Woo Da-young, "Long Premonition" ·7
Author's Note ·96


Jo Ye-eun, "At the Returning Lake" ·101
Author's Note 144


Moon Bo-young, "Memory Chips That Aren't Sad" ·153
Author's Note ·181


Sim Neul, "Understanding Communication" ·187
Author's Note ·231


Park Seo-ryeon, "If I'm Born on Earth Again" ·241
Author's Note ·282



Published ·286

Enfant terrible.
This French word, derived from the title of a novel by Jean Cocteau, is often used to refer to a newcomer whose admirable genius changes the existing order, and also to represent the younger generation who challenges the ideas and authority of the older generation.
In 2019, the existing order of Korean literature began to change with the emergence of the enfant terrible, Kim Cho-yeop.
And by 2022, science fiction had established itself as the most read and written literature among Korea's younger generation.
Science fiction has now become a literary genre that truly represents the younger generation.
In this new literary trend, five enfants terribles present a new world of science fiction.
Woo Da-young, who has been recognized for her own mysterious and dreamy literary world through the short story collection “Alice, Alice” and the novella “In the North Sea,” and was nominated for the Hyundai Literature Award and the Munji Literature Award in 2019 and 2020, respectively; Jo Ye-eun, who has been greatly loved by the public for presenting a variety of genre worlds originating from small apocalypses that have infiltrated everyday life through the short story collection “Cocktail, Love, Zombie” and the light novel “Snowball Drive,” and Moon Bo-young, who has been recognized for her avant-garde and bold imagination as well as her own quiet and healthy sensibility through the poetry collection “Book Pillar” and the literary essay “Diary Age,” and who won the Kim Su-young Literature Award in 2017 and was nominated for the Hyundai Literature Award in 2022; and Moon Bo-young, who has published the short story collection “I Must Never Grow Old So Ugly” and the novel “The Ark We Cannot Climb,” and has a unique style that refreshingly mocks the absurdity of society. The protagonist is Park Seo-ryeon, who has received full support from the MZ generation with hyperrealistic SF, and has won the Hankyoreh Literary Award in 2018 and the Young Writer's Award in 2021 for her wide spectrum of female narratives and imagination of love and solidarity through the publication of novels such as 'Simneul', 'The Worker Kang Ju-ryong', and 'The Shirley Club'.
Five young writers who have been building their own styles and worlds with their unique imagination and lively writing style.
A new kind of science fiction unfolds, showcasing the worldview and sensibilities of the younger generation while simultaneously transcending the genre order and boundaries of existing literature.
And Hubble wants to be with those enfants terribles under the name of 'Transcendence'.
The first novel series, “Hubble Transcendence Series,” is currently being prepared by 14 authors, including Woo Da-young, Jo Ye-eun, Moon Bo-young, Sim Neul, Park Seo-ryeon, Kim Hee-sun, Jeon Ha-young, Kang Hwa-gil, and Cheon Seon-ran.



Experience the sci-fi world of Woo Da-young, Jo Ye-eun, Moon Bo-young, Shim Neul, and Park Seo-ryeon in advance.
A five-part prequel anthology series connected to the world of the upcoming series.


A prequel is a work that deals with content that precedes a specific work in time, and generally refers to a sequel to an already existing work.
However, the prequel works included in this book have no previous works to serve as a starting point or standard.
In other words, the science fiction world that should have existed only in the future was born in advance in the form of short stories.
So, what the five authors' science fiction, which has transcended time and space to reach us, are trying to convey to us is as follows.
This is a story about a science fiction world that transcends the common utopias and dystopias of the past, and about love learned while enduring anxiety in a newly born, chaotic, and unstable world.
If utopia is a world that praises human potential and dystopia is a world that highlights human evil, then the world presented by young Korean writers is neither utopia nor dystopia.
Even in a world where a catastrophe beyond human control is imminent, or where the world is dying due to a disaster brought about by human greed, the protagonists created by the five authors live with all their might, bond with each other, and love each other.
So even in a cynical world, the protagonists' future is optimistic.
At least it's hopeful.

The fact that this science fiction world, imbued with the voice of hope, was born from the hands of young writers seems to be the result of a call from today's Korean literature readers, especially the younger generation.
Young writers, including Kim Cho-yeop, have created a science fiction world where people empathize with and share in each other's pain while erasing existing hierarchies and discrimination, and the younger generation of readers has shown great interest and love in that world.
In other words, it clearly shows that the younger generation of literature is looking forward to the birth of science fiction that deals with empathy and solidarity.
Thus, the five writers, who were not only interested in science fiction but also keenly aware of the trends of the times, created different science fiction worlds that could be grouped together under the keyword of 'love.'
Hubble hopes that this anthology will be an appropriate response to the expectations of those who love Korean literature.



Woo Da-young, Moon Bo-young, and Park Seo-ryeon, the starting point of a newly born sci-fi world like "Transcendence."
A world of love rising between humans and non-humans


Among the five authors participating in this anthology, there are three who are publishing novels under the science fiction label for the first time: Woo Da-young, Moon Bo-young, and Park Seo-ryeon.
The three authors' sci-fi worlds deal with the love that blossoms between humans and non-humans (gods, robots, and aliens, respectively).

Woo Da-young's "Long Precognition" depicts a world where numerous precognitives, who have seen a future imminently threatening disaster, try to avoid disaster by creating an AI with precognitive abilities by digitizing the future they have seen.
This is the story of a prophet who had no love for the world, but who forms bonds with his companions who possess the gift of foresight, and through this, he regains his love for the world and sets out to a world beyond the future in order to prevent the end of the world.
Moon Bo-young's "Memory Chip That Isn't Sad" depicts a science fiction world where AI robots, who act as members of society like humans, live with human childhood memories.
It is a story about robots equipped with dampers that make their memory data gradually disappear like humans, and they come together with their robot colleagues to fill in the gaps in their memories and solve puzzles to realize their own identities.
Park Seo-ryeon's "If I Were Born on Earth Next Time" depicts a science fiction world where Earth is the afterlife of an alien planet in a future where space tourism has become commercialized.
This is the story of a space tourism company employee who receives an alien tourist who comes to see his loved one reincarnated as an Earthling. He develops a liking for the alien's attractive appearance and the fact that he feels similar pain, and thus begins to realize his love for the alien and himself.



Jo Ye-eun and Shim Neul, a turning point in the sci-fi world, overflowing like a "full moon."
The world's love that rises even in twisted everyday life

Among the five authors participating in this anthology, Jo Ye-eun and Sim Neul are the only authors who have previously published novels under the science fiction label.
The two authors' science fiction world deals with the love that arises between people even in everyday life distorted by science fiction events.

Jo Ye-eun's "The Returning Lake" depicts a science fiction world where a mysterious lake swallows everything, the townspeople throw everything into the lake, and the lake eventually reaches a critical point where it spits out a monster made of waste.
This is the story of two girls who build love and friendship by throwing away things that cause them trouble in a lake, and who protect their love in the midst of a great disaster caused by the birth of a monster.
Sim Neul's "Understanding Communication" depicts a science fiction world where a small number of people with monster-like appearances and supernatural powers are born from an alien virus that spread after a meteorite impact, and where government agencies control these people in order to utilize their powerful supernatural powers.
This is the story of two siblings who lost their parents in a meteorite collision and became monsters. As they struggle with whether or not to adapt to society, they each realize their own communication issues and come to understand each other.