The place Lee Young-bin brought us to.
“This is my recommended grilled chicken joint!”
It was the same chicken restaurant Jung Yun-woo had brought me to before.
Is this place really that popular?
Lee Young-bin, ordering the three-person set with tuna rice balls, drinks, and soju as if he did it all the time, led the conversation.
Seeing him like this, he didn’t seem shy at all. He just seemed to get tense only when acting.
Come to think of it, have I seen these two somewhere before?
They’re not the kind of guys who would be lacking in skill wherever they go.
‘Well, it’s not like the entertainment industry guarantees success just because you’re a bit good.’
Let’s not pay any more attention. They’re people I had nothing to do with before.
Thanks to the system, I remembered actors and staff I’d been close with before my regression, but I had never met these two.
…To be honest, there weren’t many people I’d been close with.
‘It’s not like I had any reason to get close in the first place.’
There are actors who keep in touch after a project, while others completely cut ties once it’s over.
I was the latter.
Even if you become close, it’s only used to show off on variety shows.
I almost never talked about other actors on TV.
I hated being held responsible for what I said, and showing off my connections only made things complicated when other actors got into trouble.
-The actors who used to be close with this guy: Kim ○○, Park ○○, Joo ○○, etc. They say birds of a feather flock together, but if you talk about it on TV, people already know, LOL
Just imagining it makes me suddenly tired.
‘Let’s just get along, but only moderately.’
As soon as I took a sip of the drink Lee Young-bin placed in front of me, I almost spat it out.
The system window I’d been waiting for suddenly appeared, flashing before my eyes.
“Wait… I need to use the restroom for a moment.”
“Sure, go ahead!”
—
As soon as I entered the most secluded stall in the bathroom, I checked the system window again.
[The Main Quest’s second offer has arrived.]
[Main Quest: Give up acting! Give up being an actor!]
[If you continue acting, you will die at 35 for the same reason as before your regression.]
[Success Condition: Give up acting forever.]
“Ha….”
Is this thing dumb or what?
Aren’t you supposed to be some future robot or system or whatever?
If I said I don’t want to do it, you should go, ‘Ah, this person doesn’t want to,’ and bring me something new, not bring me the exact same thing.
[Regressor-nim!! It’s not the same!]
“…?”
Suddenly, the system window flashed even more.
It even shot off fireworks.
Is this thing really crazy?
[For giving up acting forever, you will be granted divine luck and a healthy life until the age of +100.]
[That’s a full 10-year extension on your life!]
Wow… This is actually tempting.
[Additionally, a preview memory will be provided.]
[If you see how terrible the future is, we believe you’ll reconsider.]
“…In the bathroom?”
[Due to shock, you may briefly lose consciousness.]
[Loading memory.]
In the bathroom?
[Loading complete!]
“Hey, wait—!”
—
I saw
the memory.
“…Damn.”
I felt like puking.
This is me? Am I really this piece of trash?
My head hurt, my memories were jumbled, my chest was tight.
I couldn’t even move a finger.
Just lying there in a bag, I looked up at the sky.
I’d recovered a few more memories.
The sky was so dark, not a single star, just endless emptiness—it looked exactly like my life.
‘Huh?’
I can see the sky?
Didn’t I pass out in the bathroom?
……
This is crazy.
What the hell happened?
“Hyung! Are you okay?!”
“Are you alright?”
As my head spun, I heard Lee Young-bin and Kim Woon-yul calling out to me. I thought it was a hallucination, but seeing their faces blocking out the sky, I guess it wasn’t.
“Are you really that sensitive to alcohol? You passed out after just one drink.”
“Maybe so!”
“Or maybe you’re sensitive to dopamine?”
“That could be it!”
Kim Woon-yul and Lee Young-bin, who seemed to have become friends at some point, bantered easily as they helped me up.
Judging by their words, I must have been out for quite a while.
And the sight they found was me sprawled out with the trash.
Thankfully, I didn’t have vomit or other garbage stuck to my clothes.
‘Still, these guys are something else. Did I really disappear for that long that they came searching all the way here?’
“You were gone for thirty minutes, so we searched everywhere.”
Oh.
They’re not the weird ones—I’m the crazy one.
I went missing for thirty minutes, wasn’t in the bathroom where I said I was going, and was found passed out in front of the trash across the street. I was definitely the one off my rocker.
“Sorry. I haven’t had a drink in a while, so I guess I lost myself for a bit…”
“Oh, don’t mention it! They say falling asleep soundly when you’re drunk is the best kind of drunken habit. You slept so well, even there! It’s much better than insomnia!!”
Lee Young-bin will definitely do well in society.
“I agree. It’s a lot better than getting violent or breaking things or hitting someone. Look at the garbage bag! Not a scratch on it!”
You too, Kim Woon-yul.
“Hyung! Can you walk? Or should I carry you?!”
“No, I’m fine.”
I stood up fine, but after lying on the damp ground full of trash and puke for so long, I reeked.
It’d be a nuisance to make someone else carry me like that.
“Then take off your jacket and wear mine! I was going to take it off anyway, since I was feeling hot on the way home.”
Ah, the tearful etiquette of the Eastern Land of Courtesy.
Lee Young-bin said a good-looking guy like me shouldn’t be made a fool of, and draped his jacket over me.
“Thanks. I can’t… really refuse…”
Refusing the jacket when I smelled like a trash can outside a bar would’ve been over the top.
After that, we wrapped up the drinking session and headed home.
“Well, today was fun.”
“Everyone, get home safe!”
“Yes! Let’s all message in the group chat when we get there!”
As soon as I got home, I jumped into the shower. The smell was so bad I felt like I’d forget even the few memories I’d managed to recover.
After washing up, I sat down and opened my laptop to organize the memories I’d just gotten back.
This time, the memories seemed to be from… a far-off future.
More precisely, they were related to Park Min-tae.
[Yeohu, I’m telling you, it’s fine. I trust you, and you can do it too.]
[I know. When I think about it rationally, I haven’t done anything wrong. Sigh… Hyung. I really don’t get why people are so emotional. My blood pressure’s rising. Damn it, what do they want me to do?]
[It’s the fate of a star. People are always harsher on others. There’s a reason people say, ‘If I do it, it’s love; if someone else does it, it’s an affair.’]
[Sigh… So what about Jung Yun-woo?]
[Yun-woo changed his number. You said you didn’t need it.]
[Yeah. I can’t treat him any more special than the others. I’ve cut off all the rest, too. Gotta be fair.]
[…Yeah, Yeohu. You’re starting a new project, so don’t spend too much time online. Just focus on acting. I’ll take care of Yun-woo.]
Then, the scene instantly changed.
In front of a funeral home.
Park Min-tae, who had been comforting me, was now smoking a cigarette.
Wearing a black suit, Park Min-tae spoke.
[Yeohu, do you remember? Back when you were in your twenties, I put you in a drama.]
[Yeah, I remember.]
[Right. Do you remember how you were back then?]
[I don’t know. Why are we talking about me? What do you want me to say?]
[I liked you back then.]
[…]
[You didn’t care what others thought, you just acted, your eyes sparkled because you wanted to do so much. You had no money, your family was ruined, you had nothing, but you still shone brighter than you do now.]
[So why are you talking about this now—]
[I’m telling you I liked you, Yeohu. If you keep living like this, there’ll be no one left at your side. Even this rough talk—it’s all because you want to seem strong. Hey, Yeohu. Let’s be honest.]
[What are you talking about? Just finish your cigarette and go inside. I’m leaving.]
[Yeohu! Don’t make me regret this!]
[…]
[I didn’t stick around so you’d end up like this.]
[Main Quest: Give up acting! Give up being an actor!]
[If you continue acting, you will die at 35 for the same reason as before your regression.]
[Success Condition: Give up acting forever.]
[Do you accept the main quest?]
As if it knew I was reviewing my memories, the system window popped up again, asking if I wanted to accept the main quest.
“So if I keep acting, I’ll end up like that with Park Min-tae, and you just wanted to show me that? I’ll become that kind of trash and regret it and die?”
[Correct.]
[Moreover, that incident is deeply connected to Jeon Yeohu’s death.]
[This system always prioritizes the regressor’s survival.]
[Truly.]
[Treasure the second chance you’ve been given.]
[Do you accept the main quest?]
Now it’s threatening me.
After a long pause, I finally spoke.
“I…”
—
In the end, I didn’t accept the quest.
‘You showed me that because you think that incident is what’s going to kill me, right? Then I just have to make sure it doesn’t happen. Me. In this life, I just have to not mess up like that. If I do things well enough, it’ll be fine.’
The system fell silent again, and the waiting timer appeared once more.
‘Whatever. Let’s just see what happens.’
And so, without getting a new quest, the day of the drama’s script reading approached.
There were script readings that the supporting cast could skip, but for this drama, all supporting actors with scenes overlapping the leads were to attend.
Jung Yun-woo came over to my place the day before, and we had dinner and practiced our lines together. Unlike me, who dies early on, Jung Yun-woo had a few scenes in the later episodes, so he helped me practice my partner’s lines.
The amount of dialogue we had was about the same, so there wasn’t anything to feel bad about.
The reading was scheduled for a meeting room in the studio, but since there were so many people, they’d rented a seminar room at another business center.
On the day of the reading.
Thanks to Jung Yun-woo, I arrived at the venue thirty minutes early.
With Jung Yun-woo making friendly rounds and greeting everyone, I ended up leaving a good impression as well.
How did I act before my regression…?
Now that I think about it, I was even more of a jerk back then, so I stopped thinking about it.
I’d gotten up too early, and while I was secretly yawning, the writer came over to say hello. She looked even more haggard than she had at the audition.
“Yeohu, you’re here?”
“Hello, Writer. You look very tired. Must have been a lot of work up until yesterday.”
“There’s so much to revise at this stage. Even after today’s reading, I’ll have to fix awkward parts again. The revision hell…”
“Hmm…”
Kim Hye-mi asked,
“Yeohu? Do you have something to say?”
“No, I was thinking of offering you some vitamins, but that could be misinterpreted by others, so all I can give is my thanks.”
She almost got swept up in a scandal before, after all.
Kim Hye-mi covered her mouth, smiling as if pleased.
At least I seem to have made a favorable impression.
“You think about things like that? Looks like Yeohu won’t get caught up in any scandals.”
“I’ll do my best not to be a burden to the drama.”
“If you act like you did at the audition, my reputation will be safe. You’re the best I’ve seen among rookies.”
She nudged my side, whispering. Since that conversation on the subway, she seemed to think well of me.
Whatever she saw in that conversation, I don’t know.
“You don’t believe me?”
“Pardon?”
“When I said you’re the best at acting. That look on your face says so.”
Don’t believe it?
How could I not?
Of course, I’m the best at acting.
Do I have to spell out what’s obvious?
Kim Hye-mi looked at me even more pitifully.
“Yeohu, you can have confidence. When this drama ends, you’ll definitely get more roles you can handle. Okay? Fighting! Repeat after me! Fighting!”
“Fa… fighting.”
“Nice!! That’s the spirit!! Now have a seat. You must be tired from greeting everyone.”
As Kim Hye-mi said, I sat in the chair with my name on it.
Since I had a lot of lines at the beginning, I was seated close to the leads for today.
I placed my very first script book for this life, with the drama title written on the cover, on the desk.
Drama .
A mystery drama about a protagonist who dreamed of becoming a lawyer, but after a friend’s death and the secrets entangled in it, becomes a prosecutor and uncovers secrets about himself along the way.
The actor for the male lead ‘Yoon Sung’ was Joo Tae-gang, a pretty popular actor with a striking face.
But didn’t this guy get a bunch of bad rumors around this time and then stop appearing in other projects?
‘Was that after filming ? I hardly knew this drama before my regression, so I can’t gauge the timing.’
At twenty-five, I was busy with debt and part-time jobs, barely scraping by, so I didn’t have the energy to watch anything other than the dramas I auditioned for, and my memory isn’t good enough to remember random drama titles I glimpsed online.
‘If I don’t remember it, it must not have been a big hit.’
Probably best not to get close to Joo Tae-gang.
He’ll disappear anyway… and my life is hanging by a thread too.
“Hello~!”
Joo Tae-gang entered, arms wide, greeting loudly.
He exchanged friendly greetings with the writer, the PD, the director, and various staff.
Apparently, he’d worked with some of them before.
I was dragged along by Jung Yun-woo to introduce myself.
“Hello, sunbae. I’m Jeon Yeohu, playing Cha Hae-jun this time.”
“Cha Hae-jun? My college buddy? There’s quite an age gap, but let’s get along, friend.”
Joo Tae-gang is thirty now. I’m twenty-five.
Is that really such a big difference?
“Yes, I look forward to working with you.”
I don’t know what was wrong with my answer, but Joo Tae-gang just turned away and left.
Not sure what I did wrong, but I sat back down, standing up every time a new actor came in to greet them with Jung Yun-woo.
At this rate, if people keep coming, I might die just from all the greetings. Or my back will give out.
Not long after Joo Tae-gang arrived, another lead, Han Se-rang, came in.
Han Se-rang was also the same age as Joo Tae-gang, known for top-tier acting among peers.
Maybe it’s because it’s Kim Hye-mi’s drama, but all the cast are solid actors.
The only real newbies are me, Jung Yun-woo, and a few minor supporting actors with only a couple of lines in the back row.
What worries me is that, even with a drama at this level… I still don’t remember it.
‘Why can’t I remember?’
No matter how busy I was then, with this lineup, I should at least remember it. It must’ve had a huge promotional push.
It wasn’t a drama I acted in, and I wasn’t friends with the two leads, so it’s not likely the memory got erased for personal reasons.
‘If the drama flopped, then maybe…’
But with Kim Hye-mi writing and Joo Tae-gang and Han Se-rang starring, it should’ve worked out.
Wait.
Something’s…
Coming back.
I didn’t watch the drama, but I vaguely recall seeing a news article.
‘Joo Tae-gang wasn’t the lead.’
Back then, it was a different singer who starred.
‘The article said the drama had a 0% viewer rating.’
It’s not that I have a prejudice against idols or singers acting.
If they can act, anyone can be a lead.
But that guy was a terrible actor.
So why is Joo Tae-gang the lead now instead of that guy?
It’s still just the reading. The lead can be changed at this stage, but right now, Joo Tae-gang is the main star.
He’s the face of this drama.
‘Did the scandal happen around this time?’
What’s going to happen with this drama, anyway?