Surviving in the Idol Game (4)
It felt like the blood in my veins had gone cold. Right, I had forgotten for a moment. Whether I had returned to the past or been given a new life, it was obviously all related to the game — how could I have completely forgotten that?
The excitement in my head had settled down the moment the situation I once dreamed about every night — a chance to turn my ruined life around — started becoming tangible.
“Life -1”? If you die, you die — what kind of vague wording is that? Are there people walking around with multiple lives? What am I, a game character…?
“…A character, huh?”
Come to think of it, I was staring at a status window just like the one from the game I used to play, and yet I was denying it was a game. So… I died and ended up inside the game?
I checked the remaining time at the PC café and quickly skimmed through the news articles online. They looked just like real-life news — politics and economics filled with familiar topics, albeit five years old — and as I browsed through them, the idea that this was just a game didn’t sit right with me. It felt too real, too vivid for something inside a game.
I figured this strange situation must be connected to the game somehow, but the idea that I was actually inside a game world…
The game I played was a mobile simulation RPG, not some augmented reality game.
But then I stumbled upon an article I’d never seen before. It said that starting this year, they were strengthening the recruitment conditions for voluntary military service.
“….”
I had been wondering if, since I was 19 again, I’d have to serve in the military a second time — but the article confirmed I wouldn’t need to. It was a volunteer system, not mandatory conscription.
“That’s good, I guess… but why is this the only thing that’s different?”
Looking further, I noticed more articles that felt slightly off. Like overly positive reviews about Korean dramas and movies that were already popular around this time in real life. Or idol-related stories popping up in places they didn’t belong — like articles about environmental protection.
“What the heck do idols have to do with an environmental speech?”
I wanted to dig deeper, but my time at the café was almost up. I used the cash I had set aside just in case for the bus fare. I had already memorized the address and figured out how to get there, so I walked forward without hesitation. I paid the youth fare and boarded the bus, gazing blankly out the window.
My reflection showed me in a white padded jacket, hat pulled low. White. I’d never picked that color for myself before. I usually stuck to black clothes, so it felt really unfamiliar.
Leaning against the window, I stared at the darkened streets. My stomach growled. I realized I hadn’t eaten anything all day.
“….”
It had been a completely disorienting, unfamiliar, and exhausting day.
After waking up from death, I’d been scouted noisily on the street, heard an impassioned vision speech at an office, gotten chased by people, taken refuge in a department store bathroom to gather my thoughts, and received some strange help.
Thanks to that, I’d made it to the PC café and got a rough idea about this body I was in. But then the sudden appearance of a “guide mission” made things complicated again. The system was extremely unkind. While I had gotten caught up in planning my future and forgotten about its presence, it slapped me with a penalty just to remind me it existed.
As if to say, This opportunity wasn’t given to you for that.
[Guide to understanding the system – Step 1]
Idol Debut Preparation: Reach Singing Level B0 within D-20
On Success: Proceed to Guide Step 2
On Failure: Life -1
“Life -1.” I had no idea what would happen if I lost a life, or how many I had in the first place. It was basically a threat — follow the guide or die. If I only had one life, refusing the guide meant immediate death.
Is it because it’s a life I revived on my own — so they can just take it back easily?
The system clearly had the upper hand — in both knowledge and power. It was like dealing with a thug. Yet somehow, it felt familiar.
“If you don’t know, you die.”
It was a common phrase in games, but I never thought I’d feel it this way.
The sharp pain and the sensation of my breath stopping — the memory clung like a stain. At least it didn’t last long because I died instantly, but I didn’t want to experience it again. That’s the honest truth.
“An idol, huh…”
I trudged off the bus and started walking. To reach my home, I had to head deeper inside.
The dark alley was oddly creepy, so I half-ran the rest of the way until I eventually broke into a full sprint and reached my destination.
Ignoring the pounding of my anxious heart, I ran up the stairs.
Fourth floor, a studio apartment. No elevator, but the building was clean. The room itself looked even more spacious than it did in the listing. Probably because there wasn’t much furniture.
All I could see was a neatly folded blanket, a small wardrobe, a low desk with an old laptop on it, and a tiny fridge. In the corner, a few unopened boxes seemed to contain study materials and books. Probably still packed because there was no bookshelf.
Next to the fridge were some unopened water bottles, and inside, a single convenience store lunchbox sat alone.
There was no TV, no smartphone, but at least there was a laptop. Unfortunately, it seemed there was no Wi-Fi router. Judging by the logs, the previous me had lived here for about a week — though the empty room made it seem like I had just moved in yesterday.
But I was too tired to think anymore. I took out the hardened lunchbox from the fridge. With no microwave, I just forced it down with water. After eating quickly, I washed off with warm water and got into bed. The blanket was thin, so I turned the heater up. My back was toasty warm. Sleep came instantly.
It was basically passing out.
“….”
I woke up feeling like I had been steamed alive. The one-room apartment was exactly the same as when I collapsed.
Looking out the window, I saw the setting sun. If it wasn’t a dawn sky, that meant I had slept through the entire day.
As sweat rolled down my face, I headed to the bathroom. Only the bare essentials were there — shampoo, soap, toothpaste, and a toothbrush.
How was I living like this?
Letting the water hit me, I started sorting my thoughts.
There’s so much to do.
After thoroughly washing from head to toe, I realized there was no hair dryer.
“…Sigh.”
I considered going out to buy one, but the sun had already set. The alley was especially dark.
…I guess I can live without a hair dryer.
I opened the fridge. Empty.
…I won’t die from skipping a meal for one day.
I made up my mind to go grocery shopping as soon as the sun rose tomorrow. Hugging a bottle of water, I dried my hair with the small towel I had. Then, I turned on the laptop.
As expected, a faint one-bar Wi-Fi signal flickered in and out — probably some shared network nearby.
I dug through the laptop files. It seemed to have been used mainly for studying — no personal notes or anything reflective of individual thoughts. Looks like the person in this body didn’t keep a diary or use social media.
“Well, I guess without a smartphone, SNS isn’t really an option anyway…”
I used to hate writing journals too.
I stared blankly at the old laptop. This outdated thing. How long did I even use it?
Honestly, it still didn’t feel real. My body, which seemed oddly well-made, was clearly similar to my original body, and even though I was moving it now, it still felt like it belonged to someone else.
However, after a good night’s sleep, my mind had cleared and accepted the situation. Even if it didn’t feel like my body, I had to use it like it was mine.
If this was inside a game, then I was just a character governed by the system. If it was reality, then some supernatural force had intervened in my life—reviving a dead man and turning back time. Either way, it didn’t seem like I had any right to refuse.
So, for now, I guess I should live like a game character.
“Still… I want to take the college entrance exam.”
Strangely enough, I didn’t feel much resistance to the idea of becoming an idol. I even felt like I should just go along with it. But maybe I was more hung up on the college entrance exam than I thought? Even knowing I was clinging to it, my heart kept going back to it. I really wanted to take that test.
“Maybe I don’t have to give up on university?”
But then the status window popped up again. I hadn’t even thought about opening it, but it appeared as if to say my consent didn’t matter.
[Guide to Understanding the System – Step 1]
Idol Debut Preparation: Reach Singing Level B0 within D-19
On Success: Proceed to Guide Step 2
On Failure: Life -1
The number had gone down from 20 to 19. So it really was a countdown, a deadline.
‘So you’re telling me to stop daydreaming and just focus on the mission.’
It felt like I was being pushed around, which didn’t sit well with me—but for now, I decided to go along with it. After all, the college exam wasn’t something I needed to worry about immediately. It was still almost 10 months away.
‘If I fail the mission and die, then scoring well on the exam won’t matter anyway.’
I opened the status window to check my stats as it seemed to want.
[Civilian]
Name: Lee Hanhee (19)
Singing: 79 (C+)
Dancing: 74 (C0)
Charm: 98 (A+)
Seeing the stats properly for the first time, I couldn’t help but sigh.
“This is a cheat character.”
My eyes were glued to the charm stat. 98? That number was absolutely impossible for starting stats.
‘This game is notorious for how hard it is to max out stats.’
Like most growth systems, Idol Survival implemented stat growth in the form of a logarithmic curve. In simple terms, the closer you got to the max limit, the harder it became to gain even a single point.
Whether it was singing, dancing, or charm—once you hit 95, increasing by even one point became exponentially harder. In fact, the game’s usual graduation standard for any stat was 95, that’s how brutal it was.
Once you passed 95, the growth curve flattened out so much that no matter how much time, effort, or currency you invested, the stat barely moved. Even after a full year of service, the highest stat across all servers had only been 99. No one had ever hit 100. That’s how extreme it was.
“Is this a bug or something?”
Honestly, being given a starting stat over 95 just didn’t make sense.
“I remember how hard I worked to raise the UR-tier characters…”
As a former player, I could say that whether it was a cheat or a bug, having a base stat of 98 was basically a game-breaking balance issue. The face reflected on the dark screen of the laptop suddenly felt unfamiliar. Maybe it looked like that because of the high charm stat?
Going from player to game character was a tough adjustment. They made me younger, fixed my face… just how far were they planning to go with giving me opportunities?
“Singing: 79, Dancing: 74, Charm: 98.”
Breaking down my stats, it meant:
“Singing—trainee level. Dancing—civilian. But the vibe? Superstar.”
This stat layout was the kind that made people accuse you of using your good looks to make easy money. Idol. The word came with a lot of baggage.
“I mean, I got emotionally invested, sure… but I don’t think I ever actually wanted to be the character.”
I stared out at the darkness beyond the window. But whether I was a game character or something else, it didn’t change the fact that this life was a chance given to me.
“The red carpet’s been rolled out for me.”
I gulped down some water to quiet my empty stomach, then opened the notepad. I started by writing out the timeline I remembered.
Who would’ve thought my wasted gamer life would actually come in handy someday? The world really is full of surprises.
***
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