The Maknae Has to Be an Idol

Chapter 167

I looked at Do-Seung with my Insight. I wanted to confirm if the Do-Seung in front of me was the Do-Seung that I knew. Seeing how Do-Seung had the memory of the second regressor, I thought a small part of the second regressors persona could exist inside Do-Seungs body. This didnt sound like good news to me, as the second regressor was the one who tried to kill me.

I would only see one identity if no other identities existed inside Do-Seung.

What the hell I didnt expect this at all. I thought at most, a part of the second regressors identity could have remained inside Do-Seung but, this was

How many are there? There werent just one or two but dozens of identities overlapping behind Do-Seung. Semi-transparent figures were bound tightly over one another behind Do-Seung, and among them, there was one figure that stuck to him especially closely.

Is that the second regressor? I supposed. I extended my hand because I thought I could perhaps, detach this figure from Do-Seung right now.

No, its not possible. That was beyond my control, and I counted each of the figures stuck behind him. One, two, three, fourthere was a total of fifteen figures.

Does this mean that he regressed fifteen times? It was such an ordeal for me to regress just once. I couldnt believe Do-Seung did it fifteen times. I doubted if the mind of the fifteenth regressor at the farthest back was still sane. But as I looked at this long line of figures, another question popped into my head.

Also, I thought a consciousness from another world was regressing into this world. Does this mean thats not the case? The system had told me the worldline was breaking apart whenever I met with another regressor as if the regressor was coming from a different world. Yet, I was able to see all the regressed identities attached to Do-Seung clearly right now without needing to destroy the world line.

Then, why in the world did it say the world line was breaking apart when there was none to break? As I thought this, I realized something. When the system told me the world line crumbled, it couldve not meant that the regressors and my world lines were breaking, but the line between the superior dimension where the system was and the inferior dimension where I existed broke; and with it, the system couldve awakened the identities that were sealed inside my team members.

I stared at the countless identities bound behind Do-Seung. Each of these was also Do-Seung, and my thoughts deepened.

Zing!

Hmph. My head began to ache so hard that it felt like it would crack. This was the side effect of Insight. I quickly unsealed my ability, and all the figures that I saw disappeared. The speed of the world returned to normal. Perhaps I had pushed myself too far, but blood also began to flow down my nostrils.

Huh? Hey! Bong Tae-Yoon!

Ah.

Huh? The blood didnt stop.

What! Hey! Block your nose!

Even when I blocked my nose with my hand, blood flowed out between my fingers. My head felt completely fine, and I didnt feel nauseous or anything.

Butwhy am I?

Thats not important!

My nose showed no signs of stopping. In the meantime, the elevator arrived at the floor where our dorm was.

Lets go to the hospital right away. Do-Seung clicked the first-floor button and smashed the close door button.

It will be faster for me to run with you on my back than calling the ambulance right now.

Umbut.

What?

Please keep this a secretfrom the others.

Please.

Fine.

The elevator arrived back on the first floor and we ran to the hospital. I thought I wasnt suffering much physical damage while I was on the elevator, but now that I was trying to move, my legs shuddered.

My bodywont move

Do-Seung put me on his back and went outside. All his time at the gym paid off because he could run with a full adult-sized man on his back.

I should stopthinking for now. The more I tried to think, my headache became more severe.

***

Do-Seung looked down at Tae-Yoon, who was sleeping on the emergency rooms bed. It still gave him the shudders to recall how much blood had spurted out of Tae-Yoons nose inside the elevator out of the blue. It was his first time seeing someone pour out that much blood. Even the doctors had looked quite surprised to see him arrive at the hospital with Tae-Yoon on his back.

The doctors quickly took control of the situation and ran a couple of tests, and now, Tae-Yoon was sleeping while receiving fluids.

Are you this patients guardian?

Ah, yes.

The doctor came then to reveal the results of Tae-Yoons tests.

First of all, the tests dont seem to indicate any significant problems.

Sorry? But he spilled so much blood?

Based on the test results, it seems that stress and fatigue are most likely the reasons for the nosebleed. That tends to be the reason why someone would have a nosebleed without any external injuries. Did this patient go through a lot of stressful incidents recently?

Ahyes. Quite many things happened.

That makes it even more possible that the cause is stress. After getting the IV fluids, I recommend the patient to rest for about two days.

YesI understand.

I know that seeing so much blood couldve been unsettling, but I dont think you need to worry about it so much.

Then, after the doctor left, Do-Seung looked at Tae-Yoon again. Do-Seung thought perhaps, the problem was that Tae-Yoon had shouldered too many worries while not even eating properly. He personally didnt suffer any health problems because he managed his diet while exercising but the other members besides Dong-Jun seemed just to starve to maintain their weight.

Now that he thought about it, all the members diet methods didnt appear all that healthy.

Ishould drag all of them to the gym and make them exercise, he thought. He had been recommending exercise half-jokingly until now but for the teams health, it appeared he would have to force them to the gym now.

But what was that? He forgot about it because Tae-Yoon had a nosebleed inside the elevator but there was something that hung on his mind. The moment Tae-Yoon clutched his hand, memories that had felt like mere dreams began to feel vivid, as if he had experienced them in real life.

He recalled how Tae-Yoon suddenly didnt appear on the stage, and because of that, he resented Tae-Yoon and cried all night long. Then, he remembered fighting with Tae-Yoon after they met again. Though they were all fragmented visions, they felt more like a memory rather than a dream.

His body shuddered slightly at the flow of unfamiliar memories, but he didnt dwell on them too much. It was because rather than the unfamiliar memories in his head, Tae-Yoon, who was bleeding in front of him, was much more important. Still, now that Tae-Yoon was fast asleep while receiving IV fluids, he had the luxury to ponder about these happenings.

What could they be? Those events certainly never happened to him but remained in his mind. Was it some kind of dj vu moment, or were the scenes from his dream so vivid that they were messing with his head? He was thinking this when someone called him.

Do-Seung.

Ah.

Siren members were arriving at the emergency room one by one. This place was the emergency room and perhaps, the members were aware that they were becoming public figures by now. They tried to make minimum noise with their appearance and quietly approached Tae-Yoons bed. Though Do-Seung promised Tae-Yoon that he wouldnt tell the other members about this happening, it unfortunately wasnt a promise he could keep.

Other members would worry about them if they didnt come back so late, and above all, this was something everyone needed to know when their debut date was coming up so soon.

Are you all here?

Yeah.

Is Tae-Yoon sleeping?

Yeah, he is.

HaaaseriouslyTae-Yoon Yeon-Hoon looked down at Tae-Yoon like he was going to cry at any moment and Dong-Jun and Woon also looked at Tae-Yoon worriedly.

Do you think it will be better for us to push our debut date? Woon asked and everyone quietly nodded.

Though the third week of June appeared most ideal, what was most important was Tae-Yoons health.

Lets talk to the company tomorrow and push the date to July or mid-August.

Yeah.

Yeah, this isnt something we can rush

All the members seemed to agree to push the debut date.

No Yet, Tae-Yoon slowly opened his eyes to say no.

What.

When did he get up?

Tae-Yoon, are you all right?

But if you are this sick, it only makes sense to push our debut to a later date. Theres no reason why we have to stick exactly to that date.

Tae-Yoon slowly raised his torso and looked back at his members. I stupidly overexerted myself. So, pleaselets debut on the third week of June.

You came to the hospital twice just today. What do you think you can do in this condition?

I will take care of my body really well from now on. Please Tae-Yoon said while clutching Yeon-Hoon and Do-Seungs hands. It was very rare for Tae-Yoon to request something so earnestly like this. Though he was the youngest of the group, he had always been the most mature and adult-like of the group.

Yeon-Hoon and Do-Seung softened to see Tae-Yoon finally act like the maknae. Still, they remained firm.

Tae-Yoon, you have to consider your body first. Its not something you can just do because you want to, Dong-Jun said.

Yeah, Tae-Yoon. Your health is most important. What are you going to do if you are having all these health problems at nineteen, Lee Woon was the same. Yet, Tae-Yoon didnt easily succumb to their opinions.

Our company must also be producing reports and marketing images according to the schedule. How can we put a halt to that? Tae-Yoon refuted.

It cant be helped. Your health is more important.

Furthermore, if we begin to push the schedule like this, our companys trust in us will fall. I dont want to start on a bad note.

We can build up trust step by step going forth.

Everything is going well for us now. If we lose this chance herethings could not be the same.

Thats true but

We have gone through so much to debut. So, please believe in me one more time. I really, really will manage my condition well from now on.

Tae-Yoon began to convince Woon and Dong-Jun with his passionate arguments.

Haa. Fine.

Why dont you be discharged from the hospital first?

In the end, they decided to back out and the Siren members all left the emergency room. They got in the car that Yeon-Hoon brought and returned to the dorm.

Lets talk again tomorrow and sleep for now.

Yeah, lets see how you feel then.

Good night.

Siren members greeted each other good night and returned to each of their rooms.

***

[Mission Success.]

[You secured the third week of June as your debut date.]

[No rewards for succeeding.]

At night when all my members were asleep, I woke up from the systems alarm. I had been able to wake up at the emergency room thanks to the system just before too. While my members were discussing to push our debut date to a later date, the system shot alarms into my head as if it was telling me to stop the situation somehow.

Haaa. I looked up at the ceiling while smiling. Because I had a good sleep while receiving fluid shots at the hospital, I couldnt fall asleep easily. Though I pleaded to Do-Seung to not the others, I supposed it was a promise that couldnt have been kept. I cautiously got out of my blankets to not wake Woon up. Then, I went out to the living room and sat on the sofa.

It seems my brain becomes overheated if I use Insight too much. This was the truth I learned while getting carried to the emergency room. Though Insight was a strong power, it also came with huge risks because it was an ability that far surpassed a humans limits. Yet, it wasnt like I could keep refraining from using it either. 𝙡𝙞𝓫𝙧𝒆𝙖𝓭.𝙘𝙤𝙢

I thought about the two missions that I was working up to right now.

[Record 500,000 sales in the first week of album release within 2022]

[Upon success, progress to next mission]

[Upon failure, member Lee Woon dies]

There was one mission that placed Woons life on the line.

[Reach 10 million views in the first week of release for the debut albums title song and music video.]

[Upon success, meeting with the twenty-seventh regressor]

[Upon failure, Precognitive Vision retracted]

Then, there was this sudden mission about the music videos view count. I tapped the sofa with the ends of my fingers and pondered. There were fifteen figures behind Do-SeungAnd the second regressors memories that were more deeply attached to Do-Seungs sideThe systems message that the world line broke

I combined all this information to think of what the systems weak point and secret was, and what I could do. I couldnt continue to play a game where the system pulled me here and there out of my own will. I needed to make the system work for me at times.

Then, I should try to change one of the missions.

I needed to change one of the missions according to what I wanted.

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