Chapter 299

Chapter 299

Usually, hearing one’s roommate’s voice in the night wasn’t something to be surprised about, but this was different.

This is driving me nuts. Ryu Chungwoo had been invited as a guest to do a camping variety show that was meant to last for two days. That meant I had the room to myself, and that was why I’d relaxed and started the video call without any worries.

“Well…”

“One second.”

I closed the laptop and got up, heading to the door.

“One moment, Chungwoo,” I said before opening the door.

Our leader was dressed casually, looking slightly puzzled. I was puzzled, too.

What are you doing here?

“I thought you’d be on set,” I said.

“Oh, one of the cast had some kind of problem, so I’ll be joining them again tomorrow evening.” Chungwoo rubbed the back of his neck a few times, sounding embarrassed as he said, “The door was locked… I was going to just sleep in the living room if you were asleep, but I heard noises from inside.”

If he’d heard what I was saying, he wouldn’t be as calm as he was now. The room is pretty soundproof, too.

Repressing a sigh, I stepped aside. “I locked it earlier because of all the noise the others were making outside. I guess I forgot to unlock it. Sorry.”

“Nothing to be sorry about.”

He seemed to mean that, but it was also hilarious to me that he’d just accepted the excuse. I mentally thanked Eugene and sat on my bed. I’d wait for a bit, and when Chungwoo went to shower, I’d take the laptop out into the living room.

“Moondae, your laptop is still on.”

“Oh, I was playing a game just now.”

Chungwoo seemed a little shocked. “So late?”

“Well… yes. I thought one night of gaming wouldn’t hurt.”

The stupid excuse had entered my brain because, as it happened, I’d just been thinking about Eugene. I felt like my dignity was severely at risk all of a sudden.

He replied uncertainly, “Hmm… Staying up too late playing isn’t good for you. Maybe leave it for when you have some time off, yeah?”

“Right…” I forced myself to agree reluctantly. “Let me just turn it off now.”

“All right. Our next event is in the afternoon, but even so, it’s already three in the morning.” He smiled faintly and took out his pajamas.

I had to restrain myself from punching my bed. The reasonable side of my brain told me that he would go and shower, I just had to wait thirty seconds. I would pretend to turn off the laptop, but would actually take it and leave instead—

“Uh, Moondae. Since this seems as good a time as any to ask… Mind if I asked you a question?”

“Of course not.”

Clothes in hand, Chungwoo spoke with extreme care, which should have tipped me off.

“About that guy from VTIC.”

Damn it. I stifled a groan. He was talking about the same guy who was currently on the line right now.

The lid is down, so he probably can’t hear anything.

“From what Sejin tells me, there seems to have been some kind of incident. Did he do something to you?”

“Uh…”

I calculated briefly how close to the truth I was willing to go. I decided to keep things on the down low, first of all reminding him that it was all in the past, so that he wouldn’t get worked up.

“Yes, something did happen. But it’s in the past.” I focused on explaining that it wasn’t my fault, rather than the details of the incident itself. “He picked a fight, so we fought. I didn’t start it first, though. I only fought back.”

“He picked a fight?”

“Yes. It turned into a… fistfight, of sorts.”

He was clearly very taken aback by this.

Good. The conversation would no doubt go similarly to the one I’d had with the two Sejins.

“It sounds like he tried to hurt you first, then.”

Got it in one.

“Yes. He’s got more experience… and being older, he shouldn’t be picking fights. I was right to attack him back.”

“Right.”

Are we done here? It was about time that he offered some consolation or advice and then wrapped up the conversation.

“But now you’re close enough to him that you play games together?”

I froze.

Sh*t. The surprises just kept coming tonight. Chungwoo didn’t seem to mean to pry, however. He was just confused.

“I heard his voice coming from your earphones as I came in. I wasn’t trying to eavesdrop on purpose.”

It seemed the laptop had taken a few seconds to enter hibernation mode. Why do you have such good hearing, anyway?

“Is he bothering you in any way?”

He also seemed a little worried. Taking into account all that he’d witnessed regarding my interactions with Cheongryeo, including the incident where I’d been recorded speaking informally to the guy, Chungwoo seemed to suspect he was bullying me or something. Did he think that Cheongryeo was using me as cannon fodder in some game even at this hour of the night, and giving me a hard time?

I’m sure he’s seen plenty of that sort of thing, since he was an athlete. I shrugged.

“Not really. I don’t feel uncomfortable around him anymore—we must have gotten it all out of our systems. And he apologized to me about it.”

“Hmm.”

“I’ve been using him, so don’t worry.”

“Using him?”

“Well… He’s easy to push around now that our fighting is over. I just get him to help me with stuff every now and then, so don’t worry.”

“Push around…” Chungwoo seemed to accept this, but only grew more worried. He then asked urgently, “Moondae, you aren’t bullying him back, are you?”

I’m the one who’s always pissed off because of him, you bastard.

“Of course not.” Chungwoo was beginning to worry that I had switched roles with the guy, so I took the time to reassure him. “Do I seem like that kind of person?”

“No. Of course not. But you’re very smart, you know? If you ever feel the need to get back at him… Remember that you don’t have to be like him—”

“Obviously. Please go and shower.”

He smiled awkwardly and retreated to the bathroom. I told him that I’d explain to Cheongryeo what was going on and end our gaming session, before carrying the laptop out to the living room. I opened it with the veranda at my back. My plan was to exit the call app and then shut down the laptop, but surprisingly, Cheongryeo’s face was still on the screen.

“Oh.”

He seemed to have been writing something down, perhaps working on a song. Why hadn’t he ended the call?

“Done talking?”

“I didn’t think you’d still be on the call.”

“I wanted to hear your answer to my question.”

Oh, so we’re back to that. Why is everyone questioning me today?

Massaging my forehead, I responded in a low voice, “I can’t say it out loud, so I’ll tell you via chat.”

“All right.”

[CHR: Here?]

[Apple: Yeah]

[CHR: :)]

[CHR: So why chase this information that you can’t even use?]

The hell. Why do I have to tell you that? I doubted myself for a moment, but recalling that he’d contributed to the conversation, I quickly typed out a response.

[Apple: There’s something I want to understand by figuring the pattern out]

[CHR: What?]

[Apple: I don’t know why I’m here]

[Apple: My memories from back then are faint]

I could hear him grunt lowly through my earphones. He seemed to be lost in thought, but he then responded in a way that left me nonplussed.

[CHR: I thought you wanted to be an idol with a new identity.]

[Apple: I told you I was preparing for the civil service exam]

[Apple: My only connection to this field was that I used to be a paparazzo]

[CHR: Perhaps you harbored a secret admiration for idols.]

Goddamn it. This son of a b*tch. I made sure my expression revealed nothing of how I was feeling and calmly typed back.

[Apple: According to you and Kwon Heeseung’s stories, you had pretty detailed wishes]

[Apple: Do you think I did?]

I heard laughter in my earphones. I was about to mute him but stopped at the last moment.

[CHR: All right. I see]

[CHR: But that can’t be the only reason]

What?

[CHR: You’re not the sort of person who exposes his hand for so little pay off]

[CHR: What’s the other reason?]

Fine. I could give him a little more because of the special tools I had available to me—the status window and missions. There was an explanation I could give him, however, without having to go into that.

I paused for a moment, then slowly typed it out.

[Apple: I don’t want this insanity to continue]

It all came back to this. Wish or no wish, dealing with status abnormalities without a status window was insanity. I had a status window, but even I’d come close to dying many times. As for the guy I was on a call with, I wasn’t even sure how many times he’d died.

We aren’t given a choice, or any knowledge of the situation. It’s madness. This was definitely part of the reason that I wasn’t content to simply sit by, waiting for a chance to talk with Moondae, and instead, I was acting on whatever clues I had at the moment.

Cheongryeo didn’t seem to entirely agree, however. He glanced at the screen.

[CHR: Do you mean to say you’d rather have died?]

[Apple: Of course not.]

Jumping to conclusions again, are we?

[Apple: There are other ways to ensure people don’t die]

[Apple: Donations, campaigns, and so on]

[Apple: Sending them to the past without their consent and killing them if they don’t clear some arbitrary mission isn’t it]

Cheongryeo responded tersely.

[CHR: Are you unhappy right now?]

Perhaps he found it ridiculous that I was saying this, since I’d benefited so much from the system. I typed again.

[Apple: We’re the successful cases]

[Apple: Who knows what happened to the ones that failed?]

Heeseung’s status abnormality had implied that he could fail, but not what the consequences of that failure would be.

With Cheongryeo, the description said that he would have to restart. That meant Heeseung might simply die and get no more chances if he failed. And I wasn’t sure I liked the idea of what might follow after that.

[Apple: It won’t be easy to find the next target]

[Apple: Even so, if we analyze the patterns, there might be a way to stop the system]

[Apple: Isn’t it worth trying?]

Time and space constraints are things we have power over.

Cheongryo was silent for a few seconds, only moving his hand a few times over his mouse. I realized that he must be petting his dog as he gave his response.

“Perhaps you’re right.”

I nodded slowly. He suddenly broke into a grin onscreen.

Huh?

[CHR: And]

[CHR: You’re also hoping to prevent any unknown variables from threatening your career? For instance, people that have knowledge of future events]

Fine.

[Apple: Why state the obvious?]

“Hahaha!”

I had a feeling his laughter would be audible beyond my earphones. Disgusted, I finally muted his voice.

[CHR: Kicking down the ladder you used to climb up. I approve]

[CHR: All right. I’ll continue cooperating :)]

“Son of a—”

“Still playing?”

I was suddenly reminded that I was sitting in the living room.

“No. One moment.”

It was a good thing I’d turned off the sound.

[Apple: I’m logging off.]

I closed the app and then turned off my laptop.

Chungwoo was leaning out of our bedroom with a mysterious smile on his face. “You must really enjoy that game.”

“I’ll delete it.”

“There’s no need to go that far—”

“No. I’m doing this for myself.”

Enduring Chungwoo’s sunny words of encouragement, I lay down in bed.

“I’m closing the door,” he said.

“Yes.”

I should just get some sleep. I explained to Chungwoo that I was setting my alarm for ten in the morning, then put my phone down. I’d said far more than I usually would, leaving me feeling more tired than expected.

I think I went through all the information that I have available at the moment. The system chose candidates that were close in both timing and location. Discerning that pattern was huge progress. But the more I learned, the more chilling the truth seemed.

How does the system know who will try to kill themselves in the future? In fact, the very act of letting people return to the past after they’d tried to kill themselves should have been impossible.

I glanced at my status window.

[Name: Park Moondae (Ryu Gunwoo)]

The rest of my details were then listed.

Why do I still have this, even though the system has moved on? The more I examined the patterns, the more it seemed that I was some kind of exception to them. In the end, though, I always came to the conclusion that I’d made the right choice.

I really need to talk with Moondae. I couldn’t deny that this was true. It was highly likely that the break I was looking for would be found in that conversation.

And at this rate, a single daesang shouldn’t be too hard to achieve… This was the end of my thought process, since I was finally able to fall asleep. It was a deep and dreamless sleep, the first of its kind that I’d had in a while.

The next day, I was awoken by my ten o’clock alarm.

I slept really well. There were a bunch of notifications and messages on my screen, which I erased. Among them was a notification from an entertainment newsletter app that I’d recently subscribed to, though I hadn’t paid much attention to it at the time.

[“We hardly feel the army hiatus” The six-member group T-Holic makes a comeback]

As it turned out later, though, I’d basically swiped aside a disaster alert.