The Genius Actor Who Brings Misfortune

Translator: Marctempest
Editor: Rynfinity

Chapter: 2

“Are you really a hallucination? If I created you, there’s no way you’d be this noisy.”

“Hallucination? Haha! Don’t I seem real? How unfair~. I am real.”

It felt like my ears were bleeding.

I wanted to quickly tell a doctor about this symptom and find a solution.

The consultation could only happen once the hallucination ended, so there was only one answer. Wait until the hallucination ended.

“Then what are you? Why are you here?”

I was accustomed to adapting to incomprehensible situations.

Speaking out of despair, the fog swirled around me as if it was pleased.

“I didn’t come here, you came here, human!”

“Why do you keep calling me that? Aren’t you human?”

The fog widened its eyes as if it had heard something unimaginable, then laughed with a strange sound.

A peculiar discomfort crept up as I watched its exaggerated expression, its eyes almost popping out.

Yeah, even I don’t think it looks human.

“Of course not! I’m a species that manages the factors!”

“Factors?”

“Is it vague to call it a species? I don’t know how many like me there are~. I think I talked to someone a few centuries ago, but it was so long ago that I forgot! Hehe!”

That didn’t seem like something to talk about so cheerfully.

The more the fog laughed brightly, the worse I felt.

“Okay. What do you mean by factors?”

“You’re curious about the factors! I’ll explain it to you!”

The fog instantly transformed into a blackboard.

A piece of chalk floated in the air, then swam across the board at a rapid pace.

“Humans experience unfortunate events and happy events, right? Those all happen because of the involvement of misfortune factors and happiness factors!”

On the blackboard, a drawing of a smiling person and a crying person appeared.

The chalk drew white particles next to the smiling person and black particles next to the crying person without hesitation.

“When many happiness factors stick to a human, happy things happen, and when many misfortune factors stick to a human, unfortunate things happen!”

“…….”

“Humans think these events happen according to causal relationships. How naive, haha! Anyway, I manage these factors so that their flow doesn’t get tangled. How about that? Understand?”

“Yeah.”

I nodded absentmindedly out of annoyance.

Then, it transformed into a boy who seemed to be my age.

It looked like someone from the next class; did it read my memories again?

“I’ve never seen a human like you before! I’ve seen a lot of unique humans though.”

“What about me?”

Answering indifferently, wishing for this moment to end quickly, the fog brought its face close to my nose.

The eyes of the boy from the next class, whom I had never spoken to before, suddenly looked red.

“I can’t see you!”

“What?”

“Literally, I can’t see your appearance! You’re completely covered by misfortune factors.”

The fog laughed and told me to see for myself.

And it transformed into something that looked like a person…

I couldn’t be sure it was a person because its entire body was covered in black particles, making its silhouette faintly visible.

At a glance, it resembled thousands of barnacles clinging tightly to a rock.

In short, it was disgusting.

“…Alright, I get it. Now change your form.”

“Okay!”

The fog quickly reverted to the appearance of the boy from the next class. At least it listened well.

“I’ve seen many peculiar humans before… but it’s my first time seeing someone completely covered by misfortune factors like you!”

“So, you’re saying that all the unfortunate days I’ve had were because of these misfortune factors sticking to me?”

“That’s right! You’re a smart student. Haha!”

A crown formed at the tip of the fog’s fingers and naturally floated above my head.

“This is both a compliment and a reward!”

“I don’t need it.”

“Hmm…”

As the fog pouted, the crown crumpled and then disappeared, sucked back into its fingers.

Seeing it crouch down and glance at me nervously, I let out a sigh.

Even though it was a hallucination, it had been a while since I’d had such a relaxed conversation with someone.

“Alright. Thanks for letting me know.”

“…! Hehe! Also, I helped with your accident!”

Before I could ask what it meant by that, the fog shuffled closer, tapping its feet.

“You were supposed to get seriously hurt by that car! If I hadn’t discovered you and shaken off the misfortune factors, you would’ve been badly injured!”

“You did?”

“Yep! It was my first time touching a human body too! Oh, is that why you came here?”

“You’ve been saying that I came here since earlier… I can go back to where I was originally, right?”

Feeling uneasy about the conversation lasting longer than I anticipated, I asked urgently. Fortunately, the fog shook its head.

“No way! You seem to be about to go back soon. Your body is getting blurrier!”

“Really?”

“Yes! I hope we can meet again. It was really fun!”

As the fog’s eyes sparkled, suddenly, all sounds became muffled as if water had entered my ears.

Soon after, the fog vanished as if being sucked somewhere, and I felt my own presence dissipate.

And then I opened my eyes.

—

When I came to my senses, it was the morning after the accident.

I didn’t feel particularly painful when I woke up, and the test results showed no major issues.

I only had a scratch on my cheek and a bruise on my side.

Considering I had been hit by a car and flung to the opposite side of the road, it was an unbelievable outcome.

The doctor said it was a miracle that I was so unharmed.

Miracle, could there be a word that didn’t suit me more?

I stifled a laugh because the director was beside me.

“Yeon-jae, are you sure it’s okay for you to be discharged?”

“Yes. The doctor said it’s okay too. I’ll take care of my clothes, Director.”

After consulting with the doctor, I immediately began the discharge process.

The director, who had been hovering nearby without getting too close, asked if I should stay another day.

Considering the cost of a day’s stay, I reassured her several times that I was fine, and she reluctantly nodded with a worried expression.

‘So it wasn’t a hallucination, just a crazy dream.’

I had dreamt of a fog that could change its form freely last night.

Honestly, it was still hard to believe that all those vivid sensations were just a dream, but I was satisfied just knowing I hadn’t been muttering to myself in the hallway.

When I asked if I had said anything weird while sleeping, the director told me I had only slept quietly.

She seemed curious about what kind of dream I had, but hesitated and didn’t ask further.

After completing the paperwork for the hit-and-run accident at the police station, I returned to the orphanage. It was an ordinary day.

The problem was that night, I met the fog again.

“Wow! We really met again! I’m so glad!!”

“Yeah.”

Despite my lukewarm response, the fog was endlessly happy, causing quite a commotion.

It literally caused a “commotion.” It jumped high into the air, bumped into something, and staggered up, circling around me.

It was a sight that naturally made the word “madness” come to mind.

But I was too lazy to respond, so I just ignored it.

“I didn’t know dreams could be this vivid.”

“I told you, I’m not fake! We’re having a conversation right now!”

The place I was in now was the same dark space I had come to yesterday.

My senses were still vivid, but I wasn’t worried that this might not be a hallucination.

I clearly remembered lying down in bed to sleep before coming here.

“How can this be so vivid?”

“I’ll get angry if you keep ignoring me, human!”

I ignored the fog, which was flitting around in front of me like an upset child, and once again marveled at the power of the subconscious.

Usually, I slept deeply without dreaming, so this experience was fascinating.

‘Do people usually dream this vividly?’

It was fascinating, but knowing it was just a dream made me feel much more at ease.

“You said yesterday that you removed the misfortune factors or something, which is why I wasn’t seriously hurt.”

“Yeah? I did.”

“It’s late, but thanks. I really wasn’t hurt much.”

“…! It was nothing! It was an easy task for me!”

The fog’s swollen expression brightened.

It wasn’t a particularly meaningful act, but seeing its smiling face wasn’t all that bad.

The fog squatted next to me, giggling.

“You said I experience unfortunate events because of the misfortune factors, right?”

“Yep!”

“Then can you remove them one more time?”

I said this absentmindedly while recalling our conversation from yesterday.

When the fog sprang up and shouted, “Of course!” while placing its hand on my body, I really had no other thoughts. After all, it was just a dream.

The fog made a happy face and pretended to remove something from around my body.

It seemed like it was removing misfortune factors, but since I couldn’t see anything, it just looked like someone miming.

When it didn’t end even after a long while, I looked up to see a clearly frustrated expression.

“What’s wrong? Is it not working?”

“Hmmm… Last time, it came off with just a touch… Why is it like this?”

“If it’s not working, just stop. I’m getting dizzy.”

“No! I can’t remember the last time I had this much fun!”

The fog’s eyes sparkled.

It was the gaze of a predator looking at its prey about to escape right in front of it.

Facing those eyes filled with madness was honestly a bit scary.

“Ugh, it really won’t come off… Ah! Then I’ll tell you what’s going to happen tomorrow so you can avoid it!”

“You can know things like that?”

“Yep! By reading the flow of the factors, I can know when and how certain events will happen!”

“That’s amazing. You’re impressive.”

“…Hehe! Then I’ll tell you all the events that will happen tomorrow, so remember well! Wow, if this works, it’ll be great!”

—

The next day, I met the fog again in my dream.

The fog, which had been waiting for a long time, ran over as soon as it saw me.

“Human! Why didn’t you avoid it? I’ve been watching you all the time, and it was so frustrating I almost died!”

“…Hey.”

“Huh? Is your body stiff? Was it really impossible?”

The fog chattered on, adding ten words for my one, making a big fuss.

After watching it for a while, I slowly opened my mouth.

“This… it’s real.”

“Huh?”

“This isn’t a dream, it’s real. It really happened.”

“…? You’re still saying that? I told you before.”

Even with its reaction suggesting why I was bringing up an old topic, the eerie feeling made it hard for me to continue speaking.

I should have suspected it once. If it was vivid enough to be mistaken for a hallucination, I should have doubted it at least once.

The events the fog had mentioned in last night’s dream happened exactly as predicted today.

When I woke up in the morning, I unconsciously smiled, remembering the last thing I had heard.

I felt something strange when I hit my head hard against an open cabinet door while getting up after breakfast.

Unable to make a sound because my brain felt like it was being shaken violently, I barely managed to breathe, and the voice of the young boy from last night’s dream came to mind.

‘You’ll hit your head hard on an open cabinet door after breakfast! It’ll open just before you get up, so watch the cabinet closely when you stand up!’

‘Yeah… I got it.’

‘Listen carefully! Why do you keep getting distracted!’

I thought it was a coincidence.

Honestly, since I hadn’t listened properly, I was unsure until the afternoon.

But after that, the events happened sequentially.

Just as the fog had said.