Chapter 197 – Singer (7)
“…Too little…”
The summer Olympics I missed out on had almost no changes except for a few events where silver medals were upgraded to gold.
Jingle!
I normally love the cheerful sound of coins clinking, but today it wasn’t enjoyable or pleasant at all.
“Oppa, did you get them all right?!”
Song Sun-young jumped in surprise when she saw my sports toto results.
“Well… when you ask the great God, He knows everything.”
“How much is this…?”
Compared to the 200x payout I actually hit in real life, this was pocket change, but since I’d poured in such a massive amount with absolute certainty, the resulting profit was still enormous.
…But so what?
‘It’s just a dream anyway!’
In reality, Song Sun-young, who is the same age as me, is far richer. She never doubted her boyfriend’s gold medal and poured every penny she earned from modeling into the bet—the great victory of a true gambler!
I’m not saying stocks or gambling are good, but life is all about timing.
“Amolang-ssi! Please take good care of my daughter!”
“Please take good care of our daughter!”
“Yes. Leave her to me.”
Was it because I’d been glorified as some incredibly wealthy guy? Or because Song Sun-young explained things in a very positive light?
In this dream world, I had never once been introduced to them, yet her parents welcomed me like family—like a son—and even came all the way to the airport to see us off.
“I’ll be back!”
Dressed unmistakably like someone heading off on an overseas trip to a cold country, Song Sun-young tightly linked her arm with mine and waved to her parents.
If it were up to my personal desires, I’d want to take her to a warm southern country where I could freely admire her long, slender bare legs—but I couldn’t just throw away work for my own selfish wants.
‘I feel sorry.’
She loves traveling so much, yet in reality we’ve never once gone abroad together.
It’s always dreams, more dreams, endless dreams…
Like Ranuvela the 13th, I should seriously carve out a long stretch of time for my girlfriend—even if not two full years.
“Son.”
“Yes.”
“It seems the slight shift in the plan has negatively affected the patient’s health as well. The flow of time has sped up.”
My mother appeared silently at the airport and delivered very bad news.
“Oppa~!”
“Yeah. I’m coming.”
I walked side by side with my mother and continued the conversation.
“How much time is left?”
“At this rate… about a month? If the patient’s plan keeps going off track like this, it could accelerate even further, so we need to hurry.”
“Hmm…”
Did I make a mistake by unnecessarily testing the young Kang Moon-soo that the Ranuvel patient was targeting?
I felt a little regret, but since the winter Olympics preparations were successfully wrapped up except for those three events, it wasn’t all bad.
“Oppa?”
Song Sun-young, who couldn’t see my mother, tilted her head in confusion.
“Ah, sorry.”
“What are you thinking about?”
“…Marriage?”
“Ehh?!”
Beep, beeeep—
Ranuvela the 13th treated airplanes like taxis and ignored every single departure procedure at the airport, but I couldn’t do the same.
Using the hypnosis techniques my mother taught me, I legally created everything from ID to passport in one go.
It would be nice if I could use hypnosis in reality too, but because I’ve invested so much into my physical body, it’s difficult…
In other words, in reality I have to choose between focusing on the inner world or the outer world.
“Son, what do you want to do about the patient?”
“I have to persuade her.”
My policy has always been the same.
However,
“I’d like to hear the method.”
As my mother said, the method changes depending on the situation.
“I’m still thinking about it. Either ruin her life in the dream so she returns to reality, show her proof that it’s a dream to wake her up, or solve her real-world problems first and then persuade her…”
“There are a lot of options.”
“Well… this is already the 11th dream. I’ve gained quite a variety of experiences over time.”
“Including failures?”
“Yes. I’ve failed twice already.”
If the great senior hadn’t helped, I would have personally killed my mother with my own hands and that would have made it three failures. Even now, whenever I see my mother, I get chills remembering that moment.
“Which method do you want to use?”
“…The third one. I want to resolve her real-world problems. Honestly, there’s not even much to ‘resolve’ anyway.”
From ancient times to the modern era, being a beautiful woman has never been a disadvantage.
The fact that she participated in school violence as a perpetrator remains unchanged, but it’s also a matter that was already compensated for, reconciled, and concluded in the past.
Of course, the main point of contention was public opinion insisting that a singer with flawed character should not be active on public airwaves.
It’s harsh, but since there are plenty of singers who are both kind-hearted and vocally talented, no one feels any real sense of loss. It’s the same way athletes who have ever used drugs are socially buried without a second chance.
The modern society perfected by P is one overflowing with talented individuals, so anyone showing even the slightest “defect” is immediately cast aside.
“Wow! First class for the first time!”
“Spacious, right?”
“Yeah!”
In reality, I sometimes catch myself thinking—very irreverently—that it would be nice if I were just one or two years older than Song Sun-young.
The young Song Sun-young is almost always overflowing with aegyo. Meanwhile, in reality? Since we’re the same age, we’ll be “eternal peers” until the day we die, so I’ll never get to see that side of her aegyo.
‘That’s kind of sad…’
It seems like one of those chronic problems of the creature called “man”—knowing better but still unable to let go of lingering attachments.
“Hehe! Looks like even my son has gotten somewhat used to luxury now?”
“Hmm… I guess so.”
I always stay on guard so I don’t end up acting like a nouveau riche, but there’s no need to deliberately choose the hard path when a comfortable one is right there, is there?
Especially in dreams, I seem to have grown accustomed to aristocratic life and indulge in luxury to my heart’s content. My bravado gets stronger too.
“Don’t feel burdened. You are the descendant of the noblest God in the world. You are entitled to enjoy everything.”
“Geez…”
My mother has tremendous pride. She was so outraged at not receiving the treatment she deserved that she even ran away from home.
As someone who only works when there’s compensation or a purpose—like most “salarymen”—I can sympathize, but I believe the one who should receive luxury, gratitude, and praise is P, not me. I’m just a descendant, after all.
One month remaining.
Within that time, I decided to somehow wrap up the three remaining winter Olympic events.
“I’ll be off now.”
“Son, go with the mindset of being on vacation—relax, enjoy the sightseeing, and if you happen to spot any promising stallions or sled dogs, jot them down. Mom will look into them in reality too.”
“Yes. Thank you.”
“And…”
“The patient.”
“Yes, the patient. I think Kang-hoon can handle her.”
“Ah! Kang-hoon?”
Choi Kang-hoon co-founded a company with Mao Zhai and Park Han-hee as co-CEOs.
Mao Zhai is currently producing a live-action film adaptation of the martial arts novel <Is This Heavenly Demon for Real?> based on his own experiences, and that film company is under this umbrella too. Apparently, the great-granddaughter of a shaman family with ties to them, Jeon Ji-eun, is taking on the role of Mi-bong…
Beyond films, they’re investing in various businesses, one of which is an entertainment agency. Both Song Sun-young and Jeon Ji-eun are signed there, and for some reason, even Yoon So-ra—who had been trapped in the world of the historical drama <Palace Maid Deok-chun>—is on the roster.
“The plan is to focus mainly on volunteer work to launder her image, and for her fallen recognition, she’ll appear as an actress in the movie <Is This Heavenly Demon for Real?>.”
“Wow! That sounds good.”
Still, because of the prejudices floating around in society, they’re giving her the role of a beautiful villainess.
A Sound Demon, apparently…
In the martial arts novel <Is This Heavenly Demon for Real?>, she’s a stunningly beautiful antagonist who seduces men with song and dance to drain their vital energy.
Her private life was so promiscuous that she was excluded from the rankings of Central Plains beauties—like the married women—but purely in terms of appearance, she’s easily within the top ten peerless beauties.
Not bad at all.
“Son, so put your worries aside and have a good trip~”
“Yes. Thank y—”
Poof!
I’d been worried she might tag along even on the date without any tact, but my mother said what she needed to say and swiftly returned to reality.
“Oppa! There’s even a shower in here!”
The young Song Sun-young’s eyes sparkled as she excitedly explored the first-class amenities.
“Hmm.”
The more enjoyment she shows here, the more sorry I feel toward the real Song Sun-young.
‘I have to make it happen for real.’
I vowed once again.
***
In the old era, global warming became so severe that all the snow in Siberia melted, sea levels rose dramatically, and even doomsday theories about the end of humanity emerged.
How bad was it?
Africa, Australia, and South America became so hot that humans could no longer survive there at all.
‘A crazy era.’
The rich and politicians, having destroyed nature to make their fortunes, used that money to emigrate to the north faster than anyone else.
Only the innocent common people were left behind on the lands they once lived in, exposed to hellish heat and flood-like natural disasters…
P’s aptitude test device appeared like a savior exactly during that period—on the land that corrupt politicians and businessmen had enjoyed to the fullest and then abandoned.
“Alright!”
I decided to compromise on skiing.
The typical zigzag slalom skiing event—I cleanly gave up on it. For the same reason, I also gave up on snowboard events included under skiing!
Letting go of all of that, I decided to aim for the gold medal solely in snowboard big air (diving).
The rules?
Extremely simple.
“Waa! Oppa, you’re doing great~!”
Accelerating as much as possible on the snowboard while descending, then launching into the air for rotations.
Spin spin~
The person who completes the most rotations in the air wins. However, failing the landing or touching the ground with your hand results in invalidation or disqualification, so you can’t get too greedy.
“Haha!”
Shuuu~
I gave up on finesse, spun like a top, then forcibly stabilized my balance and landed on the ground.
‘Not bad.’
My personal greed would love to sweep gold medals in every skiing event, but the P-medal only counts one gold medal per event category. Whether it’s regular skiing or snowboard big air, the P-medal point tally is exactly the same.
About one week left.
To cut to the chase, I failed to find any promising racehorses or sled dogs worth aiming for gold with. Unlike skiing, where you can focus on just one, this side isn’t easy to narrow down either.
“Huh? Oppa! Over there…!”
Song Sun-young pointed toward the outer edge of the ski resort with her gloved hand.
“It’s a wolf.”
The “normal politicians” selected by P’s aptitude test device joined forces with other countries to diligently work on environmental restoration.
That’s one of the results.
Animals that had vanished from the wild due to poaching or environmental destruction have returned.
‘Not everything about it is good, though.’
With the surge in wild animal populations, incidents have occurred where they cross into human territory, threatening civilians or killing livestock on farms…
For that reason, sturdy barbed-wire fences are installed around ski resorts to prevent wild animals from entering.
“Oppa. What about wolves?”
“What about them?”
“Sled dogs and wolves look pretty similar, don’t they? Can’t we just disguise a wolf as a sled dog and enter it in the Olympics?”
“…….”
It was a bit absurd, but I seriously racked my brain trying to think of why Song Sun-young’s suggestion wouldn’t work.
‘…There isn’t one?’
There was no real reason it couldn’t be done.
“Aren’t sled dogs stronger and more specialized for running, which is why people don’t use wolves even though they’re faster?”
“Then there’s nothing we can do.”
“……”
But is that really true? Are sled dogs actually faster than wolves?
Just as not every dog can pull a sled, not every wolf is the same. If you search among wolves, there must be some that stand out.
‘If the issue is taming them, that’s easy.’
Animals with lower intelligence than humans are easy to interfere with mentally. If it gets really difficult, I can just ask my mother for help.
One week remaining.
Outstanding racehorses and sled dogs had already been snatched up by other countries. Even the remaining ones were likely bought and locked away by someone abroad to prevent others from getting them.
In other words, the outcomes for equestrian and dogsled racing were already decided before the Olympics even began! It took me wandering around Siberia for quite a while after arriving to finally realize the nature of these two events.
“…Sun-young-ah.”
“Yes?”
“I love you.”
“M-me too… Oppa…”
It’s better to try something—anything—than to just give up like this.
Wolves, wild horses.
The young Song Sun-young’s whimsical idea had given me new hope.
And as a bonus,
“I’ll definitely make you happy! This time, let’s aim for 300x.”
“Huh?”
Because of the aftermath of the summer Olympics, everyone expects me to win, so the payout odds have dropped. But what about equestrian and dogsled racing, where the mount matters more than the person?
‘This is my chance!’
Even the sports toto that I had completely given up on now had hope again.
“Sun-young-ah! Let’s go!”
“Huh? Okay!”
This time, I’m absolutely going to seize that 200x luck!
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