What Happens When The Second Male Lead Powers Up [EN]: Chapter 547

Cold Boot (1)

#547

Cold Boot (1)

-Whoosh―!

“Haa…”

Jeong Hyeon-seo (鄭玄瑞) stared, looking down from the dizzying twelfth floor.

For a moment, he felt a dizzy spell and his vision blurred.

Of course, and thankfully, there were no unusual events outside the window.

No dramatic events occurred, such as the lights of the entire apartment complex suddenly blazing or a commotion erupting on the first floor.

Only the man’s T-shirt and pajama pants fluttered aimlessly in the breeze.

At the same time, a strong premonition tingled through his brain.

‘Jeong Ye-seo isn’t home.’

Why?

‘Because he left for that place.’

Where is that place?

‘I quit my job and―’

“No. It can’t be. No way…”

His sharp chin lifted as he scanned the air.

A chilly wind blew constantly, but it wasn’t enough to dry his cold sweat.

Even though it was a bitterly cold dawn in Seoul at the end of March.

The veranda railing, firmly gripped in both hands, was as cold as ice.

But the man didn’t feel the slightest bit of cold.

On the tiled floor, illuminated by the fluorescent light, fine dust was swirling.

One might think a flowerpot had fallen over in the wind.

In fact, Eun-seo’s lawn doll was rolling on the floor.

Nevertheless, Hyeon-seo recognized that it was a trace from his only younger brother’s sneakers.

How did he know?

“…Jeong Ye-seo, you crazy bastard. Are you really insane?”

Because his shoes weren’t in the entryway.

The super single bed was empty, the built-in closet was wide open, and the luxury cardigan he had bought as a promotion gift was nowhere to be seen.

His older brother was a fool who readily believed the lie that the youngest had picked it up at an outlet.

Hyeon-seo took a deep breath, thinking of his housemate, who was sometimes more worrisome than Eun-seo.

He took off his glasses, briefly rubbed his face, and then let out a long breath.

“Hoo…”

I knew you’d cause a major accident someday.

You’ve lived your whole life as a model student, so I knew you’d cause a lot of trouble at least once.

“Okay… First, calm down. Calm down. Calm down…”

First, he closed the screen door with trembling hands.

His fingers slipped a couple of times, but managing to close the door without any annoying noise felt like a great achievement right now.

After closing the glass outer door, he stood blankly on the cold veranda and took out his phone.

He knew he should call the nursing hospital first—or maybe he should find a shaman to revive the cursed computer—but there was something more urgent right now.

He quickly opened the phone app and searched for his brother’s name. ‘Tap, tap tap.’

‘Jeong Ye’.

‘Call’.

-Click

Immediately, a short noise was heard. His heart almost dropped!

-The phone you have called is turned off, and will be connected to voicemail after the beep. After the connection, call charges will apply…

“…”

Damn it. He tried it just in case, but the phone was completely off.

Well, if he really went ‘there,’ it would be strange if he could be reached.

He wouldn’t be able to charge it, so it would be natural for it to run out of battery over time. No…

“Still, does this make sense…? Is this right?”

Is it even possible to go there?

Is it okay? What principle does it even work on?

“Ha, I’m going crazy.”

His eyes, which had already lost all sleep, were filled with a sharp light.

His already flattened hair turned into a bird’s nest with a few gestures.

Hyeon-seo slipped on a slipper and entered the living room—he was definitely missing a screw—and stared intently at his youngest’s door.

He couldn’t help but worry that Eun-seo might wake up.

If he woke up to go to the bathroom and noticed his little brother’s absence.

If he burst through that door in a few seconds, crying and looking for him.

What would I say then…?

“Kuh-eong… Kuh-heong! Sniff!”

“…”

A loud snore leaked out of the door. Only then did the man’s eyelids slowly lower.

There’s nothing wrong with the youngest. Thank goodness.

Then.

“Hello. Yes, Doctor. This is Jeong Hyeon-seo…”

Hyeon-seo, holding onto the last thread of reason, immediately called Lee Jong-hee, the caregiver at the nursing hospital.

And in a hushed voice, he quickly returned to his room.

Jeong Eun-seo was a pig who wouldn’t know if someone carried him away in his sleep, but just in case, he quickly locked the door.

Fortunately, his mother didn’t need to talk to Ye-seo right away.

She said she had been crying and was exhausted and had finally fallen asleep, and that she was so tired that she would probably sleep like this until morning.

The man slumped into his computer chair and took off his glasses.

Then, he leaned his head on the headrest and let out a silent sigh.

-Oh my. You must have suffered a lot since Monday morning, caregiver. You have to write today, how tired you must be.

“…It’s nothing. You’re the one who’s suffering more. I’ll visit you with the kids this weekend. I’ll buy you your favorite Hallabong oranges and strawberries. Take a day off and come in.”

That was like a promise to Hyeon-seo himself.

Jeong Ye-seo must return home unconditionally.

And Mom and Eun-seo must never know about this nightmarish situation.

It has to be that way.

The man’s dark eyes rolled towards the monitor. Still a normal warning window, and…

-Saaaah…

The constantly shrinking Korean scroll was visible.

The filename, which he had never saved, clearly adorned the top of the window.

He glared at the screen with eyes so fierce it seemed he would erase the title.

‘□□ □□□ □□□□ □□□ □.hwp’

“…”

-Ssaaaaaah…!

The mysterious purple glow emanating from the main unit and the auspicious golden light radiating from the screen now seemed ready to devour him.

But it couldn’t really devour him.

Besides, it seemed like he was getting used to it as he kept looking at it. His heart was calmer than before.

The fact that he wasn’t very sensitive to horror movies also played a part.

The warning window clearly showed the name of the man’s sore spot.

‘I Quit and Became a Princess from Another World’

‘Date Created: 2019-01-01 11:11 AM’

“…Yes, yes. Thank you. Yes, rest well. Goodbye.”

As soon as the call ended, Hyeon-seo grabbed the mouse and moved it.

If he couldn’t close the warning window right away, he had to check what this unknown file was talking about.

He also had to find out why Jeong Ye, who had been mentioning the friends of ‘Retired Old Man,’ was chattering like a magpie in a completely different file.

As he rolled the mouse wheel, the page trembled and began to rise rapidly.

His speed was several times faster than the diligently shrinking scroll.

Calm down, Jeong Hyeon-seo. If you want to get your brother out, you have to stay calm.

There must be a way.

Let’s see.

「…It was a sparkling cursor.

The trace and present of a person who shaped the world with words, continuing creation from outside the artificial space.

That’s why I smelled ink and electronics when I broke the World Tree.

That’s why sparks like electric lights flew when I struck down the sacred root.

It was a simple truth, but it took too long to put everything together.

I shuddered alone and looked up at the sky.

Even if it’s a different world line from the original, it’s not an abandoned space.

Didn’t I know from the beginning? Of course, the chief god is watching us somewhere…」

“…Hmm?”

Hyeon-seo, who had reached a certain point, frowned.

The word ‘cursor’ was particularly striking. Suddenly, a hypothesis came to mind.

If I can read writings like this in real time, can I also edit them?

Can I completely delete, add, or rewrite the content?

Although he couldn’t close or press the warning window, maybe this was possible.

He fixed the cursor on the visible sentence and repeatedly pressed the backspace button. ‘Tap tap, tap tap tap, tap tap tap tap!’

「…Through the dazzling flash, I glanced at Yuliter’s Mangkrans.

A house burning with a fallen torch, a temple nearly half collapsed.

A building collapsing with a crash next to a huge old tree. A fence breaking weakly┃」

Ah. It does get erased. I can’t click the warning window, but this works?

“Wait, this…”

Is it okay to erase it carelessly? In an instant, his heart surged as if it had fallen into the sea.

His usually cold face was undergoing extreme emotional turmoil today.

Hyeon-seo was willing to do anything to rescue his brother safely, and conversely, he didn’t want to do anything that would hurt him.

But just now, he deleted some of the content of the world that his brother was presumed to have been sucked into(?).

Moreover, he was a writer!

“Damn it.”

The man knew better than anyone what kind of impact the loss of a sentence could have on the overall story.

Especially since he started contributing to a special project like

“What, can’t I undo it either?”

When he pressed the shortcut key to restore what he had deleted, the cursor didn’t budge this time.

Hyeon-seo laughed in absurdity and disbelief.

The way he was given certain writing privileges, but not allowed to interfere beyond a certain level, was just like…

“…”

-Creak, creak

A heavy silence followed. The scroll continued to rise.

「…To be honest, I had some expectation that I might cross over into my own body.

It wasn’t based on any particular evidence, I just thought it might happen.

So I deliberately wore comfortable sneakers. But isn’t this flow too much?

Even if it’s not a ‘textbook’ possession, does there have to be a language barrier?

【The inside is the same, but why are you being so unkind? I’m definitely leaving a 1-star review when I get home.】」

“Hey, don’t do that.”

Hyeon-seo made a stern face.

Soon, a slow smile formed on his lips and then sank into the shadows.

His head suddenly felt a ton heavier.

“Ha… Then how do I bring this guy back?”

Where do I even start?

*

Ah, let’s empty my stomach first. I’m really going to die!

“Uwaaaaaaack!”

“Oh my, what should we do, Princess? You’re going to lose all your weight like this.”

“Keuh, cough!”

Tuk, tuk tuk! The touch of Ms. Gain patting my back was very skillful.

Hugging a large old tree, I was bent over at about 90 degrees, emptying the contents of my stomach.

I don’t know what I’m doing in the moonlight.

Fortunately, I hadn’t eaten much since waking up, so I was able to avoid a very terrible sight (of course, the Crown Prince was standing far away, clicking his tongue).

My esophagus didn’t feel hot or painful as if it was burning.

But.

But…

“Heok, cough. Augh…”

“Princess, would you like some lukewarm water? Would you like to rinse your mouth?”

“Yes, yesss… Please…”

The fact that my brother was directly related to was so shocking.

Even if it wasn’t betrayal, I don’t think I’ll ever forget this shocking and nauseating feeling.

Just thinking about it made my stomach churn and my vision go yellow; I felt like I was going to faint.

I squeezed my eyes shut and gasped for breath in a chaotic rhythm.

On the one hand, the many scenes that I had ignored, or overlooked, or…

“Here’s the water.”

“Thank you… Uuuuuck!”

“Oh my. You can’t even smell the water; what should we do?”

Numerous scenes that I had knowingly pretended not to see quickly flashed before my eyes.

It felt like I was being punished.

‘When I was young, my dream was to become a tyrannical dragon.’

“Haa, eugh…”

Our protagonist, who had the same dream as seven-year-old Jeong Eun-seo.

‘This is a really big deal. You brought an outsider in the imperial carriage, so you have to tell me everything without missing a single detail!’

My princess, who even had a similar way of speaking to that child. And…

“Uwaaaaaaack.”

“At this rate, you’ll spit out your insides. Should I just knock you out?”

Jibril Diop, who was watching with his arms crossed, sneered.

I raised my head sharply and glared at him with all my might.

Don’t pick a fight with me; I’m dying from tearing apart every scene from the first day of possession!

What Happens When The Second Male Lead Powers Up [EN]

What Happens When The Second Male Lead Powers Up [EN]

SMPU TWSB What Happens When the Sub Male Lead Goes on Strike When the Third Wheel Strikes Back ขอทีผมคนนี้อยากหนีจากบทพระรอง 男配角罷工的話會發生的事 서브 남주가 파업하면 생기는 일 섭남파업
Status: Completed Author: Native Language: Korean
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[English Translation] Imagine waking up not as the hero, but as the second fiddle in your sister's favorite romance novel! That's exactly what happened. Except, this isn't just any supporting role—it's a fast track to a tragic war and an untimely demise. Forget destiny! This second lead is rewriting his fate. He's dodging the main characters, embracing a life of leisure, and counting down the seconds until he can finally go home. Can he escape the predetermined plot, or will he be forever trapped in a romantic fantasy gone wrong?

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