An Amazing Gift [Part 2]

“Damn it... F*cking old man... Anyway, it looks like you came all the way here thinking you’re being a good samaritan, but you’ve wasted your time. I purposely threw all that stuff away.”

“Purposely? Y-you said he was your father. The laptop and the glasses... aren’t they all your father’s keepsakes?”

“That’s none of your business! Anyway, take it all back or throw it away in the dumpster out there. It’s nothing but garbage to me.”

The man tried to close the door, but Jaegun quickly held the closing door and pressed on.

“W-wait a minute. What about Rika?”

The man narrowed his eyes.

“How do you know that damn cat’s name?”

“It’s written on her collar. This is your cat, right? You should take her.”

The man smiled coldly and lifted his left hand. That’s when Jaegun realized that it was wrapped in bandages.

“That damn cat did this. It scratched me when I tried to reach out my hands to take it home. F*cking cat. Leave it in the streets or keep it.”

“W-wait!”

Jaegun desperately held the door. “One more,” he beseeched the glaring man. “What was Gunwoo Seo’s job when he was alive?”

The man suddenly dropped his head and let out a long sigh. Then, he spat out the word, “Writer.”

“Wri... Writer? He was a writer?”

“Yes, a writer! He was a writer who worked for nothing and died! Please leave me alone now!”

Thump!

The door closed hard in front of Jaegun. Next to him, looking hopeless, was the continuously crying Rika.

He was a writer...?!

Jaegun leaned against the stairway railing. He couldn’t stand properly as both of his legs were shaking. He couldn’t believe that a dead writer’s memory had been transferred to him, a living writer.

“Meow, meow.”

Jaegun looked down at Rika as he heard the cat crying.

He was suddenly reminded of a line from an occult book he had read once. It said that cats could serve as a bridge that connected the living and the dead.

“Rika. You know something, don’t you?”

“Meow.”

Jaegun squatted down on the ground. He felt like he had lost his mind, asking a cat and expecting an answer. It must have been like the cognitive dissonance that people with panic disorders talked about.

***

Jaegun walked, deep in thought, for a while. And then he found himself in front of his house.

Wait, how did I get back?

He couldn’t remember anything—not taking the subway, nor where he’d been walking from.

Jaegun staggered his way to the second floor and went back inside his studio.

There could be something on the laptop.

After hearing that Gunwoo Seo was a writer, he’d become even more curious. The memories that had been transferred to him were incomplete. There were so many things he didn’t know.

Before even taking off his clothes, he took the laptop from his backpack. When he plugged in the cord and pressed the power button, it fortunately turned on.

This is a really old model.

When he checked the specs after it finished booting, he couldn’t help but scoff.

The main memory was only 256MB. The hard drive was 40GB, operating on Windows 98. He wouldn’t have taken it even if it were offered to him for free.

There’s nothing.

There was no information about a person named Gunwoo Seo. There wasn’t even a search history. Aside from the basic programs, a word processor was all it had.

Jaegun accessed the internet using his own computer and searched the name.

There were many people with the same name. He couldn’t find anything even after he added the keyword “writer.” Even when he tried to search using his year of birth and death, he had no luck.

Did he use a pen name?

There were a lot of writers who published books using pen names instead of their real names. Even Jaegun himself was using one. Since he found nothing from searching Gunwoo Seo, it could mean one of two things: either he’d used a pen name, or he hadn’t published anything.

Vzzz!

Jaegun’s phone buzzed with a call, making him jolt out of his thoughts.

The name “Jaein Ha” was written on the screen as the caller. It was the name of his sister, who was three years older than him.

Jaegun hesitated to answer. His sister’s call reminded him of the reality that he had momentarily forgotten. He had nothing to report that she’d be happy to hear. But she would worry if he didn’t pick up because she still treated her twenty-seven-year-old brother like a child.

Jaegun sighed and decided to take the call.

“Yes, hello?”

“You picked up! I thought you might be sleeping.”

“No, I’m awake.”

“Have you eaten?”

“Of course. It’s late,” Jaegun answered, pressing down his growling stomach.

“What did you have?”

“This and that. Please stop asking. Am I a baby?”

“Of course you’re a baby.”

“Ugh.”

She giggled on the other side of the phone. Then, she continued with a serious voice, “You’re coming home tomorrow, right?”

“I should.”

“Good. You should come see dad. He’s getting old.”

“Okay.”

“Why do you sound sad? Is everything okay?” Jaein asked worriedly.

Jaegun felt bad, but he lied because he felt too uncomfortable to continue the conversation. “I’m sorry, but I have to work to meet my deadline.”

“Oh, you should’ve told me that sooner! Okay, okay! I’m hanging up! Go work!”

Tk!

The call ended right away. She always dropped everything and supported him if it was related to writing, so his excuse had worked immediately.

I’m sorry, Jaein.

Jaein would often say she wanted to live a beautiful single life, but Jaegun knew the truth. She didn’t have the time or money to date, because she was too busy taking care of their poor family.

I don’t have time for this.

He needed to make the excuse he made to his sister true. He clicked the icon on the computer background and opened the word processor. The first draft of his wuxia novel appeared right in front of his face.

Whew...

Perhaps because of the negative comments from his editor, it looked like a lump of simple words or a jumble of characters rather than a novel. Jaegun scrolled all the way up, rubbing his forehead. He was planning to find places to edit, starting from the beginning.

Huh?

As he read the novel, Jaegun’s face gradually turned pale.

He hadn’t thought it was written perfectly, but he’d had no idea it was this problematic. He could spot a bunch of issues that he hadn’t seen yesterday.

This information at this point is unnecessary. The readers will only be bored. Remove this whole thing!

This is a critical scene where the main character learns a new skill and grows, but it lacks description. This needs much more detail!

This woman slaps the main character here? Only a mad person would do that. She should be begging for forgiveness at this point!

Tak! Ta-tak! Ta-da-tak! Tak! Ta-tak!

His ten fingers flew across the keyboard at light speed.

Jaegun couldn’t remember the last time he had fully concentrated on writing like this. He didn’t even have a thought to spare to reflect on that fact, as he was completely focused on the editing.

Fresh inspiration flooded like a wave, putting wings on his fingers.