Chapter 34: My Eternal Knight
"Morning?" Lee Hyun Ju said as she saw Dan Woo descend with two teenage girls.
Her face cycled through a few expressions before she settled back into her usual tone.
"What are you doing?"
Dan Woo barely acknowledged her as he led the two teenage girls, Im Nari and Cha Ha Rin, allowing them to board the van when suddenly Lee Hyun Ju grabbed him by the ear, turning him back to her.
"Who are they, and why are they with you?"
Dan Woo only smiled as he smoothly escaped her grasp.
"Say hello to my new little sisters," he said as he ran straight for the van.
"What?"
Lee Hyun Ju was left dumbfounded as she followed him into the van, and before long they were escorting the two girls to Hanseoung Academy before heading for the set of My Eternal Knight.
Dan Woo was still reeling from all that had happened, but he had found a small tidbit that helped him. As long as he wore the mask of Cha Hwa Rim, a second would be added to his timer every thirty seconds, which was great. But at the same time, he couldn’t help but sigh at his current timer.
He now barely had two days to find another character.
He just wished he could find a stopgap for this constant need to feed the system characters. He felt completely exhausted, but...
He looked down at the character sheet he had now put on his phone.
He needed to learn more about his own character if he was ever going to survive this world long enough to return home.
His mind couldn’t help but cling to those fragmented memories from yesterday as he turned to his phone, ready to call his sister, when another breaking news notification suddenly popped up.
This time it was a scandal surrounding a politician—a corrupt one whom Dan Woo was familiar with. After all, he had made sure to give them a nice wake-up call last night.
He felt a little satisfied with himself at the development. The entire morning had been filled with this type of news.
"Hey guys, any thoughts about the sudden scandal outbreaks?" Oh Se Young suddenly asked, trying to liven up the silent van. "There’s an interesting correlation. All of the people involved in the scandals have skull tattoos. Do you think there’s any connection?"
"I don’t know... maybe? But..." Kim Hwi Gwi answered, his eyes still locked on the road.
Before he could continue—
"We still have our own scandal to handle. Have you guys forgotten?" Lee Hyun Ju immediately crushed the small talk.
Dan Woo barely paid any of it any attention.
He was just glad that Cha Hwa Rim hadn’t been completely forgotten by the world. Maybe there was something there—he just wasn’t sure how it would affect Cha Ha Rin.
After all, she had gone by the name Cha Hwa Rim for a huge chunk of her middle and high school life...
He could only hope for the best.
He turned to his phone, opening up his contacts once again and dialing his older sister. After all, if he wanted to know more about himself, wouldn’t his sister be his best choice? But there still was another choice.
He turned and saw Lee Hyun Ju glaring at him.
No, his sister was the better choice.
He let the call ring, waiting for the other end to answer, yet no answer came. The phone just continued ringing.
He once again contemplated asking Lee Hyun Ju about his mother, but that wouldn’t work. Lee Hyun Ju wasn’t Eerie-adjacent, so she wouldn’t really know what truly happened, especially as he suspected that his mother’s death had been due to an anomaly.
His sister was the best option, as she was also Eerie-adjacent. Maybe he could also get an explanation of how she had come to meet Baek Hari after all.
Baek Hari was an anomaly now.
Speaking of Baek Hari, if she wasn’t missing, she would have been a huge help with everything that was happening—from the constellations and stars to the champions and the so-called war.
There was so much happening so fast that he couldn’t keep up with it all.
"We are here," Lee Hyun Ju suddenly said, breaking Dan Woo’s train of thought.
He only looked down at his phone as his conviction surfaced once more.
He had promised himself that he would finish whatever he started, and he was going to do just that.
After all, Lee Woo Je could still have another surprise waiting for him.
And maybe Baek Seri might have some idea where Baek Hari had gone.
He stepped out of the vehicle and walked onto the set.
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After who knew how long, he walked towards a patch of shade only to see the male lead waiting there.
Park Hyun Bin seemed to have fewer scenes than him today, but that made sense. After all, Dan Woo hadn’t really acted any of his yesterday, as he had been busy fighting for his life, so this marathon of filming was to be expected.
But for some reason, he felt much better and more in tune with his actor identity now.
He continued walking toward Park Hyun Bin, unsure of what to say.
He would have loved it if it had been Baek Seri waiting there so they could have a talk, but unfortunately she was also busy shooting her scenes.
But for now...
He felt awkward, not sure how to approach the guy. After all, he had hit him and hadn’t really apologized for it.
He wasn’t sure how to go about it, but he had to.
Even though it hadn’t been his fault, in the end it had still been him.
He swallowed his anxiety and awkwardness before approaching Park Hyun Bin, who seemed completely engrossed in what looked like a mobile game.
"Hey, you..." he began, already cringing at that opening.
Yet Park Hyun Bin never once lifted his eyes from his phone.
"Listen, man..." he began again, but caught himself. After all, it didn’t feel right.
Instead, he simply took a seat next to the man and waited for him to finish the round he was playing.
Just as the round ended, he spoke up.
"Hey, what are you playing?"
Park Hyun Bin turned to see Dan Woo, ready to ignore him once again.
"Hey, man... I’m sorry."
"No need. Your sister already did the work."
"I know, but this is coming from me. Hope we’re cool."
Park Hyun Bin looked at Dan Woo for a second.
"We have to be if I want your sister to help me," he said with a stilted smile.
Dan Woo couldn’t help but feel like this was déjà vu.
"Help you?"
"Yeah. There’s this game we play with her, and without her I’m a mess. I want to see if I can win the spot."
"What game? Can I see?" Dan Woo asked enthusiastically as he leaned closer.
"It’s a Chinese game called The Four Winds. It’s a pretty popular game here in Korea."
"Really?"
"Yeah. There’s even an event today, which I wish I could attend. We were supposed to go with your sister, but..."
"Really? Is it that good?"
"Yeah, here."
Park Hyun Bin suddenly shoved his phone toward Dan Woo as he began showing him how to play the game. From the mechanics to the characters and all that the game had to offer.
Park Hyun Bin became more animated, and the initial cold air around him seemed to thaw as he continued explaining the game to Dan Woo.
"You said the game was having a challenge?" Dan Woo asked.
"Yeah. There’s a cosplay event today, which I feel so bad for not attending. I even had the costume all made."
"You’re allowed to do cosplay?" Dan asked, a bit shocked.
"Well, if I’m discreet enough, of course. But I do have to be careful."
"Yeah..."
"Did you say my sister plays this game? So do you think she’s at that cosplay event? Because I tried calling her, but she was unreachable."
"Yeah, that’s a possibility. But maybe she took up the role?"
"The role?"
"Yeah. I told you there’s a challenge. The game wants to have a live-action movie, and they want to cast actors for it. The prerequisite is that you have to be a good enough player who’s familiar with its lore."
The moment Dan Woo heard that, he could feel the gears in his head beginning to turn.
After all, wasn’t this an opportunity...
...for his timer?
He turned to Park Hyun Bin, ready to get more information, when suddenly a van entered the area and a new bunch of people stepped out.
It was the K-pop group Evoque.
The very group Baek Seri was a member of.
They all climbed out and walked toward the set, carrying food, refreshments, and other supplies.
Dan Woo was ready to ignore their presence and return to his conversation with Park Hyun Bin when suddenly his phone began to ring.
An unknown caller.
Dan Woo looked at the screen, his face scrunching up slightly before answering.
"Hello? Who’s this?"
"Hope you like the gift."
A familiar female voice came from the other end.
Before he could get a single word in, the call suddenly disconnected.
Was that Baek Hari?
The voice did sound like hers.
And what did she mean by "the gift"?
He immediately tried to dial the number again, yet when he did, he found that the call wouldn’t go through.