‘Ugh. My eyes are so blurry.’

He must have stared at the fluorescent lights too long—otherwise, there was no way a status window like the ones in music videos would really appear.

And sixteen years old, no less.

Why was he sixteen? He was twenty-one.

Roy closed his eyes, denying reality. When he opened them again, a different window floated before him.

【Unregistered Awakener. Cannot load information.】

【“Skill Lock” status: only basic skills available. Unlock?】

“Ha.”

A hollow laugh escaped him.

Lock? What did that even mean?

How was he supposed to unlock anything...?

He truly felt he was going insane.

‘Did I hit my head really hard in the crash?’

There was no other explanation for seeing something so impossible.

‘No... it must still be a dream.’

But pinching his thigh and rubbing his eyes didn’t make the status windows disappear.

‘Ah... I really think I’m losing my mind.’

He had no idea where to begin untangling this mess.

✧

Roy made a few hypotheses.

First: reincarnation by truck.

It’s a common web novel trope—an unjust protagonist dies in an accident only to wake up years earlier with all their memories intact! Thus begins the thrilling tale of revenge or success.

‘But I wasn’t wronged by anyone.’

If anything, he felt more aggrieved than ever. Just as he’d achieved success, he was told he was in another world. It was a miracle he hadn’t had a nervous breakdown.

Second: the afterlife.

He’d heard that if you believe in God, you go to Heaven when you die. After all, in the subway line 1, you often see signs reading “Jesus is Heaven, unbelievers to Hell.”

But he had believed in only one thing in life.

‘I believe in me.’

What if the afterlife did exist—and this place was it? It didn’t feel like Heaven, but it wasn’t exactly Hell, either. He’d just bled a moment ago, and his heart was beating just fine.

Third: a parallel world.

A realm similar to his own but subtly different. “Awakeners” felt oddly familiar—had he somehow convinced himself it was normal and was now hallucinating?

‘Ugh... all these guesses are so unreal.’

Roy buried his face in his hands and sat like that for a long time, then remembered one last possibility.

Fourth: a coma.

The most plausible option. He’s in a coma, dreaming this place—but his subconscious believes it’s real, so he feels pain here.

‘Of course. It must be the fourth.’

Just as he forced himself to feel comforted, someone knocked, and the hospital-room door opened.

“Roy, let’s go home.”

A smiling couple entered.

He’d forgotten they’d said they’d arrive when he was discharged—already?

These two were now his parents. That was the decisive reason he’d considered the parallel-world theory: equal exchange, right? In this world, his members were gone, but parents appeared overnight.

Having lived as an orphan all his life, sudden parents felt entirely foreign.

“Have you packed your things?”

“Yes.”

In truth, there was nothing to pack. ❖ Nоvеl𝚒ght ❖ (Exclusive on Nоvеl𝚒ght) After his amnesia diagnosis, the couple had brought him one large photo album—and that was it. It contained everything from his childhood photos to recent family snapshots in chronological order.

Honestly, it wasn’t pleasant—an unwilling showcase of his brightest “dark history,” like reading his own hate comments.

“How’s your condition?”

“I’m fine.”

Without another word, Roy followed them. With no agency, no dorm, and no money, he had no choice but to go with them.

Climbing into the back seat with the woman, Roy gazed at the man driving.

‘So this is what my parents look like.’

His heart fluttered oddly.

He glanced at the woman holding his hand tightly.

“Roy, is something on your mind?”

“No, nothing.”

He turned swiftly and stared out the window. Fresh snow blanketed the world outside. The hallucination he’d briefly seen days ago had vanished.

‘It’s okay. Weird dreams happen.’

He decided to enjoy the situation until he woke up from the dream.

Then a digital billboard caught his eye: breaking news announced the death of the world-renowned prophet Maha after delivering his final prophecy. Though sound was off, subtitles scrolled beneath the anchor’s image.

[“A vile power will drench the world in darkness. Only the lonely star can drive back the night and bring light.”]

The phrasing struck him as eerily familiar. The subtitles changed again:

[“The star is water and fire. Sometimes wind, sometimes earth, sometimes light. Do not dwell on past glory and lose your way.”]

In that moment, Roy’s mind flashed back to a scene from Shooting Star’s debut song and world-view music video, “Chaos.” Made like a drama with massive CG—so extravagant their CEO had secretly sold his fields to fund it! They’d survived on instant ramen pre-debut because the top actress they’d begged to star cost so much.

He recalled the actress’s line—it matched the billboard headline.

“Ugh.”

A wave of nausea hit him. He slammed on the brakes, leapt from the car, and sprinted down a narrow alley. 𝑓𝘳𝘦𝑒𝑤𝑒𝘣𝘯ℴ𝘷𝘦𝓁.𝑐𝑜𝑚

“Ugh. Oooweck!”

With nothing in his stomach, yellow bile spilled up.

“Roy! Roy!”

He heard his name but was too drained even to answer. He needed to respond... what if they left him again?

Fear gripped him. He crouched, catching his breath, then shakily grabbed the wall to stand.

Step by step, he forced himself toward his parents’ voices—then a blue light shimmered at the alley’s end.

‘What’s that?’

He’d seen something like it in a fantasy movie—mages creating portals to other spaces or worlds. It felt ominous.

He should’ve passed by, but his cursed curiosity got the better of him. He paused, then abandoned his parents’ voices to approach.

Standing before the blue gate, he glimpsed a stirring vision beyond its rippling light.

“...Hyung?”

But unlike his bright expression, the faces beyond the portal were not happy: Yeon-woo screaming his name as the CEO tried to hold him back, Han-gyeol bowing his head in tears, Ho-jin carried away unconscious, and even Tae-eon, gaunt, clutching Roy’s memorial portrait, smiling farewell.

“What is all this...? Hyung. Whyyy!”

Losing his senses, Roy lunged at the portal—but it repelled him.

Thud!

He tumbled across the ground, the impact harsh, but he scrambled up—because the blue portal was shrinking.

He rushed forward: each step, the opening grew smaller.

“What the—No, f–what is this! Tell me!”

He couldn’t risk touching it again for fear it’d vanish. He screamed at it instead.

Then the light inside showed another scene—his CEO speaking to him once:

“What’s a world view?”

“Hero stories are trending. We’ll create a fictional world starring you and weave it into your music. Call it Wilderness!”

“Wha—?”

“You five are warriors born to protect Earth. How’s that? Awesome, right?”

Roy’s face contorted. The others glanced at each other, speechless.

Roy stepped up for them:

“Wilderness? Wi-ild-erness? You want us to become concept maniacs?”

“Aww, concept maniac is harsh.”

“Honestly, CEO—our concept is B-grade, right? We should’ve known when we were called Shooting-Style Star.”

“No, it’s really good. I even thought up your superpowers. We’ll shoot the MV like a movie.”

“B-grade! And where does our company get movie money?!”

“Just hear me out. You’re the feisty one, so you’re fire. How about ‘the one who commands fire’? Cool, yeah?”

Roy parted his lips, speechless, then finally erupted:

“Fire? Fi-i-ire? Are you insane?!”

He jumped up, raging.

“Roy, calm down!”

“Let go! Let goooo!”

His hyungs scrambled to restrain the maknae’s rebellion—and the blue light finally vanished.

And by any sane logic, now he realized where he truly was.

Not a parallel world, not the afterlife, not a dream.

He was inside their group’s world view.

“So this... is Wilderness?”

Damn it.

They toyed with concepts so much they’d become concept maniacs for real.