# Chapter 5
Nevertheless, Wonyoung pushed aside his rising displeasure and reminded himself of this fact. After all, Kyung Taerim was a “target character.”
Of course, it wasn’t as if he liked the guy, but thinking about the future, creating a bad impression from the beginning wouldn’t do any good…
‘…Wait.’
As he continued this line of thought, Wonyoung suddenly became alert as if he’d been hit on the back of the head.
‘Target? Me? A man?’
Could it be that when he entered this body, he lost not only stamina but intelligence as well? Wonyoung simply couldn’t believe it. Even if it was just for a moment, he had been thinking about seducing a man with his own mind.
And as Wonyoung realized his mistake, an equivalent amount of irritation and shame came back to him as a backlash.
However, Taerim, completely unaware of this fact, casually snapped the thread of patience that Wonyoung had been desperately holding onto.
“How much did you get? 2,000? 3,000? I can tell your level by how you move for such petty cash. Below standard.”
“…What?”
Heo Wonyoung. He was an elite among elites who had graduated from a top university and become the youngest team leader at a major corporation. And for someone like him, Taerim’s statement was unacceptable.
Should I just sit here and take this? What did I do wrong? If I had actually been paid, that would be one thing, but this was just the delusion of that stupid, obnoxious rich kid!
This was truly the limit of his patience. Thinking that he could no longer endure such tyranny, he rose up indignantly.
“Y-y-you, listen here, what nonsense have you been spouting since earlier… Haah, why would I… without anything to do! Why would I ap-approach you? Do I look that idle to you?”
Of course, his heart was pounding due to the enchanted state, but even a heart attack couldn’t stop his anger.
“I’m busy preparing for tomorrow’s PT, I am! This, this damned dream won’t even end… No, is this really a dream? Huh, did this actually come from my head…? BL game or whatever, what kind of nonsense is this…”
Once he started speaking, his suppressed anger spread like wildfire, eventually reaching a point of resentment toward the game itself. And so he spewed out complaints like a machine gun, unclear whether they were directed at Taerim or the game.
And the price Wonyoung had to pay for what he did in a moment of anger was enormous.
“Weeeeeeee!”
“?!”
Suddenly, everything turned bright red, and a siren started blaring madly, audible only to Wonyoung. Then a blue notification window, reminiscent of a blue screen error, appeared before his eyes.
[A penalty will be given due to excessively inappropriate remarks.]
[Level 3 penalty ‘Forced Correction’ has been activated.]
“…!”
Wonyoung’s heart sank at the text on the translucent window that suddenly appeared before him. A penalty? This was a significant blemish on his life, having been such a model student that his name had never once been written on the blackboard during his school days.
Moreover, he felt frustrated by the fact that the dream still wouldn’t end despite all this, and that the structure of this dream was more solid than he had thought, given that an actual penalty had been imposed.
Of course, the strongest emotion among them was anxiety about the content of the penalty. Was this game an ordinary one? No, it was a game specialized in tormenting him. Level 3 probably wouldn’t be a light punishment.
‘Why did I get so uncharacteristically excited…’
As Wonyoung was regretting his rash actions, suddenly the reddened vision cleared and the loud siren sound disappeared all at once.
And before him appeared the glowing orb that was becoming increasingly familiar.
“I was right, wasn’t I? I told you that you would soon receive a penalty. Even though I look like this, I have foresight.”
“Hing…”
Wonyoung tried to curse at the System, but instead of the words he intended, what came out was an incongruous crying sound. As Wonyoung covered his mouth in surprise, the System bobbed up and down. For some reason, it felt like it was laughing at him, which made him feel extremely bad.
“Due to inappropriate meta-fictional remarks, you have been given a Level 3 penalty. Therefore, for the next 60 minutes, all of your statements will undergo forced correction.”
‘What?’
Forced correction? As if the enchanted state wasn’t enough, now they were going to forcibly correct him?
“Are you not feeling well…?”
Wonyoung asked the System if it was crazy, but once again, those words came out purified.
Leaving the bewildered Wonyoung, the System bobbed once more and continued its brutal story in a cheerful tone.
“Additionally, because we’re currently in the prologue phase, the scope of the penalty application has been relaxed. Please keep this in mind, and to avoid additional penalties in the future, please ensure that your speech and behavior match your character!”
In other words, it meant that after whatever this prologue thing was over, penalties might be applied more easily. But before Wonyoung could respond in his dismay, the System left with only the words, “I hope you have an enjoyable gameplay!” and disappeared again. The world that had been paused also resumed moving.
And before Wonyoung could do anything, Taerim, standing before him, asked with a crooked smile.
“So? Have you finished what you wanted to say?”
“That’s, ugh.”
Wonyoung was grabbed by Taerim and pushed against the wall. The cold gaze scanned him more slowly than before. If earlier it was like looking at a worthless earthworm, now it was clearly filled with displeasure.
Wonyoung’s mind went blank, worried about what would happen if Taerim asked about his comments on the BL game or dream.
But as they say, even if the sky falls, there’s a hole to escape through.
“Third floor.”
Along with the elevator’s guidance, the doors opened wide as they reached their destination. Wonyoung brightened and pointed at the door.
“We’ve arrived…”
“Where do you think you’re going?”
But before Wonyoung could finish his sentence, Taerim reached out and closed the elevator doors. The people who seemed to have been waiting to greet Taerim outside vanished beyond the doors, left standing dumbfounded. And unfortunately, no one reopened the elevator doors.
Facing the dumbstruck Wonyoung, Taerim growled.
“You should answer my question before you go. I asked if you’ve finished what you wanted to say.”
“…Th-that’s, th-th…”
It would be nice if he could logically refute, but neither the forced correction nor his own mistake allowed it. Taerim grabbed Wonyoung’s chin and sneered.
“I didn’t realize you were such a busy person. Deliberately bumping into me, following me around… You looked quite free to me.”
“I’m sorry…”
The intended sarcastic “I’m truly sorry about that” was corrected into a sullen apology. Wonyoung wanted to bite his tongue, but he did his best to salvage the situation.
“B-but I didn’t do it on purpose.”
“Oh, really? Then I should apologize for misunderstanding, shouldn’t I?”
“What? You don’t have to go that far…”
“How should I apologize? What would you like me to do?”
Taerim asked, tilting his head. A strange heat arose in his languid eyes. Before Wonyoung realized it, they were close enough for their breaths to touch. Wonyoung gently pushed against Taerim’s chest, but whatever muscles he had built there, they didn’t budge an inch.
To make matters worse, notification windows were raining down before Wonyoung’s eyes, saying [You’re too close to Taerim, causing your heart to beat excessively hard. Stamina decreased by 1.] Wonyoung felt like he was going to faint from stress.
Eventually, Taerim spoke as if he had just thought of something.
“Ah, right. There’s something you want most, isn’t there?”
Wonyoung’s eyes widened at those words. For a very brief moment, a vain hope that Taerim might let him go flashed through his mind.
But the next moment, he froze completely at the touch of a hand sliding down his lower back.
“If rumors spread that the heir of HS Group sleeps with men, it would be quite the scandal, wouldn’t it?”
Frozen stiff, Wonyoung could only open and close his mouth. Seeing this, Taerim chuckled.
“That’s what you and whoever hired you want, right? My scandals. My weaknesses. Anything that could ruin me.”
“…”
“So as an apology, I’ll create one scandal for you.”
Wonyoung slowly replayed what he had just heard with his mouth agape. One second, two seconds… and exactly after ten seconds, he said:
“Are you not feeling well?”
Of course, it was a purified version of “Are you crazy?”, but for a moment, Taerim’s expression showed a slight confusion.
“…”
A brief silence. Having regained his composure, Taerim soon snorted as if in disbelief and asked:
“Why? Didn’t think that far? Scared because things are going too well?”
“What? Uh, um…”
‘Your way of thinking is scary! Who in the world accepts an apology like that?’
Wonyoung shouted with sincere feeling, but what came out of his mouth was something entirely different.
“Yes, I-I’m scared… I, um, such embarrassing things, I haven’t yet… Hing.”
This forced correction was transforming everything he said into that of an idiot.
‘No, ha…’
Unable to do anything about his situation, Wonyoung felt extremely wronged about why this was happening to him. The dream still wouldn’t end… No, perhaps all of this wasn’t a dream. Thinking that way, his state of mind was truly miserable.
Meanwhile, surprisingly, Taerim, who had disheartened Wonyoung, was also inwardly flustered. He had only slightly threatened Wonyoung to warn him and whoever had hired him. After all, he was likely sent by someone in his family to entice him. He thought such statements were nothing.
