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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 33
Chapter Title: System Error
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“……”
Rurika stared at Hye-sung without a word before turning her head away. She must have realized her mistake when practice suddenly became difficult after thinking she’d improved, but it seemed her pride was too hurt to ask to switch back.
‘She still hasn’t learned her lesson.’
Hye-sung simply focused on mastering her new part.
* * *
Late at dawn.
Hye-sung, having returned after practice, carefully opened her door.
The quiet room was filled only with the sound of soft, even breathing.
All her roommates were already fast asleep.
‘Looks like everyone came back early today.’
During the midterm evaluation, the opposing team had received better feedback than the Fun&Cool team. Because of that, the other team’s members seemed to have let their guard down, thinking they were ahead.
‘Did they see us getting scolded and think we’d be an easy win?’
Hye-sung recalled the other team’s performance from the evaluation.
‘Hmm…’
Aiming for a “refreshing vs. spicy” theme, the opposing team’s name was “So Spicy.”
‘Honestly, I don’t know who will win. To increase our team’s chances, we can’t just leave Rurika as she is.’
She had planned to switch parts back if Rurika admitted her mistake and apologized for being stubborn, but that didn't seem likely to happen.
‘…This is so frustrating.’
Her mind was in turmoil. The person who had benefited from her sacrifice was cluelessly getting greedy for parts, while she herself was being seen as an insincere trainee in front of everyone.
Getting scolded by Minty, in particular, was so upsetting and unfair that she’d lost all will to even use her delusions for mind control.
‘Just don’t think about anything and go to sleep…’
She closed her eyes, intending to fall asleep, but a short while later, she heard the door open.
“Eonni, are you asleep? It’s me.”
Startled by the familiar, whispering voice, Hye-sung turned her head. When she switched on the lamp by her bed, she saw Na Yeon-woo crouched there, hugging a pillow. Na Yeon-woo spoke carefully in a small voice.
“I was worried. You were crying earlier.”
“I was…?”
Right after they’d swapped parts, Hye-sung had ducked into the restroom for a moment to calm her anger. She had shed tears then, but to say she’d been *crying* wasn’t quite right. She’d just been trembling with rage, and the pressure building behind her eyes had forced out a few tears. It seemed Na Yeon-woo had interpreted it differently.
“Come on in. You’ll wake the others.”
Hye-sung scooted over to make space. Once Na Yeon-woo was on the bed, she pulled the covers up over their heads.
“Why do you think I was crying?”
“It was just a feeling I got when you came back to the practice room… And your eyes were all watery.”
‘So that’s why. I thought she kept glancing at me during practice. And why she rushed over to give me a massage. She thought I was crying because I was upset about losing my part.’
“Yeon-woo, I wasn’t crying. My eyes were dry, so I used some eye drops. You must have misunderstood.”
“Really?”
It was dark under the covers, so her expression wasn't visible, but Na Yeon-woo didn't seem to believe her.
“It’s true. You don’t have to worry. And don’t you dare think this happened because you didn’t give up the center position. Seeing you with that pillow, I’m guessing you plan to sleep here, right? Let’s just get some sleep.”
“Liar.”
“Hm?”
“You’re crying right now.”
In the darkness, Na Yeon-woo reached out and lightly brushed Hye-sung’s eyes.
“You’re crying.”
“No, I’m not…?”
Wondering if it was true, Hye-sung touched her own eyes.
But there were no tears.
“You’re crying on the inside. Do you think I wouldn’t know that?”
“What are you talking about? I told you I’m not crying…”
“You’re such a bad liar.”
Na Yeon-woo let out a small, dry chuckle before asking in a serious tone.
“Hey, Eonni. Can I ask you something?”
“What is it?”
[System Error! Abnormal activity detected!]
Along with the sudden status window notification, incomprehensible words spilled from Na Yeon-woo’s lips.
“Why did you turn it back?”
“What?”
[System Error! Analyzing cause of interference…]
‘What is happening right now? What is Yeon-woo talking about?’
[…Cause indeterminable. Searching for a solution.]
“Answer me, Eonni.”
“I don’t know what you mean…”
“You don’t know.”
Her voice was cold and pressing.
In the darkness, her eyes seemed to gleam ominously.
[Initiating System Data Recovery Mode.]
[Recovery in progress…]
‘Wait, what are you doing on your own? What’s a recovery? What’s going on…!’
Hye-sung’s eyes darted desperately toward the status window, demanding an answer, but no explanation appeared.
[Recovery in progress…]
“Eonni, what are you so focused on? You’re talking to me right now.”
It was definitely Na Yeon-woo’s voice, but it was a chilling tone, completely devoid of warmth. She was so different from the usual Na Yeon-woo.
It was an unsettlingly alien feeling, as if another person’s personality had been mixed in. Hye-sung felt it instinctively. The person before her was not the Na Yeon-woo she knew.
“Are… are you Yeon-woo?”
“Who else would I be?”
Na Yeon-woo stroked Hye-sung’s eyes again as she asked in a low voice. The fingertips on her face were as cold as a blade, making Hye-sung flinch. Na Yeon-woo stopped caressing her and added.
“It’s the Yeon-woo you cherish so much.”
[Recovery in progress…]
“You can’t even recognize me when I’m right in front of you?”
“……”
Completely bewildered by the situation, Hye-sung could do nothing but push away the cold hand on her face.
[Recovery in progress…]
“…Fine. If you don’t want to answer, I’ll ask something else. Why are you so…”
[Recovery complete! System error successfully resolved.]
* * *
The next morning.
Na Yeon-woo, who had fallen into a dead sleep the moment the recovery was complete, had no memory of the previous night’s events.
“Hye-sung Eonni, why am I sleeping here?”
“You came to find me, Yeon-woo. Don’t you remember?”
“I don’t know. I thought I slept in my own bed… Did I start sleepwalking or something?”
She didn’t even know why she’d slept in another room. It seemed the recovery process had wiped not only her memories from after the error occurred but also those from just before it.
‘Is she really okay? I’m worried. All because I went and changed the world…’
Hye-sung’s choice to reshape the world had brought about several changes, but this was the first time a person had been so directly affected. There was no guarantee that a problem like this wouldn’t happen again.
‘I guess swapping dreams and reality wasn’t as simple as flipping my hand over.’
Come to think of it, she had already experienced another side effect.
That strange dream she’d had when she fainted last time.
It was hard to dismiss it as a simple dream; the Na Yeon-woo from that dream and the Na Yeon-woo from last night felt strangely similar.
‘This is driving me crazy. Nothing strange can happen to Yeon-woo…’
Her worry turned to guilt, weighing heavily on her heart. If something happened to Na Yeon-woo, it would all be her fault. For the first time, she regretted her decision to swap the dream world with reality.
‘Status window. If it’s properly recovered, there shouldn’t be any more problems, right? Nothing weird is going to happen to Yeon-woo, right?’
[An unexpected error occurred and has been fully resolved.]
‘I’m asking if it’s been fixed for good.’
[An unexpected error occurred and has been fully resolved.]
‘Stop copy-pasting.’
[An unexpected error occurred and has been fully resolved.]
‘I’m telling you to explain. Is this how a status window is supposed to act? How can I trust you with my fate when the system is this unstable?’
[An unexpected error occurred and has been fully resolved.]
‘You’ve got to be kidding me.’
After Hye-sung verbally thrashed the status window all day without getting a satisfactory answer, a notification filled with dense text popped up.
[Hello, this is System Administrator Morpheus. We apologize for the inconvenience caused by the unexpected system failure last night. …We have prepared the following compensation plan and would like to once again express our sincerest apologies. We will do our utmost to ensure that the same problem does not occur again…]
It read like an apology letter from the CEO of a brokerage firm after a system crash.
‘She probably thinks I’ll just gratefully accept her compensation.’
[System Error Compensation has arrived!]
[Remaining Delusion Power gauge fully charged, 1 star in freely distributable stat points, 15 Shop Points (usable when the Peddler visits).]
‘…I’ll take it, but don’t think I’ll let it slide if something like last night happens again. I can handle it, but if you harm Yeon-woo, I’ll kill you.’
After accepting the compensation with a threat she couldn’t back up, Hye-sung tried her best to forget last night’s events and focused on practicing for the fast-approaching competition.
* * *
The week-long second training camp came to an end.
With two days left until the competition, everyone seemed more excited than nervous as they were dismissed.
“Are we going to be on TV now?”
“What do I do? I’m nervous but excited.”
It was because the first episode was airing today.
On the bus back to Seoul, Hye-sung sat quietly, a stark contrast to the other excited trainees.
‘Something big is coming. Something so big I won’t be able to hold my head up.’
Judging by the editing style of previous seasons, the chances of her appearing in the first episode were low. They would probably hold back until the very end and then use her for clickbait in the preview for the second episode.
‘Better to get the beating over with. Dragging it out to the second episode will only make the hit bigger. I’m going to be a laughingstock for a while…’
As Hye-sung’s mood soured and her expression decayed, she felt a gaze from the seat across the aisle. Na Yeon-woo was asleep, leaning against her shoulder.
‘What is it? Isn’t that a bit much staring?’
She peeked out of the corner of her eye and saw the girl had turned completely to face her.
‘She’s going to burn a hole through my face. If you have something to say, just say it.’
“Hey, you.”
“Y-Yes?”
Even though she’d just been thinking that, Hye-sung was startled when the girl actually spoke and cautiously averted her eyes.
“Hey, that face of yours… what’s with it?”
“What?”
What kind of question is that?
Like a snarling chihuahua, Hye-sung turned her head fully toward the other trainee.
“Gasp.”
But the moment their eyes met, Hye-sung gasped and lowered her gaze. She’d turned with a defiant growl, but her courage plummeted the moment she saw the other girl’s face. Even she had to admit it was pathetic.
‘Her face just scared the hell out of me.’
The trainee who had made Hye-sung tremble was Nam Min-ju. She wasn’t a sharp, cold beauty like Han Young-won, but a trainee with the fierce, intimidating air of a delinquent.
To be more specific, she was the kind of beauty who looked like she’d tell you to stand watch outside the school bathroom while she smoked.
‘Not even a modern-day delinquent, but like one from an old vocational school.’
She knew she shouldn’t judge people by their looks, but she couldn’t help but instinctively become polite.
‘But I don’t need to be scared of Nam Min-ju… right?’
Hye-sung respectfully brought her lowered eyes back up.
