Chapter 560
Chapter 560
It was a question I’d had from the very beginning.
‘Why is Cheong-ryeo trying to get information about the acting industry from me?’
From a guy who had only just become a rookie actor, no less.
There was no way someone who had restarted a hundred times hadn't established a better channel than that.
So, I had speculated that he was aiming for one specific piece of information that could only be found during this period.
But that wasn't it.
‘Information wasn't the goal in the first place.’
"Even though you could have neglected your schedule under the pretext of looking for information, you took the time to properly prepare and answer every single interview and promotional media appearance. You didn't waste a single moment of the spotlight."
"……."
"It means you were born with high-quality talent and the right attitude. You, Gun-woo-ssi."
Cheong-ryeo stared straight at me without even blinking.
"And it seems the same applies to the version of you currently attending university."
He wanted to see my attitude.
He supported my acting career to see how well I adapted to this industry and whether I could pull my own weight and excel.
And decisively….
‘To check up on the college student Ryu Gun-woo without any useless interference from me.’
The way he works his brain is as infuriating as ever.
I replied in a low voice.
"…Why would a guy who’s doing perfectly fine in college suddenly want to be an idol? The 'me' of this period has no interest in idols."
"For someone like that, you sure were busy taking photos."
"……."
"Among the photos of me in the dorm, there were some that you took, Gun-woo-ssi."
So he even found out I was a data seller.
"I did it because it makes money."
"With those academic credentials, isn't there more than one way to make money? Why would you do something so cost-ineffective as running around event venues taking pictures of idols?"
"I make better money than you think."
"Then it’s an honor to be able to introduce you to a job that pays even 'better'."
Cheong-ryeo replied nonchalantly.
I wasn't surprised.
If he were the type of guy who could be persuaded by words like that, I wouldn't have had to bash his head in while handcuffed.
"……."
I fell silent.
It was at that moment.
"Wait a moment. I would like to say something as well."
Ju-dan raised his hand and cut in.
"Why are you telling us this plan?"
I looked up.
"The moment you return to the past, everyone's experiences and memories, except for yours, Senior, will disappear."
It was true.
"There is a high probability that we won't remember either, so for you to go out of your way to tell us… is it an emotional factor?"
"……."
Ju-dan looked calm, but his hands were actually trembling slightly.
‘He’s trying hard.’
I suppressed a groan and answered for him.
"He’s looking for a reaction."
"Pardon?"
"He’s checking our reactions in this ridiculous situation to plan how to use us in the future."
In short, he was using us as a human potential meter.
He didn't even need to worry about side effects. We’d forget anyway.
Ju-dan’s expression became a mix of admiration and horror.
"I see…."
"You seem certain, not just guessing."
"…!"
Cheong-ryeo gave a thin smile.
"As I thought, you must have been acquainted with me in the time you lived in. Quite deeply."
"……."
"First of all, you both seem very flustered. It would be best to calm down a bit."
Cheong-ryeo spoke calmly.
"My conditions haven't changed. No one loses out. Things will only get better. And…."
Then, he looked back at me with a fair amount of kindness.
"Even if I lose Gun-woo-ssi's body after I restart, don't worry. Even if you remain as the Help Menu, I won't delete you."
How very kind of him.
I wanted to be sarcastic, but Cheong-ryeo maintained his favorable demeanor.
"I’ll release the album as promised, so don't worry about that either. There are still things I need to check and things I need to do."
But that was it.
I predicted what he would say next.
"However, as you’ve heard… even if the album is a success, staying here isn't a good decision for the group. The restart is already decided."
Cheong-ryeo tilted his head to the side.
"I shouldn't be satisfied when I can start over with even better conditions."
Reset Syndrome.
The habit of willingly restarting whenever better conditions appeared.
This guy, who was terrifyingly stuck in a stage that the real-world Cheong-ryeo had already overcome… was damnably, damnably impossible to reason with.
‘Fuck.’
I closed my eyes as a dull pain throbbed in the back of my head.
Is there… any way to persuade him?
"……."
There wasn't.
It was different from the reality where the system had transferred from Cheong-ryeo to me, leading him to mistakenly believe I held the restart button.
Unlike the reality where he had to persuade me to restart, in this past, he could restart whenever he pleased.
I didn't have a single card to negotiate with, fuck.
"……."
Moreover… a fundamental question was starting to arise.
In the first place.
‘Why do I have to stop this guy?’
Why do I even need to negotiate?
Wouldn't it be enough to just buy some time?
‘This isn't even the reality I live in.’
I just needed to return to my reality.
After that, whether this guy restarts or not doesn't matter to me. I was just flustered because the story of my past self, who was attending university at this time, came up.
‘Whether he roasts him, boils him, or creates VTIC, what do I care?’
It didn't matter.
‘Yeah.’
My head throbbed.
And… I was sick of it.
‘Why the fuck… do I have to keep doing this with this guy every single time?’
How many times do I have to repeat a story I already know? How many times do I have to do this to escape this goddamn system business?
Heat rose to my brain.
I was already in a situation where I didn't know what was what, and here I was again, stupidly stuck, gritting my teeth and trying to claw my way out.
I have enough on my own plate; what kind of luxury did I think I had, trying to clear up misunderstandings between the VTIC members?
‘It was a stupid thing to do.’
I wanted to go back.
…There were too many things I couldn't give up. There were too many reasons.
That’s why I kept trying to look at the situation positively, unlike myself.
Believing there was a clue to return within the system, believing I could use it somehow, believing the pop-ups were the real Keun-dal and the members….
But, looking at it really, really realistically….
‘There isn't a single thing I can be sure of.’
Nothing had been proven.
Everything I’d done so far to return might just be a bunch of useless, empty efforts.
I felt a cold sweat running down my spine.
I felt like I was going to be swallowed up.
‘Fuck.’
This… goddamn fear that I might never return to being TeSTAR’s Park Moon-dae and just keep being dragged along by this shitty situation.
‘No.’
I gripped my thighs with my hands until the veins popped.
Cold sweat dripped down.
[The Dancer with a Noble Mindset is….]
"……."
Just then. A faint light shone above my head.
I looked up.
Right next to me, the text in the pop-up sparkled like a star.
[The Dancer with a Noble Mindset is doing his best.]
[The Dancer with a Noble Mindset bestows a Blessing upon you.]
[Trait: Status Effect Nullification]
In that instant.
I began to pull away from the murky confusion.
First. Let’s take a deep breath.
‘Whew…….’
I perceived my body in sync with my breath, and then I perceived the thoughts in my head.
‘I was scared.’
I objectively diagnosed my condition.
I hadn't realized the reality; I had simply fallen into a panic.
I tried to ignore it as much as possible, but it seemed the extreme stress had continued to build up in my unconscious until it crossed the threshold.
‘It’s understandable.’
Let’s not blame myself.
I gave myself a somewhat objective passing grade.
I’d worked hard despite not knowing shit.
‘I’ve managed to drag myself this far, haven't I?’
It wasn't that the terrible ideas and foul moods that were turning my brain into a swamp had magically vanished.
The confusion was still there. The fear was still there.
I simply gained the strength to handle them.
Like a sudden burst of stamina in the middle of a marathon, the will to run while gauging the finish line in the distance filled my heart.
Perseverance.
Resilience.
Perhaps it was something Seon A-hyun had acquired through experience, but there was also likely a qualitative difference he was born with.
[The Dancer with a Noble Mindset is straining himself for you.]
And looking from that high vantage point, the path I had walked became visible, and my heart grew firm.
‘I couldn't have done better even if I did it again.’
From being Cheong-ryeo's Help Menu, to being an illegal worker in America, to my acting debut.
The conviction that I had done my best in every single moment solidified into self-belief.
Then, the thought occurred that I didn't need to be hypersensitive to my current situation.
It wasn't about giving up; it was about simply accepting it.
‘It’s only natural that the Cheong-ryeo here has Reset Syndrome.’
Because this is the past.
There was no need to be too shocked, flustered, or frustrated compared to reality.
In fact, considering he’s a guy with Reset Syndrome who distrusts humans, it was quite an achievement to have passed as a member by starting from scratch with nothing.
‘Not that I ever wanted it.’
Well, it must mean I’m a pretty useful guy. Let’s just think that, as expected of a perennial top-tier idol, he recognized another top-tier idol.
‘Yeah.’
If my stress hadn't crossed the threshold, I would have thought that shamelessly under normal circumstances.
‘And then I’ll just ponder the best way again.’
Isn't that what I’ve been doing every day since I started living as Park Moon-dae?
Finding an answer in a situation that seems to have none.
It felt as if courage and energy were seeping out from somewhere, soaking into my brain and spinal cord.
Like a resilient ball, my heart and mental strength bounced back.
[The Dancer with a Noble Mindset exhales.]
‘I can do it.’
I thought, looking up at the pop-up.
Now, choosing what I need to do with a firm heart….
I placed my hand on the table.
"I… appreciate the high evaluation, but."
"Hmm?"
"Think about using me as a member later. I have something I need to do right now… so I’ll be stepping away for a moment."
And then, I dove back into Cheong-ryeo's system.
To finish analyzing the terminal.
At the same time, in the JSA.
Park Moon-dae's acquaintances were watching the screen, breaking out in cold sweats.
In fact, until just a moment ago, the atmosphere had been very hopeful.
[Park Moon-dae (ㅁㅅ@): Sinking into confusion….]
[Park Moon-dae (@ㅅ@): In confusion and frustration]
"What the fuck…."
"……."
Sweat beaded on Seon A-hyun's temples and dripped from his chin.
He was doing his best to help Park Moon-dae's state of mind, but he couldn't be sure if he had timed the blessing correctly.
Moreover, he was worried.
‘I… don't think I can be as much of a help to Moon-dae as the other members.’
This was because he felt that, unlike the members with conspicuous talents and characters, he was somehow plain.
It was also because he was the only one who couldn't find the timing to give a blessing and ended up being the last in line.
‘Still….’
Gritting his teeth, he continued to try and bestow the blessing.
"A-hyun-nim…."
Keun-dal blinked, suppressing his stinging emotions.
Of course, contrary to his own worries, Seon A-hyun's blessing had properly helped Park Moon-dae.
[Park Moon-dae (ㅁㅅㅁ*): Emerging from confusion!]
"I-it worked…!"
"That’s a relief!"
The atmosphere instantly brightened.
However, the moment Park Moon-dae received Seon A-hyun's blessing, he also received the unique power of Seon A-hyun's trait.
—Status Effect Nullification.
A derivative effect of that power to ignore status effects. It was an 'error.'
Piercing through the system's format and influence to see the essence and the raw reality beyond.
So, the moment Park Moon-dae accessed Cheong-ryeo's system immediately after.
The screen turned pitch black.
[Park Moon-dae (■■■): ■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■]
The dot-style Park Moon-dae, who had been in human form, crumpled and eventually turned into a strangely distorted, grayish square object.
It was Park Moon-dae's peculiar situation, something that wouldn't normally be displayed because it was outside the predicted range of the dot screen Keun-dal had implemented.
It was Moon-dae's state, having become a status window itself.
[Park Moon-dae (■■■): !!!!!!!]
Broken characters burst out over the square box-like dot that had previously been a human shape.
"…What is this?"
A grotesque situation that sent a chill down their spines and filled them with a sudden sense of dread.
The atmosphere, which had momentarily frozen, boiled over in confusion.
"What is happening right now?"
"Did some kind of error occur because his stamina is full?"
Keun-dal, his face pale and frozen, checked the connection status again.
‘It’s strange.’
But… it was even stranger because it didn't seem like Moon-dae hyung's condition was bad.
"W-wait a moment. Let me check the situation a bit more…."
But Keun-dal couldn't finish his sentence.
It was because someone had grabbed his arm firmly.
"…!"
An arm in a military uniform.
It was Cheong-ryeo.
He instantly pushed the TeSTAR members' shoulders aside to create space and grabbed Keun-dal.
‘W-wait.’
Until now, Cheong-ryeo had played the role of a medium—a passage—that could reach where Park Moon-dae was.
‘But, are you going to try and give a blessing too?’
Even if Cheong-ryeo tried to access the channel like this, Keun-dal wasn't actually sure if he could bestow a blessing like the others….
"Ah……."
At that moment, Keun-dal realized.
In the past, Cheong-ryeo had been given authority in the system's virtual world.
And that still remained within Cheong-ryeo.
He was a GM.
Game Master. Administrator.
"Connect it."
Keun-dal swallowed hard and moved.
At the same time, in Actor Ryu Moon's officetel.
"I think it would be better to lay him on the sofa…… Yes. Just leave him be."
Thanks to Park Moon-dae, who had suddenly slammed his head onto the table and closed his eyes, the tension that had been hanging in the air was temporarily dissipated.
Although Jung Woo-dan took an ambiguous stance, appearing to be wary of VTIC's Cheong-ryeo while also revering him, the person in question didn't care much.
The verification was over.
So, Cheong-ryeo looked at the other interviewee, who still had some unknown corners.
Ryu Gun-woo.
‘Did he become the Help Menu?’
Why did he suddenly connect?
Could it be that he had developed something else to prove his usefulness and was planning to persuade him not to restart again?
‘It’s about time he learned that it won't work.’
He attempted a call, caught between faint curiosity and awkwardness.
—Help Menu.
There was no answer, so he called several times this time.
—Help Menu.
—Help Menu.
—Help Menu.
It was when he was performing that repetitive task with a slightly amused mood.
Finally, a reaction came, wriggling in the air.
"Hmm."
It was the moment Cheong-ryeo turned his gaze.
[------------]
In the place where the Help Menu window usually appeared.
Violent characters quietly surfaced as if tearing through the air.
[The Incarnation of the Idol is looking at you.]
As if to fill his entire field of vision.
[The Incarnation of the Idol is looking at you.]
[The Incarnation of the Idol is looking at you.]
[The Incarnation of the Idol is looking at you.]
[The Incarnation of the Idol is looking at you.]
[The Incarnation of the Idol is looking at you.]