The moment I heard a definite answer, the questions related to the status window so far passed through my head like a flashback.
'… 'Park Moondae' is the status window.'
And before making any conclusions…
The original Park Moondae, 'Keundal', started talking as if retracing the things he had experienced as a status window.
"At first I was completely unconscious. But… Hyung shouted at the status window, and suddenly my consciousness came to mind."
- I'm quitting because I'm playing a game.
The last words I posted when I closed the WeTube account 'gun1234' where I uploaded fancams.
"Hyung likes games, so I thought it would be helpful if…"
"Maybe it was the last shock I had when I was a human, and it might have been because I realized that the account was hyung's."
I barely opened my mouth.
"Then leveling up or drawing traits?"
"Yes. I've only played mobile games… Maybe that was the only thing that seemed plausible. Sorry."
It was nothing to be sorry for.
The privilege I got, the status window I had alone… It didn't stick out because of the balance, as Cheongryeo thought.
This was exactly what this guy created for me.
"After that, I assimilated into the system again… I just played the role of showing what the system was trying to do in a good way."
I cut him off.
"No, thank you."
"… ! That, that… No…"
The guy sitting across from me didn't know what to do, then lowered his head.
"Well, actually, strange things happened from here."
Strange things?
"I told you that I, who prepared for the civil service exam with hyung's body, synchronized with me who lived through the status window."
"Yes."
"That is… I think I, the status window, was adversely influenced by me preparing for the civil service exam."
"… !"
"So… Even in the status window, I vaguely knew what would happen to hyung in the future. Because I have seen all of hyung's activities from the very beginning, since
I see.
It remembered not only what I wanted, but also the drawing from the status window, which gave me the necessary traits at that time, as if it had predicted the future.
It wasn't predicting the future. It was because of the person who really lived in the future.
I pressed my forehead.
'There is no beginning and no end.'
If I hadn't set up a 'conversation with Park Moondae' as a mission after clearing all the status abnormalities, this guy who was preparing to become a civil servant would not have existed.
But I needed this guy who was preparing to become a civil servant so that I could clear the status abnormality with the predictive shot in the status window.
"Causes and effects are just mixed up, right? Haha… I am a bit confused too."
"I know."
Even if I returned to the past, time did not reset and coexist as it was, so there was no back and forth order.
It was as if I intervened in TeStar's activities in the middle while helping with this disclosure.
"Hmm."
In the meantime, Keundal carefully opened his mouth again.
"Um, so… My ego, which was a status window, was properly awakened when I realized that hyung's car accident was just around the corner."
"… !"
In an instant, I remembered the unusual option I received as a reward after clearing the '200,000 audience mobilization status abnormality'.
[Option]
: Check 'truth' ☜ Click!
: Obtain 'coin' ☜ Click! !
※ Duplicate selection is not possible
"… … The coin…"
Keundal smiled faintly.
"That's right. At that time, the choice was not the system, but I did it."
Oh my god.
"And then there was an error?"
Right after that, when the next status abnormality appeared, all kinds of lines were drawn and the status abnormality was continuously updated.
'First place or death' occurs!
'If it is not a grand prize, death' occurs!
'Performance or death' occurs!
I thought it was as if someone had hacked it, so it was an accurate hunch.
"Yes… Fortunately, hyung picked out the coin, but there was also an error there."
I opened my mouth unconsciously.
"Is it because the truth had not been confirmed?"
An error occurred because the final condition could not be cleared.
"… ! That's right. That's why the status abnormality that was supposed to end with that originally popped up once more…"
"… …"
"Yes, I think it happened because I just intervened. So I tried to change or cancel something as easy as possible… It didn't work."
The boy bowed his head with an embarrassed face.
But in fact, the burden of that condition was entirely on him.
"That's why the target of death also changed to you."
-In the case of failing to meet more than 400,000 audience members within the specified period, the death of 'Park Moondae'.
Keundal nodded.
"… Yes. Hyung, actually, the status abnormalities ended just before that. The penalty is something that the creator has to bear."
I muttered calmly.
"I don't understand that."
"Yes, yes?"
"The number of my status abnormalities."
I folded my fingers.
"In the end, it's just that I don't remember, it was right that I lived a few more years and then came back."
The guy who said he organized my belongings… My future job at the company. The one I saw in the last truth check.
"Why did I get fewer status abnormalities based on my memory rather than that standard?"
"That… It's because the preliminary work was done to grant my wish before hyung went back to the past."
His wish was…
-I hope Gunwoo hyung lives a long, happy life… … …
It was an absurdly good wish, but there was something more absurd than that.
"You said that I shouldn't have to have that memory to live?"
"Yes."
The guy across from me seemed a little pale, but he was determined.
"Hyung's heart had been hurting so much over the years that the system decided he wouldn't accept a new body."
"… …"
"And based on the memory of hyung's who was deleted like that, looking at how much you returned to the past, the number of status abnormalities was reduced."
I was speechless.
I gritted my teeth for some reason, then replied slowly.
"I don't even remember meeting you."
From the time I bought him rice soup, I didn't even remember contacting him occasionally.
"That too. If you entered the body of someone you know… I thought that hyung would react strangely."
I was going crazy.
'He set it up so that he can thoroughly grant his one wish.'
Blowing away other people's memories was not a way to look personable at all, and it was a judgment that some AI would have made.
Come to think of it, there was my specificity that came to mind.
"Is it true that I could check the truth?"
A reward for clearing abnormal conditions that was given only to me.
"Yes."
The guy on the other side closed his eyes.
"When the system analyzed it, it was determined that hyung could overcome his own trauma by seeing himself…"
Wasn't it crazy?
"That's why I did it using the existing status window."
"The system used the status window?"
"Yes. From that point on, I wasn't the only one using the system, the system started using me too… We were able to influence each other."
"… …"
Suddenly, I took a closer look at the guy on the other side.
Keundal sitting in the image world was a mixture of 'Ryu Gunwoo' with 'Park Moondae', but looking back, it was… I felt out of place.
Tick.
At that moment, a noise splashed along his outline.
'Damn it.'
"To be honest, I am still a bit confused. I seem to be a bit mixed with the system."
It was a strange situation. I frowned.
"The system would have moved to someone else."
Gold 2, Kwon Heeseung.
"You stayed in the status window. So are you still mixed?"
"Hmm… As hyung finished the status abnormality, my ego became clearer and clearer. So when the system moved, it could remain on its own."
The guy opened and closed his hand.
"However… I can use some of the same abilities as before."
Automatically, I recalled what I pulled with the last talent draw.
[Attribute: Acquiring 'Mission Constitution (S)'!]
The ability to trade rewards and penalties in the form of status abnormalities.
"It must have been you who gave me the nature of the mission."
"Yes."
If so, in the end, this guy saved himself.
'Hmm.'
It made me happy for a second.
"Therefore… I think we are still somewhat connected. We cannot interfere with each other."
"Yes."
This… could be used somewhere. I nodded and relaxed.
"Phew…"
The guy on the other side let out a small sigh as if he had taken care of something big.
'I guess he said everything.'
I chuckled. Then it was my turn to talk.
"I heard you well. Everything I was curious about has been answered."
"Yes!"
Here was the main point. I cleared my expression and opened my mouth again.
"And… Thank you for saving me."
"What?"
"Thanks to you, I lived well."
I remembered what I had experienced over the years as 'Park Moondae'.
There were a lot of things that got me screwed up, but looking back, I think… The ending was always good.
The whole experience came to mind vividly. Therefore… I never thought I would say this out of my mouth.
"Being an idol was fun."
If I had to do it again, I would have done it.
Of course…
"I didn't know I wanted to be an idol either, but I guess I did."
Suddenly, the man in front of me started to weep.
"… ??"
What was he doing?
"I'm sorry. I'm really moved… I hope hyung will say that at his concert… "
"… … "
It was ridiculous, but I just laughed. I didn't feel bad.
And it was like a joke.
"I was surprised by your civil service exam, too."
Did he ever want to have a job like that?
"… !"
At that moment, the guy made a pricked expression.
What?
"Um, hyung, that, that."
"Why?"
"Actually… I just thought of hyung, so I guess I, the status window, roughly decided."
"…"
I'd rather be at level 9, you bastard.
I couldn't say anything because he finally got in, but I didn't know why I pushed myself into the pit of hell.
The guy who muttered a few words like an excuse, saying, 'I didn't know the civil service exam well', quickly returned to the main topic.
"Hyung really helped me a lot there. To be honest, hyung saved my life several times starting with the mission…"
"Then let's say we helped each other."
"Yes… … ."
The tension in the conversation gradually eased up and I started to have time to think.
And as if expressing such feelings, outside the window, the sunset was gone and one or two stars were visible.
At that moment, the drowsy guy jumped up.
"Oh my! Is it almost time??"
"Time?"
Wasn't it an imaginary world?
"Yes! Hyung is… Just before leaving hyung's body that was tested, I used a trick…"
After all, that was the most important thing. The future whereabouts of this guy.
"Then what will happen to you in the future?"
"That… I can even go back to the status window!"
He was talking nonsense.
"Have you ever thought of wanting to use your body?"
"Uh… Well, to be honest, maybe it's because I've been in the status window for a long time, but I don't feel like it's my body… I am not attracted to it."
"… … Is that so?"
It was a win-win situation for me, but it was kind of bitter… And the moment I thought about it…
An additional explanation was attached.
"And when I return to my original body, TeStar would disintegrate. No, seriously… How could I?"
"… …"
Why did he care about that?
I didn't know if it was because he spent a long time in the status window or because he was comforted by the exam life, but I didn't think this was the case.
"You can do it. Since our bodies are the same, I think the stats would be the same."
In my daydream, I used the body of 'Ryu Gunwoo', but that wasn't the reality.
But the guy on the other side grinned.
"Hyung. There was something I wanted to say about it…"
"… ?"
"Do you remember the trait from the very beginning? Even before the feature draw came out?"
It was before the talent draw…
"Infinite potential?"
"Yes!"
Yes. A ridiculous morale trait that allowed all stats to grow to their limits…
"That belonged to hyung originally."
"… !"
What?
"So, the traits you picked, the stats you raised… It's just that the talents that hyung had were revealed."
"… …"
"Among the things you accomplished, there was nothing you couldn't have."
Keundal nodded coolly.
"I want you to know that."
"… …"
As if I had been hit in the back of the head, I stared blankly at him.
'It's mine.'
Slowly, a strange feeling of exhilaration rose.
It… It was a sense of satisfaction.
The voice continued.
"So please show me a great activity."
I reflexively nodded. My head couldn't turn because of the sense of security that filled my head.
The guy on the other side mumbled.
"I really want to continue to support hyung as an idol…"
"… … !"
In that moment, I came to my senses.
Now was not the time to be sentimental, but the time to direct traffic.
From this guy.
'If he's not interested in his body…'
"Then are you not interested in the body that was taking the exams?"
I didn't think he was going to pass the level 7 exam and throw it away.
"Uh, uh!"
Fortunately, this time the positive response came back. Since he had spent the entire 4 years in that body, he must have wanted to do this.
"Huh, uh, but will it be okay? It's hyung's body!"
"But I'll be using your body?"
It wasn't like I was going to put on my extra body and boil soup, so what was it? I looked at him with the attitude of not accepting the specifications.
Then he nodded his head a little reddened.
"Then… I will use it well for a while."
For a while?
The moment I wanted to ask a question about the awkward word choice…
"Hyung, time is up! I think it will flow soon. Hurry up and lie down!"
"Ah."
I turned around to lie down on the sofa at his fuss. It was then.
The reflected light from the dark window, which had clearly become night, reflected my figure.
"… !"
The person I saw there was… It wasn't a complete 'Ryu Gunwoo'. However, if I was asked if it was just 'Testar's Park Moondae,' I wouldn't know either.
It was both.
I didn't know how that was possible, but it just seemed like no matter who knew what I looked like, they would recognize that as me.
Unlike the appearance of Keundal, where elements were mixed as if it had not yet been refined, it was a solid appearance that was completely settled.
As if I was already sure of who I am…
'I am.'
After subtracting it like that, I guess they both thought it was me in the end.
I lay down feeling unable to say anything and burst out laughing.
It was kind of cool.
"I, hyung, if there is a chance…"
I replied to the cautious voice.
"See you again."
"… ! Yes!"
And then I closed my eyes to sleep again.
This time, it was a dark battle where the five senses completely disappeared.
Dormancy in which consciousness and thinking disappeared.
Dang-.
The moment I thought I heard a bell…
"Park Moondae… !"
I came to my senses and realized I was on the podium.
The smell of stage equipment and air conditioner.
"… … Ha."
It was the day TeStar received the grand prize.