Book 28 Chapter 24

Bilyeon and His Gang's Roundtable Discussion

Noh Hak: (Looking around with wary eyes) Hello, readers. I am the cheerful beggar Noh Hak, who, despite receiving all sorts of scolding from my eldest brother, never gives up and steadfastly moves forward towards tomorrow. There are rumors that I won't appear anymore after Volume 28, but that's not true. It's all a lie.

Please look forward to the grand epic of a one-armed beggar, "Biraedo Side Story - Geolwangjigeom - Noh Hak, Become a Myth!" which will begin soon.

The era of the eldest brother is over.

From now on, it will be the era of I, Noh Hak.

Long live beggars! Long live the Beggar's Sect! Long live Noh Hak!

(Thwack!)

Noh Hak: (Clutching the back of his head) Ouch! Why did you hit me? I'm a patient!

Bilyeon: Who told you to spread rumors here? Everyone, you can forget everything you just heard. Such a story won't happen.

Noh Hak: I, I, I might appear, you know?

Bilyeon: (Pfft!) As if.

Noh Hak: I, I won't give up hope. Even we extras have our own lives! Aren't we all the protagonists of our own lives!

Bilyeon: A life that no one cares about. Besides, you're ugly, so it won't happen.

Noh Hak: Why, why? I'm not ugly, I'm just ordinarily handsome. Is being ordinary a sin? Besides, I'm one-armed now. I have individuality.

Bilyeon: One-armed is such an outdated trope, why are you trying to highlight it? Even if we're both one-armed, is Yang Guo losing his arm in "The Return of the Condor Heroes" the same as you losing yours? You need to compare apples to apples.

Noh Hak: (Runs away crying) Aaaargh! Eldest brother, I hate you!

Bilyeon: (In a narration tone) No one saw him after that.

Jang Hong: (Looking pityingly) Don't torment him too much. He's been through a lot lately, don't you think you're pushing him too hard?

Bilyeon: I'm just telling him the harshness of reality.

Jang Hong: (Looking around) This roundtable seems a bit meager. And Hyoryong isn't here, which makes it feel a bit empty.

Bilyeon: Really? Aren't you secretly happy that your own screentime has increased thanks to that?

Jang Hong: (Startled) Who, who, who said they, they were happy?

Bilyeon: You'll gain quite a reputation as "Chest Uncle" after this volume.

Jang Hong: Why are you bringing up chests! People will misunderstand if they hear it! Don't give me a weird image!

Bilyeon: (Feigning innocence) Hmm, by the way, I think the title of this volume is wrong.

Jang Hong: Why? What's wrong with "The Black and White Expedition"?

Bilyeon: We're not going to throw away a ring, are we…

Jang Hong: Do you have any good title suggestions?

Bilyeon: Of course, I do. Do I look like someone who raises issues without offering alternatives?

Jang Hong: (Nodding emphatically) No, you look like someone even worse than that.

Bilyeon: (Ignoring him) Just listen. "Humiliation of Ice and Fire," how about that?

Jang Hong: …That title has a certain ring to it that sounds familiar.

Bilyeon: There's no better way to describe this volume, it's a shame. If this volume doesn't work out, then maybe the next one…

Jang Hong: What will you name the next one similarly?

Bilyeon: (Firmly) "Shame of Ice and Fire." Or, as a second candidate, "Dishonor of Ice and Fire." How about it?

Jang Hong: Are there any embarrassing pasts of the two of them coming out?

Bilyeon: Well. That sounds fun too.

Jang Hong: It seems like the story is deviating from the main plot.

Author M: …Can you please not decide the next volume's story when the author isn't here?

Bilyeon: Tsk, I really wanted to save him.

(From afar)

The next volume's title is~ "Noh Hak's ~ Return ~" Hwa-an ~ Hwa-an ~ Hwa-an ~

Bilyeon: (Pretending not to hear) I'm hearing phantom voices.

Author M: That's what I'm saying, don't decide the story when the author isn't here.

Bilyeon: It's not like the author has complete control anyway, right? You said you'd write it at a "reasonable length" this time too, but it ended up being incredibly long.

Author M: (Laughs!) That was unavoidable… It's okay! Thanks to that, this volume also became super voluminous! Even ultra-super voluminous!

Bilyeon: You're evading the question.

Author M: Hello, this is Biraedo author M. This volume was also born with an immense volume. I originally planned to add only about 20,000 characters to the 165,000 character standard, but somehow it ended up being 240,000 characters. And that's 240,000 characters compressed from 300,000. But thanks to that, Volume 28 boasts a super volume that doesn't lose to Volume 27. No, it surpassed it. It's a complete victory. This is all because the characters didn't listen to the author and acted as they pleased. It's all the characters' fault. Not mine.

I felt like I was losing out too, as I had to condense two volumes' worth of writing into one and a half volumes. But it was unavoidable for the sake of entertainment. Sob sob.

(Woooo~ Woooo~ Woooo~)

As a writer myself, I wish I could freely control the pacing of tension and emotion, and manipulate people's hearts, but I still have a long way to go to reach that level. With the belief that I can reach it someday, and with the mindset of climbing a high mountain one step at a time, I have no choice but to keep writing. As part of that, I'm training to shorten the writing period to two months. I'm trying to increase my motivation and speed, but it's not easy. I wrote the first draft of Volume 28 in two months, but it took a month to revise it from the best to the final version… (Cough) I rewrote the ending six times because I didn't like it, and the length increased to 24,100 characters. It's not easy, but I plan to try again. I hope Volume 29 can be released on a shorter schedule.

This volume was one where many new characters appeared in terms of the story. I hope you liked them. As a grand narrative begins, this volume was a warm-up. I plan to continuously increase the tension from here on.

As I accelerated my writing speed, the writing of the Biraedo side story on Novelcore (www.novelcore.net) was temporarily suspended. I truly admire those who can write three or four works simultaneously. I can only focus on one thing at a time for now. If I learn to multitask and draw a square with my left hand and a circle with my right, will I be able to write two works at once?

I'll experiment and let you know.

Personally, this volume was one where many things happened during the writing process. If things go well, I might be able to share some new updates.

I will try my best to bring you the next volume in a shorter amount of time.

Until then, please stay healthy.