BSAR Chapter 36

‘I have to solve this.’

Seojin felt a sense of responsibility for Do-beom’s abnormal condition. After all, if it weren’t for him, Do-beom would not have been helplessly entangled in a transcendental power that he would have never been exposed to.

Although he was already deceiving them with his acting, he couldn’t just leave them to have their freedom of mind stripped away by an unknown force they couldn’t resist. It was a matter of inherent human free will.

‘There are three issues that need immediate attention.’

In addition to the problem of [Sensation Conversion], which he had been feeling a sense of crisis about for a long time, and the ‘Emergency Mission’ pressuring him to have sexual intercourse, there was one more issue that needed to be resolved. The psychological side effects on the Favorability management targets.

“Eup.”

Inwardly assessing the effects of the talents he would have to draw in the future, Seojin let out a short moan as Do-beom once again pressed his lips against his nape. It was still an unfamiliar action that made him feel strange, but…

[Will you spend 500p to attempt the Bronze Talent Card Roulette? Y/N]

Without startling and pushing him away, Seojin first checked the roulette attempt he could buy with the points he had accumulated so far, allowing Do-beom to do as he pleased. To prepare to solve the piled-up problems all at once.

Then, as he inwardly expressed his will to accept the challenge, a translucent disc appeared before his eyes. It was a lottery-style spinning disc with the names of various talents related to acting, such as delivery, appeal, vocalization, and pronunciation.

The disc, which began to spin around, soon stopped, pointing to one option. It was the only part that was labeled as [Increased Probability of Higher Grade] instead of the name of a specific talent, indicating the system effect.

[Winning success! You have acquired 1 Bronze Talent Card (Increased Probability of Higher Grade).]

[Do you want to view the 1 Bronze Talent Card (Increased Probability of Higher Grade)? Y/N]

It was a type of achievement that required attempting the random probability game one more time for the result to be finalized. For Seojin, who could use lower-grade cards as materials to upgrade the grade of other cards, it was rather a welcome outcome.

[Talent ‘Reinforcement’ will be cast.]

[Reinforcement Target: 1 Silver Talent Card]

[Reinforcement Material: 1 Bronze Talent Card (Increased Probability of Higher Grade)]

Without a moment’s hesitation, he attempted to upgrade the Silver Card he had obtained through the favorability increase of the actor Nam Seungwon. After all, it was better to have one properly functioning ability than two somewhat lacking ones.

[Talent ‘Penalty Acting’ will be cast on Talent ‘Reinforcement’.]

At the same time, he didn’t forget to cast the ability to delay the chest pain that would strike as a penalty for [Reinforcement] up to a maximum of 24 hours later. By then, he would have finished filming the drama, so even if a high fever struck along with it, it wouldn’t matter.

[Reinforcement success! You have acquired 1 Gold Talent Card (Increased Probability of Higher Grade).]

[Do you want to view the 1 Gold Talent Card (Increased Probability of Higher Grade)? Y/N]

Thus, Seojin intended to view the card right away.

[Do you want to view 1 Diamond Talent Card? Y/N]

Along with the Diamond Card he had obtained earlier through Cha Do-beom’s favorability increase.

[Nathan Poirier’s (Affinity: High) Favorability has increased by 1.]

[A Gold Talent Card is awarded as a reward for achieving the target’s Favorability of 70 (Amicable).]

However, the welcome system message that appeared before his eyes at the right moment made him slightly change his plan.

‘Director Nathan… Is he watching my acting again?’

Considering the Favorability increase messages that had popped up whenever Nathan sent an excited text after watching the drama “Idol Who Catches Evil Spirits” and whenever he nagged, saying he was doing a ‘review’, it wasn’t surprising.

Seojin decided not to think too deeply about what perverted thoughts Nathan was harboring to foster an amicable feeling toward him. What mattered was that he had gained one more excellent material.

‘Should I reinforce the Gold or the Diamond?’

He soon fell into a blissful dilemma. Should he upgrade a Diamond Card with 2 Gold Cards to obtain a single top-grade card, or should he view 1 Platinum and 1 Diamond Card each?

[Talent ‘Reinforcement’ will be cast.]

[Reinforcement Target: 1 Gold Talent Card (Increased Probability of Higher Grade)]

[Reinforcement Material: 1 Gold Talent Card]

After a short but intense contemplation, Seojin chose the latter. Since there were several problems that needed immediate resolution, he decided to put aside his curiosity and greed and divide the eggs into two baskets this time.

[Reinforcement success! You have acquired 1 Platinum Talent Card (Increased Probability of Higher Grade).]

The Platinum Card with additional effects. The result, which could be considered essentially the same as a Diamond Card, gave him a satisfying feeling.

[Do you want to view the 1 Platinum Talent Card (Increased Probability of Higher Grade)? Y/N]

[Do you want to view 1 Diamond Talent Card? Y/N]

Riding on this momentum, with the hope that [Lucky Dice] would live up to its name, Seojin drew all the two cards he had at once.

[Talent Name: Great Equivalent Exchange]

[Grade: S+]

[Category: Health, Status / Active]

[Effect: You can consume daily calorie intake to order the desired system effect.]

[Cooldown: None]

[Penalty: If the daily calorie intake is less than the total daily energy consumption, a random special mission will be given.]

The first ability he drew had a tremendous effect that could be considered a kind of conditional wish. It was a talent with such high utility that it wouldn’t matter even if he never obtained a card again in the future.

Although he was worried about the ‘special mission’ mentioned as a penalty, having experienced the danger of the ’emergency mission’ demanding sexual acts, it seemed like it would be fine as long as he ate high-calorie foods well on a regular basis.

[Talent Name: Physical Control]

[Grade: S+]

[Category: Appearance, Health, Status / Passive]

[Effect: Regardless of the laws of material metabolism and energy, you can control body conditions such as weight, height, and body shape, motor nerves such as flexibility, technical abilities, and reaction speed, physical abilities such as stamina, body balance, and muscular endurance, and the degree of activation of all senses such as sight, hearing, smell, taste, and touch, within the limits that balance with innate skeletal structure and body proportions.]

[Cooldown: None]

[Penalty: Explosively ignites the desires of the target in physical contact, inciting uncontrollable levels of behavior at an arbitrary probability.]

Fortunately, the second talent that came out also had tremendous potential in its effect. The ability to control all forms and abilities related to the body, it was a power that could be called a superpower.

Of course, since it had to balance with the body he was born with, he wouldn’t be able to exert superhuman abilities beyond human limits like the protagonist in a superhero movie, but it seemed like it would be a great help in performing various acting roles.

Not only could it solve the problem of [Sensation Conversion] to some extent, but he also wouldn’t have to worry about the issue of body shape changes due to the overuse of the newly drawn talent [Great Equivalent Exchange].

However, as always, the problem lay in the existence of the penalty. Even if he had already reached a state of detachment regarding physical contact, words like desire explosion and uncontrollable sounded very ominous.

‘Ah!’

Belatedly realizing that Do-beom, who had been pressing his lips against his nape and taking deep breaths as if he lacked oxygen, might also be caught up in the desire explosion, Seojin urgently pushed him away, but,

‘His eyes…’

Seeing the pitch-black eyes flickering with a dangerous feeling, it seemed like he was too late.

“If you’re struggling a lot, should I introduce you to a psychiatrist I know? There’s a Dr. William, and although it’s difficult to get an appointment, he’s highly skilled and reliable.”

Nevertheless, Seojin attempted to handle the situation. Regardless of what form of desire Cha Do-beom, who had developed a kind of separation anxiety as an unexpected side effect, would be stimulated by, it seemed like it would be a big problem if he was left alone.

“No, I’d rather have our young master directly help me.”

Staring intently at Seojin’s face as he asked nonchalantly, Do-beom slightly curled one corner of his mouth and spoke in a voice that gave an ominous feeling.

“Me… help?”

While feeling somewhat relieved that his expression and attitude didn’t seem to differ much from usual, Seojin slowly asked back, feeling an inexplicable anxiety that kept raising its head.

And the very next moment, he had to take a shocked gasp. The seat backrest he had been slightly leaning against suddenly fell backward, causing his upper body to sway and tilt back.

With his innate sense of balance, he should have been able to sit back up properly right away. However, Seojin had no choice but to lay his body down on the seat that had reclined to an almost horizontal position.

It was because Do-beom, who had unexpectedly adjusted the angle of the backrest, had already climbed over to the passenger seat and was half-straddling his body, pressing down on his shoulders. Making it impossible for Seojin to move an inch.

“What are you doing right now?”

“Didn’t I say I’d help?”

Without specifying what or how he wanted help, Do-beom brought his face close with a smile that looked momentarily fierce. It was a brazen act of interpreting an answer that wasn’t a definite confirmation as an agreement on his own.

“So what do you want me to help with and how…”

“You just need to soothe me.”

Seojin, who felt somehow chilled by the other person’s black eyes slanted downward, tried to sit up, but Do-beom’s large hands did not allow his escape.

Pressing his palm firmly against the chest of Seojin, who kept trying to get away from under him, Do-beom curved his eyes even longer and moved his other hand to his lower region. Then, an ominous metallic sound rang out softly.

“With your body.”

Shockingly, it was the sound of leisurely unfastening the buckle of his pants.