The Trashy PD Has To Survive as an Idol-Chapter 292

Dding!

Dding!

Ddiriring!

[Checking Player ‘Seo Hoyun’’s Notoriety Points.]

[Checking....]

[...]

[...]

[...]

[Check complete.]

[...Some notoriety points have been detected. Minimum game-start condition has been fulfilled.]

[Syncing with the real world....]

“Ugh....”

The endless alarm drilled into my ears.

I reached out to swat it away, but caught nothing. I yanked the blanket up to my head and burrowed inside.

My eyelids were too heavy. It felt like fatigue was crashing over my body like a tide.

Something important had happened... Right, the metallic taste spreading in my mouth... Min Jiheon’s horrified face... and Jeong Cheong...yeon staring at me...

...Jeong Cheongyeon?

“...!”

My eyes snapped open.

The moment I bolted upright, system windows flooded my sight.

[Congratulations, Seo Hoyun! You’ve been selected as a player of Nameless Actor Tycoon. Congratulations on regaining 10 years of youth!]

[Seo Hoyun: Rising rookie actor under WH

Age: 25

Trait: Completed military service

Once a genius PD, but nobody remembers him.

(※Except for certain individuals)]

[If you fail the game clear, permanent logout is # Nоvеlight # impossible.]

Crazy.

Is this real?

“Haa... ha, haha. Hahahaha.”

I laughed hollowly, pacing the room before splashing water on my face with dry hands.

An actor?

And not just an actor, but a rising rookie actor?

Slap!

Since reality wasn’t sinking in, I smacked my right cheek hard, and the sting burned straight through.

“Not a dream.”

Rubbing my heated cheek with the back of my hand, I steadied myself and looked around.

I’d woken up in the new apartment we’d moved into after Seo Hojin’s personal info had spread. In the corner, some boxes were still unpacked.

From a 33-year-old PD to a 23-year-old idol—this was déjà vu.

‘...Seo Hojin.’

Right, maybe just like before, Seo Hojin existed here too. With his memories intact.

I yanked the door open.

“Seo Hojin!”

But there was no sign of him.

Even after checking every room, he was nowhere.

“Fuck.”

Raking my hair roughly, I slumped onto the sofa.

“...Calm down, Seo Hoyun.”

Slowly, I retraced my memories.

Forced into Nameless Idol Tycoon as a player, de-aged, received the Reality Awareness Quest—.

“Play Guide.”

—Right, the system window had popped up announcing the play guide.

A long wall of text unfolded.

[PD Seo Hoyun, who made a living ruining other people’s lives, has possessed Nameless Actor Tycoon.

Except for certain individuals, no one remembers you as a PD.]

[To escape this world and return to your original life, to be an idol again, you must clear Nameless Actor Tycoon.

If you fail, permanent logout will be impossible.]

[Become a Hallyu star or a ten-million actor!]

‘It’s been changed from idol to actor.’

And to return to Nameless Idol Tycoon, the necessary passage was to clear this place first.

With trembling hands, I grabbed my phone and searched ‘Seo Hoyun.’ Unlike the idol ‘Seo Hoyun,’ countless results appeared.

[Seo Hoyun

Talent, Actor

Agency: WH Entertainment

Debut: 20XX Web drama ‘Golden Over Starlight’

Award: 20XX Baekho Film Festival Best New Actor (Our Little Revolution)]

In the black-and-white profile photo, wearing a black turtleneck, the face felt unfamiliar, not mine.

[Seo Hoyun confirmed for survival horror drama ‘Dead after Hope’]

From news articles to portal sites to social media.

Piecing it all together, the 25-year-old actor ‘Seo Hoyun’ was a beloved Chungmuro rising star, recently cast in a new drama.

“What the hell....”

My skull throbbed. Holding my head with one hand, I typed another word with the other.

The Dawn.

.........Nothing.

‘Kim Sunghyun,’ ‘Sung Jiwon,’ ‘Kang Ichae,’ ‘Jung Dajun.’

I searched each name. Only unrelated people appeared. Calls to the numbers I remembered either led to “number not in service” or strangers answering.

“Shit.”

It meant one of two things.

Either The Dawn had never debuted in this world—or those four didn’t exist here at all.

Next, I searched ‘Joo Woosung.’

[Joo Woosung

Singer

Agency: WH Entertainment

Group: Black Call]

“...So he’s still here?”

I checked a few more names.

All of them were intact. It was only The Dawn, and idol Seo Hoyun, that had been erased.

......And Seo Hojin, too.

“...Could this be unconsciousness?”

...But I couldn’t be sure. With just one experience, I couldn’t assume a pattern or formula.

Besides, the system was unstable as hell. Errors popped up constantly.

This time, too, after facing Jeong Cheongyeon, I ended up like this....

Dding!

[This is not unconsciousness but reality!]

The system window popped up right on cue, contradicting me.

My glare could have burned through it.

“...So I really got dumped into Nameless Actor Tycoon?”

My blood and sweat—The Dawn—gone?

And to return as an idol, I have to act?

[...Y-Yes.]

As if it felt guilty, the blue windows slowly slid out of sight.

I inhaled sharply and spat out my words.

“...Hey.”

And in a calm, low voice, I delivered my impression of the current situation.

“...(Beep—) You little (beep—) wanna die? Do you know how much fucking shit I went through, and you—what the fuck gives you the right to (beep——) waste my time, waste— I should’ve (beeeeep) smashed you when you first said (beep—) reset... (beep—). Give me back my brother and my members right now before I shove you in a washing machine and (beeeeeeeeeeeep) spin the crap out of you!!!”

[...]

Like scattering sand, the system window vanished—and only reappeared thirty minutes later.

[Let me explain again....]

I sat on the sofa, legs crossed, picking my ear, as it rambled on.

It claimed countless beta servers were built before Nameless Idol Tycoon was fully structured.

Most were discarded after testing, but some couldn’t be completely deleted. Meeting Jeong Cheongyeon triggered a glitch, and I got swept into it.

[Bottom line, you can return!]

The window glimmered in a show of emphasis.

[—But we have to fix the error first.]

That add-on didn’t matter. As long as I could return, fine.

So I asked the next most important thing.

“Does time flow the same here as it does where I was?”

[No, um... roughly speaking, one month here equals about one day there?]

After weighing a few calculations, I narrowed my eyes.

“So fixing the error is enough, right?”

[Yes! I’ll patch it quickly. Nothing major!]

“And when I return, the kids will be safe?”

[Of course!] 𝕗𝚛𝚎𝚎𝐰𝗲𝗯𝗻𝚘𝚟𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝕞

Once I had answers secured, I smirked and went back to the bedroom, flopping onto the bed.

[Huh? What are you doing??]

“I needed rest anyway, good timing. Since I’ll return once the error’s fixed, I’ll just nap meanwhile.”

[Eh?]

Pulling the blanket up to my chin, I gestured to sleep.

Urgent alarms rang.

[What about your actor schedule??]

“Fuck off.”

The blue glow trembled, then spilled out lines of text.

[No, wait! Even if it’s because of a glitch, the system’s fundamental premise doesn’t change.]

[Even if we fix the error, if you don’t complete quests and build recognition, you’ll be trapped here.]

[But it won’t be as hard as last time since some of your idol experience carried over! You’re not starting as a complete nobody!]

[It’s just early quests, not difficult! I’ll show you an example.]

Quest received!

‘As an actor, begin preparing for the drama!’

You’ve been parachuted in as a supporting actor.

Before entering the drama ‘Dead after Hope,’ get a briefing on your role.

Meet with PD and related staff....

I waved the floating window away.

“Mm~, nope.”

Closing my eyes, I added dryly.

“Just fix this mess yourself.”

[No! I said we need Seo Hoyun’s cooperation!]

The repeated alarms grated on my nerves until I snapped upright.

“Hey, what kind of game company injures a player with a bug and then has the balls to order them around?! Just hand out compensation quietly and clean up your shit.”

Clicking my tongue, I started to lie down again. Then, hesitating, it flickered before dropping a line.

[...The points you earn here carry over when you return.]

I froze.

I waited silently, and more lines appeared.

[Also, read the quest carefully.]

Quest received!

‘As an actor, begin preparing for the drama!’

You’ve been parachuted in as a supporting actor.

Before entering the drama ‘Dead after Hope,’ get a briefing on your role.

Meet with PD and related staff 0/1

※Time limit: 23:59

Failure or missing the time limit means you cannot return to the idol server.

Time limit?

“Fuck.”

The curse spilled out.

“Are you insane? This is a bug too, right? It can be fixed, right?”

The window whined that it was unavoidable—that if I didn’t do quests and gain recognition, I could be stuck here forever. Even warned that skipping quests could harm my body.

My head pounded again.

[Please just cooperate a little. It’s not such a bad deal if you think about it.]

“......”

[Because the idol and actor servers have different time flows, it’s a chance to earn lots of points.]

The curses piled up in my throat, but unlike before, I didn’t spit a flat “fuck off.”

Points were valuable. They could be the way to retrieve Seo Hojin’s memories.

Dding!

As if sensing my hesitation—

Actor Scenario received.

Would you like to begin?

Yes/No

Right on time, a scenario quest window popped up.

[You’re really not doing it?]

“Shut up a sec.”

Earlier, Lee Kangseok existed here.

Yuhyuk too, right?

And even Min Jiheon.

My brain whirred sharper than it had during my study years, lips curving faintly.

“...Hey.”

If only a fraction of my idol experience carried into this actor career, then all the things I did to people back there were erased.

“What happens to events here when I return as an idol?”

[...Why are you asking something so ominous?]

“Answer.”

After hesitating, the window faded like a sigh before letters etched slowly.

[...They don’t remain.]

“People’s memories, too?”

[Yes. Only Seo Hoyun remembers what happens here.]

Laughter burst out of me.

“So no matter what I do here, no one remembers after I go back....”

Good thing I’d been so well-behaved before.

“Start the actor scenario.”

[AUTO: Beginning Main Scenario.]

How mild-mannered I’d been as an idol.

[Wh-why are you laughing like that? You’re not going insane, are you?]

This was the chance granted by a pitying god. A chance to go wild.

“You bastard.”

I’d rack up points, dig into the system’s rotten guts. Jeong Cheongyeon’s appearance was suspicious anyway.

And while I was at it—

“Have you ever seen me fail at something?”

—I’d shake down the bastards I didn’t like.