Chapter 554
Chapter 554
Cold voices rained down inside my head.
It was the sound of Cheong-ryeo calling for his Help.
Simultaneously, the real-life Cheong-ryeo standing before me smiled with a slightly awkward air, still holding out the coffee. It sent shivers down my spine.
"Um, I guess you don't like coffee. Did I bring the wrong thing?"
"No, not at all."
This bastard, trying to bury someone who hasn't even debuted yet.
I never actually had a grand dream of debuting as an actor, but seeing his intentions made me grit my teeth so hard they almost cracked.
I politely reached out and took the coffee.
"I was just nervous because I didn't expect to meet someone so famous. Thank you very much for the coffee."
"It's just a drink. I should be the one thanking you for the high praise... It's a bit embarrassing, actually. Haha."
Cheong-ryeo added smoothly, mixing in a bit of wit.
"You seem older than me, so please, feel free to speak comfortably."
He’s a total Jekyll and Hyde, for fuck’s sake.
Bzzz—
In the midst of this, the smartphone on my chair vibrated. It seemed Ju-dan was wondering if the shoot was over and was trying to get in touch.
Furthermore, Kim Rae-bin was still peeking over from about two meters down the hallway.
He was holding back Cha Yu-jin, who looked ready to pounce, but now that VTIC had appeared, he seemed to be agonizing over whether or not to approach.
Come to think of it, didn't that kid constantly nag about wanting to know VTIC's composition methods back in the early days of our debut...?
"Gun-woo?"
'Wait.'
My head was spinning. This was driving me crazy.
I suppressed the urge to rub my temples.
Though I had recovered somewhat, my body still felt like waterlogged cotton. I tried to crank my brain to its maximum output. I meant to calculate everything intensely and produce the optimized answer, as I always did.
But there was no need.
The moment I looked up at the updating pop-ups.
A new name appeared in the text.
[The Shooter of the Silent Roster (★★★★★) has entered the channel.]
Fast, concise, and kind.
[The Shooter of the Silent Roster wishes to teach you their way.]
[The Shooter of the Silent Roster bestows a blessing upon you!]
[Trait: Composure]
And then, everything began to feel at ease.
My heart rate slowed down gently.
The world was now silent.
I understood. The more information there is, the more variables there are, and variables create chaos.
And chaos is noise.
I realized that I had been living in the middle of noise.
But if you know the order.
If you can fit everything into its proper place, that space can be silent, without a single ripple.
And I was now experiencing that world of silence.
'Everything has its place.'
The priorities of the tasks were already sorted in my head.
First.
Let it go.
Deep down, I was just curious about how these versions of them from the past were doing.
...And I was happy to see them.
Because I wanted to talk to them, I thought I had to talk to them.
But in reality, it wasn't necessary.
Like this.
"Ah."
"Cooool."
It didn't matter if I just gave a moderate smile and a nod before sending them on their way.
If I really wanted to talk, another opportunity would come.
I watched as the young Kim Rae-bin bowed repeatedly toward me, dragging Cha Yu-jin along as they followed their staff.
Cha Yu-jin waved until the very end.
"Seeya!"
And the next alignment.
Ju-dan.
The messages could be replied to later, so they weren't a priority. I'd contact him again in a bit.
Once the sorting finished in an instant like that.
Before I knew it, only the concise elements remained in the world.
Let's put these in their proper places too.
Once again, a fundamental sentence set a baseline in my mind.
Pre-empting information he doesn't know gives me a hand to play.
I am already accustomed to knowing more than my opponent and using it to my advantage. I survived by utilizing that well.
However, if I set aside that familiarity... I could see that the "proper place" had changed.
Rather than having a variable pop up later where my identity as an actor is revealed in some unexpected incident and he starts debating whether to delete the Help again, it was better to disclose it now when the timing was right.
Yes. This was the proper place.
My heartbeat, which had been buzzing like white noise, remained stable.
And so, I made a precise judgment.
"There's no need for you to look at my profile."
"...Pardon? What do you mean by that?"
"Because I can tell you myself."
I observed him.
Cheong-ryeo's expression didn't change. However, I knew that his call for the Help had vanished.
The staff were watching us, but in this noisy environment, our voices wouldn't carry.
So....
[It's me.]
I opened my mouth and spoke calmly with a smile.
"I'm your Help."
Expression vanished from Cheong-ryeo's face.
A direct hit.
Cheong-ryeo didn't immediately turn cold and leave or spam the 'Delete Help' button.
Instead, he smoothly gave a plausible excuse to the people around him and moved us into a car.
And the conversation began.
"I'm going to need an explanation."
It wasn't surprising.
'This is something even he didn't expect, so he'll try to grasp the situation.'
I didn't bother hiding anything from him. I calmly explained what happened after he deleted me as his Help.
The sudden acquisition of a body, the confusion, and even receiving acting work from LeTi.
[The Shooter of the Silent Roster looks at you with satisfaction.]
The composure that felt like it had lifted me to a different dimension receded like the tide in that moment. Hmm, a bit of a shame.
But power replaced it.
[The Shooter of the Silent Roster has sponsored you! : Energy +]
'This is it.'
The pain that made me want to curse was gone.
The heavy fatigue remained, but my brain felt sharp, as if I'd just received an IV drip.
'This is the real me.'
With my blood pumping and my head clear, I focused comfortably on the conversation.
"To be honest, I didn't tell you at first because I was pissed off, but since we've ended up meeting like this, I figured it's better to just say it."
"......"
"Well. I also wondered what kind of suspicion I'd fall under if I said a body suddenly appeared just because you deleted the Help."
Cheong-ryeo sat silently in his seat, resting his chin on one hand.
And after a moment.
An unexpected question came out.
"Why are you trying to become an actor?"
I shrugged.
"It wasn't a specific goal. Someone from your company just gave me a business card."
"......"
"I have no money and no identity, so I had to secure a way to live like a human being."
"You would have needed an identity to sign a contract with an agency."
"I'm borrowing my past identity. Though I'm a bit younger."
I furrowed my brows.
"It shouldn't be a problem. This state is temporary anyway, so I don't know when it'll end."
Though, since I'd already taken profile shots, I'd have to convince the agency to let me use a stage name.
In the first place.
"This is likely a side effect of you deleting the Help. It probably won't be a long-lasting state."
"......"
And I finished my explanation by showing him the profile of Ryu Gun-woo, who was currently a university student.
It would be obvious to anyone that he was a younger version of me.
'It's actually easier to prove this way.'
It was better than being the Help because I had physical evidence.
Besides, even if this guy Cheong-ryeo looked into Ryu Gun-woo, what could he do to a mere data seller?
I made a clean declaration.
"That's everything I know."
The bet was placed.
Cheong-ryeo crossed his arms and fell silent for a moment.
I watched him quietly.
Just in case this guy suddenly tried to press 'Yes' on the Delete Help pop-up again, I was ready to immediately hammer a fist into his solar plexus.
'And then we'd peacefully resume the conversation.'
Of course, that didn't happen.
Though he did bring up something completely different from what I expected.
"You'll have to use a stage name."
"...?"
What the hell was he talking about?
"If you want to continue as an actor, you'll have to keep using that stolen identity. To avoid being caught, you should hide your real name as much as possible... Hmm, my agency at this time would prefer that kind of image, so it should be fine."
"What are you talking about?"
"Hmm? Gun-woo. You have to succeed as an actor."
Cheong-ryeo smiled brightly.
"Do your best. I'll be rooting for you."
As if he were doing me a favor.
'Look at this bastard.'
Did he think I hadn't experienced this pattern once or twice since my debut?
Like a bolt of lightning, I realized this guy's thought process.
Profit!
He was trying to scrape up as much information as possible that would be useful for his next life before he reset.
In that case.......
"...You want me to work as an actor and gather information on that industry for you?"
"You're quick on the uptake."
Cheong-ryeo tilted his head slightly.
"Gather the information I request from the field as detailed as possible. Since you don't have any acquaintances, you won't get caught up in useless rumors during your activities."
"......"
"Hmm. This might be even more useful than the Help."
Look at this bastard getting ahead of himself.
"Why should I?"
To my question, Cheong-ryeo answered casually.
"It's a simple barter. I'll make your life comfortable, and you give me information."
Hmm.
"And one more thing."
Cheong-ryeo continued with a smile.
"Since I need to get information, I won't reset while you're doing that work."
"...!"
He was using that as leverage.
I replied coldly.
" I told you clearly. I don't care whether you reset or not."
Cheong-ryeo smiled gently.
"I'm sure it's not that you truly don't care."
"......"
"At the very least, there's a possibility of danger... That's what you thought, right? You were just angry enough to ignore it, and you wanted to express that the danger was small enough to be ignored."
Cheong-ryeo tilted his head to the side.
"But why take that risk? When you can secure time to avoid it."
"......"
"Until November of this year. Unconditionally."
I opened my mouth.
"What's the guarantee you won't change your mind again?"
Cheong-ryeo laughed.
"I won't, but even if that happens, there's no loss for you. Weren't you going to be an actor anyway? You'll naturally learn information in the process... Sharing it with me doesn't change anything for you."
"The only thing that changes is that you'll support my activities?"
"Exactly. And that will be a definite gain for you."
"......"
I calculated quickly.
And eventually, I admitted it.
Logically, I had reached the same conclusion as this bastard.
'It is a collaboration where no one loses.'
Even if his way of speaking pissed me off.
'He's just got a long tongue for someone who's going to squeeze a person dry as an informant.'
It was exactly like a pyramid scheme recruiter talking your ear off about guaranteed high returns. He'd definitely start testing the waters and eventually demand information that crossed the line.
'I'll keep in mind to engage in a power struggle when that happens.'
However, the fact that I knew this process inside out actually made it advantageous for me.
Plus, one more thing.
'It's much more convenient in many ways to maintain a friendly relationship with him than to fall out unnecessarily.'
Hadn't I thought that since I started telling him the truth about my identity? Let's not trigger his Reset Syndrome.
Looking at it as an extension of that stance, the scales tipped overwhelmingly.
I raised my head.
"Are you going to work as an actor, Gun-woo?"
It was something I never imagined.
But fine.
"I've already taken the profile shots, so I might as well."
I gave a cool nod.
The corners of Cheong-ryeo's mouth curled up in satisfaction.
Well, fine.
"Then I'd like to say one thing to you that won't be a loss for you either, Cheong-ryeo."
"Hmm?"
"You guarantee my food, clothing, and shelter."
Give your informant some welfare.
Since things had turned out like this, I might as well take what I could.
"...That's not difficult."
Deal.
I shook hands with the guy sitting in the driver's seat.
A moment later.
Drrrr—
"Your company?"
"My landlord."
While packing my things in the waiting room, I finally found my smartphone on the sofa and checked Ju-dan's messages.
It seemed he had been frantically trying to contact me after hearing the news that Cheong-ryeo was stopping by.
I hadn't seen them, but he certainly put in the effort.
'He's a strange guy, but he has his admirable moments when he's on the job.'
I typed a reply to Ju-dan.
That's how it went.
And after a bit of thought, I added a message with a smirk.
I know you'll love stuff like this.
As expected, my smartphone immediately started blowing up.
At the same time, in the JSA.
"Whew."
"Good work, everyone..."
A group of sturdy adults looking into Dot Park Moon-dae let out long sighs of relief.
[Park Moon-dae (ㅁvㅁ): Currently rejoicing over recovered health!]
Park Moon-dae's health bar was now noticeably long and yellow.
"We're halfway there."
"Does that mean...?"
"Yes."
Keun-dal nodded, his eyes shining.
"If we do this just two or three more times, I think we can bring Hyung back!"
The destination was right before their eyes. Everyone nodded with flushed faces.
At that moment.
[Park Moon-dae (ㅁㅅ//): Currently having his life planned out as an actor......]
"......??"
"What is it now?"
"Is Moon-dae Hyung dreaming a new dream? Did Bae Se-jin Hyung give it to him?"
Amidst the rampant speculation, Cheong-ryeo stared intently at the screen.
A vehicle briefly passed by in the background of Park Moon-dae, who seemed to be moving away from the filming set.
Inside a car with tinted windows.
'......'
He recognized the interior at once.
It was the interior of a corporate vehicle he had frequently used in the past.
What that implied was clear.
Park Moon-dae had met his past self.
And they were involved enough for him to be riding in the other's car.
Cheong-ryeo narrowed his eyes.