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∼Chapter 01∼
Yuil Planning Headquarters, 24th Floor.
“Impossible.”
The head of the Sales Division finally broke the heavy silence.
Fifteen people were seated around the large conference table, including twelve executives and the representative from the client’s side.
Spread across the table were documents showing miserable sales figures and inventory levels.
“Three months. You expect us to clear out 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 delay the schedule……”
“No. It’s possible.”
Everyone in the conference room turned toward the source of the voice. Sitting there was a woman in her mid-twenties, her posture confident and composed.
“Team Leader Lim…!”
Lim Ha-yoon, Creative Director at Yuil Planning.
The youngest-ever winner of the Grand Prize at the Korea Advertising Awards, and a legendary figure who had risen to the top of the industry at just twenty-five.
Not a single project she had handled had ever failed.
Her appearance alone changed the atmosphere of the conference room.
“Six weeks will be enough.”
“…Pardon?”
The Sales Division head asked again, looking bewildered.
“Look, Team Leader Lim! No matter how capable you are, that’s impossible. You’re saying three months isn’t enough, and now you want to cut it in half? What exactly are you planning to do?”
When Ha-yoon challenged him head-on, the twenty-year veteran’s face turned red with anger.
“Hmph.”
But Ha-yoon didn’t even blink.
Instead, she calmly smiled and pushed her tablet PC forward.
Then, with a buzzing sound, a presentation screen unfolded in the air above the conference room like a hologram.
“The reason you failed is simple. You were only trying to sell a product.”
Ha-yoon stood and slowly walked toward the holographic screen. The sound of her high heels echoed throughout the conference room.
“Then what are we supposed to sell at a cosmetics company if not cosmetics?”
“Desire.”
Ha-yoon moved her finger, and the presentation advanced to the next slide.
“Niacinamide, hyaluronic acid, improved skin elasticity… Do you really think consumers are going to read things like this? No. They won’t even care.”
With a snap of her finger, the screen changed again.
“What they want to know is how special this product is.”
“Special…?”
The Marketing Division head muttered under his breath. His eyes showed growing interest.
“Will using this cosmetic make me more beautiful? That’s not it. The real question is, ‘How special am I for owning this cosmetic?’ That’s the key.”
Confidence filled Ha-yoon’s voice.
“You have to make people want it, want to show it off, and feel like they can’t help but take pictures and upload them. We need to make the consumers advertise our product themselves.”
Nearly twenty people were staring straight at her, but Ha-yoon didn’t blink once.
She spoke firmly.
“Recall every product currently on the market.”
“W-What? Recall the products? We’re already struggling to sell even a single one!”
The Sales Division head shot to his feet and shouted. His face was bright red.
“Director, please calm down and hear me out.”
She had faced this kind of resistance countless times before.
At first, everyone always called her crazy.
But the results had always been successful.
Ha-yoon calmly continued explaining.
“First, put all the products away in a warehouse. Then, one month later, make an announcement. Tell everyone that due to problems with the supply of raw materials, the product will only be available for a limited six-week period.”
“But…”
“At the same time, we’ll launch a viral marketing campaign. Provide a small number of products to influencers, but absolutely do not let them attach sales links.”
Ha-yoon snapped her fingers, and the screen changed.
One by one, detailed marketing strategies appeared.
“And one week later. Put a countdown timer on the official website.”
[Current Remaining Quantity: 200,000]
“We’ll display the number of products available for purchase and show the number decreasing in real time.”
“What…?”
The conference room began to buzz with excitement at Ha-yoon’s strategy.
The hopeless expressions on their faces were 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 happens when you tell them they can’t have it?”
“They become desperate to get it.”
Ha-yoon spoke in a confident voice.
“Make them anxious. Give them the fear that if they don’t get it now, they’ll never have another chance. That is the most powerful purchasing motivation of modern consumers.”
“Will 200,000 sets really sell with that strategy?”
“They’ll sell out completely. No, to be precise, there won’t be enough.”
Ha-yoon answered confidently.
“I guarantee it with my name.”
Her track record itself was a guarantee.
Three years ago, she had been the mastermind behind turning an outdoor brand on the verge of bankruptcy into the number one company in the industry.
Everyone had said the project was impossible, yet she succeeded in just four months.
That brand now boasted annual sales of 300 billion won and had grown into a massive corporation.
Before that, she had rebranded an old, outdated local soju brand and raised its market share to second place.
Every project she touched was a guaranteed success.
And her legend was still being written.
“Hmm… If Team Leader Lim is that confident…”
The advertiser slowly nodded after listening to the presentation.
“All right. We’ll trust you this time. But I want a progress report once a week.”
“Of course.”
Once the advertiser gave his approval, Ha-yoon stood up and picked up her jacket.
She immediately left the conference room.
Click. Click.
The sound of her high heels echoed like the triumphant march of victory.
“Phew.”
After confidently leaving the conference room, Ha-yoon let out a small sigh.
A perfect presentation.
A perfect conclusion.
But beneath it all, overwhelming pressure was crushing her.
‘I have to succeed no matter what. Failure isn’t an option for my career.’
An endless pursuit of success.
That was the life of Lim Ha-yoon, known as an advertising genius.
“Ha-yoon, are you working late again?”
She ran into her colleague Su-jin near the elevator.
It was 11 p.m.
The empty lobby was filled only with the sound of a cleaning lady mopping the floor.
“Yeah. The launch is next week, so I don’t have time to rest. You go ahead.”
Ha-yoon held up the briefcase in her hand and forced herself to smile brightly.
But the smile looked terribly pitiful.
“Hey, you’re seriously going to collapse at this rate. Work is important, but you need to rest when you can.”
“I’ll rest once this project is over. I really will.”
It was a lie.
Ha-yoon knew it.
There was no such thing as “once this project is over.”
Once this project ended, another project would be waiting for her.
To maintain her title as an advertising genius, she had to constantly prove that she could succeed.
A single failure was unacceptable.
No.
She couldn’t accept one.
That was how Ha-yoon constantly drove herself forward.
“Don’t forget next Friday, okay?”
“Next Friday?”
At Su-jin’s words, Ha-yoon suddenly remembered an event she had completely forgotten about.
“Oh, right! The class reunion.”
“See? You forgot again. Are you going to skip it again this time?”
Since graduating, Ha-yoon had never once shown up at a class reunion.
Ha-yoon clasped her hands together apologetically.
“…I’m sorry. I’ll definitely go this time.”
“You really mean it this time?”
“Yeah. I really will.”
Another lie.
She had an important meeting scheduled for next Friday.
But she didn’t want to disappoint Su-jin, her only friend and fellow classmate.
Ding!
The elevator arrived just in time, and Ha-yoon hurried inside as if escaping.
“I’ll somehow make time, even if it’s only for a little while. See you then!”
“You better come!”
The elevator doors closed after those final words.
Only then did Ha-yoon let out the long breath she had been holding.
“Haa… I’m really going to collapse at this rate…”
2 a.m.
After finishing work, Ha-yoon went down to the underground parking lot.
She sat in the driver’s seat and lowered her head, staring blankly ahead.
‘I’m exhausted. Completely exhausted…’
When had it started?
When had this job stopped being fun?
When she 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?
She felt nothing.
It was nothing more than a desperate struggle to keep herself from falling apart.
Click.
Out of habit, Ha-yoon opened the center console.
Inside, she took out a strange pair of jade pieces that fit tightly together as though they were one.
It was the only keepsake her father had left behind.
[Ha-yoon, do you know what this is?]
[No. What is it?]
[It’s a rare treasure. There’s only one like it in the entire world.]
[But there are two pieces.]
[Haha. It may look like two pieces, but it’s actually one. These two pieces fit together to form a single whole.]
Just as her father had said, the two pieces of jade were intricately connected like gears and could not be separated by any force.
As though they had been one from the very beginning.
Ha-yoon treasured the jade, her only keepsake from her father.
“Dad…”
The smooth texture of the jade against her fingertips strangely calmed her heart.
“Phew. I’ll go home, take a shower, and think about it…”
Ha-yoon fiddled with the jade for several minutes before finally starting the engine.
Another long day was waiting for her tomorrow.
Vroom.
Ha-yoon drove out of the underground parking lot.
Seoul was quiet in the early hours of the morning.
Only the streetlights illuminated the empty roads.
“…”
Ha-yoon drove with vacant eyes, simply staring ahead.
Then—
Screeech―!
Suddenly, the ear-splitting sound of tires scraping against the road rang out.
“Huh…?”
By the time she heard it, it was already too late.
A large truck suddenly crossed the centerline from the opposite lane and came charging toward her.
Its headlights grew closer and closer.
Crash―!
An enormous impact followed.
The airbag exploded, and shattered glass flew in every direction.
Pain shot through her body as the seat belt dug tightly into her.
‘What…?’
As her consciousness began to fade, Ha-yoon saw an intense light pouring from the jade.
Then the light began to envelop her.
‘Am I dying…?’
Along with the light, everything around her began to move in slow motion.
Fragments of shattered glass floated in midair, and even the falling rain had come to a complete stop.
It was an eerie sight, as if time itself had stopped.
‘I can’t. There’s still so much I have to do…’
Even at such a moment, Ha-yoon’s thoughts were filled entirely with work.
Whoosh―!
A moment later, the jade radiated a brilliant light and completely enveloped Ha-yoon.
And when the light disappeared, Ha-yoon was nowhere to be found.
“Hey! Wake up! You can’t sleep here! You’ll get yourself into trouble!”
A faint voice reached her through the haze of unconsciousness.
Someone was shaking her shoulders hard.
‘An emergency room? Am I alive?’
Her mouth was parched, and her head felt like it was splitting apart.
Enduring the pain, Ha-yoon slowly opened her eyes.
“Ugh… Huh?”
Ha-yoon stared at the person in front of her with a bewildered expression.
Strangely enough, a man with his hair tied in a topknot was looking down at her.
“Whew, you’re awake? I thought you were dead. Thank goodness.”
The sight of the man’s clothing shocked Ha-yoon even more than the traffic accident had.
‘Who is this? No, more importantly, why is he dressed like that…?’
The man was dressed in clothing that looked like something straight out of a museum.
He even had a wooden frame carrier strapped to his back.
Ha-yoon asked in a weak, cracked voice.
“Where… am I?”
“Where else? Mungyeong Saejae.”
Mungyeong Saejae?
Could that be right?
Ha-yoon naturally assumed the man was joking.
It was physically impossible for her to have been in the middle of Seoul only moments ago and suddenly find herself at Mungyeong Saejae.
But when she looked around, a landscape resembling the actual Mungyeong Saejae stretched out before her.
Ha-yoon narrowed her eyes.
‘Is this really Mungyeong Saejae?’
But she soon shook her head.
‘No. The Mungyeong Saejae I know doesn’t look like this.’
In the distance, she could see a cluster of houses, suggesting that people actually lived here.
The problem was that every single house had a thatched roof.
And there wasn’t a single sign of civilization anywhere around them.
No utility poles.
No roads.
Nothing.
‘Where the hell am I?’
Realizing that something was terribly wrong, Ha-yoon forced herself to sit up.
“Ugh…!”
The aftereffects of the accident hit her all at once.
Every muscle in her body screamed in pain.
Desperate to call for help, Ha-yoon frantically searched her pockets.
‘Nothing? Where is it?’
But there was nothing.
Her bag, wallet, identification card, phone—
Even the jade that had belonged to her father had disappeared without a trace.
‘Calm down. Just calm down and figure out what’s happening.’
Ha-yoon took a deep breath.
Then she looked at the man in front of her and spoke calmly.
“I’m sorry, but could I borrow your cell phone?”
“Cell phone? What in the world is that?”
The man genuinely seemed not to understand what she was talking about.
Ha-yoon gave an awkward laugh.
“Come on, don’t joke around. Please 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?”
“Good grief. You think I’m lying? I’m telling you, I really don’t have one.”
Judging by the man’s reaction, he clearly wasn’t lying.
For a moment, Ha-yoon was confused.
But she thought that perhaps it was possible in some extremely remote area.
She managed to remain calm.
At least for now.
“Then you must have a telephone, right? Please let me make just one call. I’ll pay you generously.”
“A telephone? What’s that supposed to be?”
“You don’t even know what a telephone is?”
An uneasy feeling slowly began to creep in.
Ha-yoon’s voice started trembling.
“Then what about 119? Please call 119. I’ll compensate you generously.”
“Miss, did you hit your head? You keep saying things I’ve never heard in my entire life.”
“What? You’ve never heard any of those things?”
A man who didn’t know what a cell phone, telephone, or 119 was.
And the strange surroundings, where there wasn’t a trace of modern civilization.
‘No way…’
An ominous thought 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. It’s the year of Jeongmi.”
“The king?”
At the mention of the king, Ha-yoon felt her heart drop.
And what exactly was the year of Jeongmi?
By this point, Ha-yoon was beginning to realize that something was terribly wrong.
“The year of Jeongmi? What year is that exactly?”
“Good grief, you don’t even know that? You really are a strange young lady.”
There was no reason for a modern woman like Ha-yoon to know the traditional sixty-year cycle of East Asian calendar years.
Desperate for something to hold on to, Ha-yoon asked,
“Then could you at least tell me the name of the king currently ruling? I mean, the name of the monarch.”
“How could people like us dare speak His Majesty’s name so carelessly? We’d be dragged away for insulting the king.”
The man quickly lowered his voice.
Instead, he explained indirectly for Ha-yoon’s sake.
“All I know is that the current ruler is the grandson of the late King Sunjo.”
“Sunjo!”
Ha-yoon’s face turned deathly pale.
She didn’t know much about history, but fortunately, she had memorized the Joseon royal succession beginning with “Tae-Jeong-Tae-Se-Mun-Dan-Se…”
So she knew who came after Sunjo.
‘Heon-jong…!’
The thirteenth year of Heon-jong’s reign.
In the Western calendar, that meant 1847.
Roughly 200 years in the past.
‘This is impossible! Did I really fall into the Joseon era?’
Ha-yoon had fallen into the heart of the Joseon era, during the reign of Heon-jong.
