Trapped in the Idol Universe

Startled, Roy leapt up.

Fortunately, the bones hadn’t come to life. Something buried beneath the bone dust had simply been revealed by his foot.

“...A book?”

Roy hesitated for a moment over whether to touch it. Everything else had decayed into dust, yet this remained intact. Too strange to be coincidence. Perhaps it was the very fateful find he had longed for.

Damn it. He sighed, muttering curses under his breath, and slowly reached out.

I really don’t want to touch it.

His outstretched fingertip trembled. He didn’t even want to know what the dark red stain on the cover was.

Roy squeezed his eyes shut and opened them again in rapid succession, breathing heavily. Then—clutch!—he finally touched the object, and a cold sweat poured down his face.

“Ugh! I touched it! I touched it!”

Roy pinched the book between thumb and forefinger and silently called upon every god he knew.

Oh damn—God, Buddha, Jesus, Allah, the Twelve Olympians, Virgin Mary, Heavenly Deities, please.

He prayed that, since he was making such an effort, he’d be allowed to become a righteous thief. But—

“Ugh! Damn it, why now? What—what is it!”

He nearly fainted at the sudden pop-up.

His heart pounded so hard it felt hard to breathe.

【“Discovered ‘Lost Power.’”】

Even amid that, the words on the status window were ominous enough to make his heart race faster.

‘Lost Power’? ...What’s that?

He’d thought this was the despair chapter of fate, but maybe it was the chapter of hope. He felt a surge of childish wishful thinking that the power sleeping in Wilderness Mountain referred to this book.

But who on earth was the owner of this book...?

No, don’t think about it. Freed at last from sheer terror, Roy excitedly opened the book.

Warrior,

Thud!

No. Let’s not read any further.

In one second Roy slammed the book shut and buried his face in his palms.

Junbeol sisuh hyung!

A line straight out of a third-rate novel introduction.

Junseo, who once dreamed of being a novelist, had poured all his fantasy into Shooting Star’s world view, he said. He might not have influenced every detail, but his sensibility was certainly woven throughout.

The day-idol, night-beautiful-warrior concept? Pure ’90s nostalgia.

Roy’s tolerance snapped; he couldn’t bear to read it.

Since coming to Wilderness, I feel like I’ve been tested nonstop. When will I ever be free?

He couldn’t summon the nerve to open it again. Damn it—too much of a concept addict.

Roy, floundering in existential crisis, steeled himself once more.

No. I can do it.

Since he had to read it anyway, he’d get it over with quickly. He inhaled deeply, gritted his teeth, and opened the book.

Warrior,

Power has not vanished.

It has merely slumbered.

This book shall awaken the slumbering power.

What the hell is that?

Just as a question mark appeared above his head, the letters began to glow, and suddenly a brilliant light burst forth. When he closed and reopened his eyes, the book had vanished without a trace.

“????”

There had been a book—and then there wasn’t. He looked around the spot and groped the air, but the book was gone. Not only that, the bones that had tormented him with guilt and fear were also gone.

Actually... maybe this wasn’t a legendary secret manual but a cursed binding item.

A new soul had taken his place, so the ancient remains had departed.

“No...!”

He was on the verge of despair, thinking he would be trapped here until he became a mummy, never to see the light again.

쿠구궁!

The cave trembled, and fragments of rock began to fall from above.

“Argh!”

Losing his balance, Roy tumbled and rolled across the floor. They say leaving home spells hardship—and indeed, his ancestors weren’t wrong. He should have stayed holed up in the dorm. Or perhaps he should have died when he fell earlier; surviving so foolishly had earned him this humiliation.

As he crouched, trembling with premonitions of death—

끼기기긱!

A chilling sound echoed, and a beam of gentle moonlight streamed in through a crevice.

Light...?

Stairs began descending from the ceiling, landing with a heavy rumble.

쿠웅—

And at the bottom of the stairs, a dark silhouette looked down at him. The poor lighting revealed only a shape, but it was unmistakably the form he knew.

“...Bearorghini?”

“크엉!”

“Bearorghini!”

He’d come to rescue him!

Roy, who rarely cried, felt tears well in his eyes. The exit might close at any moment, so he scrambled up the stairs on all fours, his legs trembling too much to walk upright.

“크엉!”

When he emerged from the cave, the sun had already set. In summer, the late dusk meant considerable time had passed.

“Ugh... you bastard...!”

He’d vowed to turn any betrayer into bear meat—but now he was too overjoyed to care. Yet the joy of survival was fleeting; he felt a chill down his spine at not knowing how much time had elapsed.

Surely they haven’t noticed my unauthorized absence?

There was no time to revel in reunion with Bearorghini. Roy hugged his companion’s head in gratitude, then climbed onto his back and said,

“Let’s go down. As fast as we can.”

He resolved never to look in the direction of ✧ NоvеIight ✧ (Original source) Wilderness Mountain again—at least for now.

✧

While Roy groaned over his ordeal, Shooting Star’s first teaser for the new program was released.