[Would you like to check the details of this item?]
“Yeah.”
What I chose was the ‘Future Viewing Telescope – Regressor ver.’
Honestly, among all the items currently available at the Reverse Shop, this telescope was the only thing even remotely useful.
[Opening the details window.]
[]
[]
[]
[]
[]
Now it’s not even free?
Well, selling things for free in a shop is more suspicious anyway.
“What does Health 0.1 mean?”
[It is as stated. 0.1 of the buyer’s Health will be taken. If you purchase this item at a general store, you can buy it using points obtained from the Main Quest, but as a regressor, your Main Quest is……]
“Never mind that. How much is 0.1, anyway?”
[0.1 is……]
“0.1, what about it?”
[System business has ended. Please call again during business hours.]
“What?”
Seriously, they never make things easy.
I hesitated for a moment, but in the end, I bought the item.
I could have waited until morning to check and buy it, but I figured that losing 0.1 Health wouldn’t affect my body much anyway.
‘Even if it’s a bit much, there’s no guarantee that item will still be here tomorrow, and I need to see for myself how much 0.1 actually affects me, so it’s not a bad deal.’
The moment I pressed , I felt something drain from my body, followed by a brief chill—but it quickly passed.
After obtaining the telescope from the display shelf, I left the shop for now.
‘If this is what 0.1 feels like, it’s not so bad.’
Holding the telescope, I stood in front of the bathroom mirror.
I looked at my reflection in the transparent glass through the telescope.
What I saw through the lens was not myself in pajamas, but a version of me I [didn’t know], dressed in a black suit.
[The Future Viewing Telescope is in use.]
[Target regressor: Jeon Yeo-hu]
[Some fragments of the future related to ‘Jeon Yeo-hu after regression’ are being shown.]
—
“Mr. Joo Tae-gang, is it true you abused your position with Jeon Yeo-hu?”
“I won’t be taking any more questions about my personal life.”
One day before the broadcast of .
The day after the production announcement of a rival show.
It was the press Q&A session on the day of the production announcement.
It was supposed to start off with a friendly atmosphere, with laughter filling the room…
Joo Tae-gang’s face was twisted in a frown, visibly angry.
“Abuse of position? Me, to Jeon Yeo-hu?”
He was clearly displeased by the rumors, but in the photos published by reporters, it spread with completely different headlines like [Joo Tae-gang’s Private Life Exposed—Angered by Junior Abuse Accusation.]
“I heard you called Jeon Yeo-hu to your house separately to make him read scripts or sent him on coffee errands and made him do things he didn’t want to do.”
“That never happened.”
“No more questions about the actors’ private lives unrelated to the production.”
“Please, questions about the drama only—!”
“Is the drama team trying to cover up such an important issue?!”
The production announcement ended amidst a barrage of camera flashes.
The abuse of power accusations against Joo Tae-gang had suddenly become the hot topic during the production announcement.
Rumors mixed with bits of truth—some staff who knew what happened with Joo Tae-gang and Jeon Yeo-hu, and a few actors during preparations for —spread in strange directions.
And I could see the reactions of those reading the news.
@juju_taegang****
This isn’t true, it’s a lie
(Article link)
└ Denying reality is pretty funny lol
└ Yeah your favorite actor is an abuser lol
– His eyes always looked sharp, faces like that are stubborn and use violence when things don’t go their way, if you want a face reading contact me through my profile link
└ Why are you saying this after everything exploded?
└ For real lol, even I could say that after everything’s come out
– Damn, why do all the actors I pick keep getting into scandals?
└ Please stop being a fan, seriously……
And the fans going wild.
– Honestly, I feel like Joo Tae-gang will get caught for school violence someday…
└ I’ve come here on a pilgrimage
└ Pilgrimage 222
└ Please let my family live a long and healthy life
– But has Joo Tae-gang ever been controversial for abusing power before? Isn’t this the first time? Hmm… I don’t really know. Honestly, would someone abuse a junior who even attended his parent’s funeral?
└ They’re calling that abuse, too
└ Seriously, who goes to a senior’s parent’s funeral unless they want to? And voluntarily goes to their house to help rehearse and brings coffee and gathers actors for readings, all voluntarily? Would you do that if it was your boss? Go to their house with coffee because they’re sick, bring porridge, do unfinished work, deliver completed work to their home? Does that make sense?
└ lolololol great analogy lolololol
└ Honestly, I’d go to the funeral but to the house… that’s real abuse, right? Calling someone to your home?
└ Right… ha, he was my favorite actor, why did he do this ㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠ
– How would we know if the accusations about Joo Tae-gang are true? From some paparazzi photo of his private life;; does it make sense to be swayed by a scrap of paper like that?
└ Yeah f*** you, it’s because of people like you he’s still around~
└ (swearing emoji) X 10
└ Did you even like Joo Tae-gang for his personality? You just liked his face and acting;;; now you’re saying you believe or not, that’s so funny;; He hasn’t even posted a statement, what are you believing to write hate comments
└ The victim wouldn’t see it that way……
└ Wow, these are the people who call themselves fans, really perpetrator mindset in full display
Even the general public was angry over the abuse allegations.
—
“F***…”
What the hell just happened?
The moment I lowered the telescope, my legs gave out.
It wasn’t because of the lost 0.1 Health.
It was simply because the future I saw through the telescope was different from what I’d expected.
At the very least, I thought the future shown by this telescope would be related to my forgotten memories before regression, especially my own death.
After all, I had made no bad choices since my regression.
I had helped Joo Tae-gang avoid retirement, guided Ha Jae-ban in choosing an agency, and even fixed Lee Young-bin’s fatal flaw.
But to think even those choices would come back at me this way…
It didn’t make me feel helpless.
No, it just made me angry.
Does this damned life really bring controversy just from stepping a few feet outside the house?
Besides, it was only us—me and my fellow actors—who knew we’d gone to his house for script readings. That was a strict secret.
Of course, Joo Tae-gang might have told the director or writer a little for explanation, but it wasn’t likely he would’ve talked about it to people who’d write malicious articles.
“If I’ve regressed, shouldn’t it just be the old scandals that come out… What the hell is this?”
Almost as if it could read my anger, the system window that had just clocked out suddenly started working again.
[We did not interfere!]
[And the system is already merciful for not processing a regressor who gave up the Main Quest as dead.]
[That’s why we keep recommending you continue with the Main Quest……]
I know, I know.
“I get it, but it still pisses me off.”
I sank to the bathroom floor, running a hand through my hair.
[The used telescope will now disappear.]
“What?”
The telescope in my hand pixelated and vanished completely.
“It was disposable?”
Shouldn’t they have made it clear if it was single-use?
Luckily, the item description window appeared automatically, and I saw the telescope’s description as soon as I called for it.
Looking it over again, there was a line in very small letters: ‘This product is single-use.’
After that, honestly, I didn’t even want to think, so I just slept.
When I woke up, it was morning.
Lying in bed by the window, blue sky outside, I thought again about the future I saw through the telescope.
“Sigh.”
If it were me before regression, the answer would’ve been obvious.
‘I’d have ignored it and let the agency issue a statement. That’s easier.’
Admitting controversy or adding unnecessary comments is always a mistake. When contract penalty issues are involved, it’s best not to give any excuse for trouble.
Actually, the solution for this future scandal I’d seen was simple.
Since I wasn’t at fault, I just had to go to the production announcement—which I hadn’t planned to attend—and, when asked that question, simply reply, ‘That never happened.’
But would that really be enough?
Probably half the people wouldn’t believe my explanation.
What rookie actor would be honest in front of someone who bullied them? And if a rookie did say such a thing, they’d be blacklisted from the industry—so at best, the issue would stop escalating, but the suspicions wouldn’t disappear.
In other words, Joo Tae-gang’s image would stay bad, or get even worse.
It was the first trial I’d faced since starting this regressed life.
I had to make a choice I never would have before regression.
‘Is today Joo Tae-gang sunbae’s day off?’
After checking the time, I contacted him early in the morning.
—
6 AM.
A day with no scheduled work.
The time Joo Tae-gang usually wakes up.
The moment he gets up, he makes his bed and starts meditating.
After meditation, he drinks a glass of cold water and eats half an apple, then heads to the gym.
He starts with weight training, then moves on to cardio on an empty stomach.
Ten rounds of sprint intervals: running at max effort for three minutes, then resting, from level 3 to 10.
After checking his body in the mirror, he heads home again.
Once home, he makes a quick breakfast—chicken breast, spinach, tomato, eggs—and then reviews scripts or picks his next project.
If he really wants a full rest, he just sits on the sofa reading a book, or naps again to prepare for afternoon workouts.
That was the daily routine Joo Tae-gang kept.
Even on his days off, he started his day at 6 AM because no one would try to contact him at that hour.
At least until 8 or 9 in the morning, only his manager ever reached out.
After finishing his workout and returning home, Joo Tae-gang was chewing through breakfast as usual.
That’s when he got a message from his favorite junior, early in the morning.
[Jeon Yeo-hu, my bro: Sunbae.]
He even called him ‘sunbae’ and then didn’t send anything else for thirty minutes.
What on earth was he trying to say?