Chapter 511
Chapter 511
Steer’s Lee Se-jin.
Bae Se-jin, before he changed his name.
The memories of the man who had stood trial for drug distribution charges and filed an appeal were right here, within the system I was currently digging through.
‘…Stay calm.’
It wasn't exactly a surprise.
Based on my experiences so far, the system seemed to store memories of past lives like a kind of backup.
‘I’ve already seen memories from the Steer days return several times. There’s no reason to be shocked now.’
I had even recovered my own memories of my corporate days while I was busy tearing the system apart before.
The real issue was this:
‘Is it okay for me to have a conversation?’
It wasn't just a memory; dialogue was possible. It was impossible to know what kind of impact this would have.
Normally, I likely would have backed out without touching it, but… this was a special situation.
I had swapped bodies and forced a connection to the system.
‘I’d be an idiot to just let this pass.’
It was in my best interest to try everything I could.
Right on cue, he sent another message. Somehow, he had sensed my presence nearby.
‘…….’
Fine.
I placed my hand on the mass of information as if connecting to a terminal. Then, I slowly sent characters, just as Keun-dal would send messages to "Park Moon-dae."
I started with an expression he could easily understand.
[I am a member of the same group as you are now.]
The reply came instantly, like a bolt of lightning.
Then, for a while, the data gave no response.
After a significant silence, as if a person were hesitating, a reply finally came back.
Cautiously.
‘…….’
Technically, I suppose two of those syllables were correct.
[I am not Cheong-woo hyung. I am likely not anyone you are thinking of.]
Just as I was about to continue my explanation.
A sharp reply arrived a beat faster.
‘…!’
This guy knew the situation in more detail than I expected.
‘He has enough background knowledge to argue logically.’
It was strange. He had left the group and was in the middle of a legal battle; usually, it would be hard to even care about news regarding his former group.
The fact that he knew such details meant he had been looking into it himself.
I intentionally poked at that point.
[Have you been consistently looking for news about Steer?]
He was tough.
In fact, he felt less sensitive than he did during Idol Inc. His wariness was higher, but he seemed fundamentally harder to shake.
‘Hmm.’
In that case, this should be fine.
I decided to be honest about the situation.
[I am not from Steer.]
[Right now, hyung, you haven't debuted as Steer, but as a group called TeSTAR. I am a member of that group.]
And then, I tried something new.
‘It doesn't necessarily have to be in the form of a message.’
Instead of refining it into language, I transmitted the information I wanted to convey as a whole.
Information regarding the situation I had experienced so far.
I focused my consciousness while maintaining contact with the terminal.
And in that moment.
The things I had experienced up until now flowed into the terminal in their raw form, without even needing to be organized.
‘Since it’s an unbelievable story, this is actually more efficient.’
The pressure was intense, but it wasn't unbearable. After passing over the information to the brink of my limit, I pulled my consciousness away from the terminal.
And "Lee Se-jin A" didn't send any other reply; he seemed to be quietly absorbing the information I had sent.
After enough time had passed for him to digest it.
The answer came back.
‘It worked.’
Even though I almost bit my tongue in the process.
I gathered my focus and replied.
[Yes.]
[You are active and doing well in the group. And you changed your name to your mother’s surname. To Bae Se-jin.]
It meant that the problems that would have forced him to leave the group hadn't occurred, and his family issues had been cleanly resolved.
A blank space that felt more like a pause than silence followed before the reply returned.
It was a remarkably composed reaction.
[You are living diligently.]
‘…….’
I hesitated for a moment before deciding to ask directly.
It would be ridiculous to play dumb at this point.
[Do you think you didn't live well, hyung?]
A former child actor, a former idol, whose career was ruined after being caught up in drug allegations, and who had endured while appealing.
‘He’s calm.’
To be honest, it wouldn't have been strange if he showed more emotional pain or even attacked me for asking. It was a situation that certainly warranted it.
However, the Steer Bae Se-jin labeled as "Lee Se-jin A" maintained a firm tone without wavering.
‘Is it because he’s just data and can’t be shaken?’
No, that wasn't it.
If that were the case, the detailed nuances of this conversation wouldn't be coming through like this.
My question was soon answered.
[A dream?]
It was an interesting hypothesis.
‘Certainly… the current Bae Se-jin must be asleep.’
The idea that this Steer Bae Se-jin’s memory could emerge from the mass of information and talk to me based on that Bae Se-jin’s consciousness…
Then the underlying principle was the same as the previous Steer cases.
‘In any case, the fact that he isn't panicking despite saying he’s just a memory is extraordinary.’
To be honest, I had predicted that Steer’s Bae Se-jin would be a fairly twisted person. From his child actor days, nothing had gone right, and his environment had practically shoved him into the abyss.
‘Anyone would naturally have a broken personality after going through that shit.’
But this guy I was talking to now… he had the air of a veteran who had seen it all.
[Don't you feel it’s unfair?]
It was things like this.
He was incredibly solid.
Furthermore, he even made a counter-proposal.
He was more cooperative than I could have imagined.
‘I can’t let this slip away.’
Just as I was about to quickly pull out a question…
‘Hmm.’
A better idea occurred to me.
If he was this calm and his mental state was this sturdy, this method might be better.
[How about this?]
I explained my proposal, and while Lee Se-jin A seemed to deliberate for a moment, he soon answered readily.
Okay.
I immediately grabbed hold of his terminal.
And I began to tear it away from the system.
Pressure surged through my body.
Late at night, at the TeSTAR dorm.
Keun-dal, who had been sitting on the living room sofa in a state of anxiety so high he was practically biting his nails, finally received the pop-up he had been waiting for.
[I’m out of the system now.]
“…!!”
It was a message from TeSTAR’s Park Moon-dae, who had just emerged from the system.
Finally!
‘Thank god!’
Keun-dal let out a sigh of relief, wiped away his cold sweat, and shouted in the lowest voice possible.
“Take your body back now. No, first of all, don't you ever go back into the system again!”
[Wait a second. I’d like to keep the bodies like this until tomorrow morning, if that’s okay.]
“…?”
[I have something to do.]
[I’m heading over there. Get some sleep.]
“…??”
And so, a few minutes later, Keun-dal found himself unexpectedly greeting Ryu Gun-woo, who had slipped into the TeSTAR dorm without a sound after entering the passcode.
‘Hyung!?’
[I told you to sleep.]
TeSTAR’s Park Moon-dae remained silent.
His hyung, who was back in Ryu Gun-woo’s body, didn't open his mouth to speak, likely to avoid waking the other members, and instead replied silently.
He strode into the living room and said:
[I’ll be getting ready, so you rest.]
‘W-What kind of preparations?’
Ryu Gun-woo’s face stared at Keun-dal with a calm, expressionless gaze as a pop-up appeared.
[A conversation.]
Recalling the conversation he had with Steer’s Bae Se-jin inside the system.
And about an hour later.
That conversation actually took place.
Ryu Cheong-woo woke up to a hand shaking him.
His mind wasn't clear, and the room was dark.
‘Is it still the middle of the night?’
He didn't feel particularly displeased about being forced awake earlier than scheduled.
He had lived that way for years. It was something one had to get used to if they wanted to work in the entertainment industry.
However, he couldn't help but be startled the moment he saw a stranger in the dorm.
“…!”
A man with a cold impression wearing glasses.
His appearance somewhat resembled his own.
“Who…”
“Ryu Gun-woo.”
“Ah.”
It was a name he had to remember.
Feeling his sleepiness vanish instantly, he quickly sat up in bed.
Ryu Gun-woo, the person TeSTAR’s Park Moon-dae had revealed to be his previous self.
‘And my relative.’
The man silently gestured to him.
“…?”
“Follow me.”
Ryu Cheong-woo didn't resist and quietly followed him.
Their destination was the room across the hall.
It was Park Moon-dae and Kim Rae-bin’s room.
“H-Hyung-nim.”
“Oh.”
Kim Rae-bin and Cha Yu-jin were already awake, visible in the light of a desk lamp.
The moment he saw the lineup, blood rushed from Ryu Cheong-woo’s head to his toes.
‘It’s just us.’
Everyone there had memories of Steer.
He heightened his guard but asked with a slightly bewildered expression, not letting it show.
“Um… what is the situation?”
“We swapped bodies for a bit.”
Without even asking if such a thing was possible, Ryu Cheong-woo instinctively realized that this was TeSTAR’s Park Moon-dae.
His tone, gaze, gestures, and stride were a perfect match.
‘Come to think of it, he said the person who was originally Park Moon-dae is using his body now.’
Recalling the general explanation of the situation, Ryu Cheong-woo accepted the state of affairs for now. It wasn't as if refusing to accept it would help him anyway.
It was a bit suspicious and awkward, but there was no need to voice that.
So instead, he responded like the leader of TeSTAR.
“There isn't a problem, is there? It’s fascinating to see you like this again, hyung… but safety is more important.”
“There isn't a problem. Thanks for worrying.”
Ryu Gun-woo replied as if choosing the correct answer from a script.
However.
“But it’s not like you’re seeing me ‘again.’”
He casually countered.
“Since you don't remember Ryu Gun-woo.”
“…….”
Ryu Cheong-woo responded without wavering.
“Well, so much time has passed that I guess I didn't recognize you for a moment. Sorry.”
“Right. That could happen.”
Ryu Gun-woo nodded easily.
“But you looked startled when I said I was ‘Ryu Gun-woo.’”
“…!”
As if he had made a mistake.
In short, he had been conscious of the fact that he hadn't recognized Ryu Gun-woo.
Because it was a calculated lie.
“Is it true that you said you remembered Ryu Gun-woo?”
“…….”
After a silence.
Ryu Cheong-woo soon gave a bitter smile.
“No.”
“…….”
“I saw a video in my smartphone’s photo gallery. I wondered why I had saved a past family trip, especially one centered around a relative I didn't even remember, with such a recent date.”
Back when TeSTAR’s Ryu Cheong-woo had been looking for Ryu Gun-woo at Park Moon-dae’s request.
He had saved the scene of "Ryu Gun-woo" from his family trip video, which Park Moon-dae had found, onto his smartphone just in case it might be useful.
“So I kept it in mind… and when you asked, I just said it because it came to mind unconsciously.”
A calm explanation that it wasn't intentional.
It was persuasive enough, but Ryu Gun-woo didn't fall for it.
‘He thoroughly checked every single thing in TeSTAR Ryu Cheong-woo’s phone gallery.’
And he had even deduced that Cheong-woo had lied about remembering him just to make it easier to settle in here.
But he didn't bother pointing it out.
“I’m sorry if it felt deceptive.”
Ryu Cheong-woo apologized gently, like the TeSTAR Ryu Cheong-woo he was.
But at the same time, he saw Kim Rae-bin flinch at his soft tone.
A dual emotion of feeling somewhat sorry and being sharply on guard in case he said something unnecessary.
‘It can’t be helped.’
It wasn't a very pleasant feeling. Ryu Cheong-woo thought somewhat self-deprecatingly as he clenched and unclenched his fists.
After hearing the apology, Ryu Gun-woo nodded calmly.
“I don't think it was deceptive. But that’s not what I wanted to talk about.”
Ryu Cheong-woo felt a brief sense of relief, but he was soon met with Ryu Gun-woo’s bombshell announcement.
“Actually, what I have to say here isn't very important.”
“…?”
“Because I’m just here as a proxy.”
Then, he began to look into the air.
“From now on, I’ll be delivering that person’s words.”
It wasn't visible to the others, but there was a new message pop-up that he had "torn out and implemented as a status window" from the system.
“I am Lee Se-jin. The Lee Se-jin who was in Steer.”
He began to read the contents of the message pop-up.
A chilling silence descended upon the room.
“What are you—”
“Pardon…?”
Cutting through the words of the Steer members, Ryu Gun-woo’s voice rang out.
“The reason I’ve come here is because I have something to tell you.”
Ryu Gun-woo looked at Lee Se-jin A’s message pop-up and delivered its contents clearly.
“I won the case.”
In an instant, everyone there looked up.
Among the people with dazed, shocked faces, Steer’s Bae Se-jin spoke through Ryu Gun-woo’s mouth as if making a declaration.
“They refused to accept the second trial and appealed, and in the final third trial that went all the way to the Supreme Court… I won.”
The message declared, word for word.