Chapter 230

Chapter 230

There were a few reasons that I’d reached the conclusion I was in a coma following the car accident. The first was the degree of my injury.

The fragment had to have lodged itself at least five centimeters deep in my chest. I’d seen it with my own eyes, and though I’d examined my memory several times to make sure I wasn’t exaggerating things, of this I was certain. The injury had been fatal. From what little I recalled, I had been bleeding a lot. If the bleeding was that bad before the piece had even been pulled out, that was an incredibly bad sign. I couldn’t have died instantly, though.

It didn’t pierce my heart directly. Though the accident had occurred in the middle of the night, we’d been in the middle of Seoul. Bae Sejin had already reported the manager to the police, so an ambulance would likely have arrived quickly. That meant I was close to death, maybe, but not dead.

I can’t have died right away and been made to start over from the beginning… I needed to believe that was impossible.

The second reason I was sure this was a dream was the face I’d seen in the mirror.

“I’m not… twenty-nine.”

I’d been taken aback to see Gunwoo’s face, and so I hadn’t realized at first, but upon slower inspection, I’d noticed something important—I was too young.

This has to be my body from… way before my college graduation, at least. But this was the same motel I’d woken up in as Moondae for the first time, and the date was the same as the one I remembered seeing on the calendar that day.

[December 202X]

The timing didn’t match. I checked the wallet on the dressing table just in case. The ID number was Gunwoo’s, only the digit following his birth year had been changed to “3.”

I felt a chill go down my spine.

[Ryu Gunwoo 0X1208 - 3XXXXXX]

A twenty-year-old Ryu Gunwoo.

“What in the world…?”

The drugs Moondae had used for his suicide were missing, however, and so was the will. It was almost as if Moondae’s situation had been haphazardly distorted to incorporate Gunwoo.

This isn’t just inconsistent… It didn’t make sense. It was at this point that I recalled the message the status window had shown me.

[Name: Ryu Gunwoo (Park Moondae)]

- Enjoy your daydream :)

It had mentioned a daydream. Stranger still, my name had been written with Park Moondae in parentheses next to it… which got me thinking.

What if that means that I’m still in Moondae’s body? This was what made me suspect I was in a coma and having a silly dream.

And the system meddled with this place. There had also been the coin I’d see. If what I’d seen was the same coin I’d received for clearing the previous status abnormality, then this situation was the result of using that coin. Considering the usual cliches in games, I’d guessed it was meant to be used in a shop, but now, I had a different theory.

Maybe that was an extra life… like in an arcade game. That would fit in with this whole… game thing. I laughed hollowly, sarcastically, feeling lost.

“Ha!”

So, to summarize everything… I balled my fists.

“There… should be a way to go back.”

If I was being provided a method to wake up from this coma, then I would make it happen. I knew the best way to wake from a dream.

“Should I jump?”

The motel room I was in wasn’t particularly high off the ground, and I wouldn’t die even if I jumped out the window. I wasn’t sure it would be enough. It could result in the death of the real Moondae, so I put that idea aside for now. The next option was to experience some kind of deep, emotional shock. However, the thing was, I didn’t think much was really capable of surprising me anymore. I’d already been through too much.

What else is there? I tapped my fingers against my knees. There was one solution that might be considered the most sensible.

I could just wait until my body recovers. I would have to put my faith in external forces, though I couldn’t be sure how long it would take my body to recover, if it would at all. Taking all of this into consideration, I chose the most middle-of-the-road path for the time being.

I’ll look around for hints about what I should do. If this was the result of the system’s intervention, there could be hints as to what I needed to do to escape this dream.

And maybe the status window will react. I rose to my feet unsteadily. Taking my wallet, I left the motel room. First, I would find out for myself what kind of situation Gunwoo was in within this coma.

***

I gritted my teeth, walking outside with my phone in hand, which I’d just managed to turn on.

It’s exactly the same. My financial situation was exactly as it had been when I was twenty. The only difference was that I hadn’t gone to college, just like Moondae. I couldn’t seem to get in contact with my relatives, though.

Seems like the system has blurred together our lives in a way that’s convenient for it. The focus seemed to be on avoiding any contradictions between our stories. I’d also come to a key realization.

I’m good at singing. This body possessed Moondae’s stats, completely untouched. Just the same as when I’d woken up in Moondae’s body, I’d gone to a karaoke room, sung a song, and discovered this for myself. All the experience with performing I’d accumulated in Moondae’s body had followed me into this one.

Is it egging me on? Did it want me to follow Moondae’s path in real life? As if the real Gunwoo was capable of all the same things? I pushed the useless thought aside and decided to try to make some progress within the dream.

The next thing I did was… compete on Idol Inc. I’d hung around the karaoke room, hoping to be scouted by Ryu Seorin, the writer.

That won’t be difficult. It would be a real headache if I was actually selected, but the attempt didn’t cost me much effort.

My real face isn’t so bad to look at. Given I had a singing stat of S, my chances were definitely good.

Unable to think of anything better to do, I decided to try it and headed back to the karaoke room.

I failed. I couldn’t tell if the dates were wrong, or if there was something different about this dream… but Seorin did not appear despite spending days there waiting for her.

F*ck. I was well aware this plan would not work now.

The auditions will already be over by this point. I didn’t have any other options. There was no realistic way I could find a way onto the show now. I sighed. I was back at square one without any ideas.

What am I supposed to do? Climb up on someone’s roof? But my body was already suffering. I still considered doing anything rash within this dream too great a risk.

What else can I do? Is there another method I can use to debut? Yes, there is. I did know of a surefire way, but it was dangerous.

If things go south, I could die within this dream, too. But if this was all I could think to do, then I really had nothing to lose.

I mean, I considered jumping off the roof. This is nothing. I pulled out my phone and typed out a number that I’d memorized because I’d seen it appear so often in my text messages. There were a couple of digits I was a little unsure of, but I could just send the text to all the possible number combinations.

[You changed dog breeds every time, but you don’t have one this time. Is it because of the schizophrenia rumors that started going around last time?]

There was only one person who would have any reaction to this message—only he would not immediately think this was just spam. I didn’t need to mention the past, the future, or restarting, for these words to matter to him. He wouldn’t be shaken by anything so obvious anyway.

It needed to be specific, like this, if I stood any chance of luring him in. After sending the text, I waited for a moment for the read receipts to inform me it had gone through. Moments later, my phone vibrated. Someone was calling me.

“Who the hell are you?” said a monotone voice.

I replied calmly, “Someone like you.”

That should be enough to make him understand. After a short, extremely spartan call, he told me to meet him in a meeting room inside the LeTi building.

I approached without saying anything.

“So you’re here.”

He seemed to be between comebacks since he’d somehow made the time to meet me, even though it wasn’t the middle of the night or early morning.

Well, if I were in his shoes, I suppose I would have run to look into the person who’d texted me even if I’d just started promotions. He’d come and met with me to get to the bottom of what was going on, but it was clear he probably had someone looking into me. I nodded to the guy, who sat at the table with a baseball cap pulled low over his face.

“As I told you over the phone… I’ve restarted.”

He stared at me without expression for a moment, then said, “How many times have you done this?”

“Three.”

His attitude suddenly changed. “So you didn’t get very far,” Cheongryeo said gently. He unfolded his arms and placed them on the table.

Seems like he thinks he has me all figured out. He was probably now thinking he could wring me dry since I was relatively inexperienced. In addition, since he had never met me even though I was on my third attempt, he probably thought I wouldn’t be around if he were to return to the past again.

I’ll let him think what he wants. I didn’t need to tell him anything about my suspected coma, and, in fact, it would be a bad idea to do so. Even if this version of Cheongryeo was only a virtual construct crafted from my memories or the equivalent of the real thing thanks to the system’s magic, he was completely nuts at this point in time, still raving mad, and obsessed with the reset feature.

I said calmly, “First, I apologize for being rude over text. You told me I should provoke you since you wouldn’t react otherwise.”

“Oh, I told you that?”

“Yes, as it happens.”

I’m lying, you bastard.

“Hmm… How many years in the future are you from, I wonder?”

“Three.”

“Oh, three… How was I doing three years from now?”

“Well. Most people thought VTIC would get daesang that year.”

“I see.”

Three years was a pretty useful length of time, though not nearly as useful as the length of time he’d traveled back himself. It was enough to catch his attention, though.

I won’t mention him going solo… That wasn’t something he was considering for himself any time soon. If I made him suspicious, there would be no end to his questions.

Cheongryeo grinned. “I guess we got along pretty well, then.”

“Yes, even after you came to understand that you couldn’t go back even if I restarted.”

“I can believe that,” Cheongryeo said with a nod. He calmly continued, the smile still on his face, “So. Why did you get in touch?”

“I have a suggestion,” I said, trying to speak smoothly, as though I’d done this all before. “I’d like to debut from this company. As soon as possible.”

“Oh. So that’s your mission.”

I said nothing to confirm or deny this.

Cheongryeo said smilingly, “And you… You’ll give me information about the future in return?”

“Yes.”

I knew he wouldn’t openly doubt me right away. I was offering him a valuable source of information that he could keep a close eye on. This was a good deal for him. But he didn’t agree right away, either.

“But how are you going to debut?”

“…!”

“LeTi doesn’t debut solo artists. And there aren’t any trainees at the moment ready to debut. Oh, but you must know that already. Since you’re from the future, right?”

I think you’re the one stopping people from your agency debuting, solo or otherwise. The former because if any of your members go solo, they might be less enthusiastic about the group, and the latter because any new groups might get in the way of yours.

Instead of saying this, however, I made my suggestion, “I have some prospective members in mind. I debuted with them in my last life.”

“Ah. Who are they?”

“There’s an audition show starting soon, and they’ll be on it.” I considered the members. “There’s going to be an opportunity during the show to convince them to join another agency… and I would like to make use of that.”

I was talking about the Casting Calls. All I needed to do was debut with them again, no matter what happened here. I swallowed.

“So that’s why you need my help.”

The bastard in front of me would stab me in the back at some point to be rid of any threats. I needed to wake up before that happened.

***

The first thing Ryu Chungwoo heard when consciousness returned to him was the beeping of the machines. When he opened his eyes, the hospital ceiling greeted him. He sat up immediately, and hands immediately reached out from all around, supporting him, trying to get him to lie back down.

“…has woken up!”

“Don’t move. You need to lie down.”

His long career as an athlete had made him accustomed to following the medical staff’s advice. He relaxed back into the pillows, almost instinctively. He began mentally cataloging his injuries. His foot was bound to keep it still, though the bone didn’t seem broken or cracked.

Good thing it’s not my arms… Actually, no. I don’t need to worry about my arms anymore. He was grateful, however, that his wounds didn’t seem bad. Breathing out a long, drawn-out sigh, he tried to gather himself mentally. It was noisy. He began piecing the situation together in his mind.

There was… an accident. Their former manager had been responsible. It seemed the members had been safely transferred to the ER. They’d apparently been tucked away somewhere for their privacy since they were celebrities, but he could still hear conversations and activity within the room.

“…all right?”

“You’re family? Please come this way…”

Everyone had probably been deeply shocked by the news of the accident. Still, he was relieved.

I was sitting in the very back, so everyone must be in better condition than I am. They seemed to have come to before their parents had even arrived.

They’re probably all… Then the moment right before he lost consciousness came back to him, like being struck by lightning. Someone’s shoulder had barged into his, pushing him aside, and a giant piece of metal had embedded itself into that person’s flesh.

“Excuse me!” he called.

“Yes?”

“Moondae… How is Moondae?”

The nurse said nothing for a long moment.

“Moondae. Park Moondae. You know him, right?”

“I’ll have to look into it. Please don’t worry. Just get some rest for the time being.”

Chungwoo knew that she was lying. The door clicked shut behind her. Chungwoo sat in his hospital bed alone, overwhelmed by a storm of indescribable emotions.