The Maknae Has to Be an Idol

I stared at Yeon-Hoon’s bright face without a hint of shadow on his face. I felt conflicted while staring at his clueless face. Although it was a face that I loved, I felt quite irked that the system went in and out of him. Was it because my expression wasn’t good?

“Tae…Tae-Yoon…? Did I do something wrong…?” Before he even heard my answer to why he was sitting on the sofa, Yeon-Hoon was worried about me first.

“…Ha. No, it’s nothing.” I took a deep breath and calmed my emotions before I continued, “I saw you sleepwalking around the living room again today, so I pulled you on the sofa and sat you down because I didn’t want you to get hurt.” Then I told him why he was sitting on the sofa.

“What…I was sleepwalking again? Geez…I should really go to the hospital,” Yeon-Hoon said as if he was expecting my answer. However, since these kinds of incidents kept happening repeatedly, he appeared quite worried about his body. His tone sounded more concerned than before while saying he had to go to the hospital.

“But why were you sitting in the living room at this hour?” Yeon-Hoon put aside his worries about sleepwalking for a while and asked me. “We have to sleep well from now on so that we can work again without getting tired during the promotion period.”

He was right, and that was the reason I tried to get as much sleep as possible until today. I just couldn’t sleep today because I was working on combining the mission. Since I couldn’t just tell him straight like this, I just made up an answer and said, “The <Blue Ocean>’s music video will be released tomorrow, so I couldn’t go to sleep.”

It wasn’t technically right for me to say tomorrow since it was currently past midnight, and it was July 25th right now. Still, it felt like the day hadn’t ended yet, so I just said tomorrow, and “Blue Ocean” would be released at 6 p.m. “tomorrow”.

“So are you planning to stay up until 6 p.m. tomorrow?”

“No, I can’t do that.”

“Then, let’s hurry up and go to bed. If you stay awake like that, it’ll just sap your energy more.”

“Okay, I got it.”

“I should also go back and sleep. Is it because I slept while moving…my body feels heavy.” Yeon-Hoon got up first and went into his room. I also got up from my seat to enter my room.

Then, while holding the doorknob, I thought for a moment, ‘Did Yeon-Hoon say he was the system with his own mouth…?’ I was finally organizing what just happened inside my mind.

‘Something’s weird.’ It was unclear whether this statement was 100% true. Yeon-Hoon said he was the system, but he was the one who told me how to fight against the system before I went to confront the truck driver; and when I was on the brink of death, the system allowed me to gain full control of Insight.

If Yeon-Hoon was really the system, he wouldn’t help me like this. If so, I thought of a possible reason, ‘Is it the system from the opposite side?’

Since there were two systems in this world, I didn’t know which system it was. However, this was also a bit ambiguous.

‘Wouldn’t the truck driver be able to storm into our dorm then…?’ If Yeon-Hoon was the opposite system, there would be infinite ways to kill us. It would also be much easier as he could just tell the truck driver the password of our dorm and come at night and kill us one by one. If so, I naturally rejected the hypothesis that Yeon-Hoon was the opposite system.

‘What is this?’ Although he said he was the system, it was doubtful to say he was either system.

But what bothered me more than that was, ‘When I asked him if he was the regressor, he said he had changed a bit from the regressions.’

A slight change from a regressor—to put it another way, he was originally a regressor and then became something different. In the end, the most likely possibility was….

‘Did Yeon-Hoon, who used to be the regressor, become the third system?’ It was the possibility that he was a third system that I was not aware of. Of course, this was also just a hypothesis, and I needed to find more details in the future.

‘Wait a minute.’ There was something that came to mind. There was a time when the system made an error and I entered outer space, and I saw countless worldlines there. Right now, Do-Seung’s worlds and Woon’s worlds were connected to my world. However, other than our worlds, countless other worlds also filled the vast space which made me wonder who in the world regressed so much. Perhaps…

‘Was it Yeon-Hoon…?’ It occurred to me that Yeon-Hoon might be the one who regressed so many times.

‘Crazy.’ And when I thought about this, I began to get goosebumps. I couldn’t even fathom how people could change after dealing with that many regressions. No, could a person who had endured such an amount of time be called a person anymore? It might not be possible to do with the human mind. I couldn’t get into the room easily.

My mind was muddled with numerous thoughts, so I couldn’t easily take a step. If the myriad number of worlds I saw were all Yeon-Hoon’s, and if Yeon-Hoon became something like a system at the end of it…

‘What would happen if I put all of Yeon-Hoon’s worlds in my world?’ That was a new possibility. If it was possible to attach them…

‘Won’t the power of the system be transferred to me?’ It might be possible for me to obtain the ability of the system in Yeon-Hoon’s body right now. I thought that system was different than the system attached to me, and it was also likely that it was also not the system attached to the truck driver.

Therefore, if I succeeded in attaching Yeon-Hoon’s worlds to mine, it would be possible to attach the third system to me, and if I gained the power of the system, I might be able to fight against the system on my own. In other words, it was the goal that I had been desperately yearning for, and it meant that it would be possible to smash the mission and the system itself.

I moved and sat down in front of the sofa again. Then I wasted no time in activating Insight.

Ziing-!

The time of the world stopped once again. In the still time, I opened the mission I combined.

[Achieve Triple Crown All-Kill and Music Charts number one in the nation and enter Billboard HOT 100 within three months.]

[Upon success, you would meet the 40th regressor.]

[Upon failure, the deaths and separation of Do-Seung, Woon, and Dong-Jun’s worldlines.]

I planned to change the reward of this mission again. Currently, the reward was that I would meet the 40th regressor and I supposed that would Dong-Jun. Yet, this wasn’t the time for me to be meeting Dong-Jun. I planned to get his memories afterward and began to change the number ‘40’ to another number.

[You are not permitted to approach closer.]

The system warned me but I ignored its message. I knew that my Insight wouldn’t get released just because a warning rang once or twice.

‘Moreover, it’s manageable.’ It really seemed like my expertise and control of Insight increased the more I used it. Though I felt like my Insight would get deactivated after a warning or two before, it was pretty endurable right now.

‘I’m going to get a nosebleed again.’ Only my head just felt like it was cracking. I began to draw in each letter. The higher my numbers became, the greater the system’s warnings became.

[You are not permitted to approach.]

[You are not permitted to approach.]

[You are not permitted to approach.]

I clutched my panging head and raised the number count. I knew it would be nowhere enough with just numbers like 50, 60, 70, or 100. I needed to choose the highest digit I could choose to raise the numbers. I wondered if I could meet someone who regressed hundreds of times. I went through so much suffering with just regression, but Yeon-Hoon managed to go through an experience like that countless times. I couldn’t even imagine all the things he would’ve gone through. Eventually, I reached the highest number I could set.

[Upon success, you would meet the 999th regressor.]

After changing the number, I saved the mission. If the system didn’t accept this condition, I planned to make another deal. I thought if I added my control over my Insight as another failure risk, the balance could be better, and I waited for the system’s reply. It normally wouldn’t have worked; but after a long time passed, the system eventually accepted it.

[You modified the mission.]

‘…What?’

The system accepted this mission. I wondered what kind of internal transformations occurred within the system but I was taken aback that it accepted my change. I had been wondering if I needed to risk my Insight ability too. Of course, this was better for me and after the system accepted my edit, I released my Insight.

Shaa—

“Ah…”

Simultaneously, blood poured out of my nose like a broken dam. The amount was so great that it soaked my clothes and flowed on the ground.

“…This is quite…severe…” I clutched the tissue on top of the table and wiped my face first. Then, I quickly mopped the blood on the floor before it seeped into the floor. Perhaps, because of all the blood that I poured out, my head felt dizzy. If I left the place in a mess like this, my members would be shocked in the morning. Even if I collapsed, I needed to do so after cleaning up this mess.

Since I thought I couldn’t clean everything with a tissue, I went inside the bathroom and brought out a towel while clutching my nose. I blocked my nose with a tissue, wiped the floor with a towel, and tried to take off the blood on my clothes inside the bathroom by rubbing it aggressively with soap. I thought my members would make a fuss if they saw clothes soaked with blood and planned to also clean up the blood on the towel too when—

“…Tae-Yoon…?” I heard somebody approach the bathroom. I turned around and saw that it was Dong-Jun. I normally wouldn’t have a problem with him coming towards me but right now, I was wiping off blood from my body and clothes in the bathroom…

“…What the hell…?”

Furthermore, there were a bunch of blood drops scattered on the bathroom walls and floor and on my face. If I woke up early in the morning and saw one of my members smeared with blood from head to toe in the bathroom, I would’ve immediately dashed out to call the ambulance. I thought things became a bit messy when Dong-Jun spoke.

“…Do you want to… turn yourself in together…?”

Yet, based on his response, I had no idea what sort of crazy story he came up with in his head.