Novelist Running Through Time-Chapter 177

TL: KSD

The New Year has dawned.

While adults greet the start of a new year wailing like immature children, “Waaah, I don’t want to get older,” children feel the pounding of their hearts and embark on an adventure.

It’s because the school year changes.

A child’s world is small. The classroom is their entire universe. So even the change of a grade level feels like facing the creation of a whole new world.

Whether it’s purity or ignorance that makes one’s heart race at such a minor unknown, no one can say for sure.

But if that small classroom truly is the whole world, then to leave that world and go on an adventure must certainly require great courage.

And here, there was one transfer student who carried such courage and set out on a long adventure.

“Wowww…”

Through the school gate filled with pale pink cherry blossom petals, students in stylish uniforms stepped lightly.

Though the transfer student was wearing the same uniform, they fidgeted with their outfit hesitantly.

It felt as though they were far from worthy to be among these impressive students.

There was a clear hierarchy in this world, and the upper world seen from below looked like a completely different realm.

Everything felt unfamiliar. The school that looked bigger than a university, the peers in pretty uniforms, the security staff guarding the school gate, and even the wealth sensed in the air…

It felt exactly like crossing the boundary into a new world. The transfer student gulped and stepped beyond the school gate with the feeling of leaping into the unknown.

It was the schoolyard of Baekhak Arts High School.

EP-11 – Evening Bell

The life of Moon Ji-seop, a resident of New Light Spring Orphanage, is divided by a single pivotal moment.

Between his former self, a weak, childish boy obsessed with soccer, and his later self, who believed in his own talent and steadily grew.

One day, a piece of advice changed everything.

-From what I see, you’re more suited for studying than soccer.

He just asked a friend sitting in the corner of the playground to play soccer, and got that response. Without even a second of hesitation, Moon Ji-seop replied, “Yeah, fuck off~ I’m gonna play soccer~.”

But the moment he heard that the friend turned out to be a literary genius of unprecedented caliber, and that a broadcasting station was coming to interview him…

That advice belatedly gripped Moon Ji-seop’s heart tightly.

The wandering soul asked the prophet:

-Teacher, do you really think I can succeed through studying?

Then the sage replied.

-Yes. I guarantee it. Your talent is equal to or even greater than mine!

-…!!!

And so began Moon Ji-seop’s hellish study life.

He entered the orphanage’s study room for the first time in his life, begged his homeroom teacher to give him spare copies of teacher’s edition workbooks, and spent his meager allowance on study materials…

“If I ever so much as kick a ball during break time again, I’ll cut off my toes!”

-he solemnly declared, only to get scolded by the teacher for saying gross things.

But Moon Ji-seop really did quit soccer. Considering that soccer balls radiate an irresistible charm to elementary school boys, it took almost superhuman patience.

However, if studying worked just by making up your mind, then private academies wouldn’t be raking in money like they do now.

Walking the long and lonely road of the hellish-study-life, Moon Ji-seop was constantly tempted by evil spirits:

-Do you really think you’ll succeed by studying? Let’s just go play…

-Eun-joo seemed to like you… shouldn’t you try dating at least once?

-How about spending your allowance on Malatang?

-Why sacrifice sleep to study? You’re at an age where sleep is important…

These were fatal temptations, but as a Christian mission orphanage resident, Moon Ji-seop knew how to cast out Satan.

When Jesus fasted and prayed in the wilderness for forty days, even when the devil came to tempt Him, He defeated it with these words:

Man shall not live by bread alone…

“HAA- !!!”

Having read both the Bible and martial arts novels, the semi-believer Moon Ji-seop had become mentally confused, but his lion’s roar had some effect.

With the Lord’s divine protection and the purified inner power of authentic martial arts, Moon Ji-seop banished sleep and temptation, letting out a sigh of relief.

“Hooo……”

But this was only a fleeting moment of peace. Tomorrow, when studying resumed, the same temptations would surely return.

A question arose.

Why was he studying?

To wish for success, he didn’t really have anything he wanted to do when he grew up, and to say he wanted to escape the orphanage for a better life, he was far too satisfied with life at the orphanage.

So then, why was he clinging to this hardship?

It was because…

That unbelievable line he happened to hear in his childhood.

-You’re better suited for studying than for soccer.

“Ah.”

In that very moment, a lightning-like realization struck Moon Ji-seop’s mind.

He wasn’t studying because he truly believed in those words.

Rather…

It was because, despite being the same age and in the same situation as him, he wanted to become like “that boy” who had gained fame in the world and generously helped out their fellow orphanage friends.

It was right then that Moon Ji-seop realized what he admired and what he wanted to become.

He had come to admire the profession of “novelist”!

* * *

After that day’s realization,

Moon Ji-seop’s goal changed to Baekhak Arts High School.

Back in the day, the tuition would have made it unthinkable, but thanks to the suspiciously increased budget of the orphanage, tuition was no longer an issue.

Still, it wasn’t an easy thing. Studying was one thing, but the entrance exam for the Creative Writing Department included a practical test. And in that practical test, kids who had just started learning literature were unlikely to surpass those from the arts middle school.

To make matters worse, this year’s class was overflowing with students and parents who had heard the news about that very “Moon In”. With competition soaring through the roof, Moon Ji-seop getting into the Creative Writing Department of Baekhak Arts High School was an incredibly difficult feat.

But Moon Ji-seop did that very difficult thing.

It wasn’t because he suddenly discovered literary talent.

Moon Ji-seop had only one secret to success.

‘Overwhelming grades.’

That’s right, Moon Ji-seop really was a kid more suited for studying than soccer.

The reason Moon In had brought up studying in the first place was because Moon Ji-seop had once been accepted into the best university among all the orphanage kids.

So, while the kids with outstanding literary talent used the practical exam to make up for their written scores, Moon Ji-seop compensated for his lacking literary power with overwhelming academic scores and succeeded in getting accepted.

In this way, Moon Ji-seop earned the right to reunite with Moon In.

* * *

“Phew…”

Trying to calm his nerves,

Moon Ji-seop slid open the classroom’s wooden door with a rattling sound.

And as soon as he stepped into the classroom, he rolled his eyes around looking for Moon In.

But what he encountered wasn’t Moon In, but a group of students turning their heads like a bunch of meerkats to look at him.

Thanks to them showing their faces directly, Moon Ji-seop realized that Moon In wasn’t in the classroom.

But then, why were the kids in the classroom looking at him like meerkats too?

In that moment, Moon Ji-seop spotted a subtle hint of disappointment flashing across their faces.

That disappointment was oddly similar to what he had just felt.

‘Ahh- I see…’

That’s right.

‘You guys were also looking for Moon In…’

The students sitting in the classroom had also been waiting for Moon In. Turning their heads like meerkats every time a new student entered.

Moon Ji-seop willingly joined the meerkat crowd.

And like them, he turned his head sharply every time a new student entered, checking their face.

Eventually, the meerkat group grew from seven to seventeen, and just when Moon Ji-seop’s neck bones began to protest in pain,

He heard a chuckling sound from somewhere. It was the girl who had just come in and sat at the back.

That girl was giggling with another girl next to her, mocking those around them.

Moon Ji-seop secretly listened in on their conversation.

“Looks like everyone’s looking for Moon In?”

“Keep waiting forever. As if Moon In’s going to show up…”

Startled, Moon Ji-seop spoke up to them.

“Do you two happen to know Moon In?”

“…!”

“…!”

The two girls looked at him in surprise, staring blankly. Moon Ji-seop awkwardly added an excuse.

“No, it’s just… the way you talked, it sounded like Moon In isn’t coming…”

Moon Ji-seop felt stung, as if he had been branded a creepy boy (which he was) who eavesdrops on other people’s conversations.

But fortunately, the response Moon Ji-seop received wasn’t “Ugh… gross…” but rather a strange sense of pride.

The two girls smiled with twitching lips as they looked at Moon Ji-seop.

“Ahh… so you don’t know? ‘That’?”

“Can’t blame you for not knowing… if you’re not from Baekhak Arts Middle School…”

It seemed the two girls in front of him had attended middle school with Moon In.

With a desperate expression, Moon Ji-seop asked,

“What is it? Tell me too…”

Knowledge is a precious thing and not something to be shared recklessly. However, Moon Ji-seop’s appearance was a luxury brand in itself, with enough “persuasive power.”

The two girls cleared their throats and began to unravel their bundle of knowledge.

“This is a secret, but…”

“Yeah. Yeah.”

“Moon In-seop is currently in seclusion.”

Seclusion?

Moon Ji-seop knew what that meant too. Thanks to the sports teacher at the orphanage, who always cursed at the TV while watching the news. Isn’t that what defeated politicians do after an election?

Either that, or was Moon In some kind of ascetic practitioner, severing all ties with the world to shut himself away in a room? But he was such a successful novelist, after all.

“Why?”

“That, we don’t know either.”

Moon Ji-seop tilted his head with a confused expression.

“But today’s the entrance ceremony…”

“He didn’t even come to his own graduation. Why would he show up for the entrance ceremony?”

“…!”

So Moon In was…

A delinquent among delinquents who skipped both his graduation ceremony and entrance ceremony?

When Moon Ji-seop’s face showed shock, the two girls licked their lips, as if they were about to expose the true nature of the delinquent Moon In-seop, unknown to others.

But Moon Ji-seop’s reaction was something they hadn’t expected at all.

“That’s amazing!”

“Wha?”

“That’s so like In-seop. Doing something we couldn’t even imagine, just like that… Yeah! If you’re from New Light Spring Orphanage, you’ve got to have that kind of spirit!”

Among the two girls, the one who managed to keep a grip on her senses spoke to Moon Ji-seop about common sense.

“Uh… when someone skips both the graduation and entrance ceremonies, shouldn’t you feel like something’s wrong?”

“Not at all! It’s thrilling!”

“Did you get electrocuted or something?”

* * *

Popularity or being in the spotlight.

This invisible resource is something that gradually depletes over time. Actress Kim Byul, who had gone through a ten-year dark age, knew this better than anyone.

But the Best Actress Award from the Cannes Film Festival brought with it an overwhelming level of fame that was difficult to burn through. It was, truly, immortal glory.

Kim Byul did her best to consume that fame.

Partly because her agency wanted her to, but mostly because her popularity had become so intense that ordinary life was no longer possible.

Fortunately, popularity is a consumable resource. Kim Byul burned through it with commercials, variety shows, upcoming projects, and the passage of time.

After rotating through a schedule on par with that of a top idol for several months, she finally managed to enter a period of rest.

Such was the life of an actor.

A cycle of activity and rest.

Since it’s a profession where you have to row when the tide comes in, you’re too busy to breathe during the active period, and during the ebb tide of rest, there truly is no work.

But for the first time, Kim Byul had a rest period not because the work had dried up, but because she was too exhausted to continue.

Only then was Kim Byul able to look back at herself.

Her reflection in the mirror was still pretty and fresh, but she looked rather tired, and she had grown a bit taller.

Overall, she didn’t look much different from before.

But Kim Byul had undergone a major change.

It was a change that could not be seen with the eyes.

Over the past few months, what Kim Byul had done could be summarized as exchanging “popularity” for other resources.

And Kim Byul exchanged her popularity for fame and money.

As a result,

Kim Byul became an S-tier actress and became even wealthier.

“…Ahem!”

Well, to be honest, maybe not quite S-tier… more like somewhere between A+ and S-.

Anyway, compared to her past when she was below a C grade, she had risen unimaginably high. Now, all she had to do was avoid drunk driving, drugs, affairs, abuse of power, and gambling.

Having reflected on herself like that, once Kim Byul had gained some breathing room, she began to look around at those close to her.

And of course, included in that “around” she had to look back on was Moon In.

It was only natural, he was her friend and benefactor.

However, when Kim Byul tried to check on Moon In’s condition, he was already gone from that place.

No matter how hard she searched, not even a trace of him could be seen.

* * *

“Just where the hell is he!”

Kim Byul often scoffed at celebrities who caused scandals. Even after achieving the popularity and fame she so desperately desired, how could they not manage themselves and end up throwing it all away with their own hands? Truly spoiled behavior.

But now that she had experienced it, she understood. People inevitably cause big or small scandals in life. It’s only because they’re celebrities that their “mistakes” become “sins”.

And so, after holding it in and holding it in, Kim Byul finally snapped and committed the sin of “abusing power” by raging at an executive of a major company.

It was a vulgar and base kind of tyranny, threatening to use her status to make someone suffer if they didn’t give her the answer she wanted.

Fortunately, Baekhak Publishing’s Publishing Management Department Director Lim Yang-wook didn’t report Kim Byul’s abuse of power to the media, but instead obediently cooperated with her threat.

“Whew… Don’t tell anyone I gave this to you…”

After several weeks of a long and exhausting fight, Kim Byul received an address from Lim Yang-wook.

“This place is…?”

It was a quiet public rental apartment complex.

*****

If you enjoy this novel, please review and rate it at Novelupdates. Thanks!

Join our Discord to receive latest chapter announcements or to report mistakes: .gg/GGKyZWDuZM