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Roy slowly nodded. Now that he thought of it, there had indeed been a spot where people kept crowding.
Roy paused mid-nod and his eyes widened.
For example, people would see your rank, your attribute, and your name with the middle blocked out. No wonder things outside felt chaotic. Sure enough, other staff members were now running toward them.
Roy was used to being the center of attention, but these stares were too much.
Feeling more comfortable talking to someone he’d already exchanged words with than strangers, Roy tugged on the attendant’s lab coat, drooping his eyebrows and the outer corners of his eyes as much as he could.
As if possessed, her mouth ran on. The attendant seemed unaware of her own babbling.
Realizing her mistake, she bolted away, but not before warning the others:
You do what you’re told. But you know what? Right now, you’re the scariest one here.
✧
With the attendant’s help, Roy slipped out of the building and headed somewhere other than home: to a shabby villa complex in Yongsan-gu—the dorm where he’d lived with the members last life.
A four-story row house that always leaked when it rained and never got any sunlight. On typhoon nights, Roy lay awake, fearing the whole place might blow away.
This place is exactly the same.
Roy gazed up at the top floor, lost in memory, when a window slid open and a man in a tank top appeared.
“????”
Why the heck is hyung up there? Spotting the former company’s CEO, Roy quickly covered his face. He’d planned to look for him someday, but never imagined he’d run into him like this. His surprise only lasted a moment before he remembered something he’d forgotten.
Right. This was originally the CEO’s house.
Roy recalled that when they couldn’t afford rent, the CEO offered his own home as a dorm. Then, about a year later, he suddenly left and Roy forgot all about it. He’d heard the CEO say artists and bosses needed “appropriate distance” and then ran away.
Thinking back, this was the person who’d sacrificed so much just to give them a chance—from the group name to the whole world view. Though he sometimes wanted to ignore the CEO’s wild ideas, Roy had trusted and relied on him more than anyone. In the end, Shooting Star revolutionized K-pop under his planning and hit it big. A weirdo, but gifted.
Roy was secretly gazing at that familiar face when the man peeked down and their eyes met. The man’s eyes went wide and the cigarette in his hand dropped.
“......!”
“?!”
Could he have recognized me? Roy’s heart lurched as he was about to call out the CEO’s name.
“Wow, shit, insane.”
...Insane? Those two words shattered Roy’s heart and he looked around. It sounded like he was talking about Roy, and Roy didn’t like the tone one bit.
“Hey, you there! Wait—wait!”
No need to ask; it was clear this man wasn’t the CEO Roy remembered. In a blink, the man vanished from the window, presumably racing down to catch him.
What do I do?
Trusting his gut that he shouldn’t face this person now, Roy turned and started running back the way he’d come.
“Student! Stustudent, cough, cough!”
The man, who’d just reached the first floor, called desperately as he chased after Roy—but soon a coughing fit forced him to stop.
Should’ve cut back on the cigarettes...!
Watching the CEO hacking up a lung, Roy almost turned back himself. Instead, he collected himself and hailed a passing taxi.
“To Hannam-dong, please!”
Once inside, Roy finally dared to look back. In the distance, the CEO had given up the chase, gazing after him with a pained expression.
Wow, I thought he’d catch me.
But no matter how familiar that face was, why did it give Roy chills...?
Meanwhile, the man watched the receding taxi with deranged eyes.
About fourteen? Fifteen? He looked pretty young.
It didn’t matter. Roy had a feeling this kid, just a few years older, would grow into a face that shook the nation.
The man recalled that intense first impression and murmured in admiration.
Found you. My Cinderella.
✧
└ “Who’s Gong?”
└ “They show ‘Lee ○○’ in Awakening24, so people call him Gong.”
└ “They say he’s the resurrection guy?”
└ “No one knows.” ƒrēewebnovel.com
└ “Is Gong male or female?”
└ “Male.”
└ “Did you see his face?”
└ “Kinda, but he hid it so I couldn’t see well. But he was handsome.”
└ “Photoshop lol staff said they didn’t see it properly either. How could you?”
└ “If he’s covered, how do you know he’s handsome lol”
└ “How was the Department’s atmosphere?”
└ “After the S-rank popped, about five seconds of silence. Then all the staff at the front desk ran inside.”
└ “How old did he look?” ƒгeewebnovёl.com
└ “Around fourteen? Maybe 150-something centimeters tall.”
└ “They say he exited through the staff-only back gate.”
└ “What happened after? lol”
└ “He disappeared like a mirage when I said, ‘Not me~.’”
└ “You too? Me too lol”
└ “He’s smart though?”
The appearance of the fifth S-rank turned South Korea upside-down.
A few people who knew Roy posted suspicious messages, but after witness accounts of Gong cropped up, no one mentioned it again. Thanks to that, the resurrection guy’s story was fully buried. But Roy was still exhausted.
[S-rank Fire-element Awakener Lee Gong! Who is he?]
[Revisiting Maha’s prophecy—Elemental Awakeners will save Earth!]
[How strong is an Elemental S-rank?]
YouTube’s trending charts were completely dominated by videos about Elemental Awakeners. Roy realized for the first time just how huge being an S-rank was. Korea was living and breathing Gong. This level of attention he’d never gotten even as a Shooting Star.
But the skill? What is it... Everyone was talking about S-ranks and skills, but Roy didn’t know any. If he at least understood how to use them, he could pretend. But as an outcast, he had no one to ask. Didn’t he try it during the music video shoot? Well, sort of—he’d posed in front of a green screen, flown on wires. The post-shoot reality check was on each of them; and on shoot days, nobody said a word.
So please! Just lose interest in me!
Roy kicked madly under his blanket when there was a knock. A presence outside the door told him without looking who it was.
Roze?!
His beloved little sister, I Roze. Roy tumbled off the bed and dashed to open the door. She, who had been avoiding him as if his new look was unfamiliar, was the first to come find him today.
“Roze, what’s wrong in oppa’s room? Did you come because you missed me?”
Roze gazed at Roy, then nodded and held out a piece of fruit.
“Here... orange. Roze’s gift.”
So cute!!! Until a moment ago everything felt terrible, but realizing the Wilderness wasn’t all hardship calmed Roy’s troubled heart.
Wilderness satisfaction 200%.
At the sight of Roze’s aegyo, his spirits lifted.
“Roze, oppa will succeed no matter what so you can see only beautiful, good things. Okay? Promise.”
For Roze’s sake, Roy vowed to burn himself out and eradicate every last blood fiend.
