The Rainfall Market - Softcover

Yeong-gwang, You

 
9780593952665: The Rainfall Market
Softcover
ISBN 10: 0593952669 ISBN 13: 9780593952665
Verlag: Ace Books, 2025

Inhaltsangabe

If you could swap your life for a better one, which would you choose?

On the outskirts of Rainbow Town, there is an old, abandoned house. They say that if you send a letter detailing your misfortunes there, you could receive a ticket. If you bring this ticket to the house on the first day of the rainy season, you'll be granted entrance into the mysterious Rainfall Market—where you can choose to completely change your life.

No one is more surprised than Serin when she receives a ticket. Lonely and with no real prospects for a future, Serin ventures to the market, determined to create a better life for herself.

There, she meets a magical cat companion named Issha and they search through bookstores, perfumeries, and fantastical realms while Serin tries to determine what her perfect life will look like.

The catch? Serin only has one week to find her happiness or be doomed to vanish into the market forever.

And all the while, a shadow follows quietly behind them…

Die Inhaltsangabe kann sich auf eine andere Ausgabe dieses Titels beziehen.

Über die Autorin bzw. den Autor

Yeong-Gwang You was born in Seongnam in 1984. He wrote this story during breaks while delivering food for a living. He felt truly happy while writing this story and wishes for all readers to find healing and courage through it so that they may go out and find their own happiness.

Auszug. © Genehmigter Nachdruck. Alle Rechte vorbehalten.

The StRange RumoR

Somewhere far outside the big city was a place called Rainbow Town.

And somewhere in Rainbow Town was a run-down, abandoned house.

Rumor had it that if you sent a letter about your misfortune to this house, you would receive a mysterious Ticket. If you brought that Ticket to the house on the first day of the rainy season, you could completely change your life.

"No way."

"That's absolutely ridiculous."

Everyone treated it as a fantasy at first. But somehow, the story spread like wildfire. And each time it was told, it became more and more elaborate.

But though the details were different, they all had one thing in common: the Dokkaebi.

"I swear, I saw them with my own eyes!"

The people who claimed to have visited the house insisted that behind its doors was a secret magical world with beings who called themselves Dokkaebi: people who looked human but weren't.

"Don't make me laugh."

Naturally, people didn't believe those stories so easily. But Serin wasn't the only one who wanted to know more. Most people snickered when they heard about these Dokkaebi and their Tickets, but Serin would pause with her spoon halfway to her mouth so she could learn more from the rumors. She even borrowed Secrets of the Rainfall Market at the school library, which was no easy feat considering how popular it was. Serin skipped lunch that day and, with the precious book finally in her hands, rushed to a corner of the library.


Even the cover of the book was special. The publisher had obviously spared no expense, from the way the cover changed color when Serin held it up to the light at different angles. She stared at the cover for what seemed like forever. There was the heart-stopping quote, The truth behind the rumors finally revealed! and, most importantly, the bright red BESTSELLER mark stamped on the front. Serin hated books, but she couldn’t pass this one by. She could tell other people thought the same, because the book was already badly worn, even though it had just been published.

Taking a deep breath, she gingerly opened the book.

"Ugh, really?"

Printed on the front flap was a picture of the author. He was smiling like a robot, and someone had drawn glasses over his eyes and blackened some of his teeth with a permanent marker, so it was impossible to tell what he actually looked like.

The rest of the book wasn't much better. Serin found doodles, of course, and even phone numbers and email addresses people had jotted down in a rush. The penciled underlinings she could tolerate. But some of the pages clung together with something yellow and sticky, and Serin had to try very hard to pretend not to notice those. I'm only here for information!

Despite all that, the book gripped her from the start. In the introduction, the author wrote about how he had gained entry to the Rainfall Market. He explained that his life had been hopeless once and he was often in and out of prison.

He used to be as sad as I am, Serin thought.

Each time he was released from prison, the author wrote, he had wanted to make a fresh start. But because no one would hire someone with his past, he had nowhere to go and was completely destitute.

Everything changed the day he picked up a newspaper to look for job ads. He spotted the words Tell us about your misfortune, and an address. The man had nothing left to lose. He poured out his heart on paper and sent it off by mail. To his shock, he heard back: he found a Ticket in the mailbox, alongside an invitation to a strange marketplace.

Serin wondered if she might get a Ticket. She tried to compare her life with the author's, but it was hard to tell who had it worse.

Before she knew it, she was halfway through the book. Across the chapters, the author described the Dokkaebi he met and the wonders of the Rainfall Market. He had even included maps, almost like a travel guide. At the end of the book, the author described how he had chosen a new, happy future for himself at the Market, and how that happy life came to be. He had always wanted to be a famous writer. And not long after he had finished writing the manuscript for Secrets of the Rainfall Market, he won a deal with the biggest publishing house in the industry. The rest was history. But while helpful, that information wasn't quite what Serin was after.

"This is it!"

The appendix in the back had everything she wanted. It was the whole reason she'd borrowed the book in the first place. She turned the page and saw a list of tips for sending a good letter, one that would get chosen. The writer swore that he had spoken with other human visitors to verify these tips. This was the real deal.

"Where did I put my pen?"

Serin pulled out a small notepad and copied down everything the appendix had to say about getting her letter accepted.

It was better to be honest rather than embellish too much. Believe it or not, the author warned, Dokkaebi could read people's hearts, so they could tell if someone was lying. He said that the Dokkaebi didn't care as much about your writing skills as they did about your circumstances.

But is all this really real?

At the very end of the appendix, the author wrote that the Rainfall Market had changed his life when all seemed hopeless, and that if anyone reading his book felt the way he did, they had nothing to lose by writing to the Dokkaebi.


Back in the classroom, Serin could not concentrate.

And not because her teacher, who insisted on wearing modernized hanbok clothing all year round, had a big hole near his underarm. Or because part of his comb-over was hanging limp off the side, exposing his balding head.

She couldn't stop thinking about the book.

The blackboard was almost completely white with chalk, and the teacher was lecturing passionately about history-or geography, she couldn't quite tell-with thick drops of spittle flying everywhere. But Serin's mind was on the Rainfall Market.

It can't possibly be real, she told herself. She had to focus on her lessons. But shaking her head didn't help and only attracted the teacher's attention.

"Kim Serin, are you listening to me?"

The teacher was looking straight at her. Serin gasped. "I-I'm sorry, sir."

The teacher frowned and pulled his comb-over back over his head, then pushed up his horn-rimmed glasses and continued the lesson. But the chalks kept breaking, and he ended up getting mad at the blackboard, ranting about how people didn't make things like they used to.

It felt like he was talking to her. Serin hung her head, her face bright red.

A few of her classmates glanced in her direction, but no one tried to console her. She was used to that by now.


When she got home, Serin turned on her desk lamp and, as usual, shuffled through the radio channels to find her favorite music program.

The radio was probably once a classy bright red, but it had faded to the color of pink rubber gloves. For a long time, it had worked surprisingly well. But recently, the old machine had needed a bit of encouragement from Serin's hand.

"Why does it keep acting up?"

She had a good reason for keeping the battered old radio, though: it was the last thing she had left of her father's.

Serin didn't remember her father. All she knew was that he died suddenly in an accident when she was young. Her mother had tried to throw the radio away many times, but Serin had insisted on keeping it.

It was her only friend. A member of the family who filled the void in her heart.

At ten in the evening, the radio played the opening song of her favorite program.

"Good evening. Welcome to another nightly episode of The Dream Box."

Serin loved the DJ's soft, soothing voice, and normally pricked up her ears...

„Über diesen Titel“ kann sich auf eine andere Ausgabe dieses Titels beziehen.

Verlag
Ace Books
Erscheinungsdatum
2025
Sprache
Englisch
ISBN 10 
0593952669
ISBN 13 
9780593952665
Einband
Taschenbuch
Anzahl der Seiten
224
Kontakt zum Hersteller
ACE
https://www.penguin.com/

Bachstelzenweg 10
Ibbenb?ren
49479
Deutschland

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