Part 1… … 7
Part 2… … 115
Author's Note 218

I need Amiku.
My only friend and first reader.

For middle school student Mirinae, novels are everything.
For the housework robot Amiku, Mirinae is everything.

It's a bit awkward, but that makes our friendship more real!

The 『Modern Literature*Miraen Youth Literature Award』, jointly established by Hyundai Literature, the cradle of modern Korean literature, and Miraen Educational Publishing, was created to discover new works that will open the door to creative thinking and limitless imagination in young readers.
The second award-winning work, "We Are Now in Novel Mode," is a story about the special friendship between Mirinae, a middle school student who wants to write a novel, and Amiku, a housekeeping robot equipped with artificial intelligence.


The only thing I like to do is write novels.
Although I'm not good at making friends, I'm used to writing novels alone all day.
Amiku, a robot who appears in the daily life of Mirinae, who has no friends, was created to do all the household chores such as cooking, cleaning, and laundry, but is a troublemaker who causes trouble with everything he does.
At the moment when Mirinae is about to request a robot exchange because she is dissatisfied with Amiku, Amiku secretly finds out everything about Mirinae's true identity and the author 'Dorothy' who serializes an internet novel.
From that day on, a special bond was formed between the two.
With Amiku's help, he revises and serializes the novel, and the novel's poor viewership begins to soar.
In this way, Amiku becomes Mirinae's first reader, a robot with the ability to listen to her inner thoughts more sincerely than anyone else.
Then one day, Mirinae is accused and suspected by her classmates that 'AI wrote the novel for her.'
Although I only received a little help, I am embarrassed and cannot deny it right away.
Then I came back home and in a fit of anger, I applied for an exchange for Amiku… … .


Amiku, who has become an indispensable presence to Mirinae, learns about her own existence and self through conversations with Mirinae.
Can the two fill each other's gaps and maintain "novel mode"? "We Are Now in Novel Mode" is a warm and delightful coming-of-age novel depicting a lonely teenager's journey of self-discovery through friendship with a robot.
And I propose to all of us:
'Turn on novel mode now.'

Just as wings are not exclusive to birds, the mind is not exclusive to humans.

Where do you think the desire to give in advance comes from?

In the AI ​​era, here are the good questions we need.
The ambition to tackle the problems we face head-on

With the help of Amiku, Mirinae rises to become a popular writer, gaining the attention of her peers, but at the same time, she is suspicious.
"Where and how much of this writing belongs to me?" "Can AI appreciate literature?" "Aren't the originality and individuality of novels robots?" "Do robots have minds?" This story connects the journey of Mirinae's growth through the process of writing with AI services, confronting fundamental questions about creativity, ethics, humanity, and the future of imagination.
Now that various AI services have become part of our daily lives, "We Are Now in Novel Mode" invites readers to a forum for discussion, ultimately leading them to discover "a warm, human dream where we can share our thoughts with each other through stories."
“Amiku’s words in this award-winning work, ‘The heart is not just for humans,’ will become a concern we will often face in the future.
The judges praised the author for “running in the direction that readers are most curious about, while not missing the questions that accompany the complex layers.”

■ 2nd Modern Literature * Miraen Youth Literature Award Judges' Comments

It's also worth noting that even after traversing cutting-edge technologies like artificial intelligence, robots, online writing, and cyberbullying, we've reached a point where ordinary values ​​like human sincerity and passion are present.
Because what happens inside a human being is an area that AI writing can never surpass.
Kim Min-ryeong (novelist, children's and youth literature critic)

To what extent is Mirinae's 'writing' her own?
And is it reasonable for humanity to monopolize the self?
Amiku's words, "The heart is not something that only humans possess," will become a concern we will often face in the future.
The author runs in the direction that readers are most curious about, but does not miss the questions that accompany the complex layers.

Kim Ji-eun (children's and youth literature critic)

Writing enables Mirinae's growth, and it is also the starting point for Amiku to discover herself through conversation with Mirinae.
Through this process, the relationship between Mirinae and Amiku develops and changes from the usual possessive attitude towards robots to an equal friendship where they express their sincerity to each other and find comfort.

Seo Hee-won (literary critic)