SDM 19

Hey, come out.

─ ……

I said come out. C18 or C1012 or whatever.

─ It’s C1012!

Seong-woon was sitting at the school cafe terrace, drinking an iced chamomile tea, abstaining from caffeine. After consistently ignoring the gazes and cameras directed at him, he suddenly turned his head and made eye contact with each camera one by one. There were some people with great reflexes who, despite being startled, still managed to press the shutter button and others who completely shattered their phone screens.

Cut the nagging. Is it a coincidence that I keep running into Baek Sang-hyun while progressing through the quests?

─ I don’t know about that either. Quests are not generated by the RMC handlers.

Then who generates them?

─ Um…. I’m not sure how much I should tell you, but within the RMC, there’s an apparatus called Karma that calculates all reincarnations and karmic debts. Quests are automatically generated by that apparatus.

Of course, Seong-woon didn’t naively think that the frequent encounters with Baek Sang-hyun were purely coincidental. He had seen many writers’ foreshadowing that turned coincidences into inevitabilities while reading all sorts of plots, and even now, he felt as if he was moving within a predefined plot.

What happens to me after I grant Ryu Chae-yoon’s wish?

─ Um…. I can’t tell you that at this point.

If I end up continuing to live in Ryu Chae-yoon’s body, isn’t there no point in granting Ryu Chae-yoon’s wish? Even if that soul is inside me, I can’t feel it, can I?

─ It won’t be a bad thing for either Jin Seong-woon or Ryu Chae-yoon, definitely not… We are trying to set everything right…

Set things right?

─ That’s…

Saying you’re setting things right implies that something is wrong, doesn’t it?

─ …No. We are absolutely not doing anything bad to Jin Seong-woon.

If it’s not a bad thing, it might not be such a good thing either. Making me house two souls in one body and telling me to grant someone else’s wish, let’s say for argument’s sake that it’s not a bad thing. So what happens after I grant that wish?

─ As I just said, I can’t tell you about it right now. As you follow the quests presented by Karma, you will naturally complete Ryu Chae-yoon’s final wish as well. Then Jin Seong-woon will be able to know everything.

Is Ryu Chae-yoon going to attain enlightenment or something? If Ryu Chae-yoon’s wish is ‘resurrection’, does that mean I’ll be ejected from this body?

─ You don’t need to worry about that. Trust me. Wasn’t it revealed initially that it was  ‘wanting to be involved’? It’s not resurrection!

……

Still, none of his questions were answered. Seong-woon swallowed a sigh as he drank his tea. His melancholic appearance must have been quite impressive, as there were momentary groans from around him. But by the third day, he had become quite used to this too.

I have no choice but to clash with Baek Sang-hyun this semester, and during the filming of “Orbital Collision”… No, but why is he acting like that towards me, or rather, towards Ryu Chae-yoon?

Seong-woon tapped the table with his index finger. Clashing with Baek Sang-hyun wasn’t the important part. He disliked clashing with Baek Sang-hyun who was sarcastic and rude to Ryu Chae-yoon.

“They didn’t meet, but something happened,” … Recalling the manager’s reaction, Seong-woon mulled over that strange sentence. What on earth did Ryu Chae-yoon do to Baek Sang-hyun? What would it take for that Baek Sang-hyun to show such dislike…

“Young Master.”

“Ah. You’re here?”

“Why the terrace of all places…”

“The sunlight is nice.”

“Too many photos are being uploaded.”

“What’s wrong with that? Have a drink too, hyung.”

Hyeong-seok, who said he’d stop by the company while Seong-woon was in class, returned a little late due to traffic.

“You’re not going back right away?”

“No, I’m planning to go to the opening party today.”

“…Opening party?”

“Yes. They’re having a Baekdu class opening party.”

The Business School had so many people that they couldn’t host an opening party for the entire department at once, so they did it by class. One class had nearly 200 people, so it seemed it wouldn’t be easy to memorize classmates’ faces.

The opening party is said to be an opportunity for juniors and seniors to briefly meet… Of course, this isn’t important to Seong-woon. He’s attending it because of that damn quest.

Quest 3

Attend university for more than 3 days and participate in the opening party.

Reward: Stamina enhancement and partial recovery from illness

Deadline: Within a week after the start of the semester

If failed, return to the branching point.

Soul Adjustment Project in progress….

Surely Baek Sang-hyun isn’t in the same Baekdu class too, right? Seong-woon rubbed his arms that were getting goosebumps despite the late summer heat.

* * *

Indeed, the unthinkable happened. Seong-woon was sitting almost in the centre of the pub that could accommodate over 100 people. He had intended to just attend and leave, but was held back by some very enthusiastic people and couldn’t get up from his seat— he almost spat out the water he was drinking when Baek Sang-hyun entered, radiating like a protagonist.

“Wow! Senior Sang-hyun is here!”

“Senior, over here!”

“Sit here. There’s plenty of space!”

A student pushed a drunk classmate who had already passed out, dropping them to the floor to make room. How much and how quickly must they have drunk to get that hammered in less than 30 minutes?

As Baek Sang-hyun looked around and smiled, cheers erupted. Even Seong-woon unconsciously half-opened his mouth before closing it, such was the impact.

But Seong-woon quickly averted his gaze from Baek Sang-hyun and tried to disconnect from the beer glasses filling the table. He originally didn’t drink much to take care of his body. While that was voluntary abstinence, now being unable to drink involuntarily was even more excruciating.

Still, having grilled chicken and beer once or twice a month used to be his pleasure… To have fried chicken and draft beer right in front of him but not be able to touch them.

“Can I sit here?”

“Of course!”

Hearing a voice from above, Seong-woon quickly looked up to see eyes sparkling in a face shadowed by a cap brim.

Ah, why are you coming to someone you don’t like again? Is it because you’ve at least dipped your toes in the entertainment industry? 

Seong-woon pouted and just drank water.

“I didn’t know you’d come, senior. Are you not filming these days?”

“Yeah, I postponed it to attend school.”

“Then you’ll attend the whole semester this time? The kids will be thrilled.”

So the reason the quest included going to the opening party was to meet Baek Sang-hyun again. Seong-woon took a piece of chicken breast, peeled off all the batter and skin, and had a bite. Even without the batter, it was still tastier than grilled.

“Mr. Chae-yoon, you’re not drinking?”

“…Please speak comfortably.”

Most people attending opening parties are freshmen and sophomores, so Baek Sang-hyun would be among the oldest. Since everyone else was speaking informally, Seong-woon reluctantly asked them to use informal speech, feeling it stood out more that he was being formal only to him.

“Wouldn’t that be difficult? You’re such a precious person.”

Right, precious indeed. He’s the fifth and youngest child of Ryu Shin after all. If someone here accidentally spills alcohol, would the bodyguards break their arms first? Even now, three of them were gathered at a corner table, staring intently at this spot.

“I meant for you to do whatever is comfortable, senior.”

It’s you who’s uncomfortable with formal speech, not me. 

Seong-woon cut off the conversation indifferently and gulped down more water. He wanted some cola. Even zero cola would be good. Seong-woon licked his lips and stared intently at the cola cans on the next table.

“Do you want some cola?”

“Pardon?”

“You keep staring at it.”

“No, not really.”

Seong-woon, who didn’t realize he was being so obvious, quickly averted his gaze. It seems there are withdrawal symptoms from caffeine too. Lately, he’d been spending about half his days just thinking about coffee.

“I really enjoyed the ‘Human Justice’. We gathered in the seminar room during our break for a club meeting to watch it. Wow, the zombies were so lifelike!”

“Shouldn’t zombies be lifeless?”

“…Ah! I meant they were that vivid!”

Having finished his tense conversation with Seong-woon, Baek Sang-hyun was back to his usual self, responding well even to silly comments. He was flawless at casual interactions, softly calling people by name and asking about recent happenings.

“Sang-hoon, didn’t you say you were going on a language study trip last year? Did you go?”

“Yes. I went for a year. That’s why I’m back in school this semester.”

“So, is your English better now?”

“My English was already good, you know?”

He had said he was cast in his sophomore year of university and jumped into the entertainment industry after finishing his studies that year. Having heard a few times that he had returned to school in between, this must be his last semester.

It seemed he had quite an active school life, as other students treated Baek Sang-hyun more as a fellow student with an unusual background rather than as a celebrity. He really was something. But then why was he so mean to Ryu Chae-yoon!

“Chae-yoon was in that too! ‘Human Justice’, right?”

Park Sang-hoon, the third-year class representative, seemed to have gathered all the extroversion in the world. He was the one who immediately spoke informally to Seong-woon, put an arm around his shoulder, and dragged him to the centre of the pub.

“Yes, I was. Just for one scene though…”

“You really stood out. Actually, since your brother is such a legend, we were a bit worried when we heard you enrolled…”

“My brother?”

The brother they’re talking about here is Ryu Chang-yoon. Ryu Hae-yoon, Ryu Ho-yoon, and Ryu Ha-yoon all graduated from foreign universities, while only Chang-yoon graduated from this school’s Economics department.

“Yeah, he graduated after being the top student in Economics eight times. He would have been dragged into grad school if not for the fact that he was beyond the professors’ influence… I took an Economics class last year, and the professors still talk about your brother. They compare us to sea anemones, sea anemones you know!”

Seong-woon chuckled as he watched Park Sang-hoon, who was leaning on his shoulder and making exaggerated crying noises. It was a laugh that came naturally from experiencing this new kind of situation.

Seong-woon had barely attended regular schools, following the arts middle school-arts high school-arts university route, and what little social relationships he had maintained by force were all broken when he entered university. So in situations like this, he always ended up being like a sack of potatoes.