Chapter 233

Chapter 233

Kim Raebin adjusted his grip on the box he held in his hand as he walked down the hospital corridor. The other arm was still in a soft cast and his movement was limited, requiring him to be even more careful with his cargo. He clamped his lips shut.

It would be a disaster if I dropped the box! The number of journalists who had been crowding the area surrounding the hospital after the accident had dwindled quite a bit, meaning he’d been able to get this far without too much trouble. Some time had passed since the shocking news of the car accident.

After ten days of being told that Moondae was in a coma and recovering from his surgery, the journalists had lost interest and went off in search of other prey. This wasn’t at all surprising, given that the entertainment industry was faced with new incidents every other day.

But the internet was still a chaotic mess, filled with all sorts of speculative articles with negative outlooks and various opinion pieces, stirring up the fans who were lost in their worry and rage.

[TeSTAR Park Moondae… Possible risk of being brain dead?]

[The accident that befell the “May Bridegroom” <Reconstitute the Day>]

[Prayers for Park Moondae’s recovery, seven days after the operation]

Raebin sometimes saw these sorts of articles on the main page of his search engine, but he didn’t have the time or energy to look more closely. As such, his bare-bones understanding of the situation online was based on comments the fans left on posts made by the official TeSTAR account.

Everyone’s very interested in whether Moondae is waking up. He wasn’t wrong, of course.

“Kim Raebin!”

“This is the hospital! Be quiet!”

Eugene rushed out of the next hospital room and chased after Raebin with surprising speed, wielding his crutches with extreme skill. He’d suffered a more severe injury than Raebin had, having damaged a much larger bone, and was still hospitalized.

“Are you going to see Moondae?” Eugene asked.

“Yeah…”

“I want to come too,” Eugene said, matching Raebin’s pace.

He seemed so calm—it was hard to imagine this was the same person who’d burst into tears upon hearing about the operation, muttering unintelligible prayers in Spanish.

It must be nice to be stupid, like Eugene. Raebin was momentarily envious of him but kept walking without comment. Moondae’s room was nearby.

“Hey.”

“We’re here.”

“R-right. H-hey guys…” Ahyeon, who’d been sitting quietly inside, quickly got up and responded in a quiet voice.

“Is Moondae comfortable?” Eugene asked.

“Yes… Th-they said he should feel no discomfort!”

“Okay!” Eugene said, sitting down energetically next to the bed. Then he began to explain what had been going on recently to the unconscious Moondae in a mixture of Korean and English.

“The fans are sending paper birds? Or something like that. It’s interesting, you know. I guess cultures can overlap regardless of country. In any case, they’re hoping you’ll get better soon. That makes you feel better, doesn’t it?”

He argued that Moondae might be listening. It gave Eugene a sense of hope, so the other members didn’t try to stop him.

“The other members must have been by already,” Raebin said.

“E-earlier… They went to the agency.”

“I see.”

Raebin nodded and waited patiently for Eugene’s turn to end. He’d brought very important news, so he couldn’t let Eugene just drown him out. Watching Eugene chatter on at length, he repressed the urge to shout, Don’t waste our visiting hours by repeating yourself over and over! We shouldn’t make too much noise in the hospital room, after all! Raebin reasoned with himself, resolving to behave sensibly in front of Moondae, who was amazing in his opinion. In the end, he waited for his turn quietly without quarreling with Eugene.

“Hey, Moondae…”

Moondae, lying motionless in his bed, did not respond, of course. Raebin suddenly felt like crying for some reason—perhaps he was reminded of his grandmother, but he repressed the tears quickly.

“I-I brought you something,” he said, trying to remain calm and raising the box in the air. It was full of papers covered in lines and notes. There were also a few easily recognizable props and a laptop.

Ahyeon, who’d been standing quietly for the duration of their visit, stared with surprise. “W-wait…”

“Material for the concept of our next album,” Raebin said eagerly. “We’re working hard on it. So don’t worry about work and wake up whenever you feel better!”

Raebin had gotten to work as soon as he got out of the hospital. Even Eugene was at a loss for words as he stared at Raebin. It was a very impractical thing to do, in truth. Nobody knew if Moondae would be able to immediately get back into action, even if he woke up immediately. It had been much longer than expected since he’d fallen into his coma. The medical staff were even starting to discuss the need for a re-evaluation of his condition.

Raebin, however, had begun preparing for their next promotional cycle like they were going to get into it right away, so that he could report to Moondae, who hadn’t woken up since the accident and wouldn’t be able to see any of it.

I know, Raebin told himself. It was hard to believe that he’d insisted on being so optimistic regarding their unclear future and possibly wasted his time in this way.

But… I’ve seen it happen with my own eyes. His grandmother had woken up, so Moondae would as well.

“We’ll be preparing… and waiting!” he said. Stubbornly insisting on his illogical belief, Raebin took the box and moved to one of the chairs next to the bed. He then heard a loud noise from beside him.

“That’s right! When you wake up, we’ll do another concert! We’ll do lots of them!” Eugene said.

“Y-yes! Moondae, we’ll be ready!”

Even Ahyeon, who’d looked increasingly depressed of late, seemed to find encouragement in this and shouted the words, gripping the yarn he’d been crocheting with tightly. If anyone else had been present, they might have tutted or looked at the three of them with pity. Even so, none of them felt any embarrassment.

Moondae did not respond, of course. This was reality, not a webtoon, and his companions’ voices were not capable of waking him from a coma. But they decided to hold on, rather than plan for a future in which he didn’t exist.

A choice was waiting for the unconscious Moondae.

***

The button gleamed just like it had in real life as I pressed it, summoning a new pop-up window. It held a slot machine, one that I was very familiar with by this point. When I pulled the lever, the tiles began moving quickly. The occasional platinum tile appeared among the golden ones, but they weren’t marked with the same embarrassing text they had been in the real world. They were all empty. I waited for the machine to stop, cold sweat dripping from my chin.

The slots slowly turned, then stopped. Fireworks went off.

[Jackpot!]

: You drew a legendary trait!

I’d landed on a platinum tile.

[Trait: ______________ acquired!]

There was a blank space left in the message, as though anything could be written there.

Is it like this because I’m in a dream? I couldn’t be sure. One thing was for certain, however. This was a platinum—legendary—trait.

An A-rank trait. What A-rank traits did I know of? I tried to think. Then a flash of understanding came to me, and before I knew it, I was saying,

“Energy Drink… two.”

[Enter “Energy Drink II?”]

[Yes/No]

I raised my hand and clicked on the yes button. Energy Drink II, when boosted to A-rank, had given the following effect.

All fatigue recovery speed increased by 100%

What if it was S-rank?

[Duplicate trait found!]

Merge both “Energy Drink II (A)” traits?

Yes. Colorful fireworks exploded in my vision, and the pop-up reappeared with flashes of rainbow lights.

[Merge succeeded!]

“Nectar (S)” acquired!

The sweet taste of life

- Complete vitality recovery (one-time use)

There we go. I sank to the floor.

I did it. It seemed as though I’d made the right choice. My body, which had been standing without my realizing it, relished the feeling of sitting down. With the tension having left me, my limbs shook, my head a mess with all the questions I still had. There was one thing I knew, however.

I can go back. The moment I activated this trait, my body would recover completely, and I would wake up in the real world. This was the only logical conclusion.

Is there a chance that it will apply to my body in this dream instead? No. Shut the hell up. That isn’t going to happen. The status window wasn’t working in the first place in this dream. The new trait had also been fused with one I’d possessed in Park Moondae’s body.

This would apply to my body in the real world, I knew it. I felt a thrill go through me. At the same time, however, I grew nervous.

I need to do this before the status window is deactivated again. Who knew what might happen next in this stupid dream? I tried to activate “Nectar (S),” which was visible in the pop-up window, right away, muttering without realizing it, “Time to go back.”

“Already?” came a voice.

When I turned around, the person who’d left after saying he had things to do was pushing his face into the practice room—Cheongryeo. My guard went up instinctively. I had plenty of excuses I could make.

“Practicing any more today isn’t going to accomplish much. That’s what I meant.”

“Liar,” he said, entering the practice room without hesitation.

If I push the button now… I stopped myself. Would this bastard attack me, perhaps, if he felt that something was off about the gesture I was making in the air?

As I mentally scrambled to consider my options, Cheongryeo stopped opposite me and said with a glum look on his face, “Hmm. You’re not as patient as I thought you were.”

“What?” I asked.

“I thought this was your third time restarting? Isn’t it a bit early to be considering starting again over something so inconsequential?”

Oh, is that what you meant? I guess he had no way of knowing this was all just a dream I was having while in a coma. He apparently believed I was planning to go back to the beginning. I spoke, intending to clear up the misunderstanding.

“I’m not restarting. I guess I sounded pretty grave just now because I was thinking about something. I’m really just going back to the dorm.”

“Right. Then listen.” He refused to believe me. The look on his face told me he was sure I was planning on restarting. “The two you gathered together… won’t be easy to handle. They won’t be cooperative. You know that from the way they’re reacting already, right?”

I said nothing to this.

“You should watch them for a month or so before deciding whether you actually want to bring them on board. You seem to have rushed things. I guess you had it pretty good your last time around?”

“Yeah,” I said with a smile. “I chose them because I wanted to do this with them.”

An odd look appeared on Cheongryeo’s face, like a memory from a distant past had suddenly reared its head. He muttered, “I suppose restarting a couple of times might not matter, since this is only the beginning for you…”

I didn’t bother to respond to this. Instead, I said in an intentionally casual tone, “Even so, if I do restart, let them debut. I’ll give you plenty of good information.”

“Those two?” he asked.

“I thought you didn’t think they were very good? They’ll hardly be a threat to VTIC.”

He shrugged. He was agreeing with me, though he didn’t understand why I was asking this of him. If it didn’t cause him any issues, he was likely to do as I asked. He seemed calmer now, and I gestured him out of the room, seeing him off politely.

I then scheduled a few emails to be sent to him in the future from my account.

[August 202X.txt]

Each email contained knowledge about the future that would be sent to him every two weeks. I also reported the gambling institution Bae Sejin’s father was operating to a public prosecutor’s office.

“This is an illegal gambling house that deals in huge amounts of drugs. Please look into it.”

I didn’t plan on staying here much longer, so it didn’t matter if it came out that I was the one who’d made the report.

That should improve things for him a little. And finally, I sent Ahyeon’s parents the phone number of the hospital where Ahyeon was going to therapy in the real world.

“I attended therapy with this person, and it was massively helpful.”

I locked my phone after I was done, feeling refreshed.

I guess that does it?

“Wow! Are you friends with Cheongryeo?”

I turned around. Lee Sejin, who’d left earlier, occupied by his phone, had returned.

I glanced briefly at the pop-up, then said, “Somewhat.”

“Yeah?”

“Uh-huh. But I won’t introduce you to him. He’s a deranged bastard. Be careful around him.”

“What…?” he said, looking incredulous.

I hadn’t seen him look so human in a long time. This damned dream would probably vanish the moment I left it. My actions and words from the last few moments would satisfy no one but myself, but what did that matter?

I turned my phone back on and rattled off, “I’ll introduce you to a composer instead. Listen carefully. Make sure to utilize this person’s talent after you debut.”

“What?” he asked.

I sent him a text without any further explanation—it contained the phone number belonging to a composer who was probably still unknown at this point in time. Lee Sejin still looked dazed as his phone vibrated noisily.

“Text this person… and listen to their samples. Choose the third or seventh one. Those are the ones that will be a hit.”

“What in the world are you talking about?”

I grinned. “Actually, I think you’ll choose those anyway. I’m just telling you because I feel like it.”

They’re the songs you chose in the real world.

Lee Sejin was clearly very disoriented. He rubbed his face with one hand as if trying to choose what to say, then he said with difficulty, “Uh, thank you, I guess? But I don’t know what you’re talking about. Why don’t we talk again when you’re calmer? Why are you calling Cheongryeo a deranged bastard, and…”

Seeing him lose his composure like this made me think, Maybe he’d have opened up to me a little more, if given the time. I felt good about it. I stared at him for a moment, then turned around and headed for the door.

“Wait a second, hold on.”

“See you again.”

In the real world. I was done here. I waved back at him with one hand and left the practice room behind. The pop-up was still hovering in front of me.

[Activate “Nectar (S)?” (*Warning: this trait can only be used once)]

“Yes.”

Everything turned white.