The Update Code

Spring was steadily yielding its place to winter's retreat. The season announced itself differently, even in the scent carried by the wind. The earthy smell and faint green notes of grass stirred something restless in the air.

"Hoooh." I exhaled a long stream of cigarette smoke and scratched my forehead. Just in case, I'd suggested running it through an OCR program, but the idea was rejected out of hand.

"Mr. Maeng, how did it go?" A coworker approached and asked. I gave an awkward smile and shook my head.

"Haa~, just as expected."

"You didn't even know what it was."

"Haaah~. So does that mean we have to type everything by hand? There are plenty of cheap options out there."

I scratched my cheek at my colleague's grumbling. "If it costs even a single won, those old-timers throw a fit. Nothing we can do about it."

Two weeks of overtime was clearly on the horizon. Should I just hypnotize someone to handle it?

"This is driving me crazy… there's so much of it."

Ever since the new 1-ri Administrative Welfare Center was built, all the old records had to be digitized. Other tasks ‍‍‌‌⁠⁠‌‍‍‌⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠‌‌‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠kept pushing it back, and now we were finally starting.

In the distance, the industry team leader was heading out for another field assignment.

"Aah~, I don't want to work~."

Still, what choice did I have? When the boss says jump, you jump. The office was quiet when I returned. The only sounds were the rhythmic tapping of keyboards and the occasional ring of a phone, reminders that work was happening.

The warmer weather brought a slight sense of disarray. I glanced over. The customized welfare team was heading out again today. It looked like the whole group was moving to City Hall to collect spring support supplies.

For a moment, my eyes met Lee Yoo-na's. She gave a slight bow. I returned the nod lightly. Hmm. It was a shame I couldn't remember what happened during the hypnosis, yet there was something thrilling about it.

Childhood Friend Since We Were Kids was my healing setup. She radiated maternal warmth and accepted everything. The Female Friend Personal Secretary setup, on the other hand, was purely for work assistance. Since I had limits creating plausible setups on my own, I'd made this one to get help.

"……"

I never expected Yoo-na to come up with such perverted setups. I'd imagined something more like a romance scenario. Thanks to her, though, things had been fun. Somehow the city councilor got pulled in too.

A few days passed. There hadn't been time to use the setups. Between regular work, digitization, and handling complaints, I barely had time to sleep. At least there was no night duty. If there had been, I would've run away immediately.

The frustrating part was that simultaneous hypnosis only worked on one person at a time. If it handled ten, I could've quietly retired already.

I discovered it the next day.

"I told you not to mix things up."

A single sheet of scrap paper was stuck between the documents being digitized. Normally it would've gone straight into the shredder, but something on it caught my eye. There was no explanation except pure coincidence. A QR code was printed, overlapping the jumbled text.

"Why is there a QR code here?"

"Huh? Where?"

A colleague who had come to fetch documents asked. "Can't you see it right here?" When I pointed, he tilted his head in confusion. Ah. From his reaction, I understood. Only I could see it. It was a blessing given only to me after my near-death experience.

"Must've been seeing things."

That settled it quickly. This was the same code the mat seller had been peddling back then. Whether it was hypnosis or some other ability, I didn't know yet.

"Shall we go?"

"Yes."

After dropping off the documents, I slipped away naturally and headed for my car. My steps felt as light and fresh as the spring breeze.

"Hoo, ha, hoo, ha."

I took a deep breath, sat in the car, and unfolded the scrap paper.

"Shit."

The city councilor's colorful language seemed to have rubbed off on me. Anyway, whether this was the same code or something new, I could check by using it. I raised my phone and scanned the code hidden among the text.

🗡 Hypnosis App Update 🗡

Update in progress

"Ha!" I cheered at the words on the screen. My heart pounded wildly. When there was only one, I thought that was all. But two? That changed everything. There could be three, five, or even a hundred.

Without hesitation, I pressed update. The screen flashed a warning.

⚠ WARNING ⚠

Updating will delete all previously saved records.

Proceed?

Huh? I pressed it anyway, too impatient to read properly.

🧪 Updating… (0%) 🧪

"Shit?" I pressed a hand to my forehead. "Wait, hold on. Did I read that right?" Records would be deleted? Then what about Childhood Friend Since We ‍‍‌‌⁠⁠‌‍‍‌⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠‌‌‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Were Kids? "What about the baby in Na-eun's belly?" Cold sweat ran down my back. If this happened every update, it would be a disaster.

"……"

This meant starting everything from scratch. The progress bar crept forward.

🧪 Updating… (5%) 🧪

There was no cancel button. "Updating is the right move, but……" I clicked my tongue and leaned back in the chair. "At least give me simultaneous hypnosis for a hundred people while you're at it."

Hypnosis Status

Hypnosis: 0/3

None

It was real. Everything was gone.

TIP

Targets with active setups understand each other's situations.

"……"

All the setups I'd created had vanished. Even so, the corners of my mouth twitched with joy. "Pfft! Hahahaha!" I couldn't hold back the laughter. No matter how I thought about it, it felt unreal. A hypnosis app. The odds were even slimmer than winning the lottery. Who would ever believe such a thing existed? No one. I was certain. I'd never even considered the possibility of a hypnosis app in my entire life.

"Hoo." My heart calmed. "There might be more." But the chance of finding them was low. There might never be another coincidence like this. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath.

"……"

When I opened them, my mind was racing. Sharper than it had been during the college entrance exam. "Still, retirement… isn't happening yet." First, I needed to restore my healing potion, Yoo-na. One thing was certain: the prologue was over.

Whoosh—! Spring rain poured down.

"Grandpa Choi~, we're here~."

"Oh my. What brings you out on such a nasty day?"

Grandpa Choi answered gruffly, but he still shuffled into the kitchen and brought out snacks. While he chatted with Yoo-na, I carried the solitary elderly support supplies from the truck.

"Ah! Do-yun! You're getting wet… I'll hold an umbrella for you!"

"It's fine."

After telling her to talk with Grandpa, I silently moved all the supplies. "The market election, someone else is running too, I heard."

"Ha, haha." Yoo-na still smiled awkwardly when it came to politics.

"Grandpa, we have to get going. I'll listen next time we visit." I stood up first, cutting the conversation short.

"It's raining, why leave now?"

Despite his words, the tsundere grandpa handed us an umbrella. Thunk! After closing the car door and shaking out my wet hair, Yoo-na spoke.

"Thank you, as always. I heard the digitization work still isn't finished…"

"It's fine."

I started the car and headed to the next destination. The professional atmosphere wasn't bad either. After enjoying the coworker dynamic enough, I picked up my phone.

"Ms. Lee, this is something I use for meditation. Want to take a look?"

"Huh? What is it?"

As expected, she had zero suspicion. Flicker! One second. Two seconds. Three seconds. No need to drag it out on the second round.

— You and I are childhood friends.

"……Childhood… friends……" She repeated it.

I removed the part about being an outcast. Equal childhood friends. Congratulations on becoming childhood friends again.