Episode 2
My turn came quickly.
I exhaled once and focused on the beat flowing in.
My songs, which I'd listened to so much I could have grown calluses on my ears.
By focusing on them, I could ignore the headache and dizziness, if only for a moment.
—A rippling night, afraid you might wake up.
A heart I'd placed upon the swaying wind.
Riding the first beat, I spat out the rap with precision.
*I need to keep the atmosphere going.*
This was a song where building up sufficient tension before reaching the highlight was crucial.
Normally, the song progressing simultaneously with the piano performance filled that role.
But unfortunately, Seonji was a singer who didn't play piano.
When I turned my gaze, I saw Seonji focusing on her vocals in front of the piano.
It couldn't be helped.
I'd known for a long time that she'd felt immense pressure about playing ever since she was young.
*It's a shame, but I can fill the gaps with something else.*
That is, with something like my rap.
I spat out a verse arranged for the stage version, not the original studio track.
The easy-listening song, pleasant and light, transformed into a concert number in an instant.
"Waaah!"
The crowd's cheers grew even louder.
Without rest, I drove the atmosphere higher.
*Now Seonji will sing the highlight and finish it.*
It was the moment I looked around while thinking that.
—Flicker.
*What?*
The light above Seonji began to blink.
—…!
Seonji looked flustered too, but she didn't stop singing.
—If you happen to feel anxious—
Will you recall us of that day again—
That pleasant tone befitting a national singer.
But I couldn't focus and listen.
Because the light was trembling uneasily without stopping, just the same.
—Flicker.
I wanted to believe it was a simple malfunction.
But the hallucination appearing before my eyes denied that.
[Noise Occurred: Last Crack.]
[Time of Occurrence: 28:55:45]
Not broken letters. Clear text.
…Different from all the times before.
An intense anxiety enveloped my body.
I was certain.
Something was about to happen here.
Then, the moment Seonji hit her highest note.
—!
The light fell, thunk, from above.
"Seonji!"
Without realizing it, I threw my body.
After pushing Seonji aside and looking up, the light was now falling toward me.
Damned light. It looked much bigger than when seen from afar.
It was a situation I could neither block nor avoid.
I had a premonition of death.
At the same time, memories from the past until now rapidly flashed through my head.
From the moment I transferred to Sewoon Arts High School and started music, to later going out into society and living while rapping.
Honestly speaking, it had not been a smooth life.
The neglect and betrayal from the first company I signed with.
*It still leaves a bitter taste in my mouth, thinking about it again.*
By the time I barely escaped the company, it was already past my time to be a promising prospect.
I was past the age where failure was tolerated simply because I was young.
I still haven't forgotten the chill of the air I felt on my skin during those days.
Even so, it was a life I'd lived while running without giving up on the dream of succeeding through rap.
For a moment I thought I'd reached my heyday making hit songs, but life created yet another adversity.
The album released this time suffered from plagiarism accusations, crashing the image of a rapper who had just risen straight to the bottom.
*I thought this concert was my last chance at least.*
I never dreamed it would become the final chapter of my life.
—Thud!
A heavy impact sound filled the stage.
While I indulged in a brief regret, the continuously falling light eventually struck my head.
"Jahun!"
Seonji let out a sharp scream. But I couldn't answer.
My mouth was tightly shut as if it weren't my own.
*…*
Then, my vision darkened.
On the damned bright stage, only my world was being dyed black, alone.
* * *
It felt like quite some time had passed since I hit my head on the light, but my vision was still dark.
*Am I dead?*
Since I could think, there was a high possibility I was in a coma.
Which meant the moment my body ran out of strength…
It would really mean death.
Regret surged in like a storm.
*There are still so many notes left to end my life.*
Since I'd been a musician, at least, such metaphors came to mind.
If I assumed my life was a single piece of music, weren't there too many lines I hadn't finished yet?
*…If so, are the failures I've committed off-key notes?*
What was I doing getting so serious and substituting this and that?
If I assumed it was a recording, then yes. It had been a life with a lot of noise too.
First of all, the start had been like that. A start late compared to other students.
If you think about it, maybe that was the start of all the problems.
*Grabbing that contract without thinking too was because I started everything too late. Because I was anxious.*
If I were born again, I wouldn't do that.
[System 'Cubase' has recognized the command!]
Then, something rose before my darkened eyes.
*…It's that hallucination I've been seeing?*
It was that window that kept appearing without even properly explaining what it meant.
[System 'Cubase' is searching for an appropriate point in time!]
Before I could fully understand the content, the text inside the window changed.
[System 'Cubase' has finished preparing to apply the command.]
[Would you like to return to a saved point?]
A series of strange characters.
An unbelievable story, but I didn't have a choice anyway.
If I really went back, that would be for the better.
*If only I can start music even earlier this time, I couldn't ask for more.*
Holding such small expectations inside, I nodded.
*…YES.*
As I accepted the system's proposal half in doubt, an unbelievable story appeared before my eyes.
[Cubase 1.0 Demo Version is executing.]
[Commencing the remix of 'Park Jahun's' life!]
I didn't realize it then.
That this was the 'Intro' heralding the second movement of my life.
* * *
Warm sunlight.
A cool breeze against my cheek.
An afternoon perfect for a nap.
*…A nap?*
At that moment, my hazy mind snapped awake.
How was I, who should be dead, lying around here?
Even where I was.
Desks aligned in a row and a blackboard sitting squarely at the front.
The unmistakable scenery of a classroom confused my mind.
*Just how did I…*
end up at Sewoon Arts High School?
I was clearly in 2028. I'd died after hitting my head on the falling light.
But how could I be at the high school I'd graduated from years ago?
I organized my thoughts while circling the classroom once.
The texture of plastic chairs and the familiar smell of books.
*It's really a classroom.*
All those senses were proving it was reality.
Then came the moment I eventually looked at the mirror in the center of the classroom.
*…Who are you?*
Something unbelievable happened.
Inside the mirror, some boy was standing there instead of 28-year-old Park Jahun.
*…No, it is me.*
It was definitely my appearance.
The problem wasn't 29, but 19.
That I had the appearance of my younger days.
Wondering if it was a dream, I pinched my cheek.
"It hurts."
How hard had I pinched, for that young cheek to swell up red.
At this point, I had no choice but to admit.
That I had returned to the past, and
[Would you like to return to a saved point? Y/N]
that those words I'd seen in the darkness weren't an illusion or hallucination.
*But they just send me and that's it?*
Isn't there any other explanation?
As I thought that, a system window appeared before my eyes as if it had been waiting.
[Cubase—Remix has begun.]
[Remix start point 19:20:25]
I exhaled once, inhaled, then slowly began interpreting the letters in the notification window.
*It's been saying remix, remix since earlier… does this mean restarting my life?*
It wasn't something I could accept through common sense.
Well, a dead guy being alive here in a younger body wasn't common sense either.
*The bottom part seems to roughly indicate my age.*
After briefly checking outside earlier, this was a third-year classroom.
Then those numbers meant I'd returned to the early part of when I was 19.
In other words, I had climbed back up 10 years.
*That aside, the terminology all sounds like music terms.*
And Cubase, which seemed to be the entity behind this notification window.
It was clearly similar to a MIDI program.
I decided to observe this system, whether it was a dream or reality, a bit more.
*That's right… here.*
The moment I reached my hand toward the notification window to find out more.
"Park Jahun!"
Someone's urgent shout was heard.
A voice familiar yet strange at the same time.
When I went out to the hallway where the sound came from, its identity was revealed.
"How are you here…?"
It was none other than Seonji. And in the appearance of a 19-year-old, at that.
Seonji too?
I had a stupid thought for a moment, but quickly realized it wasn't so.
*If I came back to the past, it's natural that Seonji is here too.*
She was simply here because I had come to the past.
"I came to get you… what on earth were you doing?"
Seonji approaching me, puzzled.
*I thought I'd never see you again.*
Seeing her like this, I was glad.
Without realizing it, I was smiling, but on the contrary, Seonji's expression began to scrunch up.
"What are you smiling about…?"
"Huh?"
"Today's the day we perform, how could you be taking a nap…!"
"The practice room…?"
Only then did I realize. Why there hadn't been any students in our class right now.
As I realized that fact, a system window appeared once more before my eyes.
[Cubase (Trial Version)—Crack #1 has occurred]
Contents—At playback time 18:20:28, the first crack in 'Park Jahun's' life will occur.
Occurring Crack—The Halted Stage.
Solution—Receive a B+ or higher on the performance and critique stage.
Upon Success—After Cubase Trial Version concludes, full version remix begins.
Upon Failure—Cubase Remix terminates.
The content so far had been confusing enough, but…
*Remix terminated….*
This time it was adding another layer.
A stage set like a mission, and the penalty upon failure.
It didn't take long to understand that content.
If remix meant that I was living life again,
then terminating would mean the opposite—that is, death.
*They give it and then snatch it away?*
If you're going to give it, give it; if not, don't—what kind of nonsense is it to give only to stop halfway?
But there was no time to express anger.
"Let's run."
"…Huh?"
"The practice room. We have to go before we're late."
I immediately grabbed Seonji's hand and burst out of the classroom.
There was no time to hesitate.
If I understood correctly, I could only survive by going to the practice room right now.
The Regressor on the Beat