What does it mean to grow old, to become an adult?
A futuristic novel that envisions a dystopian society with an aging population and infertility.

A futuristic novel set in a future society where children are precious, depicting the loneliness and unhappiness of people living in an aging and infertile society.
Alex Shearer, known as the “king of children’s and young adult adventure novels,” combines his unique and quirky imagination with profound philosophical reflections on the meaning of life.


How many people would be free from the desire for immortality, or longevity without aging? But if such a world actually came to be, would we truly live happy lives?
In the novel's world, when you turn forty, the government gives you free anti-aging drugs.
Thanks to this, people can easily live to be 160 years old, and some people even live to be 200 years old.
The problem is that even though the body is forty years old, the mind inside it does not stop aging.
When you live for too long, life becomes boring and everything just feels dull.


Another problem is that the price paid for increasing human lifespan is infertility.
A virus that causes infertility spreads, destroying the ability to reproduce, leaving only those who are immune to the virus able to have children.
People wonder if nature is trying to maintain a 'balance' by preventing population growth through high birth rates and low death rates.

As a result, there are many people who want to profit by stealing children whose value is higher than that of diamonds, and the main character, Taerin, is one of the victims.
Moreover, Taerin is forced to undergo a 'Peter Pan' transplant surgery.
Because if you undergo that surgery, your body will stop growing, so you will retain your commercial value as a child until you die.
However, Taerin is already disillusioned by the sight of the bored faces of children (and adults with bodies) who have already had plastic surgery.
Rather than living as a plaything of adults until I die, I want to live freely as my own self even when I die of old age.
So, in the end, he decides to escape.
Wouldn't that be true for anyone with free will?

There is a saying that 'humans are C(choice) between B(birth) and D(death)'.
The desire for immortality stems from the finiteness and one-timeness of human beings.
However, such finiteness and one-timeness can make us endlessly despair and frustrated, but on the other hand, it also makes us more attached to life and stimulates us to live diligently.

It is up to us to choose whether we accept the providence of nature as a 'curse' or a 'blessing'.
And depending on the choices we make, our lives will take on a completely different shape.
This is the philosophical question that this novel ultimately poses.

Taerin didn't say anything.
The two walked silently, each lost in thought.
Diet was obsessed with the idea that if Taerin got a fibroid transplant, he could make a lot of money.
Then you will be able to live forever without worrying about money.
Meanwhile, Taerin was thinking that Diet was missing one very important fact.
Skin transplants are illegal.
So anyone caught involved in a blood transfusion will face life imprisonment.
It means you will have to spend your whole life in prison.
Besides, life expectancy is very long these days.
Accordingly, the life sentence is also lengthened accordingly.
Long time no see.

But there was something appealing about the PPI transplant.
PP is an acronym for Peter Pan, a boy who never grows up.
The procedure that makes this possible is called a skin graft.
There was something alluring about living forever as a child.
but….
--- p.11~12

Yeah, time is passing.
That's right.
Time is always passing.
But for those people standing in line with forty-year-old faces, time has stood still, or so it seems.
Each day feels like an eternity, the afternoons seem unfilled, and the nights seem endless.
What will the man who has done all he was supposed to do do now? What will he experience now that he has experienced everything there is to experience? Who has visited all the places there is to see? Who has read all that there is to read? Who has heard all the music there is to hear, who has known all the stories there is to know? Who has known every verse in every symphony, every note in every song, every twist in every story, every brushstroke in every painting? What will these men do now? --- p.22-23

As Taryn climbed down the tree, she wondered if Mrs. Davy's husband knew about this too.
My husband probably doesn't know.
Having an afternoon child would be a woman's secret, her secret joy and longing.
To have a real child, a real boy, as an afternoon child.
Real boys are expensive, but they are worth it.

A child who has had a fibroid transplant, that is, a fibroid, is cheaper.
You can rent a pipi for half the money Diet demands.
Besides, some of the peeps are really good.
That's a given.
Because they've been doing what customers love for a long time, acting like kids.
However, some of the peeps have been doing it for so long that they have turned into clones of themselves.
They act the whole time, even though they know every scene.
It can become cute, lovable, and cuddly depending on your needs.
Customers can suddenly become irritated, yell, whine, and stamp their feet if they want to.
So they act like children, but in reality their life as children ended long ago.
Their faces and bodies are exactly like those of a child.
But their hearts were transformed into those of a new species that had never existed before in this world.
--- p.41

“Oh, yeah.
They didn't make humans live forever, but they did make it possible for them to live to be over 200 years old.
That's three times the 70 years mentioned in the Bible.
But what would happen if no one died and humans continued to be born?
“The world will become more complicated.”
“That’s it, kid.
I raised you well.
As the world becomes more complex, we will have to stand shoulder to shoulder and swarm like termites living underground.
"So, kid, how did this world try to fix this situation? How did it prevent further problems? How did this world take revenge?"
“So they prevented people from getting pregnant.”
“That’s right, kid.
By preventing pregnancy, people can no longer have children.
As the death rate fell, the birth rate also fell.
Ha! I like this world.
I like the sense of humor in this world.
I like the way this world takes revenge on people who pretend to be smart and brag about how great they are.
They only put us in trouble, but they can't save us from it.
It went very well.
“Yeah, that’s right!”
“Except for some people.
“Those people can still have children.”
“Yes, some very lucky people can still have children.
Of course, no one knows why.
"Little one, but are they really that lucky? They face the envy and hatred of those who can't have children just because they can, and they're also at risk of having their children stolen from them. Are they truly that lucky?"

--- p.70~71