Becoming An Idol Wasn’T On My Plan [EN]: Chapter 350

When Ji Donghua first opened his eyes, he was a little surprised.

What on earth is this place? Dominated by blue, not even knowing that what he was stepping on was land, like a cloud-covered paradise…

He closed and opened his eyes once.

Clearly, Ryu Ideun was crying beside him. In a heavy atmosphere, Ryu Ideun forced a smile, saying, ‘I won, Donghua *hyung* [older brother or male friend].’

Slowly, he took a deep breath. His lungs filled with air, but it didn’t feel like he had breathed.

In fact, he wondered if there was any reason to breathe.

It felt like there were slight holes in his memory after death, as if the River Lethe [river of forgetfulness in Greek mythology] actually existed.

Anyway, here.

He turned his head. What unfolded was countless lights in an endlessly 펼쳐진 [unfurled or spread out] space, like stars twinkling.

No, wouldn’t it be okay to call them stars?

Like a piece of the universe torn off, just twinkling without even being able to guess the meaning…

All he could say was overwhelming. In truth, he could only express it as sublime.

Even Death Valley, which he went to with the members on a regular trip, didn’t seem more beautiful than this. How nice it would be if Chae Hamin or the other members were here.

Ji Donghua slowly approached the dance of lights. His life as an idol was engraved in his head, irresistibly drawn to the light flickering in the darkness.

At that moment.

“Long time no see─.”

A dinosaur suddenly popped out, dragging a blanket in its hand. It yawned as if sleepy, revealing sharp teeth.

If bitten, he would die. …He’s already dead, so what would happen.

For now, it wasn’t showing hostile reactions and seemed to possess the intelligence to communicate, so it could be seen as a strange, intelligent life form.

Therefore, before starting a conversation, there was a serious contradiction in the dinosaur’s words, so he couldn’t help but ask.

“Long time no see?”

The dinosaur, who had been dozing off while sitting on the spread-out blanket, was startled and jumped up. Then, as if questioning what this human was saying, it sat down again and started dozing off again.

‘…It’s kind of cute.’

As Ji Donghua thought that and knelt down on one knee in front of it, the dinosaur finally seemed to realize something, clapped its short hands, and woke up from its drowsiness.

“Ah, this person is from there─.”

A relaxed tone reminiscent of someone, even a small dinosaur. No matter how he looked at it, it was Seokjun.

“This is a big problem. He’s going to be angry. First, let me greet you. Would you like to follow me?”

The dinosaur folded the blanket, held it tightly in one arm, and walked first.

Hmm, suspicious, Ji Donghua thought. Therefore, it was suspicious. If the afterlife existed, why was it acting as if it was prepared just for him?

“You can’t not come─.”

“…Okay.”

For now, there was no alternative.

He had no sense of time how long he had walked. The same was true for how much distance he had covered. This dream was irrational.

And after walking for a while, a huge pillar appeared as if suddenly emerging from the fog. Rising endlessly, it was like the Tower of Babel.

“If you’ve come, help a little, *X발* [a Korean curse word, similar to ‘fuck’].”

He stopped abruptly at the unexpected vulgar words.

At the source of the sound, a cat was tapping on a machine that was impossible to understand (in fact, he didn’t even know if it was a machine).

Damn it, that’s cute too.

“Hwa, that person has memory problems right now─.”

“From where.”

“From the beginning.”

“Same as us. I thought the original would be a little different.”

A puppy popped out from beside the cat and tugged at Ji Donghua’s sleeve.

A retriever. Seriously.

Since when was Ji Donghua so weak to cute things? Maybe it was because of a tiger. Following the puppy’s lead, he approached the pillar.

“…The building, it’s not.”

It was just a huge beam of light.

“You mustn’t touch it. That itself violates all the rules.”

The puppy’s kind explanation, and incomprehensible.

It was an explanation method reminiscent of a certain puppy who believed that Ji Donghua knew everything.

“Would you stand still in front of it.”

However, understanding was apparently not the priority. All specific explanations were omitted, and Ji Donghua let out a faint sigh at the continued commands.

What to do.

“Trust me.”

This time, a rabbit. He had guessed, but now he knew for sure.

Where’s the fox, then? He really wondered if it would be a fennec fox or an arctic fox. Anyway, these guys were us.

He was suspicious because the cat was too cute, but after seeing the dog and the rabbit, it became clear.

Then there was no choice but to believe. Recalling the curse that had been valid until the end of his life, Ji Donghua stood in front of the pillar.

Slowly, very slowly, the light flickered and gradually split. As if selecting who was standing in front of it, it flickered and opened like a door.

At this point, Ji Donghua was slightly breathless. Even though there were no further commands, Ji Donghua naturally moved his feet.

Illusions or delusions, containing all the elements that Ji Donghua didn’t usually like, only light, light that was so brilliant yet not dazzling.

Wherever he looked, there was no meaning. Wherever he walked, it didn’t matter. It was surrounding him and guiding him as if telling him to come here.

Finally, perhaps, when he reached the center of the pillar, there was a small book placed there.

To be protected by such splendid light, light that even touching it was dangerous according to the dog, its appearance seemed shabby.

Ji Donghua knelt down on one knee and picked up the book. Leather, the texture of animal skin. On the cover, there was a picture of a fox curled up and sleeping.

…Was it really a picture? It was too vivid.

No matter how realistically drawn, a picture could not follow actual perception due to its limitations. The actual perception that Cézanne tried to capture with multi-focus could not be fundamentally composed on the screen.

Ominous. Between the fox he couldn’t find outside and the fox picture drawn here that he wouldn’t be surprised even if it came to life, there was an ominous feeling.

Ji Donghua opened the book. Very gently, like an old habit.

[Remembering the teacher.]

That resolute sentence was written neatly, quietly.

* * *

‘I could never understand the teacher in my entire life.’

And.

‘The teacher won’t be able to understand me in my entire life either.’

Ji Donghua slowly read every sentence. There was not and would not be.

Gi Jisaeng’s joy that everything ended as planned, a subtle crack that he didn’t notice. Using the future-oriented word ‘would not’ to someone whose death was already 예정된 [predestined]…

And he stood up. There was no need for contemplation.

The memories that were gradually restored each time he read a sentence were astonishing.

This was the rule Gi Jisaeng was talking about. Memories disappearing naturally without even having time to recognize it, it was uselessly fast.

And he moved his feet. Gloom or burden were not allowed for him now.

The beam of light that had only seemed brilliant had a completely different impression when he looked at it again.

It was just desperate. It was struggling to prevent anyone except those who remembered from touching this book. So this pillar was in a state of constant tension.

The beam of light and a book left by the fox as Gi Jisaeng gradually disappeared, exploding together.

To perform this much work secretly from Gi Jisaeng, it was not something to do.

And he stepped outside. What was allowed now was only to realize the fox’s wish as soon as possible.

“…Long time no see.”

“Wow, you talk just like the teacher.”

He put his hand on the workbench, sitting next to the bright rabbit.

He thought Gi Jisaeng’s tutoring was just meaningless until the end of his life, but apparently not.

“Hwa.”

Ji Donghua carefully called the cat’s name.

“Shut up, I’m concentrating.”

The entire beam of light was a huge bug. It was an achievement too great and amazing for a fox to have created, directly rejecting the rules of this place.

The rules that constantly tried to delete information and the fox’s determination to block them all. With that small body, he was fighting a giant. Climbing on the giant’s shoulder and stabbing his neck.

And right now, that cat was doing its best to help that fox. Hiding the bug, pretending it was nothing.

Based on the book, they hated each other terribly but respected each other, it seemed to be true.

“What should we call you.”

The dog tilted its head this way and asked. As a sign of friendliness, it licked his hand once.

“Anything.”

“…Then let’s call you teacher.”

“That’s.”

“Shut up.”

Ji Donghua couldn’t bring himself to finish the sentence.

Because he thoroughly read the resentment and longing, as well as the joy, contained in the cat’s eyes.

So he moved his hand silently. To ease the cat’s burden.

“Teacher.”

“…Yeah.”

That title was burdensome.

He was not as great or outstanding as Gi Jisaeng. Wouldn’t it be better to be their colleague than someone’s teacher?

“Hyun, will he be able to come back too?”

Gloom hidden in optimism. It was Chae Hamin he saw for the first time.

“Of course.”

“…What’s the basis for your certainty.”

Checking the basis of the words with a sullen expression. It was Ji Donghua as he was then.

“Because time is infinite.”

The dog smiled faintly. Providing infinite trust to those who believe, it was Ryu Ideun as he was.

And the dinosaur who was looking at the beam of light and crying and falling asleep from exhaustion even at this moment was none other than Seokjun.

Lastly, the fox who had no hesitation in his actions, just like when he broke up with his parents, was like Lee Hyunjae.

He was about to fall into depression, but he shook his head once.

Ji Donghua carefully made a plan. A plan on how to ruin a certain life form’s great plan.

“Hwa.”

“What, teacher.”

Ah, this guy too. Being in the same feline family as Simba-ssi, he was incredibly cute.

“Is there a way to utilize that light.”

That light that essentially tried to fight the rules, a phenomenon close to the mystery that the fox had 구현해낸 [realized or embodied].

It stimulated his desire for exploration, it had a bewitching charm. Research was also inevitable to save the fox.

“…First, stabilization.”

* * *

I pushed Chae Hamin away for a moment and sat up. I needed to sort things out.

“Uh, uh, you shouldn’t get up!”

“There’s nothing wrong with my body.”

“Still!”

My memory is hazy. More precisely, my head is empty.

Part of the knowledge I had accumulated over those long years was gone, as if it was natural that it should be gone.

“…Where am I.”

“See! I told you he couldn’t be okay! If you only remember your name now…”

[Quest ‘Welcome to University’ has occurred!

Content: You were someone who managed space-time, but one day you suddenly opened your eyes and were thrown into a strange possibility with all your knowledge lost. Something that couldn’t be found in the previous space-time…]

I stopped reading. I already knew who it was.

[That’s because there’s something called a royal road.]

“Ji Donghua.”

“Uh…? You’re really not okay…. If you only remember your name now…”

[Now I am Gi Jisaeng.]

Again, my memory is hazy.

There was a reason why I shouldn’t be here, a reason for me. Beyond the impossibility itself, something bigger…

[So, complete the quest. Who knows, maybe the truth will be revealed as a reward when everything is over.]

Yes, it was like this. Using knowledge as a condition, a trick to lure me to take the bait. But even though I knew everything, I wanted to know.

I quickly scanned the quest content. It was so cliché. It was as if he was trying to retaliate for the quest I had given him at first. The condition of the quest to recognize reality was, 참 [truly or really].

“…Hamin.”

“Uh! Donghua!”

It hurts my head.

“What’s my major?”

“Early Childhood Education, if you can’t even remember this…”

‘Change it to Philosophy right now, *망할* [another Korean curse word, similar to ‘damn’].’

[Just like being an idol suited me quite well, please enjoy a life you didn’t plan. And please correct the title.]

“You.”

“Ah, you might not know since it’s our first time talking. Dance.”

Don’t say it so brightly, in this context, you should be worried about me normally…

[Please understand my feelings too.]

A retaliatory tone. I stared blankly at the air like a madman. And after a while, an annoying notification sound rang.

[And I forgot to tell you.]

The door burst open.

“I found you.”

A familiar face, but the look in his eyes was very unfamiliar.

“*망할* [damn] *hyung* [older brother or male friend].”

Seeing Mok-hwa walking in with eyes full of murderous intent, I stopped as if I had forgotten what to say for a moment.

[I value my promise with my younger sibling very much.]

Mok-hwa, who had come right in front of me, clenched his fist tightly and, with murderous intent to kill, struck my solar plexus.

With a sound like a water balloon bursting, the sound of air leaking from my mouth rang out.

This, this is also impossible. How did he do it. What on earth…, what on earth…

Hearing Chae Hamin’s scream, I gritted my teeth to endure the pain. It was unfamiliar. I realized that this body could die.

“…Mok-hwa, I, didn’t raise you so violently.”

“I did raise you that way! You made me like this! I heard everything from my second *hyung* [older brother or male friend]. Even what you were trying to do!”

Mok-hwa looked at me with eyes full of pity and sadness even while shouting. Then he slowly pulled me into his arms.

“…No, that, this, Donghua, and, um, Mok, Hwa…ssi?”

Chae Hamin’s confused eyes, Mok-hwa ran towards Chae Hamin this time as if he didn’t care about that and hugged him. It was like pouring oil on a fire.

Look at that, how much bigger his already big eyes have become. He has a naive and gentle impression, but this is bound to be embarrassing.

“Uh, that? Uh? Do, Donghua, uh, what should I do?”

But I was not in a situation to give any help. All the plans were twisted and messed up, and I realized it in an instant.

‘……Ji Donghua.’

[Title.]

‘……Gi Jisaeng.’

[Yes.]

‘What happens if I die.’

[Then it will be repeated again. Like biting its tail. You can repeat it without anyone even having to bear the loss.]

A tone that seemed very enjoyable. It was absurd.

My memory and yours continue as they are, but this naive rabbit in front of me doesn’t remember anything. What’s the point of this eternally 이어지는 [continuing] cycle?

[As you said, there is meaning in living by your own will. From beginning to end, in the space-time I created for you, without knowing what will happen. Even me. I tampered with Early Childhood Education a little.]

‘…Ha.’

[That’s something to think about after you live first. I have to go play with the kids for a while.]

Even though I only faced the first last, it became such a mess, *망할* [damn].

[Of course. The fox is smiling so well next to me.]

‘I want to see that too.’

That’s how the message ended.

I burst out laughing in vain.

While 고민하면서 [worrying] how to sort out this situation, from where.

Main Story Complete