Chapter 2

1. An Unwanted Regression

Tae-ju regained his composure, but he still couldn't accept the situation he found himself in.

It was the Best Actor award he had longed for 16 years since his debut in an independent film. The reality of regressing to the past just an hour before receiving the award was hard to believe.

Just one hour.

He regressed right before the second part of the ceremony began, immediately after the first part ended.

At the moment when he was about to win the Best Actor award, which he had been hoping for 16 years, he found himself back 20 years in the past.

He splashed cold water on his face and drank cold water, but nothing changed. Pinching his cheeks and slapping his thighs didn't wake him up either.

Tae-ju found himself back in the winter of his senior year of high school, just as it was starting.

The room was filled with familiar yet strange items. His cherished manga, game console, soccer ball, and guitar were all in sight. The room was neatly organized, which seemed to be the work of his younger brother Tae-woo over the weekend.

"Damn. Damn. Damn."

He kept cursing.

His head was spinning from the cold water in the freezing cold, but he couldn't fall asleep. He was so angry that he would jump out of bed even if he were sleeping.

At 21, he had a chance to attend a film awards ceremony. His girlfriend at the time was a fan of a certain actor, so they went to the red carpet and the ceremony together.

The image of the actor in a luxurious tuxedo, with bright makeup, walking through the cheers of the crowd and the camera flashes to the stage, was deeply etched in his mind. At the ceremony, the actor receiving the Best Actor award was the epitome of envy.

The actor's smiling face holding the glittering trophy on the illuminated stage was unforgettable. It was the trigger for Tae-ju, who had no interest in the entertainment industry, to dig out the business card of a scout he had thrown into his desk drawer.

Tae-ju, who had always captured attention with his unique appearance since childhood, had no interest in things that young students aspired to, like becoming a singer or actor.

He won prizes in talent shows and competitions with his excellent singing skills, but he only participated because he needed the prize money, not because he wanted to be an entertainer.

Tae-ju, standing 187 cm tall with a small face, distinct features, and a soft, deep voice, was a perfect beauty in every way. Until middle school, he still had a youthful look, but in high school, he grew taller and lost his baby fat, making his appearance more noticeable.

Whenever he walked down the street, one or two people would ask for his phone number, and sometimes entertainment agency representatives would give him their business cards. Of course, Tae-ju, who had no interest in that field, would throw all the cards into his desk drawer.

However, after seeing an actor's red carpet entrance and Best Actor award, Tae-ju became interested in acting. He contacted the agency that had given him a business card and began preparing to become an actor.

He debuted in an independent film at 23 and acted in both TV dramas and movies.

But Tae-ju was a typical actor who never seemed to get the right breaks.

Despite achieving 10 million viewers four times, the only awards he received in 16 years were the New Actor Award and the Best Supporting Actor Award.

His first 10 million was as a supporting actor, but after that, he starred in several box office hits, including three 10 million viewers movies, yet he never won a Best Actor award.

The first time he starred in a 10 million viewers movie, he didn't win because another actor with 25 years of experience set a new record of 17 million viewers.

For the second 10 million viewers movie, despite receiving critical acclaim for both his acting and the film, he had to give the award to a 70-year-old veteran actor who debuted the same year. The veteran's overwhelming influence and contributions to the film industry couldn't be ignored.

For the third movie, there was significant controversy. He delivered an outstanding performance and achieved box office success, but he didn't win any awards. This was due to the lobbying of the production company and the name value of the lead actor, who had debuted in Hollywood.

Despite the negative public opinion, which was widely discussed, the award was not revoked.

The awards ceremony where Tae-ju regressed was practically a one-man show. There were no significant competitors, and no actor with more experience than Tae-ju was in the lead role.

All he had to do was receive the Best Actor award an hour later. Then, Tae-ju planned to achieve his long-held dream and retire with a sense of relief.

Tae-ju, who had been filming movies every year without a break, was secretly exhausted. Despite his manager's advice, he planned to give a retirement interview after the ceremony.

"I didn't expect to be in a state where I couldn't even debut."

His tone, like a sigh, was mixed with a subtle anger. If the person who caused the regression were in front of him, he might not just grab them by the collar. His eyes, red with anger, were burning.

"Huff. I'm going to lose it."

While trying to calm his rough breathing, Tae-ju made an effort to accept the reality. Of course, it wasn't easy to accept that 16 years of effort had been in vain.

"System?"

"Status window?"

"Inventory, skills, quests, help."

It was awkward.

He remembered seeing messages before the regression and tried several commands, but to no avail. He felt a sense of self-loathing. He had hoped for something incredible, but it was a foolish act. Fortunately, no one was home.

He wiped the awkward expression from his face and picked up his smartphone. It was 11:20 AM. The other students were still in supplementary classes. His friends at this time, unlike Tae-ju who had been accepted through early admission, still had essays and interviews to prepare for.

After searching his contacts for a while, Tae-ju gave up and lay down. His head was spinning from the cold water, and he was sweating. The bed, which he hadn't used in a long time, wasn't as good as the high-end mattress he had been using, but it was still comfortable.

*

After falling asleep, Tae-ju realized he was standing in a strange place. It was the entrance to a large garden surrounded by stone walls. Passing under a welcome banner, the garden came into view. In the center was a large tree and a book-shaped sculpture, and in one corner were a shed, a well, a bulletin board, and a box under a parasol.

"Is this a farming game?"

It looked like the farming game he sometimes played during breaks on set. As he approached and touched the book-shaped sculpture, a greeting appeared.

Tae-ju thought it was a very realistic dream as he read the instructions. According to the instructions, the dream garden was a reward given to those who had worked hard to achieve their dreams and met certain conditions.

It belonged to the individual, and by paying a price, one could bring things obtained here into reality.

"What a strange dream."

He had only played fighting games and farming games, so he was glad it was a farming game.

Closing the instructions and touching the status tab, Tae-ju's profile appeared. It showed his name, occupation, skills, and other information, like in a game.

"DP is the points. I have quite a lot."

Tae-ju walked briskly to where the parasol and box were placed.

[Shop], [Bulletin Board]

"Simple."

Touching the shop, a window with several tabs appeared. The window was divided into equipment, skills, consumables, materials, and other categories, with the appearance and prices of items listed.

"Scouter for 2,000 DP. Is this the scouter from that manga?"

In the equipment tab, he found a scouter worn on one eye, which he confirmed was the same as the one in the manga. There were also other familiar items, like a bulletproof umbrella and a lightsaber from movies.

"Hehe. I should hold this and say the line."

After browsing the equipment tab for a while, he checked the other tabs. The consumables tab had items that seemed to be from a game, like strength potions and agility potions, as well as recipes for buildings like cabins and libraries.

Deciding to check the bulletin board later, he looked at it.

"Hehe. Ah, crazy. What a detailed dream."

The requests on the bulletin board reminded him of the crop delivery system in a game. The papers on the bulletin board had similar content.

It seemed to be a system where you grow crops in a field in the garden and deliver them. There were seed bags in the consumables tab, and it seemed that you had to grow and sell crops or flowers, fitting the garden theme.

"If this isn't a dream but reality, I have to decorate and cultivate this place. I need to earn DP."

Feeling that it was just a dream, Tae-ju started buying items.

First, he bought a tablet and farming tools from the equipment tab.

From the consumables tab, he bought memory potions, smooth skin cream, and recipes for a cabin, bed, bookshelf, and other furniture. He also bought a bag of strawberry seeds and fertilizer.

After buying farming and crafting skills from the skills tab, he carefully examined the other tab. The other tab had a 10% discount that wasn't there before, like a time sale.

There were special items and information marked with ??? on the other tab. Tae-ju bought a white egg and a red gem box from the question mark tab.

They seemed to be a pet and a random box.

Pets and random boxes were essential in games. He remembered raising a cute dog in a farming game he played before.

"This is an egg, so maybe a bird will hatch."

When he bought the egg, it appeared in a ball of light like the other items he bought. Touching the ball of light, a message asking if he wanted to receive the item appeared. Accepting it, he could receive the item.

Tae-ju decided to build a cabin first and put the egg inside. After buying the materials needed for the cabin from the shop and tearing the recipe, a holographic cabin appeared in the air. He adjusted the position by pressing the arrow. After setting the cabin door to the right of the well and pressing the construction button, the cabin was built with a swishing and thudding sound.

"Amazing. It's really like a game."

The cabin was divided into a kitchen/living room, bedroom, and bathroom. The kitchen had an oven and a sink. Tae-ju tore the furniture recipes he bought from the shop and arranged them.

After placing the bed in the bedroom, he put the egg on it. A timer was running on the white egg, showing 9 days and 23 hours until hatching. He was looking forward to seeing what pet would hatch.

"Dig a hole about a foot deep, plant the seed, and cover it with soil. Then water the soil until it is thoroughly soaked."

Tae-ju's expression was ambiguous as he read the instructions on the bag of strawberry seeds. He had never farmed before, but the vague "about a foot" seemed a bit off.

He dug a hole in a suitable spot in the field with a hoe and took out a seed from the bag.

"Are strawberry seeds really this big? They're as big as walnuts."

He had expected small seeds embedded in the red flesh of strawberries, but the seeds in the bag were slightly larger, dark red seeds. They didn't look like strawberry seeds at all, but he planted them in the ground and covered them with soil as instructed. After planting 20 seeds, he fetched water from the well and watered them.

"Harvest in 16 hours?"

The seeds were strange, and the harvest time was also unusual.

According to the garden instructions, one could enter the garden once a day and stay for a maximum of 48 hours. The explanation was that no matter how much time was spent in the garden, only one hour would pass in reality.

It was also said that time in the garden would pass at the same speed as in reality when spending time in the real world. It seemed that crops planted and left in the garden could be harvested after returning from the real world.

"A real-life farming game. Is this really not a dream?"

Tae-ju looked down at the field with a complicated expression. Patches of wet soil were visible.

"I was going to think about whether to continue acting or not."

He had forgotten about his acting dilemma, distracted by the strange items. He still hadn't given up his desire for awards, but he was very tired.

"I was planning to quit acting, but now that I've been forced to quit, I'm annoyed. Was I this emotional before?"

He had thought a lot before deciding to retire. He had been actively promoting his last movie to finish on a high note and had accepted all interview requests.

'If I had known I would regress, I would have done it half-heartedly.'

After resting for a while, Tae-ju decided to start acting again. He felt that not winning the award would make his 16 years of effort seem futile.

He had heard quite a bit that he was materialistic for aiming for awards in his acting. Tae-ju didn't care. He knew he was materialistic. He only chose commercially successful and box office hits and avoided anything that could harm his career or cause problems.

"It would be nice to work with Hyun-seok again. He's probably at another company now, right? He joined the company I signed with two years later, didn't he?"

His mind was a mess.

He hadn't properly attended university before. He had dropped out to act and had only applied to nearby schools based on his grades, not out of interest.

"Ah! Damn. The military."

He realized he had to go to the military again. It was terrifying to have to go again after already serving. He felt the heat rising again after it had subsided when he entered the garden.

"Does the shop sell an exemption from military service?"

Tae-ju quickly approached the shop and scanned the other tab. The item he wanted wasn't in sight.

'Maybe it will come from the random box?'

He thought of the red random box he had bought earlier.

Thump thump

He opened the box.

A yellow envelope came out.

He calmed his heart, which was pounding, and checked the documents in the envelope.

It wasn't bad. Getting a real-world apartment was definitely not a bad thing. He was just a bit disappointed because it didn't meet his expectations.

"Since a real-world item came out, maybe there is an exemption."

Tae-ju glared at the red boxes, which cost 1,000 DP each. He still had a lot of points left, about 75,000 DP.

"Let's open ten of them."

Tae-ju silently hung a landscape painting on the cabin wall and inserted a cookbook into the bookshelf. He planted an apple tree next to the well and put a cart in the shed. He planted rainbow seeds in the empty field and watered them.

While organizing the items he had bought at several times the price of the shop, he felt a bit hurt. Tae-ju's luck with the random draws wasn't as good as he had hoped.