Novelist Running Through Time

TL: KSD

「I had a dream.

It was a dream of a day I spent with her.

We were lovers who knew more about each other than we didn’t, stripped of the vague romance and prejudices that came from ignorance, a dry couple.

Even when we sat across from each other in a café, complaints came out before smiles, and our faces were more haggard than before since we didn’t bother to dress up.

But whenever I imagined my appearance decades later, you were always by my side. At some point, it just became natural. I was just too embarrassed to say it.

But in my dream, I could muster up the courage.

Even though I didn’t realize it was a dream, driven by a strong impulse from somewhere, I told you this story.

That at some point, imagining myself decades later, it felt natural to have you by my side. That I couldn’t accept a future where that wasn’t the case.

Then, having heard my words, you widen your eyes in surprise.

You would rub your eyes, tired from the arduous school work, and, surprised at my words, make a fuss, then, unlike your usually calm self, stutter awkwardly, and eventually nod with a bright smile.

Feeling my heart beat pleasantly, I would take out a ring. I would reach out to put the ring on your soft ring finger.

And then, like smoke, you would fade away.

Every time at that moment, I wake up from the dream.

The unpleasant air wakes me up.

The warm air intended for the patients feels just stuffy and oppressive to me.

The moonlight beyond the window, the red light of the fire hydrant, the glowing phone screen all shine but can’t drive away the darkness of the hospital room. The dim hospital room depresses a person’s emotions.

Amidst the unpleasant humming of the boiler throughout the building, the wall clock ticks annoyingly, and bizarre groans are heard from beside me.

You, who are not you, woke me up again today.

You, who lost all your sparkling intellect, can’t distinguish even an inch ahead in this dim hospital room, waving your hands in the air and making bizarre crying sounds.

The you I exchanged sweet glances with just a moment ago doesn’t exist. Next to me is just a pitiful being who can’t even control their bowels.

Abandoned by family, shunned by the world, this pitiful beast wears the skin of my lover.

I wish it were a dream, but it’s not.

And you can’t fade away like smoke either.

So I grabbed your neck. And I slowly tightened my grip on your fragile neck.

You flail like a beast in the darkness, just struggling to survive, flailing your limbs.

The sight made me laugh. How could this be called a human being?

You’ve lost your whole body, your clear mind, your social status, and can’t even control your own excrement.

You are not you.

So I put my weight into my grip on your neck.

Then, I met your eyes.

The eyes I loved most show an emotion they’ve never shown before. Pain, fear, betrayal……

Your gaze is exactly the same as in the past. Facing that gaze, I recoiled and stepped back from you.

For a moment, I thought your mind had returned, and that you would reproach me with a clear mind.

But it wasn’t.

You smiled brightly and reached out to the person who almost killed you, unaware of what just happened.

I took your hand, feeling an emotion even I couldn’t identify. To understand this emotion, more experiments are needed.

So, the experiment must continue.

Thus, another dawn passed.」

EP 7–Isomer

To create an hour-long broadcast, several times more effort is required!

The studio of Baekhak Cultural Broadcasting’s variety show department was bustling hours before the shoot.

Dozens of staff members were setting up cameras, installing lights, and handing out scripts to the cast in the waiting room.

The youngest crew member setting up the boom mic tripped over a cable and fell, while directors who usually didn’t get along bickered but still professionally completed their tasks.

And there was one maestro in the center of the shooting scene, directing everything to proceed smoothly…

Who could it be? The (black) magician of BMB’s variety show department, the trickster, the director’s chihuahua, the fearless one who isn’t afraid of writing apologies,

PD Shim Yeon-ho.

“Ah, this is driving me crazy, seriously.”

One could tell that being a PD was a tough job just by looking at Park Young-tae, one of the best PDs at the moment, constantly searching for a status window.

PD Shim Yeon-ho also bore all the world’s troubles that flew at him, tearing at his hair.

“Ah! This is driving me nuts! Really!”

What was troubling him so much?

Putting aside minor issues like the depleted budget, the emergence of strong competitors, and the upset bosses, PD Shim Yeon-ho’s major dilemmas could be summarized into two significant problems.

The cast and the guests.

Firstly, the cast’s novel writing progress was sluggish. The show was called “Let’s Become a Novelist!” but the cast wasn’t becoming novelists.

Of course, the production team had worried about this and initially cast superstars who seemed to have a knack for writing, but that didn’t mean the writing came easily. Shim Yeon-ho hadn’t known this.

Moreover, the level of the lectures given to the cast increased by the day. This was also due to Shim Yeon-ho’s obsession with recruiting big-name guests.

Despite his self-inflicted burdens weighing him down, heaven didn’t take pity on Shim Yeon-ho. The trials given to him didn’t end there.

Shim Yeon-ho’s second concern.

That was none other than the guests.

“PD-nim…! Hurry up…!”

“Ah, I know, I’m coming!”

For the sake of ratings, Shim Yeon-ho had sacrificed the CEO’s spine to summon top-tier novelists.

Just as with any black magic, the summoned beings weren’t docile to the summoner.

Normally, when a demon ascends to the surface, it doesn’t just grant wishes and return. It goes sightseeing, enjoys hobbies, curses princesses, and burns cities.

It was the same here.

The novelists summoned by Shim Yeon-ho didn’t just give lectures and leave. They were more interested in the bait than the ritual.

Of course, the bait these novelists from hell desired was Moon In, but here lies the problem.

And Moon In wasn’t here!

“I’m really sorry, writer-nim. You’ve come all this way…….”

“No, it’s fine… If there’s no one, it can’t be helped…….”

In the end, PD Shim Yeon-ho, who had sacrificed the CEO’s spine, had to offer up his own spine as a sacrifice. Such is the terrifying nature of black magic’s consequences.

Shim Yeon-ho repeatedly bowed to Cheong In-ha, who had come looking for Moon In but was leaving empty-handed. She was actually more famous as a poet than a novelist.

Her poems often appeared in college entrance exams.

The more terrifying fact was that they did so even during the time Shim Yeon-ho himself was taking those exams.

PD Shim Yeon-ho, suddenly understanding the CEO’s hard work deeply, squirmed in a respectful posture.

Seeing Shim Yeon-ho respect his elders like this, Cheong In-ha also asked in a softer tone.

“Wasn’t Moon In supposed to be at the shoot?”

“Uh… well…….”

The reason Moon In wasn’t at the shoot was simple. He wasn’t a regular member.

Moon In was initially cast in a teacher role, and with too many teachers now, he was more of a hint fairy who occasionally showed up to give advice and left.

Given that the show was now halfway through filming, the main stage of the broadcast had shifted from the studio to the cast’s daily lives, so it was doable.

But today, even though Shim Yeon-ho urgently sent an SOS upon hearing that writer Cheong In-ha was coming, Moon In ignored it.

‘Damn bastard…….’

What could possibly have happened that he would refuse a request from a PD as high as the heavens?

PD Shim Yeon-ho had no way of knowing the reason, but if he had the chance to ask the teachers at New Light Spring Orphanage or Baekhak Arts Middle School, he would have quickly found out.

If Moon In-seop suddenly disappeared somewhere, the reason was usually “writing.”

* * *

Meanwhile, there was a lonely ascetic walking the path of unworldly endeavors at this very moment.

Isolating herself from the world and herself, trapped in the cave of her own making, and writing lonely words on paper was none other than Gu Yubin.

A person who had given up being human.

-Daughter! How can you do this to me?

-…….

-I prepared everything for you! Everything!

Even in front of her own mother’s soul-crushingly sorrowful cries, Gu Yubin walked the path of heresy without wavering.

Casting off all the shackles one must bear as a human being, she walked solely on her own path.

She had given up on the ‘college entrance exam.’

-Daughter, someday you will regret this. You will forever regret this moment of deviating from the path your mother prepared for you in a moment of childish folly!

-…….

-Even after I say this, you won’t look at me! Why! What has made you like this! My daughter! What on earth has made you turn away from business!

Her mother’s sharp, cold cry like a knife and snowstorm lingered in her mind.

Gu Yubin never gave an answer to her mother until the end.

Because the answer was already firmly engraved in her heart.

Writing!

She staked her entire life on a single brush!

What was there to explain?

There was a world she wanted to make her name known to, and a literary name she wanted to make known.

There were stories she wanted to write, and there were stories that wanted to be written.

There were people who willingly acknowledged her, and there were people she wanted recognition from.

Thus, Gu Yubin willingly gave up being human and walked the path of the Asura.

So the writing of Gu Yubin, who shut herself in her room and began writing, was not just writing but could be called the Infernal Asura Writing of the Unworldly Path.

Gu Yubin was that serious about her writing.

Even when Min Chae-won, renowned across the world, personally peeled an apple and knocked on her door, she didn’t open it.

It wasn’t because she was sulking at her mother, but because she had sealed herself in her room to confine the demon she had become.

But then, shocking news came that shook Gu Yubin’s firm resolve…

That Gu Yu-na was writing a novel with Moon In-seop!

“……!!!”

Ripples spread across Gu Yubin’s mind, which had been like a calm lake. An irresistible curiosity and a subtle sense of regret for some unknown reason.

Even more so, Gu Yu-na had brought Moon In-seop home, leaving no room for Gu Yubin to do anything about it. Consumed by curiosity, Gu Yubin eventually unsealed her room and stepped out.

It wasn’t as if she hadn’t left her room for months, as she still attended school and had dinner.

Maintaining her neat appearance even at home, Gu Yubin simply washed her face and went down to the first floor of the house.

She could already hear voices of Gu Yu-na and Moon In-seop from somewhere.

With a smile of anticipation, Gu Yubin followed the voices to Gu Yu-na’s room.

And she swung the door open without knocking.

“Hello~ Long time no see?”

“Shut the fuck up!”

Gu Yubin’s face went blank with shock.

It was the first time she had seen her younger sister curse.

And it was the first time she had seen those two arguing.

“I can’t accept that kind of ending! Others would think so too! How can the story be going well and then end like that……!”

“It’s not others, it’s you, Yu-na, who can’t accept it. People will like it, probably.”

“Really? People who don’t even read one book a year? People who mindlessly agree when critics spout nonsense? Is being acknowledged by those people everything to you?”

“I don’t want to be acknowledged by the public or the critics. I just need to acknowledge it myself. That’s why I write.”

“I can’t accept it!”

“Fine. Now that it’s come to this, let’s settle it with a final debate-”

Gu Yubin quietly closed the door. She closed it so carefully that it didn’t make a sound.

Then she leaned against the door, covering her mouth, eyes wide open, rolling them as she tried to process her thoughts.

‘What was that just now……?’

Are they… fighting?

*****

TL Note:

Hi, if you aren’t on Discord or haven’t read my announcement, I was in an accident which resulted in a fracture to one of my hands, and I had to be hospitalized. I have since been discharged, but I still have only one working hand. However, with only one hand functioning, the release rate will be very slow. Thank you all for your support.

*****

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