GalaxyTL
“Is that you, Sujin?”
“Oh, you still remember my voice?”
Not having contacted her until now was definitely a minus, but this was a plus.
Hearing Kim Sujin’s voice, Kim Dong-hoo couldn’t quite gather his thoughts.
How did she get my number? he wondered for a moment.
Sujin quickly cleared up his confusion.
“What do you think exchanging business cards is for?”
Honestly, Dong-hoo felt a little wronged.
Even though they had a connection, it had been since they were five years old.
Staying in contact just because they were kindergarten classmates? It was absurd.
Especially for an ordinary person to stay in touch with a top star. That made even less sense.
Unless the top star reached out first, there was no reason to just casually send a message like, "Hey, what are you up to?"
Moreover, the exchange of business cards was between their mothers.
The moms of the kindergarten classmates, an ordinary mom and the mom of a top star, exchanged business cards and maintained some sort of communication. It was hard to imagine this happening often.
But it did, thanks to Kim Sujin’s mother, Kim Yoo-ryun.
Though it wasn’t frequent, maybe once or twice a year, Yoo-ryun kept in touch with Dong-hoo’s mom, Lee Yoo-hyun.
There were two reasons for this:
That boy was destined to live with a camera. He was born to act, designed to be an actor in every sense of the word. How could she let go of such a talent?
However, despite that, she didn’t actively keep the children in contact.
“They’ll handle it on their own.”
And so, about 10 years passed. In the meantime, Kim Yoo-ryun and Lee Yoo-hyun became quite close, sharing some personal stories with each other.
That day was no different.
It was the day of their quarterly catch-up call, and, as usual, the moms talked about their kids.
Suddenly, Yoo-hyun brought up a new topic.
“Come to think of it, my son made a FaceStorm, or was it FaceTom, account? Whatever it's called.”
“Oh really?”
And that’s where the variable appeared.
To make the call more comfortable, Yoo-ryun had turned on speaker mode. And just then, Kim Sujin had come out to the living room and overheard everything.
The betrayal Sujin felt at that moment was unimaginable. Even though it might have felt artificial, she couldn't believe her mom had hidden the fact that Dong-hoo, whom she'd been sporadically talking about, was doing something like that.
Sujin immediately nagged her mom to get Dong-hoo’s number, which led to the current situation.
“Why didn’t you become an actor?”
Actually, Sujin hadn’t actively sought out Dong-hoo for a reason. She always thought she’d eventually see him on TV one day.
“I thought I’d naturally meet you in the same production or at least a similar one.”
But it never happened. Turns out, after that day, he hadn’t done anything in the industry.
“I even worried that something might have gone wrong.”
“No, nothing like that…”
Dong-hoo’s voice sounded flustered over the phone.
‘I need to see his face, just hearing his voice won’t do.’
Despite knowing the video call would cost extra, Sujin decided it was worth it and switched to video.
“Wow, Dong-hoo, are you serious?”
On the screen, she saw a girl sticking close to him.
+++++
“I have so much more to say, but I’ll hold back. You better send me a message tonight! Got it?”
“Yeah, yeah, I got it.”
“Alright, I’m hanging up now.”
“Okay.”
“Wait, is that it? Do you even know who you’re talking to right now? Do you even watch TV? Do you realize who called you?”
‘Her personality hasn’t changed since kindergarten.’
Sujin still knew very well how beautiful she was. A regal princess who always got what she wanted. She hadn’t changed a bit.
“I’m incredibly honored. I’ll contact you after this. You seem like you’re about to start filming.”
“…Yes, seriously, message me! If you don’t, you’re dead!”
Click.
As soon as the call with Sujin ended rather abruptly, Ye-rim, who was clearly surprised, widened her eyes and looked at me.
“Who were you just talking to?”
“Kim Sujin, don’t you know her?”
“No, I know. That’s why I’m asking. You, you… You know Kim Sujin?”
“We went to the same kindergarten.”
“And that somehow led to you two video calling?”
Judging by her expression, it looked like Ye-rim was holding back from saying more.
“Are you going to become an actor?”
“Hmm, not right now.”
It wasn’t the right time yet. A little later, when YouTube becomes more prominent and social media usage expands significantly—then I’d make my move.
There was no rush. For now, building my reputation in various areas was enough.
It was still a time when individual power was limited. Without the backing of an agency, you had to do whatever they said, and I didn’t have the strength to resist unfair contracts yet.
It would take at least six years before I could consider becoming an actor.
‘At least not until I turn twenty and become a legal adult.’
Until then, enjoying a leisurely school life seemed like the best choice for my mental health.
This was still the era of real-time search rankings. There was no better time for public opinion to shift so quickly.
Rising to the top of the real-time search rankings could destroy someone overnight.
‘It’s not the time yet.’
The goal wasn’t just to debut as a rookie but to enter the industry as an experienced newcomer. That was the foundation I needed to start building now.
“So, you’re saying you will eventually?”
“Yes.”
To capitalize on this face, people needed to see it. The pinnacle of being handsome was becoming a celebrity, and it would be foolish not to use that talent.
As I continued walking home with Ye-rim, chatting casually.
“Excuse me, is your name Kim Dong-hoo?”
“Huh?”
A woman I’d never seen before blocked my path.
“Oh, I’m not a suspicious person. I’m a scout from ST Entertainment, Jeon Gyeong-mi.”
She handed me her business card.
+++++
After receiving the business card from ST Entertainment, scouts from other agencies started visiting me at regular intervals.
At first, it was just casual comments like, “You’re handsome, want to give it a try?”
But now, they were formally introducing their business cards and company visions.
“No, I don’t plan on doing anything right now.”
“Right now? So, does that mean you’re thinking about it for later?”
Did I answer too vaguely? Every time I said something, it felt like this.
‘But they sure know how to respect boundaries.’
They must have scouted child actors before because they knew exactly where to stop without being too pushy.
Even though they were persistent, the fact remained that scouts were visiting me, which made my reputation in Shinbit Middle School skyrocket.
With multiple scouts regularly visiting to offer me a debut, how could people not be curious?
Sometimes, I couldn’t even go to the bathroom during breaks due to the stares.
Oddly enough, the most excited person about all this wasn’t me, but Kim Min-hyuk.
It seemed like he hadn’t shaken off his old habits. As I grew more important, his shoulders rose higher with pride.
“Dong-hoo, I knew you’d make it big. Let me be your manager when you hit it big.”
“I plan to hire based on skill.”
“Then I’ll be your driver! I’m great at driving; I’ve even got a pro-level Kart Rider license.”
Well, I guess that means he’s really good.
‘But driving a real car is different from a game.’
Still, seeing him so determined to do something, I nodded in approval.
“Sure, go ahead.”
“Really? I’ll get my license as soon as I’m old enough!”
“Alright.”
A glance.
Ye-rim, who had transferred to my class, was staring at me with a conflicted expression. She looked like she wanted to say something but held back.
She was probably going to mention that she’d become a model someday, but in the end, she didn’t say anything.
“I-I’m going to create an amazing game. Dong-hoo, you’ll be the main character…”
As expected, Kang-sik declared his intent to become a game developer.
It seemed like everyone was sharing their dreams, which made me think.
‘Wait, does this mean it’s already decided that I’m going to be an actor?’
It felt like my career path was naturally being set in stone.
Although I would be exploring multiple avenues, acting would be at the center.
‘Yeah, I should become an actor.’
As soon as I came to that conclusion.
Bzzz. Bzzz. Bzzz.
My phone suddenly started vibrating.
I had it on silent mode, so why was it vibrating?
‘What’s going on?’
I glanced down to check the message.
“…I’ll be right back. I need to use the bathroom.”
“There’s a class starting soon.”
“Just say it’s urgent.”
I quickly left my seat.
-[Sims - The Real Life]
The sender’s name was strangely familiar.
‘Why is this here?’
Before checking the content, I needed to find a safe spot.
The best place I could think of was the first-floor staff restroom.
The only bathroom with a bidet, I sat down and checked the message.
-[Sims - The Real Life wishes you well in your second life.] -[Since your future has been set as an actor, your life will now be designed accordingly.] -[With your future now set, the tutorial phase is over.] -[The Sims - The Real Life will now fully support your life.]
What does this even mean?
‘So, this wasn’t just a simple reincarnation?’
I hadn’t ruled it out completely, but I hadn’t thought much of it since there hadn’t been any notifications in all these years.
‘Does that mean my life is actually following The Sims game mechanics?’
Having played The Sims for over 50,000 hours, I was very familiar with its system. Once the tutorial ends, the next step is...
-[Would you like to check a snippet of your future?]
I would gain an omniscient view of my life.