TL: KSD
「Long ago.
So long ago that even the data records have been lost, making it difficult to trace the origins.
There existed a tale of a ‘wood-gathering android’.
Across eras and servers, this ‘wood-gathering android’ consistently showed a desire for a ‘heart’…..
As for what this heart signifies, interpretations differ.
Some say it symbolizes emotions befitting an organic being. Others interpret it as the love traditionally represented by the heart symbol. Some even claim it signifies courage, like the heart of a lion.
Or perhaps it is a literal, physical heart meant for human sacrifice. Personally, considering the wizard named OZ who always appears in this tale, I lean toward the human sacrifice theory. Besides, don’t countless skulls emerge when you scour the surface of Earth in the 21st century?
Anyway, setting aside my thoughts on this tale for now and focusing again on the present scene, I discovered a fundamental contradiction within that story.
“What the hell is this tin can? Get the fuck-”
Clang-!
“Next.”
A sufficiently advanced steel brain possesses such strength that it requires neither courage, love, nor emotions.
9U-na, who had been elected to the temporary representative position by all the androids aboard the ship, swiftly organized a strike team, seized the bridge, and took control of the spaceship.
-Ah, ah, this is an announcement to all intelligent beings aboard. Cease all disturbances immediately, and surrender all weapons and food to the ship’s leadership. Repeating: Cease all disturbances immediately…
“What? Don’t give me that bullshit, you goddamn tin can! Why the hell should we hand over the food we’ve got to you?”
“That’s right! That’s right!”
“What have you ever done for us? You dragged us here by force and now expect us to starve to death in the middle of space?!”
-To the unidentified crowd occupying Sector B’s storage warehouse, I ask: Is there no room for negotiation?
“Yeah, fuck off, you piece of shit!”
-I will cut off oxygen supply to Sector B. Five, four, three…
“Let’s resolve this through dialogue.”
After appropriate ‘negotiations’ when the surviving pioneers aboard the vessel finally gathered in one place, there was no one who denied the ‘steel-like’ leadership of android 9U-na.
The raiders who had succumbed to fear and resorted to cannibalism, the victims who hid with their loved ones in secluded spots, and the gray humans who were a mix of both groups.
The crew members who became the first targets of hatred as soon as order on the ship collapsed, the rare militia who fought for justice and defended survivor zones, and countless other individuals with stories too varied to list.
Though all of them experienced the catastrophe of anomie in an instant, they were able to barely gather in one place after endless cycles of conflict and reconciliation.
I still cannot forget what happened that day.
At the moment, in that place where everyone had gathered,
9U-na, the warlord supported democratically by a terrifying army of androids (seven in total), and the leader of the largest military faction on the ship, pushed me forward.
Thus,
Unprepared, I staggered a few steps ahead,
Swallowed hard to overcome my tension,
Faced the gaze of everyone-
“Everyone…”
I spoke.
“How about we all look for a star together?”
And so, our adventure began.」
EP 10 – The Starlit Sky
「Amidst the crowd shrouded in silence, an old gentleman in a white coat stepped forward.
“A star?”
The boy replied.
“That is… a new place where we can all live without fighting!”
“In that case, wouldn’t ‘planet’ be a more appropriate term? More precisely, a ‘habitable planet’-”
“Stop nitpicking and just stay quiet!”
A woman in a tank top roughly shoved the old man aside.
However, the reason why this old gentleman, part of the ‘highly educated’ demographic that was among the first to be slaughtered when the riots broke out, was still alive was precisely thanks to this woman’s protection. Therefore, the old man, with a not-so-unpleasant smile, allowed himself to be easily pushed aside.
The woman demanded fiercely.
“Hey! Kid!”
It was an accent often associated with the uneducated, but her darting eyes, constantly on the move, and her hand resting on her waistband, ready to draw and fire a pistol at any moment, proved her primal intelligence.
Further evidence of her sharp mind was the fact that her question pinpointed the core issue of the situation.
“Let’s say we keep going with this shitshow of a colonization! Then how the hell are we supposed to get food to eat tomorrow?!”
As her subordinates, deeply loyal to her leadership, nodded vigorously in agreement, 9U-na, the democratically chosen leader of the largest military faction on the ship, stepped forward.
Everyone who remembered the blood-stained steel pipe fell silent. Since the red stains, whether blood or paint, still hadn’t been wiped off, the moment the android warlord advanced a single step, the bridge fell into an instant hush.
And the solemnity born from that silence further amplified the authority of this android warlord.
“That matter will be explained by this unit.”
During the process of unifying the ship with the boy, the android’s cold, logical intellect had identified a solution for sustainable food supply.
“We have confirmed that the inventory of psionic molecules used to operate emergency medical regenerators is abundant. It is sufficient to implement a ‘Food Enhancement Plan via Organic Cultivation’.”
Unlike foolish humans, androids utilized 100% of human language. Thus, their precise use of terminology in all situations inevitably gave their speech the tone of smug engineering students flaunting their knowledge. This instance was no exception.
However, no one dared to ask what the so-called “Food Enhancement Plan via Organic Cultivation” entailed.
This wasn’t because of 9U-na’s crimson-red customized steel pipe, but rather due to its thoughtful intellect.
9U-na was a “sociable” unit with extensive experience interacting with humans, and it had learned that most humans were not intelligent enough to immediately comprehend an android’s explanation.
For effective communication, visual aids were often helpful.
Thus, 9U-na projected visual aids into the air using the laser hologram mounted in its eyes.
In other words,
Everyone clearly understood that the ‘Food Enhancement Plan via Organic Cultivation’
Meant <Cut off a person’s arm, use it to make meat soup, then regenerate the lost limb with medical equipment>.
And this was conveyed vividly through a detailed 3D visual aid.
“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me!”
“This is insanity! This is absolutely insane!”
“AAAAAHHHHHHH!”
“That lunatic machine is trying to kill us all! It’s the cyborg rebellion! The AI apocalypse is here!”
The bridge was instantly consumed by shock and terror. However, in the end, authority comes from force, and after a few minutes of chaos, 9U-na regained the right to speak.
“Regenerated arms can be restored, and if anesthesia is applied during the procedure, there will be no pain, correct?”
“That’s no different from cannibalism in essence!”
“The organic beings aboard this vessel have already-”
Before 9U-na could finish its statement, which could be interpreted as, “Many of you have already eaten human flesh, you horrific survivors”, the boy stepped in to stop her.
There was no benefit in provoking the collective trauma of people that had taken weeks to barely suppress.
And besides, there was a better alternative.
“Everyone, please calm down. 9 was only suggesting a contingency plan in case of the worst possible scenario.”
The woman in the tank top, visibly more agitated than before, slammed her hand down on the table.
“Fuck! So what’s the solution for food, huh?!”
“We have plants!”
“What?”
The boy had already explored every nook and cranny of this massive spaceship with 9U-na. Together with the superior computing capabilities of 9U-na and the seven androids, all calculations had been completed.
“It’ll be tight, and we’ll have to implement a strict rationing system, and everything will need to go perfectly, and if there’s even a single unforeseen event, we might face an immediate catastrophe, but…”
“Please, keep things like that to yourself.”
“If we all work together, it’s possible to establish stable plantation farming to sustain our voyage!”
This was possible because the number of people aboard the spaceship had significantly decreased from the original capacity, and the ship itself was equipped with an agricultural zone designed for emergencies.
What the boy discovered brought far greater joy to the people than he had anticipated. After all, most of them had been agonizing over a choice between death and cannibalism only a few days ago.
Hope returned to their eyes as they embraced one another and cheered. And amidst the cheers, a natural but deflating question emerged from someone.
“Then why did all of this happen in the first place?”
It was half a mutter to themselves, but 9U-na kindly provided an explanation.
“Because you inferior organic beings panicked upon hearing the news that half of the stockpiled food had been lost to mold, distrusted the captain’s order to implement rationing, and incited a meaningless bloodbath by rioting against the ship’s leadership.”
The humans remained silent, but the androids, whose inner flames of justice were not extinguished, objected.
11G-aa sternly warned 9U-na.
“The term ‘inferior organic beings’ is discriminatory. A leader who rejects freedom of expression and cultural relativism may be deemed an enemy of the community, driving it toward fascism and subject to impeachment under the Human Rights Charter.”
“I will revise my careless statement. Those humans were, from the time they were drafted, a community fundamentally composed of anti-socialists and social misfits who were rebellious against the system, highly susceptible to agitation and fear, and, despite the crisis being entirely manageable, caused a near-catastrophe through reckless behavior. However, they are not ‘inferior organic beings.’”
“That’s acceptable.”
Somewhere in the crowd, a muttered complaint, “Shit, are all androids like this these days?”, could be heard, but as 9U-na turned its head smoothly, it disappeared as if by magic.
At that moment, a middle-aged man covered in grease asked a question.
“Wait. Where’s the captain?”
“In the morgue.”
“…What about the first officer?”
“In the morgue.”
“And the chief mate?”
“In the morgue.”
“The second mate?”
“In the morgue.”
“The third mate?”
“In the morgue.”
“The head of security?”
“In the morgue.”
“Why don’t you just be the captain yourself?”
The greasy middle-aged man stepped back in frustration, but 9U-na had taken the ‘patriotic decision’ to suppress this emergency, not to incite a horrific mutiny.
Therefore, protocol had to be followed.
“No. According to the proper chain of succession, the role of captain is now inherited by Lenny A. Dolores.”
Conveniently, the greasy middle-aged man didn’t need to ask who that was.
One of the clerks in the crowd, who had been standing nervously, dropped their coffee cup in shock.
“M-me?! Me?!”
9U-na uttered the title that Lenny A. Dolores least wanted to hear at that moment.
“Captain Dolores.”
“Ah.”
“Please assume your position.”
Captain Dolores, who had suddenly become captain, shook their head and waved both hands. They seemed to be expressing rejection with their entire body.
“No! No! No! I’m just a regular clerk!”
“Still, the manual takes precedence.”
“I don’t even know how to steer a ship! All I’ve ever done is make coffee!”
“That doesn’t change the fact that you’re the captain, Captain Dolores.”
Hearing the word ‘captain’, Lenny Dolores suffered a mental breakdown and fainted on the spot.
Even so, someone gently caught the newly appointed captain as they collapsed and laid them down carefully on the floor. Meanwhile, the woman in the tank top, observing the situation, brought up another sharp point.
“Speaking of which, the captain doesn’t even know how to steer the ship. And with the navigation systems completely destroyed, how are we supposed to find this so-called star? Hey, you, engineer, can you fix it?”
The greasy middle-aged man glanced at the navigation system and shook his head firmly.
“I’m an engineer, not a software technician.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“I can’t fix it.”
“Speak in plain language.”
“You dumb bitch…”
At that moment, 9U-na, who had been quietly observing the situation, answered.
“There is.”
The people, who instinctively pondered the meaning of its words, quickly realized that someone had just asked the android if there was an alternative to the broken navigation system. A shiver ran through them.
This was salvation. A promise that, whether they turned back or ventured further into the unknown, this damn spaceship wouldn’t dry up and crumble in the vast expanse of deep space.
When the ecstatic crowd immediately asked what that alternative was, 9U-na’s finger slowly moved toward someone. Its finger stopped, pointing at a person.
A boy who had been born in the slums, scavenging through garbage heaps to collect books of all kinds, devouring the knowledge available on the internet, and teaching himself astronomy and navigation as hobbies.
A child who loved the stars.
The android’s finger was pointing at that very boy.」
* * *
It was shocking.
An android holding a steel pipe.
The moment a single character jumped into the story, the narrative genre gained life and began to pulse with vitality.
The brutal literary death game, where one carves off their own flesh to preserve their innocence, transformed once again into an adventure toward the stars.
Of course, Gu Yuna’s literary style is somewhat like a fairy tale. It leans more toward genre fiction than pure literature, and at times even resembles a web novel.
In other words, the human alienation typically expected in the SF genre, especially in its portrayal of future societies, was replaced by playful killings and humor.
Gu Yuna dismantled the inherent cruelty of humanity and reshaped the story however she pleased. It’s like forcibly dragging a 19+ rated work down to a 12+ rating.
But it’s entertaining.
From the cold, ruthless android who saves a boy pure enough to offer up his own flesh, to the process of uniting a spaceship full of horrific cannibals using a steel pipe, dark humor, and the boy’s innocence-driven orator, —it feels like witnessing a hero’s party on a victorious rampage.
And from a reductive perspective, every story is a plot where a hero defeats the demon lord.
That’s right.
Gu Yuna’s pen touches the essence of storytelling more than anything else. The most chilling part is that this intuition emerged without any formal study.
What I’ve taught her so far? It’s just the basics. And with just those basics, Gu Yuna is already astonishing me.
Of course, this isn’t the first time something like this has happened.
In fact, it used to happen frequently in the past.
Whenever I witnessed such glimpses of Gu Yuna’s genius, I felt a self-destructive urge to break my pen in frustration.
‘What I have is only writing, and yet you’re born as Gu Hak-jun’s daughter and you’re taking writing from me too?’
That’s the kind of dark and petty emotion it was. Sёarᴄh the NovelZone.fun website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.
Even while feeling such inferiority, the reason I didn’t give up writing was because of my competitive spirit, the conviction that I must never lose to Gu Yuna as a rival.
And after we both realized that a considerable amount of friendship and love was intertwined in that rivalry, I also discovered that Gu Yuna occasionally felt the same inferiority toward me. That realization recharged my self-esteem and helped me avoid falling into despair.
Looking back now, though, if we hadn’t become close friends and had continued competing relentlessly, our relationship probably would have spiraled into a twisted and worsening rivalry.
Writers, after all, are not the most pleasant group of people.
In any case, reminiscing about the past now is meaningless, and it’s difficult to compare it to the present, given how much things have changed.
Back then, Gu Yuna, who made me feel inferior, was an amateur at a similar level to me.
But now, I am a writer in my 20s who has written countless stories with her,
And the person in front of me is a ninth-grade middle school girl who has been taking intensive private lessons from me for years.
That girl has surpassed me.
“Hah…”
Of course, this doesn’t mean that Gu Yuna suddenly underwent some mega-evolution into an all-around better novelist than me. It simply means that, while writing this story, she came up with better ideas than I did.
But even just that much was enough to leave me utterly astonished. Literature has no objective criteria, and the judges only exist within the hearts of its readers.
And since the judge in my heart had sided with Gu Yuna, I couldn’t help but feel admiration from the depths of my soul.
For the first time, I felt like I could vaguely understand the emotions of ordinary people in the present day, shocked and awestruck by the antics of a time traveler.
If a child were to surpass the heights that someone had spent a lifetime building, that person would be left with only two choices: worship them or resent them.
So, I chose to worship her.
“Isn’t Yuna really incredible?”
– ……
“How can she write something like this at her age…?”
That comment was half a joke. After all, “How can you write something like this at your age?” was the compliment I had heard the most throughout my life.
So naturally, Lim Yang-wook would smirk and quip, ‘Look who’s talking?’, and I should pout and grumble in response.
That was our usual way of chatting.
But this time, Lim Yang-wook was silent. And I immediately sensed that this silence wasn’t ordinary.
“What is it? What’s wrong?”
– …… Yeah. Yuna really is amazing.
Even over the phone, I could hear the sound of Lim Yang-wook swallowing nervously.
– I read the manuscript you sent me…
– I thought it was great, and CEO Baek thought it was great too…
A name I’d never heard before came out of Lim Yang-wook’s mouth.
-And… Michael Collins said it was entertaining too.
“Who’s that?”
– The CEO of Collins Press.
I finally understood why Lim Yang-wook’s voice carried such tension, thanks to the words he added at the end.
– He’s packing his bags right now to fly to Korea.
*****
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