Chapter 94

    TL: KSD

    The lymphatic cancer that struck at the age of 32 was closer to a sentence than a diagnosis. Fortunately, Eun Byeol, although not particularly devout, was a Christian, so she could imagine a clearer image.

    Jesus, often depicted as a white man despite likely being a Syrian Hebrew, with long hair, a long beard, and a crown of thorns, pounds a gavel while wearing judges robes.

    Bang. Bang. Bang.

    Of course, the lymphatic cancer that took root in Eun Byeols body didnt just pop up overnight with a cute sound effect. Life is similar to a play. There is foreshadowing in everything.

    The alcohol she guzzled down in her reckless twenties, believing this worthless body to be everlasting, the dark resentment and bullying she endured while surviving as the youngest member of a theater company after college, the recent bitter breakup with a boyfriend she was sure she would marry, the life of an unknown actor struggling with low pay and slumps, proven unhealthy genetics, and even luck. These problems accumulated, ending up simply marked as cancer on the diagnosis paper.

    However, to Eun Byeol, it felt as though a sudden tsunami had demolished all the golden towers she had built up over her life, sweeping away even the debris into the muddy waters.

    Cancer evaporated Eun Byeols life, values, and achievements.

    There are a few heavy weights that keep people anchored to this world. Commonly called dreams, reality, family, love, responsibility, people, etc.

    But value is always relative, and there is no weight heavier than death. When measured, they all turned out to be so insignificantly light.

    The sparkling dreams she had while looking up to the idols of the silver screen, the reality of continuing to act every day out of habit, the relationship with her ex-boyfriend with whom she parted on bad terms but delusionally hoped to reunite, the position in the theater company she had secured after nearly a decade of effort.

    Thinking of impending death made it all seem so futile.

    Eun Byeol was no longer afraid of the theater director she had revered like a god for nearly a decade.

    It was almost fascinating how things turned out this way.

    All the driving forces that had led Eun Byeols life to this point, all those precious things that had kept her anchored to this world, were they all so empty and futile?

    What a strange path she had followed, chasing after such worthless, unmeasured, and light things.

    Deceived by illusions, striving for meaningless things, her life felt utterly meaningless.

    Heres a question.

    A person is the sum of all they have built up over time.

    Then, what exactly am I?

    EP 6-The Show Must Go On

    The show must go on

    Lim Yang-wook simply read the title written on the first page of the manuscript, but his reading carried a tone of admiration.

    Indeed, theres a unique talent in how authors title their works. There couldnt be a more fitting title for a story dealing with the life of an artist with a terminal illness.

    Freddy Mercury, the rock legend, died after being diagnosed with AIDS. And the title of the posthumous work he wrote while battling the illness was

    The Show Must Go On.

    Hmm!

    In the head of Lim Yang-wook, who had a deep understanding of popular culture (including otaku culture), The Show Must Go On seemed to automatically play, as in the song.

    Like that song, this novel too tells the story of the artist Eun Byeol, placed in a terminal situation.

    The lymphatic cancer that found her in her youth put a pause on the life of the actress Eun Byeol.

    It dismantled all the values she cherished, took away her motivation to move forward, and led her into wandering.

    The expression of weighing a persons values on a scale is notable.

    Cancer made Eun Byeol capable of fighting and winning against the artistic director of the theater company she had been afraid of and clung to for a decade, instilled sympathy in the heart of her departed lover to return to her, and stimulated fantasy of being a terminally ill artist envied by the public, turning Eun Byeol into a superstar.

    But the status, love, honor, and dreams she had longed for her entire life had long since become as light as feathers, reduced to mere illusions.

    Even amidst the abundant love, sympathy, and envy spotlighted on her, Eun Byeol felt no excitement and thought to herself:

    -Is this success my own doing? Or is it the work of my cancer cells?

    Indeed, a rather bleak scene

    Truly an authors doing. Theres a unique insight into rolling the protagonist through the mud. If the novel were a restaurant, the Moon-in would indeed be a chef with the talent of deliciously roasting emotions. With this thought, Lim Yang-wook smiled contentedly and closed his eyes.

    And Reader Lim Yang-wook, who admired Author Moon-in, also closed his eyes.

    Now, the harsh and merciless Critic Lim Yang-wook opened his eyes.

    But thats as far as it goes.

    Lim Yang-wook looked at the manuscript with the kind of unenviable gaze his colleagues from a few years back secretly wished they could squeeze ink out of.

    He dissected the manuscript with a gaze devoid of warm human emotions.

    From that perspective, the Moon-ins new work, The Show Must Go On, was a dissatisfying read.

    First of all, the subject matter was too clich.

    Its a novel that Critic Lim Yang-wook gave 3.5 out of 5 stars.

    And Lim Yang-wooks judgment was

    An undeniable Yes.

    Good.

    Critic Lim Yang-wook is a fastidious, arrogant critic with strong pride, the kind that that routinely makes his coworkers feel homicidal.

    Receiving 3.5 stars from such a bastard means the novel exceeds the standards.

    In other words, its a masterpiece.

    It may not be a legendary work that will go down in history, but its certainly worthy of the praise excellent.

    And Lim Yang-wook was confident enough to turn a masterpiece into a legendary work.

    With the right promotion, turning a masterpiece into a legendary work was possible in this field. To name the tricks specifically: promotion, TV commercials, special exhibitions, adjusting shelf placements, spreading internet reviews, emotional marketing, creating luxury covers, noise marketing, etc.

    Its not because Baekhak Publishing is a corrupt enterprise dominating the publishing industry, nor because the publics perception of literature lacks the expertise to distinguish between a masterpiece and a legendary work.

    Its just that books have always been like that.

    The boundary between a masterpiece and a legendary work in literature is ambiguous as long as it meets a certain standard.

    The value of a book is not determined at the moment of its production but in the inner world of the reader.

    Borrowing a memorable expression from Author Moon, the only word that can describe a book is its title.

    Literature is an item containing the authors ego.

    And the human ego is a life trajectory that cannot be replicated.

    Thats why its extremely difficult to determine the superiority and inferiority of literary works that exceed a certain standard of quality.

    Even if Author Moon is currently the hottest novelist, it cant be said that Moons writing surpasses that of Gu Hak-jun.

    Even if Gu Hak-jun is the only Asian to have won the Goncourt Prize in France, it cant be said that his novels are superior to those of Park Chang-woon.

    Even if Park Chang-woon is a great author who has left significant marks on modern and contemporary Korean history, it cant be said he writes better than Seo Woon-pil.

    And even if Seo Woon-pil is the most influential senior in the Korean literary world, making comparisons with Author Moons career pointless, it cant be said that Seo Woon-pil is a better author than Moon.

    Of course, in describing the landscapes of nature, Gu Hak-jun surpasses Author Moon. Since he is fluent in several languages, his imagination for expression is broader than that of Author Moon.

    And if we were to judge the authenticity of literature, Park Chang-woon writes more truthful works than Seo Woon-pil. Anyone familiar with modern and contemporary history would say the same.

    However, when evaluating literature as a whole, rather than just one part of a novel, its actually impossible to determine superiority.

    Postmodernism has deconstructed the authority of the creator. Now, the value of a book is determined within the inner world of the reader. Thus, there are no classes in literature.

    In such an era, Lim Yang-wook can move the placement of books in a bookstore, hire internet commenters, and run TV ads to sway peoples hearts, turning Author Moons masterpiece into a legendary work.

    And if by such means Author Moons next work achieves commercial success

    The Publishing Management Division can secure a victory.

    Phew!

    With the manuscript of The Show Must Go On in front of him, Lim Yang-wook concluded his long contemplation.

    Its really the calm before the storm now.

    Its time to do what needs to be done.

    And that was selling books.

    Alright. Lets give it a shot!

    Lim Yang-wook called together the staff of the Publishing Management Headquarters.

    And they started a long marathon meeting.

    Lim Yang-wook had never been given such manpower before. The manpower of the Publishing Management Division had already surpassed the force of the past Publishing Management Task Force.

    This force was superior not only in material aspects but also in spirit. Simply put, the staff of the current Publishing Management Division were more passionately dedicated to this project than those of the previous Publishing Management Task Force.

    Probably, they all resonated with Lim Yang-wooks vision to end the long dark age of the literary world and breathe new life into the Korean publishing industry. It was not just a gathering of sycophants flattering Director Baek.

    Anyway, for whatever reason, these highly motivated individuals came up with all sorts of ideas, and their business planning continued for weeks.

    However, had they known that all their plans wouldnt be as effective as a single well-received variety show appearance, they probably wouldnt have worked as hard.

    *****

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