* * *
I couldn’t think straight.
My mind was filled with only one thought.
If Myeong Jeha decided to obstruct now, what could I do? With no knowledge of the future left, what leverage did I have? Who could I ask for help?
Who would believe I had regressed?
There was only one answer.
Myeong Jeha.
The only person who could help — and the only person who could destroy .
“...Mm.”
“It’ll be hard to believe, but it’s all true.”
So I had no choice but to tell him everything. From beginning to end.
The reason for my regression. My relationship with Do Gyeoul. The absurd status window. The missions.
“Kind of disappointing.”
When I finished, Myeong Jeha adjusted his grip on my wrist, gentler now.
“What is?”
“To think you hid sothing so trivial. Is that all we are to each other?”
He tugged my wrist lightly.
I lost my balance and fell onto the sofa. Only then were we eye level.
“It’s so exactly what I expected that I’m almost deflated.”
“...You expected it?”
“For , it was a restart without reason. But for you, Yeoreum, it ca with such favorable conditions. A little unfair, honestly... but good for you.”
What he gave in return for my confession was a short answer.
‘What is this.’
Does repeating regression N tis alter a person’s cognition to sothing beyond normal human logic?
‘How is he accepting this so quickly?’
He suppressed all emotion and moved straight to the correct answer. Like a transcendent being.
Even sitting at the sa height, it felt like he was standing sowhere impossibly above .
I felt a distance that couldn’t be closed in a single leap.
“But there’s one thing wrong.”
“I told you everything truthfully.”
“You said you regressed once.”
“Yeah. Once.”
He pointed out the flaw imdiately.
“That makes no sense. Every ti I restarted, you would have gone back too.”
...What?
“To be precise, you only rember one iteration.”
Sothing I had believed as fact shifted. A crack appeared.
“This is just a hypothesis... but maybe the reason I keep restarting is you.”
He had not only observed for years — he had analyzed his condition as a regressor without rest.
His conclusion ca out like a clean formula.
“Do Gyeoul succeeds in the roles you were supposed to take. An error occurs. Restart. Repeat.”
I had never considered it that way.
“So no matter what I do, I can’t stop it. I’ve been swept into your life. Hah.”
He laughed coldly.
Silence fell.
He looked at quietly. The emotion in his gaze was calm — and unreadable.
“...I’m sorry, sir....”
“Not sothing you need to apologize for.”
If his hypothesis was correct, then he had been caught in a natural disaster nad Han Yeoreum.
‘An endless loop of unexplained misfortune....’
He didn’t resent . Didn’t get angry.
He just looked at .
Like tossing a pebble into a dark ocean whose depth you cannot asure.
No waves.
And sohow, I felt responsible for how worn down his emotions seed.
I raised my hand solemnly.
“Still, I’ll take responsibility and end this properly. Trust , sir.”
He dipped his head slightly. As if to say — go ahead.
“I’ll clear every mission. Before I drop out — do you rember what you said to ?”
“...?”
He looked at like I was speaking nonsense.
“When I dropped out. Don’t you rember what you said?”
There are monts in life — brief, but so intense they beco impossible to forget.
“Yeoreum, you’re dropping out?”
“...Yeah.”
“Why?”
“No particular reason.”
“You’re good. At acting.”
I rembered that clearly.
I had replayed it countless tis while enduring my unknown years.
“...I don’t really rember.”
Was it nothing to him?
A crack ran through my pride.
“What did I say?”
“I’ll make you rember later. You won’t be able not to. Hah! Seriously.”
“Okay. I’ll look forward to it.”
Han Yeoreum being “good at acting” was supposed to be basic. And he forgot that?
I clenched my fist.
“Just a second ago you were trembling in fear. You’ve recovered fast.”
“Well... if your hypothesis is right, you can’t actually block my success...?”
He gave a look.
“I thought you were slow, but your brain works decently.”
“Please keep those thoughts to yourself, sir.”
“You never even thought about this, did you? You were satisfied just acting.”
Accurate. I had nothing to say.
“You didn’t even think about regression. Never assud you might fail mid-way. Never considered how to end the loop.”
He was right.
I had only thought about how to act better.
Never about ➤ NоvеⅠight ➤ (Read more on our source) ending regression.
‘Because I never assud there would be another one.’
My head had been filled only with acting.
“You like acting that much?”
It was such a simple question.
“...Yeah. I do.”
There was only one possible answer.
“I really love it.”
For a mont, he looked away.
He lowered his head slightly, then turned it to the side and exhaled deeply.
After steadying his breath, he spoke.
“Unexpected variables. Deviations. Accidents.”
His expression was indifferent — the look of soone who had handled everything alone for years.
“When those stack up, the worst-case scenario happens.”
“What kind of—”
“What if you restart without rembering this iteration. And restart again. And again.”
That was the worst possible outco.
Goosebumps covered my body.
He saw my reaction and smiled faintly. That was enough.
“So don’t keep secrets from anymore. Understood?”
“...”
“I’m asking.”
“...Yes.”
He leaned back against the sofa, posture firm. There was fatigue in the way he brushed back his hair.
“Ah... I get thirsty when I try this hard to threaten soone.”
“Here, sir, your water—”
“Make tea.”
“...Yes.”
Isn’t this his house? Shouldn’t he make tea for ?
I protested internally.
But I didn’t have the courage to challenge an N-tis regressor.
‘To be honest, that wasn’t acting earlier.’
He had only softened it afterward.
If I hadn’t answered properly, this atmosphere wouldn’t exist.
For him, only results mattered.
‘As expected of soone with N regressions....’
He controlled emotions effortlessly.
I finally understood why his Analysis had upgraded beyond limits.
“All right. Let’s summarize cleanly.”
He took a sip of the tea I made.
“Share exactly what needs to be completed. No hiding.”
“Yes....”
“Promise.”
“...Yes.”
Satisfied, he picked up a shopping bag at his feet.
“Then I’ll bring you projects that fit you as much as possible. Like now.”
Two scripts were already placed before him.
“Everything earlier was a joke. This is the real gift.”
I picked up the first one.
“〈Unfair Trade〉....”
It resembled 〈Faster Than the Law〉 in structure — but its tone was completely different.
A cri investigation drama.
Two detectives — one physical, one intellectual — working together.
It had earned critical acclaim from seasoned drama viewers for its originality.
Because the intellectual detective was a sociopath.
“This was definitely....”
But sothing was different.
I looked at him.
“Yeah. Originally a dual male lead.”
He smirked.
“Not anymore.”
If he wanted to, he could change even the protagonist’s gender.
“From now on, it’s yours.”
I flipped to the synopsis.
〈Unfair Trade〉
Even if you live, you must live properly.
Detective Gam Seonghwan hated that phrase.
Because those who lived lives that didn’t feel like living always carried death sowhere inside them.
In 1996, a horrific murder occurred in a residential district of Seoul.
The victims were a housewife and her four-year-old daughter.
Gam Seonghwan’s mother and sister.
The case shocked the nation — but the dia soon shifted attention to new celebrity news.
The investigation failed to identify a suspect.
Twenty years later, the case remained unsolved.
At a new cri scene, Detective Gam Seonghwan slls sothing familiar.
Just like that day.
It’s him.
He’s still alive.
Lee Seohae
“Is it because criminals are smarter than detectives? No. It’s because there are too many bastards in this world.”
IQ 160.
Emotionally deficient.
Zero empathy.
But unparalleled in understanding criminal psychology.
A genius forensic analyst.
Her arrogance — believing only her judgnt is justice — defines her.
A genius who never fit in with ordinary people.
Now she lives to catch criminals.
If no one understands her, it’s not because she’s wrong — it’s because the world is.
That belief made her legendary.
But at so point, she clashes with Gam Seonghwan — the one person she is least compatible with.
Ironically, the rational Lee Seohae is understood best by the emotional Gam Seonghwan.
It was a script any actress would covet.
Action.
Investigation.
Dual leads.
A strong, unforgettable character.
“And one more.”
He gestured to the second script.
“...Hey, this is....”
The title printed on it was unbelievable.
“Yeah. It’s entering production.”
The series credited with opening the gates for NetHolics Korea.
A zombie drama set in Seoul.
〈Seoul tropolitan City〉
“Are you insane?!”
I’m in this? On NetHolics?
In one of the biggest hits?
“Sir... this is the best birthday gift ever....”
As I clutched the script, he added calmly:
“For reference — when NetHolics produces an original, they won’t exclude Do Gyeoul.”
The woman of NetHolics.
It ant I would have to face her properly.
* * *
At that sa ti, Director So moved his fingers as if possessed.
Whenever he pictured the three leads, a campus seed to appear beyond them.
The final lead of 〈Youth Disqualified!〉 had been decided just days ago.
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