A New Career Singer Who Can Read The Future [EN]: Chapter 64

“Haa….”

Producer Cha Jaehyun took a deep breath.

He must have struggled to run here, too.

The problem was that his arrival meant there were more than three people in the room, requiring them to solve a random quiz. However, Dohyun anticipated that the production team would have prepared an easy question, given it was still the early stages.

“Everyone, you’ve made it easily to room number 4, perhaps because it’s the beginning. We’ve prepared something for you.”

All three of them immediately became tense.

If they failed to answer this question correctly, they would be confined to the prison for 24 hours and have to start again from room number 1.

Not wanting that, the three of them listened intently.

“The Joseon Dynasty….”

“Cha Jaehyun! Taejeong TaeSe MunDanSe Yejong Seongyeon Jungin Myeongseon Gwangin Hyohyeon Sukgyeongyeong Jeongsun Heoncheol Goseon!” [Listing of Joseon Dynasty Kings]

“That’s correct!”

“Nice!”

Producer Cha answered the quiz far too easily. As expected of someone who was a current affairs and culture PD [Production Director], the vibe he gave off was different.

“Then, for the second question. During the Japanese colonial period, we could no longer see ‘this animal’ on the Korean Peninsula….”

“Na Dohyun!”

“Plasma!”

Dohyun and Plasma shouted their names simultaneously.

“Dohyun was a fraction faster, so we’ll give him the chance to answer correctly.”

Tensely, Dohyun recalled a story he had once read in a book and said the animal’s name.

“The answer is tiger!”

“Bingo! That’s right. Plasma, unfortunately, you didn’t get the question right.”

The moment the production team spoke, two guards opened the door and entered.

Plasma’s face was full of injustice.

“How could I miss such an easy question…!”

“See you later, Plasma.”

As Plasma was dragged away and the door closed, Dohyun relaxed and simply lay down on the white floor.

“So, Jin Wookje, Mango Juice, and Plasma are in prison right now.”

Dohyun muttered. Hearing those words, Producer Cha Jaehyun nodded.

“The problem is Professor Park Jihoon. If Professor Park also comes to room number 4, another quiz show will unfold, and to survive there….”

“I have to stay awake and wait. I’m learning here how long a day can really be.”

Dohyun looked at the clock, feeling the extremely long day. There was a clock hanging on the wall.

The current time was 11:50 PM. If Professor Park Jihoon didn’t barge in within 10 minutes, he could take a little nap.

“Please….”

Producer Cha Jaehyun seemed to have relaxed, as he was dozing off little by little. He must have worked hard to use his brain and get here. But a rival was a rival, so Dohyun didn’t feel the need to wake him up and left him alone.

No one opened the door and came in during the 10 minutes that passed.

Perhaps the genius Professor Park was devising his own strategy to move.

The thought that he might skip this room crossed his mind, and in the meantime, Dohyun remembered the title of the song that he had been thinking of earlier.

[Serendipity]

An English word meaning accidentally finding good fortune.

Perhaps being able to stay safely in this room number 4 was also a stroke of accidental luck.

That thought brought this word to mind.

“Hmmmm….”

Dohyun hummed. He found himself humming involuntarily. Now that he had the title, the lyrics seemed like they would come out quickly.

* * *

Professor Park Jihoon guessed that there would be more than two people in room number 4, so he didn’t move from room number 2.

He deliberately waited until after midnight to avoid room number 4. He judged that the movements of the strict guards would also become more lax after midnight.

As soon as it passed midnight, Professor Park left the room and moved to advance three spaces at once.

Weeeing─!

The alarm went off, and Professor Park barely managed to reach room number 5 by a hair’s breadth.

The guards muttered, “Failed to apprehend the suspect,” and retreated. Professor Park proudly stepped inside and unfolded the parchment. The question contained within was….

[Read the following question and answer.]

A murder occurred in a village with nothing but rice paddies and fields. A man who had been perfectly fine until yesterday was found dead, face down in a ditch. Because the village had few residents, everyone was investigated.

All the residents’ alibis matched. The police were going to close the investigation as a suicide, but the man’s wife was the only one who insisted it was a murder. At the wife’s request, the police conducted an autopsy and found something in the blood. This was lethal with just a slight touch from the end of a matchstick.

The man’s body looked fine on the outside, but ‘this’ found in his blood said otherwise. What is the identity of ‘this’? And who is the real culprit?]

Professor Park smiled slyly and said,

“Can I play around for 2 hours and 30 minutes before answering?”

He seemed full of confidence.

* * *

“Ah, it’s all because Na Dohyun wouldn’t form an alliance….”

Jin Wookje, who was in prison, was trying to play politics in his own way.

However, Mango Juice and Plasma, who were with him, had a good impression of Dohyun.

“Don’t try to muddy the waters. It’s because Wookje couldn’t do it. Why are you blaming Na Dohyun when you got caught yourself?”

Mango Juice, who had been nothing but gentle in front of Dohyun, sharply retorted at Jin Wookje.

At those words, Jin Wookje avoided eye contact, looking embarrassed.

Plasma didn’t say anything. If he had answered the second question just a little faster, he wouldn’t have ended up in prison.

“The alliance is already broken, so there’s no reason to blame it,” Plasma said, coldly summarizing the situation.

“No, everyone will slowly start moving and realize the importance of an alliance….”

“Team play is useless in a game where individuals have to win in the first place. How can team play be achieved when everyone has different ideas?”

Plasma emphasized once again.

Only Jin Wookje seemed unable to admit that his idea was wrong.

“Wookje, admit it,” Plasma said, driving the nail in.

Jin Wookje sighed deeply and suddenly started acting pitiful.

“I’m already in a bad situation, so I decided to appear on the show…. I was hoping something good would come out of this appearance, but how did this happen….”

Then Mango Juice laughed loudly.

“Jin Wookje, do you know what the most useless thing in the world is?”

“What is it?” Jin Wookje replied, looking dejected.

“Worrying about celebrities. Worrying about celebrities is the most useless worry. You should worry about writers like me. If I had written instead of being here, millions of won would have been deposited into my account for each episode. I put my work on hiatus and decided to appear on this program… sigh.”

“Web novel writers make more money than I thought? Mango Juice, I didn’t see you that way….”

“How hard do you think it was for me to get to this position? I saved up money and spent it all on supporting Dohyun, and I wanted to see Dohyun in person through this program, but damn it….”

Mango Juice’s lament continued. Jin Wookje felt like he had stirred up a hornet’s nest and kept his mouth shut. Plasma lay down in the corner and tried to sleep.

* * *

Dohyun heard someone moving. Producer Cha, who was dozing off, didn’t seem to hear it, but from the sound of the footsteps, he could tell that he was heading to room number 5.

‘Professor Park moved at dawn. That means it’s my turn to move now…. If I move three spaces at once, I’ll end up in room number 7. I’ll be in the lead, but if I get caught by the guards, I’ll be locked up in prison.’

Dohyun was contemplating whether to move two spaces or three spaces. One space was not an option. He wanted to avoid confronting Professor Park as much as possible. He thought that meeting that brilliant mind would be disadvantageous to him.

“Hmm….”

Dohyun saw that Producer Cha was fast asleep and decided to move rooms.

He decided to move two spaces.

Dohyun stood behind the door and loosened his hands and feet.

“Now, shall we go?”

Weeeing!

As soon as Dohyun opened the door, the alarm went off, and he ran nimbly.

However, the guards were just as fast as him.

Dohyun didn’t care which room it was and just went inside.

“Failed to apprehend the suspect!”

Hearing the sound coming from outside, Dohyun leaned against the door, his legs giving way, and he collapsed.

He had to do this heart-pounding thing for fifteen days? It would be better to lock him up for fifteen days and have him work on songs.

“What number is this room?”

Dohyun asked the production team, but there was no response.

‘…Damn it! I should have checked which room it was before coming in, but I ran too frantically!’

This makes it difficult to calculate the numbers. Since Professor Park, who was expected to be in room number 5, wasn’t there, it must be room number 6 or room number 7.

Dohyun took even breaths and went to unfold the parchment on the desk.

[Read the following question and answer.]

There was a woman who loved lilies. The stalker, unable to have her, tried to kill her. He filled the woman’s room with lilies to the point where she couldn’t come out and pushed her in. The next day, he went into the small room, intending to take the woman’s body, but the woman was alive. How could the woman have survived?]

“Hmm, I wonder if this is right….”

Dohyun pondered and pondered.

He remembered reading an article refuting the story that someone would have to fill a room with lilies to die from them, which was said to be the most beautiful death in the world.

The culprit in this question also filled the room to the brim with lilies, so it wouldn’t be because there weren’t enough lilies. If the woman was still alive despite that….

“Na Dohyun! Answer!”

Dohyun shouted at the sleepy-eyed production team.

“It seems the woman survived because the room wasn’t completely sealed!”

The production team exchanged glances and then shouted a moment later.

“Correct!”

“So, what number is the room I’m in?”

The production team didn’t answer this question.

At that moment, Dohyun had a brilliant idea.

Even if the door is opened, the guards can’t catch him if both feet are inside the room. If so!

Dohyun stood inside the door—or rather, with his feet still in the current room—and opened the door.

As expected, a weeeing! sound was heard, and the guards came chasing after him.

But Dohyun just smiled at them.

[7]

After confirming the number, Dohyun mouthed “bye-bye” to them and came back in.

“Now, shall I get back to work….”

For now, the people in room number 1 and the prison won’t be coming to this room today, and only Producer Cha in room number 4 and Professor Park in room number 5 had a chance of coming to room number 7. Dohyun briefly imagined the three of them gathering in one place, then shook it off and relaxed in the room.

“I’m glad I liked mystery novels when I was young. The Serendipity project will go well.”

“Dohyun, is Serendipity the title of your new song?”

The production team asked curiously, but Dohyun just smiled.

“Ah, Dohyun! Are you retaliating because we didn’t tell you the room number? We had regulations, so we couldn’t help it….”

“I also have regulations, so I can’t help it!”

While they were chatting leisurely.

Weeeing─!

Someone was moving outside!