Chapter 122: Publication (4)

No novel was written with the intent to fail.

Writers poured their hearts into their work, agonizing over every word, hoping their stories would be well received and read by many.

A tower built with care did not collapse.

But even the sturdiest tower, if left unvisited and unseen, would not fall—it would merely stand there, forgotten.

The feeling of having a carefully crafted story fail—it was a pain all creators must endure, yet one they never wished to experience.

“This is… ambiguous.”

The first-day sales of The Rising Tempest of Tang Clan were not a grand success, but they weren’t a complete failure either.

I had expected a massive surge in sales from day one.

Was that hoping for too much?

— Greetings, martial artists. My name is Hu Pil. The writer behind the Rising Tempest of Tang Clan—a hit in Yichang. Your reactions and recommendations have wiped out our bookstore’s debt. Always grateful. Murim forever.

I had even imagined my novel making headlines in Martial World Weekly, complete with a grand interview.

But alas, it seemed that dream would have to wait.

“Hey, Yunho. Don’t be too discouraged. We’ll sell them all.”

Hwarin looked at me with concern, trying to lift my spirits as I stared blankly at the remaining copies of The Rising Tempest of Tang Clan.

“Yeah. I hope so.”

“So stop worrying and just open the store already.”

“Yes, yes. I hear you.”

To make it clear that I wasn’t worrying, I responded in a lighthearted tone and pulled open the store’s doors.

“AHH! What the—who are you people?!”

As soon as the doors opened, I was greeted by a group of a dozen disheveled men.

Not just any group—these guys were practically glued to the entrance, ready to lunge inside like a horde of zombies descending upon a lone survivor.

“It’s open!”

“I’ve been waiting since before sunrise!”

“Sob… I waited all night! Why did you open so late?!”

The zombies—no, customers—rushed in through the open doors, swarming the bookstore and scanning the shelves with desperate eyes.

“Where is it?”

“I can’t see it!”

“I swear I bought it here yesterday!”

“It’s gone!”

What the hell is happening?

“Manager! Manager!”

Still dazed by the chaos, I suddenly found Scholar Hwang approaching me in a panic.

“Scholar Hwang? What is going on here?”

Even he looked utterly exhausted.

Like a gamer who had waited all night in the freezing cold for a long-awaited sequel, only to discover the game was just a glorified sleeping pill.

“…Give it to me.”

“Huh?”

Give what to you?

“The Rising Tempest of Tang Clan! Hand over volume two!”

“Why isn’t volume two here? It clearly says ‘Coming Soon’ at the end of volume one!”

“This novel just came out.”

I firmly told Scholar Hwang, who looked at me with suspicion, as if I were hiding the second volume somewhere and lying to him.

This wasn’t some urban legend about a nonexistent book—how could he have seen a volume that didn’t exist yet?

“This is impossible. This is absolutely impossible.”

“I definitely saw volume two yesterday! I bought volume one, thinking if it was good, I’d come back for the second. Are you telling me I hallucinated all night while waiting? No. No, that can’t be. That can’t be!”

“I finished volume one, and now there’s no volume two? What is the meaning of this?! It has to be here somewhere!”

“Hubei’s Top Courtesan was waiting for me, so I waited all night!”

The customers who had purchased volume one yesterday all screamed in unison, frantically searching the bookstore for a volume two that didn’t exist.

Have they all been waiting outside since dawn just for this?

I had to stop myself from grinning at the sheer madness of it.

“Then when is the next volume coming out?”

“Not until volume one sells out.”

I quickly controlled my expression and answered Scholar Hwang’s desperate question with a composed tone.

“We have to sell hundreds of copies before we can see volume two?”

“Exactly.”

At the very least, I needed to clear 70%—no, 80% of the stock before I could justify printing the next volume.

“How are we supposed to sell hundreds of books… No, wait. This is a book worth selling that much.”

“We can’t just wait for it to sell out! Damn you, Hwang Gu! I blame you for this! Why did you show me this book so early?!”

One of Scholar Hwang’s friends smacked him in frustration.

“Yesterday, you were thanking me for recommending it and raving about how amazing it was! And now it’s my fault?!”

“It’s definitely your fault!”

“Shut up and buy a copy yourself. The sooner it sells out, the sooner we get volume two!”

Scholar Hwang grabbed a copy of The Rising Tempest of Tang Clan from the display and shoved it at his friend.

“Fine. I was going to buy one, anyway.”

Without hesitation, his friend purchased the book.

“Manager, I’ll take another copy.”

“Didn’t you already buy one yesterday, Scholar Hwang?”

“Ahem… Well…”

He awkwardly avoided my gaze, but his friend grinned and explained the situation, “Hwang Gu here had his lamp on all night. When I checked on him this morning, his cheeks were sunken, and his book was sticky. You should’ve seen the panic on his face when he realized the pages were stuck together. Hahaha!”

Oh. So that’s what happened.

“You bastard!” Scholar Hwang yelled in embarrassment, his face flushed red.

“Were you trying to impregnate your book or something?”

“You just wait! Manager, I’ll take one copy. No—three!”

“Three? Planning to impregnate all of them?”

“One for preservation, one for reading, one for spreading the word!”

“Ah, I see. So now three of Sichuan’s most beautiful women will be impregnated today.”

“SHUT UP!”

I barely managed to hold in my laughter as I rang up his three copies.

“I should have never read this book! A life where The Rising Tempest of Tang Clan volume two doesn’t exist—what a nightmare!”

“Ugh! We don’t have time to despair! We need to spread the word about The Rising Tempest of Tang Clan so we can see Hubei’s Top Courtesan!”

“Right! The more people we bring in, the sooner we get volume two! Let’s secure the next volume!”

“I’ll take another copy!”

“I will see Hubei’s Top Courtesan! Give me a copy as well!”

The morning customers started buying additional copies, promising to spread the word far and wide.

Thanks to them, by the time the morning rush ended, I had sold as many books as I had yesterday.

“The response is… incredible.”

The bookstore had finally settled down after the morning storm of desperate readers.

I stood there, staring at the significantly reduced stack of The Rising Tempest of Tang Clan copies.

This is a success.

A real, undeniable success.

I did it.

I really did it.

The problem had never been writing in this world.

I had just been slightly off-track before.

But now, I knew.

I could succeed as a writer here.

I could build my Fame.

As memories of the struggles leading up to this moment flooded my mind, my chest tightened.

I turned away, pressing my hand against the wall so no one could see my face.

“Yunho… Are you okay?”

Hwarin approached me with concern in her voice.

Without turning around, I simply lifted a hand, gesturing for her to give me a moment.

Just a moment.

Just a little longer.

There was still a long road ahead.

This was only the first step.

As The Rising Tempest of Tang Clan gained traction through word of mouth, sales steadily increased. Naturally, the number of customers coming in search of volume two also continued to rise.

“Has The Rising Tempest of Tang Clan volume two arrived today?”

“No.”

“Will it be here tomorrow?”

“No.”

“All you ever say is ‘no, no.’ Do you even know how to say ‘yes’?”

“Yes… no.”

“Haa… Why in the world isn’t volume one selling out? So many people are buying it!”

Well, that’s because I keep restocking it.

“Is this really the time to be scolding the manager? Is there at least an estimated release date? If you told me volume two would be out in a week, I’d be happy from today onward!”

“I’m afraid happiness will be out of reach for you for a while.”

I felt bad for the desperate readers, but this was the time to strike while the iron was hot.

The demand was higher than the supply speed and eventually, volume one would sell out.

“Damn it. I need to go upstairs for some tea.”

“Let’s go together. I heard there’s a group on the second floor discussing The Rising Tempest of Tang Clan these days!”

“Pay the entrance fee, and you’re welcome to join.”

After collecting their entry fee for Tea Book Pavilion’s second floor, I followed them upstairs to start my shift.

In one corner of the second floor, regulars like Scholar Hwang, his friend, and a few other men were already seated at the discussion area, deeply engaged in conversation.

“I thought The Rising Tempest of Tang Clan would be another dull martial arts story. But once I started reading, I couldn’t put it down!”

“I also expected it to be boring, but the tension in the fight scenes was incredible. The martial arts details were so well done that I could believe a real Tang Clan member wrote it.”

“That’s not all! In most books, when a martial artist kills a villain, that’s the end of it. But here? He claims a woman! And not just any woman… Sichuan’s most beautiful woman! I repeat! Sichuan’s—most—beautiful—woman!”

“A man risking his life for her? Of course, she’d fall for him. If I were a woman, I’d fall for Tang Jeong too.”

“The moment where the unattainable flower asks the protagonist to pluck her… I, Zhang Jia, have never been so excited in my life.”

“And that final bed scene… I mean… She actually did that with her chest! And with such magnificent proportions that she could fully accommodate his passion! It was so vividly described, it was as if the author had seen such a chest with his own eyes and simply transcribed the experience!”

Dear readers… A young lady just passed by and scowled at your conversation.

It felt like I was reading the comment section of my novel, and honestly, it was a great feeling.

But they needed to remember that the Tea Book Pavilion had female patrons, too.

Maybe I should space out the discussion tables more or invest in some sound-absorbing partitions.

“Haa… I can’t wait for volume two.”

“To be honest, I come to Tea Book Pavilion every day just to check how much stock of The Rising Tempest of Tang Clan has dwindled.”

“Oh? You too? We truly are kindred spirits. I’ll buy you a coffee. Manager, two iced Americanos, please.”

It was getting harder to keep my shoulders from rising in pride.

Thanks to The Rising Tempest of Tang Clan, the Tea Book Pavilion was busier than ever, and I moved about busily, reveling in the success.

It was finally a quieter time of the day.

I opened the door to the printing room and stepped inside.

“Hwarin, how’s it going?”

Hwarin was working alone, churning out copies of my book.

Seeing her handling the printing by herself made me feel guilty.

She had volunteered to do the printing work during the day because of her face, but that didn’t change the fact that I felt bad about it.

“Just do your job. Why are you here?”

Hwarin stopped what she was doing and shot me a look.

“You should eat before you keep working. You must be hungry.”

I lifted the small snack I had brought with me.

“Give it to me. Ah, shit.”

She had reached out, only to realize her hands were covered in ink.

Why is she getting embarrassed over that?

She couldn’t eat like this, and ink didn’t wash off easily.

it’d be a hassle to clean up before eating.

“Want me to feed you?”

“W-what? What the hell are you saying all of a sudden?”

“Relax. It’s just a bite-sized snack. I’m just putting it in your mouth for you.”

“…Fine.”

Why are you closing your eyes?

Hwarin tilted her chin up slightly, looking flustered.

“Open your mouth.”

“Ahhh.”

I placed the food into her mouth, piece by piece, as she chewed.

This feels like feeding a baby bird… No, actually, this is even more awkward than that.

“This is kinda embarrassing.”

Unable to ignore the weirdness of the situation, I finally voiced my thoughts.

I mean, wasn’t this something only couples did?

“Shit. You think I’m not embarrassed?” Hwarin snapped back at me, glaring.

“Then maybe say something if you feel embarrassed.”

“You were the one who offered to feed me!”

Face slightly flushed, she gave my chest a few light punches.

“…Fair point. Haha.”

I scratched the back of my head, trying to shake off my own embarrassment.

“Heh. You’re such an idiot.”

“How’s the printing going?”

I quickly changed the subject, glancing at the stack of The Rising Tempest of Tang Clan copies.

“I’m working hard, but the type keeps breaking or wearing down. I think after today, we won’t be able to print any more until we get a fresh supply of type.”

“As expected.”

Letterpress printing had its structural flaws.

The lead alloy type was soft, and since pressure was directly applied to it during printing, it wore out quickly.

There was a method called stereotype printing that solved these issues, and I knew it existed in Central Plains, but it seemed like advanced technology here—still not widely used.

Even in Yichang, a developed city in Hubei, no one seemed to own a stereotype press.

Maybe once I made enough money, I could set up my own printing house.

“Sorry, but I’ll have to rely on you to keep going until the end of today.”

“This is the only way I can help you, so don’t apologize.”

Hwarin looked at me with a slightly bitter expression.

“You don’t have to think like that… Want me to keep feeding you?”

I smirked playfully.

“Shut up! Just grab some gloves from the entrance and get back to work.”

With her face slightly red, she pushed me away.

“Alright, alright. I’ll bring them over.”

She should’ve just told me about the gloves earlier.

I handed her a pair and then headed back to work.

What if the books sell out before the new printing type arrives?

That worry lingered in my mind for only a moment—because suddenly, the number of customers coming in to buy The Rising Tempest of Tang Clan plummeted.

“What’s going on?”

Had the hype finally reached its peak and started to fade?

That didn’t seem right—it had happened too suddenly.

There was no way the popularity of the book could disappear overnight.

Something was off.

“Is this The Rising Tempest of Tang Clan that’s been popular around Yichang lately? Brother, should we grab a copy too?”

“Forget it. No reason to buy it here.”

…What?

“Excuse me, sir. Could you explain what you meant just now?”

I approached the customer to confirm what I had just overheard.

“Oh, haha. I didn’t mean I wasn’t buying books—I was just talking about The Rising Tempest of Tang Clan.”

“That’s exactly what I want to ask about.”

“Ah, well… The thing is, another bookstore nearby is selling The Rising Tempest of Tang Clan for way cheaper than here. No offense, but if I can get it for less elsewhere, why would I buy it here?”

Wait.

My book… was being sold at another bookstore?