The Hyangsi Failure Fabrication Squad (1)

I was restless.

A masterpiece written with every ounce of my soul over an entire week.

Romance of the Three Kingdoms.

I never imagined waiting for its reception would leave me this anxious. If I'd known it would feel like this, I would have thanked every writer I ever met on set — and now the regret was washing over me in waves.

"What if… they hate it?"

I had polished every sentence for readability, reading the finished lines aloud to catch anything awkward and fix it on the spot. And finally, the opening line:

The single most celebrated line in all of Romance of the Three Kingdoms, by universal agreement. I had planted it right there, word for word. It was plagiarism in all but name — except this world had no Luo Guanzhong, no Romance of the Three Kingdoms at all.

No — the Three Kingdoms themselves weren't even widely known here. Which meant that line, as I had written it, was the first of its kind. There would be no plagiarism scandal. My conscience, admittedly, was another matter entirely.

"What if the reviews are terrible? Do I just quit? And if I quit, how do I eat? Do I actually go haul rocks for a living? No — no way. It's the Three Kingdoms. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠The novel Chinese people love more than anything."

Every kind of nonsense was spinning through my head.

"Hah… Enough of this. I should step outside and ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠get some air."

Maybe a cold breeze would loosen the knot in my chest. I headed out.

"Master, good morning."

Soso, the maid, was sweeping the courtyard as she greeted me. Her face looked remarkably bright today — I could have sworn that whenever she brought my meals, she usually looked worn and puffy with exhaustion.

And… Master?

Until now this girl had always spoken to me with casual half-formality. I'd spoken freely with her in return. So why the sudden change?

"Master? You never called me that before. Why start now? What's going on?"

Soso's reaction was strange. She flinched as if she'd been threatened, then hurriedly bowed her head.

"Th-this humble girl… has failed to recognize Master's true station and committed many discourtesies. Please, will you forgive her? For as long as Master resides here, this girl will serve with all her heart."

She kept her head down as she spoke, as though waiting for my answer.

The sudden performance left me racking my brain for some incident I might have caused — but there was nothing. I'd been locked in my room writing every day. Causing trouble hadn't even been an option.

"I have no idea what this is about, but could you raise your head?"

"Then… Master is forgiving me?"

I could see her shoulders trembling slightly. I still didn't understand any of it, but Soso looked no older than fourteen. A child that young shaking in front of me — I couldn't bring myself to be harsh, and I had no reason to be.

"I don't think you've ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠done anything wrong. Just lift your head. You're making me uncomfortable."

She'd always spoken casually, sure, but she'd brought my meals on time and kept the place clean. Especially the paper I'd ruined with bad brushwork — there had been plenty of it, and she'd thrown it out without a word of complaint.

So it wasn't a matter of forgiving her. There had never been anything to forgive in the first place.

"Huu… Thank you, Master."

At my answer, Soso looked as though a weight had dropped from her shoulders and finally raised her head.

"But why the sudden 'Master'? Why change how you address me?"

"Pardon? Because Master is Master. And the branch manager instructed me to attend you carefully so as not to disturb your studies."

"Is that so? The branch manager? He said that about me?"

"Yes — did you not know?"

Soso went on to describe the man's appearance, and from her description I could guess who he was. The man who had given me the Munbangsau — the Four Treasures of the Study.

I'd heard he was a shopkeeper, but a branch manager? He really was someone important.

"No, I think I know who you mean. Munbangsau were hard to come by in Hyeongju, and he gave me some."

Still — that branch manager. Whether it was the writing supplies before or this now, I couldn't figure out why he treated me so well. We'd never even met before I went looking for Munbangsau. And more to the point — studies?

Does he think the writing I've been doing is exam preparation?

I let it slide without much thought. In a way, both involved waving a brush around, so they weren't entirely different.

"I was going to get a little air — is it all right if I sit here? I won't be in the way of your cleaning, will I?"

"Of course it's fine. I was just finishing up anyway."

At her words I sat on the veranda and let the breeze wash over me. Autumn had fully arrived; the wind was genuinely cool. But even that cool air couldn't clear the restlessness and dread from my chest.

"Huu…"

I let out a short sigh.

"Um… is your studying very hard?"

Soso had finished sweeping and come over to ask.

"Studying… well, it's already done. I'm just afraid of the results. I don't know if it'll turn out well."

I didn't feel any particular need to correct her misunderstanding that my writing was exam work, so I answered as I did. And the feeling I'd just described wasn't wrong, either.

"Is that so…? Hang in there! I'm sure the results will be as good as the effort you put in!"

Soso genuinely seemed to be trying to cheer me on, pumping her little arms up and down with her whole small frame. It was so endearing I couldn't help but snort a laugh.

"Thanks. I'm going to step out for a bit."

"Yes!"

Leaving Soso behind, I headed for the bookstore. The proprietor had told me to come back in a few days after he'd passed the manuscript to a customer — but I couldn't stand the waiting and had come early.

"So… how did it go?"

My sudden appearance must have startled him; the bookstore owner jumped as though he'd been caught stealing.

"Y-you — when did you get here?"

"Just now. Is something wrong?"

"Did you see it?"

"See what, exactly?"

When I looked at him in genuine confusion, the owner put on a face as if it were nothing.

"Never mind. And he already took it, just a moment ago. See there? The scholar in the hat. That fellow walked off with it. If you'd come a little earlier you'd have caught him. Tsk tsk. Shame."

"Pardon?"

At the news that someone had collected the book in a single day, I turned toward where the owner was pointing, searching for the scholar who'd taken it.

And there, far off, vanishing between the alley walls, I spotted a scholar. The glimpse was too brief to make out clearly, but he was definitely carrying a book.

"Don't go chasing after him to ask questions, now. How awkward would it be for an author to start going on about his own book to the reader?"

I had been about to run after him, but the owner's words stopped me cold. Instead I grabbed the man, unable to hide my urgency.

"But — what did that customer say? How did he react?"

"He just took it. How would I know? When he comes back I'll tell you, so just wait."

"When? When will he come back?"

"How am I supposed to know that either? He'll come when he's finished reading it."

Faced with that perfectly reasonable answer, I let go of his arm and apologized.

"And the Hyangsi is coming up soon, so I'm busy. Come back after the exam is over."

"The Hyangsi? When does that ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠end?"

I knew the Hyangsi was approaching. The old man himself had told me the day I first came looking for books. But I'd had no interest, so I hadn't bothered learning the schedule.

"You… never mind. A fellow like you would be writing novels, I suppose."

The old man spat out something thoroughly unpleasant. But for the moment he held all the cards. I decided to swallow it — and promised myself that once the Three Kingdoms coin went to the moon, I would make him pay dearly.

"The Hyangsi starts in five days and ends on the eighth. So come back in ten days. Until then I'll be swamped, and the man who took your book is a scholar himself — he'll have his hands full too."

"Ten days… Ten days. Understood."

Back at the guesthouse, I sat thinking about what to do with those ten days — and picked up my brush again. I had no idea how Romance of the Three Kingdoms would fare, and no guarantee it would succeed.

Even so, doing something felt better than sitting still and waiting.

So I gripped the brush and spent five days writing the next chapters of the novel. Having worked late into the night before, I slept well into the morning — until a frantic voice dragged me out of sleep.

Soso and I had grown friendly again, but not friendly enough for her to wake a sleeping man.

"Master!!! Master!!! This is no time to be sleeping!"

Soso sounded as though some great disaster had struck. We'd gotten along better lately, yes — but not enough for this.

"What's going on?"

I rubbed my bleary eyes and asked, still half-asleep.

"Master! Today is the Hyangsi! How can you still be sleeping here?!"

Her words left me puzzled.

Why is she asking me about the Hyangsi?

But my head was still fogged from sleep, and the thoughts wouldn't connect properly. So I asked her why.

"Master! What are you talking about? You have to go take the Hyangsi exam! Even if you leave right now you might be late! You need to get ready this instant — hurry!"

As she spoke, Soso barged into the room and began packing stationery and luggage herself.

"Soso? Hold on a second!"

I stopped her as soon as I roughly grasped what was happening.

"The Hyangsi exam? Why would I be taking the Hyangsi?"

At that, Soso went silent for a moment, as if she couldn't process what she'd heard. Then her face twisted into pure bewilderment, and she opened her mouth in a panic.

"What? You weren't? You weren't taking the Hyangsi? Then why did you work so hard? Why study like that?"

"First put down what you just packed. And the studying was just something I was doing. More importantly — why did you think I was going to take the Hyangsi?"

"Well, the branch manager sort of… implied… !!!!"

Soso seemed to realize something mid-sentence and swallowed her words.

"Master! Did you deceive the branch manager?"

"What are you talking about? Deceive him? I never did any such thing. I've only met this branch manager person once."

I genuinely couldn't understand why the man had decided I was a scholar sitting for the Hyangsi.

"So — you didn't deceive him, then?"

"Of course not."

"Then the branch manager must have gotten the wrong idea…"

Soso bit her fingernail, clearly thinking hard. While she sorted through her thoughts, I sorted through the situation myself. It seemed the branch manager had misunderstood — and because of that misunderstanding, I'd been receiving special treatment.

Certainly… receiving the Munbangsau, and being left alone in this building after every other Jaengjasu had been sent away, with no one telling me to leave —

That was special treatment, no question.

But the mystery remained.

I'd met the man only once. Why on earth would he think I was sitting for the Hyangsi? I was still turning that unsolved riddle over when Soso finished her own thinking and spoke.

"Even so, this is bad. Our branch manager is a kind man, sure — but sometimes he's an incredibly petty little man, you know? Last time Old Wang made one tiny mistake and got stuck cleaning the outhouse alone for a whole month."

I didn't know what Old Wang had done, but a full month of solo outhouse duty was harsh by any measure. This place used pit toilets, and a lot of people lived here.

"Even if you never deceived him, if the branch manager gets angry, Master could take a real hit. So until the Hyangsi is over, don't leave this room. Just stay put."

Soso paused to catch her breath, then lowered her voice and added:

"That way Master stays safe from the branch manager's clutches, and I get to take it eas— I mean, anyway, until the Hyangsi ends, you absolutely must not leave this room!"

"Why shouldn't I leave?"

"Why do you think? We'll just pretend you took the exam and failed! And do you even have somewhere else to go? Looking at you, you don't seem to have any money. So stay here! I'll sneak you meals without anyone noticing."

She was right — I had nowhere to go.

And no money, either.

Buying books had burned through a good chunk of the cash I'd received as a hostage ransom, and I'd given Soso a little for running errands to fetch ink and paper.

The money I'd given her wasn't much, and I still had a fair amount left. But given the cost of living in Hyeongju, that sum would vanish in a blink.

I could always go collect the money waiting at the battlefield, of course — but that risked running into the branch manager.

In the end, I decided to follow Soso's plan. Saving money was part of it, but more than that, I had no desire to fall out of favor with a man who would get angry over a misunderstanding of his own making.

Once the decision was made, Soso and I put our heads together and planned what to do next. And in that moment, the Hyangsi Failure Fabrication Squad was born.