Chapter 3

Former Internet Celebrity Becomes Top Star - Chapter 3 (3/110)

3

After all that, to die again.

What kind of absurd situation is this!

'No, how can this be an opportunity!'

The countless regrets of the past flashed through his mind as he was about to die.

He had vowed that if he were given another chance, he would not live as he did before he died...

'Is this going to end up crossing the Jordan again before I can even try?'

A sense of urgent crisis overwhelmed Rowun.

Rowun asked in a hurry.

"Just a moment. Then what should I do? How can I pay it off?"

But the water droplet only said something completely different.

Cheonghwa, who seemed to be a celestial being, finally addressed the part Rowun was curious about, explaining or consoling that the celestial beings would generously provide the compensation.

"I understand. I need to accumulate merit, right? But how do I do that?"

It was an extremely abstract and vague concept.

Now that he knew what he needed to accumulate, it was time to hear the most important method.

But something was off.

Why did the water droplet seem to be getting blurry?

"Cheonghwa? Cheonghwa!"

The water droplet also seemed flustered.

"I get that. So you have to tell me how to accumulate it...!"

Rowun was very anxious.

He couldn't let this second chance slip away so futilely!

'If I die, I won't be able to eat the bento in the fridge!'

The high-end special bento he had always admired but never bought at convenience stores.

The bento that was so luxurious in concept, price, and content!

'Really, it tasted as good as it looked.'

The excitement when he finally managed to eat it after circling around it for months.

If he died, he wouldn't be able to eat it again!

It was just a bento, but if it was that good, what else had he missed out on?

Not only that, Rowun had many things he wanted to do.

He wanted to release the songs he had created but never released, and he wanted to step on the stage he had only watched after the accident.

But to do that, he had to survive and not die.

He couldn't die now, before he even got on stage!

But the water droplet, which had been clumped together, was getting blurrier faster.

"What kind of request? Whose request! Who are they? Whose request do I have to fulfill?"

But before Rowun could hear the answer, Cheonghwa disappeared, leaving behind a vague complaint.

"..."

All that remained was Rowun, feeling utterly hopeless.

Rowun thought.

Is this real?

Is it really true that I came back to life only to face the threat of death again?

But the one who could answer had disappeared, leaving only the ambiguous hint Cheonghwa had left behind.

'Merit. How do I accumulate merit? Whose request do I have to fulfill?'

And the very concerning word that flashed by.

'What is karma?'

Suddenly facing death, his appetite had also plummeted.

Holding the 100% animal fat donut, Rowun fell into thought.

'If it's about virtue, I guess I need to be good. Does that mean I have to be good? Then what does it mean to fulfill a request? Should I go to a temple?'

No matter how much he pondered, there was no one to give him an answer.

'I guess... I should start with what I can do.'

First, he needed to learn more about the original owner of this body.

He had gotten a few clues from the conversation with the manager, but it was still far from enough.

'If I'm going to live in this body, I need to know myself and my enemy to win a hundred battles.'

Knowing your enemy and yourself is the key to victory.

Rowun, trying to calm his mind, decided to start by checking the house.

"Who is this person?"

According to the manager, he was an actor, building his career step by step from small roles.

But what about this house?

Perhaps the difference was more apparent after moving from a 40-year-old, drafty old building to a luxurious two-story penthouse that was hard to take in at a glance.

'...Is he a hidden heir of a wealthy family?'

But can a wealthy family's child be unknown?

Rowun, who had briefly dipped his toes into the entertainment industry, knew that with enough money, everything could be covered, regardless of talent.

'Besides, he even had a personal doctor.'

When he casually asked the manager, the middle-aged man who diagnosed Rowun was his personal physician.

The manager hadn't called him; he had been instructed to contact him if anything happened to Rowun.

-We saw each other often. Every time Rowun got drunk, he would come and give him an IV.

Even though his education was lacking, Rowun knew that doctors were at the top of the high-skilled workforce.

As he thoroughly searched the house, Rowun's doubts deepened.

'When the manager mentioned it, it seemed like he really only drank... Was that all he did?'

Except for the convenience store bento in the middle of the large double-door refrigerator, the entire fridge was filled with various types of alcohol.

Not only that, expensive bottles with curly labels were scattered around.

The most impressive of all was the wine cellar.

When he opened what looked like a small fridge similar in size to the one in his studio, it turned out to be a luxurious wine cellar filled with vintage wines.

'The clothes are all from luxury brands, so it seems he was indeed well-off.'

It was still strange that he was unknown.

"If I could just ask him."

The unfamiliar face in the mirror.

It seemed like the face was about to answer him.

'Come to think of it, I didn't hear where the original owner of this body went.'

For some reason, Cheonghwa had said that Rowun was now the owner of this body.

And he had also said something like this.

-You have finally found your rightful place. It was originally yours... Uh!

Although something seemed to have blocked his mouth halfway through, he had definitely said that.

'He also mentioned revealing heavenly secrets.'

Even in the bewildering situation, Rowun had carefully listened to every word.

He had a good memory and rarely forgot what he heard once.

'So, does this mean this body is originally mine? A soul swap? It sounds like something out of a novel.'

Thinking about it, it seemed too absurd to be true.

Without anyone to answer, his thoughts wandered.

In the meantime, something caught Rowun's eye.

'Hmm? What's that?'

Shiny.

A smooth, flawless presence.

It was the phone, presumably belonging to the original owner.

It was the latest model, released less than a month ago.

'Great. This will do.'

The phone, often called the soul of modern humans.

Unlocking it with his face, Rowun decided to dig into this person's background.

He started with the contacts.

'Let's see...'

Swiping.

It was a bit confusing as it was the latest model, but he quickly got used to it thanks to the body's memory.

Swiping.

Swiping.

"..."

Rowun's expression became peculiar as he scrolled.

"...What is this person? No family?"

There were many people in the contact list, but no one seemed to be family.

He checked the call history, messages, and messenger, but found nothing.

'...Not a third-generation heir? He seems to have many friends, though.'

The messenger was almost bursting with messages from different people.

Compared to the few messages he used to get from family, it was a bit embarrassing.

'Ah... I see why the manager reacted so strongly to the word "alcohol."'

After a cursory look at the private information, it was time for a thorough search.

When he typed 'Rowun' into the search bar, the face he saw in the mirror appeared.

'Let's see... The search results confirm he's an actor.'

He even had a legitimate agency.

It was a familiar name, as rumors of the youngest member, Hobum, moving to another agency had been circulating.

A first-tier agency known for its few but talented actors.

Rowun knew this because of a simple reason.

-If it weren't for you guys, our Hobum would have been well-supported by the agency and built a great career. Why won't the crazy agency let him go?

A personal fan of Hobum had once harshly criticized the agency and the group, which had become a minor topic.

Recalling that memory, Rowun slowly scrolled down and paused.

'...Why, why are they all insults?'

For an unknown actor, it was normal to have no reaction at all.

But this body was different.

Even a small reaction was surprising, but all of it was negative.

-Can't criticize his face, but everything else is trash, so even his face is a minus.

-Go study your lines.

-This guy's main job is an influencer, not an actor. Please stop appearing on social media.

-Please leave the film industry forever and stop ruining my actor's work.

The shockingly harsh comments were even more shocking to Rowun, who had once been lumped together with his group members and received enough insults to last two hundred years.

'...Is it not that he's unknown, but that he's infamous?'

When he clicked on the linked works, the comments were filled with insults directed at the body.

Rowun's vision darkened as if someone had turned off the lights and whispered, "Dark, isn't it? This is your future."

'...Let's not jump to conclusions yet. I can think about it after I ask.'

Rowun decided to check the social media accounts mentioned in the comments.

He almost doubted his eyes.

'Five million?'

Not five thousand, not five hundred thousand, but really five million?

Rowun recalled his past memory calmly.

When Garion, who everyone believed would soon be a top star, was at the height of its prime, the group's official account had 12 million followers.

'But five million... five million?'

An unknown actor with no notable filmography having that many followers?

...So that's why they called him an influencer?

Even to Rowun, who had seen all sorts of beautiful and handsome people during his group activities, the body had something that stood out.

The slightly slanted eyes were a bit off, but...

The mask was so good that even a casual selfie looked like a magazine photo.

The likes and comments were enormous, but the funny part was that half were in English, half in Korean, and half of the Korean comments were insults.

'What did this body do?'

The same question arose again.

Just as the manager finished a call and returned.

"Bro, I have a question."

"Yeah? What is it?"

"Do I... can't act?"

Thud.

The manager's phone fell from his hand.

"What, what, what are you saying, Rowun?"

His eyes lost focus, and his pupils trembled uncontrollably.

"From what I saw, there are a lot of people insulting me. But strangely, I seem to have appeared in many works..."

He was surprised to see that despite the many insults, the number of works linked in his portal profile was quite high.

Some of them were even works Rowun had heard of, though he had never heard of the body being in them.

He just asked out of curiosity.

"..."

Wait, hold on.

Are you about to cry?

The manager, almost in tears, looked so pitiful that Rowun almost apologized.

One action can be more impactful than a thousand words.

Rowun instinctively realized.

'Wait, this kind-hearted bro can't even tell a white lie.'

Especially when death was so close.

The new opportunity turned out to be a body with the worst reputation.

'This is f*cked up, isn't it?'

I didn't say surviving would be this crazy difficult, did I?