NOVEL NEXT C29
Chapter 29: Interlude: Other People’s Stories
December 19th.
A day after, Yoo Seon-woo led buses and brought hundreds of people from campus to the city.
At that time, Yoo Seon-woo borrowed a car from Kang Hyunseok and brought Seol Do-yeon to prepare for ‘development.’
But before that happens, an unexpected guest arrives to talk to him.
A man who never left the shelter and was looking for a hidden piece.
It was Lee Jung-min Jung-min.
“Please…tell me something. I don’t know of any special way to become stronger than others…….”
Lee Jung-min Jung-min felt embarrassed even as he spoke.
Not because he asked someone else, but because it was a very strange thing to say.
It was a request to be strong in the modern world.
And he felt embarrassed to ask for this, even though he knew the world had changed.
He felt very confused for a moment.
“Okay, so stop.”
Yoo Seon-woo thought he had nothing to lose, so he opened his mouth with the intention of dismissing the uninvited guest.
His advice, which was meant for Lee Jung-min Jung-min only, was this.
“Just keep defending this shelter. Until the day the undead are gone.”
“What’s that…….?”
“You don’t have to be a hero, just don’t quit. Even if you can’t be the main character, you have to live like one to have a chance.”
It was the kind of advice Lee Jung-min Jung-min could have expected.
Don’t give up and keep doing what you’re doing.
It’s the same advice you’d expect from a nearly 20-year-old game fantasy novel about how to gain special powers.
But as obvious as the advice was, he was suspicious.
He wondered if Seon-woo was just faking it to have one more person to guard the shelter.
“You don’t have to believe me, there’s not just one way to do it.”
But Yoo Seon-woo only said that it was up to him to decide whether or not to follow through.
After hearing that, he realized that there wasn’t much to be gained from deceiving each other.
“Excuse me…….”
Eventually, Lee Jung-min Jung-min made up his mind.
‘I’m going to do what Yoo Seon-woo said.’
[Your story will be told to the world.]
It’s what he would have done anyway, even if he hadn’t gotten any advice.
[※ Story completion level: 2 → 3]
* * *
In fact, Lee Jung-min Jung-min was already well known at the shelter by that point.
He’d been at the forefront of hunting down the undead since the episode began, and he’d stayed busy until the wee hours.
Few people realize it, but his presence was also the reason why there weren’t many casualties on the first day of the episode.
But Lee Jung-min Jung-min was unimpressed by the accomplishment.
“Thank you!”
“Everyone else was quitting… Thank you for sticking around. Would you like some of this?”
It wasn’t because he didn’t get anything in return.
Some of the protected people thanked him sincerely, as was their routine.
Lee Jung-min Jung-min didn’t take it sarcastically and felt it as a favor.
He just wasn’t happy about it…maybe because he didn’t realize his own accomplishment.
He assumed that the outcome would have been no different without him.
……If not all, maybe because he was only looking at the results in the status window.
[Your story will be told.]
In any case, today, Lee Jung-min Jung-min continues to clean up the undead.
He never thought of quitting.
[※ Story completion level 3 → 4]
* * *
[‘Undecided’ proficiency has reached Lv. 2.]
A day later, Lee Jung-min Jung-min got his first achievement.
He sought advice again from Yoo Seon-woo, who happened to be at the shelter.
Yoo Seon-woo had been watching him the whole time and immediately gave him various pointers.
Lee Jung-min Jung-min had no reason not to listen.
“The story is undecided right now. Isn’t that right?”
“Yes. I could use some of the abilities that are common in fantasy.”
“Use a little more imagination. It’s your story, so even if it’s undecided, I’m sure you can create whatever phenomena you want as long as the genre allows.”
“Does that……change anything?”
“It’s kind of like how you get better at martial arts faster if you learn it than if you just fight a lot.”
Yoo Seon-woo sat down on the bench and watched him, as if to say that it was up to him to decide.
Once again, Lee Jung-min Jung-min was fooled and took the advice, and it paid off.
Lee Jung-min Jung-min became stronger.
[Everyone in the shelter remembers you.]
[Your awareness rating is now D+!]
[Your ‘Undecided’ skill has become Lv. 3.]
Good things happen at similar moments.
It just happened to happen on the same day, but awareness also increased along with proficiency.
“……hahaha.”
Within a few days, Lee Jung-min Jung-mid was laughing from the heart.
It felt like a sense of accomplishment that couldn’t be filled with words of gratitude was pouring out all at once.
If he can go from 1 to 2, he can go from 2 to 3. And so on.
He can prove that his story has value.
[Your story will be told.]
‘I’m really happy for today, but I’m also inwardly grateful to Yoo Seon-woo.’
Lee Jung-min Jung-min continued to hunt the undead as usual.
[※ Story completion level 4 → 5]
That day, Yoo Seon-woo watched Lee Jung-min Jung-min closely.
Since he had nothing to do but wait for the story to unfold, his observations continued late into the night.
“……I don’t know if it’s okay.”
Lee Jung-min’s story is growing.
Yoo Seon-woo understood the connection between the two and worried about the future.
[※ Story completion level 5 → 6]
* * *
—
[Undecided]
#post, #warrior, #cliche
Awareness Rating: D
Proficiency: Lv. 3
—
December 21st.
Lee Jung-min Jung-min sighed as he looked at the status window, which showed no sign of growth or improvement.
Normally, the message would tell him to keep going if he was doing well, even if he wasn’t improving right away.
But today, he pulled an all-nighter and still hadn’t made any progress.
“This sucks…….”
Negative thoughts twisted in Lee Jung-min Jung-min’s head.
In fact, from the beginning, he had been aware of his limitations.
An internet post that he couldn’t remember when he wrote had gotten a lot of views.
What a ridiculous awakening.
His story was flawed in every way, that’s why he hunted harder than anyone else, expecting to get something out of a story with the least amount of pretense.
He believed that if he did something right for a few days, he would get another chance but the result is the same as it is now.
There was no growth in proficiency and awareness, and his story shows no sign of changing from undecided.
He’s losing ground to the undead, who are getting stronger by the minute.
In the end, he wonders if everything he’s done so far has been for nothing.
Maybe he should have never awakened, so he wouldn’t be disappointed.
“……Haah.”
But Lee Jung-min Jung-min got up again.
There were fewer and fewer people guarding the shelter, and he saw no point in quitting.
[Your story is shared with the world……]
…It’s not going to happen.
I don’t think that’s possible.
The idea that everyone has a story to tell is just a comforting pun.
There are stories that are worth nothing, stories that get no attention.
And that includes him, Lee Jung-min Jung-min thought sincerely.
“…….”
He didn’t even realize that Yoo Seon-woo was still watching him without saying a word.
[※ Story completion level 6 → 7]
* * *
—
[Undecided]
Awareness Rating: D
Proficiency: Lv. 2
—
December 22nd. The last day of the Apocalypse.
On that day, Lee Jung-min Jung-min went out of the shelter to patrol, but he didn’t look happy.
When the person guarding the shelter with him asked him if he was feeling unwell, he replied with a moderate response and sent them away.
“……What did you expect?”
Lee Jung-min Jung-min no longer had any expectations for himself.
He didn’t care anymore whether Yoo Seon-woo had come to visit him today or whether the way he had told him was the right way.
Unlike the phrase he saw every day, he was sure that his story would never be told.
[Your story will be told.]
But Lee Jung-min Jung-min didn’t stop doing what he was doing.
Even when he was told the opposite of what he thought, he still triggered and used his story.
“Thank you again today.”
“You don’t look well, are you okay?”
“I’m fine.”
Lee Jung-min Jung-min didn’t know why he didn’t quit.
[※ Story completion level 7 → 8]
He just assumed it was a habit.
“……guys? Look at that.”
It was then.
“That undead… doesn’t its condition seem strange?”
“What? Where are you talking about?”
“Take a good look. There…uh, huh?”
Morning passed into daylight.
In the hands of Yoo Seon-woo, the development that would end the episode began.
* * *
A horde of undead rushed in, more than the shelter could handle.
The shelter was being pushed further and further back as it was guarded by police and other lesser-known people who had no story beyond the general public knowledge.
It wasn’t just a problem here, it was inevitable.
The very fact that people have come together to create shelters means that they can’t protect themselves alone.
Those with a strong enough story are left alone to defend those around them or to find a way forward.
In this situation, as the undead grow stronger across the country, the shelters are only going to get more damaged.
‘……I can’t help.’
Lee Jung-min Jung-min reflected on the situation and fell into despair.
Yoo Seon-woo, who often came to visit and give advice, was not at the shelter.
Nor was the woman who sometimes came by drunk and helped protect the shelter.
For a moment, Lee Jung-min Jung-min worried about them, but then he heard the rumors that were circulating around the shelter and relaxed.
The rumor was that the source of the trouble was at the center of the red mist that had appeared earlier, and that some people had gone inside.
They must have headed into the mist, Lee Jung-min Jung-min was sure.
‘Either the undead disappear, or they fail, one of two ways.’
Lee Jung-min Jung-min recalled the day he received Yoo Seon-woo’s advice.
He told him to stay in the shelter until the undead disappeared.
He believed him and followed it, and it worked for him, but now he hasn’t accomplished anything.
‘……I wonder if that advice is still valid?’
Lee Jung-min thought as he wiped the blood from his head.
Even though he was still at a standstill after listening to his advice, it was clearly effective.
It seemed unlikely that someone who was trying to solve such a huge disaster himself would have given such bad advice.
So, Lee Jung-min asked himself a question.
‘If I’m really going to die, why am I here?’
If it’s for growth, he can quit because he’s given up.
If it’s about responsibility, there’s no power, so there’s no responsibility.
If it was a habit, he wouldn’t even think about it but Lee Jung-min didn’t quit.
And now he can tell you why he didn’t want to quit.
At first, he just wanted to make his story stronger.
[Your story will be told to the world.]
Now, he just wanted to protect people, even if he didn’t get to be the main character.
[※ Story completion level 8 → 9]
* * *
……After a while, Lee Jung-min opened his eyes.
His body didn’t move, and someone dragged him and sat him down around the shelter.
‘I… think it was an explosion.’
Through blurry vision, he looked back at his body.
His body was covered in black blood, and he could feel the pain where the blast had caught him.
He had been caught in the explosion of an undead body.
“…….”
He saw black and white before his eyes.
He couldn’t move, and all he could hear was ringing in his ears.
He lost all hope of ever returning home.
Yet, strangely, Lee Jung-min felt no regret.
He couldn’t be the hero but he didn’t want to dwell on that anymore.
Even if he can’t be the main character, if he acted like one, he can at least follow along.
That’s what he’s hoping for now.
He would like someone to help him follow along, to move a little bit more.
[Your story has established a worldview.]
[Do you want to start a story with a new worldview?]
Then the question came back to him.
Story.
The ability of an individual to put their thoughts and feelings into a story and materialize it in the world.
If you have enough text and pages to fully project yourself into the story, it will have a title; if not, it will remain a story without a title.
Using an untitled story with a firm intention and putting yourself on the page, that was the gist of the advice Lee Jung-min received.
“Ugh, ugh…….”
His vision was still blurry, but he could see the message clearly.
He knew what he had to do now, and he knew what would happen when he did it.
With joy, Lee Jung-min reached out with all the strength he could muster in his weak arm.
It wasn’t that he was happy to have realized his dream.
He was just glad that he still had something left in him.
[Your story begins.]
And so, his story unfolded in the world.