Novelist Running Through Time

TL: KSD

(TL: Narrator’s POV)

It’s chilly.

It felt like a dagger was piercing his heart.

Lim Yang-wook felt as if Moon In-seop’s gaze was piercing his chest.

“…….”

“……I didn’t know I could be beaten like this either.”

In a shadowy corner of the filming site.

Moon In-seop and Lim Yang-wook continued their emergency meeting. Whenever Moon In-seop shot laser-like glares, Lim Yang-wook would hastily make excuses.

“…….”

“……The folks from the film division assured me they’d pick something spectacular.”

“…….”

“It’s not my fault! It’s the company that’s messed up! CEO Baek Seung-won poisoned the company with his crappy philosophy!”

“…….”

“I’m sorry. It was my fault. Please forgive me.”

Eventually, Lim Yang-wook surrendered. Only then did the young man relax his expression and sigh. Even amidst this, the filming site was indiscriminately giving OK signs without questioning.

“How could this happen…….”

“That’s what I’m saying…….”

Normally, for a to be adapted into a film, the author’s consent is required.

Then, the publisher and the production company engage in a tug-of-war to finalize the rights agreement.

However, Baekhak Entertainment was not a “publisher” but a clear “entertainment agency.” Their business approach was much more flexible and agile.

Thus, upon CEO Baek Seung-won’s orders, the film division immediately obtained the secondary copyright from the publishing management department and outsourced it to an in-house production to start filming.

However, for a fair contract, Baekhak Entertainment’s agreement clearly specifies the original copyright holder’s “right to refuse.”

They wouldn’t ask for permission every time to keep the business flexible, but they made it so that the original author could cancel it if they wanted to.

Naturally.

It’s difficult for the weaker party to stand up to the stronger one.

“Realistically, that’s difficult…….”

“Big corporations are really petty.”

“But you’re an exception.”

This clause was actually included in the contract to avoid having to obtain permission every time they wanted to slap an idol’s face on stationery.

But the case of Author Moon was different. The original copyright he held was not music produced with the company’s help but a work purely created by himself.

“You don’t have to step in yourself. Just say the word. Shall we flip it?”

“Wouldn’t that make me look bad?”

“There are unspeakable, sinister methods I can use to drain the film division folks dry.”

“Sigh…….”

But there were too many complications to barge in and create chaos.

Wasn’t the shooting already underway? To interfere as if I could make a difference and invalidate their efforts, I was not that remarkable. (MC’s POV start here)

I am not a genius. Just a ist who, for some unfathomable reason, has traveled back in time.

No matter how much they were screwing up the movie in real-time, they were, after all, carrying out the tasks assigned by the company.

And I didn’t particularly feel that the movie was ‘mine’. What I truly owned was my writing, not some movie that imitated my work.

With such mixed feelings, I watched from a corner of the filming site as the movie was being messed up in real-time.

Eventually, an incident erupted.

“How can you release this as a movie!”

“Are you serious about what you’re saying?”

“Please give me a little more time to study the work! I received the script just three days ago, so I haven’t fully internalized it yet! Just one day! No, even a few hours to slowly ponder…”

And my hesitation ended. The scales of my heart tipped.

It was difficult to sabotage the production people’s business out of my personal greed.

But pushing the back of a comrade who steadfastly wants to pursue art was an easy decision.

I knew better than anyone how lonely the path of those who give up everything for art can be.

“If it’s not about art but business, then the conversation is easier. I will not agree for the Publishing Management Department’s secondary rights to be shared with the Film Business Department.”

EP 2-Other (TL: Narrator’s POV)

“What is that supposed to mean……!”

The filming site was engulfed in astonishment. From the youngest staff member to the assistant director, everyone was shocked and turned their attention to the director. Their gazes carried a plea for him to do something about the situation.

‘This damn kid……!’

The director, who suddenly became the center of attention, opened his mouth with an expression that couldn’t accept the situation.

“Author Moon. What are you saying? Are you asking to overturn the shooting now?”

Moon In-seop answered shortly.

“Yes.”

“This isn’t some child’s play……!”

“It’s not a joke; it’s art. The emotion of ‘madness’ does not appear in my Cause of Death. The protagonist doesn’t suddenly become the Joker. I cannot accept such a movie.”

The assistant director beside him covered his face with a hand, sighing deeply, while the director of photography went to the staff and shouted, “Did you come here to gawk?!” as he herded his subordinates.

And the director, in his extreme anger, paradoxically regained his composure.

The director glared at Lim Yang-wook and pointedly said.

“……Explaining this to a primary school student is the utmost courtesy I can afford.”

Lim Yang-wook nonchalantly shrugged his shoulders.

The director glared at Moon In-seop, muttering word for word as if chewing them.

“Let me enlighten our young author friend who seems not to understand. This is neither a joke nor art. It’s business. An adult matter. Baekhak Entertainment’s film division decided to adapt your into a movie. It was the CEO’s directive. So, after completing the feasibility study, the people from WC Production took the outsourcing job, cranked up, and hastily organized dozens of staff members. The directors and screenwriters worked overnight to transform your into a movie script, and the sets, as shoddy as they may seem to you, were made with days and nights of effort. We even contracted one of the best CG teams in the industry, and the music for this movie was specially composed. Dozens of adults poured their time and effort into this project. And now you’re saying you want to scrap it all because it doesn’t suit your taste? You’re really a spoiled brat who doesn’t consider others at all. Does the world seem so easy to you because you succeeded at a young age? Do other people’s efforts look like nothing to you?!”

The assistant director flinched at the unexpectedly harsh words, and Lim Yang-wook swallowed his saliva, but

The young man facing the director just shook his head as if disgusted.

“I want to pursue art, but you keep talking about business-”

“Don’t nitpick! Why are you interfering with the movie when you’re not even a screenwriter! Does a ist like you not know the difference between a script and a ?!”

“So, whose merit are you selling this movie on?”

Those words pierced the director’s chest like a dagger.

“Let’s talk about the business you love so much. This movie is being made based on my , for my readers, by exploiting me, isn’t it?”

“…….”

The director couldn’t answer.

Moon In-seop pressed on.

“You’re making this movie to drag me around on variety shows, aren’t you? To shoot it as cheaply and quickly as possible, to grab my ’s fandom by the collar, drag them to the theaters, and make money off ticket sales. And then you’ll cover the incentive payouts and the staff’s daily wages with that money, won’t you? But you won’t listen to my opinion?”

Only then did the director realize he had made a huge misunderstanding.

‘Was it really?’

The image of Author Moon as an old soul was not fabricated. Before him stood a ‘real’ genius, not a star manufactured by someone’s intent but a star shining on its own.

He was a person on a different starting line from himself, who couldn’t even make a proper movie and was just a salaried worker in an entertainment agency’s in-house production, doing what he was told from above.

Unable to recover from the shock, the director remained silent, and Author Moon delivered his ultimatum.

“…Alright. Then let’s not quarrel like children and proceed in the manner adults do business. Chief Lim?”

Lim Yang-wook responded unusually politely to the call.

“Yes, Author-nim.”

“What will my royalties be next month?”

“Since the second printing sold out entirely through pre-orders, including e-books, it will be between 100 million and 170 million won.”

“Please tell CEO Baek Seung-won that I will invest 100 million won in this movie. Deduct the money from my royalties.”

“Yes, Author-nim.”

This wasn’t an actual order but a bluff to show what could be done. Only then did the director fully grasp the seriousness of the situation.

Not just the possibility of Moon In-seop becoming an investor, but the very fact that this situation could reach CEO Baek Seung-won’s ears was a significant threat. It was clear whose side he would take.

“How about that? As an investor, I can have a say, right? Shall we really go through with this?”

Eventually, the director conceded.

“…Tell me what you want, Author Moon. Are you suggesting we start all over again?”

“Let’s not do business, but art.”

“And what about this so-called art?”

“What do you mean? The sole actor of this movie asked for a chance, didn’t they? A chance to showcase their art.”

Moon In-seop pointed at someone.

All eyes in the filming site turned in that direction.

“Me, me?”

It was Kim Byul.

* * *

In the waiting room for the cast.

Alone in the room with Author Moon, Kim Byul, sitting across from him, stuttered nervously.

“So, what am I supposed to do?”

“You asked for a chance. You said you wanted a few more hours to think about the work, so I gave you that opportunity.”

“Did you really confront the director because of that?!”

Kim Byul awkwardly added formal speech at the end of her sentence. It was hard for her to speak informally to someone who had just demolished the director in such a manner, author or not.

“…Yes?”

“Speak comfortably, Kim Sunbae. Earlier, you were spilling even the unasked stories.”

“That, that was because!”

As Kim Byul hesitated, Moon In-seop clarified the situation.

“We can’t start filming the movie from scratch, so let’s try to salvage the last scene. How confident were you to ask the director to reshoot?”

“No. I just thought madness wasn’t right. Yes.”

“Speak comfortably.”

But Kim Byul was worried about something else.

“…What if I still can’t do the last scene right?”

“What do you mean? It would be regrettable.”

“This has become too big to end like this!”

“That’s been the case since you confronted the director. I just helped so that the actor and director could talk amicably.”

“I must have been crazy. I was crazy!”

As Kim Byul clutched her throbbing head, Moon In-seop provocatively suggested from the side.

“If it really doesn’t work out, you can still go apologize to the director and run away now. Since the director’s grudge is against me, Kim Sunbae would just be considered a small fry, right?”

“I can’t do that!”

Kim Byul gritted her teeth, determined.

Having regained her composure, she asked.

“Are you really… the author of Cause of Death?”

“Yes.”

“Then, can you help me with interpreting the role?”

“Certainly.”

“Then, start with this…”

Kim Byul took out the script and placed it on the table.

Her finger pointed to a section marked with a red circle.

“There’s this scene where I go out the front door and face the world covered in white snow…”

“Is that the last scene of the movie?”

“Yeah. Forget about the nonsensical talk of madness, I prepared for this part based on Professor Gu Hak-jun’s interpretation. I had a separate acting practice originally…”

“So, you confronted him to show and prove.”

“Not exactly like that…”

Kim Byul’s script was filled with notes.

– White snow covers the dark world.

– The providence of the world covers the hearts of humans.

– It’s not that people are evil; the world is.

– Hating one another is meaningless.

– Therefore, forgive everything.

Kim Byul emphasized the notes by circling them with her finger.

“This right here…”

Kim Byul asked.

“After setting out with a knife to kill those who tormented him, realizing that it’s not people who are evil but the world that’s made this way, and then forgiving everything?”

“…….”

“So… what expression should I wear?”

Moon In-seop thought hard, trying to recall.

He couldn’t remember the expression. But it was certain that there was crying.

However, there was an even clearer imagery than that.

“……It’s not forgiveness.”

“What?”

Kim Byul was puzzled. But since the author’s interpretation was more important than Gu Hak-jun’s, she set her doubts aside for the moment.

“It wasn’t my fault that I suffered, nor was it their fault for tormenting me; I just resigned to the fact that the world is made this way. A world made for people to torment each other.”

“…….”

“So many things are determined before we are even born. In what era, with what skin color, with what personality we will be born. Whom we will love between men and women. What kind of parents we will have. What legacy we will receive. Even what name we will have.”

“…….”

“The moment I realized it was just that kind of world, all resentment, hatred, and pain became pointless.”

Kim Byul isn’t just living under her name.

Therefore, she couldn’t just let these words pass by.

Complex thoughts arose.

But first, she had to do the job laid out in front of her.

To complete this story.

“……So it wasn’t forgiveness but resignation? Just falling into a pit of despair and committing suicide?”

Moon In-seop replied.

“No. It was salvation.”

“……What?”

“Deciding to stab and kill your enemy with a knife means giving up on your humanity. It’s giving up on being human, not by the action but by that resolution alone. But then it turns out, the world was at fault, right?”

“…….”

“There’s no need to hate myself, no need to hate others, no reason to stab anyone… It was all the world’s fault. That’s why I could peacefully end everything. To escape from this hell…”

Moon In-seop concluded his answer and fell silent.

That was the ending of Cause of Death as the author envisioned it.

Not forgiveness, not resignation, but salvation.

Salvation from this hellish world.

That was the reason for death.

Silence continued.

Kim Byul quietly broke the silence, murmuring.

“That’s… such a sad thing.”

Tears streamed down Kim Byul’s cheeks.

* * *

The protagonist of Cause of Death stepped out the front door.

Holding a knife in one hand, facing the skepticism of numerous staff and the camera’s LCD screen, he stepped out to face the world as white snow fell.

In a black world where people hate each other, white snowflakes quietly settled down. The snow was divine providence. The colorless, odorless providence was bleaching everything white.

Kim Byul looked up at the sky.

She truly faced God.

And she smiled peacefully.

Relieved and melancholic.

Like someone who has accepted everything.

She smiled that way.

At that moment, the puzzle was completed.

The director, watching through the camera, was caught in a strange illusion. This peculiar experience was conveyed to everyone on set.

Cheap artificial snowflakes swirling in the sky transformed into heavy, real snow.

The shoddy set became the cold refuge of a ist.

The black powder smeared around Kim Byul’s eyes turned into dark circles wrought by time.

What was merely an imitation at the hands of the actors morphed into an ideal through their performance.

The acting that was required, the scene that needed to be captured, was encapsulated.

“……Cut.”

And so, the filming ended.

The movie was completed.

* * * (TL: POV from MC’s Novel’s MC)

Everything proceeded as it was destined to.

It was determined before I was even born.

I was rushed to the emergency room of a nearby hospital. Upon receiving the news, my mother hurried over and admitted me to the best hospital in Seoul, and after a lengthy surgery, I managed to survive the crisis.

But for the girl without a name, there was no one to send her to a good hospital. She remained in that hospital. We were separated, unconscious, led away by the hands of others.

Half a year later, when I regained consciousness in the hospital bed, my mother, fearing I might run away again, refused to tell me about the girl’s whereabouts.

Another half year passed, and when I was barely able to walk, I visited the hospital where the girl had been admitted, but there were no records of her.

Time passed.

I grew up.

I achieved good grades, entered a good university, found a good job, and lived an ordinary life. My mother looks at me and smiles as if seeing a perfect work of art.

In the tranquility of such a daily life, memories gradually faded.

The splendid palace where we played hide-and-seek in the early mornings turned out to be the Apgujeong Hyundai Department Store, and the soldiers chasing us were actually security guards.

The mountains where we searched for the world’s cutest animals were actually Mount Gwanak, and the mystical sand beach under the full moon was a beach famous for overcharging during the summer.

The fishcake vendor, who once seemed more magnificent than Santa Claus in my heart, had become someone who earns less than me and doesn’t pay taxes, and the concert hall where the girl and I danced and sang to collect coins was actually Yongsan Station Exit 1.

I laugh at such memories, thinking how absurd they were, and feel melancholy as the girl’s face blurs in my mind, living through this cycle.

Thus, my runaway adventure became just a deviation of my childhood. The life I once yearned for no longer exists, leaving only a short period of wandering that lasted less than a year.

But sometimes, when I see sunlight filtering through the leaves, feeling its warm touch on my cheek, reminiscing about the exaggerated happiness we talked about all day, I deeply miss that sensation.

That became my reality.

I live like that.

Always feeling like I’ve lost something, living an ordinary life like everyone else.

Then one day, as I was passing through a park, I heard someone playing the guitar.

The skill was so magnificent that it naturally made passersby stop and be drawn towards the sound, as if dancing.

A crowd had gathered in one corner of the park, forming a wall. I pushed through the crowd to see beyond the wall.

There, was the girl.

Missing one leg, her body covered in scars, wearing old and worn clothes, yet there she was, happily playing the guitar like no one else in the world.

From the old guitar, music that captured the listener’s steps flowed, and I, too, was finally drawn to her by that sound.

My childhood wasn’t wrong. My memories were steadfastly preserving life, even while remaining lonely in a corner of the world, bravely enduring.

Even as the performance concluded and the crowd erupted into cheers, I remained frozen, staring at her like a stone statue.

I forced my feet, as if frozen solid, to move towards her. My long wandering had finally reached its destination.

As she was tuning her guitar, she looked up at my face with a slightly bewildered expression. A question burst forth from me, unbidden.

“Have you decided on a name?”

She laughed mischievously for a long while.

Then she said, “Not yet.”

* * * (TL: Narrator’s POV)

“I’d like to try this… sometime later.”

Kim Byul, sprawled out in the waiting room, laid down Moon In-seop’s notebook and shared her thoughts.

Moon In-seop responded.

“The protagonists are eight and ten years old, you know?”

“If women in their 20s and 30s can steal my job by wearing school uniforms, can’t I pretend to be young and steal the jobs of my juniors?”

“You make a valid point. And now I understand what you think of your seniors.”

Despite being half exhausted from a bout of intense acting, Kim Byul chuckled.

Seeing that Kim Byul had regained her spirit, Moon In-seop quietly stood up.

“It seems you’ve cheered up, so I’ll be off now.”

Kim Byul caught Moon In-seop just as he was about to leave.

“Wait! But what does the guitar¹ mean? Is it an instrument?”

Moon In-seop, stopped in his tracks just before leaving the room, turned around to answer.

“It’s the girl’s name.”

“What?”

“A name is given by others, and society named the girl ‘Others’. Children who disappear without a word from orphanages are just processed as ‘others’. They’re not really looked for. They just remain as one of the numbers classified under ‘others’.”

“…”

“Have all your questions been answered?”

Kim Byul was left speechless.

“Then. Let’s meet again if we get the chance. Senior Kim. Your performance today was truly beautiful.”

With those words, the boy walked away and disappeared.

Kim Byul gazed at the spot where the boy had been for a long time.

*****

Notes:

1) The Korean word “기타” has a double meaning: one is “guitar,” and the other is “others” or “etc.”

Hopefully, the POV indicators are as you wanted them to be. If they aren’t, please let me know.

*****

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