Yes! That is basically a direct translation of a Japanese phrase with the hanja 類. I haven’t seen it in Korean alone like that yet either 
I’ve seen 종류 though…
That phrase is pretty commonly used to mean texting in Japanese still so it seems like another translation thing!
ty for being the jp-kr consultant on the thread @bungakushoujo
The way I immediately accepted that these friends must just email one another 
Haha ok (more info than anyone cared about incoming) these days most people just use LINE, the Japanese version of 카톡, but you get an email address with your cellphone in Japan and a lot of people send (or sent, maybe I’m living in the past) regular sms from their phone email to someone else’s phone email…so they were emailing!!!
Week 2 : Read up till 22%.
I don’t have much to add compared to week 1. I’m still not a fan of the main character. He realized he was just full of himself and being an egoistic d&ck, but somehow I don’t think he drew the right conclusions ? I guess not all the character growth can happen at the beginning of the book, I hope I’ll be less annoyed with his inner thoughts as the story moves forward. Speaking of inner thoughts, there’s a bit too much repetition for my taste about his theories about the 기억술사, it does show he seems a bit stuck. Despite all this, it’s still keeping me interested, and it’s easy to follow.
Word of the week: 기승전결 four steps in composition
起 일어날 기: introduction
承 이을 승: development
轉 구를 전: turn
結 맺을 결: conclusion
Week 2
I agree with everyone else that the narrator seems questionable. Kyoko says she feels uncomfortable around him and his response is basically to stalk her?? Very questionable! Towards the end it seems like she had her memories erased, though. I’m interested to see what else we find out about the 기억술사 as well as the structure of the book in general. I did notice that it’s a series, so I’m wondering how many stories about the 기억술사 there can be and what differentiates them.
That was TERRIBLE oh my god
Honestly, based on the beginning sounding like every other Japanese high school / college romance, I’m not sure if I’m going to like this, but I have to read this for the “from someone else’s card” part LOL.
I read a bit over 10% and I do not like the MC. He doesn’t know how to take no for an answer.
If it’s anything like the typical Japanese horror book, some kind of karmic reckoning could happen 
let’s see where this goes… 
Good to see that there is a consensus on the MC being not-so-great.
Week 2 thoughts, during the passage with 마키:
Another thing that made me dislike him even more was this sentence, that I had originally understood as “Maki doesn’t usually like highschool girls’ stories” (and I was like… don’t try to make her pass as a “not-like-other-girls girl” she has done nothing wrong and I love her), but turns out it’s even less of a good look for him:
마키는 평소에는 여고생들의 이야기 같은 건 우습게 보고 상대도 않던 내가, 자기가 꺼낸 화제에 흥미를 가지는 것을 보고 신이 나는지 그렇게 물었다.
Don’t look down on highschool girls, especially when they have information that you’re after.
Question time if anyone is so inclined
Making a list of cool words as I read through to 20%.
풍문 - 바람처럼 떠도는 소문 (the Hanja make so much sense!)
And… that’s the list lol
I finished 20.2%. Just wanted to add that one thing that annoys me is this instalove kind of thing. There is never a good reason (in Japanese YA) why the male MC likes the female MC besides her being pretty or whatever. No reason for me to believe in their feelings for each other. I know this is not in the romance genre, but it would be more believable if there were more details about what is so cool about the girl. Or did I just skim over those?
입 찢어진 여자, or slit mouth woman, is an urban legend character in Japan. Kind of similar to “Bloody Mary” in some western countries. Since she’s also a famous urban legend I think that’s why she keeps coming up as a reference.
I was sus on that part too lol. I think he says something like “high school girls are a mystery” in the same interaction. Rolling my eyes.
입 찢어진 여자 is a well-known Japanese legend about a woman whose lips were cut going into her cheeks. Maybe ear to ear. Apparently she asks you if you think she’s pretty and reveals her disfigurement under the mask, and depending on your answer she will cut your face the same way. Something like that.
Oooh I see, thank you both!
The dream is in the prologue! So I think the 1st or 2nd page.
Week 2: I read up until after the lawyer’s lecture (~21%)
week 3
“강연회, 갈 거니?”
“OB 불러다 얘기 듣는 거지? 전에 칼럼니스트가 왔을 때 들으러 갔었는데, 꽤 괜찮았어. 이번엔 누구더라? 변호사라고?”
Had to look up OB, it’s slang for 선배 it seems?
Some vocab:
흐지부지되다 - fizzle out, peter out
기를 쓰고 - desperately, frantically
일 인용 소파 - was gotta ask wth is this but then google imaged and I have one of these big sofa chairs in my living room
인터넷상 - on (上) the internet
한 수 위다 - to be better than someone, a cut above (guessing this 수 is 手)
마이너스의 감정 - At first I thought this was a pretty weird way to say a negative emotion, but actually it’s very fitting considering he’s talking about the after-effects of his memories being removed and the horrible feeling of essentially negative space.
료’s reaction to someone talking about something he has no memory of is v relatable. I would 100% have the same reaction and desperately try to hide my confusion instead of just owning up to not knowing wtf was going on.
oooh so HE is the third person? I like that. Did the 기억술사 get him to protect their secret?
Also tangent but recently I’ve been obsessed with Celeste Mott on insta talking about being in a 00s vampire forum cult and my nostalgia for old-school internet forums and chat rooms is through the roof rn so I am loving the chat room bits.
“또 도시전설 사이트야? 역시 우리 반 아이들한테 물어봐줘야겠네. 그런 건 입소문으로 퍼지는 정보가 가장 많거든.”
“됐으니까 넌 숙제나 해.”
his absolute refusal to follow up on any rumours going around amongst the girls while desperately searching for more information on this rumour going around. 
Okay so we know it’s now the second year of uni for 료 but like…when did he lose his memory? Were there context clues in the phonecall w the lawyer that i missed? Like when did him and the lawyer first get in contact about this because it didn’t seem like the lawyer was all “yoooo dude where you been for the last while??” on the call.
놓다 is so sneaky for popping up in figurative ways. I just kind of accepted the same gist of this sentence as you without feeling like I had a firm grasp of the 놓고 
It may be related to 신의 한 수, which is one of my favorite expressions that pulls from 바둑. It’s used to describe an immaculate play, a creative and brilliant solution.
And turns out 수 as in “바둑이나 장기 따위를 두는 기술. 또는 그 기술 수준” has “한 수 위” as a definition. Level of 바둑 skill
Btw you saved me with the “OB” definition. That was really confusing me but I’m lazy so I just moved on
For 괴담을 놓고 있다 없다 하는 거니:
놓다 = ((‘…을 놓고’ 구성으로 쓰여)) 논의의 대상으로 삼다. To make something a topic of discussion.
있다 없다 하다 = talk about if the 기억술사 exists or not
Context: I searched for this passage in the book and this comes after Maki asks the MC if he thinks 기억술사 really exists, and then he comments that Maki seemed excited that he, who usually thought little of what female high school students had to say (…), was showing interest in this topic.
So he says basically “aren’t you a bit old to be bringing this (기억술사) up like it exists or not”
Going to triple post: I finished up to 30%.
Very confused why the lawyer is actually interested in this random urban legend. Heavily suspicious that the lawyer is the 기억술사. You heard it here first, folks.
