By Zephyria 
“Ack! You scared me!”
Startled enough to nearly jump out of his skin, Yoo Jiha hurriedly covered his phone. Jeil Heon, who seemed to have come straight from the shower with a towel draped over his shoulders, was staring intently at the phone Jiha had shielded with his hand.
“What were you doing that you didn’t even notice someone approaching from behind?”
“Nothing. Oh, by the way, do you like tteokbokki?”
“I’ll eat it if it’s there.”
Only after Jiha poked a piece of tteokbokki with a fork did Jeil Heon finally shift his gaze away from the phone. Jiha secretly breathed a sigh of relief. He probably didn’t see what app it was, right? He couldn’t have. No, even if he did, so what? The one who told me to date people my own age was him.
He wasn’t sure if meeting people through a dating app was truly the right way to date at twenty-one, but since he could blame it on Jeil Heon, self-justification wasn’t that difficult.
It was around the time he finished his late-night snack and returned to his room that a notification arrived from the dating app, which had been silent for a long time.
[Nice to meet you^^]
“……!”
While he was flustered, wondering what to say, the other person’s messages continued.
[Maybe it’s because my profile is too simple, but since no one was contacting me, I’d almost forgotten about this haha. A friend practically forced me to sign up while we were drinking]
[Does that mean you’re not particularly interested?]
[No~ Since you contacted me after seeing a profile like this, I should at least develop some interest]
The man led the conversation while they exchanged basic personal information. While chatting casually, Jiha suddenly opened the chat window he had with Jeil Heon.
[When are you coming back? ㅠㅠ]
[I’m on my way back in a designated driver’s car. Should I buy ice cream?]
[Yes yes! Guess what flavor I like?]
[Mint chocolate.]
[(Surprised mochi emoticon) I never told you that]
[The picture looks like you.]
[You can’t eat me just because I look delicious ㅜㅜ]
He didn’t use emoticons, consonants, or abbreviations, and he even consistently used periods—it was a stiff way of texting, yet Jiha found himself grinning foolishly every time he looked at it.
[Where are you?]
[I’m almos t home]
[I can’t tell where you are ㅠㅠㅜ]
[I’m not drun k]
Ah, those messages were from when he met his friends. He had been so drunk that he took the wrong subway, mumbled into his phone, and eventually fell asleep on a subway station bench.
Then, he woke up to the cold sensation of an ionic drink can touching his cheek, and Jeil Heon was there. After finishing the cool drink and the hangover cure Jeil Heon had brought, his mind cleared up a bit. Jiha patted his cheeks, gesturing vaguely. He meant for Jeil Heon to help him up, but Jeil Heon over-interpreted the gesture.
〈Uwah. Not this!〉
No matter how many times it happened, being carried bridal-style was as embarrassing as the first time.
〈I thought you liked this kind of thing.〉
〈I don’t like it……!〉
〈I like it. How should I carry our little drunkard?〉
It seemed as though the option of not carrying Yoo Jiha didn’t even exist in Jeil Heon’s mind. Despite insisting he could walk, Jiha staggered and fell to his knees after three steps, eventually settling quietly on the man’s back. He kicked his legs back and forth, marveling at the broad back that climbed the subway station stairs without a hint of struggle despite carrying a grown man.
〈It must be nice that you’re so strong. Once, when I carried my sister, I almost fell over and did a front roll.〉
〈How come you were carrying your sister?〉
〈Sigh, she completely lost her mind and got wasted because Mom and Dad went on a trip. She couldn’t even stand up; she was practically swimming on the street. It was so embarrassing, really.〉
〈Wasted?〉
〈Alcohol, alcohol. Being completely drunk.〉
Despite being carried, he grumbled about how bad his sister’s drunken antics were and how he wanted to leave her on the street, prompting a low chuckle.
〈You said your father likes drinking too, right? Jiha, you take after your father and sister a lot.〉
Jeil Heon knew he was adopted. Even a casual piece of conversation about resembling family carried a different meaning, spreading into a shy, beaming smile.
Lost in the memory of that day, Yoo Jiha let out a strange, giddy laugh before suddenly snapping back to reality. He then buried his head deep into his pillow. At this rate, he would never be able to get over him.
With tears in his eyes, he deleted all the messages and opened the dating app’s chat window, but he couldn’t concentrate at all.
* * *
“Jiha. Are you dating someone these days?”
“Huh? Me? No?”
“Hmm, suspicious. You weren’t like this before, but lately, you’re staring at your phone every chance you get.”
“Aw, it’s just that since the semester started, I have more people to contact. Between school and work, I’m exhausted; where would I find the time to date?”
He could never confess that he was checking his phone frequently to chat with a man he met on a dating app.
Through their conversations, he learned the man’s name was Han Geun-woo. He was 29 years old and had spent time drifting between theater stages and minor roles in dramas to become an actor, but eventually gave up and had been working at a regular company for a year.
[A person can’t live on dreams alone lol. I’m not going to give up everything else for a single life goal that can be changed at any time]
While conforming to reality and choosing a safe path could be seen as a mature attitude… though he could empathize to some extent, he didn’t particularly want to agree.
〈I didn’t even get to finish middle school properly, dropped out of high school after a few months, and never even stepped foot in a college. Since I’ve been immersed in hunting Aberrations since I was 14, my social circle is quite narrow.〉
Because he knew someone who had given up the rest of their life for a single goal. He glanced at the man sitting opposite him, but even when Kim Min-seop mentioned a lover, the man simply continued eating in silence. …What on earth was he expecting?
Yoo Jiha let out a deep sigh and finished his kong-guksu. It was two hours later when the rescue order arrived, stating that an Aberrant Realm with casualties had been detected.
[Ten Million Movie Studio Procedure Manual]
At the time of writing this manual, the survival rate of the Ten Million Movie Studio is approximately 82%. This is a significantly meaningful and high survival rate, so do not panic and calmly follow the manual.
As an actor, you must achieve ten million viewers for the movie filmed by the Director Entity.
Roles are assigned randomly, from lead actors to extras, and you will receive a movie script from the Director Entity.
3-1. Since the characters written by an Aberration are Contaminated Entities that humans cannot decipher, you, as an ordinary human, will be unable to understand the script. If you stare at it for a long time, you will come to understand it.
Guess your role through intuition or ask an Aberration playing an actor’s role. If you politely ask for guidance, stating that you are a rookie actor and find it difficult to grasp the role, they will be happy to help their Hubae.
3-2. If you ask the Director Entity a question, you will be criticized as being unqualified as an actor and demoted to an extra with a single-cut appearance. The probability of achieving ten million viewers with the capability of a mere extra is extremely slim. A demoted extra can never take on another role again.
3-3. Regardless of the role, you may attempt to persuade the Director to change your role exactly once (henceforth, the act of ‘persuading’ the Director may be replaced by trickery or gaslighting).
There are no CGs or special effects in the movie. Accidents within the play are real, and injuries are not treated. If you are assigned a role that dies and fail to persuade the Director, take the enclosed medication.
If you are a young and beautiful male, you may attempt bold exposure. Exposure scenes of a handsome actor help increase the number of viewers. However, before attempting, seek advice from women on whether you are indeed handsome. If they exchange glances with ambiguous expressions, give up completely. You will suffer a wound to your heart, but it is better than incurring the wrath of the Director Entity.
If your body is not properly maintained or if you are insufficiently groomed, you will incur the wrath of the Director Entity.
If the number of viewers increases due to excessively bold exposure scenes, the Director Entity will become excited and seek to strip not only your clothes but also your epidermis and dermis to expose your interior. Maintain an appropriate line of exposure.
If you have been cast as the lead in a romance genre, take the second enclosed medication. It has the effect of distorting cognition so that the opposing actor entity perceives you as their first love. If you have no passionate memories of a first love, we are sorry. Do your best to act as if you are falling in love with a monster.
If you have peculiar tastes, you do not need to take the medication.
In bed scenes, regardless of gender, there is a possibility that you will be penetrated by an Aberration. The object being inserted may not be in the shape of a genital organ, but it will not interfere with your life. Be careful not to become addicted to the act. There have been cases where individuals became addicted to the act and refused to escape. This headquarters does not offer a rescue proposal twice.
If you are confident, you may change the genre.
For example, a certain agent of this headquarters, who was deeply impressed by the movies
If you fail to increase the number of viewers even after changing the genre, you will be demoted to a prop.
The hard studying had paid off. Despite it being an Aberrant Realm they were rushed into because casualties had occurred, Yoo Jiha succeeded in entering without trembling. The unexpected situation occurred immediately after.
“Huh? Is that Geun-woo Hyung?”