Teach Them for Me
"Haa...... I don't know either."
My friend's complaint as he drank.
Thinking, here we go again, I braced myself to console him.
"Is my novel really that boring? I honestly have no idea what's wrong with it."
"Yeah, yeah. It's fine. These things happen."
"......."
Had my consolation been too half-hearted?
The man sitting across from me — Baek Seong-hun — fixed me with a sharp, stinging glare.
"If you think it's fine, then fine. But the readers are completely dissatisfied."
With that, he tipped the drink into his mouth.
Watching him guzzle alcohol with those limp, swaying arms and legs, I felt a twinge of genuine concern.
How many bottles had this guy polished off by himself?
Through my field of vision, the table was lined with empty soju bottles.
A guy who couldn't even hold his liquor, treating booze like water.
"Didn't you say you quit drinking?"
"...... The world won't let me, so what am I supposed to do?"
"Fair enough. Why quit something this good? Might as well cut your life short instead."
"Hoo... Honestly, I'd like to cut both."
A careless stone can kill a frog.
This was a guy who normally took every single hate comment to heart, and today his despair seemed especially deep.
Of course, that was the pain of creation — an unavoidable fate for any writer — and there was nothing I could do to help him.
All I could offer was words of comfort.
"Yohahn. What do you think is the biggest flaw in my novel?"
Seong-hun asked out of the blue.
I hummed thoughtfully, mulling over the question.
He's in bad shape.
Empty platitudes would only be a temporary fix at best.
Looking at his precarious state, what he needed now was more concrete, effective advice.
I finally voiced the things I'd only ever kept to myself.
"The flaws? There's a mountain of them."
Lack of coherence. Endlessly frustrating potato-like plot developments. Indiscriminate foreshadowing dumps.
Talking about them would just make my mouth hurt.
I poured out every single one, then delivered the finishing blow.
"And there's one flaw bigger than all the rest."
"What is it?"
Is he seriously asking because he doesn't know?
I let out a deep sigh and continued, unbothered.
"You know the character Cheon Hae-beom, right?"
"...... Yeah. Of course I do. How could I not?"
Cheon Hae-beom was the strongest being in the world Seong-hun had created for his novel.
And yet that crucial character had less screen time than a random extra.
He was only ever mentioned among the cast — never made a direct appearance.
So all information about Cheon Hae-beom — his appearance, his abilities, his relationships — remained a complete mystery, leaving readers inevitably frustrated.
"The strongest character has to have a major role. But across more than five hundred chapters, he never showed up once? Do you think that makes any sense?"
"Mm... No, it doesn't."
"If that's how it was going to be, you shouldn't have created Cheon Hae-beom in the first place. Why plant all that foreshadowing just to leave the readers hanging? What's the point of setting up the strongest being in the world if you never use him?"
Honestly, the problem was glaringly obvious.
So much so that eighty percent of the hate comments were about Cheon Hae-beom — that said it all.
"You know it deep down, don't you? When the plot gets stuck or hits one of those frustrating potato stretches, all it would take is Cheon Hae-beom making a dramatic entrance and boom — problem solved. You've planted so much foreshadowing. It's about time you reaped it."
There was no way this guy didn't know. Strangely, though, he never tried to fix these issues.
An author's stubborn pride? Or just his rotten personality? Either way, it wasn't helping his writing one bit.
"......."
Anyway, it was time to give this guy — now covered in whip marks from my criticism — a carrot.
I patted the shoulder of my friend, who sat with his head bowed in silence.
"But don't get too depressed. Your novel's plenty entertaining."
"Ugh. Thanks for saying so, at least."
After that, we fell silent for a while.
I quietly drank, and he refilled my empty glass.
It was Seong-hun who broke the silence.
"Hey, Yohahn. So how should I use this 'Cheon Hae-beom' character?"
"Hmm...... He's the strongest in the world, so there are plenty of uses. Like I just said, for stuck plots or potato situations—"
"Not that pie-in-the-sky stuff. Be more specific."
I looked at Seong-hun without a word.
He was radiating an uncharacteristically serious atmosphere.
There was even a desperate earnestness in his eyes.
I stroked my chin and shared my personal thoughts.
"Well, your novel's an academy story, right? So I'd have him appear as an instructor to match. The protagonist's a growth-type character, so it'd be a perfect fit."
Watching Seong-hun nod repeatedly, I picked up the pace.
"An overpowered instructor would help train the powerless protagonist and his party. That creates conflict, which means more screen time — two birds with one stone, no?"
"...... That makes sense."
Looks like my advice had helped to some degree.
He muttered to himself, deep in thought.
"But... making Cheon Hae-beom an instructor...... It's too hard. I can't picture it in my head."
Oh, for fuck's sake, this is frustrating.
At this point, anger started boiling up.
"Haa. I'm going crazy, Seong-hun. How the hell did someone with your personality become a writer? You're a living, breathing potato plot yourself."
"......."
"What's so hard about it? Just twist a few settings together and toss them in."
"It's just... he might end up being an obstacle for the protagonist......"
"What kind of nonsense is that? The strongest instructor as an obstacle? Look, man. To put it bluntly, if I were Cheon Hae-beom, I could grind the protagonist's party so hard I'd wrap the whole series up in a hundred chapters."
"Huh?"
Did I go too far?
His expression suddenly changed.
Why's he looking like that?
Seong-hun chewed his lip, wearing a thoroughly serious expression as if lost in thought.
A contemplative look in his eyes.
After a long time, he spat out a short sentence.
"Yohahn. Can I ask you for one favor?"
"What?"
"I've already tasted failure. There's something I want you to do in my place."
"....? You want me to write the story for you? Ask someone who can actually write. I've built a wall between myself and books."
"It's nothing major. Just..."
What is this?
Is it the alcohol?
For some reason, my consciousness was growing hazy.
My eyes, fixed on him, kept wanting to close, and sensation was fading from my entire body.
"Just teach the kids a bit. You're a specialist at that kind of thing."
"What are you talking about.... Hey, wait, I... think I'm drunk... Why is this happening all of a sudden..."
"I'll repay this debt for sure. I'm counting on you, Yohahn."
The voice reaching my ears was so sweet it felt like a sleeping pill.
Strangely, while my consciousness grew faint, my hearing was sharper than ever.
"I'll repay this debt for sure. I'm counting on you, Yohahn."
"You... you trust me? What are you even saying......."
After quietly chewing over those words—
My consciousness cut out completely.
"Master, are you truly unwavering in your decision?"
I had clearly been drinking with my friend Baek Seong-hun at a barbecue restaurant.
But where the hell was this?
"Perhaps the coffee isn't to your taste..."
A man of peculiar appearance spoke to me.
A middle-aged face full of mature charm. A warm, approachable impression.
At a glance he might pass for an ordinary middle-aged man, but the long scar running diagonally from above his eye proved he was anything but ordinary.
What is this?
This middle-aged guy was staring right through me with an uncomfortably intense gaze.
A face I'd never seen before in my life.
I tried to recall my last memory.
I'd emptied glasses with that guy and eventually collapsed from the hangover...
Then is this Seong-hun's father...? Is this Seong-hun's house?
Belatedly, the surrounding scenery entered my field of vision.
Tables and chairs installed at various positions, people chatting over coffee.
It was clearly a café at first glance.
And why is it so bright outside?
The sunny weather only doubled my confusion.
"I suppose it really isn't to your taste."
This guy didn't seem to be Seong-hun's father either.
But where the hell did that bastard Baek Seong-hun go, and why is some weird middle-aged guy here instead?
I stared hard at the man sitting across from me.
Even digging through my jumbled memories, no one matched.
Finally I gave up thinking and decided to just ask.
"Excuse me, but who are you?"
"...... Master. Are you joking in a way most unlike yourself?"
The title the middle-aged man used for me. Master.
It was an extremely awkward form of address that didn't fit me at all.
"Ahem...... Master? I think you have the wrong person."
"I hesitate to say this, but jokes don't suit you, Master. And it's far too abrupt."
The middle-aged man across from me furrowed his brow.
Anyone watching would think I'd actually been joking.
"I'm not joking."
"You're especially full of mischief today. Do you have some scheme in mind?"
Does this guy have a screw loose?
I ask who he is and he just keeps talking in circles?
I wanted to grab him by the collar, but the unspoken pressure radiating from him made that impossible.
He nodded as if resigning himself and spoke.
"Very well. I'll play along. I am Ma Seong-yong, disciple of Master Cheon Hae-beom. Satisfied?"
"......?"
The moment I heard that, I doubted my ears.
Names that were somehow familiar.
Of course I knew where those names came from.
The main characters from Baek Seong-hun's novel.
Ma Seong-yong was a significant character who served as chairman of Arena Academy — the setting where the novel's protagonist party was active.
His appearance was that of a handsome middle-aged man, but the reality was completely different.
The chairman position was a side job. His real occupation was master of the massive guild Glorious, and his combat power ranked among the top five.
Fuck, no wonder the atmosphere felt terrifying.
This man being that Ma Seong-yong sent a chill through my entire body.
What, a novel character came out into reality?
No.
Just now, this man called Ma Seong-yong had addressed me as Master Cheon Hae-beom.
Which meant—
I've been possessed? Into Cheon Hae-beom of all people?
Fuck.
Doubt became denial, and denial became certainty.
I desperately wanted to believe this was someone's hidden camera prank, but Ma Seong-yong's existence hammered the reality home once more.
That hideous scar.
It matched the novel's description of Ma Seong-yong exactly. And the unreal pressure radiating from him.
Irrefutable evidence was right in front of me.
Denying it any further in this situation would only exhaust me.
I decided to accept it.
But what was Cheon Hae-beom talking about with Ma Seong-yong?
Among the many pieces of foreshadowing, there had been one about Ma Seong-yong receiving teachings from Cheon Hae-beom.
So it wasn't a lie — it was the truth.
Along with acceptance, I grew curious about my current situation.
Where was this, and what conversation had I been having with this man Ma Seong-yong?
That question only intensified through the conversation with Ma Seong-yong.
"So the conclusion is a refusal, then?"
"What?"
"A pity. Those children are truly rare prospects."
"......."
I simply nodded in silence.
"No matter how I think about it, the only one who can guide them down the right path is you, Master."
Since just sitting there quietly felt awkward, I roughly played along.
Of course, in a dignified tone befitting a master's weight.
"Am I truly the only one?"
"Yes. You alone, Master. At our Arena Academy, raw gems that even I struggle to handle are everywhere. Class A, where such children are placed — you are the right person for the job, Master."
I roughly understood what he was saying.
Ma Seong-yong was currently trying to scout me. As an instructor for his academy.
But had there been content like this in the original?
Suddenly, a scene flashed through my mind.
Wait a second.
That damned request that had come from Baek Seong-hun's mouth right before I fell asleep.
Oh, fuck.