Stenographer's Rhythm

The notification popped up the moment Seo Joo-hwan stepped out of the guard post. For some reason, it felt like Lucy was congratulating him.

"Ah, gotta send those KakaoTalk messages."

Seo Joo-hwan messaged his parents, younger sister, and Han Su-ah, letting them know he was heading home after his discharge.

After sending to those four, there was no one else to tell.

"...What a pathetically narrow social circle."

But that thought vanished cleanly a few hours later.

When he got home, opened the front door, and stepped inside, fireworks exploded noisily, followed by a flood of celebratory cheers.

"Son, you've been through so much. Thank you for coming back healthy."

"Good work."

His mother gripped both his hands tightly, her face beaming with relief, while his father simply nodded heavily and offered a single gruff word.

"Ooh, you've slimmed down even more? Anyway, congrats, congrats."

Behind them stood his younger sister Seo Joo-hee, casually raising a hand as if to say about time, and Han Su-ah, who greeted him with an even brighter smile than his own sibling.

"Hwan oppa! Discharge congrats! Now I get to see you all the time!"

A sight he never saw in his previous life.

Nice.

This discharge was nothing like the last one, when he'd drowned in self-loathing.

For the first time, it really felt like he'd been properly discharged.

So what if my social circle's small?

He could widen it from here. For now, his parents and Han Su-ah were more than enough.

"Sit down quick. Let's eat!"

Ah, and his bratty sister too, of course.

"I'm home!"

Seo Joo-hwan beamed and threw up a playful salute.

After a joyful family meal, Seo Joo-hwan sat down at his computer to write.

Vrrrum—

The ancient machine roared to life noisily. This junker was definitely on its last legs.

"Time to check the reactions."

He was curious about the response to The Possessed Master is Murim's Public Enemy, which he'd started serializing during his leave. He'd suddenly been called back to base and couldn't continue.

He'd posted a notice, so the readers shouldn't be too upset, but hiatus right before it gained traction left him unsatisfied as a writer. He worried the continuous read rate might have tanked.

Seo Joo-hwan logged into the web novel site Geuljoa and checked his work management stats. His eyes bulged.

"F-Favorites at 8,000?!"

Thinking he'd misread, he double-checked digit by digit, but the number didn't change. He'd really hit 8,000 favorites, and with only 15 chapters to boot. He was dumbfounded at how it was possible.

"What the hell happened?"

He went to Today's Best, filtering by the date he'd uploaded chapter 15 with the notice. The ranking for that day appeared.

"No. 1 for real...!"

He clenched his fist without realizing it. Sure, it was just a one-day flash, and it'd dropped to mid-tier now, but it was still an impressive feat. Maintaining mid-tier without new chapters was the real miracle. If he'd kept going, 8,000 favorites would've been the least of it—probably over 10,000 easy.

He dove into the comments next. He usually avoided them to dodge stress, but he couldn't resist ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠now.

Most comments were praise. Sure, you couldn't please everyone, so a few hate comments slipped in, but they were rare. The majority raved about how fun it was, and fans of his previous work especially noted his improved skill.

But that didn't last. Once the next chapter failed to drop, chapter 15 got flooded with question marks and increasingly scary comments.

At first, it was mild—just grumbling disappointment rather than outright hate. But as one day became two and then three, the comment section turned into a slaughterhouse.

From letdowns to self-promo plugs and outright vulgar rants. Then came the concept commenters, piling on in droves—almost creepy.

Seo Joo-hwan muttered in disbelief after scrolling.

"D-Did the notice not go up?"

No one would've reacted like this if they'd seen it. Weird.

He quickly ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠figured it out and clutched his forehead in frustration.

"Goddamn site glitch."

It happened sometimes during serialization—glitches where posts didn't register despite uploading. Of all times, it hit his notice.

Way too late now, but he posted it anyway. This was a monetization hopeful; bad rep could tank it. Even great writing couldn't survive turned fans—read rates halved easy.

After posting, a belated thought hit him.

"...They're the best."

He scratched his eye corner awkwardly, despite no one watching.

Was this karma fixed too? In his past life, he'd written plenty, but never got this attention. He'd pegged his skills at barely bread-earning level, but maybe he had real talent.

"Let's write now."

Seo Joo-hwan stretched his wrists, pride swelling as a writer from the eager fans. He had to repay them.

That's when Lucy chimed in.

"Oh, right. Can I hit B-rank now?"

"Hm. How many points left?"

"That's a lot. Wait, no—is it?"

It seemed huge at first glance, but factoring in upgrade costs, items, skills... perspective shifted. Especially Blessing of Focus—10 LP per minute. 600 per hour, 18,000 a month at one hour daily. A total point hog.

Gotta grind hard.

Luckily, LP sources were plentiful: desire quests, achievements, fetish collection, sex fantasy gathering. He could spend freely for now.

"What first?"

Skill gacha: one per level, pricey and scaling with level.

Seo Joo-hwan bought it.

"Holy Scrotum? Set skill?"

It matched Holy Touch's naming.

"Ah... Useless for now."

His face fell in disappointment. Stamina boost? Succubus God's blessing covered that. Sweet cum? What even for?

"Level up a talent instead."

His talents: original Writing (C+), Gaming, Teaching, plus Boxing from Jeong So-ra—four total.

"Writing, obviously. Others later."

Nothing else urgent.

He blinked at the new term.

"Special ability?"

"...Gives with one hand, takes with the other."

Sources plentiful, sinks too. He pondered, then bought it. LP could be farmed again.

"Wh-whoaaa!"

A scream-like cheer burst from Seo Joo-hwan's mouth. Loud enough that startled Seo Joo-hee and his mom peeked in.

He shooed them away and calmed himself, rereading the effects. His mouth split into a goofy grin.

"Heh heh. Jackpot. No more rushing serialization."

Web novel chapters averaged 5,000-5,500 characters (spaces included), up to 6,000 for long ones. 800/min? 1,200 with special keyboard? Writing speed would skyrocket.

"Lucy, Blessing of Focus for one hour."

The blessing hit: focus and cognition sharpened palpably. His mind raced, plotting lines effortlessly.

Seo Joo-hwan smirked, fingers hovering over keys. They itched with anticipation.

Tap tap! Clack! Tap tap taptaptap!

His ten fingers danced across the keyboard.

10 LP/min. 600/hour. Pricey for every session.

But Seo Joo-hwan didn't care. Blessing of Focus banished distractions, pure immersion. That focus was worth more than the cost.

He lost track of time, diving deep.

"Haaah...!"

A groan escaped as he snapped out. The buff boosted mind but drained stamina hard.

"Let's see. One chapter per hour?"

Without it, two hours/chapter. Double speed now. Not quite hoped-for, but solid.

He smacked his lips in mild regret but accepted it.

"Yeah, greedy to want more."

Still, synergy of Stenographer's Keyboard and blessing. Truth was, writing time was mostly plotting/settings—typing secondary. Plot snags meant rewrites; elusive lines meant staring. Godflow moments flew, but usually, fast typing didn't slash total time.

Really, the time-saver was Blessing of Focus, not typing speed.

"This is plenty."

He shelved regret, smirking. One chapter/hour was absurd. Other authors would freak.

"Round two?"

Hands back on keys. Barely an hour passed. Plenty of writing time left.

Today's goal: five chapters. A daily binge gift for patient fans.

Seo Joo-hwan's fingers took flight over the keyboard once more.>