Chapter 23 – The Main Duty of the Student (1)

It was already evening when Jeongjin arrived at his dormitory. He didn’t bother for dinner and only washed and locked himself inside his bedroom. And while he was inside, he saw Behemoth scratching its fur next to a bowl filled with chicken bones. It seems that Nebo had already provided the cat with water and rice.

“Did Jebedi treat you well? It seems your evening wasn’t bad either. But it’s a miserable sight for a cat like me to eat a bowl of quail filled with mushrooms without fine wine,” the cat complained.

I think it would be better if I were a cat. If I study hard, I have no guarantee to become a better student,” he thought, feeling down.

Jeongjin sat down next to the cat and wrapped its arms around its soft and warm body. He thought hugging the cat would relieve some of his anxieties, but Behemoth flinched from his touch and ran away to the window.

It was his first sleepless night since coming to this world. What had happened the whole afternoon was too much for him. Nevertheless, he was determined.

Let’s do this.

Right away, he took out his notebook and a fountain pen. And sitting on the desk that he had never seated before, he wrote:

1. I am inside the novel. It is being rewritten live.
2. This novel is the ninth revision of “The Final High,” which has rewritten eight times.

2-2. The original novel is unstable because it had been changed too many times. Even using “Editor’s Authority” will mix up new changes with the previous contents.

2-3. In the present, I can’t figure out what contents in the story have been altered from the original.

I suppose the Editor’s authority may not be a good spell to use always… I might be just lucky at the first try. Though, it’s frustrating to fail to activate that skill. But how on earth could I master it if I am scared in the first place?

Jeongjin looked down at the scar on the back of his hand and sighed. He knew that activating it would also hurt Arthur in the process, but Jeongjin felt bothered by something he was not sure of himself.

Stephen King once said that to write is human, but to edit is divine. Thus, creation is a man’s job, but editing is God’s. However, Jeongjin thought that the idea seemed to be wrong. As he pondered it later, he finally understood that God in the story was the author.

Ugh, I’m sleepy now, but I can’t sleep yet.

After he reviewed the current Arthur in the novel, he couldn’t find similarities between the novel he had read and the present. Neither the person nor the progress of the events was the same. He also realized that if he could be an insignificant character in the novel, he might survive the horrible war that would happen later in the story.

Wasn’t it a survival instinct of his human nature to think this way?

Maybe, it’s nice to be a hero like Arthur, but I’d instead choose the comfort of a peaceful life away from the spotlight. 

However, he was concerned that the author wouldn’t give wealth and strength to an insignificant character like him.

What is the purpose of studying for the finals? Is it for God?

Naturally, there was no response. Jeongjin had wondered if ever there was a time when God responded to somebody. He sighed after he pondered and continued to write one more line below the item above.

3. The author cannot solve the problem in the novel by himself. And so far, he only agrees or disagrees with the corrections given using the ‘Unique Skill.’

Afterward, he finally drew a line and wrote down an additional item.

‘Palimpsest of □□□ ‘

‘The Promise of □□□’

The name Palimpsest came to mind after “Editor’s Authority” failed. However, like “Promise,” the words after “Palimpsest” could not be gleaned.

• And a ring that can connect dimensions to other dimensions
• The original copy of “Writing this World.”

Both were related to the author, and they don’t seem to belong in this story. It would be likely that clues about who the author was were hidden in some parts of the story.

Was it because of my lack of interest in the story and the unresolve clues to identify who the author was that I could not open other functions of Promise? Does this mean that I must delve more deeply into the world?

However, he felt it was too dangerous to get deeper into the narrative just to know the author – He doesn’t want to know; for him, it didn’t matter.

‘Whatever becomes of the story, won’t Arthur still become the king in the end?’

It’s hard to go against the author’s will completely. Even though Jeongjin has tried to co-exist with Clayo, he just couldn’t let himself be used by the author. After all, he never said he would help in the revisions of the novel. But even if he did agree, it’s still useless.

‘Arthur and I have known each other already. But he is suspicious of me. Well, I’m not a friend of the main character nor his colleague. Not even a servant who has sworn allegiance to him. Since I don’t take part in any on these three, I won’t have any problems to deal with,’ he tried to rationalize in an effort to console himself.