Uichang scholar's group will henceforth buy all books from Daso and engage in a boycott against bookstores that exploit the works of others.]

[Dasohoe, lovers of tea and books.]

"Indeed, the scholars have made a meaningful decision. Such unethical scoundrels need to be shown a lesson!"

"A boycott, huh? If scholars who frequently buy books band together for a boycott, it'll be a heavy blow to the bookstores."

"How interesting could this book be that there is a boycott being organized over the next volume?"

"Don't you know? There's even a group called Dasohoe that meets just to discuss this book."

"Heh, I should take a look myself if there's a chance."

The posters plastered throughout the city of Uichang attracted the gaze of many.

Even those who normally had little interest in books began to take notice of Family Affair, speculating about this novel that sparked a boycott.

One by one, more people began to buy Family Affair; the population's enthusiasm for the novel swelled, and the ranks of Dasohoe grew.

"The bookstore has lost its customers!"

"No! Where have all those scholars gone?!"

As the number of readers angry at those responsible for stopping the next volume increased, the damage to the bookstores began to mount.

*************

"I only meant to throw a light one-two punch, but the effect was more significant than expected."

I thought that pinpointing my coordinates would only result in a light jab and a keep-them-at-bay kind of punch, but it feels like they've taken a counter-punch hit.

I was just intending to keep them in check before using another strategy, but well...

"We can't be satisfied with just this."

If an unexpected outcome can be utilized, then it should be.

I started writing on the paper again.

[It's Hopil here...]

Hopil feels dizzy. Please, hasten to torment me further.