Chapter *****
In web s, the lowest-ranking s that were not exposed to the platform were referred to as ‘Simhae’ s-
Simhae: The word that represents the depths of the ocean is used not only in its literal meaning but also in a figurative sense.
-And those who identify the potential in these works and promoted them to the upper ranks were known as ‘Simhae Explorator’.
“What should I say? I am precisely that ‘Simhae Explorator’.”
*****
Someone asked me, “Why do you do Simhae Exploration? Are you okay in the head? Don’t you have any common sense?”
And I answered them like this: “Because there’s romance in it.”
Yes, there was romance in Simhae’s exploration. The thrill of excavating hidden gems buried in piles of forgotten stories, the satisfaction of uncovering obscure works that had been left in the dark, the sense of accomplishment that came from aspiring writers with low self-esteem to continuing to write every day for their support, those were feeling that made me unable to quit Simhae’s exploration.
“Now, let’s see… what should I read today?”
The which I had been holding on to for a while suddenly became famous and its ranking went up to the sun.
[The Bug-catcher Girl]
I moved my finger and looked at it on the screen displayed on my smartphone.
It was a that did not exceed 100 cumulative views for more than 10 episodes.
A story about a world where bugs brainwashed humans and raised them, and a female protagonist who was the only human who had not been brainwashed, fights against the bugs to save people.
As I was looking at the main page of the , suddenly I felt a chill.
A that I discovered with my own hands, now had risen to the ranks of popular s.
After discovering this for the first time, I clicked “like” and “alarm settings” with confidence that this would become famous.
I supported this with all means available, including leaving countless reviews and recommendations, emptying my wallet for illustrations, and using all possible means to promote it.
Occasionally, when the story was dragged or it seemed dead, I always put support and showed extreme care about it; like I wrote a long review full of 5700 characters, and outsourced an illustration. I had done everything I could.
As a result, it climbed to the top 10 on InTube, and now no one could call this a forgotten anymore.
However, my feelings as I looked at it couldn’t be described to be good even as a joke.
I looked around the main page of the .
The cumulative number of views quickly surpassed one million.
and…
1. ‘If you want to read an interesting , definitely read this’, Cat who beats you up donated 10000 coins.
2. Tprtmgkrhtlvek donated 4000 coins
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20. Minky Net donated 300 coins.
I felt my spirits sink as I looked at the sponsorship section, overflowing with donations in mass.
“Oooh…”
I felt a wave of nausea.
This … was now ‘non-virgin’.
My finger moved over the favorite icon.
I hesitated… but clicked it.
[Are you sure you want to delete this from your favorites?]
[Yes/No]
As I read the confirmation alert, my finger moved toward the ‘Yes’ button.
Memories of the past flashed through my mind like shooting stars. The moment the favorites label, which had remained at ‘0’ because no one had clicked it, changed to ‘1’ when I clicked it for the first time, the author shyly replied on getting the first comment and favorites.
The author also wrote a thank you notice of 5700 characters for the first sponsorship and expressed gratitude. Among the exploration activities that I had done up to this point, these past few days were by far the most rewarding.
My hand stopped for a moment as I recalled those times.
“Be happy…”
[The has been deleted from favorites.]
I, Chae Dokyun, a Simhae Explorator, and a top-ranked user in the community “Simhae Bee.”, don’t look at the after it goes up to the top.
After saying goodbye to the that I had spent about a month with, I turned off my smartphone screen and let out a sigh of regret, closing my eyes to calm my emotions.
“No, this is not the time.”
‘Now that I’ve done my part with the I’ve been working on, it’s time to start the next dive.’
“Let’s see…”
I started to search through the free serials section of the web novel site again and then stopped abruptly on one page, pausing the screen that had been moving quickly.
[Conquering this world with Yasu]
A title that evokes the essence of Simhae’s work, immersing you in its aroma even before opening its pages. Unconstrained by rankings, recommendations, or commentary, it stands alone as a testament to Simhae’s unique voice and vision.
The corners of my mouth twitched slightly as I looked at the novel’s main page.
“I choose you.”
Again, it was time to start working.
*****
– Click. Click. Click.
In a small, dark room with no light, as if the connection with the outside world was severed. A space where only the blue light emitted from the monitor dimly illuminates the scenery in the room.
In one corner of such space, the regular noise of a mouse filled the quiet surroundings.
“No, no. It’s gone. It’s gone. It’s gone.”
Go Eun-ah, who had been hunched in front of the screen, let out a weary voice that felt awkward as if her tongue was not used to speaking.
“Did I miss him…?”
At first, it was understandable. Not everyone reads novels every day. Even the next day, he might have been busy and couldn’t read… But in the following days, the sense of unease that had settled in Go Eun-ah’s chest due to the absence of that person grew and consumed her whole body.
“No… no, no, no. It’s gone!!!!”
-Bang!
A sudden, dull noise filled the room.
“Where… where did he go…”
-Thud, thud.
Even though she thought ‘I can’t do this…’, the habit of biting her nails resurfaced every time the anxiety became too much.
It was all because of that person.
“Even though he praised me so much…”
She was about to quit. Even if she did this, nothing would change, so she thought it was meaningless, so tried to quit.
However, each time, that person kindly comforted her and gave her the strength to keep going.
-That’s great work… wow… This is gold…
“I… I-I work so hard like this for you…”
Yesterday, today, and tomorrow, Go Eun-ah waited for that person. She forced herself to write. Even while writing, she wondered if that person would ever come back if she kept writing and he constantly got notifications. Would he then leave kind words like he always did? With such thought in mind, she went in and out of the comment section dozens or hundreds of times.
“ah…”
A faint scent of blood spread through the air. And Go Eun-ah felt a throbbing sensation in her fingertips.
“Come back again…”
Drops of blood were gushing out from the tips of her fingers.
She reached out and picked up the bandages she had thrown on the corner of her desk.
“This… This is all because he is bad…”
After finishing the treatment by roughly wrapping a bandage on the injured finger, she turned her gaze back to the screen.
– Click, click, click.
“Where… where is he…”
‘He must be somewhere. He couldn’t have disappeared like this.’
‘I have to find him somehow.’
*****
One day. Two days. another four days… Without eating or drinking and without writing, she began to search through the novels posted on the platform one by one.
And then…
[Simhae Bee: Wow!!! It’s really fun today… I’m so excited to see how the story unfolds in the future!!!]
“Found you…?!”
She found a trace of him in the garbage that didn’t even look like proper writing.
The warm words he always said to her were now no longer hers.
– Thunk.
“It’s mine…”
‘Those kind words are mine.’
– Thunk. Thunk.
“It’s Mine… It’s my place…!”
‘What that person needs to see is what I wrote.’
“My… Mine! mine!!! He is mine!!!!”
– Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud!
The anger that had been building up for the past few days burst out and she couldn’t control her body.
– Pshh.
“Uh, uh…?”
The screen went blank. She tried pressing the button to turn it back on, but she didn’t expect it to work since something must have been broken.
Through the blackened screen, bloodshot eyes glared back.
“Ahh…”
She saw the world dyed black, and herself trapped in it.
“I… I hate this…”
Just like before, just like every day, she could wait for him the next day
“No. I have to find… I have to go find him. Yes, I need to find him…”
Instead, she decided she had to find that person and keep him by her side.