Ancestral House (1) 8. "I'm a Hypnotist?"
"...I'm a hypnotist?"
It was the first time in my life I'd heard something like that. Weren't hypnotists those guys on TV who did stuff like, "You are falling asleep. One, two, three, red sun?" And she was saying I was one of them? Me? I didn't even have the skills to say something like that, and I sure as hell didn't carry around a pocket watch to swing.
"Should I chase after her and ask?"
I watched her walking away into the distance, and the question lingered in my mind. It wouldn't have been impossible to catch up if I'd tried, so I could've asked... but.
"It's probably nothing. Better not risk it."
I decided against it just in case. What if I ran after her yelling, "I'm a hypnotist? That's news to me!" and she suddenly got serious, saying, "On second thought, Mr. Ji-hoon, you're no hypnotist. Confiscating your MC OP." Yeah, no thanks.
Something still felt off, nagging at me.
"Ah, whatever. I'll think about it later."
For now, I'd put it off. Whatever she'd said was beyond my understanding anyway. Dwelling on unsolvable worries would just leave me frustrated. With everything I had planned ahead, wasting time on that felt like a luxury I couldn't afford.
After that, things went back to normal. I'd used up so much energy at Mi-hye's place that on Sunday, I had no appetite for firing up MC OP again. I just binge-watched YouTube backlog and ate, killing the day at home. By the end, the weekend's events felt almost like a dream.
Not that I actually doubted they were real. The proof hit me right as the weekend wrapped up.
Weeeeng—
Monday morning. My phone was buzzing away. Checking it, I saw an unknown number. Not some spam call, apparently—there were multiple missed calls from the same number while I'd been asleep.
"Hello...?"
I answered in a groggy daze, my voice slurring with that just-woken-up vibe.
The response from the receiver was the crisp opposite of mine—a clear, bright voice.
"Good morning?"
Each syllable crisp and precise. Just from the tone, I could tell it belonged to a refined woman.
"Good morning? This is XBC announcer Kim Ye-jung. The current time is 7 a.m., the wake-up alarm time you requested, member. Did you sleep well?"
"...What?"
I heard her saying something more through the phone, but I was too sleepy to process it. I just reacted on reflex.
"Good morning? This is XBC announcer Kim Ye-jung. The current time is 7 a.m., the wake-up alarm time you requested, member. Did you sleep well?"
She repeated it verbatim, same tone, like she was a robot or something. Hearing that, it clicked.
...Right. I signed up for the morning call.
The woman who'd explained MC OP to me—Kim Mi-young—had recommended it, and I remembered adding "morning call" to my monthly subscription list.
"Yes, that's correct. Announcer Kim Ye-jung is currently performing the morning call service you requested, member. Did you sleep well?"
She was waking me so carefully, so attentively through the phone. Just listening made her deference toward me feel palpable.
...But was that it? Listening to her repeat basically the same thing, I started thinking my points were going to waste.
"...Eh, decently, I guess."
Hell if I knew how to respond. If it were a girlfriend's wake-up call, we'd chat about random stuff to perk up, but this was a total stranger—an active announcer on TV. No real room for conversation.
"I, announcer Kim Ye-jung, sincerely hope you enjoy a restful sleep next time."
"Ah, yeah..."
It wasn't bad hearing her polite tone, so I let it ride. But even that started feeling awkward, and I was wondering when I could hang up.
Then, out of nowhere, she said something unexpected.
"Current time: 7:01 a.m. Your smooth awakening confirmed; morning call service complete. Now proceeding to daily settings check."
She transitioned to "daily settings" like she was moving to the next segment on the morning news.
"Member? For today, do you permit announcer Kim Ye-jung to wear underwear?"
"...Pardon?"
A dumbfounded response to the unforeseen question. Undeterred, the announcer continued calmly.
"Today, announcer Kim Ye-jung has lunch radio news and evening weather caster duties scheduled. What underwear would you like announcer Kim Ye-jung to wear while performing?"
She took my dazed "...Pardon?" as approval and moved right along.
"If no preference specified, she will default to the most erotic underwear in her possession per auto-settings. Underwear inspection will occur via video call before broadcast. If real-time video call impossible, a photo-attached message will substitute. Next setting: Member, what skirt length in cm do you set for Kim Ye-jung?"
"........."
I'd thought "morning call" meant just a real announcer waking me up. But the app's version was clearly way more than that.
By the time the morning call wrapped and I left my place, it was way later than usual. I hadn't expected it to drag on this long when I first picked up.
I figured the outfit settings were the end of it. But nope—it kept going.
"Member? Do you command announcer Kim Ye-jung to masturbate today? If so, please specify time and frequency. All masturbation will occur via video call; if conditions prevent, it will be recorded and sent."
She delivered it all in that composed voice.
"Member? Do you command announcer Kim Ye-jung to wear a rotor during broadcast today? Note that rotor intensity is limited for weather caster duties."
Like it was just another routine task to kick off the day.
"Member? Please set announcer Kim Ye-jung's attitude toward her husband today. If unspecified, default auto-applies 'career woman who looks down on her husband'."
Morning call hypnosis. Now I got why it cost so many points. It was basically customizing a TV announcer's entire day to my whims.
"Time to head to work."
Even after all that wild setup, my schedule stayed the same. Punching in on time like any ordinary salaryman.
Not because I needed the money despite MC OP—nothing like that.
It was about balance, normalcy. That indefinable something I didn't want to lose. Like those lottery winners who crash and burn a few years later. I wasn't about to ditch my old habits and rely solely on lucky breaks.
"If I really were a hypnotist, though."
Like Kim Mi-young said, if I truly was one and knew how to hypnotize, maybe I wouldn't need this routine. But whether she was mistaken or I just didn't know my own power, the fact remained: I couldn't hypnotize anyone right now.
In that situation, depending only on MC OP was a no-go.
"Still, I'll enjoy what I can."
I'd left later than usual thanks to the settings, but I was taking it easy. Everyone else was rushing through their mornings—even grabbing a taxi would be a hassle. I ignored them and tapped one MC OP option firmly.
Searching for suitable target.
"According to the settings, she'll come anytime, anywhere if I call. Let's wait and see."
I'd tapped 24/7 Taxi and scanned the area. A typical morning in the villa neighborhood. A few people prepping for work—nothing special.
Middle-aged guy in a suit hopping into a mid-size SUV. The young guy next door getting a send-off from his wife as he climbed into his compact car.
Normally, I'd have envied the hell out of that. Not the wife waving goodbye so much as the private ride. The woes of a transit-riding wage slave—rushing early to beat crowds and delays. Pathetic life.
But not anymore.
"My personal taxi's on the way."
......
So, when would it get here? Not in an hour, right?
0-tier member. Meaning hypnotized folks become my drivers for pickup... But if none were around, wasn't it worse than a regular taxi?
24/7 Taxi arriving in approximately 40 seconds.
...40 seconds?
I looked around—no cars heading my way. The ones from before had all left; the alley was empty.
How the hell was it getting here in 40 seconds?
Vroom—
As I scanned anxiously, a familiar car approached. A cute little compact. The same one that young guy had been driving.
"Where to?"
The man who'd gotten that loving send-off from his wife opened the back door, asking. His eyes were blank, mechanical now—worlds apart from the gooey gaze he'd given her earlier.
"Nonhyeon Station."
Dealing with a hypnotized, zoned-out guy felt weird, but hey, time to get used to it. I was an MC OP member now, after all.