The last thing I remembered from my old life was rain.
Not the romantic kind—the cold, needle-sharp rain that soaked through cheap sneakers and made the city smell like wet concrete and regret. I was standing at a crosswalk, hood pulled over my head, phone buzzing with another rejection email I didn't need to open to understand.
Thank you for your interest, but…
Twenty-six years old.
No dreams left worth defending.
Just another ordinary guy trying to survive on instant ramen and dead-end hope.
The traffic light turned green.
I stepped forward.
The sky screamed.
White swallowed everything.
Pain didn't come first.
Silence did.
Then—
⚡ BOOM.
I woke up choking.
Air rushed into my lungs like I'd been drowning for years, my chest heaving violently. My eyes flew open, vision blurring, light stabbing straight into my skull.
"Min-joon! Yah—Min-joon!"
A voice. Young. Panicked.
Hands grabbed my shoulders, shaking me. I gasped again and again, heart slamming so hard it hurt. The ceiling above me wasn't gray city sky or cracked concrete.
It was… white.
Too white.
Fluorescent lights buzzed softly overhead.
"What—" My voice came out wrong. Higher. Lighter. Not mine.
I froze.
I slowly lifted my hands into view.
Slim fingers. Long. No scars. No calluses from years of work. Pale skin stretched tight over delicate wrists.
This wasn't my body.
A mirror hung on the far wall.
I stared into it—and the world tilted.
A boy stared back at me.
No, not a boy.
A teenager.
Sharp eyes, still hazy with confusion. Dark hair damp with sweat, sticking to his forehead. Soft jawline, smooth skin untouched by adulthood's cruelty. He looked… unreal. Like someone sculpted him carefully, lovingly.
Like an idol.
"Min-joon, are you okay?" the voice asked again.
I turned slowly.
Three other boys stood nearby, all wearing identical black practice outfits, expressions ranging from concern to barely hidden irritation. Behind them, a wall of mirrors reflected a wide dance studio. Speakers. Water bottles. Towels scattered on the floor.
A trainee room.
My heart dropped straight into my stomach.
"Hyung?" one of them said carefully. "You collapsed during practice. Manager-nim already called the nurse."
Collapsed?
Practice?
My head throbbed—and suddenly, memories that weren't mine came flooding in.
Endless dance drills.
Vocal evaluations.
Monthly rankings.
Fear of elimination.
The name Min-joon, repeated like a prayer.
I staggered back a step.
This body—this life—belonged to Min-joon, a seventeen-year-old K-pop trainee who had been training for two years under a mid-sized entertainment company.
And somehow—
I was inside it.
Before I could process the impossible, the air in front of me glitched.
A translucent blue screen snapped into existence.
Floating.
Impossible.
Visible only to me.
[SYSTEM INITIALIZING…]
[SOUL SYNCHRONIZATION: 100% COMPLETE]
[HOST CONFIRMED: MIN-JOON]
My breath caught.
The trainees didn't react.
They couldn't see it.
The screen pulsed once, then expanded.
WELCOME, USER.
YOU HAVE BEEN SELECTED FOR THE "ABSOLUTE IDOL SYSTEM."
OBJECTIVE: DOMINATE THE STAGE. RULE THE INDUSTRY. ACHIEVE LEGEND STATUS.
My legs nearly gave out.
System?
Like those web novels I used to binge at 3 a.m. when sleep wouldn't come?
The screen kept going, merciless.
CURRENT STATS:
VOCAL: C
DANCE: B-
RAP: D
VISUAL: A
CHARISMA: C+
MENTALITY: F
I laughed.
A shaky, broken sound escaped my lips.
Mentality: F.
Yeah. That tracked.
One of the trainees frowned. "Hyung… are you sure you're okay?"
I swallowed hard and nodded, forcing a smile that felt foreign on this young face. "Yeah. Just… dizzy."
The system chimed softly.
FIRST-TIME USER BONUS AVAILABLE.
DO YOU WISH TO CLAIM IT?
My heart pounded.
In my old life, I'd never been chosen for anything.
Never special. Never lucky.
Just ordinary to the end.
I clenched my fist.
If this is a second life…
If I was really given another chance…
"…Yes," I whispered.
The screen exploded with light.
BONUS CLAIMED.
— TALENT AMPLIFICATION (SS-RANK)
— PERFECT PITCH (LOCKED → UNLOCKED)
— BODY OPTIMIZATION (GROWTH TYPE)
— STAGE PRESENCE: KING'S SEED
I sucked in a sharp breath.
Heat surged through my veins—not painful, but powerful. My muscles tightened, aligning like they'd been waiting for instructions. My ears rang softly, the world suddenly clearer, sounds layering perfectly on top of each other.
Music from the speakers hummed faintly.
And I understood it.
Not just heard it.
Felt it.
The system displayed one final message.
WARNING:
YOUR FUTURE HAS DIVERGED FROM THE ORIGINAL TIMELINE.
FROM THIS MOMENT ON—ONLY YOU WRITE THE ENDING.
I looked back at the mirror.
At Min-joon's face.
At my new life.
A slow smile spread across my lips—sharp, determined, alive in a way I hadn't felt in years.
"Guess," I murmured, "I won't be ordinary this time."
The music restarted.
And somewhere deep inside me, something legendary began to wake up.