Chapter 162
Chapter 162
Translator: Penny
Chapter 162
Yeah, the gods have Penalty Exemption Tickets...
Inventory
100 Ways to Win an Argument
Encyclopedia of Common Knowledge
Master Chef Dae Jang Geum
None. No Penalty Exemption Tickets.
Damn it! I used them all up while skipping Weekly Quests to work on the song and prepare for my comeback!
Overwhelmed by frustration and a sense of defeat, I wanted to slam my fist into the bed, but my hand betrayed my will, gently stroking the bedsheets instead.
That one damned gesture was enough to convince me that today would be anything but smooth.
"Dobin-ah, Kim Dobin. You need to wake up."
A soft, mid-range voice resonated near Kim Dobin's ear. The hand gently shaking him was as gentle as the voice.
The voice was clearly Eden Hyung's, but the tone and actions were completely unlike him.
Ah, it's just a dream.
I can sleep longer. Relieved, he drifted back into dreamland.
After all, Yoon Eden's usual way of waking him up was...
Whoa, our Dobin's still sprawled out in bed at this hour? Living the good life, huh?
Don't you feel like you're wasting time just lazing around in bed? Please, get up and do something productive! Join me for morning exercise, or at least help Jun make breakfast!
"Dobin, is your phone alarm your sleep music now? If you're not up by the time I count to three, Hyung and I are going to have a whole day of fun composing songs together."
"Still sleepy? Why aren't you sprinting to the kitchen already?"
The standard morning wake-up routine included stealing the blanket, slapping a cold, wet towel on his face, roughly shaking him awake, and forcibly dragging him out of bed.
Those forced early mornings often made him miss the days he spent with Ryu Jaehee and Gyeon Hajun.
But what kind of crazy dream is this? They say dreams reflect the subconscious, but could I really be secretly longing for Eden Hyung's gentle morning calls?
As Kim Dobin reeled from this shocking revelation about his own twisted preferences, he was suddenly hoisted into the air. His eyes snapped open involuntarily, and he let out a startled yelp.
"Ah! Hyung! What are you doing? Why are you suddenly hugging me so tightly? Just drag me out of bed like you usually do!"
"Our Dobin must be really tired. I'm just carrying you to the table so you can relax."
Yoon Eden lifted him effortlessly, his lips curving into a gentle smile. Seeing that smile, Kim Dobin felt reassured and closed his eyes again.
Ah, this is definitely a dream.
Eden Hyung would never smile like that. I've never even seen him smile like that at Hajun Hyung.
Yeah, it makes no sense for Eden Hyung to carry me to the table just because I didn't wake up on time.
Unless he was wearing his Ranger Training Assistant Instructor hat and making me crawl to the table while yelling or waddle like a duck.
"Hyung, wake up."
A tap on his side and the aroma of food tickling his nose roused Kim Dobin. He blinked, heavy eyelids lifting with effort.
The scene before him made him blink again.
"What? When did I get to the table? I don't remember walking here. Do I have some kind of sleepwalking condition?"
Ryu Jaehee sighed at his fussing. "Of course you don't remember walking. Eden Hyung carried you here. You probably don't remember him stroking your hair either, right? Good thing."
That wasn't a dream? Kim Dobin's jaw dropped as he turned to Yoon Eden. Normally, he'd have received a curt reprimand for staring while eating, but today was different.
"Why are you staring at Hyung? Hurry up and eat."
A surprisingly gentle reprimand floated across the table.
Is this still a dream? Kim Dobin wondered, half-tempted to slap his own cheek. But when he caught the expression on Seo Yehyeon's face, who was sitting across from him, he knew this was no dream.
Seo Yehyeon's expression was akin to someone who had just witnessed a sloth sprinting at 108 kilometers per hour.
"A dream...? What kind of crazy dream is this...?" Seo Yehyeon muttered seriously, slapping his cheek hard. A vivid red mark remained on his cheek from the force of the blow.
"Eden, what's wrong?" Gyeon Hajun asked worriedly. Yoon Eden glanced at Kim Dobin with a distant look before closing his mouth and shaking his head.
Following Yoon Eden's gaze, the other members turned their heads to stare at Kim Dobin, who was at the end of their line of sight.
"Dobin Hyung, spit it out! What did you do?" Ryu Jaehee grabbed Kim Dobin by the shoulders and shook him violently.
Yoon Eden's gaze actually meant that admitting the truth would make Kim Dobin look like a total dweeb, but everyone else interpreted it as Dobin having done something wrong.
"I didn't do anything...!"
He vehemently denied it, but then a sudden realization struck him. He clapped a hand over his mouth and muttered, "Oh no... could it be that I wished for a kinder Leader...?"
Seo Yehyeon crossed his arms and jerked his chin toward Yoon Eden.
"As if Yoon Eden would suddenly change his entire personality overnight just because Dobin said he wanted a kinder leader."
"Exactly! Eden Hyung would never agree to that. It's like some invisible force, like the System, is controlling him against his will."
Yoon Eden blinked rapidly at Kim Dobin's earnest words, but no one noticed his desperate blinking.
"Dobin, maybe you should cut back on novels and comics? If you're confusing reality with the virtual world, that's a bit concerning," Gyeon Hajun advised seriously.
"Eden Hyung, how long is your bet with Dobin Hyung? A few hours? One hour? Two?"
Ryu Jaehee had already concluded that this entire situation was a bet between Yoon Eden and Kim Dobin. When he asked, Yoon Eden smiled benignly and gestured with his hand.
"Why don't we eat first? The food's getting cold."
The atmosphere was beyond unsettling—it was downright terrifying.
After finishing a meal they barely registered, Ryu Jaehee dragged Kim Dobin to his room.
"Dobin Hyung, how much did you bet for Eden Hyung to act like this?"
"I told you, I didn't make any bet with Eden Hyung!"
"So Eden Hyung is really doing this voluntarily...?"
Kim Dobin nodded vigorously, his face a picture of injustice. Ryu Jaehee then proposed a plan to break through this bizarre situation.
"Let's create a situation that would piss off Eden Hyung. Then we'll know for sure whether he genuinely changed his personality on his own, or if..."
Ryu Jaehee glanced at the tightly closed door and lowered his voice to a whisper.
"We'll find out if it's really coercion, just like Hyung said."
Eden's Dark Knight issue had brought renewed attention to Come to My Universe, a song with revolutionary themes—or, to put it bluntly, a story about beating up bad guys. Seizing the opportunity, the group decided to extend their music show schedule by another week.
Originally, they would have finished promoting and entered a rest period, but now they still had to report to the practice room every day.
So, the situation Ryu Jaehee chose to piss off Yoon Eden was...
"What? You want me to keep making dance mistakes?"
Seo Yehyeon asked in shock after hearing Ryu Jaehee's plan.
"Yeah, no matter how much I think about it, I can't imagine anyone pissing off Eden Hyung more than you. You're the perfect candidate."
"You think Yoon Eden would just let me get away with that?"
Even now, Yoon Eden in the practice room was still a terrifying presence to me, even if he no longer resorted to the crude language he used during our trainee days.
He used to be relatively lenient with early mistakes when we were first learning the choreography, but now, as our promotional period was nearing its end, making a mistake?
"He'd tear me apart with his eyes and still have some left over... Do you even know how much glare and criticism I got for one dance mistake near the end of our last promotion cycle? Yoon Eden's even learned to speak like a noble lady now, you know?"
"But you're our only hope, Hyung. Otherwise, we'll have to keep living with Eden Hyung like this forever."
"Isn't this kind of nice? Yoon Eden, being so polite in his words and actions. It's exactly how I've always wanted him to be."
"Yehyeon Hyung, stop running from reality. Your hands are shaking as you say that."
In the end, Seo Yehyeon nodded heavily, sacrificing his personal feelings for the greater good.
Arriving at the practice room, the Reve members began practicing their choreography to the AR track, which filled the room. The routine was so familiar they could practically do it with their eyes closed, making the practice session proceed smoothly.
After exchanging a glance with Ryu Jaehee, Seo Yehyeon let out a heavy sigh and initiated their plan.
It was ironic how his hands, which usually flailed wildly in the wrong directions, suddenly found the correct movements at this crucial moment.
Despite making a couple of mistakes in the choreography, Yoon Eden, who would normally have stopped the music immediately and pointed out the errors with razor-sharp precision, remained silent.
After the song ended, he called Seo Yehyeon aside and picked up the phone he'd set on a tripod in front of the mirror. He replayed the dance practice video they'd just filmed, pointing out the mistakes.
He spoke in an incredibly gentle tone.
"You really don't mind my mistakes...?"
"It's okay. Everyone makes mistakes. You must not be feeling well today, Hyung."
He even patted Yehyeon on the back with a sweet smile.
"Alright, let's try it again! Just focus a bit more on the parts you messed up earlier!"
He was acting exactly like a textbook leader.
Seo Yehyeon, who had been trembling in terror, now found himself making dance mistakes not out of compulsion, but with complete naturalness.
"Hyung, are you okay? If you're tired, why don't you rest for a bit? Don't push yourself too hard. Let's take a break and come back to it later."
Instead of his usual harshness, he received warm concern and consideration. Seo Yehyeon, overwhelmed by this sudden kindness, was on the verge of fainting.
The practice session ended amidst renewed shock and fear.
"I'm going for an evening workout."
"Oh, we're out of garlic. I'll run to the supermarket."
"A friend's waiting for me up front. I'll be back soon!"
"I'll go with Hajun Hyung."
"Jun-a, should I come too?"
"No, Eden, you should rest at the dorm."
One by one, the Reve members left the dorm with excuses and errands, gathering in the agency's conference room, their faces grim.
They had to admit it now.
They'd teased Yoon Eden before, joking about "Possession" and "Exorcism" when he'd shown a slightly altered demeanor. But this time, it was no laughing matter!
Even Gyeon Hajun, Eden's longtime friend, agreed: this couldn't possibly be Yoon Eden.
Seo Yehyeon, his legs trembling before this scientifically inexplicable phenomenon, rubbed his face dry and muttered, "Should I contact the Catholic Church for an exorcism, or take him to a shaman's house?"
"Since we're in Korea, taking him to a shaman's house might be better, right?"
"Yeah, you're right. Should I order some talismans online first? Do you know any shamans?"
"I'll have to look. But should we tell the company about this?"
"Let's keep it quiet for now. Even I think it sounds crazy. If Yoon Eden hadn't acted this way towards me, I wouldn't have believed it either."
As Seo Yehyeon and Gyeon Hajun were deep in conversation, Kim Dobin suddenly interjected.
"Most possessions involve ordinary spirits, so there's no need for an exorcism."
Seo Yehyeon's eyes lit up at this professional-sounding remark.
"Dobin, did you have some kind of spiritual insight? Or are you just really knowledgeable about shamanism or something?"
"No, it's just a common web novel trope."
The light in Seo Yehyeon's eyes dimmed. Gyeon Hajun grabbed Kim Dobin and began lecturing him again about reducing his media consumption.
"Let's just confront it head-on," Ryu Jaehee, Reve's problem solver, suggested, resting his chin on his clasped hands.
"Confront it head-on...?"
"Just ask who they are."
For the first time, his solution was wrong.
📝 Translator’s Note:
You may notice that certain lines or phrases in this novel appear both in their original Korean (or Hanja) form and in English translation.
This is intentional — these phrases are classical idioms, divine titles, or poetic expressions that carry layered meanings.
To preserve their original tone and authenticity, the raw text has been kept for reference, while the English interpretation is provided right before or after it. This helps convey both the literal and cultural nuance of the original work.
but if you guys dont want tha raw for future chapters or my future other novels u can just text me on discord and say so discord name Mr.Penny