Chapter 33
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 33
Chapter Title: Dating Rumor
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[I'm the System Administrator★]
Inside the system window floating before my eyes, there was a message from someone calling themselves the system administrator.
The sudden situation left my body rigid, unable to move.
To think there was actually someone managing this utterly unreasonable system.
[What? Unreasonable?]
The system's immediate response sent chills creeping over my entire body.
‘Did it just read my thoughts?’
How could a system administrator read my mind?
I steadied my breathing and opened my mouth.
“What the hell are you?”
No sooner had I finished speaking than the system window reacted.
[I told you. I'm the System Adminis㉶★.]
This bastard playing around?
[Jeong Eun-ho, you're too intenseㅠㅠ]
Another response that seemed to read my thoughts.
Now things had come to the point where even my innermost mind was under control.
“Why show up out of nowhere after staying hidden all this time?”
Silence followed.
[Just because?]
Ha, seriously...
This system had no rules whatsoever—completely arbitrary.
Then, another system alert chimed, and a message arrived.
[Truth is, I didn't think you'd make it this far. Even you, Jeong Eun-ho, couldn't dodge that lighting accident, I figured.]
So my success was unexpected.
Well, yeah. They probably never imagined I'd hack the power and force a venue change.
I was shocked at my own recklessness too.
[You need this level to meet me. Congrats on getting here anyway. Got questions?]
“Will you answer if I ask?”
[Let's hear it.]
I paused to think.
If I ever met the one managing this mysterious system, there was something I'd always wanted to ask.
Just why...
“Why did you save me?”
The day I fell from the rooftop.
When my body felt like it was shattering in pain.
I'd been revived through this unknown system.
Before I could even grasp what happened, days blurred by in a haze of nonstop quests, like none of it was real.
As if clearing quests was just natural for me.
At some point, I'd started accepting the surreal as everyday life.
Looking back, it was all so strange.
“What's the point of giving me these quests?”
Silence flowed.
‘It’s not gonna answer.’
As I glared resentfully at the system window, it spoke.
[That kid asked me before leaving. To make you a superstar idol★. I'm just doing my job.]
That kid?
“Who are you talking about?”
I swallowed dryly, waiting for a reply.
[Not telling.]
I barely held back the curse that nearly escaped my lips.
Well, I'd half-expected that. No way they'd spill something that crucial so easily.
Then the system window's text changed again.
[Curious who that kid is? Someone you met once.]
That kid and I had met? So someone I knew.
[Remember? Right before debut, when you went to the practice room to get Kwon Hee-yul's watch.]
The memory was fuzzy.
Right before debut, when I went for Kwon Hee-yul's watch...
‘Ah, that time.’
[That kid★ was there.]
But the only person I met there was Eun Hae-sol?
‘Wait a minute.’
After Eun Hae-sol left, that mysterious sound from B practice room...
[Hint ends here!]
My head throbbed.
‘Let me sort this out.’
From the info so far, the entity giving me quests was this ‘system administrator.’
And the ‘that kid’ the administrator mentioned had asked them to make me a successful idol.
So the reason for these quests was to turn me into a successful idol?
[Bingo★]
It read my mind, sure, but the response speed was still hard to get used to.
[Listen to me, and you can become a superstar idol.]
Should I believe this? That tone made it impossible to trust.
[You have to! Obviously!]
[I exist for you.]
[Wanna end up a flop idol like this?]
The relentless alert sounds piled on the fatigue.
[Use the buff tickets I gave you wisely. They're pretty rare, so save 'em.]
“Hey...!”
[Anyway, I'm out★]
The system window pinged and vanished.
With the dizzying alerts gone, the surroundings fell deathly quiet.
The sudden appearance of the system administrator left my head in chaos.
‘I just want to sleep.’
As I closed my eyes,
“Who were you talking to?”
I whipped my head toward the voice. Eun Hae-sol stood at the door, our eyes meeting.
Eun Hae-sol stared at me blankly and asked,
“I heard voices, so I came. Were you talking to yourself?”
How long had he been listening?
I tried not to show my panic, but Eun Hae-sol was already eyeing me strangely.
My smartphone was too far away to claim I was on a call.
I racked my brain for an excuse and replied,
“Practicing lines.”
At my words, one of Eun Hae-sol's eyebrows rose.
“Lines?”
“Yeah. You never know when acting might come up, so I was prepping.”
“What script has words like ‘quest’ in it?”
Damn. He'd heard that much.
This was tricky. How to smooth it over.
“Want me to run lines with you?”
“No. I'm good.”
“Why not? I'll help.”
The guy who usually just lay listlessly in bed was unusually proactive today.
“What are you reading?”
Didn't expect that.
Hesitate, and suspicion grows. Act natural.
I regulated my breathing and answered in a flat tone.
“None of your business.”
Better not to say anything than risk getting caught in a slip-up.
Eun Hae-sol's lips twitched downward slightly at my words.
“Then don't tell me.”
It felt like I'd unintentionally hurt him, but no choice.
“Going to sleep?”
“Yeah.”
“Then lights out.”
The room plunged into darkness.
In the pitch-black room, I closed my eyes and organized my thoughts.
‘Who the hell is the kid the system administrator mentioned?’
Thoughts chained together.
X. Quests. System administrator. And that kid who wanted me to succeed.
It all connected.
Could I find the clue? What would I become once I knew the truth?
Anxiety surged like waves, but I tried to steady my mind.
Then I shut my eyes.
* * *
A week passed since then.
I drew back the curtains and looked outside. Even the snow that seemed eternal had melted away.
No quests since the lighting accident—like clockwork before.
The constant pressure of clearing quests had been killing me, so this peaceful routine felt refreshing.
‘Self-cam shoot today, right?’
As I prepped for the schedule, a message came from Song Yu-bin.
‘What's up with Song Yu-bin?’
[Song Yu-bin]
Hae-sol hyung in your room right now?
I glanced up at the upper bunk. Eun Hae-sol's back faced the wall.
[Jeong Eun-ho]
Yeah, he's here. Why?
[Song Yu-bin]
Is Hae-sol hyung okay?
Song Yu-bin worrying about Eun Hae-sol felt off.
Eun Hae-sol was the one he'd despised since before debut.
[Jeong Eun-ho]
Why? Something up?
[Song Yu-bin]
Uh, there's a post on the celeb gossip board. About Hae-sol hyung.
Celeb gossip board. Hearing that nauseating name first thing in the morning drained me already.
I grabbed my smartphone to check the post.
The moment I saw the screen.
“What bullshit is this?”
The top post on the board caught my eye.
I'd figured it'd be the usual lazy dancing tied to half-assed fanmeet gripes.
“Dating rumor?”
Utter nonsense.
[Title]
Eun Hae-sol's GF name revealed in today's Manwol's Boys self-cam lol
[Body]
From 6:12, hear Eun Hae-sol and Jeong Eun-ho talking behind Baek Si-woo's interview? Crank the volume:
Jeong Eun-ho: Yeah. Hae-sol-ah, you taking good care of Sophia? You neglect her so much I %#5?? (inaudible) When'd you send that Kakao?
Eun Hae-sol: Like 3 days ago?
Eun Hae-sol caught with foreign GF lmao!!
Useless member with nothing but sickly image already has a GF—Manwol's Boys done for!
Likes and ranking up plz lol!!
[Comments]
- Insane lol caught red-handed?
- Sophia name saved for Eun Hae-sol's GF
- Jeong Eun-ho knew about Eun Hae-sol's foreign GF? Rookie with foreign GF lol Idol world gone mad!!
- Manwol's Boys fandom so pitiful
- Manwol's Boys disband and sell jjajangmyeon fml fml
└ fml fml222
└ fml fml333
└ fml fml44
└ fml fml555
Are these people deranged?
I scrolled other posts.
[Title]
Manwol's Boys braindead Moon Rabbits denying Sophia is a dog name
[Body]
Denying reality claiming it's a pet dog or cat name lol But last interview they said no members have pets—total denial lolㅠㅠ As expected of ‘braindead Rabbits’
[Comments]
- Braindead certified^^
└ All hold hands and go to the moon gg
└ All hold hands and go to the moon gg22
- Fans with no brains
└ Good name braindead Rabbits lol
- That member was selling sickly charm.. wanna know why he's skinny with dark circles? From clubbing with girls doing drugs;; Friend saw him in Gangnam Y club bathroom mumbling for drugs with dilated pupils total shockㅠ
└ Wtf really?
└ No wonder his face lol
└ Probably met foreign GF at the club lol
“Ha...”
Total madness.
I tilted my head back and closed my eyes. Blood pressure spiking.
Seeing them treat Sophia as his girlfriend's name like fact was infuriating.
What faces would they make knowing Sophia's a plant?
Where did the certainty even come from?
Foreign GF, clubbing, drugs—all baseless rumors not worth addressing.
Yet comments overflowed with agreement, no evidence needed.
No grand justification—just for kicks, to tear someone down.
Spreading utter fabrications.
‘Disgusting all around.’
Did Eun Hae-sol know?
I stared at his back, then took a step forward.
“Eun Hae-sol.”
No response, not even a twitch.
Reluctantly, I climbed the ladder to his bunk.
I placed a hand on his back.
“Hey.”
Then Eun Hae-sol sat up.
“You awake?”
“......”
“Not going to schedule?”
He silently pulled the blanket over and lay back down.
‘That expression just now...’
For a split second, I saw Eun Hae-sol's eyes—darker than usual.
He'd seen it.
“You okay?”
“What.”
“Those rumors.”
“Don't care.”
Yeah, he'd seen them.
“You sure you don't?”
Eun Hae-sol staggered up.
Breathing ragged, like he might explode.
“Talked to the company?”
“They said don't clarify, just wait.”
“Lawsuit?”
“They'll bundle 'em later.”
“They posting lawsuit notice?”
Eun Hae-sol gave a wry smile.
“Said posting notice might make hate comments vanish, so no.”
“Hoo...”
Not wrong.
Dating rumors like this often blow up more with denials, turning into articles—so companies often stay silent.
Rookies especially; botched clarifications can fan flames.
Company wasn't entirely off-base given the circumstances...
‘But usually for bad hate, they post a token notice.’
Was it just my imagination that the company had no intention of protecting Eun Hae-sol?
It'd fade with time under new issues anyway. Just another rumor.
But...
‘Is it really okay to leave him like this?’
I worried he'd crumble under the nonstop hate.
‘No helping it.’
Watching him sit blankly, I slowly spoke.
“Let's talk.”
Eun Hae-sol's eyes widened as he looked at me.
I continued, meeting his gaze.
“Let's clarify.”