An Actor Who Has Lived For 10,000 Years [EN]: Chapter 150

150. The Ten Thousand Year Punishment (1)

Whoosh—.

The desert sandstorm raged fiercely.

Sand flew everywhere, instantly covering my eyes, nose, and mouth.

“Ugh.”

I squeezed my eyes shut, shielding my stinging face from the sand with my hands.

Whirr.

The wind still didn’t stop.

The fierce wind made it hard to even stand.

I stood my ground, legs spread wider than shoulder-width.

Suddenly.

The wind seemed to pause for a moment.

I took a deep breath in and out.

But….

I couldn’t feel any air through my nose.

At that moment, I opened my eyes wide and looked ahead.

…This is my dream.

Taking advantage of the brief pause in the wind, I hurried to leave this place.

But no matter how much I walked, I couldn’t escape.

All I could see was desert.

No matter how far I walked ahead, the scenery never changed.

Desert here.

Desert behind me.

I wanted to get out of this frustrating and hopeless place.

I started running forward.

Dada dada dada—.

I ran as fast as I could.

But the vast desert still stretched out before me.

There seemed to be no way to escape this desolate place.

“…Damn it, what do you want me to do?”

Eventually, I collapsed on the spot.

I bit my lip, gasping for breath.

Then.

“Meseus.”

A voice calling me came from all directions—front, back, and above.

It would be more accurate to say that I couldn’t tell where the voice was coming from.

“What, who is it!”

“Meseus… you look so pathetic, it’s heartbreaking.”

“Who are you? Show yourself now!”

I raised my head and shouted.

When no answer came, I jumped up and turned around, yelling.

“Can’t you come out now?”

I shouted angrily in all directions.

Then.

“…Ugh!”

I knelt on the ground as if crushed by a great force.

It was definitely not my will.

It was as if someone was pressing down on me with tremendous force.

I couldn’t resist that force.

My clenched fists touched the ground one by one.

A nasty, low voice came to my ear again.

“A thousand lives.”

“…….”

“After living all those lives, you will have a choice to make.”

My face immediately contorted at those words.

“…Choice?”

“I will leave that choice to you.”

The wind blew again, whoosh—.

I felt goosebumps all over my body.

“Whether your life ends after a thousand long lives, or whether you live another ten thousand years, I will give you the opportunity to choose.”

“Mmph!”

I wanted to answer.

But my mouth wouldn’t open as if glued shut.

I tried to move my body and mouth, which had frozen in place.

Whoosh—.

A strong wind swirled around me again.

The huge vortex of wind in the distance was rapidly approaching me.

“Mmph…!”

The fierce whirlwind engulfed me in an instant.

“Aaaagh!”

My body was no longer under my control.

Thud-!

White wallpaper on the ceiling.

I hurriedly touched my face and body, confirming that I had woken up from the dream.

“Haa, haa….”

I jumped out of bed and gasped for breath.

“Agh.”

Suddenly, I clutched my throbbing head and staggered.

I closed my eyes tightly and calmly recalled what I had seen in the dream.

A thousand lives.

So that life was a total of ten thousand years.

Currently, I am in my thousandth life.

Only one year has passed.

In other words, I have nine years left.

After nine years, the life of ten thousand years that I received will end.

And as I heard in the dream just now, I will be given a choice after nine years.

Whether to live the thousand lives I have lived so far, or another ten thousand years.

Or to end my life.

So what decision should I make?

“Agh….”

I couldn’t make any decisions right now.

The fatigue of ten thousand years of life rushed in all at once as I woke up from the dream.

“Haa, haa.”

I gasped for breath and covered my head with both hands.

One year has just passed in my last life.

Now I could know something else.

Even if I didn’t dream.

Even if I didn’t see it in a dream.

I could recall the life I wanted at any time, and I could feel the emotions as they were.

I have never forgotten any of the countless jobs, emotions, and feelings I had for ten thousand years, not even for a moment.

Fatigue washed over me from the swirling emotions and dozens, no, hundreds of millions of feelings.

My head was about to explode.

The headache made it impossible to walk, talk, or move.

I lay down on the bed as I was.

And slowly closed my eyes.

***

Buzzing.

The only sound in the deathly quiet house.

The vibration of a cell phone.

I barely got out of bed and carefully walked to the living room where the cell phone was.

I looked at myself in the mirror on the way.

My face was gaunt, and I was barely taking one step at a time.

My lips were so dry that wrinkles could be seen in the mirror.

I barely swallowed the saliva that didn’t come out and took a step closer to the cell phone.

[Caller: Manager Kim Ji-hoon]

After confirming it was Manager Kim, I immediately pressed the receive button.

-Hello?

“Oh, hyung [Korean honorific title for an older brother or male friend].”

-What’s wrong? Are you sick? Are you hurt?

Manager Kim asked urgently with a worried voice.

“No. I’m not sick.”

At my words, he opened his mouth with a somewhat agitated voice.

-Then what is it? Why didn’t you suddenly come to work? I was surprised because you didn’t come without saying a word after coming to work every day. Did something happen?

“No, it’s not that. I just wanted to rest.”

Manager Kim seemed surprised that I hadn’t gone to work for a few days and was resting at home.

He took a breath in and out and then asked me carefully.

-Nothing happened?

“No, it’s not that. I just have something to think about. I want to rest.”

-Okay, then you should rest. You’ve been running without resting even once, so your body must be tired. If you need anything while resting, tell me anytime.

“I will.”

-Call me if you’re sick or need me.

“Okay, hyung.”

Manager Kim suppressed a sigh at my voice and asked.

-Really, nothing happened? Should I go to your house?

“No, I’m really okay. I’ll call you.”

-Okay, get some rest.

After cutting off the phone with Manager Kim.

Looking out the window, people and cars were all moving busily.

The thought that I was alone and stagnant at home for days.

I shook myself off and got up.

After washing my face with cold water to clear my head, I pulled my hat down and opened the door.

After the new year, the world was still covered in snow.

I pulled my mask up high, filled my padding [padded jacket] tightly, and started walking towards the park.

Weekday morning.

This place is not crowded.

Watching the people walking leisurely, I moved slowly to one side.

And I stared blankly ahead and began to retrace my memories.

Since dreaming a few days ago, just thinking about my past life vividly reminded me of what happened at that time.

But still.

Even now, just thinking about anything from my ten thousand years of life vividly paints the scene in front of me, as if it were something I had just experienced.

“Now I can recall anything without dreaming….”

In the past, after seeing a script.

After dreaming about it, it came to my mind vividly, so I could act well.

That helped me to act.

If I think that I can act well as if I had dreamed even if I don’t dream now, it’s not a happy thing.

Because the very long time of ten thousand years is all circling in my head.

The more I think about it, the more my head throbs.

“Ugh.”

I clutched my head again with the many memories that came to mind and leaned against the bench.

“Haa….”

Then I tilted my head back and looked at the sky, letting out a long sigh.

“I think I know now why a life of ten thousand years is a ‘punishment’….”

***

It’s been ten days since I had that dream.

It still made my head throb and ache when I thought about my past life.

But it seemed to be much better than the first time.

No, it wasn’t that it got better, but it seemed more accurate to say that I got a little used to the throbbing.

The punishment of ten thousand years of life given to me.

There are only a very short nine years left in that long time.

I couldn’t spend it idly at home like this.

I thought I had to get out of this quagmire quickly.

I got out of bed early, cleaned the house, and was trying to clear my head.

Buzzing.

[Caller: Senior Choi Seo-bin]

A call came from Choi Seo-bin.

I took a long breath and answered the phone.

“Yes, senior [Korean honorific title for someone older/more experienced].”

-Oh, Hee-sung. How are you doing?

“Of course. How are you doing, senior?”

-Yeah, I’m always the same. What are you doing these days?

“I’ve been resting at home.”

-Really? You haven’t picked a work yet?

“No, I haven’t set a schedule yet because I’ve been resting at home for the past few days.”

-That’s good. Then would you like to take a look at this?

“What….”

-I saw a movie script this time, and it was good.

Choi Seo-bin said to me in an excited voice.

“Are you recommending it to me?”

-That’s right… and let’s do it together.

“With you, senior?”

-Yeah, don’t refuse this time. I chose it after looking at your role too. I’ll send you an email, so read it.

“Yes, I understand. I’ll see it right away.”

-Okay, read it and contact me.

“Yes, thank you. Senior.”

After cutting off the phone with him.

I hurriedly opened the email and checked the script.

I sat in front of the laptop and read the script.

I didn’t move from my seat for several hours.

After reading the script.

I took a nap because I was so sleepy from concentrating for the first time in a while.

After that, I slept in the evening, but I didn’t dream about the script Choi Seo-bin sent.

Even after several naps, I couldn’t dream.

But even if I didn’t dream, when I recalled the contents I saw in the script, the scene came to mind clearly as if I had dreamed in an instant.

The life of the character in the work I saw was drawn as it was.

The character’s thoughts, feelings, and every moment were engraved in my mind.

“Since I can dream and recall it like this just by thinking about it, am I not dreaming anymore?”

I bit my lip and thought.

I jumped up and walked back to the laptop.

And I concentrated on reading the script Choi Seo-bin sent again.

There was nothing to criticize about the content of the work and the role I would play.

I didn’t look into it deeply one by one.

Without weighing it any further, I opened my cell phone and went into the text message box.

I wrote a text message to send to Choi Seo-bin.

After the last Blackman work.

I was taking a long break for the first time, so I was convinced that if I rested more here, I would continue to do nothing.

So, putting the work aside, I felt like I had to do something, so I didn’t hesitate to type.

-Senior, let’s do this work together.