Chapter 36: A Dream Gone By

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Hey everyone,

SootyOwl and ShawnSuh here. We are loving the response you guys are having for the novel and for the work we are doing translating it. We come bearing some news that some of you might not like. As you know, The Great Storyteller is a Korean novel. Under Webnovel and Munpia’s partnership to bring Korean novels to a greater audience, Munpia requested that their novels go premium after 40 chapters in order to protect their copyrights and for their authors’ benefit.

We hope the you guys stick with us as we watch Juho’s future change together, but we understand if you are unable to.

Thank you for your understanding.

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Translated by: ShawnSuh

Edited by: SootyOwl

“I have something I want to say.”

The woman’s words lingered in Juho’s heart. A topic stemmed from a question. An author questioned every existence and its form. He had to acquaint himself with reaching a dead end. Writing wasn’t the same as learning an equation or applying that equation as a means to find an answer.

He simply wrote. If he wanted to, he could write about a phenomenon that was far from what scientific theories or physics could explain. For that reason, he had decide what to write about first. Worrying came first, and questions rose. There was nothing he couldn’t write about, but he had to make a decision. Juho replayed his encounter with the woman at the park. He remembered every said word. Things she wanted to say, wishes, desires, situations, conditions.

“Finally,” he smiled with satisfaction. He leaned his head back and took a deep breath. It felt like he’d got a hold of a clue to a puzzle.

*

Nam Kyung came out of the office for dinner. The manuscript requests had made for an exhausting day. Making a phone call to an author had always been a nerve-racking task. Still, he was proud of his achievement of successfully setting up a meeting.

“Ugh, my shoulders,” he stretched and groaned in pain. “I’ve been doing this way too long.”

He thought back to the time of his first project. The memory was still vivid. However, it was not pleasant by any means. In fact, it had been the beginning of his obsession with misprints. He had found a misprint the moment he had opened the book. It had been in the part when the name of the protagonist was revealed for the first time. All of a sudden, the character had gone through a name change. Every character had a different name for the protagonist. Even the protagonist’s parents, how odd.

‘Why didn’t I catch this before?’ Nam Kyung thought. It had been an obvious mistake. He had read through the manuscript a number of times, yet, he had missed it. He hadn’t caught it, and so had been in a world of trouble. To this day, his heart pounded when he thought back to the shame and despair he had felt back then. He shook his head.

‘Everybody makes mistakes at first,’ he comforted himself.

“Maybe not that kid.”

Suddenly, he thought of an exception. It was an author who had been drawing massive attention from the masses. He went by the alias of Yun Woo. His real name, Juho Woo. Nam Kyung remembered his calm expression. There was something different about him. He didn’t act his age. There was no awkwardness when he was talking to an adult. He didn’t get intimidated. Normally, an author would be excited to know that his book was being made into a movie. Besides, they were in an age when kids were more used to moving images. Typically, an author Juho’s age would be distracted by the fact that his own work was being portrayed by famous actors. The studio that had approached Nam Kyung about Juho’s book was not a third-class, no name studio. They had already proven themselves in the industry with a number of major works. Yet, Juho turned that offer down at once, and even declared that he didn’t want his book to be made into a movie.

“Mr. Uhm was the same way.”

Nam Kyung had had a similar experience with Dong Gil Uhm. He hadn’t been able to hide his astonishment as he listened to Dong Gil and Juho’s conversation. Juho, a sixteen year old, had spoken with Dong Gil on an equal footing. He had even seemed relaxed.

He wasn’t merely pretending to be an adult. That kid already possessed his own, distinct vibe. It was calm, yet it stood out ever so slightly. The adults in the scene had been completely captivated by it. On that day, Juho had been an author. “Is that what all geniuses look like?”

“It felt like it was out of reach of my understanding,” Nam Kyung murmured as he stood up from his chair. After stepping out of his office, he headed toward a nearby restaurant. He was working overtime tonight and he had to head back to the office after dinner. He had to worry about the revisions he had fallen behind on, as well as his trip to Japan. He also had to send an email to a publishing company in the US about exporting copyrights. There was a lot to be done.

‘Buzz.’

His phone rang, and he saw a familiar name on the screen, so he cleared his throat and answered it. On the other end of the call, was a woman. For a woman, her voice was quite deep.

“This is publishing copyright agent, Nabi Baek.”

*

“The train is approaching.”

A voice came from above. It was telling that a train was coming in. People in line hardly moved from their spots. Finally, the train arrived, and a wave of people walked out of it. Another wave of people filled the train. People were dressed for a season between spring and summer. Some wore thick jackets, while others wore flowing dresses.

Everyone headed towards the stairway simultaneously. People climbed the stairs in synchronized rhythm. Next to the stairway, was a long line of people waiting to be on the escalator. Juho sat on a bench where he could see everything happening in a straight line. Seo Kwang, Sun Hwa, and Bom were next to him. Baron was sitting on an inner bench. He was busy drawing something, his pencil moving about busily. With a piece of paper in their hands, the club members waited absentmindedly for Mr. Moon.

“It’s Mr.Moon!” Sun Hwa shouted.

With a bag of delimanjoo in his hand, Mr. Moon walked down the stairway like he was swimming against the stream. Before he reached the students, the sweet smell of the snacks reached them first.

“Listen as you eat.”

“Yes, Mr. Moon!” the members answered excitedly at the sight of food.

People were glancing in their direction, but they were all going on their own ways. Juho’s eyes had met with a person who had just been in the train before it took off. He had given the person a slight nod, but the other person had ignored him and taken out his phone.

“Juho Woo, focus.”

“Yes, Mr. Moon.”

Mr. Moon had somehow caught Juho and drawn the attention back to himself. Juho listened to Mr. Moon as he chewed on a piece of delimanjoo.

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“Where are we?”

“A subway station,” Seo Kwang answered. It was not a difficult question.

“Crowded, right?”

“Yes, Mr. Moon.”

Juho looked at the people who had just come out of the train, and the people who were waiting for an incoming train. Women, men, children, adults, elderly, pregnant women, etc. The children were looking around the area. It was a station Juho had been to frequently. Yet, when he looked around consciously, it somehow felt fresh. At the club members’ response, Mr. Moon nodded with satisfaction.

“People here have different starting points and destinations.”

Only the person who’s on a journey knew where he was from and where he was going.

“Today, we’re going to be writing in this environment. Don’t just pass on a raw material because it’s passing by. You shouldn’t capture too much either. Maybe one or two, to be appropriate.”

Juho stared at a man who was walking toward the station to wait for the train. He was wearing a stretched out T-shirt and a pair of sandals. He didn’t seem to have a real job. Maybe. he didn’t have a job at all. Among the raw materials passing by, as described by Mr. Moon, this man should definitely be included.

“One thing. Only write up to the beginning of an occurrence.”

“Beginning?” Seo Kwang asked.

“Yes,” Mr. Moon affirmed him and explained. “A beginning is, as self-explanatory as it is, a start. You have to make the reader anticipate something before you reveal the conflict.”

He emphasized the word ‘anticipate’ as he spoke. A beginning, so to speak, was a stage before the plot unfolded. It was like throwing a small pebble into the calm water. A ripple created by the author revealed what happened. It might not be visible, but its existence was apparent.

“Don’t think about reality too much today. Just make it happen. Boldness is the point. You’re only writing up to the beginning, so you don’t have to think about how the story ends. You just gotta make it happen.”

“Boldness, huh.”

“What comes to mind when you think of the word ‘case?'”

“Murder.”

“That sounds more aggressive than bold, but good answer. The beginning of a murder case is the murder. You get my point? Think about where these busy people are headed, or where you want them to head to,” Mr. Moon added. “Make the most out of this environment. Think of ways to surprise these exhausted adults with your creativity. Now, start writing.”

Juho looked at the people once again. A train had come in and poured out another wave of people. The expressions were all generally bland. There was weariness and fatigue behind the blank expressions.

‘OK, think. What kind of bomb do I have to drop to change those faces?’ he thought.

At that moment, he heard Sun Hwa’s voice, “Maybe I need to drop a bomb or something.”

It sounded like her.

“That doesn’t sound bad.”

“Yeah? Should I just go for it?” Sun hwa responded to Juho with a smile.

At that rate, she was actually going to set up a bomb.

After hearing that, Bom said, “I wish there were snow.”

“Snow? In this weather?”

“That would definitely be a case.”

Sun Hwa was surprised, and Juho accepted the idea. If she played her cards right, it had the potential for an interesting outcome.

“I feel like summer is approaching too fast. Do you think it’s going to be weird?”

“Whatever you write, it’s up to the author,” At her timid question, Juho answered and shrugged.

If she wanted to write something, all she had to do was write. With his attitude in mind, Bom picked up her pen without hesitation.

Seo Kwang had been inspired by Mr. Moon and decided to write about a murder case. Creating a story was not one of his strengths. How would things turn out this time? The subway station was quite chaotic. It would be hard to concentrate in an environment like that. It was noisy. It was crowded. An overwhelming number of people kept pouring out of the trains onto the station. At the same time, the trains were taking too many people from the station elsewhere.

Juho thought of the woman with the guitar. She always sang songs without words and she had told him that she’d keep on singing. He didn’t know her because he had never read her lyrics. Suddenly, he felt that it wouldn’t be strange for her to be among that sea of people. She was a bland person. Even in the midst of an alien invasion, she might make them stop to listen to her songs. It was imaginable, and she had seemed like a difficult person to surprise.

Unfortunately, nobody was actually like that. Everyone was afraid of something. Everyone looked dumbfounded when they were faced with unexpected circumstances. Juho wanted to portray such faces, just up to the beginning of a case, and it had worked well in his recent encounter with the woman.

‘What kind of case should I face her with? What would she be afraid of?’ he thought.

The moment she became afraid of something, she became a different person. She’d no longer be the woman with the guitar.

Now, he had to think of a case. Another train arrived at the station. Another wave of people poured out of it ruthlessly. The environment was already suffocating by it being underground, and it became worse with each incoming wave of people. Even after the train took a large number of people from the station, the place was still crowded.

Juho buckled down, and he felt Mr. Moon’s burning gaze. For the moment, he picked up his pen. That day, he had a good feeling.

Chapter 36 – A Dream Gone By; The End