Chapter 572
Chapter 572
That morning, the former graduate student checked a message sent late the previous night by her friend, who happened to be Park Moon-dae’s very first fansite master.
Actually, she wasn't a graduate student anymore.
“Oh!”
Because last December, she had finally graduated!
Now that she was free from the status of a slave—no, a graduate student—the world looked three times more beautiful. She happily clicked the link and realized it was a promotional video for TeSTAR’s new tour.
‘I already made all my reservations so I could follow the tour for at least a few days this year!’
She figured her friend had sent it to get her hyped, knowing her grand plans.
However, the moment the video ended with a classic hotel building in the background and two related videos appeared as choices on either side, she gasped out loud.
“Whoa!”
This was content, too!
‘This is like that game from the last album!’
It reminded her of the interactive game that had been the concept of their previous album. She smiled fondly, recalling the image of Park Moon-dae dressed as a phantom thief.
She figured they had probably moved that format over to WeTube so people could enjoy it more casually!
“Hmm.”
Then, she checked the two choices that were clearly split.
[-> Enter the hotel.]
[-> Leave.]
Well… normally, you’d obviously have to go inside for the story to progress.
But with her mind clear and refreshed, the graduate student had a playful thought.
‘Should I check the other side first?’
She had plenty of time to check both.
Yes, she had graduated, so she had all the time in the world!
Having landed a job at a corporate research institute, she was currently enjoying a honey-sweet break before her official start date.
Thanks to her relaxed state of mind, she clicked the bottom option.
[-> Leave.]
Her heart fluttered with anticipation.
‘In the last album game… I got caught by the guard and got a Game Over, right?’
She began to imagine what would happen if she picked the wrong choice.
Since the title track was even called ‘Hunting,’ she was excited to see just how unconventional it would be.
The video began to play.
Against a black screen, the hotel she had seen earlier slowly drifted back into view, and then…
[Goodbye, Loviewer~]
Subtitles appeared in a pastel-toned Gulim font.
“…?”
She saw the warm, smiling faces of the TeSTAR members waving happily from the sky.
The roughly clipped, semi-transparent cut-outs were edited in like the ending of a ridiculous soap opera.
[We hope you visit again. :)]
[-Happy End-]
“……?”
It was a happy ending.
Apparently.
The graduate student rubbed her eyes, but the video didn't change.
“Wait, what?”
After staring blankly at the screen for a moment, she eventually burst into laughter.
Kidnapping, my foot!
‘I guess I was overthinking it!’
She reflected on how she had generalized too much because she hadn't played many games like this.
‘Well, this is pretty funny, too.’
After glancing at the comment section filled with "LOLs," she hit the back button to check the choices again.
‘Let’s do it right this time!’
[-> Enter the hotel.]
The related video began with an effect that made it feel like she was being sucked into the hotel to match the choice.
“Oh.”
And amidst the silence.
The video showed a first-person perspective, as if walking while looking down at one's feet.
Step, step.
It was broad daylight. The camera followed the view of a pair of men’s dress shoes neatly ascending granite steps, then panned up to reveal their owner.
[Are you feeling okay? Not motion sick?]
It was Ryu Cheong-woo.
Dressed in a classic suit with his hair swept back, his handsome face held a trace of concern.
“Uwaah.”
The graduate student realized it then.
This wasn't played from a member’s perspective like the game in the last album.
The camera was moving from the first-person perspective of the viewer who clicked the video!
[Let’s go in.]
It even felt like she was married to Ryu Cheong-woo.
‘A honeymoon!’
Well, no, they could just be traveling together, but his clean-cut look and sweet attitude naturally made her think of that kind of relationship.
“Wow, crazy.”
Ryu Cheong-woo was so stunning on screen that even the former graduate student, who only had a moderate level of affection for him, swallowed hard.
‘Is this like a dating sim?’
Could ‘Hunting’ have meant that kind of meaning?
Thinking of dating reality shows, she nodded to herself. It looked like it was going to be fun.
Some might have worried that TeSTAR was being too blatant with their lines and creating future cringey memories for themselves, but the layperson graduate student just enjoyed the video.
As they entered the grand hotel, a counter was visible beyond a very traditional lobby with a chandelier.
And behind it stood a tall staff member with a cold impression.
[…Thank you for visiting the Red Wonder Hotel. How may I help you?]
[Ah, yes. We have a reservation.]
Kim Rae-bin, wearing a hotelier uniform with red stripes, handled the check-in at the desk.
His neat hairstyle with bangs gave him a strange, boyish charm.
‘He’s so handsome!’
However, from this point on, a strange feeling began to creep in.
Thump.
The sound of a grandfather clock ticking began to fill the air.
As a somewhat ominous BGM played quietly, the staff member tapped the ledger with a pen… then looked up.
[…….]
‘Huh?’
Did the front desk clerk just glance at the ‘protagonist’ for a second…?
But when the clerk spoke again, he was still polite.
[Yes. I have confirmed it.]
[Do you have any other requests?]
And on either side of Kim Rae-bin, who had his hands politely folded, the related video choices appeared again.
[-> A pleasant room on a high floor, please.]
[-> A quiet room on the outskirts, please.]
Ooh. This was getting suspicious.
It seemed it was a thriller, not a romance after all. Naturally, she reached out.
‘It’s gotta be the high floor!’
If you go to a quiet room, don't you get hunted?
Having come up with a very thriller-movie-like deduction, she clicked the related video without hesitation, and…
[A whole day has passed already.]
“…?”
[Did you get some good rest? Let’s head back now.]
She saw a video of Ryu Cheong-woo smiling and looking back at her.
As they stepped out of the hotel together, sunlight poured in from outside.
“…??”
[We hope you visit again. :)]
[-Happy End-]
It seemed the protagonist had enjoyed a blissful staycation in a pleasant high-floor room!
It was a happy ending.
“…??”
The graduate student ended up watching this scene several times.
That was right.
If you picked the "good" choice… it would just end with a ‘That was a happy staycation!’ happy ending!
“…….”
Looking at the comments, a protest was breaking out in all sorts of languages: ‘Are you serious?’, ‘The endless forced happy endings,’ ‘I’m only tolerating this because Ryu Cheong-woo is handsome,’ and so on.
It was the same after that.
[-Happy End-]
This structure where, at any given moment, all the middle content was skipped and the video linked straight to a happy ending!
If you let your guard down, it was a Happy End!
“…….”
The graduate student suddenly went back to the ridiculous soap-opera happy ending video she had seen after choosing ‘Leave.’
And she read the comments on that video, which were full of "LOLs" she had ignored at first, more carefully.
She realized it then.
‘I have to pick the suspicious choices…!’
And so, a fierce battle of wits to avoid the happy ending began.
She had become fully immersed.
Moreover, since events where members talked to her or made cool appearances kept popping up, she kept searching for the choices that would continue the story just to see them.
“Ah, seriously!”
The catharsis of finally picking the right choice after stepping on all the wrong ones was unpredictable!
[Hello!]
Suddenly, Cha Yu-jin broke into the hotel room by sliding down a rope from the ceiling with a grin; Bae Se-jin bought her coffee at the hotel cafe; Lee Se-jin pressed the doorbell and smiled, saying it was room service…
[Shall I get that for you?]
And even Park Moon-dae, the blunt but kind bellboy she met in the elevator!
“Aaaaah!!”
[Ah.]
Watching Park Moon-dae steal glances at her before reaching out to press the floor button for her and even awkwardly waving his hand, the former graduate student clenched her fists.
‘This is actually kind of heart-fluttering!’
There was a clear joy in finding which video each member was in and building a rapport with them.
Meanwhile, the story progressed through occasional long videos lasting about ten minutes.
[Have you heard the rumors about this hotel?]
[About the missing people.]
Bae Se-jin revealed he was a journalist and shared rumors about this old boutique hotel as if it were idle gossip.
[They say… this hotel was the last place several of the missing people stayed.]
[There’s not much credibility to it, though.]
However, through Cha Yu-jin, who said he had secretly broken in through the ventilation shaft to find a missing friend, the rumors began to take a concrete shape.
[It’s this person!]
Because the photo of the friend Cha Yu-jin showed was Kim Rae-bin, who had been standing at the front desk!
‘Gasp.’
For the record, the former graduate student agonized immensely over whether or not to tell Cha Yu-jin that fact.
After choosing ‘Tell him,’ she watched the related video with bated breath, and fortunately, the story continued.
Cha Yu-jin thanked her and went back into the vent.
‘Phew.’
But her sigh of relief didn't last long.
The moment she met Bae Se-jin again, he made an unexpected observation.
[Are the staff kind? Oh, that bellboy.]
[……He pressed the floor for you?]
[How would a bellboy know which floor you’re staying on?]
“H-h-h-h-h!”
As the story, peppered with twists, hurtled toward its climax.
The former graduate student encountered that ‘bellboy’ again in the elevator.
[…Hello.]
“Fuuuuu.”
And next to the bellboy, Park Moon-dae, who had his white cap pulled low, choices appeared again.
[-> (I picked up an item for the bellboy.)]
[-> (I did not pick up an item for the bellboy.)]
The answer to this one seemed obvious.
‘I definitely have to go with being kind!’
Choosing not to pick it up was a landmine no matter how you looked at it! Doesn't that happen a lot in dramas?
However, there was one slight flaw.
‘Did I… ever choose whether or not to pick up an item for the bellboy?’
She didn't think she had.
There might have been a video with such an event, but it hadn't been among the related videos she had reached through her choices.
It was like how in a psychological test, if you follow the arrows, the algorithm sometimes gets tangled.
‘No… but if something like that had come up, I definitely would have helped him!’
Unable to resist the desire to see what happened next, the graduate student eventually rationalized it to herself.
And she clicked.
[-> (I picked up an item for the bellboy.)]
In that moment.
Inside the dark elevator, someone else turned their head from where the bellboy should have been standing.
It was a smiling Seon A-hyun.
“…?”
That beautiful face slowly zoomed in, and then.
[You never picked anything up.]
Thud.
The screen flickered with static and suddenly slumped to the elevator floor.
Then, it faded out.
“……!”
It was her first Game Over.
The former graduate student covered her mouth and stared at the screen for a while.
It was even more shocking because she had grown accustomed to the annoying, repetitive, lighthearted happy endings.
Marveling at the taste of meta-horror, she finally managed to hit the back button.
And this time, she honestly clicked ‘I did not pick it up.’
‘Whoa, man.’
She was so immersed that cold sweat was running down her spine.
Click.
The related video she clicked played immediately.
In that moment…
[A whole day has passed already.]
[Did you get some good rest? Let’s head back now.]
Happy End Ryu Cheong-woo appeared again.
“Ack!”
The graduate student hit her head.
‘Where did I go wrong!’
Just as she was about to accept that both choices were duds and ask her friend for a walkthrough.
And just as she was looking at Ryu Cheong-woo’s handsome face.
[Ah.]
Ryu Cheong-woo stopped walking.
“……?”
Normally, this repeating ‘Happy End’ should have ended with them leaving the hotel together… but the lobby doors didn't open.
Instead, Ryu Cheong-woo pulled something out from his coat.
[Come to think of it… there’s something the staff asked me to give to you.]
[This.]
Ryu Cheong-woo held out a thin, rectangular piece of paper with ornate gold foil.
It was… a ticket.
[They said… ‘Thank you for answering honestly.’]
Thump.
Thump.
The ticket was shown in a close-up along with the sound of a beat.
And the graduate student realized.
The shape of that ticket was somehow familiar.
It was something she had already seen in person.
-
‘No way.’
It was the ticket for TeSTAR’s upcoming tour.