How to Survive the Horror Novel I Wrote
Chapter 3
My breath stopped. It felt as though my heart would stop too.
As I stood there, paralyzed by fear and unable to breathe, Ugeum cupped my face in both hands and met my eyes.
“Why are you so frightened? I only did what you wanted.”
“…….”
I couldn’t say a word. Just as Ugeum said, I was the one who had wanted to smash the keyboard in the first place.
Then he added something strange.
“Isn’t this what you wanted me to be?”
“What do you mean……”
“Let’s sit down first. You look pale. I’ll clean up the keyboard.”
Ugeum was attentive and gentle. After he guided me to the sofa and had me sit down, I watched blankly as he cleared away the keyboard’s remains.
I had forgotten. The reason the Night Series became a massive hit was that Ju Ugeum was, quite literally, the perfect man—aside from the fact that he killed people.
Even though it wasn’t a modern romance novel, I had taken so much flak for selling out on the male lead’s charms.
“Ji-an.”
Having tidied away even the hammer, Ugeum returned, sat down beside me, and asked:
“Why did you suddenly want to smash the keyboard?”
It was difficult to answer.
What on earth was I supposed to say? That the new keyboard I bought was cursed?
That not only did whatever sentence I typed manifest in reality, but the protagonist of my novel had stepped out into the real world—and that I was terrified out of my mind because the bastard was a serial killer who might murder me?
And that the bastard was you?
That worse still, the keyboard typed more on its own, so I couldn’t even control you?
I bundled all those answers into a single excuse.
“Just… I was stressed.”
“Did you get writer’s block?”
“……!”
My tongue caught in my throat.
He knew. He knew I wrote novels. Did he also know he was the protagonist of my story?
I quietly read Ugeum’s expression.
He couldn’t know. If he did, he wouldn’t be this calm.
“I understand.”
Ugeum said with magnanimity.
“I know writing is tough, and I know how stressed you get. But Ji-an, I can understand everything else, except for one thing.”
My whole body tensed up. My throat tightened, and my mouth went bone-dry.
Ugeum tossed out the word casually.
“Lies.”
My heart plummeted. Had he seen through me?
“I feel like you’re hiding something from me.”
“That can’t be true.”
The moment I blurted the denial, I regretted it. It was practically giving myself away.
“Right.”
Ugeum smiled faintly.
“It’ll be best if you don’t keep secrets in the future, too.”
Leaving behind that polite threat, he departed.
I staggered back into my room, only to let out a scream and bolt right back out.
Sitting right atop my desk, perfectly intact, was the keyboard Ugeum had just smashed and thrown away.
I couldn’t sleep a wink.
As a result, I was in terrible shape. It felt as if someone were driving an awl into my brain, and my upper stomach was tied in hard knots, making it difficult even to breathe.
It was all because of Ju Ugeum.
And because of the keyboard, which was surely still sitting on my desk right now.
Huddled under a blanket and crouched on the living room sofa, I glared at my phone screen.
‘Product cannot be found.’
I had tried everything—whether a return or an exchange—but the purchase link for the keyboard wouldn’t open. As if it had never existed in the first place.
And that wasn’t all. There was no purchase history, no transaction record, nothing left at all. Even the money I had paid to buy that keyboard had never actually left my account.
My stomach stung from the sheer tension grating on my nerves.
I felt like I was going insane.
What in the world was I supposed to do about this?
That damn keyboard couldn’t be thrown away, nor could it be broken.
As long as that keyboard existed, Ugeum would keep appearing.
I wanted to get away from Ugeum.
Could I manage a safe breakup with that bastard?
I had no idea. The Ju Ugeum I created wasn’t someone who killed just anyone; he selectively slaughtered villains. Yet the second sentence the keyboard had erased last night kept nagging at me.
[Ugeum never kills his lover.]
Why else would that sentence have been erased? Because he might kill his lover. Namely, me.
The more I thought about it, the more terrified I became.
What should I do? Report it to the police? Would they even arrest him if I did? Every murder Ugeum had committed was purely fictional. Before that, Ugeum himself was fictional.
What good would reporting him do anyway? Ugeum was merely a novel character; he had never killed a real person.
You couldn’t report someone for a crime they hadn’t even committed yet.
Even if, at this rate, he would soon kill me.
Just then.
From beyond the bedroom door I had been staring at, the faint sound of typing began to echo.
“……!”
I jumped in fright. Reflexively, I checked the clock.
4:44 AM.
The time alone was as ominous as it got.
This was already the third time that keyboard had moved on its own.
The first was the night before last, when Ugeum appeared in my home.
The second was yesterday evening, when Ugeum came visiting my home.
There was no doubt. Ugeum was coming.
Of all times, in the dead of night when everyone was asleep.
He’s coming to kill me.
In an instant, the blood throughout my entire body turned to ice, and my heart screamed in terror. Grabbing my phone and car keys, I bolted out of the house.
I drove straight to Jung-an’s place.
Jung-an was my high school classmate, my best friend, and the only person who knew I was Mun Seongwon, the author of the Night Series.
Ding-dong.
I pressed the doorbell, but there was no response from inside. I checked the time again. 5:02 AM. Was she asleep?
She couldn’t be out, could she? Sudden dread gripped me.
Ding-dong, ding-dong, ding-dong-ding-dong-ding-dong.
—Hey!
An angry shout erupted from the intercom. Startled, I answered a beat late.
“Yeah.”
—Are you out of your mind? Do you know what time it is? Stop ringing the damn bell! What kind of nuisance is this at this hour?
“I’m sorry. It’s an emergency. Please open the door.”
—Ugh.
A moment later, the front door opened. Having clearly just woken up, Jung-an emerged with disheveled hair, grumbling with a deeply crumpled face.
“It’s Saturday today, Saturday, you delinquent. From the crack of dawn on a Saturday……”
“Please hide me.”
I pushed past Jung-an into the apartment. As soon as I closed the front door and latched the safety chain, Jung-an’s expression shifted completely.
“What’s wrong?”
In a daze of panic, I scrambled onto Jung-an’s bed, pulled the blanket over my head, and huddled against the wall.
If I could, I would have hidden inside an enclosed space like a built-in closet, but this cramped studio didn’t have one.
“You’re making me nervous. What happened?”
Following me over, Jung-an sat on the edge of the bed beside me and pressed urgently.
“Ju Ugeum is coming to kill me.”
A cracked voice slipped from my parched throat.
“What?”
Jung-an asked back in disbelief.
“Are you talking about the Ugeum I know? Ju Ugeum from the Night Series?”
“Yeah.”
Suspicion tinged Jung-an’s eyes as she looked at me.
“Did you have a nightmare?”
“I wish it were a dream.”
I clutched my head and dropped my gaze. My stress-induced migraine had flared up again. It felt as though someone were gouging the back of my skull with an awl. The culprit was obvious without even looking: Ju Ugeum.
Watching me with doubtful eyes, Jung-an suddenly broke into a playful smile.
“You’re messing with me, right? Hey, the acting is decent, but the script is terrible. Who on earth would believe that?”
“I’m not joking.”
“If not that, then what? Is it the premise for your next book?”
Premise for my next book, my foot.
I poured out the whole story to Jung-an.
That I bought a keyboard through overseas direct purchase, and when I unpacked it, it turned out to be a cursed keyboard; that when I typed on it, whatever I wrote actually happened; and that Ju Ugeum had materialized in the flesh and appeared in my home.
“That’s crazy.”
Jung-an said with a grave face. Just as I thought she was finally believing me, she pulled the rug out from under my feet.
“That’s an instant bestseller. It’s so good.”
A surge of anger flared up inside me.
“You don’t believe a word I’m saying, do you?”
“Would you believe it if you were in my shoes?”
Jung-an retorted with an incredulous look.
I clamped my mouth shut. What was the point in talking?
Jung-an’s expression suddenly turned dead serious.
“You need to go to a hospital.”
“Jin Jeongan.”
My expression hardened.
“No, seriously. You’re in bad shape right now. What you’re saying makes zero sense. And what’s worse, you actually believe it. That’s a delusion. You need treatment.”
Not only did Jung-an not believe me, but she was treating me like a psychiatric patient.
I had thought you, at least, would believe me.
Bitterness filled my mouth at the sense of betrayal.
Maybe I should have brought the keyboard and my laptop. If I typed that Ugeum was coming to visit, he really would show up.
No. Summoning a serial killer just because a friend didn’t believe me was insanity.
I wasn’t a water ghost trying to drag someone down with me; just because my life was on the line didn’t mean I could drag someone else into danger.
Especially not a precious friend.
“Once I’m dead, it’ll prove it wasn’t a delusion.”
I hugged my knees and muttered gloomily.
“Hey. Cut the ominous talk and just go to sleep. Do you know why you’re having delusions like that? It’s because you haven’t slept until this hour. You’re sleep-deprived.”
Jung-an pushed me down onto the bed and lay down beside me.
“Get a good sleep, and let’s go to the hospital when you wake up. Get a consultation from a doctor, and take medication if needed. Got it?”
“…….”
Treated as delusional to the very end.
Lying beside me, Jung-an soon began to snore. I was simply envious of how carefree she was.
I couldn’t sleep. The anxiety kept sleep at bay. I stayed up with eyes wide open through the dawn, and only around morning did I finally lose consciousness and drift off.
In my half-sleep, I heard my phone ringing. In a haze, I fumbled around the head of the bed, found my phone, and grasped it.
“Argh, Ha Jian! Answer the damn phone. It’s so freaking loud, seriously.”
Jung-an, who was sleeping beside me, pulled the blanket over her head and rolled over.
With bleary eyes, I checked the caller ID. It was an unknown number.
“Hello……?”
—Where are you?
A deep, masculine voice resonated through the receiver. The sleep vanished instantly, and I bolted upright. It was Ugeum.
