Editor’s Survival Guide - Chapter 121

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Editor’s Survival Rules Episode 121

ep18. Rescuer (5)

* * *

Author Nabbit, whom I met at the cafe, couldn’t bring herself to lift her head.

“It’s okay, Author.”

“Huu…!”

Author Nabbit let out a whimpering moan at my single comment.

Author Nabbit fidgeted restlessly and made excuses to me.

“I’m really sorry. I was trying to delete the message but accidentally sent it… I really didn’t mean to send it…”

So she accidentally sent a message and then panicked and pressed the call button.

I received a contact that wasn’t quite a contact from Author Nabbit yesterday.

So we talked briefly, and I learned that Author Nabbit was going on a rampage during manuscript work.

Of course, after I quit, Author Nabbit was assigned a new editor in charge.

So I first asked if she was communicating well with her current editor, but Author Nabbit rambled incoherently and then asked if I could spare some time for her.

Making time wasn’t difficult.

And just because I quit didn’t mean there was any reason I couldn’t meet with an author I’d communicated with for over three years.

I immediately applied for time off, and thus came to meet Author Nabbit in the middle of summer.

“Have you been well all this time?”

“Yes, I’m always the same… But you look very, healthy now…?”

Author Nabbit was asking about my well-being when she made a puzzled expression.

Ah, come to think of it, I was someone who quit due to illness.

And that person had appeared with noticeably more muscle.

“Ah, yes. I’m just focusing on health management.”

“That’s really fortunate. You look good.”

Author Nabbit nodded without much suspicion.

Seeing that somehow felt like a breath of fresh air.

Just meeting with an author at a cafe, yet it felt like returning to my original place.

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

I asked Author Nabbit while feeling my mind settle.

But that author had caused a bigger incident than I thought and called me out.

“You changed the ending…”

“That’s what happened…”

“Then do you just need to revise the ending?”

“No… I need to work on it overall…”

“Publication is next month.”

“…”

Author Nabbit stared at me with empty eyes.

That hollow gaze rapidly devastated my heart too.

No way, after postponing the deadline like that and barely finishing the manuscript, she scrapped it again.

Even with the publication schedule already set.

“What, what did your editor say?”

“They said to just publish this one… and to do the ending I want to write as a new work…”

Right, I would have said the same thing.

“But you won’t do that, will you?”

“Yes… I’m really sorry, but I can’t really do that…”

At Author Nabbit’s words, the feeling of nostalgia completely disappeared.

Instead, I seemed to hear the sound of the new editor grabbing the back of their neck.

Postponing publication at this point doesn’t just mean the book comes out a couple months late.

The printing press reservation is screwed.

The promotion negotiated with major bookstores is screwed.

Various marketing and press releases are screwed.

The publishing company’s expected income is screwed.

It was tantamount to launching a nuisance in all directions.

I swallowed dryly at this total chaos, then barely remembered that I was no longer involved.

Ah, fortunately I belong to the Management Bureau.

Well of course, it’s not comparable to that world where people die left and right…

“I know I did wrong too. But I really had no choice…”

This problematic author complaining after causing all this trouble.

It’s definitely a major incident, but hmm.

Still, no one dies so isn’t it fine?

Thanks to this, the publishing company will suffer various damages, but Author Nabbit has earned money for them so far, so it should offset to some degree.

But let me put in a word for my former colleagues.

“So why did you contact me about this?”

“Well, I wanted to get feedback on the revision…”

“Wouldn’t it be better to discuss that with your current editor?”

It would be problematic for an author to avoid their editor in charge.

And it would be even stranger for the former editor to get involved.

I could meet with Author Nabbit, but interfering with that work was a separate matter, so I politely declined.

Then Author Nabbit frantically explained.

“Of, of course I’ll discuss it with my current editor too. But since I was stubborn about something, I wanted to show them content they could readily accept…”

So she’s scared to show it directly to her current editor and wants me to look at it first.

“I’ll pay you a fee too…”

Author Nabbit pleaded earnestly.

I couldn’t bring myself to refuse.

Actually, I really wanted to see the revised manuscript.

* * *

I skimmed through the synopsis and revised ending manuscript that Author Nabbit had printed out.

When I finished reading to the last page and closed the manuscript again, Author Nabbit asked almost in a whisper.

“How is it…?”

I first covered my mouth with my hand.

In case the corners of my mouth went up on their own.

What should I do. I’m happy…

I’m happy even just seeing the ending without proper buildup…?

“Um…”

“Hmm, it seems fine?”

I spoke in a calm voice while still resting my chin on my hand.

Then Author Nabbit’s face brightened radiantly.

It was the moment the problematic author looked like a genius author again.

Good, as expected.

As expected, I was someone who should sit at a desk and work with writing for life.

How did someone like me get involved with such a crazy space and lose my calling?

“But Author, why did you suddenly change the ending? You used to write works after deciding the ending first.”

“I had a personal change of heart…”

“Hmm…”

If I’d heard this when I was her editor, I would have grabbed the back of my neck too.

But now I’m grateful.

Because you’re a problematic author who doesn’t know compromise.

Author Nabbit’s current work borrows the concept of the ‘Akashic Record.’

The Akashic Record is a kind of cosmic library where all information and memories of this world are stored.

It’s a fictional concept mixing occult and science fiction elements.

The information and memories in the Akashic Record naturally include human memories, and in the story, some humans are able to contact the Akashic Record by following the path where their memories are stored in the Akashic Record.

Meanwhile, these people’s world heads toward destruction for complex reasons, and the survivors seek to connect the records of the Akashic Record to create a path to paradise.

…That’s the main plot of this work.

“Both the original ending and the changed ending seem to have good plausibility. So whichever one is adopted, there shouldn’t be any problems with the overall flow, but the original ending was faithful to resolving the plot developments though it was somewhat safe.”

The original ending is a typical happy ending.

The protagonists who were creating a path in the Akashic Record eventually find paradise after various trials and tribulations.

And the survivors who follow the protagonist settle down to live in the new paradise.

“In comparison, the changed ending has tragic twists and plenty of room for interpretation, so it would be advantageous for hooking readers who dig deep. It also has ironic aspects like Greek tragedy.”

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

The protagonist’s party ultimately fails to enter paradise, and the survivors melt into the Akashic Record to become faint wills wandering that cosmic library.

An ending where the protagonist that readers journeyed with for so long gets atomized.

I could already hear the readers’ outcries.

And my preference was definitely for the changed version.

…I covered my mouth with my hand again, feeling like the corners of my mouth might rise.

“But with this kind of ending, what will you do about the narratives of the supporting characters in each episode? In the original ending, there was a structure of ‘the protagonist reaching paradise with various people’s help’ and ‘people being remembered through the protagonist’ that symbolized solidarity, but if the protagonist fails like this, even the supporting characters’ sacrifices and assistance become meaningless.”

At my question, Author Nabbit glanced around nervously.

Then she shyly nodded her head.

…So she’s going to make the protagonist fail and turn even the supporting characters’ efforts and sacrifices into futile acts.

This could only be described as an intention to wring tears of blood from the readers…

I was inwardly flustered by Author Nabbit’s bold choice.

I wondered if an ending that rendered all narratives and efforts meaningless like this might be a bit dangerous.

“It’s impressive, but wouldn’t this be too harsh on the helpers…?”

I unconsciously muttered while thinking of the soldiers in the story who only suffered hardships before dying.

Then Author Nabbit’s eyes widened.

She stared at me for a long time with such surprised eyes that I asked what was wrong.

“What’s the matter?”

“No… it’s just the first time I’ve seen you use such direct expression.”

“…?”

I thought about what Author Nabbit was talking about and soon realized.

If it were the usual me, when giving feedback I would have said something like ‘if the characters’ efforts are excessively negated or the results are too futile, readers might get exhausted too.’

But ‘wouldn’t it be too harsh?’

Even I thought it was an expression I was voicing for the first time.

As if the characters in the story were real people.

Did my instincts dull from taking a long break from work…?

It was when I was inwardly flustered by my own statement.

“Um, specifically which parts are harsh…?”

Author Nabbit asked for examples, perhaps intending to adjust the intensity.

I thought for a moment and mentioned the first thing that came to mind.

“Like the soldiers who help when the protagonist and survivors take refuge in the Akashic Record. Those soldiers were a group that voluntarily maintained their organization and saved people even though the military had already been disbanded. I don’t think we should ruthlessly bury the opportunities created by such characters’ sacrifices like that.”

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

“I thought you’d mention the sacrifices of the protagonist’s mother or friends… The soldiers don’t really have much individual narrative, so wouldn’t they be okay? The profession of soldier itself makes it not strange for them to die at any time.”

“To say that’s okay…”

I reflexively started to argue back but stopped.

There was nothing wrong with what Author Nabbit said.

In the story, countless people sacrificed themselves for the protagonist’s journey.

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

The soldiers I mentioned were among them, and their significance wasn’t very large compared to family or friends.

So what she just said was right.

Both structurally in terms of the story and when estimating readers’ reactions.

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

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

That I was acting this way because of the Management Bureau’s Rescuers.

Oh no.

I had been unconsciously overlapping the Special Management Bureau’s agents with the soldiers in the story.

As I noticed this and tried to take back what I had said earlier, Author Nabbit asked me first.

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

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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