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Chapter 298

Idols before and after their activities are terribly busy.

When their names are worthless, they're busy advertising themselves, and when they are not, they're busy making money.

In that sense, it's quite a reckless challenge to have a rookie, just before his debut, meet with a popular idol in his fourth year after releasing hit songs and a top idol in his tenth year who is making his world tour to various stadiums.

[That's why we're doing a video call? That's awesome.]

"Yes."

I pressed my forehead while looking at the split screen displayed on the laptop.

The left column is empty. And on the right, Gold 2 is sitting wearing headphones and looking excited. It's 2 am at this time.

When I asked for a time when all three of us were available, this was the only time we are.

"It would be better to be in a soundproof place."

[Yes. I'm in the dressing room of the apartment now and the door is locked! But even if we got caught, wouldn't everyone think we were talking about a drama]?

"..."

I managed to answer.

"Anyway, be careful."

[Yes!]

Maybe because he only came back for 11 months and his actions were successful that this guy takes things too lightly.

He seems to be able to use his head a little bit, but his attitude? Well, it's his life, he'll figure it out on his own.

[Did you know we already have a name for our group? It's "Spacer!"]

"Yes, congratulations."

Gold 2, Kwon HeeSeung, took a deep breath after talking about his personal life and finally started talking about the main topic.

[My heart is pounding from nerves. A meeting of people from the future...it's something that would appear on Netplus].

Is that so?

[And really...Waah, I never imagined that sunbae-nim would also come.]

Well, I'd like to explain a little bit about this.

I checked the initials that lit up as 'online' in the "Friends" window on the screen.

CHR

As anyone can see, it's CheongRyu.

Yes. Instead of isolating these guys separately and collecting information anonymously, I informed them from the beginning and set up a three-way meeting.

There is only one reason for this.

[Come to think of it, I've been gathering information about the situation in my own way].

Because Gold 2, this bastard...would have been discovered in a couple of months at the latest.

Check this out.

[On the Internet, there's a cafe called "People who came back from the future," but it turns out they were just pretending...What kind of worldview do they have? Waah, I'm so disappointed]

"..."

'By the end of this year, CheongRyu would have gotten rid of him.'

That's predictable.

And when CheongRyu would later find out that I already knew this guy's identity and used him for my own benefit, would I be able to handle that situation?

I pondered for a moment and then nodded.

'Yes.'

There's nothing I can't do.

However, it's a predictable and problematic future. There's no need for me to handle it on my own. I prefer to place it in a place I can control as well.

I moved the mouse and clicked "CHR" so that CheongRyu would also participate in the video call.

Soon, his face appeared on the screen with the hotel room in the background.

He said he was in Argentina, so it was already daytime there. As soon as he checked his screen, CheongRyu spoke.

[Good morning.]

[Hul, good morning, sunbae-nim...! It is really a pleasure to meet you like this!]

[Yes. It's really nice to meet you.]

He smiled looking at the corner of the screen where Gold 2 would probably be. He seems to be doing so without feeling any emotion.

'He doesn't seem to be thinking nonsense.'

I recalled the situation when I told him the information.

- So...Icorpo 1st place is a person who returned to the past?

He didn't show any emotion or undue interest. He just said a lot of nonsense.

- How amusing. Since you are my hoobae, has it become a tradition that you want to have one?

"Stop joking around."

- And 11 months...Hmm, sorry to hear that.

"He can't?"

- Haha. If there isn't a difference of at least two years, don't you think there wouldn't be any benefit? Hmm, it will be hard for your group to get it right. I doubt there's any particular information to choose from? What good would it do us?

After weighing, I think the explanation that it wasn't worth it even as a competitor or business partner would be correct. Anyway, I stated my purpose honestly.

"I don't need future information."

- So then?

"I am trying to hypothesize why we are doing this."

- ...

The guy who got the call didn't answer for quite a while, then just gave a brief response.

- Okay.

And now he's joined this video call.

"Since we've all said hello, let's start the conversation."

[Yes!]

[Haha, speak casually.]

I'm tired. I spoke trying not to lose my composure as much as I could.

"To begin with...I'd like to organize the time."

[...? Time?]

[Ah, the order.]

CheongRyu pressed his chin with one hand and muttered.

[I don't think the time has been altered. Let's see...First of all, you said you started four years ago in December, hoobae-nim].

That's right. The day I woke up with Park MoonDae's wallet in the old motel was in that month.

I nodded my head.

[How about you?]

[Yes, I woke up and it was the end of October last year!]

[That's right. There are still some things you know about the future to some extent, right?]

"..."

I drew a line in Excel, then stopped for a moment. and asked.

"At what point in the future did you return from, sunbae-nim?"

I remember that winter night when I was smoking on the rooftop of a building and looking at a billboard.

CheongRyu smiled slightly.

[A few days before you woke up, hoobae-nim.]

"...I see."

The pattern is strange.

Based on my memory, my knowledge of the future went as far back as July last summer.

'The day I saw the announcement that I was rejected from the job, I drank alcohol and fell asleep.'

However, Gold 2 came back from the future and woke up last winter, in October.

July and October.

'It's three months away.'

It is different from the time between CheongRyu and Park MoonDae, who connected almost immediately.

But the strange memory I saw in the last "truth check"? If it's true, then the timeframes match.

It was a memory of at least a year or more before I stopped taking exams to work as a civil servant and got a job in a company.

'Then Gold 2 should not appear without knowing that future.'

Neither fits perfectly.

If so, how could this fit perfectly...?

"...!"

Wait. Let's change the assumption itself.

Yes. Maybe the "future perspective I know" is not the standard for this bizarre baton pass.

TN: 'Baton pass' is a reference to relay or relay races, in which players must pass a 'baton' or "baton" to their teammates to keep them competing. In this case, MoonDae is referring to the fact that there must be a criterion for the System to stop using it and replace it with another regressor.

So is there no other reasonable standard?

"...Sunbae-nim."

[Yes?]

I asked quietly.

"...When did you realize that you had completed your last mission?"

[...]

I'm asking about the date when your status anomaly was removed.

[Mission? What kind of mission do we have?]

Ignoring Gold 2's comments as if he had never said them, CheongRyu briefly replied.

[On November 30.]

I see.

As for me...

It was last year's Chuseok vacation in October.

I still remember it. The hologram appeared at that time with a burst of confetti.

[Great success!]

User: Park MoonDae (Ryu GunWoo) managed to remove all status anomalies!

I laughed bitterly. Now I understand.

"So that's what it was."

[Do you have any new ideas?]

"It seems that when the existing person completes all the missions, a new person is selected."

I erased the line, redrew it, and put it on the call screen.

/ 4 years ago /

CheongRyu - End of November (Mission Clear)

→ Park MoonDae - Mid-December (Start)

/ 1 year ago /

Park MoonDae - Mid-October (Mission Clear)

→ Kwon HeeSeung - End of October (Start)

Fits perfectly.

[...]

CheongRyu wiped off his expression and looked up. He seemed to be calculating.

And immediately nodded.

[You can think of it this way. But why does it bother you?]

- Let's say...there's something strange here.

Unlike them, there is something that only I had realized intuitively.

This is because I saw the occurrence and disappearance of the "status abnormality," which this guy calls a mission and various special abilities through the status window.

"It is something that makes people wake up from the past according to their wishes and then customize their missions."

I'm talking about the operating system that disappeared leaving me with only a status window.

'The system.'

"That's all it is. I think it's correct to say that it changes to someone else as soon as the mission is completed."

[Hmmm.]

So, maybe this chain of returns to the past is based on the presence or absence of a system.

From what I think, the system left me after completing my abnormal condition during the October vacation last year before entering Gold 2's body.

And since he has been granted the desire for that body, he has been granted an "abnormal status" to...

[Excuse me...I'm sorry, but could you tell me what the mission is...I'm a little freaked out!]

To that bastard who's crying right now.

"It's like something you have to do in exchange for going back to the past."

[What??]

CheongRyu spoke as if he was reading some instruction booklet.

[Think about what you have to do right now.]

[Oh, hmm...Make a successful debut?]

[Not as a plan, but in the sense of vision.]

[Vi-vision? Ah...that all members work hard and stay together for a long time!]

[Hmm, is that so? In that case, I think it's better than winning 1st place. Cheer up!]

[Huh?]

[What? Isn't that good enough for you to cheer up?]

He's crazy.

I gave the proper explanation to the frightened Gold 2 and then changed the conversation again.

Fortunately, I quickly understood that Gold 2's head was worth using.

[Aaaah, so...I don't know what it is, but is something that sends people back to the past coming and going towards us?]

"That's right."

If I had to call it something else...it would be like capturing a host.

This mental parasite, which I call a "system," changes its body to fulfill its host's desires.

But I still don't know how it transfers.

"I think there must be a reason why it chooses a person."

Gold 2 raised his head with a look full of anticipation.

[Ah, perhaps...having saved someone and having almost lost one's life in an honorable way? Will that be a requirement needed?]

CheongRyu smiled broadly.

[That's a peculiar idea.]

"..."

Absolutely no.

In my opinion...it would be someone who is willing to die voluntarily and has the desire to go back to the past and achieve his goal.

'There must be more than one person like that.'

Frankly, the system could find hundreds or thousands of people a day who it could transfer faster if they set their mind to it. It would be an overflowing number.

Skewing...occupation or age, but that might be ambiguous to separate.

Would that be enough?

"..."

After some nonsensical suggestions and considerations went through my head...

CheongRyu spoke again.

[Let's see...So far, we've considered time. How about reversing the axis this time?]

"Reverse the axis?"

[Into space.]

"...!"

[I guess you like that idea.]

It wasn't an idea...that could come to my mind easily considering that it's a supernatural phenomenon, but if we process it a little more, it's definitely a useful idea.

If we add the notion of the system "moving..."

"Let's look at the location."

I asked quietly.

The point is on the date when the system was transferred.

"On that day in November, when you realized that you had completed your mission, where were you?"

[I was in the car. Possibly...on the Seobu Highway.]

I immediately opened the Maps application.

"...!"

[Hoobae-nim, where did you wake up with your knowledge of the future?]

"...In Guro-dong."

On the Maps app, you can see that the Seobu Expressway passes right next to Guro-dong.

TN: "Dong" is "neighborhood."

"It's close."

Bliss passed by briefly.

I could hear a chuckle through the screen.

[Oh, that's interesting. HeeSeung hoobae-nim, where did you wake up knowing about the future?]

[In the park near the Han River! In Gwangnaru!]

The place where Gold 2 got the system was Gwangnaru Park, located near the Han River.

And the place where I officially removed the status abnormality and the system disappeared was at Bae Sejin's house.

"...It is near Cheonho-dong."

[HUL!!!]

Bae Sejin's house is in Cheonho-dong.

And it overlooks the Han River.

'Shit.'

It fits perfectly.

'Space and time.'

In conclusion, the system chose the person it could enter the fastest among the candidates who met those requirements.

A cheerful voice asked.

[How about that, is that a worthwhile rationale?]

I stated quietly.

"Yes."

* * *

Thus, the tripartite meeting ended with the desired result.

'Now, if we just figure out how the system selects candidates, we'll have a general outline.'

It will be clearer if we organize it a little more, but frankly, it's more than expected.

[Hul, the time! Sorry!]

After checking the late hour, Gold 2, who was immersed in the meeting, was startled and ended the call first.

I was also about to end it to get a few hours of sleep.

"Let's stop for now."

But instead of preparing to end the call, CheongRyu spoke again. Are you saying that you have the energy to continue because it is daytime there?

[I don't understand.]

"What is it?"

He spoke monotonously and tapped the desk.

Tuk, tuk.

[I don't know why you were in a hurry to have this conversation. Wouldn't you get the same result if you just speculated and set up a theory?]

"..."

[Of course, hoobae-nim should have already known that. Analyzing this pattern doesn't mean you can decipher who the next person will be. There's no way to know where that person will die in the future].

CheongRyu smiled.

[Or...will there be any other way to test it?]

Damn it.

I sighed and opened my mouth.

"Then..."

Suddenly, a knock was heard outside the door.

Ttok, ttok.

"...!"

"MoonDae-ya?"

It was my roommate's voice.

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