2. Even a Ghost Would Weep
"What the hell is this."
Absurdity itself.
It was utterly absurd.
The floating text was surprising, but that wasn't the only reason.
"How am I able to read?"
He had certainly harbored the thought, *I wish I could read.*
But he had been born a lowly commoner, a life where he lacked not only the opportunity to learn letters but had never even gone near a book with writing in it.
Yet here he was, reading and understanding to this extent. It was impossible even in a dream.
"Even a ghost would weep at this."
Lost in thought, he noticed the letters before his eyes had vanished.
*'It was short, so was it... good that I memorized it?'*
His vision cleared, and as his senses returned, his surroundings came into view.
A small room that looked as though it had never once been cleaned.
The floor was littered with dozens of beer cans and bottles, snack bags, unwashed dishes, and crumpled papers.
In short, a complete mess.
Something about 32% memory inheritance.
It felt as though his head was shrouded in white fog.
The objects in the room were clearly things he was seeing for the first time, yet they felt somehow familiar yet perplexing.
Even if he had partially inherited the previous owner's memories, he couldn't immediately adapt to things he was seeing for the first time.
It was just like how one couldn't help but be startled to see an actual spaceship before their eyes, simply because they had watched a movie set in space.
"A suicide note?"
Amid the scattered trash, a piece of paper with the word "suicide note" caught his eye.
Jinha picked up the paper and slowly began to read it.
-Suicide Note-
I am a worthless human being.
I thought I had lived fiercely, but nothing improved. The future is dark.
The money earned from hard work was lost to fraud, I failed my audition, and things ended with the person I loved.
People say anyone can experience this, that it's no big deal, but I no longer have the strength to endure.
If I continued like this, I would only be a burden, so I have decided to end things here.
To Uncle Gitae, who took me in all this time, and Ayeong.
Thank you so much. And I am truly sorry.
I may not have the right to say this, but in the next life... I want to become the singer I have longed for and be truly happy.
-U Jinha
"..."
Cold sweat trickled down his forehead.
Had someone committed suicide?
Though the surname was U, the name at the end was exactly the same as his, giving him a slight chill.
"I have a rather ominous feeling about this."
While taking slow deep breaths, he sensed a presence and turned to the side.
A full-length mirror hung on the wall.
"I'm going to lose my mind."
He had barely managed to calm his trembling heart.
But upon seeing his reflection in the mirror, Jinha's heart began to race once more.
"This is me?"
He resembled his original self, yet looked completely different.
A tall stature with a face far more delicate than before. His hair was even dyed light brown.
"Don't tell me."
Jinha pulled down his pants and checked his vital parts.
He looked so pretty that he had momentarily doubted, but fortunately, it seemed his gender had not changed.
Jinha folded the note in half and held it like a fan in place of the one he always carried, letting out a long breath.
Stay calm.
When walking the tightrope, the most important thing was a tranquil mind.
Panicking would accomplish nothing.
Slowly, he contemplated this absurd situation.
Could he have been reborn into another person's body?
There was no other way to explain the current situation.
Even as time passed, no clear conclusion emerged, but his chaotic thoughts began to cool, and his rapidly beating heart settled.
"Oppa! Come eat!"
A woman's voice came from beyond the door, one he was hearing for the first time.
*Growl.*
"Food...!"
He was curious who the woman was, but at the sound of food, his body moved reflexively.
It had been so long since he had eaten a proper meal that he couldn't even remember when.
Jinha fixed his pants and followed the voice down the stairs.
"Surely this isn't some bandits' den?"
He felt like he should know where he was and who the woman calling him was, yet he couldn't recall clearly.
Steeling himself, Jinha cautiously descended the stairs.
The lower floor was a modest restaurant with five tables prepared.
A delicious aroma assaulted Jinha's nose.
"Oh, you really came out?"
The owner of the voice appeared from the kitchen.
A girl with short hair, large eyes with prominent lids, and a face anyone would call pretty.
"Sim Ayeong?"
"Yeah, what?"
"No, there's something strange floating above your head."
Ayeong waved her hand over her head and glanced at Jinha.
"What are you talking about? If you're trying to be funny, sorry, but it's kinda lame."
The floating text above her head seemed visible only to Jinha.
"I wasn't trying to be funny... Anyway, didn't you just tell me to come out? I heard something about food."
"Yeah, that's right. Good thing you came out. You've been moping in your room for days, so I wondered if you'd come out today. Now that you're out, eat and get your energy back."
"What do you mean? I've never moped."
"Why are you using honorifics all of a sudden? Are you putting on airs now? Fine, I'll say you weren't crying. In exchange, buy me a macaron next time."
"What's a macaron?"
It seemed they weren't originally in a formal relationship, so he lowered his speech, reading the room.
"Ah, what's with this oppa today? A macaron!"
Ayeong let out a sharp shriek and stormed back into the kitchen.
"Wow, what a nasty temper."
He was annoyed for a moment but decided to endure.
He should be grateful they weren't bandits.
Besides, she had offered him food; this was no time to argue.
"What's all the racket so early in the morning?"
Then, a deep male voice came from behind.
Finally, the bandit chief?
He turned with a tense heart to see someone descending the same stairs Jinha had come down.
A massive, muscular body like a general's, with shortly cropped hair.
Anyone could see he was a bandit chieftain.
Text floated above the man just as it had above the girl.
But Gitae and Ayeong?
Weren't those the names written in the suicide note?
"Krrraaah! Morning!"
Gitae stretched out with bizarre exaggeration and plopped down across from Jinha.
"Jinha. Have you come to your senses now?"
Seeing how naturally he called out to him, this was clearly someone who knew the owner of this body.
Jinha pondered briefly before answering as naturally as possible.
"Ah, yes. I came to my senses earlier."
"That's right, punk. The world is a place where you live without knowing what's what. You've rested plenty, so now you just start over. But how much did you drink yesterday? You can't even hold your liquor, so you should've paced yourself."
"Just leave him alone, Dad. I don't think he's back to himself yet."
"Life happens. You get scammed sometimes. Think of it as paying off a big chunk of bad luck. Anyway, enough of that. You need breakfast, right? What do you want?"
Looking where Gitae pointed with his chin, there were pictures of bean sprout soup rice, bean sprout bibimbap, and bean sprout seafood stew hanging.
The image quality was low, but his mouth watered at the mere sight of the food.
"I'm sorry, but I don't have any money right now."
He checked his pockets just in case, but there was only dust.
Do not steal others' food or eat for free.
It was one of the most important rules of the Cheongmae Troupe that Jinha belonged to.
"This punk's got a long hangover. What money? Eat your soup and come to your senses. Ayeong, two bowls of gukbap here."
"Yes~"
Was he offering free food? He didn't know much, but he thought this might be an incredibly good person.
[Converse. 2/3]
'The number increased!'
Perhaps because the number of people he had conversed with increased by one, the floating number had gone up.
Would he suddenly die when this number filled up?
Anxiety outweighed anticipation.
But that unease easily flew away with the bean sprout soup the girl brought over.
"May I eat this?"
"Yeah. It's not poisoned."
Gitae placed a spoon before him, and Jinha hurriedly shoved the soup into his mouth.
"Whoa."
It was so delicious a gasp escaped him.
It was the tastiest gukbap he had ever eaten in his life.
Only after emptying a bowl in a daze did his former comrades of the Namsadang Troupe come to mind.
'Did I come here alone? If they came with me, I wonder if they're at least eating their meals on time...'
"You must've burned your whole mouth. I'm not going to steal it, so eat slowly."
Worrying about his comrades was one thing, but the bean sprout soup was too delicious.
It was insanely hot, though.
"You must've been hungry after starving for days. Want more?"
"Yes? Is that alright?"
Another bowl, and for free!
This man was definitely not a bandit.
He was surely a truly good person.
"Thank you for the meal. It was the most delicious food I've eaten in my life."
Jinha got up, cleared the bowls, and began wiping the table with a cloth.
It was an ironclad rule of the Cheongmae Troupe that if you received food, you had to pay back at least the minimum.
Jinha finally grabbed a broom and swept the front of the store.
"Is he seriously cleaning?"
"Looks like it. Is he sick somewhere?"
They say if a person changes suddenly, they die.
They were slightly worried, but cleaning wasn't exactly a bad thing, so it was awkward to stop him.
"Excuse me, what time do you open? It's always closed whenever I come by."
Around the time Jinha had nearly finished sweeping, a passerby approached and asked.
"Yes?"
"Ah, don't you work here? Since you were cleaning."
"Ah... please wait a moment!"
Jinha went inside and asked the opening time. It was 9 AM.
"We open at nine! Have you eaten? We're open now, so please come in."
Having received a meal, it was only natural to properly repay the debt.
The moment Jinha answered cheerfully.
[Converse. 3/3 Target value achieved.]
- Acquired 'Void Bag'.
- The next quest has been activated.
▶Void Bag [Stage 1]
-A bag that can hold any object.
-Weight limit: 100kg
-Next stage: Converse with 50 people. (0/50)
The text wrapped in light changed into a bag-shaped icon.
A Void Bag?
What is this?
-Materialize?
"Materialize?"
Materialize? Did that mean a bag would really appear?
"What's wrong?"
Gitae furrowed his brows and looked at Jinha.
"Ah, no. I just have something on my mind."
Jinha shook his head as if it were nothing and looked at the text again.
◈Second Quest
[Gather People's Attention. 0/30]
-The power to capture people's focus is an essential and fundamental ability for a top star. Gather people's attention by any means.
-Reward: Essence of Healing.
Focusing on the new exclamation mark icon before his eyes, the second quest appeared.
'Gather people's attention...'
Capturing attention.
To Jinha, it was a truly easy task.
It was what he had done his entire life, sold to the Cheongmae Troupe at the age of three for ten bags of barley.
"Hmm..."
For now, he decided to do as the text commanded.
It might all be an illusion, but it wasn't difficult, and he had nothing to lose by trying.
'Tightrope walking would do the trick.'
He was confident that no matter how different this world was, people wouldn't just walk past someone walking a tightrope.
The problem was where to get a rope.
He looked around the shop just in case, but of course, there was no rope.
Jinha decided to go outside and look around.
* * *
'Come to think of it, it seems I don't have parents in this world either.'
He hadn't expected much, but his heart had fluttered slightly at the thought that Gitae and Ayeong might be family.
A life not abandoned by parents like before, but one where he could live normally like others.
Though he had exchanged only a few words, they were clearly not family.
Most decisively, this body's owner seemed to have the surname U, which was different from theirs.
Since there had been no expectation, there was little disappointment, but a small sigh was unavoidable.
After wandering among people for a while, the sun began to slowly set.
Jinha sat on a bench in a sparsely populated park and examined the bag icon floating before his eyes.
*Pwoof!*
The moment he thought about taking it out while looking at the icon, light spread from his dantian.
Shortly after, the light vanished, and the bag actually appeared before Jinha.
"This is..."
A bag had really appeared.
Beyond absurdity, a hollow laugh escaped him.
Holding the note to his chest like a fan once more, Jinha carefully opened the bag.
Along with the imagination that it might contain treasures of gold and silver.
"Huh?"
Unfortunately, what was inside the bag was not gold or silver.
"Why is this here?"
Instead, inside was something he had never imagined.