Copyright.
One of my friends, while studying for the civil service exam, thought he’d earn some pocket money by uploading movies to a web hard drive, and guess what? He got dragged to the police station.
“I didn’t upload it! My elementary school brother did it! It wasn’t me, okay? I’m sorry.”
He took his brother along and made him write an apology instead, escaping with a warning, but every time he thought about that incident, he’d shiver, feeling humiliated in front of his brother.
We chuckled and teased our friend, but he never used that web hard drive again.
Thanks to the wonderful laws that protect creators’ rights today, countless creators around the world are making a living. But this copyright law has only become widespread not too long ago.
Of course, there’s no copyright law for creators in this world either.
In this world, if there’s a good piece of writing, people share and discuss it, dissecting it and saying, “Oh, this tech tree is messed up.”
“Harin, let’s close up and go!”
“Okay!”
When my book becomes famous, I know I won’t be able to avoid illegal copies. It’s no surprise.
To protect my rights, I need a network to track where my book is being sold illegally and either administrative power or force to judge the pirated versions, but where in the world is there a barbarian that can do that?
But that’s only a story beyond the city of Yichang where I work. I never thought such a thing would happen inside Yichang.
“Seriously, they’re selling it.”
They were really selling my The Rise of the Tang Family at another bookstore.
“Welcome! Are you looking for the recent blockbuster The Rise of the Tang Family? We sell it much cheaper than the Tea Bookstore… What?! This is the barbarian from the Tea Bookstore!”
The bookstore owner recognized my black hair and promptly furrowed his brows.
“What the hell is this?!”
“What do you mean, what is it? I’m selling the popular The Rise of the Tang Family at a cheap price.”
As I glared at him, the bookstore owner pretended not to notice and avoided my gaze. Could he be feeling guilty?
“This is not the merchant’s way!”
I raised my voice loud enough for everyone passing by to hear.
“The merchant’s way, my foot.”
“The Rise of the Tang Family was produced with the backing of the Tea Bookstore! And yet, you’re disregarding the merchant’s way and doing this kind of trashy thing?!”
Just because there isn’t a copyright law for creators doesn’t mean there’s no morality among merchants. Even in this world, it’s common for publishers to support authors to help them write, and then publish to earn money in return. Right? Harin’s grandfather has been doing that too.
In this world, the copyright of a publisher exists in its primitive form as the merchant’s way.
“There’s no morality to keep for a barbarian!”
Wow. Good old barbarian discrimination. Just how I know these Central Plains folks.
“Hey, what did you just call Yoon-ho?”
Suddenly, Harin pulled out a memorization card from her empty hands and stepped closer to the bookstore owner. What the heck? Where did she get that from?
“M-M-Martial artist is trying to hit someone!”
“Harin, I’ll take care of it.”
I stopped the calm Harin. The competing bookstore owner looked pale, glancing back and forth between Harin and me before speaking up again.
“O-O-Barbarian! You ought to understand the merchant’s way! How dare you seek the merchant’s morality here!”
“What do you mean I violated any morality?”
“You brought in an overseas bookstore and muddied the waters of Yichang! Do you know that every bookstore in Yichang is now in despair because of you?”
“What do you mean…?”
“You thought you could get a good author and make some money, huh? We can’t let that happen! Every bookstore in Yichang has united to make up for the losses caused by this book. Got that!”
The bookstore owner finished his words, slowly stepping back while nervously glancing at Harin.
Is that how it became?
The Tea Bookstore is the biggest bookstore in Yichang. It occupies a large three-story building, filled with various books, located on a main road with good accessibility.
Even if it’s managed poorly for 50 years, there’s a reason for its good sales. With the introduction of a modern sales method, countless customers flocked to it.
Naturally, surrounding bookstores had no choice but to shrink.
“Yoon-ho, can I step in?”
“Just stabbing one person won’t solve the problem!”
“If you don’t like getting stabbed, there’s medicine for that.”
“Eek!”
“Don’t!”
I stopped Harin once more. If all the bookstores decided to print The Rise of the Tang Family, it wouldn’t be resolved by just threatening a person or two.
This is outright a messy situation.
With a popular book earning money and causing losses to the Tea Bookstore, there’s no reason to be concerned about morality now.
“But Yoon-ho.”
“Thinking things through, follow along.”
“Let’s go together!”
I left the competing bookstore without looking back.
——————
Since the other party initiated the fight, I have no intention of tolerating it unilaterally.
No, if I let it slide once, I’ll have to keep taking hits in the future.
As the owner of the Tea Bookstore, Kang Yoon-ho, and the author of The Rise of the Tang Family, Ho Pil, I HAVE to win this battle. So, how can I win?
When there’s a conflict between companies, one of the easiest methods to execute is a price war, but the problem is that a price war benefits the opponent overwhelmingly.
“The printing machine over there is overwhelmingly better.”
The printing press at the Tea Bookstore is decades old. They don’t even have a casting machine to create the type.
On the other hand, they must have a much better printing machine and a supply chain for cheap books.
If we engage in a price war, the chances of losing are high.
“Should I just get everyone addicted and go?”
Harin suggested with a worried look.
“If you do that, even if it’s not because of The Rise of the Tang Family, the Sichuan Tang Family will come after you.”
I appreciate the suggestions, but that’s too extreme. This is a competition between merchants, not a life-and-death struggle between martial artists.
If it reaches a cooperative relationship rather than a competing one, I could get banned from doing business in Yichang.
“Ugh… So what should we do?”
“I have a method.”
“What method?”
Harin looked at me curiously.
If the Tea Bookstore engages in a bloody battle with printing, we will overwhelmingly lose. The opponent will also be convinced this is an unbeatable fight.
But you know, there’s no reason for them to fight on their advantageous turf.
If the opponent has a favorable match, I’ll just flip the table.
“There’s a method that takes a little time. In the meantime, I won’t just sit and take it; I should try to deter them.”
Let’s deliver a solid one-two punch to cause shock.
If they touch the weaknesses of bookstores, I’ll utilize my strengths.
“Deter? How do you plan to do that?”
“I want to do something called pinpointing.”
Using my strength as an author.
Hwang Seong visited the Tea Bookstore once again today without fail.
Waiting for the second volume of The Rise of the Tang Family was far too arduous. The more Hwang Seong reread the book, the thirst for the second volume grew like he was drinking seawater.
“Thank goodness for the Tea and Book Club.”
A gathering to discuss The Rise of the Tang Family. The Tea and Book Club.
At least meeting with the members of the Tea and Book Club alleviated the thirst for the next volume. As The Rise of the Tang Family grew in popularity, more members joined.
Once again, Hwang Seong entered the bookstore and first gazed at the display stacked with copies of The Rise of the Tang Family.
“This can’t be! No way!”
“This is a dream! It must be a dream!”
There, the members of the Tea and Book Club who had arrived first were crying out in despair.
“What on earth is going on?”
Hwang Seong asked those with shocked expressions but received no answers, just people pointing to a sign that had only one line written on it.
Hwang Seong looked at the sign to understand the situation.
[It’s Ho Pil…]
Ho Pil is the author of The Rise of the Tang Family, right? Could this mean news of the release of the second volume was finally written down? Hwang Seong began to read the text.
[I had a drink… I’ve been thinking day and night and writing. I did my best with the help of the Tea Bookstore, and I was happy that my genuine feelings were conveyed to the readers. But that was short-lived. I discovered my writing being used at another bookstore, not the one that helped me. Shocked, I can’t write any longer.]
[For the time being, I will stop writing and take a break.]
“What kind of lightning bolt is this!”
Hwang Seong clutched his head in disbelief at this news.
“It seems like the second volume of The Rise of the Tang Family won’t come out.”
The manager of the Tea Bookstore appeared among the people in despair, tidying up the books and said.
“Manager! What on earth is going on?”
“Why can’t the second volume be released?”
The avid readers of The Rise of the Tang Family surrounded the manager, urging him to explain how things had come to this.
“That is… The Rise of the Tang Family was created by an author supported both materially and immaterially by the Tea Bookstore. Thankfully, the writing became successful, and the author Ho Pil was pleased to give back. But then he witnessed a shocking scene.”
“A shocking scene?”
“This time, other bookstores, without permission, are selling The Rise of the Tang Family. Thanks to that, the copies of The Rise of the Tang Family in the Tea Bookstore haven’t sold for days. The author is said to be shocked and unable to eat or drink.”
The manager hung his head gloomily.
“Are those people devoid of morals? If a bookstore supports an author to write, naturally they should print only in that bookstore!”
“They can’t not know. It’s just they’re doing it because The Rise of the Tang Family is selling so well.”
“Of course, all the profits go to them!”
“Yes. Regrettably, we had given all the profits to the struggling Ho Pil, but we haven’t been able to give him a single coin for days.”
“Can there really be such a trashy lot!”
“Such scoundrels cause good authors to perish prematurely!”
“Manager, what are you planning to do moving forward?”
“Haa. What can a mere bookstore manager do against all the bookstores in Yichang? We’ve no choice but to give up on the second volume of The Rise of the Tang Family.”
Is The Rise of the Tang Family being discontinued? Really?
The faces of the Tea Book Club members varied, but they all bore the same expression of shock at this news.
“We can’t let The Rise of the Tang Family end with just the first volume.”
Hwang Seong steadied his shaken heart and spoke to the members.
“Y-Yeah! That can’t happen! We’ll all lend our strength.”
“How do you suggest we do that?”
The manager’s face brightened as he focused on their actions.
“Just wait and see.”
The members of the Tea Book Club began to huddle together to discuss future strategies.
“There are friends who have been looking forward to joining the Tea Book Club. There must be at least dozens of them. If I persuade them…”
“There are also friends waiting for the next volume in my school…”
“I will convince my teacher. As a loyal reader, he will gladly agree.”
“Customers?”
“““Just trust us!”””
The eyes of the Tea Book Club members were burning with enthusiasm like never before.
————–
“What is this?”
The next morning, all over Yichang. Numerous posters were贴贴 in places where people pass by.
[Oh, the pain.]
[Since the time of Yao and Shun, supporting talented but poor individuals has always been a timeless virtue and value. Today, the Tea Bookstore, which supported a hidden talent among the masses, also did just that.]
“What does it say?”
“It seems that a different bookstore unceremoniously printed The Rise of the Tang Family, which was supported by the Tea Bookstore.”
“That popular novel recently?”
“Yeah. These are complete trashy guys. I heard the author got shocked and decided against releasing the second volume.”
“No way! I want to see how the top courtesan is eaten up!”
[To arbitrarily deal with someone else’s work is nothing short of lamentable. Parasites sucking the blood of talented but poor authors. What can this vicious group taking away even the basic livelihood be, different from tyrants and corrupt officials?]
[Our Yichang Scholars’ Association will now only purchase books from the Tea Bookstore, and we’ll engage in a boycott against any bookstore that hijacks other people’s works.]
[The Tea and Book Club loves tea and books.]
“Truly a determined decision from the scholars. Such immoral people need a lesson!”
“A boycott? If the scholars who buy a lot of books collectively boycott, the bookstores will suffer greatly.”
“What kind of book could it be so interesting that there’s a boycott for the next volume?”
“Don’t you know? There’s a gathering called the Tea Book Club to discuss that book!”
“Whoa. I’ll make sure to check it out if I get the chance.”
The posters plastered all over Yichang caught everyone’s attention.
Even people generally uninterested in books began to express interest in The Rise of the Tang Family, simply because of a single novel leading to a boycott.
More and more people started purchasing The Rise of the Tang Family, and the enthusiasm for the book among the common folk grew, as the Tea Book Club expanded its influence.
“Customers have vanished from the bookstores!”
“No! Where in the world have all those scholars gone?!”
As the number of avid readers growing angrier over the obstacles to the next volume increased, the damage to bookstores started to escalate.
*
“I was just trying to throw a light one-two punch, but the outcome is better than I thought.”
I thought pinpointing would just make for some light deterrent, but it looks like I landed a counter-punch level hit.
I figured it would only deter before employing other strategies.
“I can’t stop at this.”
If I can use any unintended result, I’d better use it.
I started writing down my thoughts once more.
[It’s Ho Pil…]
Ho Pil feels dizzy. Please make it hurt more.
