NOVEL NEXT WORLD Chapter 51
Chapter 51. I Want to Go Back (1)
“Unbelievable….”
Realizing the words I was about to utter, I instinctively covered my mouth. Get a grip, Kang Hajin. You have a mic on.
‘But how does this make any sense?’
If we had lost the team battle, I might understand, but losing on individual scores was something I couldn’t easily accept. The other trainees were also visibly shocked, whispering among themselves. But that wasn’t the only strange thing.
‘Han Sung-woo scored higher than Lee Yugeon or Kim Wonho?’
Han Sung-woo? That guy who was just smiling mischievously among the talented dreamy boys? Unless all the mentors had collectively lost their minds, this couldn’t be happening.
Flash—
And at that moment, once again with that wretched annihilation, I was back in the men’s restroom. The sudden change in situation made me feel nauseous, and I couldn’t hold back the urge to vomit into the nearest toilet.
Mocking me, a system window, still glowing red, appeared with a crackling sound.
[You said you could stop him, didn’t you?]
‘Him’ probably referred to the Chosen Regressor, the center of this damn fantasy.
[Then you need to try harder.]
[If a failure like you wants a chance at reversal, you need to put in more effort.]
“What the hell?”
[Isn’t it?]
The world flipped again. Like being on a 360-degree roller coaster, my vision spun, and the nausea made blood rush to my head.
“You’ve been messing with me since earlier—!”
[Shall I put you back again?]
And I was back.
“…Here.”
A phone in my hand.
A body buried under the covers.
A dark room.
[Do you want to go back again?]
No one looking for me,
nothing I could do,
the twenty-nine-year-old Kang Hajin.
* * *
[See? You don’t want to go back.]
Red text floated in the air. ‘It’, no longer taking the form of the system, inscribed each word slowly and emphatically, as if mocking the bewildered Hajin.
[Hajin. You know it too.]
[It’s all meaningless.]
[You’ll fail again anyway. That’s your fixed future.]
Fixed future. At those words, Hajin’s expression hardened noticeably.
[I’m helping you, Hajin.]
[I want you to be happy.]
“You’re really generous with your wishes, Red.”
[I’ll give you another choice.]
Again, the perspective flipped. A space of nothingness that couldn’t even be called darkness unfolded. Numerous stars twinkled and floated above it.
No, they weren’t stars, but memories.
Every moment Hajin remembered.
[I’ll let you do it too, regression.]
“What?”
[I’m quite friendly with ‘him’. I just need to borrow his timeline a bit.]
“So I can regress infinitely like the Chosen Regressor?”
[Shall I give you a hint?]
“No, thanks. I don’t really appreciate your gifts.”
[Do you know why ‘he’ repeats regression?]
Hmm. That piqued my interest. Hajin muttered to himself.
[Because he’s unhappy.]
[His life has always been unhappy.]
The scattered memory stars rapidly rearranged, encircling Hajin. The happy moments, the cherished memories he’d vowed to treasure if he could go back, all played out at once.
[You never really wanted to be an idol, did you?]
[Even if you live again, you won’t debut.]
[Even if you do, you won’t succeed.]
[So just go back!]
[To the moment you want.]
[And live a life of endless happiness.]
The memory stars twinkled, shining beautifully as if calling to Hajin. He simply gazed at all those stars.
Countless moments were gathered there. Steps of his life that he had forgotten for quite some time.
“…And what do you gain from this?”
[I told you. I want you to be happy.]
“…….”
[What’s holding you back? This is your only chance.]
“What do I need to do?”
[It’s simple. Just say you agree. I’ll handle the rest.]
[You’ve always been like this. Just say YES without thinking!]
[Do the same this time!]
Hajin stared at the red text. Though it was shapeless text, Hajin felt as if the words were pulling him in. After endlessly, endlessly staring at the text, Hajin finally responded.
“You want me to regress?”
[Exactly!]
“No, it’s different. You need me to regress.”
Everything in the world stopped moving.
“You want me to give up the idol trainee life.”
Taking a step forward, the memory stars that had surrounded him disappeared like bubbles, and darkness filled the space again.
Hajin spoke.
“You.”
[…….]
“You’re scared, aren’t you? That I might really stop him.”
[…….]
“That the regression might end.”
As if he finally understood everything, Hajin laughed.
* * *
It was odd from the beginning.
What was odd was this guy’s attitude.
‘Can’t tell if he’s an ally or an enemy.’
He says he’s helping me, but his actions always contradict that. Saying words like defeat, failure, and pathetic, trying to gaslight me – it was something I had experienced extensively at my previous company, so it was easy to identify.
Whatever his identity, that guy wasn’t on my side.
“That’s why he keeps trying to scare me. So I’ll run away.”
“Why? Why now, after a month of me jumping into this game to stop that guy, are you showing up?”
I slowly approached the floating words in the air. Despite his usual chattering, no new typing appeared, probably because I hit the mark.
I began to reflect on my actions after regressing. Every quest had one common penalty.
‘Increased regression possibility.’
Fortunately, I had completed the quests quite smoothly so far, and my fifth life was rolling along safely for over a month. If so, then that meant.
“He didn’t regress? Because of me?”
The changes I made were clearly affecting the Chosen Regressor.
“Idiot, when you hit the mark, you should deny it first.”
“If you stay silent, I’ll notice.”
“You’re scared, aren’t you? Of me.”
At that moment, the space, which had been still, tore like paper, causing cracks everywhere.
[System restoration complete]
[WARNING]
[WARNING]
[System Alert: ‘Intruder’ detected. Security program activated….]
[System Alert: Identifying timeline deviation of ‘Fixed Regressor’. Initiating normal operation.]
“Hey, you bastard, I’m so glad to see you!”
The familiar system windows popped up continuously, filling the dark space. It had only been a few hours, but it felt like days, making it incredibly welcoming.
[System Alert: Correcting timeline deviation of ‘Fixed Regressor’….]
As the timeline twisted and the space collapsed, I lost my balance and fell, but it wasn’t enough to roll down somewhere, so I just curled up and covered my head. Whatever, as long as my head doesn’t break, it’s fine.
Squeak—
When the shaking space finally stopped, a door appeared through the collapsed gap. Glowing blue, it was obvious to anyone that I was supposed to open it and enter. After glancing at the system for any restrictions and finding none, I grabbed the doorknob without hesitation.
[You will fail even if you go back. That’s your future.]
[Don’t you want to live in happy memories?]
Maybe as a last desperate act, Red started typing again in front of me. Living forever in happy memories. Enjoying eternal youth and happiness. Who could easily refuse such an offer?
But having already made up my mind, I had no room for hesitation.
“My mom told me to go for first place if I was going to do it anyway.”
“But thinking about it, my mom would say it’s okay even if I came last.”
“…So it’s okay.”
-Mom knows you’re good.
-And Mom knows it’s okay if you’re not.
The Chosen Regressor repeated regression because he was ‘unhappy’.
Having experienced a few regressions myself, I knew that whatever was meant to happen would happen anyway.
So living through a failed yesterday rather than facing another failure tomorrow is much better for mental health.
“So get lost. I have to go see my mom.”
Swatting away the annoying red texts, I opened the door without hesitation. My vision turned topsy-turvy again, making my head spin and my stomach churn.
Bang—! Bang bang!
When I came to, it felt like waking up from a dream. Blinding lights were spinning relentlessly, and the tense BGM filled the studio. It was a scene I had already seen before.
“To reach the sun, soar high. The journey to become Icarus of the Maze!”
I was back in the middle of the recording studio.
* * *
“Hajin, what’s wrong? Are you sick?”
“…No, I’m just nervous.”
How did this modern fantasy invade my life? I didn’t even have the energy to react to the clear déjà vu. Give me a break, will you?
[System Alert: …Correcting timeline. Sorry.]
‘Enough. Thanks to you, I survived.’
I chuckled at the system’s meaningless words. You little rascal. I’ll do well from now on.
“Now, let’s announce the results of the first mission of Miro Maze, Daylight! We will reveal the results of the two teams!”
The already known future unfolded. I might not be cut out for regression since seeing the same thing twice felt a bit boring and uninteresting.
‘But I can’t just sleep through it.’
I turned my gaze to Han Sung-woo, standing diagonally across from me, waiting for the results
. Clasping his hands together in a prayer gesture and appearing highly tense, Han Sung-woo looked like a reliable big brother praying for the team’s victory.
“Yes, with a total score of 472 out of 500 points versus 486 points, Team B wins! Congratulations!”
“Unbelievable!”
“Oh my gosh, we won! We won!”
Amidst the screaming of the shocked members, I pretended to be stunned, covering my mouth in disbelief. Earlier, I was too surprised to react, but knowing the result already, there was no reason to be overly shocked. I might as well make the most of it.
‘Anyway, since we won, getting captured on camera even a bit more is a plus.’
I stayed out of the overly heated hugging frenzy of Team B members, quietly pretending to calm my nerves while holding onto the railing.
‘Too much reaction isn’t good either.’
“Hajin.”
Hearing my name, I turned to see Gong Seok standing next to me, his face half flushed with excitement.
“You did great. Thank you, it’s all thanks to you.”
“…Technically, it’s thanks to you, hyung.”
He must have had his share of struggles. For that moment, I approached him sincerely without caring about the cameras and patted his shoulder. Sorry for calling you a hopeless case before, hyung.
“Now, the battle isn’t over yet. Before we announce the Wings rankings determined by your final standings, let’s first check the results of the battlers.”
Earlier (though I’m not sure if ‘earlier’ is the correct term), I was forcefully skipped over when Seo Taeil led the announcement. After Lee Yugeon and Kim Wonho’s results were announced, it was my turn.
“Next, the results for 7th place trainee Han Sung-woo and 10th place trainee Kang Hajin. We will announce the results!”
The score board spun as expected. I pretended to cover my face with my hands as if I couldn’t bear to watch. And through the slightly parted fingers, I watched someone intently.
“…Trainee Han Sung-woo wins the battle with 93.15 points, ahead of trainee Kang Hajin by 0.16 points. Congratulations.”
And I saw.
Even before the score was fully displayed on the board, Han Sung-woo was already smiling.