SDM 4

He wished it was a dream, but if pinching his thigh still hurt and there was no sign of waking up, then it surely wasn’t a dream.

Regardless, the phrase ‘Soul Adjustment Project’ could be a hint to the current situation. Where did the soul of ‘Ryu Chae-yoon’ go, and why did he come into this body? Could it be because he’s in the middle of a ‘soul adjustment’? He doesn’t know why souls are adjusted in the first place, though…

Seong-woon read the sentence that appeared before his eyes carefully again. If this was not a regular quest, considering it was labeled as a tutorial, then there should naturally be more quests to follow. Especially when there were numbers attached to ‘Quest’.

Appearing on visual media excluding personal broadcasts… It seemed to mean that it knew Jin Seong-woon’s actor background.  It wouldn’t make sense to assign a quest to someone who has never acted before.

The rewards were even stranger. What on earth was the Reincarnation Management Committee and what was ‘re-assignment’ rather than assignment? So does that mean there was already an assigned person?

Even the deadline was too short. He had to appear on a show in 7 days. …He could apply for a minor role floating in the part-time job hell, but could he even leave this overly protective household in the first place?

Staring at the hologram, Seong-woon realized something strange. Despite there being quests, rewards, and deadlines, there seemed to be no penalty for failure. He guessed it meant it didn’t matter if he didn’t do it…

His head started to hurt from looking at the blue color. The moment he thought all this hologram stuff would disappear, everything in front of him brightened again. It seemed like he could get rid of it just by thinking about it.

Seong-woon, who was contemplating while holding his slightly feverish head, lay down on the bed.

If he didn’t want to do it, he didn’t have to do it. If he’s a third-generation conglomerate, there would be no problem with not doing anything, and he had been acting for 30 years, what more did he have to do there? Seong-woon tried to completely ignore the hologram. But why did it keep bothering him like a speck under his fingernail?

He didn’t know how much time had passed while he was looking at the ceiling, but he felt a presence outside. Seong-woon, who had opened the door expecting it to be Ryu Ho-yoon, smiled awkwardly at the appearance of his pretty mother.

Parents were such difficult and enigmatic beings to Jin Seong-woon.

* * *

Has he ever eaten a meal while receiving so many people’s attention?

Oh, he has. He had the experience of eating in a restaurant and everyone looking at him like they wanted to kill him. It was after he played the perfect villain in a five-million-dollar movie.

Of course, now it’s like being stared at as if he were a two-year-old baby eating solid food for the first time with tiny fern-like hands, without even using a spoon. Seong-woon felt his face burning and felt so embarrassed that his body twisted and he felt like he was going crazy.

“Chae-yoon. Sea bream is delicious. Have some.”

He didn’t need to use chopsticks. Everyone around keeps bringing side dishes to his bowl.

“Is the beef pancake tasty?”

It was even more puzzling why they were rearranging the dishes when Seong-woon wasn’t even eating them in the first place.

“Do you want to eat more?”

There was still more than half of the food left, but they were rushing to give more.

“…I’m okay.”

However, Seong-woon’s appetite was so great that it couldn’t be compared to the meal he ate alone, and he really enjoyed the meal. Even now, he was chewing and swallowing a mouth full of steamed abalone.

“It’s so nice to see you eating well.”

Now, he was already used to the words filled with emotion. Seong-woon smiled at his father and scooped up the rice with a spoon. This time, Ryu Chang-yoon, sitting on the left, asked his father as he placed seasoned grilled ribs on rice.

“What about Aunt?”

“She will be here soon.”

Father checks the time ominously as the sound of the door opening and closing echoes from the end of the hallway.

“Chae-yoon! Is my baby okay?”

Here we go again. Seong-woon sighed and nodded dryly, only turning his gaze. Then his eyes widened and he uttered the name of the most famous entertainment company in the country.

“RBS…?”

“Oh my! Do you remember Aunt?”

No, it was not about remembering his Aunt, it was about remembering the CEO of RBS. Wait, was the ‘R’ in RBS perhaps short for Ryu? Was this ‘Ryu’ the same as that ‘Ryu’?

“Everyone said you were sick so you couldn’t come… Your aunt was dying of worry because she missed Chae-yoon. You’re not in pain anywhere now, are you?”

Anyway, since it’s memory loss, it does hurt the brain, but well, that doesn’t mean the body hurts.

“I’m okay.”

“You can’t be sick. If our Chae-yoon is sick, Aunt’s heart will break.”

To what extent… It’s such a sincere face that I can’t even put my finger on it.

“Stop asking the kid if he’s still feeling sick, just sit down and eat.”

“Oppa, seriously… Every time Chae-yoon gets sick, it feels like my heart drops. Should we update our first actor profile?”

First actor profile? Could they possibly be referring to Ryu Chae-yoon?

Seong-woon had searched all the other family members’ names on search engines, but he hadn’t even thought about putting Ryu Chae-yoon’s name in. He didn’t think a kid who couldn’t go to school because he was sick would be listed in a dictionary of names.

He’ll have to look up what all this talk is about after the meal. Could this body have also been involved in acting? But if a face like this had appeared on screen, Seong-woon would have known about it.

“For Aunt’s sake, you have to stay healthy. Right, Chae-yoon?”

The CEO of RBS affectionately patted Seong-woon’s cheek in a familiar manner. So Ryu Chae-yoon was the ‘he’ of the rumors that the unmarried RBS CEO treated like her child, and generously provided him with everything

There were rumors about her always taking a young boy with her when she went private shopping at department stores and personally visiting new dessert shops to buy heaps of desserts for him… Seong-woon clicked his tongue as he realized the truth behind the long-standing rumors.

What came out after the noisy meal was a very sweet peach. It was Seong-woon’s favorite fruit, but it was expensive, and since it easily spoiled, it was difficult to buy and eat alone.

“Our Chae-yoon also really likes peaches.”

Now, Seong-woon could accept the care of his brothers, which he had previously found quite annoying. Swallowing the neatly prepared, soft peach, Seong-woon typed Ryu Chae-yoon’s name into the search bar.

Ryu Chae-yoon

Talent, Actor

Born 20XX. 03. 31

Agency: RBS Entertainment

Shockingly, there was nothing in his filmography or activity history, but he was registered as an actor. The profile picture seemed to be taken from SNS.

“Aunt, am I an actor?”

“Yes. Our entertainment company was made because of our Chae-yoon.”

Seong-woon almost bit his tongue. Nowadays, there were agencies that have become major conglomerates due to the K-pop craze, but this was not the case 10 years ago. Of course, this was a story about well-off singer agencies; even now, most actor agencies were small to medium-sized.

In the actor scene, which was filled with so-called “Shitty small” agencies, there was a huge uproar when a large conglomerate invested in an agency, especially when it was launched as a subsidiary of a cable broadcasting company.

Since RBS already owned a studio as a subsidiary and was involved in the production, when they decided to establish an actor agency, there were talks of them monopolizing the work, leading to being summoned to a hearing at the end of the year.

There had been a lot of debate about why they even needed to create an agency, and there had been many strange rumors about the CEO of RBS at the time, which seemed to have originated from Ryu Chae-yoon.

“Our Chae-yoon said he wanted to be an actor.”

“…”

“It’s been over ten years since he said he’d give it a try once he gets healthy.”

If Ryu Chae-yoon had expressed a desire to act… Utilizing RBS’s infrastructure to appear in dramas or movies wouldn’t be difficult.

So instead of maintaining this incomprehensible situation, wouldn’t it be better to do that quest and find out what’s going on? Seeing that the reward is the Reincarnation Management Committee, it seems like there will be at least some people to ask.

Even though he didn’t know where Ryu Chae-yoon’s soul had gone, it was unreasonable to just borrow his body and do nothing. Even if he couldn’t return to his original state ─ even though Jin Seong-woon’s body had already been burned and gone ─ he couldn’t remain oblivious to everything when nothing was resolved.

“Um, is it okay if I try?”

“Huh?”

“I want to try acting.”

A little more complex emotional acting was needed here. It was like saying he couldn’t wait anymore because he didn’t know when he’d fall ill again. He almost died once, so wouldn’t it be over if he actually died?

Seong-woon perfectly executed his trademark ‘watery eyes’. Even writers who were dissatisfied with his casting were able to respond with a ‘at least he’s good at acting’ with that one look.

“… How long has it been since you were discharged?”

Among the family members who couldn’t say anything, the eldest, Ryu Hae-yoon, managed to squeeze out a gentle, warm-sounding sentence. Ryu Ho-yoon took advantage of the opportunity and also spoke up.

“Yea! Chae-yoon. You still don’t have the stamina…”

“But then it will just stay like this.”

Seong-woon showed Ryu Chae-yoon’s filmography column empty.

“Am I just going to keep leaving nothing behind?”

A trembling voice, barely holding back breaths and tears.

“Chae-yoon….”

The silence was heavy enough to fill the high ceiling. Seong-woon sighed with a burdened guilt, not acting, but a sigh nonetheless. It didn’t feel good at all to disregard the sincere concerns of those worrying about him. But still, there was no other choice.

“I’m sorry. I only thought about myself.”

Putting down his phone, Seong-woon stood up from his seat. Before he could take a step, his aunt grabbed his hand tightly.

“Chae-yoon! Auntie will set something up for you tomorrow, right away! What do you want to do?”

She was ready to create opportunities out of thin air. But Seong-woon didn’t just move on immediately. He murmured with a crawling voice.

“But everyone is worried…”

“…They should be worried! Chae-yoon should do what he wants! Right, brother? You think so too, right?”

It was a resolute nod that could only be responded with. Seong-woon smiled faintly, having swiftly obtained his parents’ consent through his aunt’s intervention.

The next day, after a full day of detailed examination at the hospital, a manager, whether already assigned or suddenly assigned, came with a synopsis and script in hand.