4
ch 4## First Love
For someone with perfect memory, regular class hours were nothing more than repeatedly riding a boring amusement park
ride.
But novels were different.
What was the advantage of reading? It enhanced imagination and creativity.
And I believed that a novel was what happened when that imagination and creativity were expressed through writing.
Genre novels, especially fantasy and martial arts novels, allowed you to go beyond imagination and even into delusion.
And I began putting those delusions into words.
[ Still my No.1 ]
My first web novel.
The protagonist, Kim Jung-woo, was an orphan.
Armed with the talents of youth and hard work, he entered the world of managers.
Just as he was forming connections with singers and building trust and experience, an investor appeared.
Jung Han-gyeol, the illegitimate son of a chaebol family.
The limitations of their births: one an orphan, the other an illegitimate child.
The two, who were the same age, decided to become business partners and friends in order to achieve success.
Thus, Castle Entertainment was created.
Jung-woo brought in the singers who trusted him, while Han-gyeol provided the capital.
The company prospered, and just as it stood on the verge of its greatest leap forward, going public, Jung-woo was
betrayed.
By Han-gyeol, who wanted to become an official member of the chaebol family.
Han-gyeol took the castle and offered it to the chaebol family, while Jung-woo became the fallen knight of that castle.
There was nothing left for the defeated soldiers, and what returned to them was the resentment of the comrades who had
fought alongside them.
Despair and regret.
At the moment when everything had become hopelessly tangled, the protagonist regressed into the past.
Starting his career as a manager all over again.
There was a limit to delusion. So I added the ability I possessed.
The protagonist's perfect memory ability after regression.
With memories of even the most trivial things, as well as memories of the future, the protagonist rose rapidly.
Then an enemy who had heard rumors about him came looking for him.
“I heard you're a genius who can predict the future. Would you like to work with me?”
Of course, Jung-woo refused. He wasn't someone to become a business partner with. He was someone to take revenge on.
Han-gyeol then let out a mocking laugh.
“Even a genius can't beat Manjae in the end. So think about it again.”
A phrase he used often.
Back then, I thought it meant that no matter how talented someone was, they couldn't beat someone with even greater
talent.
But this was the reason he had surrendered the castle to the chaebol family.
Manjae, 萬財. Ten thousand riches. An enormous fortune.
No matter how hard you worked or how great your talent was, you couldn't defeat a chaebol.
Jung-woo rose from his seat and said,
“I heard your grandfather had a talent for making money, and your father had a talent for protecting it.”
A story about Han-gyeol's family that he had heard in the past.
“But you're an illegitimate child, so you didn't inherit any talent.”
“What the hell are you?!”
Han-gyeol became furious after his secret, something he had never told anyone, was exposed.
Staring at him, Jung-woo said,
“Watch carefully. See how a genius plays around in this world.”
After meeting Han-gyeol, Jung-woo made a resolution.
This time, he would build a castle that would never fall to any attack.
The story of a fallen knight becoming an emperor.
That was the journey up to Chapter 200.
201.
I stopped typing for a moment.
There was an important problem I had to solve.
Ha-yoon. The female singer whom Jung-woo, in the novel, first became a manager for.
A woman with long straight hair, large eyes, and brown irises. She liked reading novels by herself in the car.
I had put my ideal type into her.
She was the character I loved and cherished the most.
[Scandal]
The subtitle of Chapter 200. Han-gyeol's attack against Jung-woo.
Originally, I had planned to write a love story next.
Because from the very beginning, Ha-yoon had been the heroine I had chosen in my heart.
An episode confirming the love between the two.
Ha-yoon's public proposal through a press conference and Jung-woo's acceptance.
I had already thought out the story, so I could simply write it as planned.
But I wasn't the writer Min Seong-yoon from three years ago anymore.
I had actually met Ha-yoon.
The embodiment of my ideal type.
That was my first thought when I saw my divorced wife, Shin Mi-so.
So I fell in love with her at first sight. I wanted to do anything if it meant she could be happy.
But I knew how that choice would end.
Betrayal and divorce.
I could sense the presence of my wife in the character I had loved the most.
Whenever I thought of Ha-yoon, my wife came to mind.
I couldn't keep such a character beside the protagonist.
But there had been too much foreshadowing to simply let it pass without consequence.
Foreshadowing meant to complete the love between the two.
There were readers who liked things like that.
* As expected, Ha-yoon is the heroine, haha.
* I want to see the two of them get together soon, lol.
* Won't a scandal break out, then they'll confess and acknowledge their relationship?
* Oh, haha. That could happen, haha.
Expectations for the romance.
Of course, not every reader felt that way.
Before I met my wife.
I had been single my entire life, so I wasn't good at expressing romance.
Romance and marriage were areas that were difficult to handle through memory and imagination.
The readers also knew about my lack of experience.
* Every time Ha-yoon appears, it feels like the story slows down, haha.
* Exactly. He needs to grow the company quickly.
* I think Shin Na-young would make a better heroine than Ha-yoon.
* The author seems like a lifelong bachelor, lol.
Readers who disliked romance. Readers worried that the story was slowing down. Readers who preferred another female
character. Readers worried about my love life.
The final chapter I posted before stopping the serialization contained the thoughts of people like them.
A return to serialization after three years. The first step was important.
If I took the story in the wrong direction, the readers would be disappointed and leave.
I didn't want to betray their expectations.
But I couldn't satisfy every reader either.
It was a matter of personal taste.
As I agonized over the direction of the story, the wisdom of my predecessors came to mind.
Kill the heroine before she becomes the heroine!
I created a folder in my mind called Ha-yoon's Death.
Then I brought material out of my memories.
I gathered every scene of a person dying that I had seen in novels and videos over the years.
Then I let my imagination run wild.
Combining and twisting.
I thought about the scene that would best suit Ha-yoon's death.
Next.
Next.
No.
Not this either.
Countless scenes were born, but none of them felt right.
Then one keyword came to me.
[Stalker]
In the past, Jung-woo had helped Ha-yoon when she was being harassed by a stalker.
The starting point of their love.
The two had developed feelings for each other because of that incident.
I would bring that stalker back. It was a common method, but that was exactly why I thought it would work.
Simple is Best.
After making my decision, I began pounding on the keyboard.
Tap-tap-tap.
A pleasant sound.
The more I struck the keyboard, the more the empty Hangul document filled up.
Perhaps because I had made up my mind, there was no hesitation.
I had made my choice, and all that remained was to receive the readers' judgment.
How much time had passed?
I wrote like a truly crazy man. I managed to complete a chapter that was the finished product of complete immersion.
201.
I had written the chapter, but I hadn't decided on the subtitle yet.
I wondered what I should write. Then one word came to mind.
First Love.
Yeah. First love was never meant to come true.
Was it self-projection?
Both I and the protagonist in the novel had failed at our first loves.
I went onto Glipia and scheduled the completed manuscript to be released at 10 p.m.
Ha-yoon, the character I had loved the most.
Even though I had written it with the desire for her to disappear, I didn't feel good about it.
There would definitely be readers who were upset.
I was feeling conflicted when I heard my phone ringing.
It was editor Ji Hyun-woong. Come to think of it, he had said earlier that he would check my settlement payment.
“Hello.”
[Ah, author. Were you writing? I called you, but you weren't answering...]
I had been so focused that I hadn't even realized the phone was ringing.
“Yes. I was writing.”
[Did you write a lot?]
“I just finished Chapter 201 and uploaded it.”
[Already? As expected, you're incredibly fast.]
Ji Hyun-woong was surprised when I said I had written a chapter. Looking at the time, only an hour had passed.
It was a reaction I used to see often, but seeing it again after such a long time felt strangely fresh.
“No. The writing just came easily today.”
[I’ll check the serialized chapter and immediately apply for the settlement payment.]
“Thank you. By the way, how much was the settlement?”
[Author, congratulations. You won the lottery.]
“The lottery?”
[Ah, since it's money you earned yourself, I suppose congratulations aren't quite appropriate. You can see the exact
amount in the documents I sent by email, but it was 2 billion won.]
“2 billion won?”
I was a little surprised when Ji Hyun-woong said 2 billion won.
Before I got married, I had earned around 200 million won from my novel.
Three years had passed since then.
The views had skyrocketed, so of course I had expected to have earned a lot.
Maybe 1 billion won if I was lucky? But it had far exceeded my expectations.
[Yes, your work was also very popular on other platforms. Congratulations on returning to serialization.]
“Yes... Thank you.”
After hanging up, I felt strange.
Just moments ago, I had been depressed because I had killed off a character I cherished, but now I was in a good mood.
And for the first time in my life, I learned the true identity of this feeling.
This is what financial therapy feels like.
---
“Honey, can't you give me just a little feedback on this?”
At the request of his beloved girlfriend, Jung Dong-ha turned his head.
“Yeah, just a second. I'll look at this and come right over.”
Shin Mi-so's lips immediately pouted.
“What are you looking at?”
“I heard writer Min Seong-yoon posted his return chapter, so I was going to read it.”
“That writer who stopped his serialization? He posted something?”
“Yeah. It went up at 10 just now.”
“Really? I should read it too.”
After Shin Mi-so left the room, Jung Dong-ha focused on the computer again.
The press conference.
Ha-yoon's public proposal, revealing that she was in love with Jung-woo.
Her bold confession received people's support.
Then Ha-yoon left the press conference to meet Jung-woo.
Suddenly, she was stabbed by a knife wielded by a man who charged at her.
The stalker who had once liked Ha-yoon.
The stalker was subdued by the people nearby, and the manager hurriedly called an ambulance.
At that moment, Jung-woo arrived after hearing about the press conference.
He lifted Ha-yoon's head as she lay there clutching her stomach.
“Ha-yoon!”
“I’m sorry, Oppa.”
“What are you sorry for? You idiot.”
“I wanted to become the best, but I think this is as far as I can go.”
The two had first met after Jung-woo's regression.
Ha-yoon had promised to become the greatest female singer, and Jung-woo had promised to make her one.
The heroine was gradually losing the light in her eyes.
Looking at her, Jung-woo said,
“You were the best back then, and you're the best now.”
Writer Min Seong-yoon's return chapter.
Jung Dong-ha felt something he couldn't explain.
He was about to read it again when Shin Mi-so entered the room.
“Oppa, did you see it? It's so touching.”
The emotional monster, Shin Mi-so. Tears were streaming down her face.
But the emotion he was feeling right now wasn't being touched.
It was anticipation.
The death of the woman he loved.
And the enemy connected to that death.
The death of the protagonist's closest companion makes him grow.
A cliché that every writer knows. They simply lack the courage to execute it.
The grudge from the past carries over into the present.
Now, the prologue to revenge would begin. He was looking forward to tomorrow with that anticipation.
A return after three years.
Not only must there have been enormous pressure, but writing itself couldn't have been easy.
His own last serialization had been a year ago, so he knew very well how difficult it was to write again after such a
long break.
But writer Min Seong-yoon had done it.
Normally, there were only two possibilities in a situation like this.
Either he had put in an incredible amount of effort.
Or he was a genius.
And Jung Dong-ha knew the answer to that question.
There had once been a gathering of publishing company executives where the subject of writer Min Seong-yoon came up.
“Writer Min Seong-yoon? He's a genius. A talent bestowed by heaven.”