Chapter 1
The 24th floor of Yuil Planning’s headquarters.
“Impossible.”
The head of the Sales Division broke the heavy silence.
A large table was surrounded by fifteen people in total: twelve executives and the representative from the client side. Spread across the table were documents containing disastrous sales graphs and inventory reports.
“Three months. You’re telling us to get rid of all 200,000 sets within that time?”
Despair was evident in the Sales Division head’s voice.
“Even now, we should pay the penalty to our partners and postpone the schedule…”
“No. It’s possible.”
Everyone in the conference room turned their eyes toward the source of the voice. A woman in her mid-twenties sat there with a confident expression.
“Team Leader Im…!”
Im Hayun, Creative Director of Yuil Planning.
The youngest recipient of the Grand Prize at the Korea Advertising Awards, and a legendary figure who had risen to the top of the industry at the age of twenty-five.
Not a single project she had touched had ever failed.
Her appearance changed the atmosphere of the conference room.
“Six weeks will be enough.”
“…Pardon?”
The Sales Division head asked back with a bewildered expression.
“Team Leader Im! Even you can’t do that. They say three months is impossible, so what exactly are you planning to do by cutting it in half?”
When Hayun pushed back, the face of the twenty-year veteran Sales Division head reddened.
“Heh.”
But Hayun didn’t even blink. Instead, she casually pushed her tablet PC forward as though tossing it onto the table. Then, accompanied by a buzzing sound, a presentation screen unfolded in midair like a hologram.
“The reason you failed is simple. It’s because you were simply trying to sell a product.”
Hayun stood from her seat and slowly walked toward the holographic screen. The sound of her high heels echoed throughout the conference room.
“Then a cosmetics company should sell cosmetics. What else would it sell?”
“Desire.”
Hayun moved her finger, and the presentation screen advanced to the next slide.
“Niacinamide, hyaluronic acid, improved skin elasticity… Do you really think consumers are going to read words like these? No. They won’t even be interested.”
She snapped her fingers, and the screen changed again.
“What they want to know is how special this product is.”
“Special…”
The head of the Marketing Division muttered. There was interest in his eyes.
“Will applying this cosmetics make me more beautiful? That’s not it. How special am I because I own this cosmetics? That’s the key.”
Confidence filled Hayun’s voice.
“We have to make them want it, want to show it off, and become unable to resist taking pictures and uploading them. We make the consumers advertise our product themselves.”
Nearly twenty people were staring intently at her, but Hayun didn’t blink once. She spoke firmly.
“Recall all the products currently on the market.”
“W-What? Recall the inventory? We don’t have enough time to sell even one more!”
The Sales Division head shot to his feet and shouted. His face had turned bright red.
“Director. Calm down and hear me out until the end.”
She had faced this kind of opposition countless times before.
At first, everyone had called her crazy, but the results had always been successful. Hayun calmly continued her explanation.
“First, put every product away in the warehouse. Then, a month later, announce that due to problems with the supply of raw materials, it will be available for a limited time of exactly six weeks.”
“But…”
“At the same time, we’ll launch viral marketing. Provide influencers with only a small quantity of the product, and absolutely do not give them a sales link.”
Hayun snapped her fingers, and the screen advanced. One by one, specific marketing strategies appeared.
“And one week later. Put a timer on the official website.”
[Current remaining quantity: 200,000]
“We’ll display the number of units available for purchase like this, and show the number decreasing in real time.”
“That’s…”
The conference room stirred at Hayun’s strategy.
The despair in their eyes was gradually replaced by anticipation.
“People don’t even look at things that are everywhere. No matter how good a product is, they’ll simply pass it by. But what if you tell them they can’t have it? That’s when they’ll start getting desperate for it.”
Hayun spoke in a voice filled with conviction.
“Make them anxious. Create the fear that if they don’t get it now, they’ll never have it again. That’s the most powerful purchasing motivation of modern people.”
“Will 200,000 sets really sell that way?”
“They’ll sell and then some. No, to be precise, there won’t be enough.”
Hayun answered confidently.
“I guarantee it on my name.”
Hayun’s track record itself was a guarantee.
Three years ago, she had been the person who took an outdoor brand on the verge of bankruptcy and raised it to number one in the industry.
Everyone had said the project was impossible at the time, but she succeeded in just four months, and that brand had since grown into a massive company boasting annual sales of 300 billion won. Before that, she had rebranded an old, worn-out regional soju and achieved the second-highest market share.
Every project she touched was guaranteed to succeed. And that legend was still being written.
“Hmm… If Team Leader Im is that confident.”
The advertiser slowly nodded after hearing the presentation.
“All right. We’ll trust you this once. But I want a progress report once a week.”
“Of course.”
Once the advertiser gave his approval, Hayun stood up, grabbed her jacket, and immediately left the conference room.
Click. Click.
The sound of her high heels echoed like the announcement of a victory.
“Phew.”
After confidently leaving the conference room, Hayun let out a small sigh.
A perfect presentation. A perfect conclusion.
But behind it all, crushing pressure was weighing her down.
‘I have to succeed no matter what. Failure doesn’t exist in my career.’
An endless sprint toward success. That was the life of Im Hayun, known as the advertising genius.
***
“Hayun, you’re working late again?”
Hayun’s colleague Sujin asked worriedly when they ran into each other in front of the elevator.
[11 p.m.]
The empty lobby was filled only with the sound of the cleaning lady mopping the floor.
“Yeah. The launch is next week, so I don’t have time to rest. You go ahead.”
Hayun held up the briefcase in her hand and forced herself to smile brightly. But that smile looked terribly forlorn.
“Hey, you’re really going to collapse at this rate. Work is important, but you need to rest when it’s time to rest.”
“I’ll rest once this one is over. I really will.”
It was a lie.
Hayun knew it.
There was no such thing as ‘this one’ being the last.
Once this project was over, another project would be waiting for her.
To maintain her title as an advertising genius, she had to constantly prove her success.
A single failure was unacceptable.
No, she couldn’t accept it.
That was how Hayun always pushed herself mercilessly.
“You didn’t forget about next Friday, did you?”
“Next Friday?”
At Sujin’s words, Hayun suddenly remembered a schedule she had completely forgotten about.
“Ah, right! The reunion.”
“See? You’d forgotten again. Are you going to skip it again?”
Since graduating, Hayun had never once shown her face at a class reunion.
Hayun clasped her hands apologetically.
“…Sorry. I’ll definitely go this time.”
“Really this time?”
“Yeah, I’ll definitely go. For real.”
Another lie.
An important meeting had already been scheduled for next Friday. But Su-jin was her only friend and colleague, and Hayun didn’t want to disappoint her.
Ding!
Just then, the elevator arrived, and Hayun hurried inside as though escaping.
“I’ll somehow make time, even if it’s only for a little while. See you then!”
“You have to come!”
With those words, the elevator doors closed.
Only then did Hayun let out the long breath she had been holding back.
“Haa… At this rate, I’m really going to collapse…”
[2 a.m.]
After finishing her overtime work and going down to the underground parking lot, Hayun sat in the driver’s seat and lowered her head blankly.
‘I’m exhausted. So exhausted…’
When had it started?
When had she stopped enjoying this work?
When she had first entered the industry, everything had been exciting and fascinating.
Coming up with new ideas and watching them become reality.
She had enjoyed every part of the process.
But now?
It was nothing more than a struggle to keep herself from collapsing, without feeling anything at all.
Click.
Out of habit, Hayun opened the console box on the passenger side.
What she took out of the console box was a peculiar pair of curved jade pieces that fit tightly together as though they were one.
It was the only keepsake her father, an antique collector, had left behind.
[Hayun, do you know what this is?]
[No. What is it?]
[It’s a rare treasure, the only one of its kind in the world.]
[But there are two of them, aren’t there?]
[Haha, even though they look like two pieces, they’re actually one. These two fit together to form a single whole.]
Just as her father had said, the two pieces of curved jade were so intricately interlocked like gears that no force could separate them. As if they had been one from the very beginning.
Hayun treasured the curved jade, the one keepsake her father had left behind.
“Dad…”
When the smooth jade touched her fingertips, strangely enough, her heart calmed down.
“Phew. I’ll go home, take a shower, and think about it…”
Hayun fiddled with the curved jade for several minutes before finally starting the car.
Another long day was waiting for her tomorrow.
Vroom.
Hayun drove out of the underground parking lot.
Seoul was quiet in the early hours of the morning. Only the streetlights illuminated the empty roads.
“…”
Hayun drove while staring blankly straight ahead.
Then it happened.
Screeech―!
Suddenly, the sound of tires scraping against the road rang out, seeming to tear her eardrums apart.
“Huh…?”
By the time she heard the sound, it was already too late.
Suddenly, a large truck came charging toward her from the opposite lane, crossing the center line.
The headlights drew closer and closer.
Crash―!
An enormous impact followed.
The airbag deployed, and shattered glass scattered in every direction. The tightly fastened seat belt caused pain that felt as though it would tear her apart.
‘What is this?’
As her consciousness began to fade, Hayun saw an intense radiance pouring out of the curved jade. Then the light began to envelop Hayun.
‘Am I going to die…?’
Along with the light, everything around her began to move in slow motion.
The shards of broken glass floated in midair, and even the rain that had been pouring down seemed to stop completely.
It was a bizarre sight, as though time itself had stopped.
‘No, I can’t. I still have a mountain of things to do…’
Even at a moment like this, Hayun’s mind was filled with nothing but worries about work.
Whoosh!
For a moment, the curved jade radiated a brilliant light before completely enveloping Hayun.
And when the light disappeared, Hayun was nowhere to be seen.
***
“Hey there! Wake up! You’ll get into trouble if you sleep here!”
A faint voice reached her through the depths of her consciousness. Someone was shaking her shoulders vigorously.
‘An emergency room? Am I alive?’
Her mouth was parched, and her head felt as though it would split apart.
Enduring the pain, Hayun laboriously opened her eyes.
“Ugh… Huh?”
Hayun opened her eyes and stared at the person in front of her with a bewildered expression.
For some reason, a man with his hair tied in a topknot was looking down at her.
“Phew, you’re awake? I thought you were dead. It’s truly a relief.”
Seeing the man’s clothes, Hayun was struck by an even greater shock than the traffic accident.
‘Who is he? No, more importantly, why is he dressed like that…?’
The man was dressed in clothes that looked as though they belonged in a museum. He even had a wooden A-frame carrier on his back.
Hayun asked in a hoarse voice with difficulty.
“Where… am I?”
“Where else? Mungyeong Saejae.”
Mungyeong Saejae?
How could that be?
Hayun naturally assumed the man was joking.
It was physically impossible for her, who had been in the middle of Seoul just moments ago, to be at Mungyeong Saejae.
But when she looked around, a landscape resembling the real Mungyeong Saejae unfolded before her.
Hayun’s brows narrowed slightly.
‘Is this really Mungyeong Saejae?’
But soon, Hayun shook her head from side to side.
‘No. The Mungyeong Saejae I know doesn’t look like this.’
The fact that small houses were clustered together in the distance indicated that this was a village where people actually lived.
The problem was that all of those houses were thatched-roof houses. And there wasn’t a trace of civilization anywhere around them… not a utility pole, not a road, nothing.
‘Where on earth am I?’
Realizing that something was wrong, Hayun got to her feet.
“Ugh…!”
The aftereffects of the accident came crashing over her belatedly. Every muscle in her body was screaming.
Desperate to call for help, Hayun frantically searched her pockets.
‘It’s not here? It’s gone?’
But there was nothing. Her bag, wallet, identification card, phone…
Even the curved jade that had been her father’s keepsake had disappeared without a trace.
‘Calm down. Just calm down and figure out the situation first.’
Hayun took a deep breath. Then, maintaining her composure, she looked at the man in front of her and spoke.
“Excuse me, but could I borrow your cell phone?”
“Cell phone? What in the world is that?”
The man clearly had no idea what a cell phone was.
Hayun gave a helpless laugh.
“Oh, come on. Don’t joke around and just lend it to me. I lost my phone.”
“How can I lend you something I don’t have?”
“You really don’t have one? A cell phone?”
“I swear, I don’t. Do you take me for a fool?”
Judging by the man’s reaction, it was clear that he wasn’t lying.
She was momentarily flustered, but she also thought that it was possible in a remote place this isolated.
Hayun managed to remain calm.
For now.
“Then surely you have a telephone, right? Please let me make just one call. I beg you.”
“A telephone? What’s that supposed to be?”
“You don’t know what a telephone is either?”
Hayun was slowly beginning to feel anxious. Before long, her voice began to tremble.
“Then what about 119? Please call 119 for me. I’ll compensate you generously.”
“Miss, did you perhaps hurt your head? In all my life, I’ve never heard such words.”
“What? You’ve never heard anything I’ve said before?”
A man who didn’t know cell phones, telephones, or even 119. And the bizarre surroundings, where there wasn’t a trace of civilization.
‘No way…’
An ominous premonition flashed through her mind.
“Excuse me, what year is it right now…?”
“Let’s see… It’s the thirteenth year since the new king ascended the throne, so it’s the Year of the Red Sheep.”
“The king?”
At the mention of a king, Hayun felt as though her heart had dropped.
And what on earth was a Year of the Red Sheep?
By this point, Hayun was beginning to realize that something had gone terribly wrong.
“The Year of the Red Sheep? Exactly what year is that?”
“Goodness, you don’t even know that? What a strange young lady.”
Modern-day Hayun had no reason to know the sexagenary cycle. Clinging to the last bit of hope, Hayun asked:
“Then, could you at least tell me the name of the king who is currently reigning? I mean, the king’s name.”
“How could people like us dare to utter His Majesty’s name so carelessly? We’d be dragged away for committing disrespect.”
The man hurriedly lowered his voice.
Instead, he chose to phrase it indirectly for Hayun.
“All I know is that the ruler of our country is the grandson of the late King Sunjo.”
“Sunjo!”
Hayun’s face turned deathly pale at the answer.
She didn’t know much about history, but fortunately, she had memorized the entire Joseon royal lineage beginning with ‘Taejeongtaesemunse-dan…’, so she knew who came after Sunjo.
‘Heonjong…!’
The 13th year of King Heonjong’s reign.
In the Western calendar, that was 1847.
Roughly 200 years ago.
‘This is impossible! Have I fallen into the Joseon era?’
Hayun had fallen into the very heart of Joseon, ruled by King Heonjong.
Comments (0)