Chapter 3: Welcome Home

“1999... that means Mom and Dad’s ages are... let me see. Since there’s a 21-year difference between me and them... they must be thirty-six.”  

Before my return, I was thirty-nine.  

The thought of seeing my parents younger than I was back then filled me with an inexplicable excitement. Their faces had aged drastically in a short time, worn down by Dad’s failed business and the endless debt payments, and by Mom’s six months of caregiving during my younger sibling’s illness.  

To imagine facing them again in their mid-to-late thirties made my heart race.  

“Mom’s home.”  

The door opened, and Mom’s voice came through. She arrived earlier than usual, probably because tomorrow was Lunar New Year, so she left work ahead of time.  

Shaking off my nervousness, I moved toward the front door.  

“Ah...”  

Instead of the worn-out sixty-year-old I was used to, I saw Mom’s smooth skin and youthful face of thirty-six years.  

A wave of emotion swept through my mind.  

“Son, what are you doing?”  

Mom’s tone held a hint of curiosity as she took off her shoes and stepped inside, giving me a puzzled look.  

I noticed the ‘川 (cheon)’ character deeply etched between her brows.  

“Oh, welcome back.”  

The thirty-nine years of work experience in my previous life didn’t just vanish. Gripping the rising emotions, I forced myself to manage my expression.  

I stretched my lips into a wide smile and gave a slight eye smile.  

“Hmm, have you suddenly matured? You’re even greeting me properly. That’s my good boy.”  

Mom gently patted my butt and smiled brightly before heading into the living room.  

‘Right, back then, I barely greeted anyone. I was so withdrawn and intimidated.’  

At that time, I was timid and introverted. I had armored myself with the mindset that nothing would work out, so I faced everything passively.  

‘But now, I’m different.’  

Appearance care, fitness, studies—all of it.  

I know that all of these can change through effort.  

The turning point was when I started writing and found peace of mind, overcoming my past of constantly running away and blaming others.  

From then on, I trained myself through exercise, reading, and many activities.  

“Let’s have some snack food.”  

Mom brought a tray to the living room and placed tteokbokki and sundae on the table.  

Foods she avoided after her fifties because they weren’t good for her health.  

But now, in her thirties, these were her favorite treats.  

“I bought tteokbokki and sundae. Let’s eat quickly.”  

“Wow! Tteokbokki!”  

Da-hye, just waking up, dashed out from the bedroom, instantly excited.  

She grabbed a toothpick, poked the sundae, and brought it to her mouth.  

“Wow, this is delicious.”  

At an age to love snacks and casual foods.  

Seeing my sibling’s happy face naturally made me smile.  

“Eat a lot.”  

I wiped the tteokbokki sauce from her lips with a tissue.  

“...Son? Did something happen?”  

Maybe because I was doing something unusual, Mom’s gaze shifted from the sundae to me.  

“Haha, she’s my cute little sister whom Mom gave birth to.”  

I smiled shyly, watching Da-hye enjoy her food with a pleased look.  

“Mom, earlier, Oppa cried so much.”  

At that moment, Da-hye’s unexpected confession left me speechless.  

She had told Mom about what happened during the day.  

‘Ah!’  

An alarm sounded in my head.  

How do I explain this?  

My mind spun wildly, trying to come up with a way out of this crisis.  

“Is what Da-hye said true? What happened?! Is someone bullying you at school?!”  

I was so timid that I had never thrown a punch by lower grades and was just beaten up.  

I was mocked by peers for not being tall enough.  

How would Mom react knowing all this?  

I needed an idea to escape this situation.  

Ah, I remembered.  

This is perfect.  

I decided to take this opportunity to reveal what was on my mind.  

Gathering my thoughts, I looked at Mom.  

“No, it’s just that I regret my past so much. Now I want to live diligently for my dreams and goals.”  

Back then, I had no dreams or goals.  

I just left everything to time. 

It would all work out, I’d work and earn money once I became an adult.  

That was all.  

But now, I had dreams.  

1. To succeed as a writer and build achievements.  

2. To make my younger sibling happier than anyone else and help them achieve their dreams.  

3. To pamper my parents.  

These three goals were what I had always carried in my previous life.  

“Dreams? What kind of dreams?”  

Maybe it was the first time I’d said it out loud.  

“I want to be a novelist.”  

Still, I couldn’t reveal everything. I calmly stated my ambition.  

“A novelist?”  

“Yes, I want to write novels and become a famous writer.”  

“Seung-hyun, that’s... um.”  

In any era, the perception was that writers starve.  

And it was true.  

Less than one percent succeeded.  

The other ninety-nine percent barely earned a living.  

‘But with the rise of the web novel market and smartphones, everything changed.’  

From then on, news of huge earnings from webtoons and web novels hit the nation.  

Platforms boasted annual sales, promoting the profession as one where you can earn over 100 million won, attracting new writers and expanding the market.  

By August 2023, the web novel market had grown to nearly one trillion won in size.  

But that wasn’t all.  

If a web novel succeeded, it led to secondary creations—webtoons, dramas—generating additional revenue.  

‘Works like “Bulk Up Alone” and “Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint” became massive hits as webtoons.’  

These mega-hit works accumulated sales in the hundreds of billions.  

If you delivered good results, you could live a life envied by many.  

There was no reason I couldn’t do it.  

“I can do it. I’ll persuade Dad. Mom, please allow me.”  

Dad was very passionate about education in this era.  

Four-character idioms covered the walls, and problem books filled the shelves.  

Just looking at them made me dizzy and sick of it.  

‘To get permission, I have to prove myself.’  

This was an era when studying solved everything.  

I believed there was no answer except studying, so there was no better way to convince them.  

Convincing my parents required great effort.  

“...”  

I had never asserted myself before.  

Perhaps that’s why Mom was clearly surprised by her son’s stubborn attitude.  

“Believe me.”  

I showed my will briefly and firmly.  

There was no turning back for me now. Only forward.  

“When did our son grow up this much?”  

Mom’s worried face slowly brightened with a smile.  

That was definitely permission.  

“So, Mom, you’re allowing me?”  

“Do as much as you can. But you must take responsibility for what you say.”  

“Thank you!”  

Mom’s smile warmed my heart.  

‘Mom’s done. Now I just have to persuade Dad.’  

The biggest hurdle remained.  

But I was confident in persuading him too.  

No matter how stubborn parents are, they oppose out of concern.  

I believed Dad would understand my sincerity in the end.  

***  

Evening came. The heavy atmosphere weighed down the room as I sat face to face with Dad alone.  

The young Dad’s face bore a stern expression.  

“So you want to be a novelist? A fantasy writer?”  

Maybe because I was the first to ask for a talk, Dad looked quite surprised.  

He’d only ever seen me as a scared kid running away from everything, so this determination to shape my own future must have seemed unfamiliar.  

“Yes. I want to be a novelist.”  

“Why?”  

Instead of rejecting outright, he asked for the reason first.  

It was an unexpected development.  

I realized how posture and tone alone could change the future.  

I remembered when I first wrote.  

I hated even reading books and barely wrote my diary on time, forced to do so.  

Why did I want to be a novelist?  

‘Because I wanted a life turnaround. Because it was something I could start without spending money.’  

That was the outward reason, but the real reason was money.  

Before quitting my job, I took out tens of millions in loans and gambled my life on this.  

For two years, I cut off all unnecessary promises and focused only on writing.  

I slept three hours a day.  

From 7 a.m. to 12 p.m., one piece; 1 p.m. to 5 p.m., two pieces; 6 p.m. to 11 p.m., three pieces.  

I spent the rest of the time studying.  

I clung to it desperately, and after two years, my annual net profit reached eighty million won.  

Afterward, a modest hit passed the one hundred million mark.  

Right before returning, I hit a blockbuster and made my pen name known to the world.  

“This is what I do best, and what I really want to achieve.”  

Now I could say it confidently.  

What I’m best at is writing. Nothing else.  

“Do you know how difficult that path is?”  

Dad’s words came after deep thought, laced with worry.  

“Yes, I know. I researched a lot even while attending school.”  

You don’t necessarily need a university degree to write.  

Majors like creative writing or Korean literature existed, but what mattered more was having your own color, originality, and will.  

Many people write well.  

Yet few succeed.  

Because of whether or not the story is interesting.  

There were too many stories where the author forgot the purpose of genre novels and just flaunted their knowledge.  

Readers don’t read novels to study.  

They read to unwind and find comfort after a tiring day.  

I wanted to be a writer who understood those readers’ hearts.  

“You might see me as young and unstable.”  

That was natural from a parent’s perspective.  

“But please trust me just once. I’ll show you meaningful results. I’ll get grades that you can nod at.”  

For the first time, I clearly conveyed my intentions in front of Dad.  

I met his gaze with firm resolve.  

“I finally have something I want to do. I finally have a real dream.”  

“...”  

“Please believe me.”  

Even if he didn’t allow it, I wasn’t going to give up.  

My life was on the line. I was determined to persuade him through sheer will if necessary.  

“One year. That should be enough.”  

Fortunately, it didn’t take that long.  

Dad surprisingly gave permission in one go.  

“Ah...”  

“If you don’t get good grades in that time, make writing a hobby and focus on your studies.”  

“Thank you! Thank you so much!”  

The highest, toughest wall I thought Dad was turned out to crumble more easily before my sincerity.  

With both Mom and Dad’s approval, nothing could stand in my way now.