“Sol-ah! Sung Sol! You’re at home! What a relief.”
“...Who are you?”
“Me? Don’t you remember me? I’m Yeong-ho, the guy you said hello to the other day. No, but why haven’t I heard from you? You didn’t contact me yesterday, and I thought something happened again.”
“Uh... um... well... you see. It’s just that.”
Sol flinched at the sudden appearance of a man named Yeong-ho. Neither Ju-hwan nor Yoo-chan, who took care of him meticulously, had ever barged into his home like this. The man grabbed Sol, who was glitching like a malfunctioning robot due to the unexpected intrusion, and pulled him inside the house.
Picking up the phone lying on the floor and dressed in scruffy clothes, Yeong-ho managed to drag Sol, who had just finished brushing his teeth, outside. Sol, behaving like a fool, repeated, “Uh?” continuously, swaying in Yeong-ho’s grip like a paper doll.
“Alright, the others are waiting. We can’t miss practice today, so let’s go!”
“Where are we going?”
“To the practice room! The other kids have been practicing for a while already.”
“But that car... Huh? Huh!”
Reluctant to willingly get on the black van parked in front of him, Sol hesitated. Yeong-ho, however, pushed and shoved him into the van. As Sol panicked and tried to get out of the van, the sliding door slammed shut with a resounding clang! Just 10 minutes after Yeong-ho barged into his house, Sol found himself kidnapped.
Forced into the van unexpectedly, Sol tried to make sense of what had happened to him. Although his head was unusually clear and sharp for once, it was still a challenge for Sol to think inside the moving van.
Since the traffic accident, Sol found it extremely difficult to get into any four-wheeled vehicles. As he tried to speak to the man who forcibly took him out of his place and pushed him in the van, another strange notification window popped up in front of his eyes.
[The trait ‘Four-Wheel Skeptic’ has been activated.]
Briefly ignoring the new notification, he heard Yeong-ho shouting at the suddenly intervening vehicle. With a loud noise from the big car, Sol jumped as if reacting to a sudden event in a game.
[Heard the sound of a car horn. Health -1]
[Current remaining Health: 99]
The car Sol was in and the one it collided with, in response to Yeong-ho’s actions, kept making a loud noise. As the noise continued, Sol saw the number -1 popping up rapidly in front of his eyes. In a flash, as his remaining health dropped to 90, Sol felt a sudden decline in his condition and held onto his dizzy head.
Sol slumped onto the seat with a thud, feeling queasy and dizzy. Despite getting on the car reluctantly, Yeong-ho drove energetically, as if trying to shake off a burning ember on the sole of his foot.
Even in a sober state of mind, Sol’s head couldn’t wrap around the incredibly confusing situation. He was not just bewildered, but also horrified by what had happened to him. The strange mint-colored notification window in front of him and the bizarre changes in his body corresponding to the notification content left him feeling peculiar.
At the moment when Sol attempted to delve deeper into understanding the situation he found himself in, the van turned into a bustling and complex downtown area. As if an accident had occurred at the intersection, the road ahead was blocked with cars lining up, blaring their horns in a cacophony.
Even his already pale face turned even whiter, and he felt nauseous, as if his insides were turning upside down.
Sol, who was sitting in the chair, instinctively curled up in a ball. Trying to find as much stability as possible, he tried to hug his knees tightly, but it didn’t help much. Sol blocked his mouth and managed to convey his state to Yeong-ho, who was holding the steering wheel.
“I think I’m going to... vomit.”
“Huh? Sol-ah, are you feeling motion sick?”
“...Yes. Ugh!”
It wasn’t motion sickness, but Sol didn’t want to explain unnecessarily, and there was no reason for Yeong-ho to know. Sol nodded his head in agreement. Prompted by Sol’s response, Yeong-ho also went into contemplation, muttering, “At a time like this...!” He diligently searched through his pockets, glove box, and console box. Yeong-ho then handed Sol a black bag after meticulously examining everything.
It was awkward at first, but with no other choice, Sol unfolded the bag that Yeong-ho handed him and pressed his face into it. As the van started moving again, Sol wisely buried his face inside the plastic bag. Fortunately, only a liquid spilled out.
“Are you okay, Sol-ah?”
“...No. I’m not okay.”
“We’ve arrived, so let’s get out. Should you wear a mask or something?”
“Why a mask?”
“Just in case... No, it’s unnecessary.”
When Sol, who had his face buried in a plastic bag, lifted his head to look at Yeong-ho, he shook his head vigorously. His damp black hair covered half his face. Yeong-ho held out his hand as if to escort him, and Sol reflexively grabbed it and staggered out of the car.
After the traffic accident, Sol found riding in cars dreadful. Sometimes, for distances that would take 10 minutes by car, he walked for 40 minutes. If it was a distance he couldn’t walk, he would simply give up going out. The fresh air and the solid ground beneath his shoes brought him a bit of relief.
Sol slowly raised his head to take in the impressive buildings in front of him. He swept his bangs aside to get a clear view. Considering the information he had seen in the notification window and Yeong-ho’s mention of going to the practice room, this had to be ‘YC Entertainment.’
Despite being a small and struggling company, the building exterior sparkled. However, contrary to his expectations, the surroundings were quiet, resembling an ordinary company. Sol had imagined a scene with fans crowding the front of the building, but instead, there were only a few foreigners taking commemorative photos. It was quieter than he had anticipated.
Nevertheless, facing the large sign ‘YC Entertainment’ above the entrance revolving door, Sol felt a sudden loss of strength throughout his body. In a voice that seemed locked in place, he muttered to herself, “This is really happening.”
‘Earlier, the tutorial? What was it about?’
As Sol thought, a mint-colored window appeared in his field of vision.
<Tutorial: First Visit to the Practice Room!>
[You are a trainee at YC Entertainment, a member of the debut group. Visit the practice room to greet the members and prepare for the idol’s path!
Update information on the character ‘Sung Sol’ if successful within the specified time.
If failed, system shutdown (or corresponding pain)
Remaining time: 14:01:01]
As if orchestrating a confirmation mission, the remaining time was decreasing. Exactly the same duration as it took Yeong-ho to barge into his house and move with the car. While Sol was blankly staring at the notification window, the time continued to decrease gradually. Still feeling dazed and bewildered about how to accept this situation, Sol was standing absent-mindedly when Young-ho called his name repeatedly.
“Is this really happening? What kind of game is this, a daydream...?”
“Haha, Sol-ah. What are you talking about? It’s real. Now you’re a trainee at YC Entertainment. And part of the debut group!”
“What on earth is going on?”
“Huh?”
“Why would someone make such a decision? Who on earth? Why?”
Even if it was a dream, what kind of crazy person would set this up? Sol couldn’t dance on stage, he couldn’t ride a car or any four-wheeled vehicle, and he would often make people think he’s suffering from dementia.
In addition, he often did stupid things that made him wonder if he’d crushed his frontal lobe in the accident. He had never learned how to sing, let alone rap. Anyone could see that he was full of disqualifications, being an idol trainee, and, to make it worse, a debut member. It all seemed too much like a pipe dream, and he couldn’t help but laugh bitterly.
“Who is it... Our CEO, Baek Yoo-chan.”
“What? Who?”
“The CEO...”
“No, I mean the name!”
“Baek Yoo-chan? Sol-ah, you signed the contract, but you don’t even know the CEO’s name? I told you to discuss it thoroughly with your guardian.”
“Baek Yoo-chan?”
“Yes! Let’s just go in for now.”
Distracted by the familiar name ringing in his ears, Sol, like a paper doll led by Yeong-ho’s hand, staggered into the building. Walking with twisted and unsteady steps like someone intoxicated, the security guard guarding the entrance tightened his gaze. Dressed in black, the security guard’s stern look made Sol instinctively avert his gaze.
It seemed that the silence around the agency was due to the intimidating security guard. Sol vigorously shook his head, trying to keep his thoughts from wandering. The agency’s name was YC Entertainment, and the CEO was Baek Yoo-chan. Suddenly, Sol felt a strong longing to see Yoo-chan.
If he opened his phone now and pressed the call button, it felt like he would hear the voice of his familiar friend. He would tell Ui-chan about the strange dream of entering a game and then the other would nag him to forget Ju-hwan. Sol checked his phone in his pocket again. The contact list still only showed an unknown Director Choi and Kim Yeong-ho next to him.
“Oh, by the way, from now on, return the phone when you come to the company, and I’ll return it when you go back to the dorm after work. You’ve deleted all your SNS accounts, right?”
“I don’t do that kind of thing.”
“Really? I’ll have the rookie development team double-check everything.”
“I really don’t.”
“Try to use it only for contacting your family, if possible.”
“...Uh, okay.”
Sol placed his phone on Yeong-ho’s rough palm. He couldn’t help but laugh at Yeong-ho’s explanation. In the end, the phone was useless to him. It had no purpose for him. ‘It would be nice if I could at least remember Baek Yoo-chan’s number,’ he thought. The scatterbrain who couldn’t even remember one close friend’s phone number was himself. In an instant, Sol’s eyes widened.
“That... manager?”
“Just call me Yeong-ho Hyung. Sol-ah.” (T/N: Hyung - the way males in Korea refer to other males who were slightly older than them.)
“Can I meet the CEO, by any chance?”
Whether it was a dream or a game, Sol wanted to confirm if the Baek Yoo-chan here was the same as the one he knew. He named the agency after Yoo-chan, and what if the CEO of that agency was Baek Yoo-chan? It was entirely possible.
Dreams were said to be composed of things that happened before falling asleep.
Up until this situation unfolded, Sol had been with Yoo-chan and was playing <My Idol Stars>. It was clear that he was dreaming this strange dream for a reason.
Ahhhhh, pobre bb, pero entendible que realmente no sepa qué hacer y crea que es un sueño 🥺
ReplyDeleteI feel so sorry for him (╥﹏╥)
ReplyDelete