38 Chapter 38 - Pollen in the Air 1 (1/2)
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Hey everyone,
SootyOwl and ShawnSuh here. We are loving the response you guys are having for the novel and for the work we are doing translating it. We come bearing some news that some of you might not like. As you know, The Great Storyteller is a Korean novel. Under Webnovel and Munpia's partnership to bring Korean novels to a greater audience, Munpia requested that their novels go premium after 40 chapters in order to protect their copyrights and for their authors' benefit.
We hope the you guys stick with us as we watch Juho's future change together, but we understand if you are unable to.
Thank you for your understanding.
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Translated by: ShawnSuh
Edited by: SootyOwl
Chapter 38 - Pollen in the Air (1)
After signaling himself, Juho slowly picked up the pace. The park was quiet. The sound of his footsteps rang throughout. As he went further into the park, he smelled something similar to wet dirt.
Rather than setting a strict route, he chose to run around the park, turning accordingly whenever he reached an intersection.
From time to time, he saw the elderly sitting on wooden benches. 'Perhaps they came out to improve their endurance too,' Juho thought as he ran, gasping for breath.
”I'm so tired.”
Still, he felt significantly better than he had in the past. His body had been pickled in alcohol then. Now, his body was filled with youth. It was a body much less likely to break.
He thought about what had been on the news the previous night. The number one cause of death for people in their teens, twenties and thirties was suicide. With their healthy bodies, the young had no choice but to take their own lives.
”Gosh, I'm dying.”
His head was spinning as if he had inhaled too much oxygen, but he didn't stop. The distorted scenery slowly regained its shape. He was slowing down.
”Haha.”
He let out some laughter in between the heavy breathing and felt the corners of his mouth turning up. It was fun. Despite the slower pace, he kept running. Suddenly, he thought of school.
'Will I be able to survive through the day?' he asked himself.
”Bah, whatever.” He set the rest area in the distance as the finish line and kept on with every bit of strength he had left.
*
”What's with him?”
”I don't know,” Seo Kwang responded as he looked at Juho sprawled on his desk like a wet towel.
Sun Hwa tapped him with her toes as if she were checking to see if he was dead.
”He looks really tired. Shouldn't we let him rest?” Bom said timidly, but Sun Hwa didn't stop.
Juho didn't feel like moving a muscle. Soon, he waved his hands in the air as he sat up. One side of his cheek was red from leaving his face against the desk.
”What?” he asked as he rubbed his cheek.
”I wanted to make sure you were alive.”
”I'm alive and well, ma'am,” he calmly declared his survival.
Now he understood what a dead battery probably felt like. After squeezing out every bit of energy, it closed its eyes with a sense of accomplishment. Though, he felt bad for the teachers. He'd been sleeping through his classes up to that point.
”What did you do last night? C'mon, sharing is caring.”
”You want to come out and exercise with me?”
”What about that statement is sharing or caring?”
”Exercising is nice and caring.”
”All I need is enough strength in my hands to pick up a book.”
”Did you exercise this morning?” Bom asked.
”Yeah. I just ran around the park.”
”You're so diligent.”
”Nah, he'll probably last for another three days or so,” Sun Hwa said after Bom.
'Three days. Considering his condition at the moment, she might be right.' He stretched his weary body.
”So, what brings you to our class?” he asked with a yawn.
”OK, but don't be shocked,” Sun Hwa said.
After making eye contact with Bom, they pulled out pieces of paper from their backpacks. They were transcriptions. Because of the multitude of new trainings exercises as of late, transcribing had been labeled as an independent activity.
In other words, it was optional.
”Ta-da! We finished our transcriptions. Just wanted to show off.”
They must have chosen to write more. Her proud expressions made him think back to his high school days. It was adorable. Seeing something to the end accompanied a definite sense of accomplishment.
To some, it might not be a big deal that they had transcribed an entire book. However, Juho genuinely celebrated with them.
Seo Kwang looked at the stack of paper with envy.
”I still have a long way to go. You guys are fast.”
”This is nothing. Mr. Moon complimented us too. He gave us some candy.”
Sun Hwa took out a strawberry flavored lollipop from her pocket.
”Oh… I don't like strawberry flavored things.”
Seo Kwang's weak rebellion came to an end with Sun Hwa scoffing at him.
Juho thought as he rested his weary body on the desk, 'I should get back into transcribing.'
Though he had been making small progress, he struggled with consistency.
Nevertheless, his writing was potent. Every element was primitive. When one stared into it long enough, it almost felt like he was being eaten alive. Without warning, it plunged deep into the hearts of the readers and then left them in the dust.
”Well, I should finish it at least.”
The two were smiling brightly, and Juho wanted to get a taste of that same joy.
However, he completely crashed as soon as he got home.
'I knew this wasn't going to be easy.'
*
He opened his eyes to the sound of his alarm the next morning and the morning after that. That day marked his third day. He had been on the verge of giving up on the second day, but he couldn't go back to being lazy after one day. Whatever it was, he wanted to commit to it for at least three days. After washing his face with cold water, he dragged his aching body outside.
”I'm here.”
”Hey, I'm here.”
Then, there was a guy waving his hand in front of the park. It was Sung Pil.
He had been showing a strong interest since Juho first brought up his morning exercise routine on the phone. He wanted to exercise with him, in the same place.
”Don't you live far from here? Aren't you tired?”
”It's not too far. I've been to this park a lot.”
Juho couldn't stop him when Sung Pil himself was so insistent.
”Still, the park feels different in the morning.”
Juho agreed. An object changed its appearance depending on the time.
As he stretched, Sung Pil asked, ”Where's your finish line?”
”I'm not sure. How's the rest area in the center of the park sound? There's a vending machine there too.”