Chapter 405
Chapter 405
Ballerino Seon A-hyun had never walked any other path.
His duty was to carefully tread the single trail leading toward his destination.
The path was sometimes steep or rugged, but the destination was always in sight, and a sense of responsibility—that he must not stop—kept his feet moving.
Only that sense of responsibility.
‘When I first started… it was fun.’
How enjoyable those new challenges and expressions had been. Dancing was such a captivating activity.
However, everything changed after he suddenly won an international competition with an overwhelmingly dominant performance that exceeded all expectations.
‘Ah.’
—A-hyun, you were born to do this!
His options had vanished.
An agency signed him, articles poured out, fame followed, and he gained an immense title and affiliation.
Now that the perfect, optimal path had been revealed, he could no longer attempt anything else.
There was no reason or justification to rebel against all the expectations and advice. All that remained was a life aimed at even greater success through ballet.
…Something felt wrong.
‘I haven’t… experienced this enough to devote my entire life to it.’
Still, it wasn’t unbearable. Dancing was, after all, something he enjoyed.
‘You can’t choose while trying everything you want.’
He had heard similar words during counseling.
Because it wasn’t so difficult that he wanted to give up everything, the counselor provided by the agency didn’t suggest impossible long-term breaks or a change in career path.
But the resignation did not disappear.
An entrenched conviction about his future.
‘I… won’t be able to do anything else from now on.’
He had already poured his entire childhood and half of his youth into this.
He had no proper friends, no social experience. He hadn't even studied properly.
Deviating from this orbit was impossible.
So he couldn't start saying something else now. He couldn't torment the company, his parents, and the stakeholders with uncertain anxiety and worry.
He couldn't ruin this failure-free life.
‘How nice would it be if I had a personality free of doubt and worry?’
Seon A-hyun worked tirelessly to become that way.
He didn't take up other hobbies, and he didn't think about other social circles or lives. He narrowed the radius of his life.
He didn't want to harbor lingering attachments or curiosity.
And so, he continued to soar.
—The principal ballerino this time will be A-hyun. Of course!
—Then we’ll just film these three more commercials. That’s fine, right, A-hyun?
His position became increasingly solid.
He could never break out of this. He must not fail.
‘Right.’
It was just when Seon A-hyun’s path had completely hardened.
He met him without warning.
In the hallway of a broadcasting station set he visited for a schedule, he saw a survival program participant sitting there as if he had lost his soul.
—Um… are you okay?
The words he poured out, trying to encourage the man somehow, felt foreign to him.
—A good result isn't the only answer.
—A choice that doesn't cause your heart pain is also an answer.
‘I….’
He had never even considered letting go so easily, yet he didn't know why he had spoken with such conviction.
It was as if someone else was speaking through him.
‘It’s strange.’
But those words brought him comfort as well.
—Alternatives can be the right answer, too.
Even while thinking it was impossible for him to actually do it.
And surprisingly, the other person eventually regained his strength and achieved a wonderful result in a different direction.
—Wow, this is really well-made.
—It was the best.
He was just a one-time mentor, but the situation and the person gave him a strange fluttering sensation and moved him.
—…Thank you. Thanks to you, I finished the stage well.
So when he heard those words from Ryu Gun-woo, he actually wanted to say more earnestly that he was the one who was grateful.
But he felt that saying so would be a burden.
‘…If I get the chance.’
He wanted to become closer and tell him. He truly wanted to possess the mindset he had shared with this participant, a mindset that had felt so foreign to him.
It was the moment he made that resolution while exchanging numbers.
Suddenly, in the hallway where the participant was turning to disappear… he saw it.
‘Huh?’
—……?
Someone with blonde hair wearing an in-ear monitor was looking at him from what appeared to be a backstage area, opening his mouth to speak.
Stage costumes and a hand reaching out as if to pull him in.
“…!”
But before the hand could reach him, the strange afterimage vanished instantly.
It was an image so abnormally vivid that it couldn't be called a mere hallucination.
‘Ah.’
Yet, strangely, Seon A-hyun did not feel anxious.
It just… felt right. A peculiar determination was engraved in his mind, as if he were correcting something that had gone wrong.
‘It’s okay.’
In fact, he wanted to see more. Seon A-hyun began to reflect on the afterimage to ensure he wouldn't forget it.
Then, the afterimages began to reappear abruptly from then on.
When he looked at the audience, when he prepared in the waiting room, when he went to the broadcasting station.
When he cautiously tried to contact that idol who had been depressed.
—Waaaaah!
Images of a life that was noisier, more crowded, and filled with more hardships and ups and downs.
But also a life that was more sparkling and heart-pounding.
At those times, Seon A-hyun became confused, but strangely, the anxiety that he was heading in the wrong direction still didn't arise.
And gradually, the afterimages grew darker, gaining connectivity and a story.
Images connected by dotted lines.
‘What is this?’
Seon A-hyun carefully fitted them into his inner self and cherished them.
And at this very moment.
“We did this stage at the concert.”
At those words, as if shackles had been released, sound and movement infused all the images.
The cherished afterimages gained meaning and became memories.
A real life.
“……Back then.”
Finally, Seon A-hyun realized.
‘Ah.’
He wasn't a ballerino.
He was the Seon A-hyun who had failed at becoming a ballerino and quit dancing as if he were running away.
But….
‘I was happy.’
Seon A-hyun had become an idol.
“We used balloons… during that stage….”
He recalled the joyful unit stage from their first concert. Then the group stage, and the after-party.
The self who stuttered, the self who gave up, the self who was stubborn, the self who doubted his friends.
“…Moon-dae.”
It was okay to fail.
Quitting ballet didn't mean that the version of him who had learned it lost his value.
Even a daily life ruined by ruthless bullying and a forsaken school life could eventually be recovered.
Life does not end in ruins.
As long as one can resolve to find their direction again and keep walking.
‘That’s right.’
And to put it the other way, living a seemingly perfect life without any terrible failures didn't mean that inner anxiety and fear would disappear.
That realization, in turn, erased the trauma that TeSTAR’s Seon A-hyun had carried.
The self-loathing over whether he had made a weak choice at a crossroads in his life.
‘I… also made the best choice I could each time. Just like the other members.’
All the questions and doubts he had been buried under were neutralized.
At the very beginning.
A memory of the words that had steadied him so he wouldn't collapse, allowing him to run toward a new path even if he deviated from the old one, came to mind.
—Just think about ‘getting this done.’
And now, he was facing the person who had given him that motivation.
“…So, you’re saying you didn’t have your memories from the start.”
“Yeah.”
I stepped into the waiting room with Seon A-hyun.
Since Seon A-hyun had already received his award in Part 1, it was fine for him to return to his seat a bit late, and I wasn't even nominated in the first place.
That was why I could sit face-to-face with this guy right now.
Seon A-hyun nodded and smiled.
“…Now, I remember everything perfectly.”
His appearance was no different, but it showed in his expression, movements, and way of speaking. This was the Seon A-hyun I knew.
I was speechless for a while, unable to say anything, before I finally managed to respond.
“I see.”
Then I held out my hand.
“Welcome back.”
“Yeah…!”
The guy reached out with both hands to shake mine. He really hadn't changed.
‘…Wait.’
Let’s calm down and move on. Understanding the situation comes before catching up or having a sentimental reunion after a long time.
The topic.
—How did Seon A-hyun regain his senses?
I took a deep breath and got to the point.
He said that after several afterimages, he finally established his sense of self as if ‘waking up’ completely at my question just now.
“Because of the talk about the concert.”
“Right….”
If that was the trigger, it meant it had been building up.
“I thought I could understand what Moon-dae said… that I wanted to understand. When I thought that, suddenly.”
It seemed Seon A-hyun had remembered the afterimages well whenever they appeared and connected the characters.
Still, he didn't seem to know in the middle that I was the Park Moon-dae who appeared in his afterimages…
“How did you recognize that I was Park Moon-dae?”
Seon A-hyun’s eyes widened.
He had an expression as if he hadn't expected me to ask something so obvious.
“…! Even if, um, your appearance is a bit different… you were just so much like Moon-dae.”
“Ah.”
“And… because you told me.”
The guy flushed, then spoke seriously, word by word.
“That Moon-dae was originally a person named Ryu Gun-woo.”
“…!”
“I remember… it. Of course.”
Ah.
I recalled that time.
My dark history of doing something as stupid as blabbing everything out of nowhere, only to barely regain my pace at the peak of being a nuisance and convince Seon A-hyun.
‘…….’
But it seemed it wasn't a useless endeavor.
I decided to slightly revise my evaluation.
Perhaps the decision to tell him wasn't a mistake after all.
“Thanks.”
“…! Oh, no! We’re friends, so of course I should.”
Seon A-hyun smiled brightly. Having no other choice, I ended up smiling too.
‘I thought he’d be pointlessly confused if his memories returned.’
Seon A-hyun didn't seem to be suffering from pain or internal conflict at all.
On the contrary, he looked more at ease than before.
‘Bae Se-jin was right.’
—Just because the outside looks like that doesn't mean the inside is the same.
I’ll admit it. That guy gets one win.
After that, I quickly briefed him on the current situation.
The burden of having to somehow reinforce my logic to convince him… was gone.
“Let’s talk more about the details over the phone after the awards ceremony.”
“Okay!”
Instead, we quickly returned to the awards ceremony before it got any later.
Thanks to performing with the two nominees, I had an temporary seat and sat in a corner of their table.
Bae Se-jin, who had been looking at us with an expression that said ‘Why are you so late?’, changed his complexion as soon as he checked Seon A-hyun’s expression.
Then, taking advantage of a VCR break, he quickly whispered to me.
‘Is it… right now?’
I nodded slowly. A wide smile began to spread across Bae Se-jin’s face.
And he immediately poked Seon A-hyun, who was sitting next to him.
‘You!’
‘Hello, Se-jin hyung…!’
I let the excited Bae Se-jin and Seon A-hyun gesture wildly at each other. An article about their friendship would probably pop up. I chuckled and watched the VCR turn off.
The awards ceremony was resuming.
And that night.
[Seon A-hyun has entered.]
The TeSTAR group message room was now filled with all seven members.
[Seon A-hyun: Hello..!]
[Keun Se-jin: Oh, holy crap]
[Keun Se-jin: No, sorry for the swearing, but A-hyun is finally here ㅠㅠ You’re so welcome!]
[Cha Yu-jin: Wooooow our seven stars are all gathered (Sunglasses emoticon)]
[Ryu Cheong-woo: I heard, A-hyun. I’m so glad (Smiling emoticon) Should I call you A-hyun hyung now?]
[Seon A-hyun: It’s really okay, you don’t have to do that!]
Lying on my bed, I scrolled through the message room where the guys, whose ages were all mixed up, were on the verge of total chaos over how to address each other before returning to their excited conversation.
Half of them were actually in this dorm, but it felt a bit different.
‘How many minutes should I wait before contacting Seon A-hyun?’
I should let them chatter a bit more and give him the details in a while.
Before that, I need to organize the questions in my head.
‘Hmm.’
Well, as a result, things ended on a ‘all’s well that ends well’ note… but even so, I have to deduce why only Seon A-hyun regained his memories on his own.
‘Seon A-hyun still isn't in the status window.’
[Yes!]
That means the system didn't intervene.
In that case.
‘…Is there a difference from the previous awakenings?’
After thinking it over, one thing came to mind.
Seon A-hyun didn't complain of headaches or dizziness, which were common when the others awakened; he naturally regained his real-world self.
‘…How?’
As if he were originally capable of doing so…
Like his own ability.
“…!”
That’s it.
I sat up in bed.
It felt like being hit over the head.
[Ohhh, did you think of something??]
Right.
The ability Seon A-hyun has that others don't.
‘A trait.’
I recalled Seon A-hyun’s trait.
[Perseverance (S)]
: One creates their own mindset. Therefore, one can endure it entirely.
- When activated, negates mental status effects. (Can be applied cumulatively)
This.
The Seon A-hyun here was B-rank, but regardless, the effect of negating status effects was fundamentally there.
‘So, if his memories returned even slightly through this….’
The moment the S-rank trait possessed by the real-world Seon A-hyun returned, all status effects would be cleared.
And as a result.
‘…This guy came back on his own…??’
It was an absurdly overpowered feat.
[Wow, A-hyun is so cool!! This is insane!]
No, wait….
‘This isn't a situation that ends with just being "cool."’
[Pardon?]
This… was a hint.
I gripped the edge of the bed tightly.
There is a premise to this logic.
‘It means this current situation is a status effect.’
[!!!]
That’s right.
Since Seon A-hyun’s trait negates status effects, the fact that it was negated means this entire situation is a ‘status effect.’
Just like my ‘Death if Not Debut’ or Cheong-ryeo’s ‘Correction.’
“…….”
[That makes sense! Since we fell into this situation while trying to catch the system in the first place, if we think the system brought about a status effect….]
Wait.
‘…Tried to catch the system, huh.’
Strangely, that sentence lingered in my mouth.
‘If I tried to get rid of the system….’
And then, I noticed the sense of incongruity.
[H-Hyung?]
Holy shit.
I immediately kicked the door open and ran to another room.
“Oh? You’ve come at a good time.”
The room where Cheong-ryeo was.
Since his roommate, Ju-dan, was out for a personal schedule, he was alone in the room.
The guy was sitting at his desk writing something, then he leisurely turned his head and continued speaking.
“About the first awards ceremony next month, the digital grand prize score calculation is…”
“We.”
“Hmm?”
I spoke with a feeling like I wanted to bite my tongue.
“There’s something we misunderstood.”
“…….”
Let’s think about it.
I got on a plane with this guy, flew it to the middle of the Pacific, and tried to get rid of the system.
By what method?
By making it so there were no hosts for the system to enter nearby. That means, fundamentally, the system had to be there.
“To pull off that stunt to get rid of the system, we ultimately needed the guy who had the system at the time.”
“…….”
“Then that guy must have been on the plane back then.”
I swallowed hard.
“Who was it?”
I had completely forgotten.
And yet, I hadn't felt any sense of incongruity.
The guy in front of me opened his mouth.
“Well, I wonder.”
Cheong-ryeo, who was still sitting at his desk, rested his chin on his hand and frowned as if he were also contemplating….
Wait.
I looked at the guy in front of me, feeling my blood run cold.
He looks perfectly fine.
This crazy control freak doesn't show a single shred of displeasure about being in a situation that is currently out of his control.
That means.
“You… you remembered, didn't you?”
“…….”
That there was one more person on the plane.
And.
“You knew that I had forgotten, too.”
Cheong-ryeo closed the notebook he was organizing on his desk.
Then he spoke with a smile.
“You’re as sharp as ever, Junior.”
God… damn it.