Second Try Idol - Chapter 124: The Singer in the Memories (9)

Lassen, a young man who has failed at everything in his life, has had enough. Disillusioned with the world, he decides to end it all. But instead of dying, he wakes up in a parallel world, armed with a strange system that can accomplish anything he desires. Trapped in his room, reading novels and savoring every page, he has no intention of participating in the fast-paced world outside.Yet, despite his desire for peace, the world changes every time he makes an appearance. Everyone treats him like a genius, a being capable of disrupting the very fabric of reality, without lifting a finger. A powerful system, a new life, and a world that adapts to him: why complicate things when you can have everything without effort?The Genius System tells the story of a man who, although having everything to change the world, prefers to watch it evolve from the comfort of his room, through the pages of his books.

Haewon, a violinist, is a nonchalant person who neither blocks the ones who come into his life nor holds onto those who leave. One day, his only friend, Taeshin, commits su*cide, and after failing to speak to Taeshin, who called him several times shortly before his death, Haewon is haunted by his death, even though he doesn’t have much of an attachment to human relationships. Then, he inevitably runs into Woojin, the man Taeshin had a crush on, and Haewon indifferently crumples up the business card Woojin hands him.One day, Haewon, forced into an unwanted relationship, becomes entangled in an assault case, but thanks to the business card given to him, he receives help from Woojin, who’s a prosecutor. Haewon feels uncomfortably guilty and tries to keep him at arm’s length, but Woojin is comfortable enough to take a few extra steps.

After being torn from the only life she knew, 16-year-old Margo is forced into a new home with strangers who call themselves her parents. Haunted by memories of her past and consumed by feelings of isolation, she struggles to adapt to her unfamiliar surroundings. School offers little relief—until she meets Lucien, a mysterious boy who appears just when she needs a friend the most.Gabriel is everything Margo needs: kind, attentive, and always ready to whisk her away from her troubles. Each night, he invites her to secret places—an abandoned playground, a fog-choked garden, a crumbling train station at the edge of town—each more unsettling than the last. Yet with every chilling rendezvous, Margo feels more alive... more seen.But something isn’t right. Gabriel never comes to school during the day. Her adoptive parents never see him. And when they catch her talking to thin air, their concern deepens into fear. They say Gabriel isn't real—that he’s a figment of her imagination. Margo wants to believe them, but Gabriel feels real. More real than anything else in her life.As the nights grow colder and more twisted, Gabriel’s true nature begins to surface. Shadows move where they shouldn’t. Time warps in his presence. And the places they visit seem to echo with whispers from another world. Margo is forced to ask herself: Who—or what—is Gabriel? Why does he only want her? And what will happen on the final night he asks her to come with him?As the line between reality and delusion begins to crumble, Margo must make an impossible choice: stay in a world where she feels loved, or return to one that barely feels real.But one thing is certain—some friendships never let go.

The Shao and Cheng families have been sworn enemies for generations, though few outsiders know the exact details of their feud.

What is known to all is the Shao family’s three cardinal rules:

The Shao family must not cooperate with the Chengs, must not intermarry with the Chengs, and must never appear with the Chengs at any public event.

One day, an adorable little girl looking like a doll, wearing a puffy pink dress, pink hair clip, and pink backpack, walked into the lobby on the first floor of the Shao Group building.

The receptionist thought she was some child who had wandered away from home. But the little girl solemnly said, “I want to see your Shao Group CEO, Shao Chengze.”

Seeing the girl’s pink outfit, the receptionist knew she must be from a wealthy and noble family to dare to address their CEO by his full name. She couldn’t be the daughter of some high-ranking Shao Group executive?

Smiling warmly, she asked, “Little one, could you tell me your parents’ names?”

The girl tilted her head. “My mommy is Cheng Jinlan.”

Cheng…Jinlan?!

Second Miss Cheng Jinlan of the Cheng family?! She never thought she’d see the day a Cheng would set foot in the Shao Group building. What a miracle!

“As for my dad, I’ve come today to get some of Shao Chengze’s hair for a DNA test. Once I have his hair, I’ll know if he’s my dad or not.”

The girl’s crisp words rippled outwards from the front desk through the bustling first floor lobby. Everyone who heard froze in shock, jaws dropping.

Everyone except Shao Chengze, who had just stepped out of the elevator surrounded by a group.

He looked at the girl in pink through narrowed, fox-like eyes.

Cheng Liqi recognized Shao Chengze and covered her mouth in an “ah-oh”.

She decided that even if Shao Chengze wasn’t her dad, she’d have to help Cheng Jinlan get this man. She liked his eyes.

They were just like hers.

So pretty.