After arriving at the filming site of *Exorcist* and while receiving my makeup, I was showered with countless words of comfort.
“Mr. Yeo-hu, you must have suffered so much. Look at how swollen your eyes are. Are you okay?”
I was fine. The swelling had already gone down.
“Even though you cried that much, your skin is still so smooth and perfect for makeup today, as always.”
My skin was always good.
“By the way, it seems like Mr. Ju Tae-gang cares for you a lot. To be honest, everyone on set knew you two were close since he sent that coffee truck, but people are really too much. Don’t you think?”
I knew that more than one or two people on this set had also cursed Ju Tae-gang while taking my side.
“How are you feeling now, Yeo-hu?”
“I’m okay. I’m just sorry for making a scene by crying like that.”
When I smiled with a troubled and pitiful expression, everyone around me took my side.
“How is that making a scene? Wait, can you tilt your chin up a bit? What I mean is, it wasn’t a nuisance at all. Honestly, even I would have cried there. If one person’s career was getting destroyed because of me… how could anyone endure that?”
I had endured it.
For about ten years.
Did they think I had only ruined the careers of one or two people before I regressed?
Whenever I acted with guys who didn’t meet my standards, I treated them all like invisible people. While some endured it, most of them quietly disappeared from the entertainment industry, likely traumatized.
But so what?
In the first place, it was their sin that they couldn’t act or that they didn’t live up to my expectations.
I was good enough at my job to have the right to criticize them like that.
Therefore, it was only natural for me to do that much.
‘ …is what I thought.’
But looking back now, maybe I was wrong.
Perhaps I should have been a bit kinder with my words.
Seeing Ju Tae-gang, who had collapsed so easily before my regression, now holding out just fine and filming the drama well made me think that even more.
‘Back then, Ju Tae-gang didn’t have a benefactor like me. Be grateful, Ju Tae-gang.’
There were far too many people who should be grateful to me in this life.
‘It’s a sinful life.’
Throughout the makeup session, I put on a rough performance of being a ‘kind rookie who had a hard time due to the controversy but is now okay.’
“It was mentally exhausting. But I’m glad everything was resolved well.”
“Our Yeo-hu… having such a tender heart, how will you survive in this world?”
By the time my makeup—and the many consolations—was nearly finished, Seon Ji-yun, who was fully prepared, burst through the door.
Because a large scar was supposed to appear on her face in the scene right before the confession, her special effects makeup seemed to have taken quite a while.
The scar makeup was done so well that the dark red bloodstains and the peeled skin looked even more realistic up close.
Seon Ji-yun immediately grabbed my shoulders and stared intently into my eyes. She muttered, “Not swollen—” and then asked.
“Are you okay?”
“Is there any reason I wouldn’t be?”
Seon Ji-yun spoke while mimicking how I had cried.
“I saw you shedding tears like a faucet at the press conference, so how could you look okay? Are you really alright? Can you handle the acting today?”
“I’m fine. If I didn’t go that far, people would have just kept talking. It’s better for *Exorcist* to get rid of the noise quickly.”
“Well, that’s true, but…”
When it became clear I wouldn’t give a more detailed answer, Seon Ji-yun scratched her head and spoke as if she had no choice.
“Fine. If you say so. We have a rehearsal coming up, so come out within twenty minutes.”
“Yes.”
***
While Yeo-hu finished his makeup and styling, Seon Ji-yun read the script once more for the upcoming rehearsal.
It was a situation where one eye could not fully open due to an injury sustained during an exorcism.
In the meantime, Jeong Chan-yul—who had done nothing but block spirits with talismans he bought with money—finally defeats an evil spirit.
Jeong Chan-yul also suffered a major injury in the process, but he focuses more on checking on Lee Ha-ryeong, and Lee Ha-ryeong gets angry at him again.
Jeong Chan-yul, wary of Lee Ha-ryeong’s reaction, seriously confesses his feelings for the first time on the rooftop.
“Phew.”
How would Lee Ha-ryeong feel here?
In *Exorcist*, Lee Ha-ryeong doesn’t harbor romantic feelings for anyone, but she has a uniquely affectionate heart for Choe Taek.
He was the one who entered the department before her and taught her everything, and when she heard about his past, she felt like she wanted to help him. However, it wasn’t love.
If anything, it was comradeship.
On the other hand, Jeong Chan-yul was like a thorn in her side.
He was the scion of a wealthy family she would never have met normally. He could have easily moved to another department and lived comfortably if he wanted, yet he insisted on following her, who had nothing, and was getting rid of evil spirits he wasn’t destined to deal with.
Lee Ha-ryeong didn’t particularly like that even the reason for his grand determination was a shallow one like ‘a pretty woman.’
Even so, the reason Lee Ha-ryeong slowly began to open her heart to Jeong Chan-yul was that he was a more upright person than she had thought, someone who knew how to fix what was wrong, and his constant light jokes finally made her burst into laughter.
Of course, there was no actual couple pairing in the drama.
In the end, Jeong Chan-yul’s love would not be reciprocated.
‘The writer said there wouldn’t be a couple pairing until the end, but did Lee Ha-ryeong really not feel anything for Jeong Chan-yul?’
Seon Ji-yun thought of Yeo-hu’s face.
“His face is the justification itself, though…”
No, that wasn’t it.
She couldn’t focus at all, perhaps because of the chaos that morning.
She had never been like this before.
It might be because it was the first time someone she was close to had been swept up in such a controversy.
“Phew.”
Still, I’m the senior. I can’t let my junior outshine me in acting.
Just then, the director called her, and Yeo-hu, who happened to be coming out, immediately approached the director as well.
Seon Ji-yun glanced at Yeo-hu.
He really seemed as if nothing had happened.
“Since the camera will be over here, the position where you two lie down will be here.”
“Since we won’t be lying down from the start, how about Jeong Chan-yul starts by grabbing my shoulder? What do you think?”
“I like it. Anything you say is good, Senior.”
“What’s with him?”
As Seon Ji-yun shuddered as if she were trembling like an aspen tree, Yeo-hu signaled toward the making-of camera nearby with his eyes.
Only then did Seon Ji-yun let out a short “Ah.”
“Um, but Senior.”
“Yes?”
“In the last line, I think it would be better to whisper softly at the beginning rather than just shouting loudly. What do you think?”
“Sure.”
“And I also want to hold your hand. Should we add that part as an ad-lib?”
“Hold hands too?”
Seon Ji-yun pondered.
Lee Ha-ryeong holding Jeong Chan-yul’s hand… was it unimaginable? Was it really impossible?
She grabbed Choe Taek’s hand all the time.
Thinking about it, physical contact with men wasn’t a big deal for Lee Ha-ryeong, who had mastered various sports like Taekwondo and Kendo since she was young.
“I think she would accept it at this point.”
If she had been avoiding him because she was annoyed by his playful confessions, this scene was one where Jeong Chan-yul seriously confessed to Lee Ha-ryeong and said he was giving up on his love.
“Okay, let’s hold hands. It works for this scene.”
“Then let’s set the angle this way. When you lie down, don’t mind me, just lie within a distance where our hands can touch…”
Because this scene was quite important for the character of Jeong Chan-yul, Seon Ji-yun intentionally spent more time rehearsing with him.
The staff member recording them being together for a long time looked at them through the lens with a satisfied expression.
‘My eyes are happy.’
***
After the rehearsal, while Seon Ji-yun was getting her final makeup touch-ups, Yeo-hu stood in the spot where they had just rehearsed and looked around.
He had heard it was an old building that hadn’t been used for a long time, and he could roughly tell how many years had passed just by looking at the cracks in the floor and the railings near the rooftop.
**[Regressor.]**
The system window appeared as if it had been waiting.
It was already 8:00 PM. Does this bastard not even clock out?
**[The Reverse Quest has progressed to a certain extent.]**
**[The Regressor’s death probability has decreased from 96% to 91%.]**
It was good news for once.
Following the Reverse Shop, the death probability had also decreased significantly.
At this rate, the Reverse Quest wasn’t so bad after all.
‘The death probability seems to be dropping faster than I thought.’
Furthermore, was this Reverse Quest only given to me?
If that wasn’t the case…
Just then, the system window flashed white once more.
**[The quest progression has deviated from the Main Quest.]**
**[A penalty for the Reverse Quest has been applied.]**
Deviating from the Main Quest?
A penalty for the Reverse Quest?
My expression naturally twisted.
“Um, Mr. Yeo-hu, please relax your expression a little.”
“Oh, I’m sorry.”
There were many people around, from makeup artists to staff, so I couldn’t openly curse at the system window for what it was doing.
I covered my mouth and quietly read through the system’s message.
No, I tried my best to remain calm.
**[If the death probability drops beyond a certain percentage, a portion of the pain from the time of death will be reproduced.]**
**[As a penalty, 5% of the pain experienced at the time of death will be reproduced.]**
**[The process, situation, and method of reproduction may differ from the original form of death, but 5% of the pain, including physical and mental suffering, will be reproduced and imposed.]**
**[The timing of the pain reproduction is ‘The most appropriate time.’]**
**[The next occurrence of this penalty will be when the current death probability drops by another 10%.]**
**[To avoid the penalty for the Reverse Quest, you may switch to the Main Quest at any time.]**
‘This… bastard.’
Isn’t this just a threat?
Because the death probability dropped by 5%, it’s going to reproduce 5% of the pain?
So this means…
‘If you want to survive while deviating from the Main Quest, you have to endure the pain of death.’
And you call yourselves on the regressor’s side? The penalty is too severe.
**[If you declare a return to the Main Quest, the penalty will disappear.]**
**[Would you like to return to the Main Quest?]**
Are you crazy?
I’m never going back.
**[There is a survival method verified by the system. Using that route will drastically increase the Regressor’s survival probability and provide you with a comfortable future.]**
**[The Regressor’s current choice is highly irrational; therefore, it is not recommended.]**
**[If you return to the Main Quest, the system can use its discretion to return you to the time before filming.]**
Irrational? Not recommended?
‘Then why did you save me in the first place? Why did you save someone like me, who chose to be an actor even if it meant dying?’
**[Would you like to return to the Main Quest?]**
If I were going to obediently follow the Main Quest, I wouldn’t have started this life like this.
“Filming is starting. Everyone, please get ready in your positions.”
“Hey, Yeo-hu. Are you okay?”
“Yes, I’m fine. Let’s do this in one take, Senior.”
I haven’t even started yet, you bastards.
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