The Story of Siha and Kanta's Jang-Mart

Commentary on the work
Author's Note

With the most modern and cutting-edge writers of contemporary Korean literature
[Modern Literature Pin Series] The twenty-fifth novel in the series has been published!

The twenty-fifth novel in the special feature [Modern Literature Pin Series] of the monthly magazine 『Modern Literature』, which selects the most modern and cutting-edge writers of contemporary Korean literature and includes new poetry and novels, has been published. Lee Young-do's 『Siha and Kanta's Jang-Mart Story』 has been published.
Lee Young-do, who announced the beginning and revival of Korean fantasy literature with 『Dragon Raja』 in 1998 and has established himself as an irreplaceable author for 22 years, has released this new work as a revised version of the novel published in the September 2019 issue of 『Modern Literature』.


A world in ruins, a polluted land, a world brought about by human greed.
The dream of humanity's resurrection blossoming within it

Lee Young-do, the representative author of Korean fantasy literature such as 『Dragon Raja』 and 『Future Walker』, is releasing a new full-length novel, 『Siha and Kanta's Jang-Mart Story』, two years after 『Over the Choice』.
Lee Young-do, who has been absolutely loved by readers for over 20 years due to the weight of the subject matter, the grand scale, and the constant emergence of diverse and new races, doubles the fun of reading the novel by generously using Lee Young-do-style jokes and humor in this work as well, with compression and omission, metaphor and metonymy, and breathtaking ping-pong-style dialogue between characters.


In a ruined world, the last remaining human race, competing with and sometimes coexisting with various fantasy species, is on the verge of extinction.
The soil is polluted, and only a few humans survive on a land where not a single blade of grass grows.
A fairy was caught in a trap set to catch a rat.
"Is that fairy edible or not?" asks Siha and Kanta, nineteen-year-old girls who lost their parents at a young age and live at Henry's Zoo.
Henry is the name of the dragon that the zoo's residents call him.
The zoo's human residents can ask Henry for a deal when they want something, but to do so, they must memorize perfectly the songs and poems that Henry taught them, which contain the treasures and essences of humanity that our ancestors must pass on to future generations.
However, the only human who asks Henry for a deal is Siha.
They cannot rashly challenge it, as failure could lead to their fate of being devoured, and only Siha can perfectly recite the songs and poems.


People who first got up in a mart and are called marts.
The Marts, dreaming of humanity's resurrection, are willing to wage war against other races to secure unpolluted land for them to have children, collect seeds, and sow.
Mart Queen, who leads them, asks Siha to come to the mart and teach the children songs and poetry, but Siha refuses every time.
Not only do they not believe in the possibility of human resurrection, but they also believe that having a child in this time and place is a sin.
This belief of the Shiha is further strengthened by the appearance of Dergin.
The fairy Dergin was a hallucination seen by those suffering from delirium due to an incurable disease, and a phantom seen by humanity facing destruction, and was evidence that the destruction of humanity was 'really' imminent.
Despite Dergin's appearance, Kanta leaves Henry's Zoo and goes to the mart to witness and record the events that take place there, namely the history of mankind.
However, after Kanta goes to Mart, Gandharva attacks Mart, and Siha heads to Mart, worried about Kanta's safety.
Siha, who went to see Kant with the 'love potion' made with Dergin's help, thought that her birth was the result of her parents' pleasure and that she was suffering because of it, and did not believe in love, but after hesitating, she swallows the love potion in front of Kant.

Contrary to Siha's expectations, Mart, who had formed an alliance with the Kappa tribe, defeated Gandharva and won the war. Siha then said, "I love myself who loves you," and handed Dergin over to Kanta.
One war has ended, but a new history begins again from the beginning.

The chapter of Siha and Kanta is a question about fantasy.
Therefore, the answer of this work is ambivalent in every aspect.
The love potion that Siha drank was a fantasy with a morphologically confusing subject and object, and Siha's words after drinking such a fantasy are more like questions than answers.
What is our response to these illusions?
(Lee Yong-hee)

What kind of chemical reaction will the love potion unleash on Siha, who harbored despair, frustration, and resignation deep within her heart, who denied her own birth and doubted her very existence? Why did Siha let go of the fairy, the powerful evidence of humanity's destruction? Now that she's cleared herself of the charge of "reckless will to revive," by securing clean soil, what excuse will Siha offer to reject Martquin's request to join? Or will she feign defeat and join? Will the dream of humanity's resurrection come true?

"The Story of Siha and Kanta's Jang-Mart" is a novel depicting the fierce competition for survival between the few survivors in a land contaminated with radiation in an era of human destruction and the fantasy species brought about by the delirium of humanity facing death.

The twenty-fifth book in the monthly [Pin Novel] series published by the monthly magazine 『Modern Literature』!

[Modern Literature Pin Series] is a project that selects the most modern and cutting-edge writers of contemporary Korean literature, presents them in the monthly magazine 『Modern Literature』, and then publishes them in book form.
The single volumes presented here are individual works, but are also curated by six authors as a 'series'.
Modern literature hopes that the seriousness of this series will be ironically combined with the delicate lightness of the word 'pin'.

[Modern Literature Pin Series] The novel selection is also a monthly pin published by the monthly magazine 『Modern Literature』.
The follow-up issues, scheduled to be published on the 25th of each month, are designed to allow readers to see new works by Korea's top authors on a set date.
This is a kind of 'salary book' concept that is being introduced for the first time in Korean publishing history.


001 to 006 are composed of works by writers born between 1971 and 1973 and debuted between the late 1990s and 2000s, who are currently the backbone of Korean novels. 007 to 012 are composed of works by writers born between the late 1970s and early 1980s and debuted in the mid-to-late 2000s, who are currently the most active writers in Korean novels.
013 to 018 are composed of works by authors born between the mid-to-late 1950s and the 1960s, who played a pivotal role in leading the development of contemporary Korean literature, and by authors who debuted between the 1980s and the mid-1990s. 019 to 024 will feature works by young, ambitious authors who are writing a new chapter in the history of Korean literature.

Modern Literature × Artist Koo Bon-chang

[Modern Literature Pin Series] is an original novel collection, an art anthology, reconstructed as a special work of art with a cover work imbued with the artist's soul.
The reason each novel possesses its own unique fragrance and profound artistic fascination is probably because of the spiritual harmony created by the meeting of the two worlds of novels and art.

Character introduction

* Time and space setting: A time when humanity is on the verge of extinction.
A land devastated by radiation and other factors.
Dying humanity sees a fantasy species.
The dragons, fairies, Gandharvas, and Kappas that appear in this novel are fantasy species.

1.
Siha: A nineteen year old woman.
The only person who can communicate with dragons, having learned humanity's songs and poetry from dragons.
He is negative about the revival of humanity, so he has feelings for Kanta but cannot express them.


2.
Kanta: A male in his late teens.
Recorder (or artist).
He escapes the protection of the dragon's zoo, which has nothing more to record, and joins the Mart pack.
He is loved by his wife but he doesn't know it.

3.
Ahenrise: A dragon of unknown age.
The owner of Henry's Zoo and the guardian of the humans living there.
Teach Siha the songs and poetry of humanity.

4.
Mart Queen: A woman of unknown age.
The leader of the mart.
Flying around wearing wing clothes.
The goal is the revival of humanity.
They even resort to war to increase their population and secure land to feed them.
He offers to join Siha, but is rejected every time.

5.
Dergin: A fairy of unknown age and gender.
The last fantasy species seen by dying humanity.
Making a love potion.
In this novel, he serves as an narrator.

Author's Note

In the spring of 2020, I have only one thing to say.
I wish you all good health.