“This is a fun read! Where does this excitement come from? It's like slurping down a bowl of jjambbong, a wonderfully blended dish of unfamiliar ingredients I've never seen before.” —Jeong Ji-ah, author of My Father’s Liberation
“This sweeping epic story, which ruthlessly shatters a writer's lifetime understanding of
fiction, surges forward with explosive energy." —Park Seolyeon, author of A Magical Girl Retires, and Capitalists Must Starve
“Above all things, it’s captivating to see how these absurd and preposterous events unfold rhythmically. Kim Hong keenly captures and boldly depicts the intersection of individual misfortune and the world’s injustice.” —Kang Hwa-gil, author of Another Person
“As you will find out, this book is about crying. No matter how much humor, wit, and
absurdity abound in the story, you'll still end up crying. It's amazing because while you laugh and cry, you'll still be curious about what happens next.” —Lee Kiho, author of The World History of Second Sons
Winner of the 30th Hankyoreh Literary Award in 2025
For fans of The Office and Mikhail Bulgakov’s The Master and Margarita
A workplace tragicomedy, mystery, and political satire, forgotten, yet unforgettable deaths haunt the country in the form of stakes, set against the backdrop of the very current South Korea.
When hundreds of mysterious stakes wash ashore along the coast, the nation descends into panic. People who stand before them burst into tears without understanding why. Authorities seal them away in white hazmat suits. Yet no matter how many are removed, the stakes keep returning — moving steadily from the sea to the city, and from the city toward the people. What is the identity of these stakes? What are they trying to say?
At the center of this chaos is Jang, an ordinary bank loan officer in his thirties, who finds himself at the bottom of a brutal social hierarchy after his engagement collapses and things at work are looking bleak. But one day, he becomes entangled in a terrifying mystery linking the stakes: a dead friend from his past and an action he took more than a decade ago — one that may have awakened something long buried. As public hysteria spreads across the nation and political institutions collapse under fear and opportunism, Jang is pulled between hostility and sympathy, suspicion and guilt, unable to tell who is manipulating him or why.
A new turbulent mystery action drama by Kim Hong —the storyteller of laughter and tears— that poses an interesting question: when society confronts an unknowable Other, can fear ever give way to compassion — or are we doomed to abandon one another the moment disaster arrives?