“关于送手稿的方法，你是怎么跟余正赫说的?”张霞琼用一种语调表示她对这个男人的不信任。“我看了一下，除了他会玩游戏之外，他似乎对电脑一窍不通，你知道吗？他会知道怎么把小说上传到网站上吗?”
“He can’t personally serialise the novel. That would mean he’d be stuck in a world-line for too long.”
“他不能亲自连载这部小说，这意味着他将在世界版本中停留太长时间。”
“What then?”
“然后呢?”
Han Su-Yeong thought about it for a second, then muttered out. “The most ideal way would be to find someone who can serialise it for us….”
韩素英想了一会儿，咕哝着说。“最理想的方式是找到一个可以为我们连载的人......”
*
⸢The planetary system Z865123. In the year 2020 of the imperial calender….⸥
行星系Z865123。在2020年的帝国日历..
On that day, a webnovel writer named Lee Hak-Hyeon was busy writing up his manuscript inside a one-room flat for students, only to get into a verbal tussle with his editor over the phone.
那天，一个名叫李学贤的网络小说作家正忙着在一个只有一个房间的公寓里写他的手稿，结果却在电话里和他的编辑发生了口角。
– Author-nim, just what are you planning to write this time? What’s the title of the novel?
尼姆作者，这次你打算写什么?小说的名字是什么？
“….It’s the Me-sword Master.”
“...是我剑大师。”
– The Me-sword Master? What is it about?
我剑大师?是关于什么的？
“Okay, so… The protagonist is a method actor in a fantasy world, and he eventually masters his acting skills and also becomes a swordmaster….”
“好吧，那么......主角是一个幻想世界里的方法派演员，他最终掌握了自己的演技，也成为了一名剑术大师......”
– Ah, I see. That’s enough. By the way, didn’t I tell you many times before to never start with the line ‘imperial calender’ this and that?
我明白了够了顺便说一下，我以前不是告诉过你很多次不要以“皇历”这个那个开头吗
Lee Hak-Hyeon listened to the editor’s voice continuing on for a long while afterwards, and his expression became gloomier and gloomier.
李学贤听着编辑的声音，过了很长一段时间，他的表情变得越来越阴沉。
– Have you forgotten what happened with your previous novel? Author-nim, please think about this carefully. I beg of you…
你忘了你上一本小说的事了吗尼姆作者，请仔细考虑一下我求你了。
Lee Hak-Hyeon recalled his previous outputs.
李学贤回忆了他以前的作品。
His debut work, ⸢⸢Orc Philosopher⸥⸥, completely tanked with a pathetically embarrassing score – this novel’s paywalled chapters were bought only by his best friend and no one else besides – and the follow-up he wrote with much fanfare, ⸢⸢How to Become a Famous Author⸥⸥ also tanked pretty hard because, well, he was not a famous author, to begin with. And just like that, this was his third try.
他的处女作《兽人哲学家》(OrcPhilosopher)完全被一个可悲的尴尬配乐给毁了——这部小说的付费章节只被他最好的朋友买走，除此之外没有其他人买走——而他的后续作品《如何成为著名作家》(HowtoBecomeaFamousAuthor)也受到了相当大的打击，因为从一开始他就不是一个著名作家。就这样，这是他的第三次尝试。
“Those who will succeed, will succeed. While those who won’t, won’t. I’m the latter, I guess.”
“成功的人会成功，而不成功的人不会成功。我猜我是后者。”
He was three months behind on his rent, and with what little money he had on him, it’d be difficult to even buy tonight’s dinner.
他已经拖欠了三个月的房租，身上只有很少的钱，连今晚的晚餐都买不起。
Lee Hak-Hyeon stared at the empty Korean word processor page, before rushing up to the rooftop of the building. The ground as seen from the fifth floor looked pretty far enough.
李学贤盯着空白的韩文文字处理页面，然后冲上楼顶。从五楼看去，地面看起来足够远。
“…..Nah. Even then, this is… Hah-ah….. Ng?”
“...不。即便如此，这也是......哈哈......吴?”
Lee Hak-Hyeon rubbed his eyes. Was he hallucinating? Something was wavering before his eyes.
李学贤揉了揉眼睛。是不是产生幻觉了?眼前有东西在晃动。
“What’s going on? My tears?”
“怎么了?我的眼泪?”
A man was standing there. Not just any man, but an incredibly handsome dude wearing a black coat, no less. And a figurine with fluffy fur was sitting on this man’s shoulder. Even a blind could see that this guy was someone extraordinary.
一个男人站在那里。不是随便一个男人，而是一个穿着黑色外套的帅哥。一个毛绒绒的小雕像坐在这个男人的肩膀上。即使是瞎子也能看出这家伙是个了不起的人。
He’d be pretty much perfect as a protagonist from a novel, in a way… “You over there. You seem to be a webnovel author.”
作为小说中的主人公，他在某种程度上非常完美......“你在那边。你似乎是一个网络小说作家。”
The black coat-wearing man’s powerful aura caused Lee Hak-Hyeon’s legs to tremble even unbeknownst to himself. The latter managed to eke out a reply. “Y-yes, I am.”
这个穿黑色外套的男人的强大光环使李学铉的腿颤抖，甚至连他自己都不知道。后者设法勉强作出了回答。“是的，我是。”
“In that case, you should know how to serialise a novel, then.”
“那样的话，你就应该知道如何连载小说了。”
“Well, that….”
“嗯，那个......”
It was at that moment that a realisation dawned on Lee Hak-Hyeon. He’d heard about this weird rumour from someone, somewhere – a legendary tale of those authors who mysteriously vanished from the world, only to triumphantly return with stunning epics in tow. The tale of incredible luck that only a select handful of writers are blessed with.
就在那一刻，李学贤开始意识到。他从某个地方的某个人那里听说了这个奇怪的传闻——一个关于那些作家的传奇故事，他们神秘地从世界上消失了，结果却带着惊人的史诗凯旋而归。这是一个只有少数作家才有幸拥有的不可思议的好运的故事。
Lee Hak-Hyeon realised what kind of a situation this was, and his shoulders began trembling.
李学贤意识到这是一个怎样的情况，他的肩膀开始颤抖。
‘I-i-is this the chosen author cliché ’
我，我，这是选定的作者的陈词滥调吗
If all the webnovels he had read so far had some dose of reality in them, then that black coat-wearing man should take Lee Hak-Hyeon into the world of a novel. And then, he’d ask the latter to fix the conclusion written by another writer. The latter would utilise his brain honed by clichés to its fullest extent and go on to perform truly fantastical feats.
如果到目前为止他读过的所有网络小说都有一定程度的现实，那么那个穿黑色外套的男人应该把李学铉带入小说的世界。然后，他会要求后者修改另一位作家写的结论。后者会充分利用他的大脑，在陈词滥调的磨练下，继续表演真正的奇幻专长。
“Yes, yes! I know how to do it! I shall change your world’s future!”
“是的，是的!我知道怎么做!我将改变你们世界的未来!”
“… ”
” ... ? ? ”
“Please, hurry and take me with you! I may look like this, but I’m a pro webnovel author with prior experience in paid serialisation….”
“请快点，带我一起走吧！我可能看起来像这样，但我是一个专业的网络小说作者，有付费连载的经验......”
A dull thud rang out as something hit the back of Lee Hak-Hyeon’s head. He blacked out immediately.
当李学贤的后脑勺被什么东西击中时，一声闷响响了起来。他立刻昏了过去。
*
[Wait a minute, captain!! What are you doing, knocking the guy out!!]
[等一下，船长!!你在干什么，把那家伙打晕!!!]
Biyu cried out sharply.
碧玉尖声喊道。
They were currently in the planetary system Z865123. They had to go through no less than 17 layers of [Dark Stratum] from Earth they had been living in to barely reach this world-line.
它们目前位于Z865123行星系统中。他们必须通过不少于17层的[黑暗地层]从地球上，他们一直生活在勉强达到这个世界线。
“It couldn’t be helped. He was too talkative.”
“没办法，他太健谈了。”
[….Now what are we going to do?]
现在我们该怎么办
Yu Jung-Hyeok began pulling out several instruments from his inner pocket. “From now on, we need to forcibly insert the novel Han Su-Yeong has written into this man’s brain.”
于重赫开始从他的内衣口袋里掏出几件乐器。“从现在开始，我们要强行把韩素妍写进这个人脑子里的小说。”
[What are you talking about?! Do you even know how long that will take?! Are you going to brainwash people like this every time you enter a new world-line ]
你在说什么！你知道这要花多长时间吗?！每次你进入一个新的世界界线，你都要像这样给人们洗脑吗
“That is….”
“那是......”
When he thought about it, he realised that this method could only take them so far. They couldn’t stick around and keep their eyes on this man forever, and the brainwashing could stop working after Yu Jung-Hyeok had left this world-line.
当他想到这一点时，他意识到这种方法只能让他们走到这一步。他们不可能永远盯着这个男人，也不可能在余正赫离开这条世界线之后就停止洗脑。
[You said that Han Su-Yeong hadn’t finished writing the novel yet, right? We don’t have the time to visit this world again later. At this rate, even if we hand over the novel, the serialisation might stop in the middle, you know!]
你说韩素妍还没有写完小说，对吧？以后我们没有时间再次来到这个世界。以这种速度，即使我们交出小说，连续剧也可能在中间停止，你知道!]
“Han Su-Yeong, that fool….”
韩素妍，那个傻瓜.....
[Stop blaming someone else, and activate that thing called Cloud System or something. Hurry.]
[别再责怪别人了，启动那个叫云系统的东西。快点。]
Since she sounded as if she had a plan here, Yu Jung-Hyeok didn’t argue and did as he was told.
因为她听起来好像在这里有一个计划，于正赫没有争辩，而是照他说的做了。
[Sync your display with mine.]
[把你的显示器和我的同步]
Biyu then began browsing and poking at the [Cloud System]’s files floating up before her eyes. Soon, her hands stopped moving before a specific file.
然后碧玉开始浏览和戳她眼前漂浮的(云系统)文件。很快，她的手在一个特定的文件前停止了移动。
[Dokkaebi King ‘Biyu’ is trying to approach the Cloud System using the authority of the Bureau.] [Will you allow the access to the portion of the files?]
[DokkaebiKing‘Biyu’正试图利用局里的授权接近云系统][你能允许访问这部分文件吗?]
Yu Jung-Hyeok clicked on the confirmation icon. When he did, a transparent thread extended out from the file and got connected to the head of the unconscious webnovel writer.
于正赫点击了确认图标。当他这么做的时候，一条透明的线从文件中伸出来，连接到了这个无意识的网络小说作者的头上。
[Dokkaebi King ‘Biyu’ has exercised her authority and altered the ‘Cloud System’.] [The system’s influence is minimal in this worldview. Additional Probability will be consumed!] [The set-up, ‘Inspiration Sharing’, has been created!]
[多卡比王“碧玉”行使了她的权威，改变了“云系统”。]在这种世界观中，这个体系的影响微乎其微。附加概率将被消耗!][“灵感共享”的设置已经创建!]
Biyu wiped away the strands of sweat from her forehead and spoke. [I’ve synchronised the cloud’s files with this guy’s subconsciousness. From now on, the stories Han Su-Yeong writes in the future will be updated automatically to this guy’s subconscious mind.]
碧玉擦去额头上的汗珠，说道。我同步了云端文件和这个人的潜意识。从现在开始，韩素英在未来写的故事会自动更新到这个家伙的潜意识里。]
Now that was a truly stunning Fable manipulation ability. Even Han Su-Yeong needed quite a lot of time to create a single Stigma, so this…
这是一个真正惊人的寓言操纵能力。就连韩素妍也要花很多时间来制造一个单一的污点，所以这个..。
Yu Jung-Hyeok asked her. “Is this method safe? What if this fool unnecessarily starts suspecting something….?”
于重赫问她:“这种方法安全吗?如果这个白痴不必要地开始怀疑什么呢?”
[Suspect? Not very likely. No, he’s gonna love the change, actually. I mean, he’s being showered by inspirations, so which writer wouldn’t welcome that with open arms? He’ll definitely believe that he’s the one writing this story.]
嫌疑人？不太可能。不，他会喜欢这种改变的。我的意思是，他的灵感源源不断，所以哪个作家不会张开双臂欢迎呢？他肯定会相信他就是写这个故事的人
Biyu smirked and looked down at the still-unconscious man. Yu Jung-Hyeok alternated his gaze between such Biyu and the unmoving webnovel writer as a strange little thought crept into his mind. Could it be that a ‘novel’, any novel, was written like this, to begin with?
碧玉得意地笑了笑，低头看着那个仍然昏迷不醒的人。于重赫在这样的碧玉和这位不动声色的网络小说作家之间交替凝视，一个奇怪的小想法悄悄潜入他的脑海。难道一部‘小说’，任何一部小说，都是这样开头的吗？
Biyu lightly knocked on the head of the unconscious writer and spoke.
碧玉轻轻地敲了敲那个不省人事的作家的头，说道。
[He will probably think that a muse came to bless him or something.]
他可能会认为是缪斯女神来保佑他了
*
When Lee Hak-Hyeon opened his eyes again, he found himself slumped over his own desk.
当李学贤再次睁开眼睛时，他发现自己瘫倒在自己的桌子上。
“….Was I dreaming? Urgh….”
“...我是在做梦吗?呃...”
He slowly got up and wiped his mouth, then began massaging his temples.
他慢慢地站起来，擦了擦嘴，然后开始按摩太阳穴。
That was one strangely vivid dream. A dream where he was being threatened by a man wearing a black coat. And then, there was a figuring floating in the air, seemingly made out of a lump of wool… It seemed rather likely that, him secluding himself in this small room for too long while attempting to write something, had finally pushed him over the edge.
那是一个奇怪而又生动的梦。一个梦，梦中他被一个穿黑色外套的男人威胁。然后，有一个盘算在空中漂浮，似乎是由一团羊毛做成的...看起来很有可能，他在这个小房间里孤立自己太久，试图写点什么，最终把他推下了悬崖边缘。
Lee Hak-Hyeon spat out a long, long groan and switched on the once-empty notebook screen. But on it was… ⸢There are three ways to survive in a ruined world.⸥ ….A sentence he didn’t remember typing was there.
李学铉长长地呻吟了一声，打开了一度空空如也的笔记本电脑屏幕。但是...在这个被毁灭的世界上有三种生存方式。那里有一个他不记得打过的句子。
On top of this, his hands were actually moving on their own to continue typing away.
最重要的是，他的手实际上在自己移动，继续打字。
⸢My ancient smartphone displaying the webnovel platform struggled to move through the screen. I scrolled down, then up. How many times did I do that, I wondered.
我那台显示网络小说平台的古老智能手机在屏幕上挣扎着移动。我向下滚动，然后向上滚动。我想知道我这样做了多少次。
“Really? Is that really the end ”⸥
“真的吗?真的就这样结束了吗?”
“…..Oh?”
“哦?”
Lee Hak-Hyeon looked at his hands typing away at a frightening turn of speed and began wondering if he had finally lost his mind. Hell, he thought that he could even hear some sort of a voice coming from within his mind, too.
李学铉看着自己的手，以惊人的速度打着字，开始怀疑自己是不是终于失去了理智。见鬼，他觉得他甚至可以听到某种声音从他的脑海里传来。
….You tanked badly the last time by making the author the protagonist. How about making the reader the protagonist this time around?
上一次你把作者变成了主角，结果把事情搞砸了。这次让读者成为主角怎么样？
⸢Kim Dok-Ja(金獨子). My father wanted me to become a tough man even if I was left alone so he gave me such a name.⸥
金道子(somethingsomething)。我父亲希望我成为一个坚强的人，即使我是孤独的，所以他给了我这样一个名字。
When he typed one sentence, another one would pop up in his head, and when he finished typing that one, yet another would appear in his mind. Inspirations surged in him like a powerful waterfall.
当他输入一个句子时，另一个会在他的脑海中出现，当他输入完那个句子时，另一个又会出现在他的脑海中。他的灵感像一个强大的瀑布一样涌现出来。
By the time he regained his wits, he had already completed the prologue as well as the first chapter.
