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Park Jinseong began to slowly stretch his body.

With a cracking sound, his joints snapped and his arms stretched as if made of rubber, reaching up to the ceiling. His legs started twisting in multiple directions as if they had several joints, creating bizarre reverse bends that appeared and disappeared. His head squished and reshaped like Play-Doh before finally returning to its original form.

“Heh, if the bugs inside me don’t get a good stretch, their joints will rust.”

This bizarre stretching was merely an exercise for the insects making up Park Jinseong’s body. While it was said to help loosen them, the truth was a bit different.

It was also about changing the position of the bugs contained within him and modifying their structure a bit.

He could feel it.

The intense wriggling movements from within his body.

The sensation of male and female bugs overlapping each other to lay eggs, which then seemed to hatch in an instant.

The density within Park Jinseong was increasing gradually.

He could refill the losses he had suffered at the hands of Pierre Martin in a blink of an eye.

Of course, that wasn’t free.

Magic requires a cost.

How could there be no price to pay for this?

Even if the materials making up his body were from Japan, that didn’t mean the cost was negligible. Regardless, he couldn’t escape paying a price altogether.

Because that’s how magic worked.

Park Jinseong slowly got up and headed outside.

Neither staff nor guests paid him any attention.

This was such a place.

For people living hand-to-mouth, indifference was all they could offer a passerby.

In such apathy, Park Jinseong could move with remarkable ease.

He arrived at a hotel.

A hotel bustling with public security personnel.

* * *

“Ugh… ughh…”

In a lavish hotel room, red decorations favorably embraced by Chinese culture were scattered around, along with signs of ‘福’ (fortune) that were loved by the Chinese. The top-notch beds, incorporating both traditional and modern styles, always maintained the perfect temperature for sleep, while beautiful artifacts that matched the interiors confidently showcased their presence as if guarding safety.

The aroma of high-quality tea that arrived with each meal had already permeated the room, providing a subtle fragrance, and the view of the city’s landscape visible from afar felt refreshing every time it caught the eye.

When approaching the window, one could feel a gentle breeze.

An air purification system equipped with top-notch filters filtered out all harmful substances from the outside and only circulated clean air inside.

Truly, this was a top-tier hotel where it wouldn’t be surprising to receive a five-star rating.

Everything was perfect.

“Ugh…”

If it weren’t for the man, who couldn’t seem to stay still, fidgeting and incessantly making annoying groans, things would have been peaceful.

“Shut up!”

So naturally, yelling to stop the irritating noise wouldn’t be out of the ordinary.

Yet despite hearing that he was loud, the man’s expression showed no signs of improving.

A deep unease clouded his face, and he sighed repeatedly as he worried about what to do. No matter how much he thought, he couldn’t come up with a solution, and even if he did, he wouldn’t be able to carry it out.

It was an exercise in futility.

“But… Sunmi…”

“Ugh… Oppa, I’m really going to be neurotic because of you.”

Sunmi.

She frowned slightly at her manager, who called her by her real name instead of her stage name, Chaine.

Was it because they had been cooped up in the hotel for days?

All engagements canceled, leaving her without anything to dress up for, her face bore no traces of makeup.

Just as she’d said about becoming neurotic, dark circles had settled under her eyes, and her skin looked strangely dry, clearly showing signs of stress. Moreover, the food and water in China didn’t suit her either.

Traveling to another country often brings about a case of “water stomach,” and wasn’t China known for having dirty water?

In fact, concerns about contaminated water sources due to strange terrorists were also a factor contributing to their difficulties.

Yet still, they had it better than most.

Perhaps due to being a celebrity from abroad, they were given some preferential treatment.

“Sunmi, you’re really something. You don’t seem perturbed at all in this situation…”

“Well, yeah…”

Chaine sighed lightly at her manager’s remark and gazed toward the bathroom.

The floor was wet, probably because her manager had just showered.

“But it’s not the worst…”

True.

It wasn’t the worst.

Chaine muttered to herself as if trying to convince herself.

In fact, it really wasn’t the worst.

Just looking at the view outside the window reminded her of that.

After the water supply became contaminated by a polluter, the party began to restrict water usage. They couldn’t afford a situation where polluted water spread throughout the city, after all. While preventing citizens from dying from contaminated water was one reason, the real horror lay in the possibility of an epidemic spreading through the city due to those who’d die or fall ill.

The people protested, but from Chaine’s perspective, it was indeed a wise action.

Could the common people refrain from using water just because the party told them not to?

Even if it was contaminated, they might think they could still use it as long as they didn’t drink it, or perhaps they’d use it for other purposes, thinking, “Oh, that little bit of contamination? We Chinese can handle even worse elements from the periodic table!”

Perhaps there would even be those who, filled with pseudoscience and superstition, sought out strange ways to purify and drink the water, or those who believed there would be no problem as long as they boiled the tea as they usually did.

Could all those people be controlled?

In a situation where the terrorists were still at large?

Wouldn’t it just be simpler and more certain to lock the water pipes from the get-go?

Yes.

Up till this point, everything was fine.

But…

‘So many people…’

The solution after locking them was a problem.

The party had implemented various methods to purify the water and distribute it to the people, but naturally, only a very small amount trickled down to the ordinary citizen. Just enough to whip up a meal, or generously put, a bit for washing up.

And the saved water was allocated to the high-ranking party officials and wealthy individuals.

But… for Chaine, that was rather a stroke of luck.

Was there a fan among the party officials? Or did they perhaps have some political motive to use Chaine’s celebrity status, being a foreigner?

Chaine and her manager managed to secure a nice room in the hotel.

While it was technically a form of semi-detention to keep them from leaving, both understood it.

After all, feeling the danger of “wandering outside is risky” was something they personally experienced in a visceral way.

Just a glance out the window would suffice.

In a slightly secluded spot, people could be seen fighting for the allocated water, and at night, homes frequently burned down. With public security overseeing everything so thoroughly, it was a relief; the eyes of the people held a dangerous glint, suggesting that the situation was anything but normal.

Had Chaine and her manager given up on staying in the hotel and rushed outside… they wouldn’t have come to a good end.

‘So being still is… well, it does feel like they’re being considerate…’

Sure.

Even looking at the food served via room service, it started out as ordinary, but as they expressed gratitude and cooperated with public security, it visibly improved in quality. Even the tea served was high-end, something they’d never encountered before…

Moreover, despite the restrictions, they were at least supplied with enough water to take a short shower.

Definitely, this was treating them like guests.

‘Why they’re treating us this way I don’t know… but I suppose it means it’s not the worst…’

That’s why, unlike her manager trembling with anxiety, Chaine was able to remain relaxed.

… Or perhaps it wasn’t just that.

Perhaps the experiences she had been through had forged her resilience…

Entangled with madmen, her rollercoaster celebrity career with its ups and downs…

Compared to all that, this situation might just be something she could cling to.

Yes.

Experience cultivates growth.

Chaine might have grown too.

Being tangled with that lunatic Lee Jae-soon, enduring exploitation from a wicked company during event rounds, and suffering under terrible managers, or receiving harsh criticism in audition programs early on.

Each one was a horrible experience she never wanted to repeat, but… perhaps those rotten experiences had truly turned to fertile compost that helped her grow…

“Oppa. But we should think positively. It’d be impolite to feel anxious while being treated so well.”

“… Yeah, you’re right.”

“I’m going to sleep well. How about you, Oppa?”

“… I’ll go to sleep too. But I wonder if I can actually sleep. Hmm… but this tea aroma does seem to calm me down a bit…”

“Just relax and have some tea before sleeping.”

“Sure. It seems to be high-grade tea… Hmm. Maybe they gave us something with calming effects so we wouldn’t worry? That’s nice…”

Chaine and her manager chatted like this.

Then they exchanged meaningful glances, after which Chaine walked into her room.

She flopped onto the plush bed, slowly closing her eyes.

To go to sleep…

…

…

…

Her eyelids shut, and darkness enveloped her.

Her ears sharpened, and she could hear sounds from outside.

The sound of tea being served, her manager sipping the tea, the small noises emitted by appliances inside the room… and then.

[ Clever of you. Did you know you were being eavesdropped, so you discussed the Communist Party and public security in such flattering terms? ]

… A low voice…?!

 

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