Warning: Some spoilers for Inso's law up until Baek Yeomin's apology
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A freshly opened notebook, lying on the corner of a table. Like everything else in the bedroom, it stayed quiet, still, only disrupted by the sun streaming in through the windows. Behind the green cover, there was only one thing written.
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Record of Inso's Law
→not writing anything more today because if I don't sleep I may die.
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Across days, weeks, and months, the next few pages get filled. Neatly printed writing becomes dense with information―sections are crossed out and re-written, notes and connections crowd the margins. One particular section is crammed with text.
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Loose plot events
1. Ham Dan-I travels into the novel on March 2nd
→She disappears on the same day
2. Meets Eun Jiho and Woo Ju-in, discovers her original school doesn't exist, and goes to school with Ban Reoryeong
3. Has the revelation that the world is a "webnovel", and finds the idea "Four Heavenly Kings" odd
→Do Four Heavenly Kings not exist in her world?
→But, it seems unlikely that exceptional people don't exist entirely, do they just go by a different name?
4. She tries to avoid Ban Reoryeong and meets me
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...
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40. They enter high school and Dan-I is in a different class (class 8)
→N̶e̶e̶d̶ ̶t̶o̶ ̶k̶n̶o̶w̶ ̶h̶i̶g̶h̶s̶c̶h̶o̶o̶l̶'̶s̶ ̶n̶a̶m̶e̶
→Seohyun High school = AVOID AT ALL COSTS
41. Ham Dan-I meets Lee Ruda, who becomes a seat partner/ secondary love interest
→How many webnovels have a crossdressing protagonist for there to be a trope about it???
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70. Ban Ryeong gets confessed to by generic delinquent and rejects him. They have to avoid him as he terrorises their friend group
→Don't remember deliquent's name :\
71. Ham Dan-I fights with her parents over test-scores
72. While getting groceries with Eunhyung, Ham Dan-I gets hit with a car, just like the fortuneteller said.
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110. Ban Reoryeong's new friend (̶I̶ ̶f̶o̶r̶g̶o̶t̶ ̶h̶e̶r̶ ̶n̶a̶m̶e̶)̶ Choi Yuri tries to frame Dan-I as a bad person.
111. I apologize to Dan-I, and the picture of us together is used as evidence against Dan-I
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I think I forgot some details, but my memory of the dreams fade too quickly. Remember to put the notebook next to the bed for easier access.
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Keep ibuprofen next to the notebook.
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...
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I can't remember anything past the apology
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Two pages past, and the neat organized writing is back.
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Topics to look into:
→Appearance relation to main characters (specifically hair/eye color)
→March 2nd
→Inso Laws or Tropes
→High schools with no Heavenly Kings
→Is Ham Dan-I's story the only story taking place here?
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Hastily scrawled with large black text, a yellow sticky note is shoved into the first page. Bright and obvious.
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DO NOT LEAVE THE NOTEBOOK BY THE BED UNLESS YOU WANT TO HAVE A HEART ATTACK.
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Written mere moments after, a peculiar entry sits in her phone's notes app.
「Pretending I'm writing a story works」
...
Dark and hidden behind two boxes underneath the girl's bed, the notebook's cover rests with frayed edges. Standing in contrast to the organized information around it, one page is filled with scrawled text and scribbles.
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Why does everything seem to be a romance trope? Is 'webnovel' just another term for romance novels? Why is everyone I see suddenly smiling at eachother weirdly?
T̶o̶d̶a̶y̶,̶ ̶D̶a̶d̶ ̶s̶a̶i̶d̶ ̶t̶h̶a̶t̶ ̶h̶e̶ ̶a̶n̶d̶ ̶M̶o̶m̶ ̶g̶o̶t̶ ̶d̶i̶s̶o̶w̶n̶e̶d̶ ̶f̶o̶r̶ ̶b̶e̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶t̶o̶g̶e̶t̶h̶e̶r̶ ̶i̶n̶ ̶c̶o̶l̶l̶e̶g̶e̶.̶ ̶S̶o̶,̶ ̶y̶o̶u̶'̶r̶e̶ ̶t̶e̶l̶l̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶m̶e̶ ̶I̶'̶m̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶p̶r̶o̶d̶u̶c̶t̶ ̶o̶f̶ ̶s̶t̶a̶r̶-̶c̶r̶o̶s̶s̶e̶d̶ ̶l̶o̶v̶e̶r̶s̶?̶ ̶T̶h̶i̶s̶ ̶i̶s̶ ̶w̶h̶y̶ ̶I̶'̶v̶e̶ ̶n̶e̶v̶e̶r̶ ̶m̶e̶t̶ ̶m̶y̶ ̶g̶r̶a̶n̶d̶p̶a̶r̶e̶n̶t̶s̶?̶ ̶
̶?̶?̶?̶?̶?̶
I hate it here.
I also hate the fact that reading romance novels may be the key to my survival. Between jumping out the window and reading one more disgustingly cliche story, the window is looking awfully tempting. (If Mom smiles knowingly at me when I grab a romance novel one more time, the decision will already be made)
I saw some boy run through a crowd to return this girl's wallet, and immediately thought "meet-cute." I'm going insane.
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A crumpled yellow note is shoved into a desk. A new school year has begun. The notebook's pages stay unchanged for a while before a single line is written on an empty page.
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I didn't remember.
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Gradually, photos upon photos filled the USB drive. Spurred some manic obsession, they were taken from all over. Promotional materials, yearbook photos, school websites, social media posts with barely a few likes―all screenshots or downloads from the last couple months. Alongside them was a single spreadsheet file filled with information.
The notebook recorded the final results.
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Amount of Photos collected: 246
→mostly from social media or online searches (yep, this feels creepy)
Amount of Four Heavenly Kings: 634
→Didn't seem to have any duplicates but I may have missed some
Amount of Four Heavenly Kings with brown or Black hair: 396
Percentage of Four Heavenly Kings with brown or Black hair: ≈62.46%
Percentage of Koreans with brown or black hair according to the 20XX Census Data: 91.72%
Conclusion: W̶h̶a̶t̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶f̶u̶c̶k̶.̶ Even if I counted some incorrectly, the difference is still massive. In short, appearance does link to importance. So, anyone with vibrant hair is more likely to be a Four Heavenly King. And Four Heavenly Kings tend to be more important to the story.
(Note universal, source: Yoon Jung-in, but still worth noting in order to not get wrapped into another plot. Also, exceptions to this rule seem to have other outstanding attributes)
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A crumpled page lies at the bottom of the trash.
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I saw Ban Reoryeong with her brother today.
I̶ ̶d̶o̶n̶'̶t̶
I̶ ̶d̶i̶d̶n̶'̶t̶ ̶k̶n̶o̶w̶ ̶w̶h̶a̶
H̶a̶v̶e̶ ̶I̶ ̶e̶v̶e̶n̶
M̶a̶y̶b̶e̶
A̶m̶ ̶I̶ ̶j̶u̶s̶t̶ ̶g̶o̶i̶n̶
I̶t̶'̶s̶ ̶b̶e̶e̶n̶ ̶o̶v̶e̶r̶ ̶a̶ ̶y̶e̶a̶r̶,̶ ̶w̶h̶y̶ ̶a̶m̶ ̶I̶ ̶s̶t̶i̶l̶l̶ ̶s̶u̶c̶h̶ ̶a̶ ̶c̶o̶w̶a̶r̶d̶?̶
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More screenshots lie in her camera roll from movies, tv shows, and manhwas. All cropped to show, not the main characters, but the background characters. The screen is left on as she writes.
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Suggestions to look like a background character.
→Straighten hair (wavy hair stands out more since most people have straight hair)
→Cover up blemishes
→Don't style outfits and wear more generic clothing (T-shirts, leggings, plain hoodies)
→Note: Don't wear skirts/shorts
Being extraordinarily beautiful brings you more attention, but so does being extraordinarily ugly. To be ignored, it's better to be unremarkable.
Note: Not entirely sure if people actually pay attention to me less (its a bit hard to tell), but people seem to stare at my leg less if I don't dress how I usually do.
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After weeks of nothing, a small update is given at the top of a page.
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It has been harder to find the time to write these at home because my parents have insisted on bringing me closer to their workplace whenever one of them is away. I'd be annoyed at their overprotectiveness but doing my homework at a cafe for a change is refreshing. And I get to go out to eat afterwards too (if it's Dad's workplace that is, Mom still likes to cook at home)
Anyway, I've started writing them on my phone, and I'll just transfer the information later.
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Illuminated by the warm light of the desk lamp, the pencil flowed smoothly across the page.
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"Inso Laws" compared to romance tropes.
The female lead will be called ugly by the male lead despite the fact she's actually a goddess
→More common in TV-dramas?
→Most of the novels I've read have a lot more varied personalities depending on the author (although there was one author who exclusively wrote arrogant MLs)
→Don't know how to feel about this law, but at least I can follow my intuition to avoid anyone who's a rude asshole
The main character is good at everything
→Also feels more common in TV-dramas than novels, but is not as common in either to require a whole trope? I'd say I saw more of the opposite, main characters being utterly useless, but maybe it's a difference between worlds.
Everything fortune tellers say will come true
→Might have to go to a fortune teller to actually test this. It seemed to be true in the story, but I don't want to waste money if it's fake garbage.
No matter how it happened, love will bloom with the first person you kissed.
→Definitely a romance trope (or pattern) but also untrue in Ham Dan-I's story? Pretty sure Yoo Chunyoung never falls in love with Lee Ruda?
→I am possibly wrong since the story seems to continue past what I know
Those in the same class as the female protagonist pretending to be a male won't ever be suspicious that their male classmate is actually a female.
→Surprisingly common, now that I've looked into it. Not this exact scenario, but crossdressing in general. Maybe its a cultural phenomenon I never paid attention too, because it appears even in folklore, with figures like Hua Mulan.
Rumors spread at the speed of light.
→True
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My parents keep asking me whether I want to go back to Ji Jon. I think they have caught onto the fact that I no longer have any friends.
Told them no. Since I wasn't budging, I think they've accepted it. But, they seem adamant that I attend highschool instead of staying homeschooled. In their words it'll "help you get into a university."
I guess I have to look up highschools without four heavenly kings now.
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In the notes app, a brand new entry appears...
「DO NOT GO TO NAMU CAFE」
...and is updated...
「OR KYOBO BOOKSTORE」
Again.
「WHY IS HE EVERYWHERE?????? 」
...
「Maybe I just shouldn't go outside.」
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AN: I am very sorry that this took over a year. Didn't think it would take that long, and then my brain said "let's rewrite this 50 times" and now here we are. As poetically funny taking three years to write a three-year time skip would be, I really don't want to drag my updates out that long.
Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and I have a more concrete plan for the next chapters, so hopefully they don't take ages to write.