Surviving as a Writer in the British Empire

London outing (1)

It’s strange to say that it used to be. Anyway, London in the future I came from wasn’t a very nice city.

The incompetent conservative government had done something else again, and the city itself was dying in the aftermath of Brexit. The common people protested as a matter of survival and suffered from racial issues.

First of all, Wi-Fi or 3G was too slow. As a Korean, there is nothing more terrifying than this, cancer.

Then in the early 1890’s. What was London like when it was the capital of the British Empire and the center of the world?

“Eh eh.”

How is it, what is it? It was 150 years ago, so it’s 150 years later.

Why, if you roam the Internet, don’t protozoa appear that say ‘London will have the world’s first subway around the time when the map of Daedongyeoji will be drawn’?

I want to take them and put them in the world’s first subway.

The smell is coppery, the shaking is incredibly rattling, and it’s very hot and humid because it’s not even in the era of air conditioning… Even half of the lines are steam locomotives!

These crazy younggilly bastards run steam engines ‘underground’! That black smoke billows out!

“Oh, author! Are you all right!?”

“Hey, are you okay? That’s why you ride a carriage, why are you insisting on taking the subway, which ordinary people take?”

No, you should have said something like this.

I was crying, but I was still sick to my stomach and couldn’t speak properly.

Wow-.

After taking a primitive elevator and going out to the streets of London, the next place was the country of fog.

It’s smog heaven!

oh god damn I can’t breathe, this guy’s fumes.

One of the common expressions used to describe this era is the expression pea soup fog.

It means that the thick mist is like a thick soup.

oh, poison.

Naturally, cover your mouth and nose with a handkerchief.

This is why the British always carry handkerchiefs. Even people can’t stand this smog.

“Hey, are you okay?”

“Aren’t you tired?”

“Oh, you seem to have a weak nose, author.”

If there is a human who is strong in this smog, that’s even more amazing, isn’t it?

I was about to shoot, but to my surprise I had to keep my mouth shut when I saw the children laughing and running around and playing in the fog.

Oh my God, are humans also animals of adaptation? I never thought I could smile so brightly even in the midst of this fumes.

yes, i won You guys, Younggili, eat the best.

However, the sound of those kids playing was unusual.

“It’s over, hell-king Alvis!!”

“Courage is imaginary, Peter! Cry! The sword of hell, Inferno-mourne!!”

“I am the strongest dwarven wrestler! Only those who are confident will attack!”

“For the fairy forest!!”

what the hell is that

I had to wrap my head around listening to familiar lines and proper nouns from children running around and playing sword fights.

For reference, Alvis is the boss of Volume 1 of the ＜Peter Perry＞ series.

Originally a member of the dwarf royal family, he dug too deep into the tunnel and awakened the hellfire volcano and became the Fairy King of Hell.

And dwarf wrestling is not a virtual jujutsu in which the person who knocks down first wins after holding each other’s pants dance in consideration of the stocky dwarf body shape. Ssireum, a traditional folk game on the Korean Peninsula.

How about it, is it easy to set up and nice?

Originally, it was for domestic consumption only to be read at home. So it’s a rough set-up… but it’s too late to change it now.

Anyway, in that way, it was easy to find kids playing ‘Peter Perry’ on the streets of London or in parks, each playing a different role.

“Isn’t it a very heartwarming look, sir?”

no. I just want to hide in a mouse hole.

Of course, I am also grateful and happy to see such enthusiastic readers.

But apart from that, if people who don’t know the lines I wrote are reciting them out of their mouths, of course they cringe!

I’m a web novel writer, not a drama writer! Oops, these are my hands and feet.

“Hurry up, let’s go quickly.”

“I get it, I get it.”

But I never thought it would be something that would hold me back.

Charing Cross Road, where Bentley Publishing is located, was famous as a used bookstore street in the 21st century.

But what about now 150 years ago? Yes, it’s just a bookstore.

so.

“＜Temple Bar＞! ＜Temple Bar＞ is in stock this month!”

“Get out of the way!!”

“Sir, this side has been waiting since yesterday!”

“＜Peter Perry and the Fairy Forest＞ 9th edition is in!”

“Give me five! I decided to send my relatives this time!!”

Every bookstore that filled the streets of Charing Cross Road was lined up with people looking for a copy of ＜Peter Perry＞ or ＜Temple Bar＞, the serialized version of it.

Even after signing an official contract with me, the book that started to be sold is already in its 9th printing. This means that the stock has already been sold out 8 times.

Wow, my heart is getting bigger. Books were also sold in Korea, but not to this extent.

From noble mtl dot com

“Hey, did you hear? I heard that Patrick ended up dueling Raymond.”

“at last? I can’t help it. That’s why I can’t be the one who insists that I have to connect with my childhood friend.”

Then, in my ears, I heard two gentlemen having a noble conversation at a nearby cafe.

I was talking about something, but that’s it.

“yes. After all, wouldn’t it be possible to finally marry Peter?”

“No no, what are you talking about? Do you say that even after seeing the nobility of Marv, the queen of nymphs? I feel pitiful for Iru-Ril being underprivileged, but as expected, a hero must bond with a noble person.”

“Heh heh, I didn’t know you were at such a low level. Does that mean I have to throw away the ties I had with you from when I first entered the fairy forest?”

“Don’t mislead me. Friendship is friendship and love is love.”

“Heh heh heh.”

“Ha ha ha ha ha.”

“Pick it up, you bastard!”

“Okay, let’s make a decision!!”

cancellation. Nobly, it’s a b*tch, only the tone is full of dignity, but they were just otaku, right?

Come to think of it, England was a hooligan rampant before the gentleman’s country, but I forgot for a moment that the whole country would be like the Masan people if only soccer was replaced by baseball.

“Tsuttuk, like those senseless people.”

Those were the words of our landlord, Mr. Miller, who saw it.

Oh, also Mr. Miller. I’ve lived in England for a long time, but I’m from America, so I’m not such a pirate hooligan!

“If they were to be connected, wouldn’t it be Portia, the step-sister? Although he rarely appears, I saw hope in Peter inviting Portia to the forest. ah! This is by no means forced, Hansel.”

“Ah, yes…”

Was that your taste… I looked at the scolded old man with cold eyes for a while.

Come to think of it, did you say that Mrs. Clara was originally the adopted daughter of the Miller family? Before that, he was a younger cousin who was not related by blood.

Then their eyes met and they decided to get married, so Mr. Miller may have secretly sympathized with a situation similar to his own.

I decided to bury the details for his honor.

“Come on, come in! Welcome to our company!”

“Ah, yes.”

In the meantime, guided by Bentley Jr., Mr. Miller and I entered the building of the ＜Richard Bentley and Sons＞ publishing house.

The building was new, so it was quite spacious than I thought.

It may be because there are not many equipment or desks. Because it was a holiday, there were very few staff.

As Mr. Miller and I looked around, Richard Bentley Jr. scratched his head and said,

“sorry. I moved a while ago, so there are still a lot of inconveniences.”

“Are you moving?”

“Thanks to the author. We used to be one of the best publishing houses in London, but after my grandfather passed away, it got a bit difficult in many ways…”

“Hmm.”

Everyone has times like that.

This is especially true in this industry, which is rapidly changing according to the taste of the public.

Even when I was young, the pronouns for heroes were Superman or Batman, but when I came to my senses, Marvel became bigger, right?

But Richard Bentley Jr. said cheerfully that he didn’t care.

“Still, thanks to the artist, I succeeded so wonderfully again, so I’m going to try rowing properly when the water comes in!”

“how?”

“This is the advantage of a publisher with years of experience like us.”

Having said that, Bentley led me to a room in the publishing house.

In the era of web novels, everything was solved on the Internet, so I couldn’t go to the publisher often.

But each time, the impression was that there was an enormous amount of one real book.

And publishers in the non-electronic era added.

Whether or not it became a book, there were an enormous number of manuscripts.

“These are books that have been published by our publishing house.”

“Hoo.”

My eyes lit up while looking at the manuscripts that came out as books.

The writings of Charles Dickens, such as ＜Oliver Twist＞, came into my eyes first.

Come to think of it, the man said he worked as an editor at this publishing company.

It is also a first edition! Mouth watering, really.

Seeing this, Richard Bentley Jr. smiled and said confidently.

“And this time, for those of you who have loved our publishing house, we are releasing a special wardrobe collection of bestsellers, classics, and masterpieces from our publishing house! I think it will be an opportunity to rediscover manuscripts that were not properly known, and it will be an opportunity to publicize the reputation of the publisher again.”

“It’s a good plan.”

I nodded.

In short, it seems that they are trying to hold an artist exhibition that is often held on the platform, or a promotion event that collects and advertises recommended works by genre.

Certainly, I have been to such events often. Web novels are the best marketing to be recognized regardless of means, so I actively entered.

Originally, ground rice must be sprinkled to attract meat, and water must be primed for the pump to pump up water.

That’s what capitalism is all about.

As I listened to him like that, I found something piled up in the corner.

Piles stacked like towers.

“Then what are those?”

After removing the first edition of ＜Oliver Twist＞ for a while, I approached the piled up manuscripts.

In response, Bentley shook his head and said.

“Oh, those are not yet published items. These are novels that came as submissions.”

“Oh, is it a submission?”

“yes. Usually it goes like this. hahahaha, but now I’m busy moving, so I’ve been hoarding them.”

“Well, it can.”

While nodding my head, I began to go through the stack of manuscripts one by one.

Although the language is different, why are you doing this… I miss you a lot.

Actually, I was also a web novel writer, but I sent submissions before that.

I used to send bundles of letters that were so immature to various places. I never thought I’d be able to feel emotions here that I couldn’t feel before coming here.

With that thought in mind, I slowly looked through the manuscripts.

what? This?

“Well, most of them are immature type combinations anyway. It’s probably not something the writer would care about.”

“Hmm… it doesn’t seem like there’s anything like that.”

“yes?”

I found familiar and unfamiliar words in a pile of manuscripts.

And he lifted the manuscript.

＜The Time Machine＞

A short, bold, simple and clunky title that will never sell.

However, the author’s name written there was not.

Herbert George Wells.

The name of a former teacher in his late twenties, now a mere investigation into modern science fiction literature, was there.