Chapter 406
The owner of the system who was on the plane with us evaporated from my mind.
As if it never happened.
But, only this guy in front of me, Cheongryeo, had remembered.
'There's no way this bastard didn't notice that I didn't know.'
How was it possible that I didn't feel a sense of discomfort while talking about it for over half a year?
It wasn't an accident. This guy's reaction right now said the same thing.
I spoke through gritted teeth.
"Why didn't you tell me?"
Cheongryeo smiled and responded.
"I thought hoobaenim would react that way."
"…"
What?
"You probably have a lot of thoughts right now… Well, aside from anger or irritation toward me, there's probably only one thing left."
Cheongryeo spoke casually.
"Does it bother you?"
"… … !"
"You worry about people who don't know who they are, where they are, or what their situation is. No?"
"How can you not care?"
A fucking person evaporated into thin air, so of course…
No, wait.
I remembered this guy's reaction the last time I brought up the story about my parents due to memory errors.
'Memory is inherently prone to errors, so it's okay as long as you remember only the information necessary for progress…'
-What you need to be wary of is… It's an additional effect that comes from being able to remember.
-Emotion.
And then I realized.
"… Because whether he disappears or not has nothing to do with achieving the goal?"
"That's right."
The guy narrowed his eyes.
"Hoobaenim, when something bothers me, I tend to rationalize efficiency."
What?
"Well, shall I give you an example? Even though the group has already been formed, the reason hoobaenim continues to look for TeStar members is not because it will help the cause."
"… !"
Cheongryeo looked at me.
"Today, you performed a meaningless commemorative performance at an awards ceremony that didn't make much of a splash."
"…"
"You still pay so much attention to the side details, but how much does hoobaenim care about the well-being of the people you brought in?"
I closed my mouth. The guy stood up and smiled.
"This explanation should be sufficient. I'm guessing you're angry because—"
"The guy who has the system must be in a bad condition now, right?"
"… !"
This was it.
I looked at the guy.
"If this was just a simple situation between a difference in memories between you and me, then things wouldn't have escalated like this."
Did he want to persuade me to let him take matters into his own hands because I couldn't remember?
Would he answer with something like, 'If you know the truth, you won't be able to do your job because you'll be too worried'?
"I can't explain it to you other than I know something happened to that bastard."
I was agitated.
I crossed my arms and glared at him.
"…"
Cheongryeo was unperturbed.
"Hoobaenim, is there a need to be so persistent about someone you don't even know who he is? You weren't really close at first. The two of you."
"Don't you understand? The problem is that you're trying to deceive people."
"I didn't deceive anyone."
The guy clicked his tongue. This bastard.
"Hoobaenim, you also have information that you didn't tell me. Isn't that so? You thought it would be difficult for me to understand."
"…"
I reflexively thought of the list of emoticons in the status window that showed my companion's current status, then closed my mouth.
The guy laughed.
"It's the same. I also didn't want hoobaenim to waste time and resources on someone you didn't remember."
What was he speaking so sophisticated for?
"You're acting like I don't know him, but it's just that I don't remember him. We know each other."
"Hmm?"
The guy nodded his head to the side.
"You don't know him right now, though."
I gritted my teeth.
Getting angry or hitting someone was stupid. This bastard was my group now, whether I liked it or not. The moment violence got caught in the media, it'd be a scandal.
'In that case, let's approach it rationally.'
I had a brain. I just needed to use it.
With the system in overdrive, what was the worst that could happen to the missing owner of the system?
It was then.
[Why is this person so shameless? Hyung, if I really had a body, I would have hit him!]
The status window.
I looked at Keundal's pop-up and inadvertently said the correct answer out of my mouth.
"He's been eaten by the system."
"…"
Just like how Keundal turned out.
"Right?"
Cheongryeo did not respond. It was a virtual affirmation. I clenched my fists.
Then…
'There is definitely a clue.'
I shook my head desperately.
If he really had been absorbed into the system, I might be able to notice as I am currently using the system.
There was a part where I felt a sense of discomfort.
Just like how Keundal created a bug in the system and gave me a coin when I was in a coma, this was also something that was an irregularity.
Something that was exceptional or did not flow naturally within the system.
"…"
That…
-This is useless. Why is it coming out?
A round, gold-shaped coin-like item… However, it was only displayed virtually.
[Failure consolation money has arrived…]
+10G
+10G
Gold.
I didn't know why this existed, so I thought it was just dummy data that popped out when the <127 Section> format was applied.
But what if… it was some kind of signal?
A shortcut or bug that was barely tolerated within the system.
'When I think of gold, who comes to mind?'
Immediately, something popped up in my head.
-Well… Should I call them Gold 1 and Gold 2?
A title that was given in 〈Idol Inc.〉.
Two people I had a relationship with until recently.
'Golden Age's Ha Iljun, and Spacer's Kwon Heeseung.'
"… !"
I suppressed an exclamation laced with profanity.
Now, it was time to calm down.
Which of the two was better suited to knowing the future?
'This is too obvious.'
I opened my mouth.
"Kwon Heeseung."
"…"
The guy who won the new season of
Cheongryeo was still expressionless, but I saw his eyes narrow and open.
'I'm right.'
I clenched my fists and walked to the desk where he was standing.
"Now that I know, answer me."
"…"
"What exactly happened to that bastard?"
And how on earth did he know about what was going on?
The expression disappeared from Cheongryeo's face, and he slowly opened his mouth.
"Do you want to wait until your goal is achieved?"
"There's no such thing."
"Hmm."
The guy lowered his eyes.
And when he raised his head again…
[ ∥ ]
Suddenly, the world stopped.
'Ah.'
I looked around.
I thought the room was already quiet enough and motionless, but in fact, there were things moving.
Things like the sound of the TV coming from the living room outside the room, the sound of the second hand of a clock moving, and subtle contrasts.
But everything else stopped moving and became flat. A world where all movement had disappeared and stopped.
In the meantime…
"Oh, are you surprised? I was told that I needed to stop the process for a while to make this fully visible."
Only one person moved with liveliness.
Cheongryeo.
"… Everything stopped."
"Yes. Hmm, I guess it's a common occurrence in normal games."
He raised his hand.
"When the settings window is loaded, everything else is paused."
And then numerous holograms begin to appear before my eyes.
Jiiiing-
A solid world filled with small and large boxes.
But the direction of the writing was mirrored and backward.
Therefore… The pop-ups weren't for me to see. They were for the guy standing in the opposite direction to see.
Cheongryeo.
[Task: Let's help the character's smooth gaming activities!]
[▶Quest in progress]
[Preferences]
Beyond those hologram windows, I also checked texts I could have never imagined that were hanging upside down. It was similar to what I had.
[Character List]
[Ryu Gunwoo (Park Moondae): Astonished by you (∑//ㅁㅍ;)]
Fuck.
I barely opened my mouth.
"What's this?"
"Well, where should I start explaining?"
He tapped his finger against his chin. And then he lost focus as if he was lost in thought.
• * *
A few months ago…
Inside Cheongryeo's private plane that was crossing the Pacific Ocean.
[Hyung, this is…]
Shin Jaehyun saw it on the plane before he lost consciousness.
The actual thing called the 'status window'.
'Did it look like that?'
He wasn't terribly impressed, but what he saw next was a bit problematic.
This was because while the numerous holograms appeared as if they were broken, Kwon Heeseung was seen being absorbed between the windows as if graphically disintegrating.
'Hmm.'
That might be a bit tricky.
When he finally gathered his thoughts together, he was already in the practice room with Ryu Gunwoo.
-Damn it!
-Haha.
And for a while, he thought that this might be a 'restart' that came back to him, so he diversified his plans by considering various possibilities.
But in the end, he was persuaded by Ryu Gunwoo, well, Park Moondae.
-Okay.
-Let's get back to your dog, Kongi.
He was an ally and an impeccable opponent. While there were some dissatisfactions with Park Moondae's choice of companions, it was something that could be overlooked.
However, there was one incident before that.
When he returned home and found out exactly what was going on in this world.
Because out of the many restarts, something happened that had never occurred before.
[A task has arrived!]
"… ?"
A status window appeared.
But he was not a player.
[GM: Welcome Shin Jaehyun.]
Server: Kwon Heeseung (stable)
GM: Shin Jaehyun
Player: ■■■
"Ah."
Shin Jaehyun smiled faintly.
'It's a variable.'
And the number of cards increased.
• * *
"So, Kwon Heeseung is currently displayed as the server."
"…"
"There are no special benefits to me. I can just check hoobaenim's progress… to a degree."
I pressed my eyebrows.
Cheongryeo lowered his head to the side as if reminiscing, then smiled.
"And… just a little bit of support?"
"You."
I opened my mouth at the passing memory.
"No way, so when Kim Raebin came out of the companion selection process…"
"Well, as I gain experience, I can briefly adjust the probability."
Damn it.
I bit my tongue.
'I should have suspected it.'
Wasn't the first companion given in the game tutorial usually a live account?
Usually the GM.
This was the game master's account.
"This… Why did you hide it?"
I grabbed the guy by the collar. His clothes were being held as if they were going to tear.
"I have no choice but to give you the same answer."
"What?"
But the guy looked down without expression.
"I probably already told you that I didn't tell you because I was afraid you would react like this."
"… !"
"It was impossible to replace servers with this hologram."
"Then—"
"Then, the remaining effects are obvious. You would become less efficient because you'd start to care about the meaning of the server…"
Cheongryeo muttered calmly.
"Throughout the process, I was anxious and doubtful about what I would do."
"…"
"I thought it'd be better to keep my mouth shut and wait until we receive the grand prize."
"So you followed what I said."
"Rather, I would say that I was persuaded by hoobaenim's words."
The guy let out a laugh.
"I heard that if we won the grand prize, we would see the ending and have the option to return."
"…"
"Oh, you wanted me to tell you everything."
I looked at Cheongryeo. He laughed like he was frowning.
"That's right. There's something more. It said it would give me something in the form of a salary as a reward."
He sent a hologram forward and personally opened it right in front of me.
[GM Ending Reward: Companion Selection]
"… !"
Wait, if this happened…
"So, I've been thinking about it for a while."
I knew what the next words would be.
"If I could wait until Kongi is born in this world and choose this option…"
The guy narrowed his eyes.
"I have nothing to regret, right? It's a bit of a turnaround, though."
Damn it.
"Hoobaenim should think about it too. If you can inherit everything of value, wouldn't it be better here?"
He carefully removed my hand from his neck.
"Originally, I was planning on just following hoobaenim's opinion, but now that it's come to this, I want to hear what you think."
He sat down, rested his chin on his hand, and asked seriously.
"What do you think about this possibility?"
"… You—"
"Oh, don't worry about any personal schedules. I can just keep stopping time. It's my first time using this too… There's no specific time limit indicated."
The guy laughed and looked away from the status window.
"So tell me. Let's keep talking until we both come to the same conclusion."
"…"
"Because the time left is infinite, haha!"
Fuck.
There was a sense of tension as if I had stepped on a land mine. As a biological reaction, cold sweat flowed down my spine.
'Still.'
I opened my mouth.
• * *
'What should I do?!'
The main body of Park Moondae, Keundal who became the status window, screamed and spun around in the world of consciousness. The place where that crazy guy stopped time had completely lost its liveliness.
And this was right before Season 2 of Kidnapping aired!
'Ugh, what's wrong… ??'
Then he realized.
What?
He realized that he, who had been sharing the field of vision with Ryu Gunwoo, was suddenly outside as if he had floated out of his body.
'Uh, huh?'
He broke through the ceiling of Wishze's dormitory and soared into the sky above Seoul.
'What is this?'
Why was this happening? No, he had to go back! He couldn't leave his hyung alone.
It was the moment when he made up his mind and tried to regain consciousness somehow…
He saw a sparkle.
'… Uh?'
Gold circles.
Like Dorothy's yellow road, sparkling things were making a path in the air.
And what was at the end… He knew instinctively that it was a status window.
This was an error indication.
'Wow.'
He assumed that he was able to see it because it was in a 'progress paused' state.
He almost lost his mind for a moment due to the intense sparkle of the error, but he soon noticed something.
What could be called an error here was that memories were recovered in an irregular way without being detected by the system…
'Seon Ahyeon!'
As he realized that, another possibility suddenly popped into his head.
His abilities had expanded and that person was an error, right?
'I don't know! Let's just do it!'
With a sense of freedom, he ran to Seon Ahyeon.
And then he tried it!
[Please, help my hyung!]
"Uh, uh… ?!"
On the way to Incheon International Airport…
Seon Ahyeon, who was getting out of the car, confused by the world that had suddenly stopped, was startled by a hologram that suddenly appeared.