Let's go to Venus
Red writing on the palm
Song of the Full Moon
Death lying face down on the moon

Author's Note

Geumseong, the splendid capital of the millennial kingdom of Unified Silla,
A mystery drama set in a golden city unlike any other in the world.

"Seol Ja-eun Returns to Venus" is set in the Unified Silla period, when a great war ended and three countries became one, and peace was on the surface, but signs of internal collapse were lurking.
Seol Mi-eun, who has a brain that never forgets what she sees once and an extraordinary power of reasoning that allows her to see through the relationships between people, is born a woman and is not given the opportunity to demonstrate her abilities.
However, the sudden death of her older brother, who was so bright that he was destined to study abroad in the Tang Dynasty, marks a major turning point in her life.
Because of the numerous deaths that swept through his family, Seol Ho-eun, the eldest brother who was the third child but became the eldest, decided to use Mi-eun, who had extraordinary abilities, to revive the family.
Due to Ho-eun's scheme, Mi-eun abandons her original name and goes to study abroad in Tang China under the name of her deceased older brother, Ja-eun.
Having overcome countless near-death experiences and completed her studies, Seol Ja-eun returns to her hometown, Geumseong, the capital of Silla, as she becomes an adult.
But do extraordinary things happen to those with extraordinary abilities? On her way back, Ja-eun encounters a series of strange events.


Jaeun encounters a mysterious murder case on a ship from Dengzhou in Tang to Dangunpo in Silla. At Geumseong's mansion, she uncovers the hidden truth surrounding a war hero who is on the verge of death due to an unknown karma. She also tracks down the culprit of an incident that occurred at a weaving competition among the women of Silla's six departments.
Eventually, Ja-eun's intelligence reached the ears of the King of Silla, and she was invited to a banquet hosted by the King.
But as if to confirm this, as the banquet was in full swing, a dead body lying face down in Wolji came to mind.
The king threatens that no one can return until the truth of the incident is clearly revealed, Ho-eun urges Ja-eun to show off her talents so that she can catch the king's eye, and Ja-eun just wants to pass quietly without being noticed.
Will Ja-eun be able to get through that night safely?

“I don’t avoid it.”
The king answered.
Jaeun suddenly realized that the king had never gotten up from his seat.
How could he possibly sit like that for so long? It must have been sore, but he stayed in the same position he'd started in.
“You too cannot go back until you see beneath the surface of this matter.
“I have gathered together those who are said to be talented, so use your talents to clearly reveal the truth.”
The phrase "under the water" felt new to me.
It sounded like a command to scoop up the black water of the night moon with one's hand.
_"Death Prostrating on the Moon," p. 255

Another unique character created by Jeong Se-rang, Seol Ja-eun
“I said that if you are not used, Silla will lose.
Well, I'll give you a chance to be used.
What are you going to do now?

Seol Ja-eun can be said to be another unique character created by Jeong Se-rang, following Shim Si-seon from "From the Gaze" and Ahn Eun-young from "The School Nurse Files."
Although the word detective did not exist in the 7th century, the true ability of Seol Ja-eun, who could be called the Silla detective Seol Ja-eun, is not an outstanding deductive ability to see through the structure of events, but rather the ability to deeply understand the inner self of a person.
The decisive difference between Seol Ja-eun and other detectives we are familiar with is her warm heart.
Besides Seol Ja-eun, this story is full of fascinating characters.
Mok In-gon, a craftsman from the fallen Baekje kingdom who always has a bright smile on his face but can make anything he asks of him; Seol Ho-eun, who has a brilliant mind but a sense of ethics that seems to be broken in one way; Seol Do-eun, who is good at both science and technology and has a perfect sense of balance; San-ah, who is more beautiful and gorgeous than anyone else but has a delicate yet strong heart; and the king, who has a charisma so strong that it makes anyone who sees him tremble in fear.
Watching these characters with such strong personalities mingle and lead the story through the whirlwind of events will be another pleasure to reading the 'Seol Ja-eun series.'


Within ten days, Jaeun had to figure out which of the four women desperately wanted to become the mother of money, and which of them could have destroyed the loom.
After the weaving competition, the women would go back to their homes and hide, and what had happened would most likely never have happened.
I couldn't leave people's hearts festering until next summer.
If you harbor jealousy, you cannot love what you love, and you cannot cherish what you love.
It started out as a concern for Do-eun, but Ja-eun's concern soon spread to all the women in the six departments.
_「Song of the Full Moon」, pp. 205-206

Jeong Se-rang, who majored in history education in college, has long expressed a desire to write a novel set in the past.
The author revealed that he first conceived the idea of ​​a mystery novel set in the Unified Silla period and went on a research trip to Gyeongju in 2016.
The first episode of 『Seol Ja-eun Returns to Venus』 and the introduction to the 'Seol Ja-eun Series', "Let's Go to Venus", was published in the mystery novel magazine 『Mysteria』 in 2018, so it took at least 7 years for 『Seol Ja-eun Returns to Venus』 to be completed.
After several field trips to Gyeongju in search of traces of Venus, the setting of the work, and years of research, I was finally able to publish the first volume of the series.
The author's imagination was added here, and people who lived in the distant past came to life and move vividly before us.
In her “Author’s Note,” Jeong Se-rang wrote that when she wanted to write a mystery novel set in the past, it was not difficult to set the time period as the Unified Silla period, and that she wanted to look to it as a mirror for an era that contained “the seeds of collapse hidden within abundance” and “was heading towards prosperity only to begin to collapse at some point” (Author’s Note).
As the saying goes, a time of peace yet potential chaos would be the perfect setting for mysterious events to unfold.


The magic of Jeong Se-rang lies in the fact that she never loses her cheerfulness even in mystery novels where murders occur.
Of course, there are tricks that provide intellectual pleasure, but Jeong Se-rang focuses more on the stories between people than anything else.
The story is set in the late 680s, 1300 years in the past, but it is a story about people who are not much different from us living in the present day.
It will be an enjoyable reading experience to observe the events of that era while reflecting on our present, as if we were traveling through time.


The 'Seol Ja-eun Series' is planned to consist of at least three volumes, with the second volume, 'Seol Ja-eun, Chasing Flames' (tentative title), and the third volume, 'Seol Ja-eun, Riding a Tiger' (tentative title), scheduled to be published soon.
The author has expressed his ambitious plans and hopes for the series to have more than ten volumes.
We hope you will join us in watching the birth of a new series that will continue for a long time to come.


“I hope that those who pick up this book will feel a sense of time travel, even if only for a moment.
I wanted to share the unfamiliar pleasure of being transported to another time and place.
“If we could all hum along to the song we all knew how to sing, but now have no more words left, if our song today would not be forgotten a thousand years from now, then I would have nothing more to wish for.”
_「The gaps where stories occurred - until the birth of the 'Seol Ja-eun Series'」, from 『Jeong Se-rang's Writer's Note』

Character introduction

Seol Ja-eun

“Did I get a name or was it taken away?”

Originally, she was the sixth of eleven siblings, Seol Mi-eun.
When the fifth eldest daughter, Seol Ja-eun, who was one year older than her, died of a sudden illness before going to study abroad in the Tang Dynasty, the third eldest daughter, Seol Ho-eun, became the eldest daughter through a scheme.
It was because they had similar faces and were both smart, so there was no time to think about it for long.
She chose to become Seol Ja-eun because she didn't want to live locked up at home, but the days that followed were not smooth, and she seemed to have nearly died several times.
I hadn't planned on studying abroad for that long, but I ended up being isolated during the Tang-Silla War when diplomatic missions between the two countries were not traveling together.
He barely managed to survive by selling everything he had and taking work from his master and colleagues.
Exhausted by loneliness and hunger, he returned to Silla carrying boxes of books.
On the way back, the guest who got stuck was Baekje man Mok In-gon.
Although his goal is to find his true place on Venus, he repeatedly encounters unpleasant events.

Mokingon

“Use me more and use me more.
“So that I can pay for what I eat and drink in this house.”

A craftsman from Baekje who claims to have the skill to build towers, but this has not yet been confirmed.
I met Seol Ja-eun on a ship crossing the great ocean.
Although she is five or six years older than Seol Ja-eun, we decided to become close friends.
When we see something with excellent craftsmanship, we tend to immediately claim that it is from Baekje.
Although Baekje has disappeared, the preference for craftsmen from Baekje still remains, and when in a hurry, Seol Ja-eun also puts forward Mok In-gon in that way.
With an accurate eye and quick hands, there is nothing he cannot create or fix.
In other words, he is better than everyone else, but he admits that Seol Ja-eun is better at seeing through things between people.
He could become a guest of a greater family because he finds Seol Ja-eun's personality amusing, but he is staying.

Seol Ho-eun

“When we received the real sword, you held a wooden sword and said that if you did not use it, Silla would lose.
Well, I'll give you a chance to be used.
What are you going to do now?”

He was born third, but became the eldest when his two older brothers died in battle.
The problem is that Ho-eun is somewhat intelligent, but he is said to be a person with a twisted mind.
It was also Ho-eun's strange choice to disguise Mi-eun as Jae-eun because he felt it was a waste to pay the price already paid.
Even his sisters, Ja-eun and Do-eun, always accept Ho-eun's words and actions with considerable caution.
In this precarious situation, there is a desire to use Jae-eun to somehow survive and continue on.
Rumors of two broken engagements spread and he became an enemy of the women of Seorabeol.
In-gon is displeased with Ja-eun being attached to him.

Seol Do-eun

“If you live the same way every day, you won’t be able to remember anything, even if you look back on a season or a year.
Anyway, this year is full of memorable things.”

The younger sister who knows Ja-eun's circumstances in detail.
We welcome Ja-eun's return.
He is well-versed in both industry and academia and is in charge of managing the household.
There can be no object that is carried without Do-eun knowing.
When discussing the work that Jaeun is in charge of, she is a refreshing person who immediately gets to the point without needing to explain at length.
Ja-eun is always worried that she will be entangled or taken advantage of by the self-willed Ho-eun.
Do-eun envies the freedom that Ja-eun has gained with difficulty.

"Sana"

“I am not as weak as you worry.”

A true-bone woman who was the lover of the deceased Ja-eun.
Jaeun, who did not know the inside story, ended up selling the small Buddhist statue that San-ah had given her during her difficult times.
He still has fond memories and affection for the deceased Ja-eun, and highly values ​​her intelligence, so he asks her to help him resolve issues that need to be handled secretly.
When Ja-eun was in Jang-an, she married Jin O-ryong, the son of Sangdaedeung.
Ja-eun has always felt affection for San-ah, but due to complicated circumstances, she has to keep her distance.

"king"

“Cut what I tell you to cut.
And cut what you must cut.
“Come here every two weeks and tell me what you have harvested.”

Newspaper King.
However, the descriptions in this story are fictional.
There are records showing that immediately after ascending to the throne, he suppressed rebellions and initiated several changes that could be said to have laid a new foundation for the country.
Following in the footsteps of King Munmu, who achieved unification, with his strength and decisiveness, wasn't he as much an object of fear as admiration? From the moment he first laid eyes on the king, Ja-eun felt a sense of alienation and fear, but contrary to his intentions, he found himself used in a unique way by the king.