Isabel3
<Episode 1>
In a quiet room with no lights on, only the sound of my keyboard broke the silence.
As a former FPS pro gamer, the game I’ve been hooked on recently was…
[5 Combo Clear! Wow, the cheers from the ‘I’ fandom are getting louder!]
None other than an idol-raising simulation, <Happy Idol Raised by My Hands.>
In this game, the player chooses a character and controls every aspect of their idol activities.
What makes it so intense is its realistic structure where each choice determines the character’s fate.
I too have lost my mind more than once because of this vicious game.
[All Combo! Congratulations!]
[You have completed all final tasks for the ending! As a reward……..]
But this time… this time, it’s different. It’s been a long journey, Seo Dan-ah.
After everything,
all the sleepless nights,
all the stress…
Today, it all pays off.
In just a few minutes, the long-awaited grand awards ceremony is going to start.
This was the moment I’ve been waiting for.
For context, the awards ceremony is the game’s biggest event, the ultimate year-end celebration.
I’ve pushed through all the final tasks, just for this.
Current time: 23:59 (11: 59 PM)
Seeing the time, I put in a desperate effort because the game tallies the results right at midnight.
It was fortunate that somehow, by some miracle, I managed to finish all the main tasks just in time.
[It’s now midnight! Announcing the results of the 20XX Awards Ceremony for the ‘Evening Server’.]
Now, all I can do is wait.
Quietly.
[Calculating rankings… Moving to ‘TBQ Awards Ceremony’……]
[Loading Awards Ceremony……]
“Oh please….”
Seriously, I’m begging you, you little shits. Do you even know how much money I’ve spent on this game?
[…]
If I don’t get the grand prize this time, I’m quitting for good. I swear.
[Loading complete!]
Not long after my complaints, a new screen window flashed open, its appearance more dazzling than ever.
[Results Open! Click here]
With a deep breath and several hesitant mouse movements, I finally mustered the courage to click the results button.
The results for the ’20XX Season’ appeared with a dramatic sound effect.
I started scrolling from the bottom, eyes glued to the rankings.
‘Please, please…!’
Not spotting my ID in the middle rankings, my heart leapt with hope as I scrolled all the way up…
[Congratulations!]
“Huh?”
‘Wait, for real?’
But, contrary to my expectations, when I finally reached the top, the grand prize slot was…
[Top 1 (Grand Prize + 3 other awards): Player ‘Royal Minju’ |View details]
…not my ID.
I didn’t even need to check further. My ID was right below it.
[Top 2 (Special Prize + 3 other awards): Player ‘DaNa7’ |View details]
‘What kind of game is this?’
After confirming the results, I leaned back weakly in my chair, and sighed.
Second place.
Again.
Another season without the grand prize.
In my mind, all the effort I poured into this flashed by like a movie reel.
The endless hours, the cash I threw at my character, furiously tapping away on the keyboard to keep my ranking afloat…
All those days spent on grinding and completing task after task just to raise one more stat.
And this wasn’t just any game for me; I was new to this type of genre. I made countless mistakes and went through all kinds of trial and error.
To be fair, for a first attempt, second place wasn’t bad.
My small-scale group not only secured a top-tier spot, but we managed to clinch second across the entire server.
But that didn’t make the whole journey any less frustrating.
‘Especially that damn Sora Music.’
I considered switching agencies halfway through, but I trusted the public opinion that they were doing a decent job.
Re-signing with them turned out to be my biggest mistake.
That one agency caused me no end of headaches…
How did I raise those kids…
‘Sister is sorry, kids.’
Despite all the failures along the way, I had at least finished this season strong, as if to prove something.
Sure, I didn’t win the grand prize, but I still swept up awards like the Album Award and Popularity Award.
I guess I should be satisfied with that for now.
I moved my mouse to quickly exit the awards ceremony screen.
Time to forget the past and focus on preparing for the first-quarter album of the next season…
‘Huh?’
…Wait. What?
“What’s going on? Why is this happening?”
My eyes widened as I pressed my face closer to the monitor. The screen was flickering and making odd, glitchy noises.
Confused, I checked the computer here and there, but there was no change.
The ominous crackling sound only made my heart race faster, filling me with a strange, unsettling feeling.
Something wasn’t right. It felt like anything could happen at any moment.
And then, strange events began to unfold…
“!”
Suddenly, the colourful glitches on my monitor began spinning wildly—acting like it had completely lost its mind.
“This can’t be happening… This is just too much.”
The dizziness hit me so hard I started talking to myself without realising it.
I frantically punched the computer case and jerked the mouse around.
I smashed the keyboard in desperation, but there was no response at all.
“It’s gotta be some kind of error… Please don’t let this wipe my game records. Especially with what happened last time.”
‘But seriously, why was a perfectly fine computer acting up out of nowhere?’
Questions swirled in my head, paralyzing my ability to think straight.
“For fuck’s sake… “
But instead, the screen flashed with a blinding light, and it started behaving even more erratically. The light was so intense I couldn’t keep my eyes open.
I stumbled back, standing up from my chair in a panic.
“…Ah.”
I fucked up.
The accident that just unfolded was entirely my fault.
Standing up was a mistake.
In my rush, I knocked over the coffee sitting next to me, nearly tripped over my headset cord, and to top it all off, I slammed my hands on the keyboard trying to catch myself.
“Sister, I heard a noise… Huh?”
It must’ve been the chaos that brought my little brother, Seo Da-on, to the door. He opened it, only to witness this disaster firsthand.
“What are you doing? This is… legendary.”
I wanted to disappear.
I wiped my face, exasperated as I stared at the wreckage before me. But I had bigger problems than my brother catching me in this mess.
“But, sis… What about your keyboard?”
Right.
My keyboard.
Shit.
It wasn’t just any keyboard—it was a gift from a fan during my pro-gaming days. My favourite, with rainbow LED lights that glowed every time I pressed a key, and those adorable animal paw-print keycaps on the arrow keys.
And now, it was ruined, soaked in coffee.
A high school fan had saved up their allowance to give me this, and now it’s gone just like that?
It was so absurd, I couldn’t even cry.
Holding back the surge of frustration and sadness, I focused on fixing the fallen computer.
But what really got me was what happened next.
The screen, which had been glowing so bright it hurt my eyes, now displayed something strange.
[Idol Training Simulation]
[Happy Idol! Raising My Own Idol!
START!]
[The character you selected has no play history yet!
Would you like to immerse yourself in this character and proceed with the game?]
[Yes/No]
…What? Did I accidentally press a bunch of random keys when I fell earlier?
But now, looking at the screen…
The game was completely blank. I couldn’t see a single thing, not even the character I’d supposedly selected.
And obviously, there was no way I’d abandon everything I’d worked for just to start with a new character.
I moved my mouse towards the ‘No’ button, ready to put an end to this nonsense.
But then, out of nowhere –
What kind of madness is this?
[No/Yes]
The moment I pressed the button, the positions of the two options switched in an instant. My mouse, aimed at ‘No’, instead clicked ‘Yes’.
It happened so fast, I didn’t even have time to react. Plus, the selection box was partially hidden under my cursor.
Now I was stuck. The screen was still blank, the character completely unknown to me, and somehow, I’d agreed to immerse myself in this random game.
Why did this keep getting worse?
Just when I thought it couldn’t get any more absurd, the game window displaying the ‘Choose Your Answer’ prompt started to glow uncontrollably, regardless of my intentions.
>>[ ⬛
>>[ ⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛
The screen flashed strange, unreadable words in rapid succession, all while emitting an intense light.
It was the same blinding light from before.
“What, what is this…?!”
Before my flustered brother could even approach me in confusion, and before I could escape the light, I heard him shout,
“Sister!”
In an instant, I was sucked into the light, unable to make a sound from sheer fear…
“….?”
Am I dreaming right now?
I blinked in disbelief, once quickly and then slowly again.
Maybe…
“Ow…”
But nothing changed.
This bizarre space remained the same every time I opened my eyes. It didn’t shift even when I slapped my cheeks a few times in disbelief.
I found myself in a strange house I had never seen before, standing alone in a living room that felt oddly unsettling.
As I looked around, nothing seemed to offer any clues about my situation.
All I could see was the cluttered scenery, filled with items that hinted someone had been using the space just moments ago. It gave the room an unsettling sense of liveliness, as if the inhabitants could return at any moment.
… Wait a minute.
‘Does this even make sense?’
So, does that mean that I went through all that unbelievable shit just to end up here?
But before that….
What is this thing floating above my head?
In the air was an icon resembling a letter, hovering nearby. It looked like some kind of hologram, circling around me while occasionally chiming.
I rubbed my eyes again, wondering if I had imagined it, but it remained, just like this strange house.
Even when I tried to ignore it, the icon persisted.
Now, it was shaking the blue exclamation mark next to it enthusiastically, as if urging me to open it.
No matter how many times I looked or checked, it was clear:
This wasn’t some kind of hallucination.
‘Has technology advanced this much already? I’ve lived long enough to see flying touchscreens… 21st-century science is truly amazing.’
I lowered my hands from my eyes, which I had rubbed raw in disbelief.
I felt I had no choice but to check whatever this thing was.
On the one hand, checking it felt like crossing a point of no return, but…
What else could I do? I didn’t have any other options.
Ignoring it seemed futile; this bizarre situation wouldn’t resolve itself on its own.
‘It can’t be helped.’
After a moment of hesitation, I finally gathered my resolve and reached out my hand, thinking, ‘Could it really work?’
I pressed on the screen in the air…
With a strangely familiar sound effect, a new window popped up.