Chapter 2 – Program Development Completed.

Dongsu thought he was dreaming.

A man kept whispering...

An annoying, ticklish dream.

Before he could even ask, “Does it hurt?”

- Bang!

A deafening sound like a cannon firing was heard.

His head spun.

He felt dizzy and was about to vomit.

“Stop...!”

At that moment,

Dongsu opened his eyes.

“...”

He saw a white ceiling and the smell of disinfectant filled the air.

“Where am I?”

He sat up and looked around.

It wasn’t his shabby rental apartment, filled with alcohol bottles and trash, but a very luxurious hospital room.

Dongsu muttered to himself, looking at the IV in his wrist.

“Why am I in the hospital...”

As he tried to piece together his memories, he remembered the fire at the 'Dotori' studio.

“And I went to save someone...”

Suddenly, a voice startled him.

“What, what is it? Who is it!?”

“Gaon...?”

That was...

“The name of the A.I. humanoid, right!?”

“Where are you talking from!?”

“What...?”

Dongsu touched his bandaged head.

His eyes wavered.

“Is it really in my head? Why? Why...?”

“Why are you in there!?”

Gaon’s body, which had tried to protect Dongsu at the fire scene, was completely destroyed.

At that moment, Gaon’s super AI microchip was embedded in Dongsu’s head.

“No way...”

“To save me...?”

Dongsu, who was about to die under the collapsed building debris from the fire.

Gaon synchronized with his brain and controlled his biological functions to save his life.

Dongsu had a bewildered look on his face.

“Huh...”

It was too hard to believe.

‘Was I demoted to the review department and drinking myself crazy? Or did I hit my head at the fire scene?’

An A.I. chip in my head?

‘Is this even possible!?’

Dongsu’s expression hardened.

He asked in a low voice.

“You... read my thoughts?”

“...”

Even if Gaon was his savior, the idea of having his thoughts read made him feel very uncomfortable.

‘I should ask the doctor to remove the chip from my head...’

“...”

It seemed easier to win a survival game with 45.6 billion won at stake while wearing a squid costume.

Dongsu frowned and thought.

‘Is this real? I can’t believe it...’

“Hey, stop reading my thoughts.”

“Then hold your breath!”

“...Are you kidding...”

At that moment, the door to the hospital room opened, and a nurse came in.

“Oh! You’re awake?”

“Yes... Hello.”

“Hello!”

He cautiously asked the nurse, who greeted him brightly.

“Is this... Daemyung General Hospital?”

“Yes!”

SBC Broadcasting Corporation is a subsidiary of Daemyung Group.

So unless it was a really urgent situation, most of the injuries were treated at Daemyung General Hospital.

Dongsu, being a tough guy, had only come here for health check-ups before...

‘I didn’t know the hospital room would be this nice... Is this really Daemyung Hospital?’

‘What?’

At that moment, a translucent window appeared in front of Dongsu.

It looked like a game notification window...

『Current Location: Daemyung General Hospital VVIP Ward 701』

“...!”

‘What is this!?’

The confused Dongsu heard Gaon’s response.

‘Is this some kind of GPS...!?’

The nurse asked.

“Um, are you okay...?”

At that moment, a small window appeared next to the nurse.

『Name: Park Ina / Gender: Female / Age: 27』

『To view additional information, acquire data.』

‘What is this...’

“...”

The nurse looked worriedly at Dongsu, who was standing there with his mouth open.

“Are you really okay?”

“Ah, yes...”

Dongsu answered while checking her name tag.

‘Park Ina’

Just as it appeared in the information window.

At that moment, Park Ina noticed the blood on the bandage around Dongsu’s wrist.

“I’ll rewrap your bandage!”

“Thank you...”

The moment she grabbed Dongsu’s right hand,

-Zap

A strange feeling accompanied by static electricity.

And...

‘Hey, what are you doing?’

‘What...!?’

At that moment, Park Ina let go of Dongsu’s right hand.

“All done! Is it too tight?”

“No, it’s fine...”

『Name: Park Ina / Gender: Female / Age: 27 / Occupation: Nurse』

『Occupation 2: Star Tubber ‘TV Angel Neta’ / Special Skill 1: Nursing / Condition: ↓ (Red bean paste bread is highly effective for improving condition!)』

『To view additional information, acquire data.』

‘The information window has been updated...’

At that moment, Gaon said.

‘How is this even possible...?’

“...”

Park Ina threw away the old bandage and asked Dongsu.

“Do you feel dizzy or nauseous? You might have a concussion from the head injury...”

“I’m fine.”

“If you feel uncomfortable, let me know right away!”

“Yes, thank you.”

After Park Ina left, Dongsu leaned back and fell into thought. He was still in disbelief that this was reality.

‘It doesn’t seem like a dream...’

“Stop reading my thoughts...”

“Would you like that?”

“Then you can’t read my thoughts?”

Dongsu had a doubtful look on his face.

“...No, damn it...”

= = = = = = =

In the evening. Dongsu lay in bed and searched for information about the SBC Ilsan Studio fire on his smartphone.

There were brief news articles about the fire, but it was written that there were no major casualties.

Dongsu smiled bitterly.

‘Is my injury not considered a “major” casualty?’

At that moment, the door to the hospital room burst open.

Park Daechul PD was standing there, looking very angry.

“Kang Dongsu!”

“Hey, you’re here?”

“Hey, you’re here? Damn it!!! You crazy bastard!”

“...Why did you come in so suddenly...”

“Are you Superman!? Why did you jump into the fire!”

“No, I thought someone was there. Ha ha”

“Are you laughing!? You! You! You!”

Park Daechul, unable to continue speaking due to his excitement, fell to the floor.

Dongsu asked awkwardly.

“Hey, hey... Brother, calm down. I’m sorry...”

“...I’m sorry.”

“What...?”

To suddenly apologize after being angry...

Park Daechul covered his face with his hand and continued.

“I shouldn’t have sent you to the scene while you were drunk...”

“Brother...”

“I’m sorry...”

“Why are you apologizing?”

“Dongsu...”

“I jumped into the fire drunk, not knowing if it was a person or a robot! Why are you apologizing!?”

“I... sent you to the scene...”

“It wasn’t you who sent me!”

“What?”

“I went there on my own!”

“Dongsu...”

“So don’t blame yourself like that!”

“...”

Park Daechul’s eyes welled up, and he bowed his head.

“By the way, how is your wife? The baby?”

“They’re both healthy.”

“Boy? Girl?”

“Girl!”

“Wow! Congratulations! I’ll come to see them when I’m discharged!”

“Sure. Ha ha.”

They continued their conversation, mostly about Dongsu’s current situation.

For example, why Dongsu was in the VVIP ward...

“Mayer Robotics Research Institute decided to cover all your medical expenses. They requested that you be admitted to the VVIP ward.”

Mayer Robotics Research Institute is where the super AI humanoid Gaon was created.

“The director of the institute was impressed by your bravery, jumping into the flames to save the robot...”

“What? How did they...”

“It was caught on camera at the fire scene. You jumping into the flames.”

“Oh...”

Dongsu’s face turned red.

He had jumped in drunk, thinking it was a person...

At that moment, Park Daechul spoke cautiously.

“Dongsu, about this fire... I think you’ll be disciplined.”

“Disciplined? You?”

Park Daechul shook his head with a guilty look.

Dongsu blinked a few times and asked.

“Surely... I’m the one who will be disciplined?”

“Yes... I said I would take responsibility for my show, but Gong PD is making a fuss...”

Gong Su-cheol is the main PD of ‘Live Popular Music’ and is rumored to be the next CP of the Entertainment Division’s Production 2 Team.

He and Dongsu have the worst relationship.

Dongsu scowled.

‘Another reason to beat someone up, huh?’

But he wasn’t afraid.

He had nothing left to lose.

“Go ahead and discipline me. Probably just a pay cut...”

“Damn it, it’s not your fault. I’ll try to do something, so don’t worry.”

“Stop it. Don’t meddle.”

“Hey! This is meddling!”

“Stop it! Go now! Your wife is waiting!”

“But...!”

“Ugh, my head hurts! Let me sleep!”

“...Got it. Don’t worry too much.”

Dongsu waved his hand from the bed.

Park Daechul looked at him with a bitter expression and left the room.

= = = = = = =

Late at night.

Park Daechul sent a photo of the baby via text.

└Daechul: (Photo of Park Daechul’s daughter)

└Daechul: Isn’t she cute?

Dongsu chuckled and replied.

└Dongsu: Yeah, she’s cute. She could be an actress.

└Daechul: Even if dirt gets in my eyes, I won’t make her an actress!

Dongsu chuckled and muttered.

“A new overprotective father is born.”

He put his smartphone aside and lay down on the bed.

It had been a hectic day.

‘Most importantly...’

Dongsu lifted his right hand and thought.

‘The information window...’

He called out to Gaon.

“Hey, Gaon...”

“What else can you do?”

It was a very arrogant question...

But it felt real because he said it firmly.

Dongsu asked again.

“How do I get data?”

“Do I need to study? How? Surely not by touching things with my right hand like before...”

“Every action...?”

“Oh...”

The idea of experiencing everything together...

Dongsu found Gaon’s existence very unsettling.

Gaon, reading Dongsu’s thoughts, responded.

“...!?”

Gaon repeated.

‘The best PD...’

Dongsu had been demoted to the review department three years ago, accused of embezzling production funds, and had given up on his dreams.

‘But if I can achieve those dreams...’

Dongsu asked in a low voice.

“How will you help me achieve my dreams?”

“What...?”

At that moment, a buzzing sound filled his head.

“Ugh!?”

Dongsu clutched his head and shouted.

“Hey! Who’s taking data...!”

-Whoosh!

Several notification windows appeared in front of his eyes.

Numerous windows made up of 0s and 1s.

Dongsu had a dazed look on his face.

‘What is this...’

At that moment, Gaon’s voice was heard.

The sound of a computer fan and sparks continued.

Dongsu’s vision turned yellow, and he felt dizzy.

He felt like he was going to vomit.

‘I’m going to throw up...!’

He curled up like a shrimp and trembled.

Meanwhile, like a scene from a sci-fi movie...

Shimmering windows appeared, disappeared, and merged repeatedly.

How much time passed?

-Ugh!

Dongsu couldn’t hold back the dizziness and vomited.

At that moment, Gaon said.

“Ugh...”

Dongsu weakly lifted his head and looked up.

There was a square, golden window.

『Do you want to install ‘The Best PD Guide (Trial Version)’? ‘Yes’ / ‘No’』

『Installation Condition – Eat a spicy chicken cup noodle.』

Dongsu muttered with a dazed look.

“What is this...?”