The sound on the other side of the phone changed its tone and rang softly.
-Hello. We've met before, right?
Listening to it again, his voice was still clear. It gave me goosebumps.
'Why is this bastard here?'
Even the phone number was different, what the hell was this? In the meantime, what was he talking about?
- I'm a new resident of the dorm, and I've said hello. You are Gunwoo, right?
"… ?"
-Nothing else, I found something you left in your room. I will send it by courier. Can you give me your address? The academy only gave me your phone number as personal information.
"… …"
Was he voice phishing?
I was dumbfounded for a moment and kept my mouth shut, then pondered for a moment about the probability that it was really someone else.
And he gave an accurate answer.
"Delivery is fine, I will stop by today and pick it up. Thank you."
-Yes. All right.
It came off surprisingly easily. No, no way, another person with the same voice…
-It's a weekday, so I have to listen to lectures during the day… Shall we meet in front of the academy at 9pm?
It couldn't be.
I couldn't stand it and opened my mouth.
"Stop it."
- What are you talking about?
"Stop it, Shin Jaehyun."
-… !
I didn't call him by his stage name with the last possibility in mind, but looking at his reaction, it seemed like I was right.
There was a brief silence over the phone, but then a voice mingled with laughter was heard.
-You must be my hoobaenim.
"… !"
-Hmm… Looking at the reaction, it seems like you know me, but how are you using both bodies?
The quicker he noticed, the more annoying he was. I wondered if it was enough to reason about this nonsensical situation right away… I asked him a question first.
"How did you know this contact number?"
-You came to the VTIC signing event.
"You've probably had autograph signings thousands of times, so don't make ridiculous excuses."
Even if it was an advertising model signing event, it wouldn't have happened once or twice, but how could you identify a guy who got signed without giving his name more than a year ago?
But the voice was calm.
- Well, it was quite impressive. Besides, it's not common for people to change their name twice and make it into a nickname.
"What?"
He remembered the situation in detail and explained it.
The phrase was automatically reconstructed and played back in the tone of the resonance in my head.
'Park Moon… No, Ryu Gunwoo… … Sorry. Please use Keundal!'
-You told me both of your names, hoobaenim-
Wasn't it weird if I didn't know? I immediately thought of it when I heard the description from hoobaenim.
"… …"
-I thought you told me on purpose… Wasn't that it?
This damn…
I silently endured my anger. It was because I knew that there was no point in cursing at 'Park Moondae', who did not know anything.
In the first place, since he was fundamentally not here, it eventually came back to the same question.
'Where did this guy go?'
I had to say one thing though.
"That was not me."
- It's been a long time since you even got a nickname, but that excuse is fun.
"Because it isn't an excuse."
I pressed my throbbing head.
"That… Because it was really Park Moondae. Not me."
Cheongryeo over the phone opened his mouth after a while.
- I think we need a detailed conversation.
• * *
After an hour and a half…
I came face-to-face with a guy with a dog at a residential café on the outskirts of Seoul.
The place where I met him last time was the same, and the situation was very similar since he was accompanied by a dog.
'Is he testing me one more time?'
I used my head tenaciously. I sat across from him and spoke.
"I see you come here often."
"Sometimes, when I have time."
Cheongryeo shrugged as he stroked the dog holding the ball. There was no sign of doubt.
I held back a sigh.
I felt a bit skeptical about being alone with this bastard, but… These were the brain cells of a person who had experienced a special situation. It would be better than nothing.
In the meantime, he examined my appearance and nodded his head.
"What should I say… It's a look that matches your personality."
It sounded like he was cursing, but I didn't have the time or resources to get angry at him, so I passed over it.
I nodded, and he changed the question.
"And it's also amazing, are you living by changing bodies? But I think you've always been my hoobaenim when you were promoting."
"I wanted to ask you since when did you become interested in voice phishing?"
"You talk too much. Voice phishing… I never lied."
Cheongryeo put something on the table.
"He left this behind."
"… … !"
That… It was a compact camera. Brand new, unopened packaging.
And the advice I gave to 'Park Moondae' came to mind.
-If you're interested, I think you can buy a camera and take pictures. Of course, after this test is over.
'Did he buy it for motivation?'
I sighed, feeling confused about what to say. Cheongryeo smiled.
"I just tracked down the sightings, and a boarding academy came out, so I asked some people. There is no fraud."
"And did you have to meet in person?"
"Sure. Originally, the decisive thing is that you can't borrow someone else's hand."
He was a prudent bastard.
Even if I thought about the process until I came here, the evaluation did not change.
Looking at what he said as soon as we agreed to meet…
-Great. If I send a car to the officetel, would you like to ride it?
I tried to agree involuntarily, but I knew what he meant.
-… You already know the address.
-Haha. Procedures are important in human relationships.
He knew how to use the hand I had, befitting a guy who repeated the same life several times.
That was why I was not very happy to tell him what cards I had to use… It wouldn't be beneficial.
I decided to give him slightly more points for his cooperation, which he showed in the incident with Gold 2.
"Listen."
I leaned back.
"I was able to check the mission."
"For me, the word 'status abnormality' appeared directly in front of my eyes. Like a game window."
Silence passed.
Cheongryeo lowered his head to the side, and immediately replied nonchalantly.
"Is that so?"
He didn't seem too surprised. I clicked my tongue.
"Was it obvious?"
"It was a bit like that, but it was understandable even considering the balance."
"Balance?"
"Look. Instead of letting me restart the mission… I have a 'status abnormality'. If it gives one, one follows as a penalty."
Cheongryeo slowly drew a line with his finger on the table.
"Hoobaenim, both your body and job have changed, right? That's a big penalty. It wouldn't be awkward to say that help was given instead."
"… …"
I could see it from that angle too.
Cheongryeo continued asking as if he was really curious.
"Hmm… You graduated from a prestigious university, wasn't it a waste to give up your foundation?"
"I was a public official, so what?"
"Haha."
Cheongryeo asked ominously softly.
"Did hoobaenim also infer from that help that if you die, it's all over?"
"… Yes."
"Hmm, should that be considered a penalty?"
At this rate, the level-up system would be cut off. I held back a sigh.
Now that it was like this, I'd have to check what I wanted to experiment with before getting into the main topic.
"First… Try it."
"Hmm?"
"… Shout 'status window'."
He stared at me with a rare expression on his face.
And burst into laughter.
"Hahahahaha!"
Don't laugh, fuck.
It felt like my tongue was shrinking when I spoke directly in front of others. I took off my glasses and pressed my forehead.
"Hoobaenim, you must have a rich imagination."
"Shut up."
"No, I've tried it too."
Cheongryeo leaned forward.
"I tried all kinds of contents and superstitions. Logging out and such… Hm, was that the 9th or the 10th?"
"… …"
"How many times do you think I've done that? Nothing works."
Cheongryeo smiled.
"Nothing."
"… …"
"So… Well, shall I shout at the status window again?"
"It's done."
I pressed my eyes. After hesitating, he finally spat out the next words.
"Good job."
"… …"
It was useless.
'… Did it become a habit to study 'Park Moondae'?
Since this bastard usually said, 'Will you give me a song instead of words?' I had to be someone who would say the same thing…
"… Thank you."
"… …"
"Can I hear the explanation about your current condition, hoobaenim?"
"Yes."
I ignored the dog sitting at my feet and finally got to the point.
After the 'status abnormality' was over, I appropriately omitted the situation that had progressed so far after receiving the mission on my own.
His eyes slightly narrowed at the sound of 'received the mission on my own', but it still popped out from the impression of the explanation.
It wasn't very useful.
"It is strange."
"What?"
It wasn't just one or two strange things, could he understand it by throwing it like that?
Cheongryeo tapped his fingers on the table.
"Look. Whether it was hoobaenim or me, when I restarted, the time before was nothing."
"Yes."
"But this time, the two of you exist together on the same timeline and influence each other. We are completely different."
"What do you mean?"
"I wonder if there is another force at work. It seems that a time paradox also occurred in the process, and hm, that's interesting."
Whether this bastard thought it was interesting or not wasn't going to help a conclusion right away, what mattered was the outcome of this situation.
"Anyway, after the status abnormality of the test was over, I woke up with this body, so 'Park Moondae' has disappeared."
"Oh, you said he went into this body?"
"Yes."
I was going to have to scrape a hint of what the hell this was.
"I'd like to ask if anyone ever suddenly disappeared during a restart."
"No. It was always the same."
He replied as if he had nothing to consider.
And he responded with a face that showed he didn't understand.
"However… Is it that important?"
What?
"While listening to this, it seems that hoobaenim will go back to normal after today. Wouldn't he come back to the body on his own after that?"
"Maybe not."
"I think it would be convenient even if that wasn't the case, but are you worried that your original body will disappear?"
"Now…"
What was this madman talking about?
"It reduced you the time for useless ethical concerns. Think carefully. Hoobaenim, that… What if 'Keundal' asks you to return his original body?"
"… …"
I swallowed the cold coffee and set the cup on the table.
"I'll think about it if I want to."
"There's no way, is there?"
"There's something worth trying."
I had no intention of telling this guy, but I had something in mind.
'The mission.'
Another mission… I could take it as a 'body change' reward.
"And Park Moondae is his own body, so he has rights."
Regardless of whether I did this or not, wasn't it right to talk about authority?
But the guy sitting across the table… He was indifferent.
"I think you're misunderstanding something."
"… !"
"Everything that Park Moondae has has been achieved by hoobaenim. It doesn't matter if it's your body or not, it's your mind that's in your head, and you made it."
"… …"
"But why are you planning to give it to him? It's right to come up with a way to not get involved more effectively…"
"It's not about making plans, it's about options…"
"Why are you keeping that option open then?"
"… …"
"Listen. I'm going to tell hoobaenim about your own activities so far."
His fingers started tapping the table again.
"You saved a person who didn't exist before with his own body, helped him study, and made a plan so that he could survive until now. Well, I think you did enough morally."
"… …"
"I'm not telling you to kill him. Just… I thought it would be okay to leave it as it is."
Cheongryeo met my eyes.
"Don't you think so?"
I clenched my fist