1 Prologue
-Tick click tick click
The sound of keyboard filled the room. The room was dark and only the light coming out of the computer could be seen.
The man working on the computer was old, probably in his mid 40s. He had a shaggy beard and his eyes were tired of life. He looked more like a beggar than someone working in the office.
His name was Ren. He is a author, no, he was a author. He now only write articles for a third grade newspaper, how could he still call himself a author.
There was a time when Ren was still a glorious author living his dream life. That was, when he was 21 years old.
It was the time when Ren was the most worried about his future. His parents wanted him to get a good office job which was stable and pay well but Ren didn't wanted to do office work.
The occupation he aspires to be ever since he was a child was a author. He loved reading books since he was young and that pushed him towards becoming a author.
To prove to his parents that he will be able to earn money as a author, he entered a competition hosted by a publishing company.
He poured his heart out on a novel and wrote it for several weeks nonstop and finally entered the competition. He wanted to win the competition but he didn't knew if he will be able to win or not but luck was on his side.
He unexpectedly won that competition and his book was going to be published. It was like a dream come true for him.
He was able to prove to his parents that he can make a living as a author and his parents were all smiles when they saw the cheque he received for publishing his book.
Next was his book release, it was more nervous back then. He wanted his book to do well but he was also nervous thinking whether his book will sell or not but luck was again on his side.
His book became one of the best sellers and he unexpectedly won a literary award for it.
After that, his everyday life was filled with media interviews and autograph signing events.
He became famous because of this and he also started appearing on reality shows and radio broadcasts.
It was like he was living as a superstar. 'The youngest genius in literature' fits well with the public, So he got more and more famous.
He was living his dream life but the problem was his next book. His next book was a test for him to see if he was here to stay or not.
At that time, his success has blown up his head. He thought that as long as he wrote a decent book, it will surely be a bestseller.
He thought that his books will sell just because of his fame but he forgot that books sell through their content not fame.
His next book was a disaster. The publishing company did huge promotional activities to promote his book but it all went down in drain.
He was harshly criticised for his sloppy writing and weak plot. Several people wrote mean comments on his social media accounts.
From a star, he was now just a failed author.
He received a major backlash after his book failed. His publishing house cancelled his contract and the parents who were smiling happily seeing the cheque previously kept saying that his decision was wrong and he should have listened to them.
His downfall began from there. His next few books were also disasters. He wasn't able to write like before. It was like his talent had been stolen by someone.
After that, he did various things to survive. He wrote genre novels and he even worked as a screenwriter but all of them failed.
He became depressed after that. His failures kept stinging him in the back. He even tried to suicide but he was too afraid to do that.
He can only drown himself in alcohol. With that, he became a alcoholic. He lived like that for many years.
It was only when he reached his 40s that he was tired of his life. All of his sorrows were devoured by alcohol and he now wanted to live a better life.
He again started to write after that. He wrote for nearly six months and finally completed a story but no publisher was ready to publish it.
He already had a bunch of failures before and no publishing house wanted to take that risk even if the story was good.
He again felt despair because of this but he knew he have to survive somehow. That's why he got a job at this second rate newspaper.
He had to write hundreds of articles daily just to survive but what can he do, only a black company would accept someone like him.
'It's already 12:55 A.M.'
Ren stopped typing and rubbed his sleepy eyes as he glanced at the time. The clock was nearing towards 1:00 A.M. which means that a new day had already begun.
'Today I became 47 years old. I am closing towards my 50s.'
Today was Ren's birthday and it was his 47th birthday and in just three years, he will be in his 50s. It was a sad truth for him.
Ren was already a old man but he didn't have anyone to rely on. He don't have any wife as no women would be willing to go out with Ren after seeing his haggard appearance.
It was another sad truth for him. He was really lonely.
As he was thinking of starting working again, the lights of the room suddenly lit up.
"Manager Shin."
"Oh, Ren you are still here. I thought you already went home."
"I have some articles to write."
The person who entered the room was Manager Shin. He was a young man in his 20s and he is all set to become the next head of the department in a few months.
Despite being young, he was successful completely unlike Ren. His success can be dedicated to his good academic background and his handsome face which even managed to charm the daughter of the president of the company.
Ren didn't like talking to someone who was younger than him with honorifics but he had no choice. He was just a employee while the other person was the manager.
"You can just do your work. I am just here to take my phone which I forgot while leaving."
Manager Shin said as he went to the inner office to find his phone. After a while, he came back with a phone in his hand and while flaunting the phone in his hand, he said to Ren.
"Oh yeah, Ren. I just got the message that Misaki-san will not come to work tomorrow. It seems like she had high fever but the problem is that she had to write some articles about the new book which became a bestseller recently. I hope you can write it instead of her."
"I am tired and I don't want...."
Before Ren could finish his sentence, Manager Shin clicked his tongue and interrupted him.
"Ah, Ren you are a senior here, you should help the juniors and it's only a few articles. You also were a best selling author in the past right. This topic would be easier to write for you. I will be hoping to see those articles on my desk tomorrow."
Manager Shin said as he left the room but Ren definitely heard him mutter 'Did he really think that he is still a best selling author? Fucking failure!'.
Ren was obviously angry at those words but he can only swallow his anger. He had been listening to things like this since the day he became a failure, he was rather used to it.
'Fucking more articles!'
While cursing, he started searching for information about the bestselling books. It was a bestselling book by a debut writer and it's been on the top for a while now.
It was a situation which was very similar to Ren's. A debut work becoming a bestseller was really unusual. It had to be a great book for it to achieve that.
'Sigh!'
After a while of writing, Ren didn't wanted to continue it. It was because he keep remembering his past while writing the articles.
His glorious days, his fame and his failure…..he didn't wanted to remember it at all.
He took out his smartphone and started checking the messages. It was his birthday but there was no congratulation message and he knew there would be no one congratulating him in the future either.
He don't have any friends and even his relationship with his parents have become desolate. He was really a lonely person wasting oxygen.
As he was looking through some online novels, a sudden message arrived on his phone. It was from a SNS site he frequented on.
It was a message sent by a person whose username was Rowling Panties.
Rowling Panties: Killeray-san, happy birthday to you. I wish you a very happy year. >_<
Killeray was Ren's nickname in that site and Rowling panties was a person he chatted with sometimes. You could even say that he was the only one Ren talk to other than his colleagues.
Killeray: Thank you Rowling panties-san but how do you know that today was my birthday?
Rowling panties: It's written on your profile. Don't you even know about that? lol.
Killeray: Ah, I forgot about that. lol.
Ren finally remembered that he had written about it in his profile. The site had asked for his information. So, he had just filled it without thinking much.
Nevertheless, Ren was slightly happy as someone had congratulated him.
Killeray: Rowling panties-san, you know that was my first congratulations in several years. Thank you very much.
They exchanged casual conversation for a while and after around ten minutes, the conversation got deeper.
Rowling panties: Really! You were the author of that book. It was actually one of my favourite books. You are pretty famous back then.
Killeray: Yeah, I was. My first book was a success but after that, my career gone downhill because of my wrong choice and now, I am writing articles for a second rate newspaper. lol.
Rowling panties: Yeah, if only you would have made some correct choices, your life would be very much different than today. T_T
Killeray: Yeah, I wish I could turn back time and go to my youth. I will be sure to change my life then.
Rowling panties: Yeah but turning back time is impossible. Do you have any other wishes?
Killeray: Wishes? I don't want anything other than wanting to start my career as a author again. ^_^
After that, there was no more replies for around 10 minutes and Ren also got tired waiting. He was sleepy and tired. He wanted to sleep for a while.
That's why he simply laid down on his desk and closed his eyes. He was really fatigued.
After Ren had fallen sleep, his mobile screen lit up as there was another message.
Rowling panties: I can't send you back in time but as for your wish. I can do that. I also wanted to see what can you achieve if you really got a second chance as a author. Don't disappoint me, my friend.
That was the last message which made the beginning of Ren's journey as one of the best authors in history.
