[Successful Award!]
You successfully won the Rookie Award amid public recognition at ‘the most prestigious domestic awards ceremony’!
!Time Limit: Fulfilled (Great Success)
!Status Abnormality: ‘Award or Die!’ removed!
: Check the Truth ☜ Click!
First, I had to press that ‘Check the Truth’ and remove this Status Abnormality before I could move on to the next one.
The problem was that every time I pressed it, some unpleasant piece of someone else’s past came spilling out.
‘For starters, I don’t want to see any more of Cheongryeo.’
It had helped at the time, but now I didn’t even feel like digging up anything else about him.
‘I’d rather see more about the original “Park Moondae.”’
…Come to think of it, Cheongryeo and I had recently stopped contacting each other altogether.
The response to our <Nerdy Andy Show> appearance had been pretty good, so even people I wasn’t close with had sent congratulatory messages from all over.
I had even received an apology-slash-congratulations message from Choi Wongil.
-Sunbaenim, congratulations on your expansion into America. I’m sorry for all the trouble I’ve caused you until now.
Seeing a text containing only that business had automatically reminded me of Cheongryeo’s earlier apology message, which had said nothing but ‘I’m sorry.’
But there had been no other contact from him.
I’d only been bombarded with emoticons by two other VTIC members I’d met on a variety show.
‘Emotionally speaking, that’s a good thing.’
I hoped we could keep going with this atmosphere of mutually cutting each other off.
I ruffled my hair once and looked at the pop-up again.
‘Let’s do it.’
Whatever came out, there was no need to overreact.
I touched the pop-up.
And just like last time, my vision went dark.
What came into view was the inside of a moving coach bus.
Vroooom.
People sat in their seats talking and laughing.
From the unusually friendly atmosphere between everyone and the wall with no route map posted on it, I could roughly guess what it was.
‘A chartered bus.’
It looked like it was carrying a tour group rather than serving as public transportation.
It seemed fairly long ago, judging by the slightly dated feel, though everyone was dressed quite nicely.
And then I realized something.
Unlike the previous experiences, I wasn’t seeing things from anyone else’s perspective.
My own consciousness was clearly intact.
‘What the hell is this?’
Just as confusion began to set in, I spotted a familiar face sitting by the window on the left.
A young Ryu Chungwoo.
‘……!’
Ryu Chungwoo was asleep, leaning against the window with his arms folded.
Even as a child, his frame was already solid.
It was incredibly…
out of nowhere.
‘What am I supposed to do while Ryu Chungwoo sleeps?’
As I stared at him with an uncomfortable feeling, a sentence suddenly flashed through my mind.
Something Ryu Chungwoo had once said while we were drinking.
-I got into a pretty serious traffic accident when I was young… I guess something got damaged, because the aftereffects only showed up after I was fully grown. My hands shake when I put strength into them.
‘……No way.’
Fuck, no.
It couldn’t be.
But of course, the impossible possibility became reality.
The bus that had been speeding smoothly down the highway suddenly swerved hard.
In an instant, the whole bus lurched.
“Aaagh!!”
As screams crossed with the bus driver’s shout, the window on the left shattered and something came flying through with a crash.
It was a torn-off side mirror.
And that chunk of metal slammed directly into Ryu Chungwoo’s shoulder.
‘……!!’
“Chungwoo!!”
The bus dissolved into chaos amid shouts and screams.
‘What kind of psychopathic bastard wants to show me this shit live?!’
I instinctively tried to reach out and pull Ryu Chungwoo away, only to realize I had no body.
I watched as an ambulance carried Ryu Chungwoo away in a fairly horrific state.
……I felt sick.
I could hear the paramedics talking with the passengers.
“The report came in as ‘one injured child,’ so that’s the capacity of the transport vehicle we brought.”
“Oh, we’re fine! If anything hurts, we can just go to the hospital ourselves.”
It was true that Ryu Chungwoo was the only one seriously injured.
The paramedics immediately accepted that and loaded only the unconscious Ryu Chungwoo and his sobbing parents into the ambulance before leaving for the hospital.
The remaining passengers seemed to agree that only one or two representatives would stay behind to deal with the insurance, while the others took taxis off the highway.
And my vision remained here.
‘What the hell?’
If I’d followed Ryu Chungwoo, that would’ve made some sense.
I had no idea why I’d been left behind here.
Then my vision shifted toward the passengers again.
“So we go like this?”
“Yeah.”
I…
My thoughts stopped.
People I’d believed I’d never see again stood there, perfectly alive.
…My mom and dad.
“You go first. We’ll take the next one.”
“Oh my, thank you~”
That’s right.
That was what their voices had sounded like.
Unlike their appearances, which had at least remained in photographs, not a single fragment of their voices had survived.
Even the videos of them I’d taken back when I was a fan had been lost during a move, so the voices that existed only in my memory had quickly gone flat.
Sometimes I’d remember them in half-sleep.
But because I couldn’t record those memories, even those would collapse soon afterward.
It felt like my heart was about to leap out of my mouth.
But I was only consciousness right now, so instead I could finish the deduction.
‘……This was a relatives’ gathering.’
The bus must have been for a gathering of the Pungsan Ryu clan.
The surname shared by ‘Ryu Gunwoo,’ me before I entered Park Moondae’s body…
and Ryu Chungwoo.
Apparently, Ryu Chungwoo had been injured on the way to some kind of family trip.
I felt sorry saying this about Ryu Chungwoo, but…
I was so, so glad my vision hadn’t followed him.
…Truly glad.
My parents climbed into a taxi with several relatives.
I also saw a familiar face belonging to someone I’d stayed with for a year or two during middle or high school.
‘It really was a relatives’ gathering.’
I mentally nodded.
Then suddenly…
a strange thought occurred to me.
‘When… exactly is this?’
This period, when my parents looked almost exactly as I remembered them…
‘No.’
A chilling premonition struck my skull like a reflex.
The taxi immediately departed.
I heard my mother’s voice.
“I wonder if the child will be okay. I’m worried.”
“Exactly. Everyone must’ve been shocked. Once we get to the pension, let’s rest a little before heading back. We came all this way for a family event, of all things.”
“Imagine how the child’s parents must feel, with this happening after coming all the way to Gangwon Province…… sigh.”
A family event.
Gangwon Province.
Keywords that absolutely should not be appearing kept coming……
“Still, it’s a good thing Gunwoo didn’t come. He’s preparing for a foreign-language high school, right? That boy works so hard~ Who did he inherit that from?”
“His mother, obviously. Those two are exactly alike when it comes to being smart.”
“Oh my. What a loving couple.”
“Haha!”
The laughter made my head spin.
Something was wrong.
Something……
“We’re here.”
“Should we lie down for a bit, then catch a bus or train back to Seoul?”
Outside the window, I saw a pension.
It was a tasteful wooden building that suited the mountains around it.
I thought I’d only ever seen photographs of it after it had completely burned……
‘Stop.’
But the people in the taxi got out together, picked up their luggage, and entered the pension.
I remained here.
‘Stop it.’
But my vision suddenly accelerated.
Time wound forward.
And soon, smoke began rising from the pension.
Crackle, crackle, crackle….
Small flames sparked inside.
Seen from outside in broad daylight, they didn’t even look particularly impressive.
But apparently, even something like that could kill people.
Especially in buildings constructed with unapproved combustible materials…
because they produced toxic smoke.
Because people couldn’t get out in time after falling asleep.
WEEEEEEEEEE-
The belated sound of a siren tore through my brain.
Read only on MUGEX
It ended.
“Haaagh.”
I shoved my hand into my mouth.
The sound still escaped.
I buried my face in the blanket.
Finally, my mouth was muffled.
‘What the hell was that?’
I didn’t know.
What the fuck kind of situation was this?
Why the fuck did I have to see something like that?
My brain felt wrong.
My thoughts wouldn’t work properly.
I needed to calm down.
Why did I need to calm down?
Because, because……
‘W Live tomorrow.’
Right.
I had a schedule tomorrow.
We were supposed to broadcast ourselves hanging around the hotel at roughly the Korean evening time, so……
Could I stand in front of a camera?
Could I actually work in this state…
Why the hell should I even have to think about that?
“Hey, what’s wrong with you?”
Fuck the camera.
Why the fuck did I have to see that?
Had I lived such a fucking terrible life that I deserved this?
“Park Moondae, are you okay? What is it?”
“Don’t talk to me.”
“What?”
“I said don’t fucking talk to me…!”
With the blanket over me, even I didn’t know exactly what I’d said.
But apparently the guy talking to me understood.
He stopped.
Good.
I needed to think…
think……
[Alert!]
Status Abnormality: ‘Audience or Die!’ generated!
“Fuck, seriously.”
I slammed my head into the bedside table.
“Hey!!”
“Park Moondae!”
The voices multiplied.
Apparently, more people had come in.
The bed sank repeatedly, and several hands grabbed my shoulders.
“…Do you want to go to the hospital right now? Where does it hurt?”
“It doesn’t.”
“Then what’s wrong? …Did something happen? Just tell us. We won’t tell the company.”
“…….”
I was tired.
This……
I couldn’t explain it, so I just wanted them to shut up and leave.
That was the best option, but even explaining that would sound irrational under the circumstances.
“M-Moondae. Here.”
Someone put something in my hand.
A cup.
And…
medicine?
I tossed it into my mouth and swallowed the water.
It felt like it might come straight back up, but it stayed down.
“…….”
The people around me went quiet.
And I…
my head cooled down a little.
“…Is that a sedative?”
“…! P-Painkillers and… sleeping pills…….”
Ah, right.
You couldn’t buy sedatives without a prescription.
Still, putting something into my mouth brought back a sense of reality.
And talking with familiar people actually seemed to drag me a little farther away from the disaster inside my head.
‘Stay calm.’
I coughed several times, then raised my head.
“……I just… had a bad dream. Sorry. For making a scene.”
“I-It’s okay!”
“…Do you feel a little calmer?”
But the instant I saw Ryu Chungwoo’s face among several tense-looking members, I felt a powerful impulse to slam that bastard’s face straight into the bedside table.
‘No.’
My head was clearly still fucked.
I lay back down on the bed.
“Again, I’m sorry……. I took medicine, so I’ll try going back to sleep.”
But I was immediately contradicted.
“…No. Go to the hospital.”
“What?”
It was Bae Sejin’s voice.
He sounded tense.
“I’ll call manager hyung, so go get examined and get a prescription for sedatives. ……You can do it, so there’s no reason not to.”
“…….”
I couldn’t argue with that.
In the end, I got out of bed.
With our manager, who came running over in alarm, accompanying me, I really did go through an emergency room in the middle of America and came back with sedatives.
The sedatives I’d received after giving insomnia as a plausible excuse worked fairly well.
From that day on, I could sleep without any major problems.
And aside from one W Live I skipped right afterward for health reasons, I was able to carry out the rest of the schedule without issue.
I only had to do it without thinking about anything else.
Once I’d sorted things out that way, two problems remained.
One was…
that I really didn’t want to summon the Status Window.
That one was fine for the moment because the grace period was generous.
The other problem was much more troublesome.
I couldn’t fucking interact with Ryu Chungwoo.
I could just barely manage a greeting, but if we went any further than that, the memory of that fucking ‘Check the Truth’ came back and drove me insane.
……And of course, as luck would have it, my next filming roommate was Ryu Chungwoo.
‘I’m losing my mind.’
Apparently I had to choose between rumors of discord and my mental health.