The Cat's Invitation
The landscape in front of me shifted, and when I opened my eyes, I found myself standing in a forest.
I turned my head and saw, far away, the spot where a tea time was unfolding. A black cat sat at a table set with teacups and a plate of sweets.
‘A cat?’
As I took a step forward, the cat stretched and padded toward me.
“System?”
The cat, still licking its paw after washing its face, spoke.
“Hello.”
As expected. I had figured it would be the system. But to appear like this…
“Why a cat, of all things?”
“It’s cute, isn’t it?”
The system tapped the teacup with its paw as if urging me to drink.
Honestly, this guy and I had never been on friendly terms for a nice cup of tea.
“So, is that all?”
The system tilted its head at my question.
“Of course.”
“It doesn’t seem like you called me all the way here just to have a cup of tea together.”
If I wanted, the system could appear before me anytime.
So if it had used an invitation to bring me here, there must be another purpose.
I didn’t know what that was, but…
“As expected, there’s another reason.”
“So, what’s the reason you called me here?”
The system laughed softly.
“Well, the Dream Stage will end soon, right? Your ranking decides whether you debut or not, and whether you can stay in this world or not is also decided.”
The bright, cheerful tone didn’t match the brutally realistic content.
“Thinking about it, you really played this survival show stupidly.”
“…Hah.”
As if, this is what they say after calling me here. Unbelievable. Seeing me wanting to say more, the system continued.
“You seem to prioritize yourself, but you ended up blocking everyone else’s misfortunes in your place. Thanks to that, misfortune came back to you.”
“……”
“And your friend took that misfortune on his back and was on the brink of death.”
I hadn’t even planned to drink tea, but listening to it made my throat burn.
Perhaps because of the boiling anger rising from inside.
You sent me here, didn’t you?
“Hah,” I took a deep breath and looked up.
“Don’t fill the intro with known content. Tell me the main point. So, what exactly do you want to say?”
The system in front of me smiled faintly.
“Even so, you’re number one.”
“……”
“Won Ji-an is outside the debut range.”
The cruel reality digging into my ear made my breath catch.
“The end is coming soon. Whether that friend who took your misfortune can survive is unknown.”
My fist clenched.
“You act like you’re fine on the surface, but you’re right on the edge of breaking, aren’t you? Right?”
The expression I had been desperately holding onto shook as if it would distort at any moment.
That was true. Even if I acted like I was fine, pretending I could do something about it, there was actually no solution for me.
Knowing the system was toying with us, if there was one last hope, it was this.
“Yeah. You’ve toyed with me enough. Now tell me what I should do.”
My tightly clenched fist trembled.
“How can I save Won Ji-an?”
At the end of the silence, a short reply came from the system.
“Then, shall we make a bet?”
Bet?
“If you debut as number one at the end, I’ll grant one wish.”
Grant a wish.
In other words, if I become number one, I can have any wish granted?
“Then, is it possible to grant a wish to make Won Ji-an debut?”
“I grant any wish, so yes. If I wish for it, I’ll even grant something as absurd as the end of the world.”
…You’re kidding. Bringing up such a scam offer now?
Granting a wish, huh…
This was the only lifeline I could cling to in this situation where the future was unclear. Thinking it had been sent by a crazy person made me uneasy, but…
Right now, there was no other way.
“Alright. Let’s bet.”
“Yes.”
A playful smile filled the system’s voice.
“Instead, if you don’t become number one, a great misfortune will come to you.”
As expected. No one would just hand over such a scam-level offer. To gain something, you had to accept the risk—that was the law of the world.
“A great misfortune. Saying it already makes me scared.”
The system laughed lightly.
“If it’s scary, you can refuse. After all, you’re in the safe zone, so even if you stay still, you’ll debut. There’s no need to take a dangerous path for Won Ji-an.”
You’re kidding.
After saying all that, now it’s none of my business?
“…Won Ji-an took the misfortune for me. He bore it in my place.”
No matter how calculating I was, I couldn’t run away from here.
“I’ll do it.”
“……”
“I will.”
I didn’t know what the great misfortune was specifically, but I wouldn’t die, right?
I wouldn’t die even if I lost the bet, but Won Ji-an would die if he didn’t debut. Thinking about that, I couldn’t refuse.
“You really care about your friend.”
The system, after saying that, looked at me quietly and sighed.
“Why aren’t you eating the prepared tea? I brought it thinking you’d eat it.”
A hollow laugh escaped me.
Was it sincere? In this situation, would I even eat tea and sweets?
“My mood for eating is zero. Hearing your unlucky voice.”
Saying that, I stared at the tea in the cup.
My mind had been spinning rapidly since earlier. If I became number one until the end, I’d grant one wish, but if not, a great misfortune would come…
Anyway, even if Won Ji-an didn’t debut, I could save him using the wish power.
Still, it feels like my breathing is a bit freer.
Of course, it was something only possible if I maintained the number one position.
Even that number one was outside my control. In other words, I had to rely on an uncertain future.
To put it bluntly, it was just that one more safety device had been added for when Won Ji-an didn’t debut.
Right now, even with just that one safety device, I had to be careful.
Number one…
In fact, I hadn’t had a strong attachment to maintaining the number one position. After all, I had thought that as long as I debuted, it would be fine.
But this changed things. The situation had become one where I desperately wanted to be number one.
Can I maintain the number one position?
At that moment when my thoughts were many, the system’s voice came from the opposite side.
“Do you have confidence?”
I suddenly laughed.
“You have confidence?”
“Yes, you accepted my proposal because you have confidence, right?”
Well. In this situation, whether I had confidence or not didn’t matter.
This was the last chance to save Won Ji-an. No matter how impossible the conditions seemed, if there was even a small probability, I had no choice but to try.
“Even without confidence, I have to do it. Because this is the only thing I can do.”
In the end, this guy knew I had no choice but to accept his proposal and invited me to bet.
It felt unpleasant going along with this guy’s intention, but…
“You don’t need to think that complicated.”
The thoughts that had been continuing complicatedly were cut off by the system’s next words.
“I’m curious too. Whether you can become number one or not.”
A smile was tinged in the system’s voice.
“That’s a far future I don’t know either. Don’t think I made this proposal knowing everything. Fate is something you create.”
The system added.
“I just do this job because watching people is fun. I have no other intentions.”
Well. Was it okay to believe that directly?
“Then, I’ll look forward to good results.”
With that, the landscape in front began to change.
* * *
The vision darkened, and when I opened my eyes, I saw the familiar room.
‘Back.’
The familiar room.
As soon as I saw the landscape inside the room, my body’s strength left and I sat down as is.
“Hah…”
As soon as I returned, I leaned my head against the wall and closed my eyes.
In fact, my mental state wasn’t great. I had caught the lifeline, but I didn’t even know if it was a rotten one.
‘There’s a message from Lee Hae-won.’
In the middle of it, I checked my phone and saw a message from Lee Hae-won.
“Lee Hae-won: What are you doing?”
“Lee Hae-won: It will end soon.”
“Lee Hae-won: Fight until the end!”
As expected. He had a bright and cheerful personality befitting the original protagonist. A person who solved everything and overcame. So, I felt envious every time I saw him.
If he was a protagonist who saved everyone, he would definitely have saved his friend who fell into danger without hesitation in this situation.
Without dragging on like me…
“Yeah. It will end soon.”
I stared blankly at the message from Lee Hae-won, then raised my head.
Everything was messy and confusing, but I had to live through it. And again, I picked up the phone and called.
“Won Ji-an.”
My friend who might or might not survive until the end, or might never see again.
“Come out. Let’s meet for a moment.”
* * *
The place where my steps soon stopped was the school we had attended in our past life.
The high school we attended together. Because it was a world synchronized with the original world, the school we attended existed.
“Long time no see.”
When I turned around at the voice from behind, Won Ji-an was standing there.
Won Ji-an walked across the athletic field without hesitation, passing me.
“You said to meet here. Surprised.”
Toward me following behind, Won Ji-an spoke in a small voice.
“Why?”
“Just, other places are noisy. There are a lot of people. But this place seems quiet.”
As expected, when I entered the school building, I saw an empty corridor with no one.
Since it was the weekend, no one else was in the school besides us. The quiet school felt strangely out of place.
Won Ji-an walked down the corridor and glanced at me for a moment.
“You, every time you walk down the corridor, you always carry a notebook and study English words. You always did that.”
“…Why are you talking about the old days?”
Won Ji-an smiled faintly.
“But it’s not different now. Now, instead of English words, you’re just memorizing lyrics and dance videos.”
When we reached the end of the corridor, the familiar classroom door appeared.
The place where Won Ji-an and I had been together in the same class.
“Won Ji-an.”
When I entered the classroom, the desk that was originally my seat came into view.
Sitting on the desk, I looked at Won Ji-an and said.
“I have something to tell you.”