Therefore, what Jinseong must do is closely examine that balance.
To determine whether it tilts toward evil or goodness.
Thus, when it is deemed that harm is inevitable and one will tread the same future as before the rewind—
At that moment, Lee Jae-soon’s fate will be decided.
Yes.
Everything was now in Lee Jae-soon’s hands.
Would he become a useful person?
Or a useful tool?
All of that is his choice and his karma, isn’t it?
Just as you cannot feed a horse that does not want to drink even if you bring it to water, no matter how many other paths Jinseong suggests, if he only craves for immediate gains without even glancing at them—
The outcome won’t be favorable.
“It won’t take long.”
And that judgment wouldn’t require much time.
Once Lee Jae-soon starts acquiring information, he will madly seek it.
Unaware that the notebook he holds isn’t a ‘magic wand that spews out information upon offering a sacrifice’ but rather a worthless item that displays pre-set information when activated by a sacrifice, he will feel omnipotent using just the notebook and the information it provides.
Information.
Information.
Information.
The great information.
Information that cannot be easily acquired even with money or connections.
Lee Jae-soon will use his notebook obsessively, almost as if addicted….
And in the end, he will come to realize.
When Park Jinseong, looking bizarre, appeared before Lee Jae-soon and handed him the notebook.
Then he will understand the true meaning of the words left behind at their parting.
—
Lee Jae-soon was delighted.
“NP Studio opens up about the Jung Hoon-sang controversy.”
“NP Studio’s Jung Hoon-sang, acknowledging his responsibilities, has expressed intentions to resign voluntarily…. The vacancy will be filled by Kim Sung-jun. There will be no disruptions in film production.”
“Phi Chicken halts all ads featuring Jung Hoon-sang…. Is a claim for damages possible?”
“Let’s find out about the center of the controversy, actor Jung Hoon-sang.”
“Meta Entertainment: ‘The atmosphere has become heated. We will not entertain inquiries regarding Jung Hoon-sang.'”
“Actor Jung Hoon-sang decides to reflect. Netizens say, ‘Silence is not the answer. Apologies and clarifications are needed.'”
Everything was going well.
Everything.
Everything indeed!
Using the information gained from the notebook regarding actor Jung Hoon-sang, he proved his ability and received looks of envy and jealousy from his companions instead of disdainful glances. And those who had previously looked down on him began to throw subtle jabs at him.
But all of this was a source of joy for Lee Jae-soon.
Indeed, unremarkable things attract no one’s interest.
Isn’t jealousy something reserved for those who pose a threat?
He believed that them keeping an eye on him was merely a startled response from realizing he had shown his true colors, and he firmly thought he would spread his wings and soar high without being affected by their trivial antics.
However, something did irritate him.
“Aigo, Jae-soon. Oh, a senior as magnificent as the sky. Jae-soon, you surprised me; I didn’t expect this big achievement from you? Wow. Good job. Since you can write articles this well, I wonder why you were struggling before. Did someone write this for you, or did you buy this article? Just joking, just joking. Look at you getting all worked up over a light joke. You’ll never be a good journalist.”
“But isn’t it a bit much not to tip off your senior if you’re gaining good information? What kind of seniority is it if you don’t do that? It’s a truth of workplace life that doing a favor for your seniors brings you good things. Aigo, here you go again reacting like this. Are you taking my light comment seriously? Who asked for you to share information with me? Were you commanded to dedicate your information to me? Before you do something big, shouldn’t we prepare our hearts and, if possible, allow for a few crumbs of favor?”
“Seeing that, it seems you’re a bit lacking in understanding workplace culture and common sense in journalism. Hey, Jae-soon, I just realized I haven’t been looking out for you much. This kind of thing must be taught and experienced—should be assimilated by your seniors or mentors, wouldn’t you say? You haven’t had that. I guess I better start helping you out now, I really should.”
“This is all~ the sky like senior’s grace. See, Jae-soon, because you’re doing well like this, I, as a senior, want to provide for you, right? That’s common sense. Helping each other, that’s the beautiful world we live in, isn’t it? From now on, I’ll help you, so keep that in mind. Oh, I’m in the middle of reporting now, so let’s catch up later.”
The senior had begun to cling to Lee Jae-soon.
Showing somewhat blatant intentions.
‘This bastard…’
With the pretense of guiding his junior, he clearly intended to stick around to learn more about Lee Jae-soon.
Was this article Jae-soon had just revealed merely a ‘lucky break’ in layman’s terms?
If the article Jae-soon wrote was based on the information acquired from a great source, who could that source be and how could he establish contact?
If Lee Jae-soon possessed sufficient skill and this article was made based on that skill, couldn’t he exploit that closeness to gain some benefit for himself?
Such intentions were glaringly obvious.
‘May that bastard rot!’
But Lee Jae-soon didn’t reject the senior’s words.
He needed his connections to return to the social section.
And…. the ‘notebook’ he possessed was something the senior would never notice.
Who would logically think that sacrifices would be offered in a notebook to gain information?
Thinking of the senior’s anxious face, Lee Jae-soon smiled triumphantly.
And the situation unfolded as he had hoped.
The senior, despite blatantly trying to attach himself to Lee Jae-soon, offered to buy meals and drinks, even attempting to lure him to restaurants to get him drunk and gather information, yet could not uncover his secret.
He could not figure out a source that didn’t even exist.
He couldn’t casually criticize Lee Jae-soon’s behavior, which was no different from usual.
All he could do was tilt his head, pondering, ‘Did he truly hit it big with his own ability?’ or ‘Was it just a lucky shot?’
While observing the senior’s plight, Jae-soon suppressed a smirk, outwardly acting indifferent and starting to use the senior to his advantage.
He gratefully accepted the meals and drinks offered by the senior, and he even managed to get the senior drunk, turning the tables to steal information from the senior’s sources, who had a greedy nature.
And while doing so, he approached those sources, disguising the encounters as coincidences or using the senior’s name for friendly rapport, thus expanding his network.
In the midst of all this, he utilized the notebook effectively.
Though he couldn’t frequently sacrifice small birds or hamsters due to the senior’s presence, he bought marine products from the seafood market and used them as sacrifices instead. Thankfully, the notebook accepted marine products as well and spilled out excellent information.
Such as a famous trot singer being the mistress of a power holder.
Or one of the members of a famous male idol group being in a sponsorship relationship with a wealthy woman in her 70s.
Or a male singer, known for constantly causing trouble in Korea, who rolled around smoking marijuana with a male sex worker while studying abroad in America.
Each piece of information was hard to come by and sensationally provocative.
Lee Jae-soon made excellent use of that information.
“Shocking! The truth about famous trot singer B!”
“The trot singer representative B, in fact, the representative of the ugly entertainment world.”
Having dropped an expose on the trot singer, he engraved the ‘good advice’ that the senior had given him deep into his heart and acted on it.
“The power holder who has trot singer B as a mistress is listed in the Pro-Japanese Person Dictionary?”
“A descendant of pro-Japanese collaborators, the singer became the mistress of a pro-Japanese figure. Is this a reenactment of the Japanese occupation?”
As he was able to slightly access reporters from the social section, he insinuated the information he was privy to, suggesting to them that perhaps they should write follow-up articles, thereby establishing connections with them.
Thus, Lee Jae-soon successfully made connections within the social section.
Of course, it was not comparable to the senior’s connections….
But who cared about that?
He had the notebook!
The notebook was invincible!
The information granted by the notebook was divine!
Yes.
The notebook solved everything for him.
Connections.
Success.
Articles!
“Famous idol member T, heading to a hotel with a woman…?”
“Rich person J says, ‘It was just an innocent meeting as fans. No money exchanged, no ulterior motives.’”
“Is it sponsorship? A sincere love that transcends a 50-year age gap?”
“Netizens rage at T and J, saying, ‘Does that even make sense?’”
“The agency of T firmly states that it’s false. We will vigorously respond to rumors and malicious comments.”
“The agency sounds stern, but is it really just silence? Are they preparing measures?”
The notebook provided excellent information to build his connections within the social section.
Not just limited to causing a ruckus in the entertainment sector, it provided intertwined information that could also become issues in other areas.
Thanks to that, Lee Jae-soon was able to quickly forge his network.
He successfully instilled a favorable perception of himself in the social section, considering the outlook “This guy is quite capable!”
“Extreme depravity. Male singer M—finding a male sex worker while studying abroad…shocking.”
“The repulsive secret hidden behind a good-looking face. What was M doing back then?”
“Photos of the party during M’s study abroad acquired! Here was Sodom and Gomorrah.”
“The Unified Korea Christian Federation protests against M’s agency, ‘Why is such a singer appearing on TV watched by children?’”
“The Unified Korea Christian Federation starts protesting in front of the broadcasting station. ‘Given that M is on TV, children could grow up that way. A removal from broadcasting is a must.’”
“Pastor Kim Deok-soo: ‘Endless depravity will have a malignant impact on society. We will continue to fight until the day M is permanently banned from the broadcasting station for the children’s sake.’”
And he succeeded in creating networks in the religious realm.
By casually mentioning that his parents were Christians, he managed to connect with a pastor of considerable standing in the Unified Korea Christian Federation and successfully nudged information to get him to take action.
Naturally, when the pastor led people into action, it triggered an enormous issue, and Lee Jae-soon’s position changed dramatically from before.
His companions were aghast at Lee Jae-soon.
Having witnessed him continually hit home runs with articles, they could no longer downplay his success as mere luck and could only envy his abilities.
Even the senior’s attitude towards Lee Jae-soon changed significantly.
Where he had previously treated him as a disposable character, the senior now became more cautious and began to introduce people to him or provide real precious advice as though trying to draw him closer.
It wouldn’t be difficult for him to transition to the social section if their relationship grew even closer.
‘Good. Very good.’
The notebook was omnipotent.
It solved all his problems and gave him happiness.
Yes.
With the notebook, he could rise to even greater heights.
Higher places.
More prestigious places.
As long as he had the notebook, none of this was a dream.
“Uh?”
However, there was one thing Lee Jae-soon overlooked.
“Why, why?”
The notebook fell into the category of a consumable.
“Why are the pages….”
The notebook he received originally had very few pages.
“Why are there only this many pages left in the notebook…?”
The notebook was reaching its end.
And on the day the notebook ran out, so too would Lee Jae-soon’s dreams come to an end.
