Am I seeing things right now?
Even after rubbing my eyes, the strange system window in front of me remained exactly where it was.
That stupid quest was still written on it.
[Give up acting! Give up being an actor!]
[Success Condition: You, who lost trust in the world because of acting! Your life has been void of trust! It’s not a wrong way to live… but the fact is, you died because of it! From now on, give up acting forever!!]
[If you continue acting, you will die at age 35 for the same reason as before your regression.]
“What kind of—.”
[If you give up acting, God’s blessing and a healthy life until age 90 will be guaranteed for you.]
So they forcibly revived me, forcibly erased my memories, and now, after clumsily returning them, this is what they say.
Give up acting and live a new life?
Now, after all this?
“Hah.”
I can’t help but laugh in disbelief.
The age listed on my status window.
Thirty-five.
Thirty-five was the age I died, right after receiving the Best Actor Award.
While resenting having become an actor.
‘So all those nightmares I’ve had were memories of that day, and memories from before the regression.’
But usually, in these situations, shouldn’t it be something like, ‘Become a national actor. If not, you’ll die!’? I read a novel like that before, didn’t I?
Suddenly, the system window shook as if an earthquake had hit.
[!That’s what a bad system would do!]
[Our system prioritizes the survival of regressors above all else. After a great many trials and errors, we analyzed what would be most beneficial for your survival!!]
[Don’t be fooled by those fakes!]
“What?”
[Regressor, do not doubt the system. The Regressor Survival System exists for your successful survival.]
[According to the analysis through Multi-Cycle Simulation Pro.ver, regressor Jeon Yeo-hoo always gets involved in the same incidents, makes the same choices, and dies at 35 for similar reasons.]
[Based on these conditions, we have selected the main quest most suitable for regressor Jeon Yeo-hoo.]
“So you’re saying that, in all those multi-cycle tests or whatever, I never once chose not to act?”
[You did not give up acting in any of the possibilities. And in the end, you died.]
“So, because I died in all those simulations, if I act, I’ll die?”
[Regrettably, your fragile nature cannot withstand your own choices. In the end, only long loneliness and death await you.]
“Yet that fragile bastard still chooses acting in every simulation?”
[…Even I find it amazing!!]
[Maybe ‘foolish’ is the right word!]
[Humans are truly fascinating creatures!]
Choosing acting over death, huh.
‘The simulation isn’t totally wrong, then.’
Now that my memories are back.
Even in this moment when I realize I’ve gained a new life through regression, I still don’t want to say I’ll give up acting.
If anything, I feel relieved.
I agonized so much about becoming an actor, all because of those damned nightmares without any clear reason.
[Would you like to check your acting talent through the status window?]
“You can show me that too? Sure, let’s see.”
[Name: Jeon Yeo-hoo]
[Talent: Acting (S++)]
[You have talent within the top 0.1% of both actors and non-actors.]
[Congratulations! You were born with the genius talent of an actor!]
…Are you mocking me?
“So, this isn’t even trying to push me to become an actor, huh.”
Top 0.1%.
A guy destined to die if he acts, but with acting talent in the top 0.1%.
The nightmares that used to be vague now turned into certain misery.
But.
Oddly, I felt like I could finally see what I needed to do.
“Hey.”
[Yes!]
If—
If this main quest and regression system truly exist for my survival.
“You said the system’s goal is to save me, right?”
If the dreams I had were really memories of a life I regretted as an actor—
[That’s right. The system always……]
“Then I refuse that quest.”
[…Excuse me?]
“Bring me a new quest—one I might actually want to do.”
This life, I’m not going to give up acting or the people beside me. I’ll survive.
“I’m going to be an actor in this life too.”
On this second chance, definitely.
“Bring me something new that will satisfy the regressor you’re so desperate to save.”
—
[Awaiting a response to your inquiry.]
[Wait time: Unknown]
As expected.
Seems the system has its pride too, since it didn’t immediately swap out the quest.
Changing my position, I crossed my arms and reread the status window with the quest still hanging there.
Just as the system said, my memories were back—but the most important memories, like why I died and the day I died, had not returned.
The scandal that caused my death, the person at the heart of that scandal, even what I thought about it—aside from a few names, it was all hazy.
‘This is driving me crazy.’
Does that mean the things I remember now have nothing to do with my death?
‘No, that’s not it.’
I recalled what the status window had said.
[Some memories that influenced your death before regression will be deleted.]
[ If you regain these memories now, your mind will not withstand it.]
[Deleted memories will be thrown in the trash.]
Some memories were deleted because my mind wasn’t ready to handle the shock yet.
The ones I got back are those I can handle, so I can’t say they’re completely unrelated to my death.
Depending on my actions, maybe even the deleted memories will return.
‘For now, as long as I live as an actor, I’ll naturally encounter those incidents and accidents again.’
There’s a chance my memories will return even before that.
‘But was I really that mentally weak? I’m not made of glass, so why would a few memories kill me?’
No, I should try to think positively.
Trying to recover all my memories right away, without even knowing why I died, wouldn’t be a wise move.
Besides.
It’s not like all the memories tossed in the trash are necessarily bad for me, right?
“Maybe it was the trash itself acting trashy that killed me.”
Not every scandal is always unjust—I know that better than anyone.
There are always people who use their power to cover up their own scandals.
After all, it’s never themselves who end up getting trampled.
Was I that kind of bastard?
‘No way I was trash to that extent… right?’
I recalled the only stat listed on my status window.
‘Acting talent… S++. ’
Thanks to regression, I was twenty-five, a time when I should’ve lost all the money I’d earned in the entertainment industry and been left with nothing, but since I hadn’t debuted, nothing had happened to my family either.
Since I wasn’t acting, my parents—who would’ve supported me in every way—were now running their own successful business.
Before regression, I started acting in my first year of middle school.
Aside from a very brief hiatus, I had almost twenty years of acting experience before I died.
I never truly quit acting, not once.
Even though I haven’t debuted yet in this life, I watched movies and dramas like a madman and racked up tons of stage experience at the Korea National University of Arts’ acting department.
I didn’t get my name in the pamphlets, and only took on minor roles, but that let me study way more characters than most people.
But now, they say if I act again, I’ll die at thirty-five. That’s a 100% guarantee.
Now, after dying with so many regrets and getting a second chance, it finally hits me.
…But.
I don’t know.
Not all my memories are back, so I don’t feel like a new person, and realizing that everything I saw in my dreams was real annoys me.
Especially—
‘Jung Yun-woo, if you’ve made your money, quit whining.’
‘What…?’
‘People don’t change, Min Tae hyung, you know that if you’ve been around long enough, right?’
‘Stop talking about that kid already. You’re all the same, you bastards. Whether it’s me or you, we all run our filthy mouths—so much talk for people like us.’
‘If you’ve got a brain, try using it for once.’
With garbage memories like these popping up unexpectedly, even more so.
If I died regretting my life, then that means I thought the way I lived was wrong.
If acting again means I’ll die, that means repeating my old ways will lead to the same end.
Was I really wrong? Me?
I always thought I was right.
I looked up at the system window.
[Awaiting a response to your inquiry.]
[Wait time: Unknown]
[While waiting for a reply, please refrain from acting as much as possible!]
Who knows when the new quest will come.
For now, there’s only one thing I can do.
Not worrying, not regretting.
‘Acting.’
The only thing that’s always been by my side in this life is acting.
[While waiting for a reply, please refrain from acting as much as possible!!!!]
Stop talking. I’m not listening.