The Good System

The System appeared without warning.

Hah......

I'd thought about it. Was this really the end? Wouldn't it show up again someday, just once?

And here it is. Today, of all days.

A hollow laugh was all I could manage. So the whole "I've disappeared" line had been a lie too? Where did the lies even start, and where did they stop?

Did I get played?

Ding!

I was still turning it over when the System window chimed again.

......What?

And I'm supposed to believe that how?

I couldn't. This thing had always been fond of weird little games. It could have faked vanishing, only to come back now playing at being someone new. Either way, I had no intention of being stupid enough to fall for it.

Did it change its speech pattern too?

I had to give it points for novelty — the idea that a stunt like this would actually work on anyone.

"......Do Won-woo."

I turned my head. Won Ji-an was watching me from the next seat, his expression grave. He could see the System window too, which meant he'd just realized it was back.

......It's fine.

I repeated the words quietly to myself, trying to get my thoughts in order. If the System had reappeared, what was its purpose? Was this "new existence" it claimed ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠to be even real? Those questions drifted through my mind. But the important thing was this: I couldn't afford to trust it blindly.

"Alright, let's get out."

The van pulled up at the dorm, and the manager signaled for the members to climb out. Among the others laughing and chatting as they stepped down like nothing was wrong, only Ji-an and I wore serious faces.

The System, back again. I'd figured it would show up eventually — but this soon, before we'd even debuted......

Well. I'd already had a scenario in my head that it might come back anyway.

What I hadn't expected was for it to arrive claiming to be a new existence. Something different from the previous System. My mind started spinning, trying to figure out how to take that.

The System window kept popping into my field of vision the whole way into the dorm building. I wanted to ask if it could just stay quiet until I got to my room, but this thing would not shut up.

Yeah, yeah. I muttered it under my breath as I headed upstairs. The whole way up the stairs, that noisy System alert kept ringing in my head.

Honestly, I was starting to have trouble telling whether this was an act or the real thing. But that didn't matter.

It's closer to not being able to trust the existence of a System itself.

Based on what I'd been told before, that was just what a System was. Someone who came into this world as a possessor, failed to achieve their goal, then deliberately steered someone else into failing the same way — all so they could steal that person's body......

Click.

We arrived at the dorm. I was about to open the door to my room when I saw Ji-an following behind me. Kwon Hak-jin happened to be passing through the hallway, spotted us, and tossed out a comment as he went.

"Oh, look who it is. Ji-an's actually coming over to hang? You got something to talk about with Won-woo?"

Then he seemed to pick up on ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the slightly grim look on both our faces, and his expression shifted as he read the mood.

"Why? Something going on?"

I forced a smile like everything was fine, then shut the door behind us.

This was a moment for a lot of thinking. I still had no idea what this newly appeared System actually was.

"Won Ji-an. Did the System show up for you too?"

Ji-an shook his head.

"My System hasn't appeared since that day. It's like it vanished completely."

Which meant the System had only come back for me.

Why?

"Do I look like I'm resting assured?"

I said it as I sat down on the bed. Ji-an came over and sat beside me.

"What do you think?"

"Well......"

A lot of thoughts, but...... for now, one thing was certain. This was not an existence we could trust.

"I can't believe it."

"Right? Me neither."

The System had a fit as we talked.

Really. If the previous System had been noisy in a gloomy, oppressive way, this one was just straight-up ear-splitting.

The thing kept going off, and I was so annoyed I went into the settings and hit the off button.

The room went quiet. In the newly settled atmosphere, I ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠decided to talk it through with Ji-an.

"I don't think we should trust it."

Ji-an spoke in a quiet voice.

"Yeah. I thought the same. After what happened last time, we can't just believe it on a whim."

"That, and it could be approaching us pretending to be a different existence, building up our trust — and then who knows what it'd do."

"To begin with, it's not even certain that it is a different existence."

We couldn't rule out the possibility that the previous System was just putting on an act.

"Why do you think it showed up now, of all times?"

"Hmm......"

The reason it had reappeared before our debut.

"We don't know what its goal is, so we also have no way of knowing why it showed up at this particular timing. It's not like we'll get the right answer just by theorizing."

Too little information. Too few clues. The only thing we could do right now was listen to what it had to say......

"I'm not going to believe it."

"Yeah. I get that."

"No matter what it says, it could all be words designed to earn our trust. A strategy."

Whatever trust we'd had in the System had long since crumbled past the point of repair. The only way to get information on this thing was to talk to it. I decided to turn the System back on and have a conversation.

The moment I turned it on, the thing started chattering away again.

"You. What are you, exactly?"

"And we're supposed to believe that how?"

Ji-an nodded beside me, clearly thinking the same thing.

Then I heard the members talking outside the door. They were probably discussing the ja-con shoot from earlier. This room was at the end of the hallway, set apart from the others, so the conversation shouldn't carry as far as the living room......

"Hey."

Still, better to be careful. I asked the System.

"I want to talk with you, but I'd like you to provide a space where we can converse comfortably."

The System jumped on it immediately.

The words had barely left it when light flared across my vision, and the space around us inverted. A space where only Ji-an, the System, and I could talk. In here, nothing we said would ever be overheard from the outside.

I looked around, then stared straight at the System window floating in front of me.

This part, at least, is different.

The previous System had never granted a request like this. It had been the type to do whatever it wanted, only showing up to talk when it felt like it.

The System window vanished, and something appeared through a swirl of smoke. A dark, human-shaped silhouette was visible through the haze. Then the smoke cleared, and its identity began to emerge, bit by bit.

"Since you two are idols, I appeared in a form similar to an idol! How is it?"

The System, transformed into a human, standing in front of us. From head to toe, it was styled exactly like an idol. You could almost believe it was one.

"Well then, shall we talk?"

The System, now in the form of a cute male idol, threw up a V-sign and laid on the charm. For a second I wondered if it had lost its mind.

"So. You're a new System?"

"Yes."

"But I have a question."

I spoke toward the System in front of me.

"The previous System said it had originally been a possessor, then became a System after failing to debut. And that it had pretended to help me while deliberately steering me toward failure, so it could take my body."

Ji-an, who'd been looking at me, nodded and turned his gaze back to the front.

"Aren't you the same kind of existence? Even if you call yourself a new System — didn't you come here to take my body too?"

"No!"

The System threw its arms up in an X before I'd even finished speaking, as if to say it was absolutely not that.

"Or I have to wonder if the previous one faked disappearing and then showed up pretending to be a new existence."

The System sounded aggrieved.

"I-I really did come to help, and I'm not that guy, okay?"

"How are we supposed to believe that?"

There was nothing in this damn world you could believe. Whether this thing was plotting to mess with us, or whether it had genuinely come to help......

Nothing is certain.

In the fog, I decided to quietly ask questions and observe it for now.

"I'll explain everything."

"Fine. Explain."

"Two kinds of Systems exist in this world. Good Systems, and bad Systems."

My mind, which had been spinning at high speed, stopped dead. It was that absurd.

"What?"

I turned my head and exchanged a look with Ji-an beside me. What was this supposed to be — some kind of good-System, bad-System cartoon logic...... Still, I decided to hear it out calmly for now.

"A good System? So you're saying you're a good System?"

The System nodded.

"Yeees! I am a good System!"

I was going to lose it. So. We'd asked it to give us a reason to believe it, and its answer was that it was a good System?

"Listen. This world is overflowing with con artists. But I've never seen a con artist as half-assed as you. So the reason we should believe you is because you're nice?"

At my criticism, the System's shoulders rounded, looking dejected.

"How are we supposed to know you're good?"

Ji-an nodded, agreeing with me.

"He's right. We met you for the first time today. That you're good...... I don't know. I really don't."

The System started clutching its head and shouting.

"Wh-what am I supposed to do? How am I supposed to prove that I'm good?!"

"......?"

"You're handsome, right? Handsomeness shows on the outside, but a good heart is a beauty locked away on the inside! This is why this world is rotten! A world where no one can see inner beauty!"

The System's body trembled as it went on.

"Looks are visible to the eye, but goodness has to be proven! That's why good people always get the short end of the stick in this world!"

Okay, this thing is seriously weird......

"Calm down."

Haa......

My thoughts piled up for a moment. I had a feeling it wasn't going to be easy figuring out what this ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠thing actually was.