LIGHTNOVELSTORY Chapter 7
UtopiaChapter 7. The Crazy Person in This Area is Me (2)
My strike lasted exactly 10 minutes.
[System Alert: The system also declares a strike….]
“Fine. Let’s all die together.”
[System Alert: You lunatic….]
“I’ll take that as a compliment.”
I could feel the system window trembling, but based on my experience over the past few days, it seemed this thing had no choice but to cooperate with me. After all, that ‘voice’ gave it to me to help, so it was only natural.
‘Whatever it is, I’ll squeeze every last thing I can out of this guy.’
The system kept displaying the message “…inputting” as if it were constantly calculating something. From experience, I knew that this was the right timing to pretend to back off a little.
“Listen up, system. Oh, is it okay if I call you ‘system’? There’s no better name I can think of.”
[System Alert: … (Wary of the Chosen Regressor)]
“I’m not asking for something omnipotent. I’m a very reasonable person, you know? But it’s just common sense that you’re being uncooperative right now. What’s the difference between having you and not?”
[System Alert: … (Remains on guard)]
“Let’s find a proper balance here. That’s what negotiations are all about, right? After all, it’s in everyone’s best interest if I complete this quest successfully, don’t you think? So, speaking of that…”
I laced my fingers together, smiling to lighten the tension. The system window crackled as it distorted.
“There’s something, right? A skill?”
[System Alert: … What do you mean?]
“You can use it, right? …That Chosen Regressor.”
When I bluntly demanded that it hand something over, the system had replied like this.
[System Alert: The (Fixed) Regressor is not provided with separate skills…]
“It’s not that there isn’t anything, but rather that the Fixed Regressor isn’t provided with them? Oh, that really hurts to hear. I’ve decided to stake my life and even mentor the Chosen Regressor, and this is how it is? So this is the discrimination against Regressors I’ve heard about. This really needs to make the news.”
The system window trembled more violently. With a kindly smile, I crossed my legs and propped up my chin. Kang Hajin’s Negotiation Principle No. 27: Always be in control. The start of that is always a relaxed posture and attitude.
“So, there are such things as skills, right? Doesn’t that mean we have a lot to discuss? In various ways.”
[System Alert: The system is terrified by the Fixed Regressor’s madness!]
“Yeah, let’s slowly get to know how crazy I am.”
* * *
Another 10 minutes later.
After concluding my ‘negotiation’ with the system, I was stretching my stiff neck when new information appeared on the system window, which had almost lost its original blue hue, looking utterly drained.
[System Alert: The skill system (Update!) has been registered.
-The ‘Kang Hajin’, a (Fixed) Regressor, can ‘self-generate’ skills necessary to complete quests.]
[System Alert: This is not a basic system patch for the user! (Error)]
[System Alert: A cost will be required when generating and using skills until the system patch stabilizes. (Penalty)]
[System Alert: Would you like to create a skill? (Y/N)]
I managed to extract the skill system by acting like a complete maniac who would go all the way, but I couldn’t avoid the penalty imposed due to forcibly bringing in a privilege that I originally didn’t have.
‘But this much should be manageable.’
If I compared it to a game, if the Chosen Regressor was the ‘player,’ I would be closer to the concept of an ‘NPC.’ It was the outcome I achieved by approaching it with that mindset.
Unlike players who ‘acquire’ skills through tutorials and the like, NPCs usually have skills pre-set. Although I couldn’t receive skills provided by the system, I figured I could at least set up the skill system using my own settings.
I pressed the skill creation button, thinking about what kind of skill I might need tomorrow. I had already been informed about the audition involving recording, so I had a rough idea of what might be useful.
A bomb detector? It’d be convenient to know which ones to pick and which to leave behind. But this seemed like it would be at cheat code level, and the cost would likely be high. On hold.
How about something like idol stats? Not bad, but it wasn’t a skill I could use right away since I hadn’t even become a trainee yet. Hmm. This one’s also on hold.
After much deliberation, I finally thought of a skill and entered it.
“Can that even work? A skill that lets me express whatever I think or say.”
[System Alert: More specific criteria are required to create a skill.]
“Like an expression booster. Whether it’s abstract or concrete, I want to express what I think and imagine through singing or dancing.”
[System Alert: Measuring the probability of skill creation….]
Since the ‘skill to create skills’ was definitely overpowered, it seemed like I couldn’t just create any skill I wanted, maybe to maintain balance. Watching the numbers scroll by, I patiently waited until the alerts started ringing in succession.
[System Alert: The skill content is effective for quest progression! The probability of creation increases. (Measuring….)]
[System Alert: Skill creation is possible!]
[System Alert: Would you like to create the skill
Why do you keep asking?
Without hesitation, I repeatedly hit Y.
* * *
Seo Taeil, the leader of Utopia and famously known among fans as the Crocodile PD, thought to himself.
‘What’s with that kid?’
The director, who personally cast Utopia’s members and was their manager during their rookie days, had practically begged him to come, so he showed up, but the truth was, he hadn’t been too keen on coming up until the last minute.
This test was something the director often used when he wanted to get rid of trainees he didn’t like.
‘I was tired of him using me as an excuse to kick the kids out, so I didn’t want to come.’
But unfortunately, Taeil, who had a strong desire to personally nurture Miro’s next idol someday, was very interested in potential candidates for future juniors.
‘I can’t just pick anyone, considering they might one day sing my songs.’
For that reason, Taeil had planned to walk out of the recording studio if today’s recording didn’t meet his expectations, regardless of whether that trainee was someone Renes barely managed to bring in.
Can’t you see it?
The reversed moon and sun,
A new universe awakens
The first step I’ve taken
Soon becomes history
Can you make it?
Can you come this far?
My endless racing
At the end of this world
I’ll become the era
That had been the plan until he saw that trainee effortlessly handle his debut song, one that even Utopia’s main vocalist took time to get the hang of.
‘Well, our fourth is still far superior in skill.’
In the first place, even comparing the skills of a 12-year veteran top idol’s main vocalist to those of a trainee—not even a trainee, but a trainee hopeful—was an insult to our fourth member. Thinking so, Seo Taeil, who was widely acknowledged as being hopelessly proud of his group, inwardly apologized to Utopia’s main vocalist, who had become a training room recluse, claiming he had lost his touch after being discharged from the military. Then, Taeil turned on the talkback mic.
“Try slurring the pronunciation a bit more on that ‘racing’ part. It needs to sound like it rhymes with ‘here.’”
“Ah, yes. I’ll try again.”
However, credit had to be given where it was due.
His natural tone and skills were not bad overall, and his vocal range was quite extensive. But if it had ended at just that, Taeil wouldn’t have hesitated to hand him taxi fare and send him home. His tone wasn’t exceptionally unique, nor were his skills mind-blowing.
‘But the way he takes direction is amazing.’
The point was that this trainee could almost perfectly interpret his directions with those materials. Taeil had given the direction to be “intense but not overwhelming, with a sense of rhythm while clearly pronouncing the words,” and Hajin had nailed it on the first try! Watching Hajin, Taeil couldn’t help but chuckle, thinking, *So that’s what talent is.*
The director, who had been watching the recording for a while, left the room with a bitter expression. Once he was completely out the door, Taeil playfully nudged the man sitting next to him.
“Congratulations, hyung. You won this time?”
“What are you talking about?”
“Oh, don’t play dumb. That kid, you’re the one who brought him in, right?”
Taeil shrugged, implying that Suho shouldn’t pretend not to know. The man beside Taeil, Team Leader Ji Suho, finally let out a deep sigh of relief, showing an expression of relief.
“Everyone knows that you and the director don’t get along. It was obvious that he set this up because he wanted to fail the kid you brought in.”
“Manager Jang is here, too. You shouldn’t talk nonsense.”
“Oh, I didn’t hear anything. I didn’t see anything. Please pretend I’m not here.”
When the most recent hot topic in the entertainment industry, Miro’s
political dynamics, came up, the quick-witted Manager Jang Seoyun turned her head and feigned disinterest. Suho, who had been slightly embarrassed, quickly regained his composure and asked Taeil quite seriously.
“So, what do you think? Is he good?”
“How could he not be? Just don’t let our fourth see him. He’ll dig himself into a hole again.”
“Even after 12 years, Hansol still does that?”
“With 12 years of experience under his belt, he must be really good at digging. He was the top shoveler in his military unit.”
Even as he shook his head in exasperation, a smile played at the corners of Taeil’s mouth. But his gaze remained sharp as he looked into the recording booth and spoke to Suho in a serious tone.
“You’ve got to bring that kid in, hyung. This time, I want to see a group made by you, not the director.”
“Hey, keep it down.”
With a grin, Suho turned on the talkback mic. Inside the recording booth, Hajin had just finished the song and was looking at them as if to say, ‘I know the recording was perfect even if you don’t say anything.’
“Yes, Kang Hajin. Good job.”
Finally, the audition was over.
* * *
[System Alert: The proficiency of the skill
[System Alert: The skill
[System Alert: A penalty has been triggered due to the creation of the skill
[System Alert: The mental care effect is temporarily weakened as a penalty.]
The devilish Seo Taeil.
The professor-like Seo Taeil.
During the break before the post-recording interview, I downed a bottle of water, mentally adding every vicious descriptor I could think of to curse Seo Taeil.
‘How many times did he make me go over and over the words to turn “become” into “not yet become” but make it sound like “becoming”….’
Even though he wasn’t watching the recording, he made me repeat a single word a hundred times. These Utopia guys who keep renewing their contracts because of their leader must be out of their minds.
‘…Should I start looking for a different agency?’
No matter how I looked at it, if I debut here, I’ll have to go through him at least one more time, and I wasn’t sure I could do this twice.
[System Alert: Further quest destruction is not permitted!]
“I’m not doing it, I’m not. That’s even more of a hassle.”
[System Alert: The system finds peace again.]
That thing is getting more talkative as time goes on….
I glanced at the system window and switched the display to check the penalty I had skimmed over earlier.
[System Alert: The mental care effect is temporarily weakened as a penalty.]
‘I don’t feel anything right now, though.’
I still believed I had regressed four times, and my mental state was fine, aside from the parts that had been battered by Seo Taeil.
“Hajin, I think you can go in now.”
“Oh, Manager Jang.”
Manager Jang, who had been talking with Miro’s interviewers while saying it was an adult conversation and sending me out, was now walking towards me.
“I have to head back to the company now. I think Manager Kim will give you a ride home.”
“I can go alone. Thank you so much for today.”
“No, Hajin, you did really well.”
Manager Jang gave me a look filled with a strange sense of regret, but then quickly reverted to her usual expression and extended her hand for a handshake.
“…Huh? Oh, yes.”
“No, hold out your hand.”
“Oh.”
…So that’s how it was. When I held her hand, she immediately let go and politely asked me to hold out my palm. Manager Jang smiled as she carefully placed something wrapped in fancy packaging in my hand.
“Open it when you get home later. There’s a huge fan of yours in our office. They begged me to give it to you.”
“A… fan? Me?”
A fan? What fan? I furrowed my brow, unable to make sense of what she was saying. Seeing my confusion, Manager Jang patted my shoulder and walked down the corridor, saying there was such a thing.
‘Who would be a fan of me?’
Even though she said to open it when I got home, my curiosity got the better of me, and I ended up unwrapping the package in the hallway. Inside the carefully opened gift box was an elegant chocolate set, along with a short card.
“I look forward to the day you’ll become a star!
– From someone who wants to be your No. 1 fan.”
“A… fan?”
I felt strange. It was like a sense of unreality was poking at my ribs.
Who on earth? How much could they have possibly seen of me to already call themselves my fan? And expecting me to become a star even though I’m not even a trainee?
It was then.
[System Alert: Due to the penalty, the control over your rationality and emotions is temporarily delayed! (Penalty)]
What?
“Ugh….”
Before I could fully comprehend what that meant, something surged up, and my eyes started to feel hot. What is this? Am I crying? I mean, I was touched, but not to the point of tears.
“Sniff, hic….”
But as the system window had warned, I started crying like a delicate flower, with my sensitivity suddenly boosted to 5,000%. All the while, I clutched the chocolate tightly, trying not to drop it, but this wasn’t something I could easily control.
Every time I looked at the chocolate and the card, tears welled up again. To stop the crying, I tilted my head back, looking up at the ceiling, when it happened.
“…Kang Hajin?”
Who the hell has such timing?
From the end of the hallway, Seo Taeil, who had been standing there for who knows how long, was staring at me with wide eyes.
“Are you crying right now?”
Oh, come on. Is this #misunderstanding genre?