In a fictional dystopian place called Town people live in a caste system based on class and privilege. Those who are fortunate enough to be born into the L category are full citizens and live a Brahman-like life. Sahas are the Untouchables. In between are the L2s who can only stay on renewable work visas. Sahas are named for the building they live in. A place where community matters and odd jobs are the only way to earn money. The economic system depends on the three classes, even as Sahas are not officially recognized citizens. Town is run by a nebulous Council of Ministers that manipulates the Sahas and uses them for nefarious research. When Woomi, a girl who is a test subject for this research (aka "the Master Key because she survived a Covid-like pandemic in utero) starts looking for answers she discovers that her data is being stored in a library but is not quite sure how to access it. Breaking into the library she finds a Fahrenheit 451 - esque data storage system wherein people are trained to memorize the data. Woomi talks to her "data storage unit" who tells her that it is "painful to know so much and have to retain it all." Furthermore, "accuracy plummeted" when "the data storage unit realized the information was not being accessed fairly or used in productive ways".
The book is a bit frustrating in that it simply stops, rather than ends. There is no resolution.
The reviews I read all indicated that this work was not as good as the author's other work Kim Jiyoung: Born 1982, but I liked it better.
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