The Great Storyteller

Translated by: ShawnSuh

Edited by: SootyOwl

‘The Sequel to ‘Language of God’ Finally Announced! Yun Woo Is Coming Back!’

‘The End of His Long Hiatus. Yun Woo’s Comeback Entices the Globe.’

‘Dong Baek Announces the Long-Awaited Sequel to ‘Language of God!”

‘The Story of the Second Installment of ‘Language of God,’ Reported to Take Place in the Past.’

‘The Publisher Speaks about the Long-Anticipated Sequel: “This Will be the Most Depressing Installment of the Series By Far. You’re in for a Shock.”‘

‘Who is Violinist from ‘Language of God?’ Fans Enticed by the Story Alone. “The Story Might Be Received Differently Depending on the Reader.”‘

‘When Did Yun Woo Start Writing the Sequel? A Clip from a Previous Interview Included.’

‘Dong Bake Publishing Speaks on the New ‘Language of God’ Book: “The Protagonist Will Be a Character from the Past. All the Familiar Faces Will also Make a Comeback.”‘

‘The Reason We Should Look Forward to the Sequel: Yun Woo’s First New Book in Two Years. The Wait Is Over!’

‘What Did the Preparation Process Look Like for the Second Series of ‘Language of God?”

‘The Focus of the World within the Sequel to ‘Language of God.’ A Closer Look at the Story.’

‘Yun Woo Invites Readers to the Colossal World within ‘Language of God.”

‘The End of a Long March. The Comeback of the Great Storyteller!’

‘Yun Woo, the Great Storyteller, Comes Back with a New Book after the Movie.’

—

“Finally! It’s happening!”

“New ‘Language of God?’ Why, yes, please!”

“It seems like it’s gonna be about war. I wonder what a war story would be like when told by Yun Woo. Every nation’s had a golden age at some point in history, even the ones that aren’t around anymore. At the same time, I’m sure there are even those that used to lie in ruins at one point in history that rose up to be one of the most prominent countries around. Anyway, can’t wait to find out!”

“He’s finally getting to the traitor! I’ve been really curious about One’s interpretation of the myth. Hope Yun Woo talks about how the traitor came to betray its own kind!”

“Another ‘Language of God?’ Take my money! If Yun Woo’s stretching out an already-massive world timewise, sign me up.”

“Heard he’s made some subtle changes to the languages from the previous series. Languages do change over time, but he goes back in time instead of moving forward into the future. For example, there are certain expressions and names of certain objects that tend to get lost over time. The pronunciation evolves, too. It may be subtle, but it definitely happens. The details are what makes ‘Language of God’ what it is. I can’t wait to find out what the languages were like in the past!”

“I heard he talks about fascism? There must be a reference to World War II.”

“It sounded like he touches upon religious wars and autocracies too. Wonder if the book’s gonna be violent.”

“‘Language of God’ wasn’t exactly the most cheerful book either. Going by the things that have been mentioned so far, I doubt that’s gonna change.”

“I mean, the character’s name is Traitor, so that says a lot. ‘Language of God’ has always been massive and epic in every sense possible.”

“He even went to the military. I’m sure he knows a thing or two about wars now. Besides, you can’t go wrong with Yun Woo.”

“‘Language of God’ is such a good book, whether as a casual read or a book to geek out on.”

“I haven’t even read the book yet, but I’m already having a great time!”

—

“Mr. Moon?”

With all the teachers in their respective clubs, the staff room was quiet. The only teachers who were in the room were those who were excluded from leading a club. In other words, Mr. Moon, who had become popular a few years back, more precisely, when Yun Woo went public, wasn’t supposed to be there. Looking for their homeroom teacher, who was nowhere to be found even after the club activities period had started, one of the freshmen had entered the staff room.

“Mr. Moon,” the freshman called to the teacher.

“What?” he replied, barely managing to part his lips, which had been tightly clenched. He looked rather serious, as if he had gotten some bad news. Nevertheless, he kept his eyes fixed on one spot. Seeing as though the teacher didn’t seem very happy, the freshman said, studying his expression, “The bell rang, and we were wondering if you were coming up. It’s a raucous, and everyone’s doing their own thing.”

“You don’t say?” Mr. Moon said, sounding hassled.

“The club leader told me to go find you,” the freshman said, hoping that the teacher would move to action. However, Mr. Moon remained completely still in his seat, quietly turning the page of the book in his hands after some time.

“What are we doing today?” the freshman asked. At which point, the teacher flipped back to the page he had just moved on from, blatantly gesturing to his student that he was being bothered.

“What do you think you guys should be doing?”

“… Writing?”

“You should be doing whatever the heck you want. Just like I am,” Mr. Moon said, paying no attention to the freshman, who was desperately trying to think of an answer.

At that moment, the dry laughter of the freshman lingered in the staffroom. The student seemed to think that Mr. Moon was joking, thinking that he’d get up and head to the classroom eventually. However, he didn’t move a muscle.

“Mr. Moon?”

“What do you want?”

“Aren’t you coming?”

“I told you, you guys can do whatever you want. What do you need me for?”

At that, the freshman rubbed their hands together anxiously, saying, “… As in, study?”

“As in, do what Literature Club members should be doing,” the teacher said. Then, after a brief pause, he added, “Just like I am.”

The freshman moved his eyes, hopelessly confused and unsure of whether they were even allowed to leave or not. In the end, the freshman decided to walk into the room rather than standing by the door, appearing as if protesting in some way. Meanwhile, Mr. Moon flipped another page of his book. And another.

“Scary,” a voice said while the freshman was standing in the staffroom awkwardly, breaking out in cold sweat and looking anxiously at the teachers walking by.

“That’s Yun Woo’s new book, right? ‘Language of God: The Glory of Traitor?'” the freshman asked, alluding to the thick red book in the teacher’s hands.

“Yep. Written by a former pupil of mine.”

The freshman was also well acquainted with the book. After all, it had been that story that had brought them to join the Literature Club.

“I can’t stand the subheading. Traitor? Glory? I can’t stand that those two words are next to each other. What about the victims of the betrayal? At the very least, he could’ve gone with something like ‘The Betrayal of Glory.’ That would’ve been more reasonable.”

The betrayal by a certain animal had allowed mankind to survive. To them, Traitor was a hero.

“It is a bit mind-boggling from mankind’s standpoint.”

“And that’s probably what the author wants his readers to think.”

“My classmates are borrowing each other’s copies all the time.”

“Really?”

“… What’s Yun Woo like as a person?” the freshman asked, unable to resist their curiosity. Perhaps part of it was their attempt to escape the situation. Thankfully, the freshman’s attempt proved successful, and the teacher finally looked away from the book.

“That’s a surprisingly difficult question.”

“Really?” the freshman asked, imitating the teacher inadvertently.

“Well, to answer your question… He’s quite arrogant in my eyes. Not only did he tell me about his enlistment the day before he went off to the basic training, but he didn’t tell me anything about his new book coming out. He does call me from time to time, but he leaves out all of the important information. Yet, he knows how much I like his writing. What’s worse is that he never tells me what he’s working on while he’s writing. Though, he does send me a copy every time he releases a book. That cheap shot.”

While the freshman was thinking that that wasn’t the answer they had anticipated, the teacher asked, “Well, what do you think of him?”

“Me?”

“What’s Yun Woo like as a person in your eyes?”

Looking at the blood-red cover of the book in the teacher’s hands, the freshman replied without much hesitation, “He’s the Great Storyteller.”

“…”

The freshman tensed up upon seeing the expression on Mr. Moon’s face.

“Mr. Moon…?”

“Right… I see,” the teacher murmured, fumbling with his earlobe and nodding repeatedly. Then, he asked out of nowhere, “Candy?”

Without hesitation, the freshman took the candy from the teacher. It was peppermint. Then, just as they unwrapped it and put it into their mouth, Mr. Moon asked, “Have you read this book?”

“I have,” the freshman replied. Unlike Mr. Moon, who was constantly swamped with work, the freshman had all the time in the world. Since their parents weren’t the type to obsess over their child’s grades either, the freshman was one of the lucky few who could actually afford the time to do other things outside of school.

“Tell me what you thought,” Mr. Moon asked. At which point, the freshman realized that they hadn’t just been making small talk. Nevertheless, it wasn’t such a difficult question to answer.

“It felt like I had received a signal,” the freshman said. Then, as Mr. Moon gestured for them to keep going with his eyes, the student added, “… That he was back.”

The new book felt as though the author was running toward his fans at full speed, blowing off fireworks that exploded into bright red flames. It was as if he was saying: ‘Here I am! Alive and well. Sorry to have kept you all waiting. But don’t worry, I’ll make it worthwhile with my new book. Now, shut up, read, and praise me, the Great Storyteller.”

“I felt terrible for Violinist for having to witness such awful sight. On the other hand, I was on my toes, not knowing when the traitor would make its move. Of course, I already knew what happened. The traitor turned hero. A poor man turned the Great Storyteller. I was put off by the way the titles evolved. Personally, I was nervous to know that the world had been saved by those two people. The book really kept me on my toes. I knew it wasn’t going to happen, but there was a part of me that made me feel like everything would fall apart.”

“Go on.”

“And by the time I start wishing that the world would just fall apart and put me out of my misery, a new character turns up and makes me wanna root for them. Sometimes, I found myself getting disillusioned by the atrocity committed by humans. Nobody seems to understand that their peace came at the cost of countless lives. Whenever Violinist got angry, I got angry. People were just so… oblivious. Way too oblivious.”

“Huh…!”

“What happens when a person kills another person? The population decreases. The book made me much more aware of that principle. It shows the process of the world’s population getting reduced to a tenth of what it used to be. The population of fifty-million decreases to five-million within a century and a half. That means ninety percent of the population was sacrificed! And who was responsible for that? Mankind. The hundred-eyed tribe went extinct, bleeding out from their eyes at the awful state the world was in. Where was God in all that!?”

According to the novel, nothing lasted forever, which was a truth that brought both hope and despair. As the freshman caught their breath after sharing their thoughts on the book, the room sank back into silence. At which point, the student realized that they had talked way too much. However, Mr. Moon turned toward the book as if he hadn’t heard anything.

“I’m gonna go back to reading now.”

“Mr. Moon?”

Despite his student calling to him, Mr. Moon opened the book. However, that wasn’t to say that he was ignoring the freshman altogether.

“Yun Woo, Peppermint, Population Decrease. Tell everyone to start writing.”

“All right.”

With that, the freshman left the room without hesitation. As soon as the door shut, Mr. Moon put the book down and murmured, “The Great Storyteller, huh.”

The teacher reminisced to his youth, but he stopped shortly after starting, remembering that everyone had their own path.

“Life can be intriguing at times,” Mr. Moon said, his first time having that thought at school.

—

“I’m sure it’s crowded. I saw an article earlier. People were already starting to line up before the store even opened.”

During lunchtime, Juho went to the city with Jenkins. ‘Language of God: the Glory of Traitor’ had been released in the States. Showing up at the young author’s door without notice, Jenkins urged Juho to come out. Because he had been sleeping in, Juho listened to the director still half asleep.

“You, me, bookstore. Now.”

Although Juho declined repeatedly, the director didn’t let up. Although Juho had been meaning to visit the bookstore at some point, Jenkins was the last person he wanted to do that with. As Juho resisted, Jenkins said, “We need to see things from the opposite side.”

“What do you mean opposite?”

“As in, opposite of our perspectives in the movie theater.”

Brushing his hair back, Juho replied, “Then, you can go to the bookstore and get the book yourself. You can just read it in front of me.”

“Where’s the fun in that? Buying the book is the beginning of the reading experience.”

From then on, the director quibbled his way through attempts to convince the young author while knowing that Juho was already planning on going to the bookstore. In the end, Juho found himself in a situation that he didn’t particularly want to be in. The bookstore Jenkins took him to wasn’t too far from the hotel.

“I come here often,” Jenkins said. Meanwhile, Juho let out a big yawn.