WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: ZERO_SUGAR

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Chapter 101: Camellia Heavenly Horse (2)

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Han San looked through The Camellia Heavenly Demon once more.

It was certainly entertaining, but...

'Is a young man named Kim Yu-jeong really that great a talent?'

Han San did not know much about the Korean literary world of this era.

All he had was a shallow impression that every writer of note wrote novels set in Gyeongseong, with lumpenproletarians as their protagonists, endlessly lamenting their lives.

'Spring, Spring wasn't set in Gyeongseong, though...'

Perhaps Kim Yu-jeong was not such a famous writer after all.

"I hope this isn't putting too much pressure on you, miss..."

"Mm! Of course, there would have to be some guarantee that it could stay this entertaining for all five hundred manuscript pages. The first print run would be rather small too. We'd have to watch the sales before deciding whether a sequel could come out.

"But..."

Ayame adjusted her glasses, smiled brightly, and tilted her head.

"I think it has plenty of potential."

Han San paused, then nodded. His own discerning eye, superior by virtue of time itself, was also telling him that this novel had potential.

"Understood. I'll pass it on."

* * *

A few days later, Gyeongseong.

Hurried footsteps rang out near a rented room in Sajik-dong.

"Hey! Yu-jeong!"

An Hoe-nam flung open the door, then stopped short as he crossed the threshold.

After his illness worsened, Kim Yu-jeong had half given up on life. The corner of his room always smelled of mold, and he would lie shivering beneath a damp blanket without even properly wiping away the blood he had coughed up.

Yet he had changed recently.

He aired the room often and let in plenty of sunlight. On clear days, he always hung his bedding outside to dry.

Bloodstains still remained here and there, but somehow, the room smelled of sunshine.

'Did that wild ginseng hunter who dug up the ginseng send him [Rules for Convalescing from Consumption]?'

Whether it was because of those rules or the wild ginseng, Kim Yu-jeong's complexion had grown much clearer. His bright eyes turned toward An Hoe-nam.

"What's going on?"

"I just got word from Old Man Gye! I ran all the way here to tell you!"

Without even catching his breath, An Hoe-nam rattled off the news like a machine gun.

"A female reporter from the Busan Daily read The Camellia Heavenly Demon!"

"She said it was entertaining!"

"She said that if you can fill a whole volume with something this good, she can arrange for it to be published!"

Kim Yu-jeong looked a little dazed after hearing it all.

"Really?"

"Of course! It's true! From what I hear, that reporter is quite an impressive young lady. You know Hajama Fusataro, that big-shot businessman whose name everyone in Busan knows? They say she's his granddaughter. If things go well, Yu-jeong, you might even get yourself a patron!"

It was still an era when artists struggled to stand on their own. Even as capital was beginning to take root, the culture of artists and patrons still lingered everywhere.

Kim Yu-jeong hesitated.

"I'm not very good at... that sort of thing."

An Hoe-nam faltered too. He certainly could not expect this man to flatter people and cater to their moods.

After clearing his throat, he changed the subject.

"Well, forget about patrons for now! This is a good opportunity, isn't it? Can you write close to five hundred manuscript pages?"

"I've never written such a long novel..."

"There's a first time for everything. Writing wuxia was your first time too, wasn't it? Give it a try! Even a challenge needs an opportunity, and isn't this a fine one?"

"Mm."

"The last scene was Jeomsoon meeting secretly with the protagonist, then being summoned by her mother, the leader of the Heavenly Demon Cult, right? The protagonist returned to Mount Zhongnan Sect as if fleeing. Have you thought about what happens next?"

Kim Yu-jeong coughed lightly, opened the door, and let the autumn breeze wash over his body before answering.

"I've had a few ideas for what comes next. In my story, Mount Zhongnan Sect is in decline right now."

"That was the case."

"In truth, it isn't only Mount Zhongnan Sect. The entire martial world is like that. A young leader of an orthodox sect, oppressed by the holy maiden of the demonic path. Our protagonist is one of the ordinary men you could find anywhere in this martial world."

"Huh, and?"

"An order comes down from the Heavenly Demon Cult. He is to escort Jeomsoon, the cult's holy maiden, as she travels through the martial world. For the protagonist, the leader of Mount Zhongnan Sect in name, what a humiliating order that is. But his entire sect has been taken hostage..."

"So he can't resist!"

"Exactly. So the protagonist sets out on a journey through the martial world with Jeomsoon..."

Thus, the protagonist and Jeomsoon encountered a timid, gloomy, stuttering loser of a witch from the Maoshan Sect who controlled jiangshi. They encountered a seductive sorceress of the Flame Worship Sect, who could freely command fire and lightning. They encountered a villainess of the Beast Palace, with brown skin, beast ears, a tail, and a striking snaggletooth.

Each time, the protagonist and Jeomsoon grew closer, then drifted apart...

As he listened, An Hoe-nam kept slapping his thigh.

"It's going to be a hit! A massive hit! How do you keep coming up with one honey-sweet story after another? Does your bag of stories have no end, Yu-jeong?"

Kim Yu-jeong puffed up a little at that reaction.

"Sometimes even I'm scared of my own talent."

"You should be. Then filling a whole book won't be a problem for you. Let's see, that means this novel will have... the protagonist and his partner continuing on, while every story has a different setting and stage...

"Ah! This is that thing, isn't it? An omnibus! Those detective novels from the West!"

"Pilseung, you're the best! You recognized it! Yes, that's exactly the form I borrowed!"

Kim Yu-jeong clapped excitedly. Even the coughing fit and blood he would normally have brought up at once seemed to read the mood and stay quiet.

"Once the stories have developed enough, I'm thinking of adding a short story with a mystery element too."

"Oh? A mystery? Sword-hero stories, no, wuxia deal with strange powers and spirits, and you want to add a mystery element..."

"I think they'll go together surprisingly well. It isn't cheating by bringing in something that never existed before. As long as I only use things that have been shown in the story beforehand..."

"True! Even that reagent Holmes invented in A Study in Scarlet is, at its core, no more than a kind of martial art. Yet it feels fair because its existence and role are clearly established at the beginning of the work..."

"That's it! For example, the Maoshan Sect's jiangshi art controls corpses. If I establish beforehand that the technique has certain restrictions, then at the climax, Jeomsoon can point out the culprit by saying something like, [You're the only one who could control that corpse.]"

Kim Yu-jeong and An Hoe-nam chattered away excitedly. Writers were the sort who could talk about such things all day long.

Then, suddenly caught up in the excitement, Kim Yu-jeong made a suggestion.

"Pilseung, why don't you try writing wuxia too?"

An Hoe-nam's eyes widened.

"Me?"

"Yes. The wild ginseng hunter who helped me was the one who introduced me to wuxia, but you're the one who pushed me into it. Why don't you write one too?"

"Mm... Now that you mention it..."

An Hoe-nam glanced around, then smiled sheepishly.

"Actually, there is one idea I've been thinking about."

"What sort of idea?"

"Ah, it's a little embarrassing... Are you feeling all right? Why don't we take a walk?"

Kim Yu-jeong gauged his condition. Even after talking this much, his throat only felt slightly scratchy.

"I'm fine. I'm much better than before."

"It does look that way. Is this the effect of that astonishing heaven-seeded ginseng? Or are writers a breed that only awaken their vitality while writing?"

"Haha."

Kim Yu-jeong laughed. Perhaps that was true.

The two stepped outside. Sunlight swirled as though dancing between autumn and winter.

"It's truly a good thing that you're growing healthier by the day. Come on, let's get walking. I was about to go meet another writer I know. That friend has bad lungs too, like you..."

"What? Ah, wait a moment."

Kim Yu-jeong froze, then returned to his room.

He copied out one of the [Rules for Convalescing from Consumption] the wild ginseng hunter had sent him, tucked it away, and asked as he fastened his coat.

"What's this writer friend's name?"

"His name is Kim Hae-gyeong. You've probably heard his pen name, Yu-jeong."

An Hoe-nam smiled.

"Yi Sang."

* * *

【The Camellia Heavenly Demon】

Written by Kim Yu-jeong. Published by Geukkan Publishing in January 1934.

The first printing of one thousand copies sold out in just fifteen days. A single article written by a female reporter in the Busan Daily's literary section had lit the spark.

The article read as follows:

"The skill of newcomer Kim Yu-jeong is extraordinary."

"The protagonist may appear timid, but he comes through when it matters. Jeomsoon is bold and has sharp instincts. Though they bicker, they make up for one another's shortcomings, forming an ideal duo. Together, they carry the story forward and guide readers into the mysterious world of wuxia."

"In particular, the short story that closes this volume, 【Companion of Death】, adds a unique flavor by blending in elements of the detective novels popular in the West."

"Without spoiling the readers' enjoyment, the protagonist and Jeomsoon arrive at the Maoshan Sect..."

【The Continuing Camellia Heavenly Demon】

Written by Kim Yu-jeong. Published by Geukkan Publishing in April 1934.

The sequel to The Camellia Heavenly Demon, which had set gossipmongers abuzz through printing after printing.

The fact that its continuation came out only three months later proved its popularity.

Young literary men gathered in coffeehouses and debated whether the protagonist was a fool or Jeomsoon was a villainess, sometimes even grabbing one another by the collar.

【The Camellia Heavenly Demon Continues Again】

Written by Kim Yu-jeong. Published by Geukkan Publishing in July 1934.

Now the stage moved beyond the frontier.

What must be done to cure the poison left behind by the poison maiden of the Five Poisons Palace of Southern Man? What choice would the protagonist make as Jeomsoon stood before him, transformed into an ice statue by the divine maiden of the Northern Sea Ice Palace?

From the next volume onward, the publisher changed, and numbers were added to the volumes.

【Taepyeong Trading House】

Written by Chae Man-sik. Published by Sanreung Publishing in April 1935.

A wuxia novel depicting the rise and fall of Lord Yun, the famously stingy owner of Taepyeong Trading House, and his family. It earned a reputation for its unusual, in-depth portrayal of relations between government offices and the martial world, a subject earlier wuxia had not explored.

Still, what became most famous was surely the opening line of its preface:

"Yu-jeong, let your hyung make some money too!!"

【The Secret of the Six-Faced Corner of the Martial Forest of Heaven and Earth】

Written by Yi Sang. Published by Sanreung Publishing in May 1937.

"Inside a square, inside a square, inside a square, inside a square, inside a square..."

"The moment protagonist Baekho opened his eyes, he realized he was trapped in a strange world with five other martial artists."

"It was a labyrinth created by an immortal!"

The most controversial work of the Byeongja year, drawing attention with its provocative premise.

Part of the author's preface was excerpted as follows:

"At our first meeting, Kim Yu-jeong, now my irreplaceable friend and the great master of wuxia who wrote [The Camellia Heavenly Demon], [The Chun-chun Clan's Live-in Son-in-Law], and more, advised me to write wuxia myself."

"Now that my health has stabilized somewhat, I have mixed together the poetry I published before with Edgar Allan Poe and Lovecraft, and written this."

As the excerpted preface suggested, the novel's greatest strength was its eerie atmosphere, born from cosmic horror. Martial artists who were practically human weapons compared to ordinary people were no more than toys before immortals, while causality and memory mixed within a labyrinth where time and space had been scrambled.

At the same time, it provoked heated debates such as, "Can this really be called wuxia?" "Since immortals appear, why not call it immortal hero fiction?" and "There isn't even a trace of heroism in it to begin with."

【The Aura of the Calf Sword】

Written by Hwang Sun-won. Published by Sanreung Publishing in September 1937.

"One day, a boy meets the great-granddaughter of the leader of the Martial Alliance."

Suffering from the Nine Yin Severed Meridian condition, she had come to the boy's village to recuperate. In truth, she was a genius with peerless talent.

It was the story of a boy who took the girl as his master, learned the sword from her, and let her go.

This masterpiece portrayed the forbidden romance between master and disciple with both restraint and lyricism, leaving an unforgettable scar in the hearts of many readers. Thereafter, the [Beautiful but Frail Master with Peerless Talent] became a character archetype that appeared in Korean pure wuxia almost without fail.

【The Camellia Heavenly Demon, Volume 15】

Written by Kim Yu-jeong. Published by Sanreung Publishing in January 1938.

The grand finale of the national wuxia series, which was adapted into five motion pictures. At last, the relationship between the protagonist and Jeomsoon also took a step forward...!?

【The Fire of the Martial World】

Written by An Hoe-nam. Published by Sanreung Publishing in June 1947.

In genre terms, it was classified as part of the strange immortal hero fiction that descended from Yi Sang's works.

The protagonist, born into a martial clan, had trained smoothly, risen to the rank of one of the ten great masters, and enjoyed wealth and fame. Then one day, he caught the eye of the foremost sect of immortal cultivation, the Imperial Sun Sect, and was dragged off to a spirit-stone mine, where he was worked mercilessly.

By then, the novel had already earned praise for its bleakness, with readers saying, "Only survivors can write this." Yet around twenty years later, it gained even greater fame through a sequel An Hoe-nam wrote as a parody himself.

That sequel led to the popularity of a comic genre known as [labor wuxia] in the 1970s. In a 1982 interview with Oriental Broadcasting, An Hoe-nam stated that writing the sequel had allowed him to completely cast off the trauma of forced labor conscription.

And so, in the far future, in the Republic of Korea.

A certain high school girl from the Han family, holders of the Republic of Korea Medal of the Order of Merit for National Foundation, stopped studying for the college entrance exam and clutched her aching head.

"Fuck, why did Korean writers write nothing but wuxia?"

* * *

But all of that lay in the future.

Returning to Han's Dakgalbi restaurant in November 1933.

"Yes, Mr. San. Please make sure to pass it on to that writer."

Before a completely empty plate, Hajama Ayame tilted her head as she spoke.

Han San nodded, then finally returned to the main reason he had invited Ayame here.

"So, miss. What is this personal investigation you said you wanted me to help with?"

"Mm."

Ayame straightened her posture. She took out a handkerchief, wiped her lips, and looked at Han San with a quiet expression.

"I've been investigating the religions of this land."

That was what Hajama Ayame said.

Footnotes:

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