"Gasp!"
Breath burst out of me. My lungs hurt as if they were tearing apart, like I'd barely surfaced from underwater.
"I'm alive……."
At least I was alive. First, I needed to call 119—
"Wait."
My hand stopped.
Nothing. No rain, no cars, nothing at all.
Endless darkness surrounded me, as if I were trapped somewhere.
"What is this……."
I hurriedly pinched my cheek.
"It doesn't hurt?"
It was a dream! Of course. What a terrible nightmare.
All I had to do was wake up.
There would be no horrific accident, I-yul would be fine, and I'd go back to my ordinary life.
"Whatever this is, I'm staying away from that cursed event."
But even after a long while, nothing changed.
"……Am I really dead?"
Then again, it would've been stranger to survive an accident like that.
So this was what the afterlife looked like.
"Ha. If you're going to take me, hurry up. Heaven, hell, wherever……."
The moment I muttered that to myself—
POP—!
With a loud sound, everything around me lit up for an instant.
"Argh!"
There was a light so intense it threatened to blind me, followed by a sound effect out of nowhere.
BA-BA-BAM—!
"……Huh?"
[Congratulations!]
For what?
[The first deceased soul to win in 100 years, number 392849384…….]
The mysterious status window began reciting numbers without end. As it went on, it somehow looked pitiful, as if it were panting for breath.
"What?"
Then a crudely drawn animation played in the status window. The King of the Underworld spun a roulette wheel bearing the names of the dead, and the winner received a "Wish Ticket for the Dead," which could grant one wish. That was the story.
[You're one incredibly lucky soul! A Wish Ticket for the Dead is normally awarded about once every 100 years. But the previous winner used it improperly, so the ticket was taken back, and now you're the lucky new winner!]
'Is this how my wish to win the lottery comes true?'
But what was this "improper use" about?
[The chosen deceased soul, Yu Seong-woo, may make one wish.]
Well, it didn't matter. What mattered was that I'd been given an unbelievable opportunity.
"C-can I make a wish about someone's life?"
[Of course. The King of the Underworld's wishes have no limits!]
"Did Kang I-yul die too?"
Please, please say no.
[Two people died in the accident: Yu Seong-woo and Kang I-yul. Juhan, Choi Un-jo, and Han Sang-yun are in danger, but they're still alive!]
"...What?"
For a moment, I went blank.
"That basXard Go Jae-seong is the only one who's completely fine?"
They say insults make people live longer. I should've insulted that bastard a little less.
"Can you turn back time?"
The status window caught my intention and asked me a question in return.
[Do you want to make it so the accident never happened?]
"Yes. All I have to do is stay away from the event, right?"
[Even if time is turned back, the future will repeat unless the "underlying cause" is removed.]
"The underlying cause……."
Sadly, I didn't need to think long.
Why had Impacter taken a last-minute gig at an event out of town? There was only one answer.
"……Because they're a flop group."
Then as long as "Impacter is a flop group" remained true, Kang I-yul and I would die one way or another, wouldn't we?
I remembered the bitter posts from fans on social media, asking whether being a flop group was so wrong that they deserved to die for it.
Of course, there were several reasons the group had failed. Lousy planning, styling, and song quality.
But the main cause was obvious.
Go Jae-seong's scandal. The fallout from the half-baked explanation and painfully slow response had swallowed the whole group.
But the other four, who'd suffered so much because of that bastard, were caught up in a fate that could get them killed?
"That's too unfair."
My fists were trembling before I knew it. When the rush of anger passed, only cold reality remained.
Slowly, I said the answer aloud.
"I can—I can take his place."
If Go Jae-seong, the one who'd caused the scandal, disappeared, the group wouldn't fail. If the group didn't fail, that horrific accident wouldn't happen either.
But the status window saw through my thoughts again.
[A fate that has already been set cannot be changed.]
A fate already set…….
"So I can't change Impacter after they've debuted. I have to go back to before their fate was set."
In that case, there was only one way.
"…The survival show!"
[1 minute remaining.]
'What is this, a fan signing?'
I revised the sentence in my head again and again.
I couldn't make a mistake. I had only one chance.
"Turn back time four years, and let me take part in the debut survival show 'Boys Code' with Kang I-yul."
If I couldn't join Impacter in Go Jae-seong's place after their debut, I'd enter the survival show from the start, push him out, and become an Impacter member myself.
I'd never dreamed of becoming an idol, not once. But I wanted this more desperately than anyone.
Both my life and Kang I-yul's were at stake.
'Right. If Go Jae-seong could debut, why can't I?'
"This time."
If he was celebrating the fact that he'd survived alone, I hoped he'd enjoy it to his heart's content. It would be the last happiness he'd get.
"I'll be the one to debut."
To save Kang I-yul.
[Executing the wish of deceased soul "Yu Seong-woo": "Turn back time four years, and let me take part in the debut survival show with Kang I-yul."]
[Good luck!]
As darkness returned, my body plunged down without end.
***
"……Gasp!"
I sat up, gasping for breath.
Was I in the afterlife again?
SMACK!
"Oof!"
My back stung as if it had been split open.
What was that? That familiar slap from a palm could only be…….
"You're finally up? You said you had to leave early!"
"……Sis?"
It was my only blood relative, Yu Seong-a.
"Yes, I'm your older sister. Who else would I be?"
I rubbed my eyes hard, unable to believe it. I closed them and opened them again, but she was still there.
"W-what year is it?"
"Seong-woo, you're being an even bigger pain than usual today. Are you really one of the top students at your school?"
"..."
"Or does your school only have ten students?"
"Sis, how old are you now?"
"Can't you count? I'm seven years older than you. Twenty-six."
I'd become seven years younger than my sister, who'd been just one year older than me.
I slowly turned my head and picked up my phone.
July 6, 202X. It really was four years ago.
"……How old am I now?"
Yu Seong-a looked at me as if I were hopeless.
"What's wrong with him this morning? You're seriously going to be late."
BANG. The door shut.
And as soon as Yu Seong-a was gone, the status window appeared as if it had been waiting.
[S: Time has been turned back four years in accordance with the wish of deceased soul "Yu Seong-woo."]
"You could've told me that before my sister hit me."
[S: ……Displaying Yu Seong-woo's basic information.]
[S: For the smooth fulfillment of your wish, the status window will take the form of a game interface familiar to Yu Seong-woo.]
Did it just ignore me?
[Name: Yu Seong-woo
Age: 19
Height: 178 cm
Weight: 65 kg]
"Ha……."
I'd suddenly become nineteen.
'A twenty-nine-year-old could never enter an idol survival show?'
The King of the Underworld was realistic in the strangest ways.
"……If you were going to make me younger anyway, you could've made me younger than this."
I was right at the upper age limit for an idol debut.
It was absurd, but I had to accept the reality in front of me. My back still smarted where Yu Seong-a had hit it.
I cautiously went over to the mirror. The dark circles from years of working through the night were gone, as were my sunken cheeks. A smile came naturally when I saw my face, smooth and shiny as a peeled egg. I grinned so widely I could see my uvula, then suddenly caught a glint inside my mouth.
"Whoa."
There was one thing I'd forgotten.
"I didn't think even this would be recreated."
At nineteen, I'd been wearing braces. It took me by surprise, but an idol with braces had a market, surprisingly enough.
"Okay. Not bad."
The real problem was something else: this flimsy body without a scrap of muscle.
"Do you have any idea how hard I worked for that body—"
Just thinking about the money I'd spent on protein brought me close to tears.
Setting my regret aside, I took stock of the situation.
1. I had returned to four years ago.
2. I alone had the body I'd had at nineteen.
3. Nix Entertainment's in-house survival show would begin in a week.
In that case, the first thing I had to do was—
"Hey! Aren't you going to the company?"
BANG!
Yu Seong-a shouted at me through the open doorway.
"The company?"
Why would a high schooler go to a company—
Yu Seong-a frowned. She'd told me that was the face she made when I talked nonsense.
"Don't tell me all that fuss you made about getting scouted on the street was a lie."
At that moment, something clicked in my head.
An employee had handed me a business card on the street a week ago. It had said "Nix Entertainment."
A contract, a practice room, the survival show.
The memories I'd forgotten came rushing back all at once.
"Holy shit."
The King of the Underworld's after-sales service was thorough.
***
One good thing about Impacter being a flop group: Nix Entertainment hadn't moved offices in four years.
The moment I pushed through the same glass door I'd known before returning to the past—
[Risk Level: 90% (▼2%)]
"It went down."
For the first time since I'd returned.
The number that hadn't budged had changed.
'What's it based on?'
I didn't know, but even the name "Risk Level" made me uneasy.
'How about an explanation?'
[S: Excessive information may induce panic.]
[S: Necessary information will be provided at the appropriate time.]
"...You sure know how to talk."
In other words, it wasn't going to tell me. I swallowed a sigh and went inside.
Below the familiar Nix Entertainment logo stood row upon row of signed CDs from famous singers.
There was casting director Song In-hyeok, who'd recruited all sorts of famous idols at a major agency, and visual director Kwon Jae-hyeok, whose outstanding aesthetic sense had won him praise.
Their management had grown increasingly hopeless, so people called them "Talent"—a derisive nickname combining the "In" from In-hyeok and the "Jae" from Jae-hyeok—more often than they used their names. Before founding Nix, though, the two had been a famous duo known for their ability in the idol industry.
So this was what the lobby looked like. For a moment, I imagined the sight Kang I-yul must have seen every day on his way in.
'I can't believe I'm walking in here.'
An employee showed me to the practice room.
As soon as I opened the door, I scanned the people inside, but I couldn't see the face I was looking for.
'Why…… Why is Kang I-yul the only one missing?'
My heart sank.
Just then—
"As we announced, we have an important notice today."
Song In-hyeok entered the practice room.
"Starting next week, we'll hold an in-house survival show to select the debut lineup."
The room stirred.
"A survival show?"
Song In-hyeok looked around at the trainees, then spoke again.
"And the entire process will be broadcast on C-Net."
This time, the noise was closer to cheering than murmuring.
"Th-that's crazy."
"We're going to be on TV!"
"Whoa……."
Everyone was excited, but I felt as if I were in another world.
'No, but where on earth is Kang I-yul—'
I was so anxious I could hardly stand it.
That was when it happened.
CREAK— The practice room door opened again.
"I'm sorry. I'm a little late."
A familiar voice.
My heart reacted to those words before the rest of me did.
The moment I turned my head, my eyes met the person standing by the door.
Kang I-yul. Kang I-yul, alive.