Chapter 20: The Most Effective Way to Defuse a Bomb (5)
20. The Most Effective Way to Defuse a Bomb (5)
A few days earlier.
Dan Ha-ru and Joo Eun-chan had ultimately failed to persuade me.
'And they failed to persuade the company too.'
With Seo Tae-hyun suddenly disappearing, did they really think the higher-ups would just let two rookies skip practice to go fetch him? If anything, with their strongest debut candidate gone, both the department head and the company had started cracking down even harder on the remaining trainees.
"We need to go find Tae-hyun hyung..."
"I don't even have the energy to move..."
I almost felt bad seeing the two of them struggling through practice while stressed out. But it wasn't like I could help them either. The most I could do was toss each of them a cold towel as they lay sprawled on the practice room floor.
"Hyeong~"
"No."
"I didn't even say anything yet."
"Good. Keep it that way forever."
"Mean..."
Dan Ha-ru kept giving me those rabbit-like puppy eyes, trying to get me to go after Tae-hyun, but no way in hell. Just commuting between home and Miro Entertainment was already draining me dry. I wasn't about to waste my precious HP combing through Gangwon Province's beaches for no reason.
"I'm home."
"You're back? I thought you'd sleep at the company."
I didn't mind the commute yet, but whenever I barely caught the last train home like this, I'd suddenly feel an intense craving for dorm life.
'Maybe I should just lay it straight and ask Eun-chan to split rent. That'd still be better than the dorms.'
Just imagining ten-odd guys crammed into a small dorm space made me dizzy. Yeah, moving out would be hell.
'...You.'
When I tried entering my room, Kang Ha-won was already fast asleep. He was the type who wouldn't wake even if carried away, but making noise next to him would definitely rouse him.
So once again, I chose the living room option, unrolling the blanket I always kept ready in one corner.
"Sleeping in the living room again?"
"Yeah, it's more comfortable. You should get some rest too, Mom."
"...Leaving early tomorrow? I'll draw the curtains."
"Think I'll have time for breakfast."
I smiled reassuringly at Mom's worried expression. I wanted to say something to her—she looked just as exhausted as me—but I didn't even have the energy to lift a finger.
'Thank god the company has showers.'
The small happiness of being able to collapse straight into bed when getting home was... honestly kind of depressing.
But as I lay on the soft, slightly warm blanket, I felt like passing out immediately. Pushing aside all complicated thoughts, I closed my eyes to sleep when—
Flash!
"God damn it..."
The tactless system notification flashed brightly in the dead of night.
[System Alert: You have unread (unreviewed) notifications. Check now?]
"Tomorrow, I'll... tomorrow..."
[System Alert: There is no tomorrow for us!]
"What kind of bastard did the Korean localization...?"
The system's increasingly weird jokes had fully woken me up.
I desperately wanted to pull a sleep mask over my eyes and flip the blanket over my head, but remembering how I'd ignored this same notification yesterday, the day before, and three days ago made my conscience twinge.
Grudgingly rubbing my sleepy eyes, I started reading the backlog.
"These are all already read."
[System Alert: Not 'read'—'marked as read'.]
First the weird Korean, now Konglish? Did they just slap together a "mark as read" function and bulk-process a truckload of notifications? When did I even accumulate this many? Maybe I should just ignore them and sleep—but—
"Ah, I can't stand unread badges...!"
[System Alert: The system has finally discerned the (Fixed) Regressor's habits and feels accomplished!]
This cunning system must have changed its UI—that red badge glowing like a bomb at the top was impossible to resist!
'I'm the type who compulsively clicks through thousands of emails just to clear notifications!'
I had no choice but to dig through every single notification I'd bulk-marked as read. Some actually contained useful info, so I even checked the favorites I'd marked while setting up the read receipt function.
[System Alert: ......]
Now it's not even responding?
'This one...?'
Among the transparent notifications, one shimmered with an iridescent aurora glow.
As a veteran webnovel reader, I recognized this rarity instantly. SS-tier at minimum—the kind you'd sense even while skydiving from 5,000 meters.
'This one's worth checking.'
With trembling hands, I clicked the notification. Sure enough, the luminous light spread through my room like a galaxy as the quest window opened.
[Single Quest 01.]
'Finding the Lost Dream.'
Description: The fastest way to untangle a knotted thread is to find its starting point. Become an idol trainee within the time limit.
Remaining: 39 days. (Base 60 days)
Quest completed.
Success Reward: Clue Voucher for Regression Tracking
View clue? (Y/N)
'Oh right. I completely forgot about this.'
This was technically the starting point of everything—the first quest. Buried under an avalanche of missions since then, I'd apparently pushed it to the back burner.
I tensed slightly here.
'First quest rewards are usually something special. That last special reward was pretty useful though.'
'Clue voucher for regression tracking'—sounded like something straight out of a mystery novel.
"But it's not like I can just ignore it."
What could possibly happen that's funnier than regressing four times? Already awake anyway, I pressed YES without much deliberation. And immediately regretted it.
'Ah, fuck my eyes—!'
A light a hundred times brighter than before seared my vision. Faced with this blinding flash in the darkness, I reflexively shut my eyes. Who the hell detonates a flashbang in someone's face!?
When I finally adjusted and reopened my eyes, I was inside someone's memory.
"What the, a dream?"
—If we bring you in, you're definitely debuting. Let's debut together, Tae-hyun. Yeah?
And I didn't need to see much to know whose memory this was.
"A clue for regression tracking? Why's it showing me Seo Tae-hyun?"
Questions aside, the 'memory' showed everything from Tae-hyun's past to present. Every emotion he'd felt, every thought—all vividly experienced as if they were my own.
But not all memories were from Tae-hyun's perspective.
—Here, you're really letting me join Rene, right?
—Check what's in your hands first.
—......
—Damn, kids these days are scary. Selling out your own friend.
I saw Cha Min-seok delivering Tae-hyun's carefully collected evidence straight to the department head, who then locked it deep in his office safe.
Now I understood why I was seeing this.
"With just that... getting rid of the department head would be twice as easy."
But how? No way I could steal documents from the department head's inner safe. Send Eun-chan? As I pondered—
[System Alert: Viewing Seo Tae-hyun's memories.]
[System Alert: Relationship with memory owner is favorable.]
[System Alert: You may borrow items from the owner's memory (Tae-hyun's documents).
An unbelievable notification shimmered before me. So I could take items from memories? And they charge 1,500 cash for a rental? This inflation is criminal.
Regardless, I couldn't pass this up. Without hesitation, I pressed YES.
Another blinding flash enveloped my vision.
"...Holy moly."
Just like that, I woke from the dream. Holding Tae-hyun's evidence in hand.
[System Alert: Borrowed memory owner's item (Tae-hyun's documents).
* Item will disappear after rental period (3 days).
* If the item belongs to a 'Comrade,' it can be kept permanently.]
Basically telling me to recruit Tae-hyun as a comrade if I want to keep the evidence. What a scammy quest.
And now. Back at Gangwon's coast.
Tae-hyun and I remained at a standoff, seated at opposite ends of the porch, staring each other down.
"...Kids these days sure have static conversations."
Tae-hyun's uncle, who'd initially brightened upon hearing I came from Seoul to fetch him, had left drinks and snacks between our distant positions before silently retreating.
"...How'd you know I was here?"
"Eun-chan and Ha-ru told me."
"Damn it..."
Tae-hyun clicked his tongue and slapped his own thigh, as if he'd expected this. Though his expression showed displeasure, a hint of guilt shadowed his face—likely remembering Dan Ha-ru who'd wanted to debut together.
"But why'd you come?"
"Like the company would send Ha-ru."
"They wouldn't send you either. Since when were we close?"
"You think I'd come all this way just for you?"
"...Then?"
Like I'd admit I used my office worker skills to fake sick leave for concert tickets. Let's just say I talked my way into it.
...Not that I could say that, so I skipped answering and cut to the chase.
"I know what happened between you and the department head."
"......!"
Tae-hyun's grumbling mouth snapped shut. Seeing him start chewing his lip again, I reflexively grabbed a fork—making him hastily release it.
"Hey, Tae-hyun."
"...What."
"Don't listen to that crap."
"......"
"Whatever that bastard said—it's all bullshit."
At my words, Tae-hyun's eyes wavered.