I Will Raise This Family to Greatness - Chapter 252

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com

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Chapter 252
“Sung-guk, open your eyes.”
Someone called out to me.
How deeply had I been sleeping?
I opened my eyes with a hazy mind.
It was Liam, the doctor and friend of Noah Brown whom I’d seen earlier for a consultation.
“Noah asked me to check on you. They’ve prepared a hospital room for you. The nurses will move you, so don’t worry. How are you feeling?”
“…Sleepy.”
“That’s probably from the medication. Your fever has gone down a bit, but… we’ll need to monitor the situation. Let’s get you moved to the room.”
“Okay….”
I closed my eyes again.
The sound of the transfer bed’s wheels rolling echoed loudly.
Then we arrived at some hospital room, and soon I heard the door closing. The nurses exchanged signals with each other before everything fell silent.
I drifted back into a deep sleep.
* * *
How much time had passed?
I heard someone tossing and turning beside me.
[So I’m sharing the hospital room with someone named Christopher Nolan….]
I lifted my body slightly.
Then a man’s voice came.
“Are you alright?”
“…Yes.”
But my voice was severely hoarse.
The man quickly handed me water.
“Have some water.”
I sat up while drinking the water he offered.
Gulp.
Even the sound of water going down my throat was loud.
After setting down the bottle and rubbing my swollen eyes as I settled into a sitting position, the man sitting on the opposite bed stared at me with a serious expression.
“Do you… know what’s happening?”
[What kind of question is that to ask someone who just woke up?]
“What do you mean?”
“We’re locked in this hospital room.”
“Really?”
“Yes. They said we’re patients with some kind of new strain of influenza. At the hospital. Then they said we can’t leave this room for the time being.”
It seemed a quarantine for the new influenza had begun.
I quickly touched my forehead. Thanks to the Tomiflu, my fever had dropped significantly.
The man sitting across from me also looked much better than he had on the airplane.
By the way, that man’s name was….
Now that my fever had broken, even my memories felt hazy.
The man initially extended his hand to me, but withdrew it with an embarrassed expression.
“We’re both contagious patients… we shouldn’t shake hands. Since we’re staying in the same hospital room with the same illness, let me at least introduce myself. I’m Christopher Nolan.”
[Christopher Nolan… Christopher Nolan….]
The name felt familiar, but I couldn’t quite place who he was.
In any case, he appeared to be older than me.
“Hello, I’m Jeon Sung-guk.”
Christopher Nolan stared at me with a look of surprise.
“Sung-guk! You’re that famous Sung-guk! And… you’re the one who advised me to take Tamiflu on the airplane, right? The doctor who saved me mentioned your name. He also said you’re the CEO of FaceNote. He told me you suspected it might be avian flu and advised me to take Tamiflu to bring down the fever. That’s why I even tried to contact you… but to meet you like this in a hospital room….”
The man clearly hadn’t expected to end up in the same hospital room with me as a novel influenza patient.
I, too, hadn’t anticipated catching novel influenza and being confined to the same room with this man.
“Yes, I’m that Jeon Sung-guk.”
“Wow, to meet you like this… I’m an avid FaceNote user myself.”
The man began chattering away enthusiastically as if he’d never been sick at all.
“This is just my opinion, but FaceNote is truly revolutionary! With just that one platform, you can understand how people live and what they think. Of course, it’s only the surface level. But still, it’s become a conduit connecting the world.”
[Trapped in a room with a chatterbox… this is hell.]
I listened to Christopher Nolan’s endless talking with what little patience I had left.
“Sung-guk, what a wonderful coincidence this is. This feels like destiny. What do you think the odds are of us meeting like this?”
[That’s what I’d like to know…]
All I wanted was to escape this room as soon as possible.
Then, a book on the table beside Christopher Nolan’s bed caught my eye.
Carl Sagan’s Cosmos?
In that moment, I realized who Christopher Nolan was.
“Christopher….”
I called his name softly.
Christopher, who had been chattering away, looked at me.
“Sung-guk… do I talk too much?”
“Christopher, are you a film director?”
“Sung-guk, I recognized you the moment I heard your name… but you’re recognizing me awfully late, aren’t you?”
“….”
I smiled instead of answering.
[Christopher Nolan… to meet you like this, how delightful!]
* * *
Knock. Knock.
I heard a knock on the hospital room door, followed by a Nurse’s voice from outside.
“We’ll open the door now and place your meals on the floor. How are you patients doing?”
“Yes!”
“Yes!”
Christopher and I answered simultaneously.
“Then, please both put on your masks.”
Christopher and I reluctantly put on our masks, and the Nurse counted from outside before opening the door.
“Well, enjoy your meal and take your medicine. It’s Tamiflu. If you experience any issues, please press the emergency bell anytime.”
“When will we be able to leave this Hospital Room?”
“A new strain of influenza is spreading across the entire United States right now. If you both show no complications, you should be discharged in three or four days.”
The Nurse gave me a perfunctory answer and quickly closed the door behind her, disappearing down the hallway.
I rose from my bed, picked up two meal trays, and handed one to Christopher Nolan.
“Christopher, please eat.”
“Sung-guk, thank you.”
Christopher’s fever seemed to be subsiding more slowly than mine. Since I’d rushed to the Hospital the moment my temperature spiked, his emergency treatment had come later.
“Christopher, so you came to Silicon Valley to consult on scientific matters?”
“Yes. My brother left behind a screenplay, but… I’m having trouble getting it to work.”
“May I ask what it’s about?”
“Of course.”
Having experienced Dennis, my Harvard Dormitory roommate and aspiring Director, I knew the most reliable way to engage with filmmakers.
Ask them about their work.
Christopher Nolan eagerly explained his project while tearing into the Hospital’s bland bread.
“Humanity’s failures have left Earth desolate, and we’re facing a food crisis. It’s a future where mankind survives on nothing but tasteless things—like this bread.”
“Like American corn?”
“Exactly! Yes! Corn works perfectly. The entire world is left with nothing but cornfields. So humanity sends an expedition into space to overcome this crisis, and the story follows what happens when these people fall into a kind of black hole.”
[Hmm… this sounds like Interstellar.]
Interstellar was a film I’d found fascinating myself.
Christopher Nolan suddenly set down his bread and scratched his head.
“But… honestly, there are many difficulties. I’m struggling with how to incorporate scientific knowledge into the film. My brother even attended science lectures at Stanford because of this, pouring himself into the screenplay… but nothing seems to be working.”
“Maybe the problem is that you’re trying too hard to make the story scientifically rigorous?”
“Hmm… scientifically rigorous….”
Christopher Nolan stood up and quickly pulled a laptop from his bag.
“Sung-guk, we’re stuck in this Hospital Room for three or four days anyway. Would you look over my screenplay? A genius like you might come up with ideas I haven’t considered.”
“I’d be honored. I’m a huge fan of the Batman series.”
“If you read this screenplay, I’ll tell you all the behind-the-scenes stories from filming the Batman series.”
“Deal.”
I began reading the screenplay Christopher Nolan handed me.
[So this is where Interstellar began….]
* * *
Trapped in the Hospital Room, I lost all sense of time’s passage.
I could only tell night had fallen by the darkness beyond the window, and the news continuously reported updates on the new influenza outbreak.
My phone flooded with messages from Mark and everyone else who knew I’d contracted the virus, but I ignored them all and posted a single photograph to FaceNote instead.
Christopher Nolan appeared in that photo as well.
– I’m currently hospitalized with the new influenza strain.
After taking Tamiflu, I’m feeling much better, and my roommate is Director Christopher Nolan.
We’re discussing the universe right now. Isn’t that fascinating?
Of course, I wasn’t reading the comments.
– Wow, two geniuses getting together to talk about space? Sung-guk, are you really going to space now?
– Ask Christopher Nolan when the next Batman series is coming out, Sung-guk!
“Christopher, when will the next Batman series be released?”
“We’re still working on the script, so it’ll take another two or three years.”
I posted his answer directly as a comment.
Everyone was curious about what would happen to Batman after the Joker’s death, but Christopher kept quiet about it.
“Christopher, could you tell me the next story just for me?”
[Of course, I already know it anyway….]
“The scenario is still being developed, but it seems like it’ll be about Batman withdrawing from the world out of guilt after the Joker dies, and then returning to it again.”
[Well, it’s a story anyone could predict.]
I quickly turned my attention to the Interstellar script Christopher had handed me.
Interstellar still lacked a properly established foundation.
Near-future Earth. A desolate planet. Humanity faces crisis from food shortages and abnormal climate patterns.
The protagonist was a NASA pilot who had disappeared, but became a farmer after NASA vanished.
The story was essentially about him venturing into space again to find hope for humanity’s future on Earth.
After finishing the script, I looked at Christopher Nolan, who was focused on FaceNote beside me.
“Christopher, this story is still too thin. The scientific knowledge and situations are well-developed, but something emotional to connect them all together seems weak.”
“Sung-guk, do you realize you just hit the nail on the head?”
[Of course I do, I’m Jeon Sung-guk. And I’ve watched this movie more than ten times, so I remember the characters and dialogue pretty well, Christopher.]
I shrugged my shoulders.
“Just tell me whatever comes to mind, no pressure.”
“Hmm… I think it would be good if there’s a story about family.”
“A story about family?”
“The male protagonist heading into space has a family. He falls into a black hole, and his daughter waits for his signal. That’s what a black hole is, isn’t it? A place where spacetime is twisted. In a world of twisted spacetime, a missing father. What if we added a story about the daughter who grew up waiting for that father?”
“Sung-guk! That’s such a concrete idea…”
Christopher Nolan wore a slightly bewildered expression.
It seemed like a storyline he hadn’t considered before.
“Christopher, it’s just a thought. I’m from South Korea, after all. In South Korea, family is something we truly value. Actually, if a man is risking his life to venture into space for his children’s future… I think it would be more convincing.”
Christopher Nolan’s eyes widened.
“It’s a good idea, but… I’ve never thought about it like that….”
“I’m just throwing out an idea. If it’s not good, forget about it, Christopher.”
[You won’t be able to forget it, Christopher.]
I turned on the TV, leaving Christopher lost in thought.
The TV continued to drone on about the pandemic of a new strain of influenza.
Watching it, Christopher muttered with a serious expression.
“Sung-guk, do you think this pandemic can end?”
“Christopher, we’ll find the answer. We always have.”
At my words, Christopher smiled softly.
“Sung-guk, that sounds cool. You’re right, humanity has always found the answer.”
[Of course, it’s a famous line from your movie.]
I shrugged my shoulders.
Christopher thought deeply for a moment, then looked at me.
“Sung-guk, I’d really like to use the idea you gave me… but it’s something very important. How much would I need to pay you?”
“Christopher, just use my idea freely. In exchange, I’d like to invest in your next film.”
“Your next film?”
“Yes. Don’t you have a film you’re currently preparing?”
“I do. It’s called Inception, and we’re aiming for a release next year.”
[Hmm… Inception… that’s the one!]
I smiled knowingly.
“I want to invest in that exact film, Christopher!”

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com

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