Chapter 366

Chapter 366

Kwon Heeseung had just seen proof of the supernatural with his own eyes. To his great shock he’d seen his mission in the form of a hologram! It took him several moments to come to his senses.

“H-how… How is this even possible?” he asked.

Correction. I thought he’d come to his senses, but his mouth is just working faster than his brain, Park Moondae thought.

Augh! What is this, a science fiction movie? A Limestone one?

Despite Heeseung’s panicked inner thoughts, Moondae sounded calm as his voice came through the phone.

“I don’t know how it works, either… but it’s something similar to a hack.”

“A hack…? But this isn’t a computer!” Heeseung said half-shouted.

Park Moondae seemed to fall into thought for a moment, clearly thinking about what he’d said. He then spoke, sounding mildly amused, “I think you might be on to something.”

On to what, damn it! What is this, the metaverse? VR? AI? Once he’d used up all the technological vocabulary in his arsenal, he began to recover from his shock somewhat. He decided to ask for more details regarding how Moondae had done such a thing. The other man spoke before he could ask.

“In any case, you saw something just now, right? The specifics of your mission.”

“Hmm.”

The words he’d seen, status abnormality, concerned him deeply, but Moondae was probably asking about the text that had appeared below that.

Heeseung spoke automatically. “Uh… Something about releasing a collaborative work… I think.”

“Yeah.”

“Surprising. So we’re really supposed to put an album together…”

Heeseung felt an electric thrill course through him. It was like he’d become the protagonist in a movie, though it was unclear if this was a good or bad thing. Moondae remained level-headed.

“No, this is different.”

What?

“It’s a collaborative work, not an album produced by the group.”

“Well… Aren’t those the same thing?”

“No. A collaborative work doesn’t have to be the entire album,” Moondae replied.

“Oh.”

He then smoothly applied his extensive experience to the problem. “It’s far easier to just make the public acknowledge something as a collaborative work.”

“Wow.”

The way Moondae spoke made him sound like some kind of secret agent. Growing serious in response to Moondae’s tone, Heeseung propped up his phone politely with both hands and asked, “In that case… I’ll probably succeed with the upcoming album, huh? The odds are good, right?”

“Yeah.”

Wow! Heeseung was briefly filled with wonder. In the next moment, however, he stopped to consider the issue a little more. He was no idiot. He wondered if it was possible that Moondae was plotting something or lying to him.

Hmm… No matter how much he thought about it, however, he couldn’t see why Moondae would need to.

If he wanted a piece of me, he’s had more than ample opportunity. Moondae had been so kind to Heeseung so far. There was no need for the other man to suddenly go behind his back, sharing this… supernatural phenomenon to manipulate him.

He’s not some kind of psychotic super villain. If he’d planned that sort of thing, I’d be screwed already. Heeseung decided he would welcome the kindness Moondae was offering once more.

Moondae said in a careful voice, “Do you want me to help you?”

“Whoa!” Heeseung accepted right away. “I’d be super grateful, yeah! But does this mean I’m going to owe you one—”

“I would tell you first if that’s what I wanted,” Moondae said, audibly nonplussed.

Heeseung scratched his head.“Sorry. That’s usually how it is in the movies, you know? Are you still going to help me? Hehe…”

Moondae chuckled.“Yeah.”

He then began to do just that.

***

The first step was the production process. Moondae skillfully zeroed in on an aspect of the upcoming Spacer album where they could win a little extra credit.

“The lyrics are your best bet. They don’t get a huge amount of scrutiny, but they aren’t like photo albums which are only really for the fans. They’re still a key part of the album,” Moondae said.

“Wow!”

“And it’s not likely that the involvement of a non-professional is going to make a mess of anything. The lyrics aren’t revealed in advance, which means they are comparatively easy to change.”

“You’re right… You’re totally right!”

Heeseung decided that he would mention this point to one of the members of his team who doubted his own creative ability and thus had refused to take any part in the album production process so far.

The very next day, however, this same member offered his opinion on the lyric book design.

“Huh?” Heeseung said.

“Dunno. The agency suggested I provide my opinion,” the member replied.

The new lyric book design was approved within two days.

That was fast. Heeseung hadn’t been aware that his agency was capable of handling anything so quickly. A bit confused, he didn’t have time to mentally linger because the work continued. The physical albums were manufactured, and the promotional material was modified and sent out.

========================

Leaps and bounds toward the dream! Every member of Spacer was involved in the production of Fighting Spirit, from the tracks to the inclusions. Coming your way soon! (fireworks emoji)

========================

This was not the main focus of their promotions—just an addendum that made the fans aware of this. It was a perfect fit with the album’s concept, which was about the dreams and ambitions of an idol group. It was the perfect finishing touch, not damaging Spacer’s original plan in any way, while including the essential information.

Wow. I didn’t think it was going to be possible, Heeseung thought, marveling. Even if Moondae had lived a longer life before his return to the past, this level of skill—and dare he say, authority—was astounding.

There have been rumors that Moondae was single-handedly responsible for the label’s establishment. Don’t tell me those were true? He had believed it wasn’t true, since he’d asked Moondae about these rumors floating about in the agency, and he’d responded in the negative. Apparently he was just being modest. Heeseung nodded to himself, but felt a slight chill, however.

If Spacer grows to the point of becoming competitors with TeSTAR later on… But TeSTAR will have gone independent by then! He’d heard that their contract renewal was coming up next year. They were sure to take their leave from this terrible agency.

Haha! Heeseung decided that he would just think of things that way and move on. There was no point in lingering on the matter any longer.

I need to focus on the here and now! He was quick to thank his benefactor.

“This is all thanks to you! Thank you so much! I’ll pay you back for this.”

“Yeah.” Moondae’s response was brief, but not unfriendly. In fact, his voice sounded gentle.

Heeseung grew excited, thinking to himself that he should buy Moondae a lobster or something once he got paid. He shouted jubilantly, “Something tells me I’m in the clear. Am I right?”

I’m free! It was too early to celebrate, as it turned out.

Moondae responded vaguely, “It’s true that you met the conditions.”

“Huh? What does that mean?”

Moondae said calmly, “You’ll see soon.” Wait, what?

“Huh?”

There was a burst of static.

“Whoa!”

A glitching hologram appeared before Heeseung again, followed by another odd message.

[A Successful Release!]

You successfully released a collaborative work!

Time cap: Satisfied (Successful)

Status abnormality: “Make It Work” removed!

: Reveal the *^@5#& ☜ Click!]

“…!”

The word “success” appeared multiple times, and it seemed that things were going a lot better for him than the last time Moondae had shown him the hologram. There was also a glittering button that was hard to ignore.

So… Do I just push this? Heeseung raised his hand as if mesmerized.

Moondae spoke, suddenly pulling Heeseung back to reality. “You said you’d pay me back, right? About that.”

“…?”

Kwon Heeseung paused for a moment.

“Don’t push the button.”

“Wh-what?”

“Waiting a few days is how you can pay me back.”

Wait, how did he know? Heeseung jerked his hand away as if he’d touched something scalding hot.

“Wh-why?”

“Hmm.” Moondae was silent for several moments. His voice tinged with laughter, he asked, “Are you interested in doing something useful with a single day of your vacation?”

“…?”

***

TeSTAR was in a large performance hall in Seoul, tucked away under the stage, the crowd’s cheers still ringing in their ears. The members laughed.

“Good work, guys!” Big Sejin said.

“That was fun!” Eugene said.

A joint concert hosted by a credit card company had just ended.

“Moondae, you sitting in the back?” Big Sejin asked.

“Yeah,” I said.

The members seemed to be in a great mood as they headed home, since the performance had been completely mistake-free and successful. I sat in the rear seat. I thought back to the conversation I’d had with Heeseung yesterday.

Here’s the premise of my plan. I could control the timing of when the status abnormality would be cleared by choosing when to click the “reveal the truth” button. This was true thanks to the status window.

So I thought, why not apply that concept in reverse? Anybody could do so if they had a status window.

“If you can give access to the status window to someone who currently has a status abnormality, doesn’t that mean you can change when it will be cleared?” I’d asked.

Big Moon had accessed Kwon Heeseung’s system and made the status window appear.

[This is a bit uncomfortable… Ugh.]

He’d said it was not as comfortable as using my status window, but he’d succeeded without any negative side effects. It seemed he had even more control, since this was the result of a mission clear rather than some shady attempt to cheat the system.

All right. I’d gotten the idea after seeing Big Moon change the state of my status window. It was good for us that things had gone well. Heeseung had immediately accepted my suggestion that he provide a bit of support before the destruction of the system.

“Of course! I’m all for it! This feels like I’m on a secret mission!”

If only he’d stop talking like we’re at a VR arcade or something. In any case, I was glad that we were mutually helping each other.

Good. Nodding to myself, I adjusted my neck pillow. The way I’d set things up with the timing gave me wiggle room as well. There was a slight lull in my schedule after our promotional cycle ended and before we geared up for a tour.

I think I can take a day. If things went according to plan, a day would be more than enough time for results. I nodded to myself as I entered the dorm. We had arrived home.

I’m going to spend the rest of the day going over my plan—

“Moondae, if you have a moment…” Raebin said.

“Uh, sure.”

It’ll have to wait. It seemed he had something to talk about. I followed Raebin. For some reason, the members were all seated around the kitchen table.

“…?”

What are all of you up to?

“Moondae,” Chungwoo said.

“Yes.”

“We’ve got some free time before the tour.”

Yeah. I’d been thinking about this myself.

What about it? He smiled and turned a laptop that was on the table around to face me.

“Why don’t we go here?”

“Huh?”

On the screen was the page for a camping destination.

“Relaxing Glamping”

Beautifully taken photos slid across the screen automatically.

Woodland walk, hot springs, countryside, animals… I’m familiar with those keywords. The word relax made me think of The House Next Door’s Grandson, and the rest were elements that the production team had promised us the next time we filmed.

Huh?

Big Sejin took my shoulder. “Ahyeon’s been there before on a family trip! He says it’s super nice.”

Yeah. It does look nice. If a family as rich as his went, I’m sure it’s luxurious. But why? I stared at Seon Ahyeon, who flinched.

“M-Moondae, you liked the neighborhood where we filmed the variety show…” he said. “I didn’t want that sort of place to carry bad memories for you.”

“…!”

“So I l-looked into it.”

I was at a loss for words.

“Y-you don’t like the idea?” he asked.

“It’s not that,” I said.

“And it wasn’t all that bad.”

It had been a little embarrassing, but I had enjoyed our stay—at least until I learned of the production team’s real intentions. The whole thing had been even more embarrassing as a result.

“But they didn’t give you anything good to eat—” Eugene began.

“Shut up, Eugene!” Raebin said.

Being annoyed and feeling angry are two different things, Cha Eugene, I thought. I didn’t want to say this out loud, however. The members were looking at me nervously.

Bae Sejin immediately added, “Yeah. Uh, anyway, we don’t have to have the variety show team with us to go to a hot spring! We’ll go by ourselves!”

“Yeah. Why don’t we think of it as a vacation?” Chungwoo suggested.

I grinned. “Sure.”

“Wow!” Big Sejin said.

“It’s decided, then!” Chungwoo said.

“Okay!” Eugene said.

They relaxed and began to chat among themselves.

“Why don’t we take a cruise on our next vacation? People won’t recognize us in Europe for sure!” Big Sejin said.

“That sounds nice, too,” Chungwoo said.

“What?” Eugene said.

“On a cruise ship,” I explained in English.

“Oh…”

“You don’t like cruises?” Chungwoo said.

“My grandfather likes them. I’m still young,” he replied.

You never change, do you?

The next morning, I spent the morning cooking a variety of dishes with no exact goal in mind, for a change. I didn’t have to worry about leftovers, however, since the members all ate everything without a word of complaint. Hilariously, our big meal almost felt like a ceremony before an important event.

A trip after we’re done, huh? I grinned. Though it was unintentional, it was almost domestic of us.

Afternoon came, and I called the last person whose cooperation I needed. The call went through almost immediately, and I heard a dog barking in the background.

“It’s been a while since you called, Moondae. What do you want?”

“Let me borrow your private jet.”

He laughed. “For what purpose?”

I cracked my neck. “To make sure nobody else ends up in our shoes.”

It was time to put an end to the system.