2
Chapter 2
‘What was I doing again......?’
My body felt as heavy as cotton soaked in water. My consciousness kept trying to sink into the depths as well.
For some reason, I felt like I couldn't let that happen.
As I struggled to regain my senses, I remembered that I had been at the filming set. The sudden accident came back to me, followed by the even more bewildering rescue.
‘Damn, was it all a dream?’
I had been right on the verge of standby, so what kind of ridiculous mistake was this?
I was so flustered that the drowsiness vanished in an instant.
I hurriedly opened my eyes and shot to my feet.
“I'm sorry. I'll get ready right away......”
As my blurry vision gradually cleared, I became even more bewildered.
“Where is this......?”
A square room painted in bleak colors, desks and chairs packed tightly inside, a pristine white board covered in writing.
And, most importantly, the campus visible through the window.
No matter how I looked at it, this wasn't the filming set where I had been.
Should I call it fortunate?
Amazingly, I knew where this place was.
This was Korea Arts University, my alma mater, from which I had already graduated.
For reference, I had graduated from university the previous year.
‘Am I still dreaming?’
Unable to make sense of the situation, I looked around until I noticed a cellphone lying on the desk.
The old smartphone looked terribly familiar.
“Why is this here......?”
It had been completely smashed in an accident several years ago.
Yet the cellphone before my eyes was perfectly intact, as if mocking my memories.
“......This really is strange.”
At times like this, rather than clumsily denying reality, figuring out the situation as quickly as possible had to come first.
I slowly reached out and turned on the phone's screen.
The numbers that appeared on it were......
[September 6, 2018, 15:31]
It was exactly five years in the past.
“Ha, did I really travel back in time?”
It was absurd, but there was no other way to explain this bizarre phenomenon.
Now, all that remained was to figure out why.
That guy would probably tell me.
[‘The Brightest Star’ chants your name.]
[(/;◇;)/]
[(/TㅁT)/]
......
I had only ignored it for a moment while trying to understand the situation.
Unable to tolerate even that brief silence, the star kept popping up messages.
For something claiming to be a transcendent being, its behavior was rather petty and impatient.
‘You're distracting me, so please be quiet for a moment.’
I had only tried it on a whim.
But the idea of conveying my thoughts apparently worked.
The windows blocking my vision disappeared at once.
At the same time, I roughly gathered my belongings and left the classroom.
I had no intention of doing something cliché like touching my face while looking in a mirror.
Just seeing the familiar faces I encountered in the hallway was enough to make everything feel real.
Instead, I put earphones in my ears and sat down on a secluded bench.
That way, even if I happened to speak out loud, it would look like I was talking on the phone.
The self-proclaimed star knew exactly when it was its turn and popped up immediately.
[‘The Brightest Star’ gazes down lovingly upon its first Incarnation.]
[♥(^∇^*)]
‘First of all, your identity. What exactly is a Constellation?’
Before I collapsed, the star had referred to itself as a Constellation.
It probably didn't mean a constellation in the literal sense.
Rather......
‘Are you something like a god?’
[‘The Brightest Star’ celebrates your intelligence!]
‘Then an Incarnation is basically something like an apostle.’
How much of a fuss was it planning to make?
The star flooded the screen with flower-shaped emoticons.
Still, it seemed it hadn't completely forgotten its duties.
It then explained more about its existence and my mission.
To summarize, an ‘Incarnation’ was an apostle of a god, an agent who carried out the Constellation's tasks on its behalf.
Incarnations had to accomplish their missions in their own ways and acquire something called ‘divinity.’
Apparently, the benefits gained along the way were quite substantial.
So it wasn't exactly a bad deal for either side.
And within this strange symbiotic relationship, there was a new star that had appeared like a comet.
[‘The Brightest Star’ points at itself.]
As it had revealed once before, the star was a Constellation born from the feelings people held toward idols.
‘A god with such dubious origins......’
[;;T▽T;;]
‘I misspoke. Please pretend you didn't hear that.’
I tried to smooth things over belatedly, but perhaps it had already become sulky, because the message window grew slightly smaller.
I couldn't tell whether the star was timid or shameless.
Regardless, it did seem diligent.
Even while being upset with me, it didn't stop explaining.
[‘The Brightest Star’ confesses that it had been keeping an eye on you as a candidate for an Incarnation.]
‘Why me, specifically? There must be plenty of perfectly fine idols.’
The star, which had been sending messages without hesitation until then, stopped for the first time.
Then, what it cautiously said was quite astonishing.
[‘The Brightest Star’ strongly declares that you possess the talent to become an idol born of the universe!]
Yeah, right.
I could confidently say that this was the most ridiculous nonsense I had ever heard in my life.
But if I conveyed that thought directly, it would obviously become genuinely sulky.
If the letters became any smaller than this, communicating would be difficult.
Reluctantly, I nodded appropriately and pretended to accept it.
‘Yes, of course. If you say so, then I suppose that's how it is.’
[‘The Brightest Star’ points out your insincere acting.]
Ah, it noticed.
I had thought it was simply oblivious, but apparently that wasn't entirely the case.
Just as I was wondering how to appease the star, it happened.
[‘The Brightest Star’ presents evidence.]
Contrary to my concerns, the blue window expanded even further.
Then white letters filled it from top to bottom.
<Incarnation Information>
Name: Yoo Seongha
Affiliation: Constellation ‘The Brightest Star’
Stigma: (Inactive)
Overall Rating: ★★★
▶ Detailed Ratings
Other Information: None
It was a status window straight out of an RPG game.
If this had been someone else's information, I might have found it rather interesting to look at.
Unfortunately, the name written on the very first line was mine.
‘This is......’
[‘The Brightest Star’ explains that those are the stats of the idol Yoo Seongha.]
‘Ah, yes. I see.’
The way it was displayed was remarkably straightforward.
To analyze a person this specifically was a little unsettling.
But it was also far too useful to simply ignore for that reason.
If I used this as a basis and dug deeper, I felt like I could obtain much more information.
For starters...... yes.
I would begin with the question I had been wondering about since the first time the star brought up the status window.
‘Is the maximum rating five stars?’
[‘The Brightest Star’ nods vigorously.]
‘Then I'm even less convinced that I have that much talent as an idol.’
If five stars represented a perfect score, wasn't I barely above the halfway point?
I even doubted whether those numbers had been measured objectively.
The star seemed to have been waiting for that question and quickly corrected my misunderstanding.
[‘The Brightest Star’ praises your dazzling talent.]
According to its explanation, even having three stars was enough for someone to take on a position with the title ‘main’ in a group.
Apparently, simply having even one star meant you could avoid embarrassing yourself on stage.
The standard was considerably stricter than I had expected.
‘So one star isn't 20 points, but somewhere around 60 points.’
If that was the case, then my abilities, with an average of three stars, really were at a fairly good level.
But not all my questions had been answered.
In a way, the most fundamental question still remained.
‘Do you want me to become an idol?’
In truth, it was hardly even a question with an uncertain answer.
[(★0★)]
[‘The Brightest Star’ nods vigorously.]
‘What about my wishes?’
[‘The Brightest Star’ averts its gaze.]
I had been planning to persuade it nicely and get the contract canceled.
But its reaction was rather suspicious.
‘What is it? Is there something else you've been hiding from me......?’
Ah, wait.
A sudden ominous feeling washed over me.
Come to think of it, there was one more thing I hadn't checked.
I had temporarily forgotten about it while being distracted by the status window, but it was more important to me than anything else.
Instinctively, I was certain there had to be a connection between ‘that matter’ and the star's suspicious behavior.
‘The Brightest Star. Why did I, no, why did we return to the past?’
[......]
‘Answer me.’
[‘The Brightest Star’ confesses that it made a small mistake.]
For some reason, I was seized by the ominous feeling that it wasn't a small mistake at all.
[‘The Brightest Star’ tearfully asks you not to hate it too much.]
I unconsciously crossed my arms, and the star hurriedly put up another message.
It said it would show me the current situation in a form that would be easy for me to understand.
[I really did my best for you.]
The star, which had been chattering away all this time, disappeared after leaving behind only those faintly written words.
And soon, it appeared again, dragging along a shocking message.
<SYSTEM> Emergency Quest ‘Community of Fate’ has been activated!
[Emergency Quest, ‘Community of Fate’]
- Objective: Repay the divine loan of the Constellation, ‘The Brightest Star’!
- Total Amount: 100,000,000 Os
※ If repayment is not completed by the final deadline, the effect of the Authority ‘Regression’ will be nullified.
- DEADLINE: 2023/09/07
......What the hell is all that?
There were plenty of words I didn't understand, but one thing was certain.
“Are you telling me to pay off your debt in your place?”
I was so dumbfounded that the words escaped my mouth before I could stop them.
Fortunately, it wasn't such a strange thing to say.
......Although a few passersby did give me sympathetic looks.
Still, after chattering nonstop, the star fell silent at the most important moment.
I decided to give it some time.
‘There's nothing to gain from picking on someone who's already lost heart.’
In the meantime, I should organize the situation myself.
Community of Fate, divine loan, Os, cancellation of an Authority......
By piecing together these unfamiliar terms, I could roughly understand what had happened.
My memories from the filming set helped as well.
The star had tried to save me by using a mysterious ability called an ‘Authority.’
‘But then an error occurred.’
The mistake the star had mentioned a moment ago was probably referring to that error.
It did seem like the thing had a somewhat absent-minded side to it.
If it had made a mistake while activating an Authority, it wasn't difficult to believe.
The screens that had distorted so badly that the letters became impossible to recognize were still vivid in my mind.
<%$■&@> □ discovered! □efore □□□□ □□□......
<SYSTEM> The Authority, ‘Spring of Miracles (★★)’, is canceled.
<SYSTEM> The Authority, ‘Regression (★★★★★)’, manifests. Resistance is impossible.
The five-star Regression had to be an incredible ability, even from the brief thought I gave it.
Naturally, something of equal value must have been required in return.
It probably wasn't something a small star could afford.
And as a result, it had ended up saddled with that damn debt.
‘It said divinity was necessary to maintain an Authority.’
Once I understood the sequence of events, another question naturally arose.
I understood that the star had become a debtor while trying to save me.
But what would happen if it failed to repay the debt on time and the Authority was canceled......?
‘What happens to me?’
This was my own life, so I knew better than anyone.
If it hadn't been for the miracle the star had given me, I would undoubtedly have died.
And unfortunately, that miracle hadn't been fully established yet.
The moment I realized the reality of the situation, a chill ran straight down my spine.
‘A miracle on a pay-later plan. This is the worst.’
There was no time to run away.
I clenched my lips and looked up at the quest window once more.
- Total Amount: 100,000,000 Os
- DEADLINE: 2023/09/07
Five years from now, if I didn't repay 100 million Os by the day of the accident, I would die.
And there was only one way to avoid this sudden and absurd death.
Become an idol and pay off the debt.
A five-year installment plan for the price of my life.
It was a bizarre objective, but unlike the timid star over there, I wasn't going to lose heart.
That was thanks to the truth about life I had learned through my experiences over the past few years.
“For now, I'll hang in there. I can think about the rest afterward.”
I wouldn't fall this time either.