Chapter 435
Chapter 435
I’m not even hurt, so why am I hospitalized?
The days when I had to deceive people with the superhuman recovery granted by traits like ‘Bacchus’ or ‘Nectar’ were over, yet here I was, pulling this kind of ridiculous stunt.
‘This can’t be happening.’
I felt like my brain was going to atrophy at this rate. I set down the E-book reader that Bae Se-jin had brought me as a ‘gift’ and spoke up.
This was four days into my hospitalization.
“There’s a shortage of hospital beds these days. Isn’t it a bit much to be hogging one like this?”
“Ah~ they said this is a VIP suite, so it’s rarely ever fully booked.”
“Still, it’d be better if I just checked out.”
“Moondae-Moondae, even if you tell me that, it’s not like I’m part of the medical staff. You understand that this is out of my hands, right?”
“…….”
This hypocritical… Wait. Is this punk seriously mimicking what I did back during the building collapse?
I stared at Keun Se-jin in disbelief, but he simply flashed a bright, beaming smile and left the room.
“Get some rest~”
“…….”
Let’s try the next guy.
Kim Rae-bin, surprisingly, showed up for a visit in the evening lugging a turntable capable of playing vinyl records.
“I heard that classical music is beneficial for stabilizing the mind and body!”
So he was going to avoid modern music entirely, then.
I approached him logically—a guy who was clearly, consciously blocking any mention of ‘albums’ or ‘promotions’ from his brain.
“It’s strange for me to stay hospitalized when I’m not in any pain.”
“I was told that since you went through such an incredibly dangerous situation, we must monitor your progress for a few more days.”
Kim Rae-bin seemed to genuinely believe that. It looked like a few of them had conspired to come up with a very plausible excuse.
“I can do that at the dorm, too. Honestly, it’s a waste of money.”
“You do not need to worry about that. I was told the company is covering the expenses!”
“If the company covers it, the net profit decreases by that much, which ultimately means our settlement payouts decrease.”
“…??”
For a moment, question marks and exclamation points flickered across Kim Rae-bin’s face, but he soon nodded as if he understood.
Did I get through to him?
“It is fine! I believe the entire group will not mind such an expenditure for the sake of your peaceful rest, Hyung.”
“…….”
The halo of a copyright royalty holder practically glowed from the face of the guy who looked ready to pay for it himself if I was that concerned.
I suppressed a long groan and lay back down on the bed.
Next batter.
“My muscles are going to waste away. I should start getting back into my routine.”
“Is that so?”
Ryu Cheong-woo, who visited in the morning, reacted quite positively. I was planning to build up from there, but…
The guy went ahead and reserved a private workout room right next to the hospital’s rehabilitation center for me.
“…….”
Come to think of it, if the company was footing the bill for the hospital room, this guy—the leader—must have been the one to persuade them.
I had tried to build a case with the very person who was essentially the mastermind behind this whole situation. As if that would ever work.
“The facilities are nice. Oh, let me know if you want to use it for longer.”
Forget it.
I gave up and walked over to the equipment.
Might as well do legs….
“It’s ja-eop-ja-dok (self-poisoning).”
“It’s ja-eop-ja-deuk (reaping what you sow).”
“Whatever.”
Sitting in the guardian’s chair, Cha Yu-jin shrugged and bit into a whole apple. I gritted my teeth and spoke in a low voice.
“Just give me my smartphone already.”
“I don’t have it. Hyung, watch the Smart TV.”
“…….”
I fumed at the VIP suite that was pointlessly equipped with four different OTT streaming services.
The Wi-Fi was so blazing fast that there wasn’t even a hint of lag. And yet, I was in a situation where I couldn’t use that blazing Wi-Fi for actual internet browsing.
‘They’re crossing the line.’
I had asked the manager I saw two days ago for my phone as well, but the excuse I got back was predictable.
—The doctor advised that it might have a negative impact on your mental health, so we ask that you refrain for just a little while.
‘They’re playing games.’
This was too much. Way too much.
“But Hyung, you have to endure it.”
“…….”
[Hyung, you already know, right? You’re in a situation where you have to win back the most important thing. Trust.]
Right.
I pressed my fingers against my temples.
To be honest, it wouldn’t be that hard to find a loophole in this ridiculous situation and get discharged.
The hard part was the persuasion process—making the people around me accept that I was leaving.
But this time, it was uncomfortable to just ignore them. After all, they were the ones who had been trapped inside a collapsing building because of me…
‘They must have been on edge, thinking I might have died.’
If they considered this a form of revenge, since everything had been undone and I wasn't in a position to seek counseling from anyone, I could let it slide.
…But.
“There has to be a limit.”
I mean, how long were they planning to keep me cooped up here? When were we going to release the album, prepare for the year-end shows, and set the plan for next year’s activities?
There’s a limit to how much I can play along with the mood.
Still, I decided to exercise one last bit of patience.
“Hey.”
“What.”
“At least tell me how things are going outside.”
I could endure a few more days just by gathering information. Cha Yu-jin shrugged.
“Nothing much. [No terror attacks, no big news, um, I think I only saw routine traffic accidents in the headlines? Oh, and bank fraud.]”
“…Not that kind of stuff.”
Who asked for a briefing on modern social affairs?
“I’m asking how the internet sentiment is regarding our group or VTIC right now.”
“I don’t know about that. That’s not my interest.”
I almost clenched my fist, but I calmly imagined the scene of Cha Yu-jin browsing internet communities and social media.
I had to admit, it didn't suit him at all.
Time to find the next candidate.
I spent that entire afternoon listening to jazz on vinyl and venting my stress through mystery novels.
And when I met Bae Se-jin, who visited in the evening….
“No.”
“…….”
Bae Se-jin avoided my gaze.
“…I can recommend more books, though.”
I don’t need them.
I considered trying to coax a slip of the tongue out of him but held back. Instead, I just stuffed the mung bean ginseng chicken soup he brought into my mouth.
I felt like a prisoner receiving a special meal from a visiting lawyer.
As for the last remaining candidate… I honestly thought there was no hope.
Seon A-hyun visited quite often.
However, I hadn't specifically asked him to help me get discharged since the first day.
Not only was it surprisingly ineffective, but he would get this expression like he was suffering a slow death just by having the conversation.
“Moondae-ya, is your body… okay?”
“As you can see, I couldn’t be more fine.”
Look at that. He’s avoiding my eyes again while peeling a tangerine.
But now was the time to speak up.
“I think staying hospitalized like this is actually harder. I want to practice, too.”
“U-uh-huh.”
Seon A-hyun looked away. As expected, he lacked the brazen social skills to say something like “I don’t know~” like Keun Se-jin.
So, I went straight for the jugular.
“I’m being serious. I’m perfectly fine, so let’s just get out of the hospital now.”
“…But.”
Seon A-hyun’s lips trembled.
“You lied. About… even bigger things.”
“…….”
He finished peeling the tangerine and set it down in front of me. His hands were shaking slightly.
I suppressed a sigh.
‘The shock must have been huge.’
When I lied about the remaining time and bolted up to the second floor.
And since contact was cut off right as the building collapsed after that, this was unavoidable.
If I were to just… lay everything down and explain.
“It was because I was scared, too.”
“…!”
“Who wouldn’t be scared when told they’re suddenly going to die? Besides, other people could have been dragged into it if I died.”
“…….”
“But it felt like there was nothing I could do, and it wasn’t a situation where anyone could help me.”
It was my first time experiencing something where it felt like I was going to die no matter what I did.
“That’s why I couldn’t explain it properly. …But if you feel like you were deceived, I’ll say it again: I’m sorry.”
I meant it.
Seon A-hyun’s mouth hung open for a moment, but he soon struggled to piece his words together.
“N-no. I-I’m sorry…. For saying, ah, that I didn’t believe you… so carelessly…”
“It’s not something you should apologize for.”
Honestly, that was a fairly mild reaction for someone who’d been blindsided like that.
I chose my words carefully.
“I like resting too, but right now, with so many things on my mind, it doesn’t really feel like I’m resting.”
“……!”
“I don’t want to be in the hospital anymore.”
He looked like he was holding back tears, but soon his expression turned quite determined and he nodded.
“I’ll… talk to them properly…!”
“…Thanks.”
A sign of a resolution appeared.
And that evening.
“Did you pack everything?”
“Yes.”
I was finally able to go through the discharge process.
It was well over a week since I had been admitted.
‘Finally.’
I felt relieved, but there was a lot to do. First, I’d check the public sentiment, then carefully set up a promotion plan and head to the company.
I also planned to make time to talk things through with the other guys back at the dorm.
“Let’s go.”
“Yes.”
Ryu Cheong-woo readily volunteered to drive and helped with the discharge.
However, the car he was driving didn’t head toward the dorm. Instead, it sped off in the opposite direction.
“…?”
Wait a minute.
“Where are we going right now?”
“Ah, we’re not going to a hospital.”
“Then where?”
“Haha.”
Answer me.
The car, now on the highway, headed toward the outskirts of Gyeonggi-do and eventually arrived at a secluded country house with a beautiful white stone wall.
Ryu Cheong-woo said brightly.
“We’re here. You can get out.”
These punks… they’ve stashed me in a pension.
‘Seon A-hyun!’
How is this any different from being hospitalized? I didn’t mean I just wanted to be discharged!! But the retreat was already blocked.
“It just so happens we decided to do some quick remodeling at the dorm, so we were all planning to stay here anyway.”
“…….”
“We’ve decided to refrain from going out. It would be a bit troublesome if sightings were posted.”
When did these guys get so meticulous?
And when I went inside, Kim Rae-bin and the other members, holding a cake that said ‘Congratulations on your Discharge,’ smiled and popped party crackers.
Pop!
“Congrats on getting out!”
“…….”
No wonder only Ryu Cheong-woo came to pick me up; this was all planned.
I’ll admit it.
‘It’s my loss.’
I silently brushed the confetti off my head.
Still, it was a relief to find out a moment later that it wasn’t a total loss.
“Here!”
After the infuriating celebratory meal.
Cha Yu-jin, who had called me into his room, handed me a smartphone with a white dog’s head on it. It was my phone.
“…!! Thanks.”
The reward for persistently demanding external information from this guy throughout my hospitalization had finally paid off.
“Hyung, you have to give me delicious food. I’m a traitor right now.”
Cha Yu-jin shrugged, saying he’d worked hard to convince them and that he hadn’t even told Bae Se-jin the truth yet.
[Let’s rephrase that as you being loyal to me.]
I readily replied in English.
[That’s fine. Actually, everyone is being a bit much. I don’t think forcing someone to rest actually gives them “recovery.”]
He explained, even putting emphasis on ‘recovery’ with one hand.
[But if Hyung uses it too much, then I’m wrong. Promise me that won’t happen.]
“Sure.”
I readily made the promise and returned to the room assigned to me, plugging the charger into my dead smartphone.
And as I turned it on, I spoke.
‘Can you hear me?’
To Keun-dal.
Immediately, a pop-up appeared like a bolt of lightning.
[Hyung, did you finally get discharged?]
‘…Yeah.’
I replied gloomily. The pop-up flinched.
To think even this guy had kept his mouth shut and hadn't uttered a single word about the outside world while I was hospitalized.
“Just who was the one who told everyone to keep quiet?”
Of course, we had shared some pretty useful conversations instead.
I recalled the conversation I had with him on the day I was admitted.
Specifically, about the failure of the status effect and the reward pop-up that appeared at the end.
[Mission Failure Scenario Completed]
Winner: Player Park Moon-dae (Ryu Gun-woo)
Reward: Fragment of ■■■ 1 (1/4)
—What exactly is this ‘Fragment’ reward?
I had already roughly figured out the phrasing that treated the mission failure as a scenario.
It was likely because the building collapse was treated as a scenario rather than reality since it had been undone. But the ‘Fragment of ■■■’ reward… honestly, I had a very pessimistic prediction about it.
[I’m not sure about that either. While trying to make it a mission failure… the status window naturally created that form on its own!]
Is that so?
[Yes!]
So, I replied like this.
—Then how about this interpretation: the system remains split, and I won against that fragment and received the thing itself as a trophy?
[ ]
The pop-up had frozen as if it were stuck.
And then, a message was typed out in a trembling, messy font.
[Actually, I also… thought that maybe only fragments of the system remained, and that’s why I didn’t notice….]
As I thought.
[I-I’m so sorry T_T]
—What do you have to be sorry for? I’m the one who mistakenly thought I’d gotten rid of it.
I tasted bitterness in my mouth.
‘I thought I’d wiped it out completely.’
To think it would remain in a split state like it was some kind of marble or a pizza. It’s even more concerning that ‘(1/4)’ was attached to the description.
One-fourth.
“I’m asking now that I’m discharged.”
[Yes!]
“Surely this isn’t going to happen three more times, right?”
A short, dizzying silence followed.
[N-no, it won’t. I only missed it this time because I didn’t know the system was fragmented, so I identified the ripple separately and scanned your status window thoroughly!]
[You’re clean right now, Hyung!]
Right.
That’s some very positive feedback.
But I decided not to believe those words completely. I’d been blindsided more than once after thinking like that.
In that sense, let’s start worrying now so that a second status effect failure doesn’t occur.
‘Let’s see.’
Did it say that the symptom of a status effect is having a strong desire for a specific goal?
Just like how I was obsessed with the album right before.
Yeah, looking back after it was all over, I did seem unusually desperate to release an album; I must have been under its influence.
‘Then, the thing I want to do most right now is….’
What else could it be? Right now, I’m desperate to grasp the situation, so that’s all I can think about.
So, before searching on my phone, I decided to listen to a summary of the information I could get right away.
First, to prove I was discharged, I sent a text to Keun-dal on my phone and then asked this:
‘By the way, what happened to the VTIC charity concert?’
Was it canceled, or scaled back?
Since that chaos happened, it had to be one of the two.
I was planning to use that as a starting point to set my stance for searching social media, but….
[Uh, it’s being promoted very successfully…?]
“…….”
Just what kind of magic did they pull?