The filming of the grave begins with a full shot and gradually zooms in.
Except for the solo shots where his face is filmed from the front, most of the scenes are with Choi Taek.
***
Jung Chan-yul gazes at the grave where his grandfather, Jung Bae-min, is buried.
The publicly announced reason for his death was a heart attack.
Of course, the reason known to Human Resources Team 4 was different.
During the funeral, relatives who hadn’t shown their faces once came by, wailing passionately just to get a piece of the inheritance, making the company a noisy mess.
**[Are you all right?]**
Choi Taek, with his hands shoved in his pockets, stands side by side with Jung Chan-yul.
**[The guy who killed my grandfather is standing right next to me. Do you think I’d be all right?]**
**[That is also true.]**
One might expect him to leave after such thorny words, but Choi Taek does not budge.
Only after watching the soju being sprinkled over the grave does Choi Taek break the silence.
**[I am sorry. I feel like I left all the difficult decisions to you, Mr. Jung Chan-yul.]**
**[ . . . ]**
**[I will head down first.]**
After Choi Taek leaves, Jung Chan-yul stands still in front of the grave before slowly sitting on the grass, staring blankly at his grandfather.
He mutters quietly.
**[Hey, Grandfather. If you didn’t want to die that badly, you should have told me.]**
Even when he was possessed by the evil spirit, his grandfather would often say:
‘Death is frightening. No, more than death itself, I am afraid that no one will be by my side on the day I die. I feel like all the years I’ve endured would turn out to be a complete waste.’
‘Grandfather, why would you say such things? I’m here. Am I not enough for you?’
Perhaps the reason his grandfather smiled bitterly back then was that on the day he died after his body was snatched by the evil spirit, there was indeed no one by his side.
‘I still cannot understand Grandfather’s choice.’
‘What is the point of living for eternity as nothing but an empty shell?’
**[Grandfather, how is it?]**
Jung Chan-yul, sitting cross-legged, pours a full glass of soju.
**[This is mine. Don’t be greedy.]**
Jung Chan-yul, who empties the glass in one gulp, looks at the grave with a flushed face.
**[But you hated listening to others so much, so why did you listen to that evil spirit so well? You tried to kill Ms. Lee Ha-ryung, you tried to kill Mr. Choi Taek, and . . . you even tried to kill me.]**
At his last words, Jung Chan-yul refills the glass and downs the soju in another gulp.
Looking at the grave makes it feel as if he is making eye contact with his grandfather again, so Jung Chan-yul only stares down at his innocent glass.
**[Did you hate me that much? Because I couldn’t be a source of strength for you?]**
**[Did you hate me because I wasn’t the perfect person you imagined? Hmm? Say something.]**
‘Grandfather.’
‘Please tell me it’s not like that.’
Just then, he hears Jung Bae-min’s voice.
**[I have no one but you, you brat.]**
It is the voice of the already deceased Jung Bae-min.
Jung Chan-yul, who was only fiddling with his soju glass, looks at the grave in surprise.
Once again, he hears the voice.
**[You did well. Thanks to you, I can finally get some rest.]**
Tears well up in Jung Chan-yul’s eyes.
Without time to wipe them, tears stream down his cheeks.
**[Grandfather, I’m sorry, *hic*, I am . . . ]**
**[My foolish grandson says he’s fine, yet he can’t even speak properly because he’s crying. Good grief.]**
Jung Chan-yul wails as if his heart is being wrung out.
**[Don’t hate me, Grandfather . . . I’ll do better now. I won’t make any more mistakes. Grandfather, just come back. I . . . *hic* . . . Grandfather is the only one who loves me.]**
Like a child.
The Jung Chan-yul who had calmly greeted every guest throughout the funeral is nowhere to be found.
Only a grandson crying out desperately for the grandfather he misses remains in this spot.
**[Chan-yul. It is okay. It is all right. Do not worry. You can do well on your own.]**
From the stairs on the slope slightly away from the grave, Choi Taek watches the scene before finally lighting a cigarette and turning his head away.
He has no hobby of peeping at others while they cry.
Only after a significant amount of time passes do Jung Chan-yul, who is walking down with an empty soju bottle, and Choi Taek face each other.
Choi Taek takes the cigarette out of his mouth and asks.
**[That took quite a while.]**
Jung Chan-yul, with eyes swollen shut, shakes the empty soju bottle.
**[I had a bottle with my grandfather.]**
Choi Taek’s eyes scan his swollen eyes once, but he says nothing and looks away from Jung Chan-yul with the cigarette back in his mouth.
**[Let us go back quickly. I have wasted too much time because of you.]**
**[You’re the one who followed me of your own accord, Mr. Choi Taek. Isn’t that a bit harsh?]**
**[I paid for the soju, so wire me the money later.]**
At Choi Taek’s words, Jung Chan-yul chuckles and puts his arm around the man’s shoulder.
**[Hey, can’t you just let this slide between us?]**
**[I do not have a hobby of buying soju for third-generation chaebols.]**
***
“Cut!”
After the filming for the following scene was completely finished and even the solo shots were done, my gaze immediately turned to Jung Goong-won behind the camera.
This was because Jung Goong-won had read Jung Bae-min’s lines from the script, making it much easier for me to get into the emotions.
“Senior, thank you for earlier.”
When I bowed my head in greeting, Jung Goong-won smiled broadly, seemingly pleased with my gesture.
“I just helped out while I was here. I think you’ll become an even better actor in the future, Yeo-hoo.”
It seemed Jung Goong-won had made a point to visit the set because of what happened at the production presentation.
Understandably so, as there were no scenes for Jung Goong-won to film today.
Jung Goong-won was a man of deep affection even before my regression.
“It’s all thanks to your great teaching, Senior. Please let me know if there’s anything I’m lacking.”
“Haha, don’t think I’m acting like an old fogey if I really nag you later.”
“Of course not. If your words are considered ‘old fogey’ behavior, then that word will become a compliment.”
“Whoa, Mr. Jeon Yeo-hoo. Why are you so good at social life? Anyone would think this is your second life.”
Is the phrase ‘second life’ some kind of passive dialogue that all regressors have to hear?
Even on the Regressor Bulletin Board, there were several stories about people flinching every time they heard the phrase ‘second life,’ so it seems regressors really give off that kind of vibe.
After a brief conversation with Jung Goong-won, another period of endless waiting followed.
During that time, I spent my time reading social media or the Regressor Bulletin Board.
While talking to Ha Je-ban during my hospitalization, I began to think again that there might be more ‘regressors’ in this world.
Since posts about ordinary people showing unconventional behavior often appeared on social media besides celebrities, I looked around just in case, but no particularly special news was visible.
‘Well, it’s normal for news about ordinary people not to be posted.’
For the record, the number of followers on my social media has increased significantly since the production presentation incident and the start of *Prosecutor of Revenge*, surpassing 600,000.
It seemed that videos made by editing my crying face and the TAM advertisement had caught the international algorithm, as there were quite a few comments in English as well as other foreign languages.
Even though *The Exorcist* has not yet been released to the world, it is a good thing that there are people overseas who recognize my face.
In that way, the filming of *The Exorcist* began to show its end.
*The Exorcist* is scheduled to air next summer, and it will take some time for separate scripts to come in after people see *Prosecutor of Revenge* and *The Exorcist*.
It was about time to start looking for a new project.
***
After filming ended, I returned home, took a refreshing shower, and turned on the TV.
**[The Reverse Shop has new items in stock.]**
**[Would you like to check?]**
**[Yes] [No]**
Does this guy not know that blocking the screen while I’m watching a drama is against social etiquette?
Still, if new items have arrived in the shop, I should check them out.
When I opened the shop, I saw items similar to last time.
The lineup didn’t seem to have changed much . . .
While slowly checking the items from right to left, a new item in the center caught my eye.
**[Survivor Kit for Regressors * One-time Use]**
“A survivor kit . . . ?”
**[Opening the details window.]**
**[]**
**[]**
**[]**
**[]**
The item itself isn’t bad, but as long as it’s in the Reverse Shop, it’s hard to be certain if it will be helpful to me.
However, my public activities will soon increase, and I still have no memory of when the scandal that caused my death will break out.
“Life as a handsome man is truly exhausting.”
Furthermore, the price.
The binoculars or X-ray glasses I bought last time could be purchased for Health 0.1, but this is 0.5.
The shop will probably keep increasing the prices of items. I would do the same if I were them.
Then, this price that feels expensive now will surely feel cheap at some point in the future.
**[Would you like to purchase?]**
“I’ll buy it.”
**[Purchasing the Survivor Kit for Regressors for Health 0.5.]**
**[How many items from the kit would you like to check?]**
**[The first item you check must be used immediately upon opening.]**
“These guys always tell me the important stuff later. Just one for now. I’ll check just one.”
According to the schedule, if it isn’t today, it seems I’ll have to wait a while for a day to check the items comfortably.
The system window, which confirmed my words, went through a loading period for a while and then spat out a single black pill.
It was a pill the size of an ordinary cold tablet, but its pitch-black color made it look like something I shouldn’t eat.
“What is this?”
**[Opening the item details window.]**
**[]**
**[]**
**[]**
It said it was a customized kit, and it wasn’t kidding.
So far, most of the items that came to me were related to memories.
‘The last item was no help at all in revealing why I died, but this will be different.’
I swallowed the pill whole just like that.
And at that moment, I heard the sound of someone pressing the password on my door lock.
. . . So.
10 seconds.
*Beep—beep—beep—beep.*
‘Right now?’
*Click.*
9 seconds . . . 8 seconds . . . 7 seconds . . .
“Hey, Jeon Yeo-hoo, your big brother is here!”
I heard Jung Yoon-woo’s voice.
And the sound of shoes being taken off.
6 seconds . . . 5 seconds . . . 4 seconds . . . 3 seconds . . .
“What’s this? Why are you still in those clothes?”
“Why did you—!”
Before I could even kick Jung Yoon-woo out, I collapsed on the floor from a pain that felt like my heart was being torn apart.
“Gasp—!”
As my legs gave out while I clutched my heart, a panicked Jung Yoon-woo threw the plastic bag he was holding onto the floor and ran toward me.
“Hey! What! Are you okay? Hey!”
“Ah, damn it . . . why now . . . “
Along with the agonizing pain, the memories the system had thrown into the trash for me began to return.