In the conference room, Cha Yoo jin, who had collapsed, was instantly rushed to the emergency room.
“Cha Yoo jin? Yoo jin!”
“Can you hear me?”
“.......”
All the way as the car sped away, Cha Yoo jin didn’t stir an inch. His body—once overflowing with energy and vitality—showed no response. He looked like an object.
It was strange.
“How did this happen?!”
“...He just suddenly collapsed like that... No other symptoms. None at all.”
In my life, every fucking disaster always happens out of nowhere. What kind of analysis or preparation is that? No matter how hard you try to get ready, when it actually happens it’s all wasted effort...
No.
I pressed on his thigh. Don’t congratulate yourself before you’ve even done the tests, you idiot. Fuck.
Let’s do something productive.
‘Symptoms first.’
I reached for Cha Yoo jin’s face and checked his breathing and pulse.
“.......”
“Park Mundae?”
I exhaled.
“...His breathing seems stable.”
“Ah...!”
I’m no specialist, but he wasn’t gasping, and his heart sounds weren’t erratic or too faint. At that moment, Big Sejin began kneading his limbs and checking him immediately.
“His complexion doesn’t look too bad. He’s a bit pale, but his temperature seems okay, right?”
“Yeah.”
His temperature wasn’t alarmingly low, at least not to my touch.
Maybe because he heard us talking, the manager driving muttered frantically.
“In that case, it could be... uh, vasovagal syncope.”
Oh.
“Vaso... vagal syncope.”
“Ah! Yes, that...”
“.......”
It’s usually caused by extreme stress or tension. And the reason I know this is the same reason any company staff member would know it.
“There are quite a few idols who’ve had it. We’re all on the move right now, the environment’s changed... It makes sense for TeSTAR members to experience it.”
“.......”
Sure. We’re in a complicated situation in many ways. But...
‘Cha Yoo jin?’
The guy who laughed off everyone’s grim votes in that Minus Poll, who managed his mental health even when rumor attacks rained down on him—he’s the one who fainted from mere stress and tension?
Is this the face of someone who’s simply “stressed out and nervous”?
‘He looks... asleep.’
I stared again at Cha Yoo jin’s expressionless, peaceful face, his breathing faint but steady. It felt unnaturally calm.
“...! We’ve arrived at the hospital; let’s—”
“Yes!”
The car tore into the emergency entrance near the company and stopped moments later. Cha Yoo jin was carried into the hospital at once. As the staff from the company vehicle followed, Big Sejin muttered under his breath.
“Let’s wait a bit before contacting the others.”
“.......”
He meant after we get the test results.
“It might be nothing serious. I hope it’s nothing.”
“Right.”
But we had no idea what the results would show—Cha Yoo jin had collapsed with no warning, and we still didn’t know why.
...Fuck.
I leaned against the wall and replayed this fucking unnatural situation in my head. Yet something even more unnatural awaited.
“The results are in; they say it’s a temporary loss of consciousness.”
“Excuse me?”
“They said it’s usually stress-related, but to be precise they might run brain scans... For now, though, no abnormalities showed up.”
“.......”
Though they hedged their language, the meaning was clear: the cause is unknown.
“But they did say he should regain consciousness soon!”
“Phew.”
“Yes, thank you.”
At least it wasn’t the worst-case scenario. Up to this point, fine—let them run more tests if needed. The problem came next.
“We should probably tell the members now.”
“...Yeah.”
Big Sejin and I planned to split up and inform the rest of the group ourselves—it’d be better coming from us than company staff. But in the process we learned...
“...You had similar symptoms?”
Most of the members we contacted reported mild, similar episodes.
—Well, I didn’t fully pass out, but I felt dizzy and had to pause filming for a moment. But Cha Yoo jin!?
—...I thought he’d just nodded off in the car, but maybe it wasn’t that. Now that I think about it, he didn’t seem sleepy at all.
—I thought it was from overdosing on caffeinated drinks recently... I don’t know. I’ll head to the hospital right away!
What the hell.
Seon Ah hyun, still out on that fishing boat shoot, got a text but hasn’t checked it yet—yet already three of them reported something similar.
I met Big Sejin’s serious gaze.
“You?”
“I’m fine. How about you, Mundae?”
“Me too.”
But at this point, that was its own problem.
“They said it could be food poisoning or an infection and suggested a full workup.”
Before the others arrived, we all underwent comprehensive tests.
“Hyungs!”
“Rae bin.”
Even Kim Rae bin, looking on the verge of tears, joined us in testing. But every one of us came back clean.
“...No need to call the other members right away.”
“.......”
Nothing leaked to the press, either. After all, Cha Yoo jin hadn’t been in an accident or fallen ill—he’d just suddenly “lost consciousness.”
“.......”
“Hey, Mundae.”
I looked up at the voice. Kim Rae bin held a black envelope. He pulled out a drink and offered it to me—a common gold-foil red ginseng beverage from the convenience store warmer.
“You might wonder why a hot drink in summer, but since you’ve been in strong air conditioning indoors for so long... I thought this would be better.”
“...Thanks.”
I quietly opened and drank the red ginseng tea he handed me. Then I heard his steady voice.
“Cha Yoo jin will be fine. I remember him bragging in his trainee days about never getting sick... There’s no family history of illness.”
“.......”
He was trying to comfort me. Seriously.
I gave a faint smile.
“Yeah. Like I said, the doctor says he should wake up soon. Don’t worry too much—he’s one of the healthiest guys I know.”
“...! Yes...”
Kim Rae bin nodded with difficulty, then sat beside me, sipping his own drink as Big Sejin patted his back.
“.......”
I leaned back against the wall, thinking: Right. Cha Yoo jin is a healthy guy. Top one-percent in body and mind—yet he collapsed without warning.
‘And half our group nearly followed him at the same time.’
But none of us showed any health issues, not even Cha Yoo jin in these tests. So the most suspicious possibility left is...
‘Something supernatural is involved.’
I twisted my head toward the empty air.
[‘Company Version ’ Updating]
When I think back, it all started the moment I absorbed that fragment of ■■■ from Kwon Hee seung.
And losing consciousness like this...
‘Feels a lot like what happens when I enter the system’s virtual world.’
I still remember that fucking status popup:
-Enjoy your daydream :)
-Enjoy your reality :D
A waking dream built on coins, a world made by the system. The upper line was the status window that Big Sejin created to save me, but...
Wait.
I realized I’d just thought of someone who could answer my question.
‘Big Sejin.’
He’d made that daydream status window. And a moment later...
[Yes, hyung! What is it?]
Luckily he replied quickly.
‘Phew.’
[Hyung, are you at the hospital? Nothing’s wrong with you, right?ㅠㅠ]
‘I’m fine, but it happened to the others.’
[What?!]
I briefly explained everything. Cutting out the screams and worries, I got to the point...
‘So, is Cha Yoo jin’s consciousness stuck in the system?’
That was it. I didn’t know why, but the timing was too precise. The system popup reacted immediately, understanding the gravity.
[First I’ll check your status window!]
Right. I nodded eagerly. But soon...
[Um, hyung. Your status window and even the whole system aren’t working...]
He brought surprising news.
‘Not working?’
[Yeah! It’s completely frozen...]
[See where it says “updating”? It’s like when apps can’t be used during an update—they’re undergoing a full rebuild, so nothing’s running.]
“.......”
So there’s no way Cha Yoo jin’s mind is trapped by some system trick—because the system itself is frozen?
[That’s right!]
And he ventured one hypothesis.
[If it is related, maybe an error occurred during the update.]
But that meant TeSTAR was affecting the “Company Version” update—bad news in its own right.
‘Are they treating TeSTAR as part of this corporate system?’
[Not exactly... We’ve only handled the TeSTAR album so far, so maybe the system is reading too much into it...]
“.......”
It felt pathetic somehow.
[Anyway, I didn’t find any weird tampering, hyung!]
‘Okay.’
Then it really must be nothing serious—thankfully.
‘Thanks for checking. I’ll let you know when he wakes up.’
[Nep! Don’t worry too muchㅠㅠ]
After ending the chat with Big Sejin, I looked at the still-open update popup and sighed.
I asked, just in case a reply would come.
‘How long will it take?’
Surprisingly, something appeared.
[※Unavailable during update.]
‘Fuck.’
I knew the drill.
‘They want us to wait without any explanation.’
If it really was connected and Cha Yoo jin stayed out cold the entire update, I resolved to pull the damned system offline the moment it finished.
“Guys. Cheongryeo hyung’s schedule just ended—he’s on his way now, and...”
“......ugh,”
Big Sejin’s sentence was cut off by a sound neither he nor Kim Rae bin made—it came from the hospital bed.
“...!!”
“Cha Yoo jin...!”
We shot to our feet.
“Call the company—or the doctor—!”
“Wait!”
Big Sejin, standing by the door, bolted off to summon help, while Kim Rae bin and I rushed to the bedside.
There he was...
Cha Yoo jin, frowning, twisting his body to one side.
He was awake.
“Cha Yoo jin!”
He writhed, then rubbed his face roughly with his hand, mumbling.
[Fucking headache...]
“.......”
In English?
“Are you in a lot of pain?”
He froze at my question, then lowered his hand, revealing his bare eyes without lenses. They met mine piercingly.
[Korean? I don’t remember calling 911. Who the hell are you to bring me here?...]
...What?
But Cha Yoo jin then shifted his gaze and recognized someone else.
“Rae bin?”
“Ch-Cha Yoo jin! Are you okay?”
Yet he still looked startled.
“Why are you in America, Kim Rae bin?”
“.......”
“What are you talking about? We’re in Korea!”
“Korea? [You think I was kidnapped internationally...?] ...Wait, did someone give you something—like brownies? Chocolate chip cookies?”
“What are you talking about?!”
Kim Rae bin was in total confusion! Then Cha Yoo jin mumbled a stream of colorful English curses under his breath, sighed, and muttered again.
“Ah... never mind. [If it’s just once. I’ll be fine once the meds wear off before I head back to Korea. We’re not a K-pop boy band anymore anyway.]”
Now Kim Rae bin was terrified. He grabbed my arm and shouted,
“M-Mundae hyung. Cha Yoo jin’s acting weird!”
I know.
“You’re the weird one, Rae bin.”
But Cha Yoo jin spoke firmly, as if addressing someone under the influence.
Then he turned back to me and ruffled my hair.
[Hey, Mundae... “Mundae hyung”? Did you and Rae bin stupidly smoke weed and bring me to the hospital?]
And he laughed.
“Thank you.”
“.......”
“Well, you’re not going to say anything in Korea, right? [Steer’s over anyway.]”
At that moment, I realized who this “Cha Yoo jin” sitting here really was.
—Steer.
Not TeSTAR’s Cha Yoo jin, but Steer—a group that originally debuted on before I took Park Mundae’s body to join .
...Fuck.
And beside “Steer Cha Yoo jin”’s face, floating in midair, the popup updated again.
[‘Company Version ’ Updating]
– D-30 until completion
