Chapter 1: Dream
Ring.
Ring.
Ring.
The vibration of the slim black box lit up the room.
Dan Woo looked away from the bigger glowing screen, his eyes barely able to keep pace with his mind.
His red-rimmed globes glanced at the source of the vibration, and a huge sigh unconsciously escaped him. His eyes fell before him as he slumped back into his chair, picked up his phone, and answered the call.
"Hello?" Dan began tiredly.
"Is everything ready for tomorrow’s table reading?" a cold feminine voice responded.
"Yes, yes. I am looking over the material and..." He leaned forward as he rubbed his eyes. "It’s ready. We are ready."
"That’s great news. I hope the changes don’t stray too far from the original vision," the female voice responded with corporate politeness.
"The changes were a necessary additive. We have to make sure the drama is fresh while still maintaining the familiar context," he said, glancing back at his computer.
"I hope that is the only reason."
"...PD Eun Soo-nim, I know how to differentiate between my professional and personal life."
"I hope that means you will be available for tomorrow’s seating?"
"...Of course. How else would I make sure my next masterpiece is up to standard?"
"That’s good to hear."
"Does she... Does she know I will be there?"
"She will by morning," Eun Soo said simply. "See you tomorrow."
"See you tomorrow."
The phone clicked as the voice on the other end cut off. Dan Woo leaned back again and swung his chair toward the screen.
My Eternal Knight.
He looked at the title.
"A masterpiece indeed," he muttered.
His gaze slid to a drawer on his desk. His hand lingered on the handle before he finally pulled it open.
Inside were several pens, a manuscript, and a framed photograph with a ring resting atop it. His eyes clinging onto the back of the frame.. Almost without thinking, he reached for the ring, his fingers grazing its smooth surface before he caught himself. He withdrew his hand and turned his attention to the manuscript instead.
It was a clean piece of work, well cared for, and possessed a strange gradation of newness, as though pages were added every so often.
Script Matters
The title read in a bold, chilling font.
"Script matters indeed," Dan Woo said to himself, a slow, soft, self-deprecating laugh escaping him.
He opened the manuscript and skimmed through its contents. As he went over the scenes, actions, and character arcs, his expression couldn’t help but widen.
"Now this is a masterpiece," he said, a huge smile plastered across his face.
He felt his mood lighten as he turned back to his computer, ready to continue working on said masterpiece.
But just as he was about to—
A message notification popped up.
He squinted at the unfamiliar contact, his mind racing to remember.
Do you wish to...
He opened the full chat to finish the message.
Do you wish to have your dreams come true?
He stopped himself before continuing.
That was definitely a scam.
He looked toward the contact information.
The Occult Chronicles
His eyes twinkled as he muttered the name.
It was his go-to source for research whenever he needed inspiration for his horror scripts. Through it, he had learned of countless urban legends, filling his stories with enough horror, mystery, and wonder while still maintaining their entertaining elements.
He should be thanking this contact for all its help.
His gaze returned to the message.
Do you wish to have your dreams come true? If so, follow the steps.
Dan Woo’s eyes lingered on the words.
"Making dreams come true? Sounds like a scam to me, but..."
He looked toward the profile of the contact. The contact had given him great material to work with for his masterpiece, so it wouldn’t hurt to just take a look. If they request any outrageous amount of money, I could always back out, he thought.
He clicked on the link, and his screen was quickly redirected to another website.
Wait, what if this is some kind of cyberattack?
The thought came a bit too late, as the landing page opened.
What greeted Dan Woo wasn’t anything fancy. No bright pictures, captivating buttons, or flashy elements. It was just plain text with some pictorial directions that seemed to have been given less than a second of thought.
He laughed at the presentation. If this was really a scam, then the scammers were too cheap.
His eyes lingered on the wall of text with its minimal pictorials.
Do you want your dreams fulfilled? Do you wish them to come true? Then follow the following steps:
Dan Woo felt something stir inside him just from those questions.
He looked around his room. The light from his screen faintly illuminated it, showing off his achievements as a major writer in the drama industry, yet he felt... hollow.
Around him, the titles felt mocking.
He couldn’t make out the words clearly, yet he could hear them.
Love at Dawn on the shelf to his left.
Never Fading Love right next to it.
Eternity Without You following after.
I Give You My Heart.
And now My Eternal Knight.
All these titles had one thing in common: stories about what a female protagonist’s love life looked like. How they fell in love, how they suffered for love, or how they were saved by love.
He sighed just as a new notification popped up.
It was a message from Eun Yuri, one of his most loyal fans.
I can’t wait for your upcoming work, My Eternal Knight. I heard that the female protagonist will be played by Han Soo Hee. Her expressions and portrayals are always on point. Can’t wait for your masterpiece. You always know how to write the best romance.
Below that was a kind donation of a few dollars.
He read the message twice. You always know how to write the best romance. His thumb hovered over the reply button longer than it should have. He sent back the donation and typed thank you. Closed the app before he could think too hard about why those five words made the compliment hard to swallow.
He knew the why; it was just that what he wanted to write was not in style.
I mean, who wanted:
A female protagonist who did the saving. A horror lead whose love story took a back seat to her survival. An action drama where the female lead carried the story on her own two feet. Or maybe, heaven forbid, a male and female lead who stood as equals.
His thoughts lingered on the name Han Soo Hee.
His hands drifted back toward the drawer, hovering over it before he finally let them fall.
Then he looked at the time.
11:47 PM.
He looked back toward his computer, ready to at least give the steps a look. If they were plausible, he would do them. If it worked, his true masterpiece could finally step out of the shadows. If not, then at least he had given it a try.
He went over the steps, seeing what he would need for the ritual.
First, it needed to be the night of a full moon. Lucky for him, it was.
Next, he needed three candles lit in a triangular formation.
Then, he would need to write his name, his lunar birthday, his wish, and the current lunar date on a note. After doing so, he needed to fold the note three times.
Finally, he would need to perform three chants. The first was a chant thanking the world. The next was a chant requesting his wish. The final chant was one thanking the world for fulfilling it.
This should be done seven times for each chant, and all of it should be performed exactly at midnight.
Once it was done, he was to take the note and sleep with it beneath his pillow.
Dan Woo was intrigued by the ritual, debating whether he should actually do it.
He looked at the time.
11:51 PM.
It was close to midnight, he thought, so he decided to do it.
He prepared everything the ritual required, making sure each detail was in place before waiting for the clock to strike midnight.
Once it did, he followed the directions.
He felt stupid doing such superstitious things, yet if it could help him achieve his dream of writing beyond the scope of romance, then so be it.
He finished the ritual smoothly, seeing no anomaly, well, maybe a few irrational flickers of the candles, but that was to be expected, right? He looked around for any sign that something supernatural would happen.
Yet there was nothing.
Then, when the clock struck 12:01, the webpage suddenly began playing a children’s song. Words appeared on the screen.
A price would be paid.
Then they disappeared.
Dan Woo was caught off guard by the reaction, yet it did little to scare him. He thought it was just commitment to the bit.
He looked toward the white moon, his thoughts drifting toward tomorrow’s table reading with Han Soo Hee.
"Well, having an ex-wife isn’t that uncommon," he thought.
Yet memories of previous moon-gazing nights with her began to surface.
Just as they did, Dan Woo saw the moon turn blood red for a second.
The sudden sight startled him out of his reminiscence, causing him to rub his eyes.
When he looked again, it was white once more, as if it had never changed at all.
"I must be tired," Dan Woo thought.
As he switched off his computer, he glanced at the note for a while before carrying it to his bed. He unconsciously slipped it beneath his pillow and soon closed his tired eyes.
[Ding]
[System function unlocked]
[New Character needed. Failure will incur devouring.]
The words echoed through his mind, yet he couldn’t hear any of them.
He had already drifted into a dream.