A Bonus Talent Ticket

"This kind of thing exists?"

There had even been a keyword selection to unlock talents last time, and now it looked like they were handing out bonus tickets as well.

Is this because I’ve been making active use of craftsmanship?

Or maybe because Yu So-ra had been satisfied with the result. I wasn’t sure which, but either way, if it was a bonus, there was no reason to complain.

Still, what should I pick?

In case I missed something, I read the description carefully.

First, the Talent Reconstruction Ticket would change an existing ability into another talent of the same rank. Fusion would sacrifice two talents to create one talent a rank higher. Awakening would further specialize an existing talent. And Upgrade, as the name implied, would raise its rank.

Let’s decide what to throw away first.

The first to fall off the list were Reconstruction and Fusion.

Honestly, the explanation itself isn’t bad.

If I had them, they’d probably be useful enough.

But the idea of grinding up an existing talent and erasing it bothers me.

All seven talents I had now were ones I liked. I used each of them evenly, and I was getting good mileage out of all of them.

Of all the talents, acting was the one I was least interested in, but even that had its uses.

Besides, it was actually fun when I acted on set.

I’d made some good memories that way, and I’d even gained an acquaintance in Choi Kang-san.

I didn’t really want to get rid of it.

As for the Awakening Ticket, even if it specializes a talent, I have no idea how it would come out. That sounds like gambling, so I hate it.

That left one option.

The Upgrade Ticket seems like the best choice.

Of the four, it was the safest and most reliably profitable.

For someone like me, who put safety first, this was the best pick.

Right. Let’s go with Upgrade.

There was no point agonizing over it any longer. The answer wasn’t going to change.

"There’s a limit?"

C-rank could be raised to B, but B+-rank could only be raised to A.

Then the most optimized choice right now is...

That’s my blog talent.

In truth, at this point in time, it was perfect.

I’d already secured a workshop, and I was planning to throw myself into side hustles in earnest. The more widely my blog spread and the greater its influence became, the easier it would be to promote whatever side job I chose.

Besides, since the rank could only go up by two stages and the highest possible ceiling was A, it was the best talent in terms of efficiency too.

Yeah. This is the one.

"Oh?!"

Once it became A-rank, the passive effect changed to something “overwhelming,” and a perk was added on top of it.

Even if it’s single-use, that looks pretty good.

At the very least, it meant I could exert enormous influence within a 24-hour window.

And something I’d recently realized as my insight broadened...

Wouldn’t a personal site include social media too?

These days, I’d heard that if your follower count rose on social media, it could bring in surprisingly decent money.

If I played it right, maybe I could expand into that space too.

But having people I know find out would be a pain...

Maybe I should open a separate SNS account just for side hustles?

Then again, I’d already become known as the creator of Scholar-ticon, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠so maybe there wasn’t much point.

"Haaaaaah."

A long yawn escaped me.

All right, enough thinking for now.

I’d finished making the decision, so there was no point overcomplicating it.

Let’s sleep.

After pushing myself since yesterday, what I really needed now was sleep.

***

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

Chirp-chirp.

I opened my eyes to the sound of birds coming through the open window.

It was a familiar room, but the ceiling above me felt strange when I woke.

Ah, right. I slept in the workshop yesterday.

After sending Yu So-ra off, I’d collapsed from exhaustion and fallen asleep almost immediately.

"Auuugh..."

The moment I sat up, a groan came out of me on its own.

Sleeping on the sofa really did leave my whole body stiff and sour.

Should I get a bed?

I thought about it, then shook my head.

No. Work and living space have to stay separate. Sleep belongs at home.

"I should wash up first."

Yesterday’s work on the outfit was finished, and since it was Saturday morning, I had plenty of time to myself.

I headed to the bathhouse to loosen up my body.

Since this was an old hillside neighborhood, the prices in Seoul were pretty cheap too.

"Mmm. Nice."

The moment I stepped into the hot water, a smile spread across my face.

A peaceful, generous weekend.

This is what healing feels like.

How long had I been there, eyes closed and soaking?

I upgraded the talent while I was way too tired yesterday. I didn’t miss anything, did I?

I opened the status window again to check.

The other details were exactly as I remembered from yesterday.

...Huh?

Then one other line suddenly caught my eye.

When it had risen from C+ to B, this active effect had appeared.

Wait. I didn’t think much of this the first time, but now that I’m reading it again, doesn’t this sound like the scope has expanded a lot?

The passive effect only worked when writing about things ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠I had directly experienced on my personal site.

But for 24 hours, it meant not just the blog, but content that went beyond simple experience reports or reviews and could apply to entirely new material as well.

Flash.

In my head, the Chinese web novel I had translated, Heavenly Demon Dodo, flickered past.

Could I possibly write a novel too?

***

"Damn it, back here again."

After finishing the bath, instead of heading home from work, I came back to the workshop again.

I’ve got an upgraded talent, so I have to test it once.

I sat down at my desk and, this time, grabbed my laptop instead of the sewing machine.

Let’s try writing a novel.

It was a blog-based ability, sure.

But since I even had the active effect now, it was worth giving it a try.

When it came to side hustles, the best mindset was...

If it works, great. If not, fine.

Doing it lightly, without pressure, was the best way.

Now then, what should I write?

I’d translated a few things before, but I didn’t actually read web novels for fun, so I had no idea what was popular or what the trends were.

I’ve always liked literary fiction since I was young, though...

Unfortunately, literary fiction had long since gone out of fashion in Korea.

Then maybe I should aim for something in the middle between literature and web novels?

One genre popped into my head like a sudden spark.

Romance...?

The most common genre there was, but also one with broad mainstream appeal.

More than anything, because I’d always enjoyed K-dramas, I knew the clichés in this area and, more importantly, I knew exactly what kinds of things stirred people’s hearts.

Since I’m doing this, I might as well set it in a background I know well.

That would make it feel more real.

Then I’ll sprinkle in a little of the office-life romance I used to dream about while working.

And since I was a man, I decided to make the protagonist male too, going in the direction most likely to be exciting to me.

In an instant, the basic framework began to take shape.

Let’s make the protagonist a conglomerate salaryman. A capable man from the biggest company in Korea.

That was the first layer of vicarious satisfaction.

I haven’t tried it myself yet, but isn’t office romance supposed to be thrilling like that?

According to that idiot Assistant Manager Park, who’d had a few experiences, there was nothing quite like the way affection blossomed naturally while still carrying a sharp edge of tension.

Still, this alone was too ordinary, so I needed to add a fantasy element.

Being entangled with the family of a conglomerate owner seems promising...

A grin spread across my face.

In the chaebol family, only sons are born again and again. Then at last, a beloved only daughter appears and receives all the affection for herself, and the protagonist dates her without realizing any of it.

Even with just that setup, the picture was already vivid in my head.

I can play up the dynamic, comical side of the fallout and make it feel almost sitcom-like.

The direction was set in an instant.

I didn’t spend long on the title either.

I Spent a Night with the Chaebol's Only Daughter.

It was provocative enough, yet it showed the premise at a glance.

With that, the basic setup was complete.

I placed my hands on the keyboard at once.

Clack-clack-clack-clack.

It’s coming out smoothly...

Maybe because I’d already translated the wildly successful Heavenly Demon Dodo, I could handle the distinct cadence of web novel prose without much difficulty.

But this alone would be a waste.

Now it was time to make use of the talent itself.

Whoosh!

My field of vision narrowed until only the monitor remained in sight.

Tap-tap-tap-tap-tap!

New sentences began to fill the white page line by line.

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And just like that, I sank into total focus and began writing my novel.

***

Willow Publishing.

The web novel team, as always, was busy and frantic, and it wore everyone down.

"The translation’s late again?"

Team Leader Yu Na-ri let out a deep sigh.

"Honestly, are there really that few worthwhile translators out there?"

"It’s not just about translating the sentences. You have to preserve the literary feel unique to a novel too, so it’s hard to find someone who meets our standards."

"Still... that really is the hardest part."

Novel translation was a difficult business.

Even if you took the same work and had three different people translate it for serialization, the performance of the piece could vary wildly depending on the quality of those three translations.

And the problem was that translation wasn’t simply about being good at a foreign language. It was more a matter of sense.

Someone working as an interpreter at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs might still get a poor response, while someone who had never majored in a foreign language and taught themselves could produce results that were overwhelmingly better.

Given that situation, the first name that came to Yu Na-ri’s mind was, naturally...

"What about Kang Seo-jun?"

He had been the translator of Willow Publishing’s representative hit, Heavenly Demon Dodo.

"Would it be hard to get him to take on another project? His translation style was really something special."

"I actually tried contacting him a few days ago, and he said he’s busy with other work lately. He said he can’t take on translation for the time being."

"Because of his main job?"

"No. It sounds like it’s because of side jobs."

"...He has other side jobs besides translation?"

"Yes. I stumbled across his blog recently, and he really does all kinds of things."

"Oh? Really?"

"He’s actually pretty well known. His blog has over twenty thousand subscribers."

"Isn’t anything over ten thousand enough to count as a power blog?"

"Yes, but he never applied for the designation. Still, his influence is just as strong as any power blogger's."

"I see..."

Hearing that, Yu Na-ri’s curiosity was piqued.

"Can you send me the link?"

"Of course. I’ll send it through messenger."

Click.

Yu Na-ri went straight to Kang Seo-jun’s blog.

"Cute name."

Yu Na-ri smiled faintly and scrolled down.

The biggest topic, of course, was the emoticons.

So this is the person who made Scholar-ticon?

She hadn’t bought them herself, but she had seen her friends use them a few times.

Interesting. He’s far more versatile than I expected.

Besides, the posts on the blog were easy to read, so before she realized it, she had started breezing through them.

She clicked through several more entries before finally reaching the latest post.

Team Leader Yu Na-ri could only stare in confusion.

"Uh... what is this?"

"What is it?"

Kim Dae-ri tilted his head and asked.

"There’s a novel posted on the blog."

"A novel?"

"Did he translate it?"

"No. The intro and the atmosphere are completely Korean."

"Oh, really?"

"Yeah. But the truly important thing is..."

Yu Na-ri kept her eyes fixed on the screen as she spoke.

"It’s fun."

"...?"

"It’s much more interesting than the books our company has published..."