episode_0002

When I came to, I was standing on a prairie.

Saahhh─

The wind stroking my cheek and hair reminded me that this was real. Green land and a cloudless blue sky.

It was certain. Sua wasn’t dreaming.

“…What? Did I die again?”

Sua had already experienced reincarnation once.

Did I die again? No, that time it was a traffic accident. No matter how I think about it, there’s no reason for me to die this time.

Then, a thought struck me like lightning.

‘Wait, what about my 3rd perk?’

It was definitely unlocked. What happened to it?

Surely, being thrown into this prairie isn’t the end of it? What am I supposed to do here? Start a fire? Is the smoke perk really about the smoke when burning the prairie?

“…I worked so hard to unlock it.”

Swimming, golf, soccer… I tried everything to unlock this perk. Did something go wrong? Then suicide is the only answer.

After wandering around like a lost child for a while, I finally found something.

There was something like a smartphone notification window in the air.

[‘Time to Act’ has been activated.]

[Audition Script Acting Special Training]

▶ Small capacity ▶ Insufficient basic elements

“…”

Sua’s comment. Extremely short.

“Incomprehensible nonsense…”

It’s just full of stories I can’t understand at all.

But humans tend to focus on the parts they can somehow understand. Soon, Sua’s gaze was fixed on the part that read ‘Audition Script’.

Then, her memory returned.

“That’s right. This is no time for this. My audition!”

What exactly happened to me?

Did I miss my turn?

My heart grew impatient.

As I resolved to get out of here first, the letters written in the notification window suddenly began to extend downwards.

[Audition Acting Script Special Training]

[Starting.]

“Huh?”

I expressed my doubt, but it didn’t reach. The notification window indifferently wrote down the letters as if it was only doing its job.

[Classified as not a ‘script’.]

[The elements for special training are insufficient.]

[Temporarily creating basic elements.]

[…Temporarily extracting a suitable person….]

[…Temporarily extracting a suitable situation….]

[…Temporarily extracting a suitable place….]

Sua stared blankly for a long time.

Fassss─!

Like puzzle pieces, the world surrounding Sua slowly collapsed. The world turned completely black, and then it was assembled, creating a completely different landscape.

A moment later.

When Sua closed her eyes and opened them again.

The appetizing smell of food tickled her nose. In front of her, a familiar back was chopping vegetables.

…A kitchen?

It’s definitely the scenery of the kitchen I quit not long ago.

The person with his back to Sua is definitely the head chef, but the problem is that I can’t understand this situation at all. Could time have reversed?

Sua cautiously parted her lips.

“Chef?”

“Oh, yeah. Sua.”

Listening to the voice, it’s definitely the head chef I knew. But when he turned around and met Sua’s eyes.

“….”

Sua felt a clearly different sense of unease than before.

Desire.

The head chef’s eyes were currently filled with some kind of emotion. I knew instinctively that it was an intense desire.

I have to avoid it.

The warning bell that the instinct rang. When Sua took a step back without realizing it.

“Sua.”

The head chef grabbed Sua’s wrist.

It’s strong. The mere touch of such a strong grip sent shivers down my spine. My breath started to quicken.

“…Let go of me.”

“Sua, Sua.”

The next moment, the head chef strangled Sua’s neck.

Thump!

The two fell to the floor, and the head chef continued to strangle Sua’s neck. The fear in my heart grows deeper.

It all happened in an instant.

“Gack, guh…!”

I can’t breathe. I might really die like this.

How did this happen?

Why am I being subjected to this here? I can’t understand, but there’s no time to understand such things. I have to struggle. If I want to live, I have to struggle with all my might. If I want to live, I must.

“Keuheuheup…!”

This is real. This pain has to be real.

I don’t want to die. I don’t want to die.

“Eueueue─!”

Thwack! Thwack!

Sua wildly swung her arms and hit the head chef’s nape and face. It was useless. It was like throwing an egg at a rock.

Realizing that the blow had no effect at all, my hand began to frantically fumble on the floor. Grab anything. Please. Anything.

Did my desperate prayer reach?

Thud.

Finally, something was caught in my hand.

Sua didn’t hesitate at all. The instinct that surpassed thought stabbed it into the head chef’s nape with all its might.

Thwack─!

“…!”

Both of their movements stopped at the same time.

“Heo-eok…!”

It was the sound that burst from Sua’s mouth.

I was surprised by the fact that what I had wielded was a kitchen knife, and I was surprised again by the fact that it penetrated a human body so easily.

“Huk…. Heo-eok…! Eueueue…!”

Sua pushed the head chef away with her foot, and then sat down with her back against the wall. I covered my mouth with both hands.

He’s dying. He’s definitely dying.

Everything was clearly visible.

The manager desperately trying to live and wriggling, the blood flowing down more than I expected, the face turning as red as it was about to burst, the eyes growing so large that they looked like they would pop out….

A moment later, the head chef’s movements completely stopped.

“Um, excuse me…”

Sua said, trembling.

“Excuse me…?”

No answer came back.

It was the same even if I touched his shoulder.

…Is he dead? Is he dead? Really?

Did I kill someone? Me?

“Ah…. Crazy…!”

Sua shuddered at the immense shock.

How did things turn out like this?

It’s unfair. The head chef tried to kill Sua first. I just resisted with all my might!

It was then.

The world didn’t even allow Sua time to sort out her thoughts.

Ting-a-ling─

The bell attached to the shop door rang. A customer has arrived.

“…!”

Sua reflexively jumped up.

I can’t get caught.

My head was plastered with that thought.

It was as if lightning was striking my head. Cold sweat flowed down my spine. I can’t get caught. Absolutely not. I can’t.

After throwing off the blood-stained apron, I ran like crazy to the customer and stood in front of them, blocking their way.

I can’t get caught. Repeating it countless times in my head.

“Cus, customer. Did you come to eat?”

It’s a restaurant, so of course they came to eat. Even I thought it was a stupid question. But I couldn’t help it.

“Pardon?”

“The ingredients…. The ingredients are, um. The ingredients are….”

It wasn’t easy to speak, let alone breathe, so Sua clenched her fist and hit her chest several times. Very hard, too.

“All the ingredients are used up. I’m sorry. I think I’ll have to close up for today, so please go back.”

Lies flowed out even as I trembled and sweated cold sweat. I can’t help it. I just resisted. It’s unfair to become a murderer like this. It’s really unfair.

“….”

As the customer stared at me as if I was strange, Sua gave a natural smile as possible. Showing even her teeth.

That’s how the customer seemed to be leaving again.

“Ah.”

Suddenly, the customer stopped walking.

Turning around and looking at Sua.

Sua’s heart sank.

“Wh, wh, why are you doing that?”

“…Isn’t there anything strange?”

“Something strange?”

Sua asked with a soul-less expression.

Did the kitchen smell like blood?

No, is it my expression that’s the problem?

What if they noticed? What will happen to my life? Am I going to become a murderer at this age and spend my whole life in prison? I heard you can’t even commit suicide easily in there. What am I going to do?

At that moment, a short review of my life flashed by like crazy.

“You look like you’re in pain. Go to the hospital.”

That was all the customer said. Turning around, he walked silently and exited.

Sua stared blankly at his retreating figure.

After swallowing a mouthful of dry saliva, she locked the shop door and even closed the shutters. Only after checking several times that it wouldn’t open, did she slump down and exhale a long breath.

“Hoo-ooo-ooo….”

Breath. I can finally breathe.

But nothing has been resolved yet. At first, I grabbed my hair, and later I scratched my face with my fingernails.

“What! What is it! What is it!”

I barely got through this time. But what about next time?

In Sua’s mind, murderers were the scum of the earth.

But what about me? Is it really my fault that things turned out like this? The head chef tried to kill Sua first. I just resisted with the thought of wanting to live…!

Am I becoming a murderer like this? Me?

…How am I supposed to live from now on?

My life! What the heck is going to happen to it!

“I hate it…. I hate it….”

Tears began to flow from fear.

“I hate this…. I was just trying to check my aptitude…! What the heck is going on…!”

How long did I cry like that?

How much did I despair?

“Heueuk…! Heuaaaaa…!”

After a long time of crying, my vision turned white again.

.

.

.

.

.

[Ending the Audition Script ─ Acting Special Training.]

[The current ‘Future Me’ gauge is 100%]

*Your future self appears.

The notification window filled my vision. Before I could even grasp the letters, a voice pierced my ears first.

“Lee Sua-nim?”

I saw a staff member staring at me intently. Each holding one end of the script.

“Lee Sua-nim, can you hear me?”

Sua nodded for now.

Only after a while did I understand the situation. What I had just experienced wasn’t real. One thought immediately came to mind.

‘Thank goodness. Thank goodness. Thank goodness….’

I breathed heavily. It’s strange. The chills are still vivid, but my body is still soft. As if nothing had happened.

“Follow me. It’s Lee Sua-nim’s turn.”

Sua silently followed behind the staff. Her legs are slightly wobbly because she hasn’t recovered from the shock yet.

“…Oh, guiding Sua-nim isn’t easy.”

“Pardon?”

“She has a unique aura. Should I say she’s scary.”

“It’s a misunderstanding. I was born like this.”

I answered briefly. It wasn’t a lie either. I am currently very dazed, and this impression is innate, so I can’t help it.

Finally, I entered the interview room.

There were a whopping five judges.

I don’t know who three of them are at all, and I barely recognized one of them. Lee Geum-suk, a writer who has been producing hit works one after another.

“Please check the script and start acting within 1 minute.”

Sua silently followed the instructions.

The stack of paper was quite thick, but this must have been a bluff as well. There were only two lines written inside.

[You accidentally killed someone.]

[Act freely on the above topic.]

“….”

Sua’s actions stopped for a moment.

I was embarrassed, but it wasn’t the kind of embarrassment I was thinking of.

Other participants would be reading the topic written in the script and worrying about how to solve it, but my embarrassment was completely different.

I’m just embarrassed because I’m familiar with it.

‘Accidentally killing someone? I just, definitely….’

At that time, when I was retracing my incredibly vivid memories.

“You have to start within 1 minute.”

They urge me again in front of my face.

Sua hesitated for a moment, but soon made a decision.

Anyway, my 3rd perk is acting. In other words….

‘My life is destined to be acting. Let’s not avoid it.’

There must be a reason why a perk is a perk. There must be something different from when I tried other fields. Sua started to recreate what she had experienced, thinking that way.

And after a while.

“….”

Sua was squatting on the floor, trembling.

“….”

I’m embarrassed.

I stood up from my seat awkwardly.

“…I’ll stop here.”

Actually, I can’t do it even if they tell me to do more. The situation I experienced doesn’t even exist anymore. This is the best I can do….

─….

The silence was longer than I thought.

More and more thoughts were running through Sua’s head.

‘Ah, I’m going crazy.’

The more I thought about it, the more I felt like I had made a mistake.

What the heck did I do? More than that, is this a perk?

Ah, I should have just checked it at an acting academy. Why did I have such ridiculous expectations….

When Sua’s head was gradually drooping.

“Sua-ssi.”

Someone called Sua. It was Lee Geum-suk, the rumored golden hand.

Sua couldn’t bring herself to meet her gaze and answered.

“Yes.”

But.

I had no choice but to raise my head at the question that followed.

“Have you ever, by any chance, accidentally killed someone?”