The Great Storyteller

Translated by: ShawnSuh

Edited by: SootyOwl

“Not at all. It doesn’t bother me,” Coin said with a sneer, confidently and nonchalantly.

Seeing as the author wasn’t giving the answer that he was looking for, the host urged him even more, “If you don’t end up getting that award, that would mean that you lost to another author, one significantly younger…”

Mouthing words silently, the host pointed in a random direction as if quoting a statement made by another person. While the audience broke out into laughter, Juho remained quiet in his seat.

“You ever worry about hearing stuff like that?”

“Never,” Coin replied briefly.

Seeing as though he wasn’t falling for it, the host moved on to Juho and asked the same question, “How does it feel to be considered a rival of Kelley Coin?”

“It’s an honor, really. I’m well aware of his fame.”

“Do you have any thoughts on the upcoming award ceremony?”

Juho turned his eyes and looked toward the audience, among which, were eyes sparkling with interest. They seemed to firmly believe that whoever got the trophy was the winner.

“So, who do you think will get the trophy?” the host asked once again. If what the audience thought was right, then the result had already been decided.

“I think both of us will,” Juho said. At which point, the audience jeered at him. However, it didn’t feel like genuine disapproval. Feeling slightly awkward, Juho rubbed the back of his neck.

“You have to pick one,” the host said with his eyes and nostrils widened

“Why? That’s always possible, though. I’m pretty sure it’s happened before.”

“It’s just not the answer I’m looking for.”

After looking at the host’s large mouth, he said, “Then, I’d say Coin.”

“What makes you say that?”

“I was deeply moved by his book.”

“Blech!” Coin let out, interrupting Juho’s flow, and added, “I think I’m gonna puke.”

Then, the host chuckled and rephrased his question, making it more provocative, as if leveraging Coin’s attitude, “Then, does that mean you’re not confident that you could beat Coin?”

Rather than taking it personally, Juho picked up his mug and drank from it. Meanwhile, the host waited patiently for his answer.

“As long as I’m alive, I’m sure the day will come when I can eventually beat him,” Juho said, looking straight at the host. Then, upon checking the script and time, the host brought up a certain brand, which was a sponsor of the show.

“We’ll be back soon! Don’t you go anywhere!”

Then, the taping session came to a pause, and the host’s face became expressionless. Remaining seated on the silent set, Juho looked at the audience, who seemed to be getting a kick out of it all.

—

“All right! Now, let’s begin.”

As Coin glared fiercely at the large game board, which had been brought out by the staff during the break, the host quickly explained the rules of the game, which raised the audience’s excitement.

“If you call one of the numbers you see on the board, I’ll ask you a question that’s consistent with the number you picked. Should you know the answer, all you gotta do is raise your hand.”

While Coin didn’t seem interested in the game whatsoever, Juho replied affirmatively.

“OK, then! Who’d like to go first?”

“I will,” Juho said, raising his hand, and Coin also signaled with his chin for Juho to go on.

“I’ll go with number four.”

“Oho-ho! Seems like we’re not off to such a good start,” the host said with an ominous smile, which Juho found disconcerting. Then, the host read the question out loud from the script: “List three or more symptoms of alcohol withdrawal.”

“Oh, no.”

The audience groaned and laughed at the same time. Meanwhile, Coin remained calmly in his seat. After looking at him, Juho raised his hand. Although caught off guard initially, the host gave the young author permission to speak.

“Do you know the answer, Mr. Woo?”

“Yes, I do.”

“Well, then.”

“The leading examples are: hand tremors, insomnia, hyperactive autonomic nervous system, vomiting, anxiety, and seizures.”

At that, the host’s looked through the script with widened eyes and said, “Correct.”

“How do you know all that?” the host asked.

“I did some research for a book at one point.”

“And how do you know all those words in English?”

“I am Yun Woo, after all,” Juho said nonchalantly. At which point, Coin gave him a suspicious look.

“OK. There’s one more question on the same subject. Kelley, I’d appreciate it if you’d participate in this one.”

“As long as you don’t get too giddy.”

At that, a facetious look appeared on the host’s face.

“The amount one drinks in a day determines whether they’re an alcoholic or not. True or false?”

That time, both Juho and Coin raised their hands. After some contemplation, the host gave Coin the right to speak.

“The amount doesn’t necessarily make somebody an alcoholic.”

“Correct! Seems like your experience is really shining, Kelley.”

“I’m just ticked off that this guy beat me to the punch with the first question,” Coin said, crossing his legs.

Looking at Juho, the host asked, “I’m not surprised that Coin knew the answer, but I saw your hand go up too, Mr. Woo. I didn’t think that you’d know! Did you?”

“Yes. Though, there’s no way to confirm that now.”

“Not so fast. Would you mind explaining the answer to this question?” the host asked. Juho remembered every single question the doctors had asked him in the past.

“Do you not feel drunk even after you had a certain amount of alcohol? Has alcohol ever hindered your performance at work? Meal, or hobby… So, does getting your fix of alcohol come before other responsibilities? Does your hand shake? Are there any symptoms of withdrawal?”

“Tolerance, withdrawal, compulsion, and obsession,” Coin said, summarizing Juho’s answer. Ambiguous applause came from the audience. However, the host seemed entertained by the situation.

“If I knew that these questions would be too easy for you guys, we should’ve come up with at least ten questions for every subject.”

“I didn’t realize we were raising awareness for alcoholism?”

“Of course, not. Let’s move on, shall we?”

From then on, Juho and Coin took turns calling numbers and answered two questions for every subject, which added to ten questions. When Juho counted their respective scores, they each had scored five points.

“It seems like we have a tie,” the host said after checking the questions that were still left.

“This calls for a tie-breaker!”

“You’re on,” Coin said, immediately calling out a number. After answering various questions about the Earth, physics, history, arts, and politics, Juho thought about the other subjects that were left. At that moment, the host opened his mouth and said a sentence in a mysterious language. Upon hearing it, Juho sat up as the words triggered the language acquisition device within him. It was an ancient language.

“The Rosetta Stone allowed scientists and experts to interpret the hieroglyphs of ancient Egypt. Recently, there’s been news that a similar artifact has been discovered, which enabled linguists to interpret the written languages of fifth-century nomadic tribes,” the host said. Juho had also heard the news while he had been in the military.

“How the hell am I supposed to know that?” Coin said irritably. At which point, the host raised his hand in order to reassure the author, saying, “Don’t worry. It’s going to be multiple choice. So, which one of these is the proper interpretation of…” and repeated the sentence in the same mysterious language.

“Do you not know this?” Coin asked. After a brief thought, Juho replied, “I might’ve come across it once while I was doing some research for a book.”

“So, you should know the answer, right?”

‘Sure, but…’ Juho hesitated. He couldn’t flat out say that he had read an ancient text that had been decoded just recently.

“I don’t think I know this one,” the young author said. However, Coin remained suspicious of Juho. Then, the host went through the choices on the answering sheet.

“A: Steps to performing a ceremony. B: Instructions on training an apprentice. C: Instructions on electing a leader. D: Instructions on raising a warrior.”

After listening carefully, Juho looked up and asked, “Is that all?”

“Yes, it is.”

Then, Juho looked at Coin and then at the audience. Nobody seemed to notice anything strange, unlike Juho, who was slightly flustered. None of the four choices were correct, which made the young author think that the real answer might be to deny that the text had ever been decoded.

“And all the information we’ve been given up to this point was accurate?”

“That’s right. We have a staff member who majored in physics back in college. He even went through several essays before coming up with this question,” the host said proudly. However, he seemed to be completely oblivious that something had gone wrong in the process of formulating the question. As Juho clenched his lips tightly, the host asked, “What’s the matter?”

“Nothing. It just feels like none of the answers are speaking to me.”

“So, this is pure luck?” Coin asked.

“Luck is a skill too,” Juho replied. Looking like he’d had it, Coin made a C with his hand, indicating his choice of answer.

“So, there’s no hidden answer? Say… None of the above?”

“No. One of these choices is definitely the answer.”

“I see,” Juho said, forcing himself to accept the situation. The true nature of the question was to guess the actual translation that had been reported by the linguistic circle, which Juho had no clue as to what it was. As Juho was lost in thought, Coin kicked him in the shin, saying, “Get a move on. We’re putting an end to this with the next question.”

“And if I say that there is no answer?”

“We’ll have to consider it as forfeiting.”

“And one of those four choices IS the right answer, right?”

“That’s right,” the host said, checking the script out of courtesy, but puzzled.

“I’ll go with D, then.”

“D, it is! All right, believe it or not, one of you actually got it right!” the host said. Juho stayed in his seat, feeling like a complete idiot. Then, moving his hands in an exaggerated manner, the host announced the winner, “And the answer is… C: Instructions on electing a leader! Kelley Coin wins!”

As Juho applauded Coin, Coin told the host, “Next question.”

“I’m sorry?”

“I told this guy earlier that we would decide who the winner was with the next question. C’mon, let’s go,” Coin said insistently. Of course, it was a welcoming change for the staff, and the host accepted his demand without question. The audience seemed quite excited about the new development as well. In the end, the final question came up, and after beating Juho to answering it, Coin finally obtained his victory. Juho genuinely congratulated his opponent’s victory.

—

“Juho! You need to see this!”

At the sound of Susan’s voice calling to him, Juho opened his eyes. The villa had become a second home to him. Looking at the book in his hand, he assumed that he had dozed off while reading. Getting out of bed, Juho made his way downstairs. Two months had passed since appearing on a certain TV show with Coin, and needless to say, the show had been well received. There had been a review, which had been written by a certain fan in the States, floating around the internet. It had gained enough popularity to make reporters visit Coin at his residence. Of course, Juho’s phone had been constantly hot from ringing nonstop.

People were quite fond of seeing Yun Woo stand alongside Coin, making the two highly recognizable. Meanwhile, Coin was on the verge of snapping as his life became even more troublesome than before. In order to avoid people who recognized him, he had been refraining from going out.

“What is it?” Juho asked, sitting across from her. When he went downstairs, he saw Susan looking at a newspaper with a serious look on her face. Examining the young author’s face, she asked, “Did you just wake up?”

“Kind of.”

“I didn’t wake you up, did I?”

“Oh, no.”

Nodding haphazardly, she put the newspaper down on the table. At which point, Juho also looked at it. Just from glancing at it, he was able to piece the puzzle together. As he picked up the newspaper slowly, Coin came downstairs and asked, “What’s the matter?”

“Seems like a scandal has broken out,” Juho said calmly, his eyes fixed on the newspaper.

“Well, that’s nothing new, is it? Let’s see it.”

Fabrication. Fraud. Results. Essay. Research Team.

“That was one of the questions you solved,” Susan said, adding, “There was no answer, apparently.”

The mother and son fixed their eyes on the same spot. Upon reading the article over Juho’s shoulder, Coin grasped the situation almost immediately. His face twisted into a scowl.

“So, it’s a draw!?”

Juho sensed a threatening presence behind him. At which point, he buried his face in the newspaper.