Chapter 324
Chapter 324
I clenched my fists.
I had suspected that his words, ‘I’ll be in your care for a while,’ meant he didn’t plan on using Ryu Gun-woo’s body for long.
However, I thought it would be some ethical dilemma—feeling guilty about using someone else’s body or something along those lines. Why the hell was he suddenly talking about dropping dead next summer?
And his reasoning? ‘Because the human me died next summer and came back to the past.’ What kind of explanation was that?
Did you think you were the only one who returned to the past?
“I heard that people who were originally dead lived on just fine even after passing the point of their death. What are you talking about?”
“Hyung, I don’t mean that I’m going to die.”
The kid waved his hands dismissively. Then, he answered with a somewhat gloomy expression.
“It’s just… once the dates I lived as a human pass, it’ll be hard for me to remain human.”
I took a moment to process his words.
So, that meant…
“You’re going back to being the Status Window?”
“Yes.”
The guy sitting across from me lowered his head. I suppressed a groan and asked, “Why does it have to be like that?”
“It’s not the System’s doing, but mine—or rather, the Status Window’s. It’s because I gave you the mission and manifested the reward.”
Right. He had manifested because I used my new trait, ‘Mission Constitution,’ to receive ‘A Conversation with Park Moon-dae’ as a reward.
“So what?”
“You’ve seen it yourself. Even if you return to the past, your previous life doesn’t disappear; it stays there, unchanged. And when the trip to the past is over, you receive the life you originally lived… it’s like that, isn’t it?”
“……”
“I guess that’s how I work, too. Just like that, once this trip to the past in a human body is over, I’ll be returned to the life I lived before.”
The kid swallowed hard.
“As the Status Window.”
“Wait.”
I held up a hand.
“Then if I call for the Status Window right now, will it not appear? Since you’re right here.”
“Ah, no. The human me is here, but the part affected by the System is still over there. It’ll show up.”
“So you’re in a split state.”
“Yes…”
As a test, I called up the Status Window.
[Receiving Reward]
It was true.
‘Come to think of it, even after I returned to my original body, no ‘Reward Received’ pop-up appeared.’
In that case… it was as if I were still in the middle of receiving the ‘Conversation with Park Moon-dae’ reward.
Ultimately, this guy was using a loophole to stretch the ‘reward period’ as much as possible, and the limit of that was next summer.
‘Sigh.’
I held back a sigh and organized the information in my head.
Then, the first solution came to mind. It was an idea similar to what I had thought of before.
“I can just trigger another mission and get a similar reward again.”
The ‘Mission Constitution’ trait wouldn’t have just vanished.
So, couldn’t I just receive a mission with a reward that allowed him to use Ryu Gun-woo’s body permanently?
However, Keun-dal shook his head.
“The thing is… by the time I go back to being the Status Window, it’ll probably be hard to separate the human me and put me into a body like this again.”
“Why?”
“I can feel the part of me assimilated with the System getting stronger. It seems like that influence carries over even if I move to another body.”
Keun-dal swallowed.
“If I go back, I think I’ll be completely fused.”
“……”
I fell silent. The guy across from me gave a lopsided grin.
“But Hyung, I’m really okay! I still have several months left. And even if I become the Status Window again, I’ll try my best to keep talking to you—”
“No, be quiet for a second.”
“Huh?”
I rubbed my chin and came to a conclusion. It was clear.
“Let’s get rid of the System.”
“What? Wait a minute.”
“If the System disappears, I bet the part of the System you’re assimilated with will disappear too.”
“That might be true… but no, that’s just a guess…”
“I was planning on getting rid of it anyway. This System creates too many variables. This industry already has enough to worry about; it’s just getting in the way of our activities.”
“You’re going to get rid of the System just because it’s getting in the way of your activities?!”
I had come up with a perfectly rational conclusion, so why was he freaking out?
He even slammed the table as if something had occurred to him.
“Gasp, come to think of it, Hyung, you mentioned something like that before! To those regressors!”
“Regressors?”
“The people who came back to the past!”
He was using the technical terms quite naturally. Regardless, I nodded.
“Right. I’ve been tracking the System for a while now. You must have seen that when you were the Status Window.”
“That… that’s the thing!”
The guy across from me jumped to his feet. He muttered with a slightly anxious expression.
“Hyung… no, even when I was the Status Window, I really wanted to tell you this…”
“Tell me what?”
“Try not to mess with the System if you can help it, Hyung…”
Keun-dal looked at me with a serious gaze. For a moment, I wondered if he had developed some sort of sympathy for the System, but I read a familiar emotion in his eyes.
It was fear.
“It’s… it’s really strange. This isn’t some fantasy or sci-fi movie; it’s just weird. It’s like an AI, but also like a ghost…”
“You said you influenced each other.”
“That’s exactly why I’m saying this!”
I had meant it as a jab at his self-deprecation, but he shouted back.
“To be honest, even if I did influence it, I don’t even know how I did it… Hyung, you described the System as a mental parasite. I think it really is like that… like a incredibly powerful supercomputer parasite…”
“……”
“Can’t you just… not do it, Hyung? I’m a little scared.”
After some careful thought, I nodded.
“Hmm, I’ll consider it.”
“That means you’re going to ignore me, doesn’t it?!”
His intuition from his time as the Status Window hadn’t gone anywhere. I ignored his words, just as he expected. He slumped in frustration.
“Seriously… it’s dangerous. You can’t, really…”
“More importantly, let me ask you one thing.”
“Yes?”
I asked calmly.
“Is it possible to use the original Status Window functions instead of this ‘Receiving Reward’ window? Like checking other people’s stats or using traits.”
The guy across from me blinked.
“That… I think I might be able to manage that.”
“Really?”
“Yes. I’ve done things like that before. If I ‘access’ the Status Window and manipulate it…”
He suddenly forgot his frustration and became absorbed, his expression going blank as if he were concentrating intensely.
It looked like he was attempting to hack it.
Just in case, I closed the Status Window and waited for him.
A moment later, his expression returned, and he spoke brightly.
“Hyung, I can do this—!”
It was at that moment.
Knock, knock.
The sound of someone knocking on the door.
Then, the door to the restaurant room opened smoothly. Keun-dal immediately plopped back into his seat.
“Ah, it looks like you two were having a good conversation.”
Ryu Cheong-woo, who had stepped out, had returned.
I immediately checked his face. It was calm.
‘Did he hear?’
I meant the part where ‘Ryu Gun-woo’ called ‘Park Moon-dae’ Hyung.
As long as Keun-dal didn’t say anything unnecessary, I could…
“Ye-yes! You’re back.”
If you’re going to open your mouth, don’t look so stiff. No, don’t smile so awkwardly either.
“It’s been a while since I met someone I knew… so the words weren’t coming out right. Haha, hahahaha.”
Actually, on second thought, he looked exactly like a long-term student who had passed his exams after spending years substituting social skills with studying.
I felt relieved instead. And as expected, Ryu Cheong-woo just gave an awkward smile in return.
“Well, studying for exams is a battle with oneself, after all. I’ve had similar experiences… Ah, but you speak very well, Hyung-nim.”
Is he feeling pity for this guy?
“I-I do? Thank you. Honestly, it’s a miracle I even passed the interview… ha, haha.”
“Hyung, please sit down.”
“Ah, right.”
I immediately cut off their conversation and made them sit. Just eat your food and shut up.
I needed to organize my plans.
After that, there were no major issues as we each slurped down the noodles we had ordered and talked about TeSTAR.
Ryu Cheong-woo was actually a bit taken aback by the guy’s extensive knowledge of TeSTAR, ranging from their albums to their concerts.
—You really know a lot. I hope we weren’t a distraction while you were studying for your exams…
—No. I gained a lot of strength from you…
It was certainly a heartwarming scene.
I couldn’t stop Ryu Cheong-woo from concluding that he was ‘the type of person who only speaks well about things he’s interested in’ as he watched the guy lose his awkwardness.
“Thank you for today.”
“No, I’m the one who’s grateful…!”
At any rate, we successfully exchanged numbers and wrapped up the meeting. I gave the guy a slight nod as we parted.
‘We’ll talk about the details over the phone.’
‘I’ll definitely go to the concert!’
It didn’t seem like we were on the same page, but texting wouldn’t be an issue, so it was fine.
Moreover, because that guy insisted on getting both our autographs at the very end, Ryu Cheong-woo seemed to have completely solidified his impression of him.
I knew this because he said this as he got into the car and started the engine.
“If I had known, I would have brought the other members’ autographs too.”
“I guess so.”
Fine. This was enough for him to accept the situation based on the circumstances, even if it was suspicious. I relaxed my shoulders and leaned back against the seat.
From now on, I would plan how to keep that guy’s butt firmly planted in Ryu Gun-woo’s body…
“Ryu Gun-woo Hyung-nim, his impression seems to have changed a lot.”
I stopped thinking for a moment.
“…His impression?”
Did he perhaps remember meeting me when we were younger? I kept my mouth shut and searched my memories as he continued his explanation.
“Compared to when I saw him in that home video. You saw it too.”
“…Right.”
Ah, that. The home video at Ryu Cheong-woo’s house where I had found Ryu Gun-woo’s whereabouts.
I leaned back against the seat again.
“They say people are products of their environment. It’s only natural that he’s changed.”
“Right. Isn’t it?”
Ryu Cheong-woo replied casually.
“But… I think he actually resembles you.”
“…!”
“The person in the video… his impression was similar to yours.”
Ryu Cheong-woo glanced at me briefly before looking back at the road.
“Not his features, but his expressions and movements.”
“……”
“Those things don’t change easily unless you deliberately correct them. I know because I had to fix my posture and gait a lot while doing archery, getting scolded all the while.”
Ryu Cheong-woo didn’t explain further after that. I knew from his attitude.
This bastard was certain.
And I had missed the timing to come up with a natural excuse.
—In 50 meters, turn left.
However, after the navigation’s voice rang out, Ryu Cheong-woo spoke again.
“You have your reasons, right?”
“……”
“I don’t intend to dig into it. Um, I just wanted to say that you don’t need to worry about whether you’ve been caught or if you need to fix anything. It’s no different from when we went hiking last time.”
Ryu Cheong-woo added in a slightly bashful tone.
“I debated whether or not to say anything, fearing it might make things awkward between us.”
“……”
“That’s all.”
And then I realized.
He wasn’t demanding a plausible explanation from me; he just wanted to convey that he had noticed the two of us had swapped situations.
That was it.
And that was… much more… no, impossibly more accepting than I had expected.
‘Does this… even make sense?’
Instead of recommending I check into a psychiatric hospital, it ended with tacit understanding.
I reflexively looked at the guy driving.
I could see a strange tension masked by calmness, but more than that, I saw the underlying emotion.
It was a sense of stability.
In other words, trust.
“……”
While the light changed and the car came to a brief halt, Ryu Cheong-woo spoke again with a somewhat embarrassed face.
“Um, but if my meddling made you feel more burdened, I’m sorry. So… um, how should I address you?”
I opened my mouth.
“Hyung.”
“…?”
“Just speak casually. It feels weird hearing you use honorifics all of a sudden.”
Ryu Cheong-woo looked surprised for a moment, but eventually, he smiled and turned the steering wheel.
“Haha, shall I? It felt a bit strange to me, too.”
“Yeah.”
I hesitated for a moment before adding briefly.
“And… thank you.”
“…For what.”
Ryu Cheong-woo seemed to give a small smile while looking straight ahead. Then, he soon shrugged and said, “Like I said, let me know if you need help.”
Ah. Right.
I felt a bit lighter as I spoke.
“I have one right now.”
“Hmm?”
“I’d like some advice.”
Actually, around the time dessert was served in the restaurant room, I had called up the Status Window again. The ‘Receiving Reward’ window had been categorized as a pop-up.
And I could use the original functions through the main window.
‘Good.’
Keun-dal had succeeded in ‘accessing’ it, as he put it.
And the reason I wanted this back wasn’t just to check the status of competitors and come up with countermeasures while we were active.
It was to use something else.
[Trait: Mission Constitution (S)]
This.
And for every ‘reward’ candidate I thought of, the same mission content appeared.
It was this.
[Mission: Break K-POP Records]
“What kind of K-POP records are there that we could break?”