Chapter 1

1 First meeting
1-1 A day where nothing can happen
2 Ryu Jeong-hwa & Yoon Seol-ah
2-1 The Villainess Who Dreams of Being Cinderella
3. A past I want to erase
3-1 Between Life and Death
4 The whirlwind of emotions called guilt
4-1 A tightrope walk
5 When you hear music
5-1 Miraculous Survival

Chapter 2

6 The sorrow of those left behind
6-1 Prey & Scapegoat
7 The past speaks to me
7-1 Signs of Death
8 Maybe a sociopath with zero empathy
8-1 Sweet and Savage Lies
9 Dilemmas in the Yojigyeong
9-1 Is he still alive?
10 Maybe an empath with max empathy
10-1 That's just a grain of sand
11 Curiosity killed the cat
11-1 Suddenly a sasaeng fan?

Chapter 3

12 Brutal Confessions
12-1 Everyone has a secret
13 There is a suspicion but no evidence.
13-1 The nightmare that never ends
14 Those who seek to kill and those who seek to save
14-1 Your misfortune is my happiness
15 It ain't over till it's over
- Letter from the author

Lee Seon-dong Clean Center (Grand Prize, Korea Creative Content Agency Story Contest)
Author Kwon Jeong-hee's first mystery thriller in 7 years!

『Death and Life Girl』 is a mystery thriller presented by author Kwon Jeong-hee after 7 years.
This novel, which began with the idea that 'words can kill or save a person,' is imbued with the author's uniquely warm gaze, which seeks to listen to the voices of the marginalized.

Author Kwon Jeong-hee, who majored in criminal psychology in graduate school, focused on the influence of words on human psychology and behavior.
Also, based on the idea that the temperature of speech is determined by the depth of empathy, we created an interesting and unique opposition between a sociopath who lacks empathy and an empath who has a very strong empathy.

In particular, the figure of high school girl Yoon Seol-ah, who fights against the inhumanity of a society that drives people to death, was evaluated as having created a new type of protagonist called an 'empathetic hero' who does not turn away from those in similar difficult situations and uses pure humanity as a weapon.

The Prelude to Death, as told by author Kwon Jeong-hee: The Mysterious Identity of the Music
A breathtaking school-themed chase between an empath and a sociopath.

『Death and Life Girl』 is a story about the conflict and solidarity between Ryu Jeong-hwa (18), a sociopath who treats reality as a movie she creates and sacrifices people just for fun, Yoon Seol-ah (17), a high school girl who hears the sound of death trying to save those caught in her trap, and Kang Jae-kyung (34), a temporary counseling teacher who, while struggling under the weight of life, stubbornly listens to the voices of those in need.

After waking up from death, Yoon Seol-ah is able to hear the music coming from the bodies of those on the verge of death. With the help of Kang Jae-kyung, a counselor who is the only one who believes her story, she saves people.
The existence of Ryu Jeong-hwa, who stands at the starting point of all 'preludes to death', is revealed, but there is no way to prove her evil deeds of always manipulating her victims into choosing their own deaths.

However, the situation changes rapidly when it is revealed that Ryu Jeong-hwa may have been involved in the death of Seol-ah's older sister, Seung-ah, two years ago.
When it is revealed that it was Jeong-hwa who branded Jae-kyung as the daughter of a criminal, Seol-ah decides to find out the secret of her sister's death that ended two years ago in order to prevent another scenario of Ryu Jeong-hwa hiding under her school uniform and harming people without anyone knowing for years.

The author solved the problem of so-called 'social murder', in which a person, isolated in despair, ultimately chooses his own death, through the mysterious subject of 'prelude to death'.
This sends a clear message that the only way to save those who are trapped in suffering commensurate with death is to listen to their voices.

A fierce psychological thriller between those who seek to kill and those who seek to prevent death.
It is only our good interest to save those who are isolated and facing death.

The conflict in 『Death and Life Girl』 does not flow in just one direction.
Ryu Jeong-hwa, the perpetrator who writes scenarios as she pleases and drives someone to death without a sense of guilt, is a victim of child abuse who never learned right from wrong at home and never received stable support, and Yoon Seol-ah, who leads people to life, is also someone who is closer than anyone else to the signals of death that even the people involved are unaware of.
Jae-kyung, who helps Seol-ah, is also a victim who lost her beloved family because of Ryu Jeong-hwa, but she is still a survivor who does not give up on life.
This is no different from how we live in reality, embracing numerous parties.

Likewise, the image of the hero depicted in the novel is also very ordinary.
It's not just the righteous protagonist Yoon Seol-ah who willingly takes on hardships just because she wants to 'save' a person she's never met, and her assistant Kang Jae-kyung who cannot easily ignore the voices of others because she has experienced hardships herself.
The empathy and solidarity of the victims, who, despite being silenced by greater authority and threats, ultimately want to right the wrongs, are the weapons that stop Ryu Jeong-hwa.

Therefore, 『Death and Life Girl』, a novel with such a humane face in a Korean society that has been overflowing with death for a long time, has clear implications.
Just like Seol-ah, Jae-kyung, and other victims who are connected by a minimal commonality, it shows that we can save and protect ourselves only when we do not turn away from another 'me' who is marginalized and suffering.