The Luck Roulette was, literally, a gacha. It meant the system had prepared things it considered "fortunate"—things that would supposedly benefit the human named "Won Yu-ha."
And because I didn't know who sent me back in time or why, the Luck Roulette was the only thing that held the most clues.
…To get whatever comes out of this roulette, and to earn the Luck points needed to spin it, I have no choice but to follow the system's instructions.
By participating in the main quest, accumulating attention on
Conversely, if I did nothing, I would move closer to death.
In other words, even though the system revived me, my life was effectively pawned to it. I had no choice but to do exactly what the system wanted.
…At least for now.
How far will this Luck Roulette help me? No, what even is "luck," really?
Every person defines luck differently. One person's blessing could be another's misfortune; something trivial to one might be the opportunity of a lifetime to someone else.
Meaning "luck" could only ever follow someone's subjective standard.
So whose standard defined the things inside this roulette?That was the question that came to mind.
Was it the standard of whoever revived me?Or could it also include luck based on my values?
What did the system classify as "luck" that would help me?And what lay at the very end of it?
Most importantly—among the items from the roulette, could there be something that would let me break free of the system and
…Right now, I know nothing.
Without information or opportunity, the only way to obtain them was to act.
Save enough points to stay alive—then spin the roulette regularly.
Even if it ended up helping me.Even if it didn't.
Eventually, I might get a clue—about the one who brought me back, about the reason I returned, about everything.
"...."
I spent the points and bought a Luck Roulette Random Ticket. Then I pressed the golden button beneath my Luck score.
The enormous machine emerged once again before me. It swallowed the ticket and spun violently.
"...!"
When it finally stopped, the capsule popped open and slowly revealed the system window.
"…What?"
Another completely unexpected "luck" appeared.
[Cheon Se-rim: Where is everyone?]
[Joo Dan-woo: I'm almost there.]
[Aiden Lee: nearby. w8 a sec]
[Cheon Se-rim: Oh, I'm here!]
[Cheon Se-rim: What about you, Yu-ha hyung?]
[Cheon Se-rim: Yu-ha hyung?]
[Cheon Se-rim: Yu-ha hyung, answer~]
[Cheon Se-rim: ?]
[Cheon Se-rim: Yu-ha.]
[Cheon Se-rim: Answer.]
[Won Yu-ha: Stop. I'm behind you.]
"Hyung, you're second to arrive."
I lowered my phone and nodded at Cheon Se-rim, who was grinning as he eyed my coat.
"A duffle coat? What's this, hyung—going for a cute concept?"
It was a thick, warm duffle coat. Considering the weather, it might've been too warm, but in my current physical state, this was exactly the thickness I needed.
The aftereffects really were bad…
Because I had practically been bedridden until recently.
The price for pushing my body to its limits during that week-long dorm period hit me brutally.
Even though I raised my Stamina stat, the accumulated fatigue was too much. I couldn't even study the GED books—I was bedridden with a late-striking fever and body aches.
After about a week, I recovered, but my body was still weak, and chills hit me easily.
"I just wore what I had. And you… Bur—X—ry coat?"
"I give off autumn vibes, right?"
"…It's spring."
"I mean the aura. Don't I look poetic? Brown suits me, you know."
I nodded vaguely at his self-praise. Much as I didn't want to admit it, coats did suit Cheon Se-rim—he had a lean build and decent height.
"Hey."
"Oh, Aiden hyung. You've got the classic coat look."
"It's wool. Too hot."
Aiden Lee arrived next, wearing a black coat, the slightly loosened collar showing a glimpse of his blue blazer underneath.
"Sorry I'm late."
"Oh, you're the last one! And you're wearing… a long padded coat? Isn't that hot?"
"I get cold easily… And it's still chilly. It's warm."
Joo Dan-woo arrived last, wearing a long padded jacket that reached mid-thigh. True to his style, the zipper was pulled up all the way past his neck so not even his shirt collar showed.
Cheon Se-rim glanced around at the coats all four of us were wearing and whispered:
"But with everyone wearing outerwear like this… don't we all look super suspicious?"
"Feels like people have already noticed something."
Aiden Lee scanned the area. As he said, people were staring—some subtly, some not so subtly.
Of course they were—about a hundred young guys wearing heavy coats and jackets in questionable weather were wandering around the plaza. Their clothes were totally covered up, but their faces were absurdly eye-catching.
"How much time is left?"
"About ten minutes."
"I wanna finish and go home. Our broadcast is tomorrow. I kinda wanna get in the zone before the stage drops."
I agreed. Tomorrow was when our "LOOK" performance video would be revealed for the first time on MusicA.
The center chosen by the Idol Makers had been decided only a few days earlier.
Just as announced during the first dorm period, we arrived at the MusicA set on the designated date to confirm who the chosen center was.
After that, we dressed in school uniforms to match the "Boy" concept, arranged ourselves by class, and finished the main recording. Normally, the next time we met would've been for the first mission.
But here we were, in mismatched outerwear, gathered in a plaza because a sudden additional event—the "LOOK" flash mob—had been decided last minute.
"There's a camera right there. Is this really a 'guerrilla' flash mob at this point?"
Cheon Se-rim grumbled. He had a point—a few cameras were already being set up in the center of the plaza.
Civilians were taking the hint, noticing the hundred odd guys in outerwear and the cameras, and were backing away to the sides.
The flash mob dance was a last-minute addition. During the first dorm period, it hadn't existed at all; A-Net added it suddenly for viral potential.
The announcement had said:
—Before the broadcast stage and the trainee profiles are released, we prepared a flash mob for "LOOK" to build buzz.
We had gathered briefly at the training center yesterday, practiced the formation, and received the school uniforms we wore for the pre-recorded stage.
Today we were told to wear those uniforms underneath our outerwear and gather at the plaza.
So we went to our assigned makeup shops, got our styling done, put school uniforms under weather-inappropriate outerwear, and wandered into the plaza as a group.
When the music started, we were to throw off our coats, form our lines, and begin the flash mob. The fifteen A-class trainees would form a wing formation at the front; the rest would form rows behind.
And the one trainee who would lead the flash mob was already decided.
"…It started."
"Let's get ready."
As the intro of "Look" rang out across the square, a trainee standing among the crowd threw off his coat, revealing a blue blazer jacket.
With light, effortless movements, he took his place at the center of the square and broke into a brilliant dance, immediately drawing the eyes of everyone around him.
At the center stood Kang Hyun-jin.
He's really good.
I quietly unbuttoned my coat as I stared at Kang Hyun-jin, who was displaying exceptional dancing skills. He moved with sleek, sharp lines, focusing solely on the choreography without vocals, and that only made his expressions look even better.
He deserves to be center.
Popularity was one of the qualifications for being the center, but more than anything, the talent Kang Hyun-jin possessed as an individual trainee was remarkable. He looked like someone who knew every detail of how to use his body.
And it wasn't just raw talent. His sense for catching the key points of the dance, his ability to reinterpret choreography, his expressiveness—everything showed that he had never been lazy in his practice.
He had likely continued practicing "Look" even after the video evaluations and the pre-recorded stage shoots were finished. All to perform just that much better.
And that kind of ambition was precisely the virtue a center should have.
"Let's go!"
At Aiden Lee's words, I threw my outer coat onto the ground along with the other trainees' jackets and ran toward Kang Hyun-jin's back. When a hundred trainees moved all at once, the crowd watching began to stir in surprise.
The fourteen A-rank trainees—excluding Kang Hyun-jin—lined up beside him in a wing formation, matching the group choreography with him at its center.
A fast, lively, and above all addictive melody boomed across the square.
We moved our bodies to "Look," a song we knew so well we were sick of it by now. Gasps and curious stares poured from the crowd.
At the very end of the wing formation, I danced along with the others.
…?
Then suddenly, I felt something—someone looking at me.
Instinct urged my head to turn before reason could catch up. I turned without meaning to, and then—
Click.
Beyond the camera lens, I met someone's eyes.
Now I just have to get rid of the camera, and it's over.
The top-seed fansite master of the boy group Floyer had been wandering all over Seoul the entire day, even though the deadline for the freelance job she'd taken on was only a short time away.
The reason she was roaming around Seoul, clutching several shopping bags, ignoring her rapidly approaching deadline—
It was because she was trying to clear out the last four years of her fangirl life.
"Haa…"
Seeing how much remained in the paper bags had dwindled, she let out a heavy sigh.
Since she had been fervently "stan-ing" Floyer from debut until now, the amount of merchandise she owned was enormous.
Fansite-made goods that were now impossible to obtain, official and unofficial merch, limited-edition concert goods—items that cost a fortune both back when she bought them and even now.
And she was giving away all of it for free.
Sungjin, you son of a b**h…*
Sungjin. Floyer's leader, and the member she had chosen as her "ultimate bias" for four years.
It had only been a short while since Sungjin caused a drunk-driving accident and fled straight into the military.
As Floyer's leader, Sungjin had always presented a clean and refreshing image, with handsome looks and a reputation for being upright and diligent.
His gentle manner of speaking, soft voice, and warm eyes had captivated the fansite master when she saw Floyer's debut stage, and she chose him as her bias.
It had already been four years since she created social media accounts specifically to promote her beloved idol. Before she knew it, she had become Floyer's top-seed fansite master—every fan had saved at least one of her photos.
He said we'd go all the way, and that bastard goes and causes a scandal before running away—who would've predicted that?
The reason she ended up closing her fansite and quitting being a fan was because something happened that she simply couldn't defend.
Sungjin, who always promoted honesty and righteousness as his personal motto, caused a drunk-driving accident and tried to flee the scene, only to be caught by the police.
He should've at least admitted fault and apologized properly.
On top of that, Sungjin caused a disturbance at the police station while drunk, resulting in additional charges.
There was no disgrace more disgraceful.
The other members of Floyer weren't at fault, but the four years she had spent supporting Sungjin felt meaningless. After long deliberation, she finally decided to quit being a fan.
That was why she had been traveling across Seoul all day, giving away Floyer merchandise as generously as possible, even with a deadline looming over her.
Why do all the idols I choose end up ruined?
She let out a deep sigh and trudged along.
The last group she stanned before Floyer had also been a newly debuted boy group. But less than a year later, the group's key member—her chosen bias—became embroiled in a school bullying scandal, and the group's activity fell apart, landing them the label of a "failed group."
After that, she switched to Floyer and enjoyed a fairly stable fan life, but thanks to the latest incident, she once again found herself forced into quitting.
Is it that hard… to just live decently?
How hard was it to simply not commit a crime?
She knew it wasn't ideal to expect good character from idols, but she genuinely believed Sungjin would be different. His motto of "honesty" and "righteousness" made her want to believe one last time and pin her hopes on him.
So as she walked around Seoul all day, she made a vow: this would be the end.
She would never get involved in idol fandom again.
Floyer would be the last chapter of her cursed fangirl life.
All that's left is the camera now.
After giving away all the merch, the only thing remaining was the high-end camera. That was the one thing she couldn't bring herself to give away for free, so she was planning to sell it secondhand at a heavily discounted price.
[Buyer: I've arrived~]
[Me: I'm almost there. Please wait a little bit.]
[Buyer: Okay]
She put her phone back into her bag and quickened her pace. She wanted to sell the camera and hurry home to drink.
Then—
—♩♪♬
"…?"
A melody drifted into her ears, making her look around instinctively. It wasn't coming from the shops on either side.
The intro was strong and attention-grabbing right from the start, and more than anything, she had never heard this song before.
…What is that?
She tilted her head. Soon she noticed people murmuring and gathering toward a certain direction.
The square?
It was the large circular square near the station entrance. People were circling around it, watching something.
Between the gaps in the crowd, she saw numerous boys in blue blazers.