5
# Divorce Made Me Handsome
## Chapter 5: A New Name, A New Pen Name
“Huff… huff…”
I started my day by going for a run before dawn again.
When I first started running after being discharged from the hospital, I would quickly run out of breath, and even running itself had been difficult. But after about two months, my breathing had stabilized, and I had become capable of maintaining a steady pace.
I had already been running comfortably for an hour, after all. Of course, I was taking it slowly.
This feels good.
The refreshing air and the warmth of people who greeted me with a slight nod as they passed by.
There was something about running at dawn that cleared my mind.
“Hyun-bin oppa!”
“Ah, Sang-ah.”
“Woof! Woof!”
Just as I was finishing my run, I spotted a familiar voice and a little dog approaching from a distance. A woman wearing leggings was walking toward me with a pure white Pomeranian.
She was Lee Sang-ah, my neighborhood exercise companion, who was two years younger than me at twenty-six.
Ever since our first encounter with Ppoppi, we had grown close. We now met like this every morning before dawn and took a lap around the neighborhood together.
After running, I would walk to cool down and stretch my muscles, while Sang-ah would take Ppoppi for a walk. It was a little questionable whether we could even call it exercising.
Still, since I had no friends, the time I spent with Sang-ah was special. It was an opportunity to discover a new world.
Pant, pant. Woof!
“That's right, Ppoppi. Hello to you, too.”
“Oppa, you seem to be in a good mood today. Is something going on?”
“Me?”
“Yes. How should I put it? You look excited.”
“Ah.”
After greeting Ppoppi, who was enthusiastically approaching me and wagging its tail, I scratched my head with an embarrassed expression.
Just as she had said, I was a little excited today. That was why I had run at a slightly faster pace than usual.
My heart was pounding.
“My name changed yesterday.”
“Ah! It finally went through! Then you're officially Hyun-bin oppa starting today!”
“Hehe, that's right. I've truly become Baek Hyun-bin.”
Do you remember the day I applied to change my name two months ago?
I had finally confirmed yesterday that the application I submitted that day had been approved.
I had received the name I had chosen for my new beginning.
Baek Hyun-bin.
Starting today, I was no longer Baek Man-seok. I was Baek Hyun-bin.
The origin of the name? There wasn't any particular story behind it. I had simply tried to find a name that suited my face and came up with one after looking at a celebrity.
Some people might ask whether I wasn't embarrassed to do something like that.
Well, not really. With my current face, even an ordinary name didn't seem to suit me particularly well.
I had become that handsome, so it was practically unavoidable.
Is this… what life is like for an extremely handsome man?
“Congratulations!”
“Haha. Is changing your name really something worth congratulating me for? Anyway, thanks for congratulating me.”
I had told Sang-ah about it beforehand after we became friends. I explained that I wanted to change my name because I wanted to make a fresh start. As we continued talking, I had naturally ended up telling her that I had been married once before, too.
In other words, I was divorced.
Perhaps that could have been a little awkward for her.
“What's the big deal about being divorced these days?”
I had been rather touched by how casually Sang-ah accepted it.
Honestly, most people had prejudices about such things. Some would ask, “Why did you separate?” or “What made you get divorced?” Others would wonder whether something was wrong with me.
But Sang-ah was different.
She simply didn't ask.
It was almost as if she were waiting for me to tell her on my own someday.
That was why I was grateful to have her as a friend.
“Woof!”
“Are you congratulating me, too, Ppoppi? Aww, you're so cute.”
“Hehe. You've really become close to Ppoppi.”
“She follows me around so much. Besides, you said she likes men, didn't you?”
“That's true, but it only lasts for a little while. After playing around for a bit, she gets bored and comes running back to me. But it's different with you, oppa. Ppoppi really likes you. I've never seen her like someone for this long before.”
“Really? That's good to hear.”
When I smiled awkwardly, Sang-ah's face somehow turned a little red.
Oops.
“…Oppa, I've told you not to smile at me so seductively.”
“S-Sorry.”
“You don't have to apologize… You're just so charming. I almost confessed my feelings without realizing it. Hehe. Just kidding.”
“H-Haha.”
Sometimes Sang-ah warned me not to smile carelessly in front of women.
She honestly told me that because I was so handsome, other people might misunderstand my intentions.
Having spent so many years living as an ugly, socially awkward loner, I hadn't really understood what she meant at first.
But just as she had said, there were actually women who sometimes misunderstood my smiles and began following me around.
Thanks to those experiences, I finally understood what Sang-ah had been talking about.
No dangerously charming smiles. I needed to remember that.
But could I really control the way I smiled?
“Oppa, have you finished your run?”
“Yeah. I'm going to walk a little now and loosen up my muscles. You arrived at just the right time. My finishing time is different every day, so I never tell you exactly when I'll be done, but we always seem to run into each other. It's strange, isn't it?”
“R-Right. Hehe.”
“?”
“Hurry! Let's go. Ppoppi really wants to go for a walk…”
Oh, right.
Led by Sang-ah, I started walking with her. I caught my breath while she let Ppoppi wander wherever it wanted, enjoying the pleasures of a leisurely stroll.
Hmm. Taking a slow walk like this isn't bad, either.
“Yaaawn… Ah, I'm sorry.”
“What happened? Did you not sleep well?”
“Actually, I was working on a deadline until late last night.”
“Ah, seriously…”
The reason I had grown close to Sang-ah was also related to her profession.
She was an illustrator.
We both worked from home, which gave us even more common ground. There were so many things we could relate to.
“Hehe. Still, watching your YouTube videos while working makes me feel less tired, oppa. I'm glad I subscribed!”
“Come on, that's embarrassing. I shouldn't have told you about it. I should've just kept quiet…”
“What are you talking about? Why would someone with a huge YouTube channel and 200,000 subscribers be embarrassed?”
“It's not that huge.”
“Of course it is! You've reached 200,000 subscribers in just two months. And all you do is film yourself working! That's an incredible achievement!”
“Really?”
“Of course it is. Honestly, oppa…”
The number of subscribers to my YouTube channel, Moonlight Writer, which I had told my friend about, had reached 200,000 a few days ago.
I had simply continued livestreaming, and the subscriber count kept climbing so quickly that I could hardly believe it was real.
But if Sang-ah was right…
It really was an impressive achievement.
If I thought about it seriously, the reason was obviously my appearance.
There was no way I could have achieved this in the past.
Most of my subscribers were women in their teens and twenties. Even among the older age groups, the majority were women, while the proportion of male viewers was quite low.
That meant my appearance had made quite an impression on women.
“Are you going to hold fan meetings later, too?”
“F-Fan meetings?”
Even when my web novel had become a huge hit in the past, I had never held a fan meeting.
I had always been timid and had spent a long time living as a shut-in. Even if someone had suggested one back then, I probably would have refused unless they had strongly insisted.
But a fan meeting through YouTube?
Come on. Would a day like that really come?
“Oh, speaking of which, I'm going to start uploading my novel to the site today.”
“Ooh! Finally?”
“Yeah. I've spent two months writing and revising it, so I'm excited and looking forward to seeing how it turns out.”
“Ooh. Now I'm looking forward to it, too. You said it was for a contest, right?”
“Yeah. The contest starts today.”
Finally, the day had arrived.
My new novel would be uploaded to Dalpia today.
Actually, I had already written a considerable amount, and I could have uploaded it much earlier. The reason I had kept putting it off was Dalpia's Earth’s Biggest Contest.
The contest period was approaching, and the timing had made it awkward to release the novel immediately. In the end, I decided to publish it properly when the contest began.
If I uploaded it at an awkward time, my novel might get buried beneath all the other contest entries.
Once the contest began, the website's main page would be transformed to feature contest works for a while. The entries would be separated from ordinary novels, making the latter much less visible.
As a result, there was a high chance that a new novel uploaded beforehand would fail to get noticed.
“Anyway, oppa, I'll be cheering you on. I'll visit the website you told me about and click the like button for you. Hehe.”
“Thanks. I'll tell you my pen name later, too, so please spread the word to people around you. You're the only friend I have right now, Sang-ah.”
“…”
“Sang-ah?”
“R-Right? Ahem. Well, it can't be helped. I'm Hyun-bin oppa's one and only friend, after all! Hehe.”
“Yes, yes. I'm counting on you.”
“Hehehe. What's that supposed to be? That's not funny at all.”
“Gah. Really? I thought that was a brilliant historical-drama-style joke.”
“You sound like an old man.”
“Well, at twenty-eight, I'm probably considered an old man somewhere. Haha.”
The two of us continued sharing stories about our daily lives as we happily finished our walk.
Ppoppi, Sang-ah's pet dog, seemed thoroughly satisfied with the stroll, too, and confidently headed home on its own four paws.
It was time to part ways.
We said goodbye to each other, promised to meet again tomorrow, and went our separate ways. I then increased my pace and ran home.
Thump, thump.
I want to upload my novel as soon as possible.
Although it was the first day of the contest, it wasn't time to upload yet. Still, I could barely keep my hands still because I was so eager to publish my work.
Two months.
I had waited patiently for two whole months!
I was incredibly excited and curious to see whether the story I had written would appeal to readers in the current market.
When I first wrote a novel on Dalpia, it was for a story titled Solo Max-Level.
Back then, my pen name had been Man-seok.
I had signed a contract with a company called Areum Books, and they had helped me a great deal. However, after the fire and my three years in the hospital, my exclusive contract had been terminated.
In practical terms, the author Man-seok had disappeared from the world of Dalpia long ago.
Man-seok.
There might still be people who remembered me, but I suspected there were far more who didn't.
That was why I needed a new pen name.
I also wanted to let go of the past glory and the preconceptions associated with Solo Max-Level and finally shine based on my actual abilities.
“…Wolgwang.”
Moonlight.
I couldn't think of any particularly remarkable pen name. I had simply taken the name of my YouTube channel, Moonlight Writer, and translated it into Chinese characters.
Using my newly created account, I began uploading the prologue and the first five chapters of The Druid of the Apocalypse Doesn't Hide His Power, which I had worked so hard on for the past two months.
“Phew…”
After uploading everything, I finally let out the breath I had been holding.
Choosing a suitable cover and uploading the chapters had taken only a few minutes, but all sorts of thoughts had been swirling around in my head.
Will it be okay? Will readers like it? What if the reactions are negative?
Those thoughts kept running through my mind.
The Druid of the Apocalypse Doesn't Hide His Power
[Contest Entry] [☆ 0 Readers] [Read First Chapter]
Naturally, since I had only just uploaded the novel, there had been no change in the number of readers who had added it to their favorites.
Should I add it to my own favorites?
I considered doing so, but somehow, if the number became one, it felt as though everyone would realize the author had added the novel himself.
That would be embarrassing, so I didn't click the button.
I pressed the close button and immediately left the page.
My heart was still pounding wildly.
“Phew… Calm down, Baek Man-seok. No, Baek Hyun-bin. This is only the beginning. It's your first step, so don't get your hopes up too much.”
Have hope, but don't expect too much.
Thinking that way, I rubbed my face with my hand.
When I checked the time, it was already lunchtime.
“I should eat lunch and then do a livestream. I also promised to hold a Q&A to celebrate reaching 200,000 subscribers, so there's quite a bit to prepare…”
After livestreaming for two months, communicating with my subscribers had become fairly natural.
I intended to keep my promise and answer their questions now that I had reached 200,000 subscribers.
Hmm. Some of the questions sent to my dedicated YouTube email address were surprisingly profound, so I had spent several days thinking about how to answer them.
“All right. It would be better to be honest from the beginning.”
Since I believed lying was wrong, the answer came to me naturally.
I didn't want to become a content creator like my former wife, Kim Ji-young.
The Druid of the Apocalypse Doesn't Hide His Power
[Contest Entry] [☆ 0 Readers] [Read First Chapter]
At first, the new novel uploaded by Baek Hyun-bin attracted little attention.
But that was only a matter of time.
The story had been uploaded in six installments, from the prologue through Chapter 5, and readers were simply taking their time to finish reading all of them. That was why the number of readers adding it to their favorites had been slow to increase.
And just as if to prove that…
Within five minutes.
The Druid of the Apocalypse Doesn't Hide His Power
[Contest Entry] [☆ 10 Readers] [Read First Chapter]
The number of favorites began gaining momentum.
What's this? It's actually fun. LOL.
A druid? Goodness, that's a refreshing concept! I'm adding this to my favorites!
Five chapters?! But this leaves me wanting more, Author. Please upload more! T_T
We need a mass release! More chapters!
It's so satisfying that the protagonist doesn't hide his power! Honestly, other novels these days hide it so much that it's frustrating.
Comments and reviews about the novel began increasing as well.
As the rising number of favorites suggested, its view count was also unusual. Despite having been uploaded only a short while ago, more than a hundred people had already read the first chapter.
Perhaps because the story was enjoyable, the number of recommendations also began steadily increasing.
Something about the atmosphere was unusual.
The main reason readers were paying attention to The Druid of the Apocalypse Doesn't Hide His Power, written by Wolgwang, or Baek Hyun-bin, was the distinctive subject revealed by its title.
The contest was currently dominated by novels about chaebols, regression, and academies. With so many stories following those themes, the combination of an apocalypse and a druid stood out like a beautiful flower blooming among them.
And then there was the protagonist who didn't hide his power!
Unlike the protagonists in other novels, who spent so much time concealing their abilities, this protagonist openly displayed his strength, delivering a satisfying sense of catharsis to readers.
Freshness and catharsis.
Possessing both qualities, the new novel gradually began spreading through word of mouth among Dalpia's readers.