BSAR Chapter 39
by BlossomTL“…Right. I hope you get a satisfactory return on your investment.”
Seojin, who had been blankly staring at Ju-in, at a loss for words, soon sank into the sofa with a tired expression and offered words of encouragement as if his soul had left his body.
“I’m sure it will. Because you’ve joined this drama.”
His old childhood friend, who naturally brought a blanket and covered Seojin’s knees, responded in a calm voice that was no different from usual but filled with certainty that anyone could see.
Seojin decided not to ask questions like how much he had invested in this particular drama or since when Ju-in, who had no interest in acting, had decided to pour money into ‘countless’ projects.
“There’s still quite a bit of time left until the scheduled filming.”
Like a skilled chamberlain of a medieval royal family, Ju-in personally opened the cap of a bottle of water placed in one corner of the waiting room and presented it to Seojin. Then, while turning on what seemed to be a high-end air purifier, he whispered.
“You look tired, do you want to take a nap? I’ll wake you up later.”
Next, he took out a fluffy pillow from a storage cabinet and asked for Seojin’s intention. It was also a product of a considerably expensive brand.
Seojin, who had been dazed with the thought, ‘Could it be that the waiting rooms used by supporting actors are originally this luxurious? Was it something I didn’t know because I hadn’t experienced it?’ soon shook his head, thinking it couldn’t be.
No matter how much he thought about it, this wasn’t something that would typically be equipped in an ordinary waiting room. It must have been something Ju-in had separately prepared. He probably poured support into all the waiting rooms so that Seojin wouldn’t be inconvenienced.
What did the production team think of the investor who was acting unusually in a strange way? Seojin, who had unintentionally imagined their dumbfounded expressions, felt a bit embarrassed. The goodwill was appreciated, but…
“Do you need anything else?”
Depending on how he interpreted Seojin’s strange expression, Ju-in asked, leaning diagonally against the sofa backrest. After pondering for a moment, Seojin quickly nodded this time.
Since he had secured time to be alone in a separate space from others, he thought he should experiment with the newly acquired talent [Great Equivalent Exchange]. To solve the emergency mission and Do-beom’s abnormal state.
At Seojin’s rare reaction, Ju-in’s expression brightened considerably.
“What is it? Just tell me. I’ll bring it all for you.”
“Chocolate.”
“…Huh?”
Ju-in showed a puzzled look at the unexpected answer. It was understandable since Seojin rarely put anything in his mouth outside of set meal times. He didn’t even like sweets.
“Butter cookies, cheese-flavored ice cream, whipped cream, and chocolate cake too.”
As Seojin’s uncharacteristic words continued, Ju-in tilted his head to the side and looked at him, and suddenly, a light of realization and pity flashed across his eyes.
“You must be having a really hard time right now.”
When Seojin looked at him with a surprised “Huh?” at the unexpected remark, the corners of Ju-in’s mouth, adorned with a bitter smile, quivered briefly.
“I’ll have them prepare all kinds of sweets, including the desserts you mentioned. But for the sake of your health, you should eat in moderation.”
Only after hearing his words, carefully added as if comforting him, did Seojin realize. The other person was mistaking that he was under excessive stress to the point of desperately seeking sweets that he didn’t usually enjoy.
When under stress, a substance called cortisol is secreted, which makes one crave sweet foods. However, consuming a large amount of sweet foods at once can lead to problems with the pancreas due to excessive insulin secretion. Nowadays, it’s common to find people who develop diabetes at a young age through that route, so Ju-in’s concern wasn’t entirely unfounded. Of course, it was a non-issue for Seojin, who could maintain a healthy state with the system’s abilities.
“If you get used to binge eating to soothe a momentary feeling of depression, your life will eventually fall apart completely.”
He continued to express his concern that Seojin might suffer from an illness that couldn’t be cured no matter how much money he spent, like his unfortunate cousin who had everything from birth but sadly crumbled.
“You won’t like me if I become fat?”
When Seojin jokingly asked back with an unusual faint smile, Ju-in widened his eyes and quickly shook his head.
“That’s not possible. Even if you somehow become a giant weighing over 300kg, in my eyes, you’ll still be small and precious…”
“Ugh. I can’t even joke around. Stop, it’s giving me goosebumps.”
Seojin sighed, waving his hand to stop the nonsense that was about to continue without knowing the limit. Then, softly laughing with his attractive eyes, he gently grasped the hem of Ju-in’s clothes.
“Well, if that happens, you’ll take care of me. You wouldn’t abandon me, would you?”
Ju-in’s eyes widened at Seojin’s surprising remark, as unexpected as his gesture. The tear point hanging below his left eye corner trembled, revealing his excitement. Just the reaction Seojin had intended.
“Can I eat snacks to my heart’s content without worrying?”
Seojin, who was inwardly relieved at the sight of Ju-in nodding his head as if entranced, thought it was suddenly tiring to come up with explanations every time a talent with a penalty was added.
[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.]
From now on, he would have to act like someone who soothes their mental hunger through binge eating for the rest of his life. Perhaps to avoid the ‘special mission’ that could be as shocking as the emergency mission.
To survive safely, Seojin was determined to transform into a tremendous big eater that would surprise everyone from now on. He might even live with snacks all day long, like a squirrel hoarding food.
‘Still, I can’t complain.’
However, if he could obtain a wish-granting ticket like a blank check, anyone would be willing to endure that much. Seojin purified his mind, feeling grateful to the system that had come to him as a reward.
Even when telling the staff that it was okay if the filming preparation was slightly delayed, even when stuffing the high-calorie foods provided by Ju-in into his stomach one by one, he fervently prayed to a god he didn’t even believe in.
‘Cancel the mission. Cancel the mission. I won’t ask for anything else, please.’
[Talent ‘Great Equivalent Exchange’ will be cast.]
And following the guidance of the system, he challenged the wish-making.
[Effect ordered to the system: Harmless cancellation or automatic completion of <Emergency Mission: Have your first sexual intercourse with one of the Favorability management targets. (0/1)>]
[Insufficient daily calorie intake to activate the ordered effect.]
However, the system did not respond to his wish.
[Current daily calorie intake: 5,476kcal]
[Calorie intake required for exchange: 842,335kcal]
‘Crazy?’
Seojin’s expression contorted as he confirmed the result that he couldn’t help but curse at.
‘It’s realistically impossible.’
He couldn’t even imagine what and how much he had to eat to reach 800,000 calories in a single day. He had heard of a certain swimmer consuming over 10,000 calories a day as part of their training routine, but…
It was essentially a message urging him to ‘give up.’ Seojin felt dizzy. Even the wish-granting ticket, which he had been holding onto as his last hope, was useless.
Did he really have to have sexual intercourse? No, rather, with that determination, if he worked harder to quickly become famous and build a fandom, he might be able to achieve the goal within the reduced lifespan of 1 year…
‘…There’s no way.’
A fandom size of 10 million. It was an enormous target that was unprecedented for a Korean actor. Moreover, he had to achieve a Favorability of 80 (Intimacy) or higher, so how could it be possible in just 1 year?
[Effect ordered to the system: Lowering the difficulty or relaxing the criteria of <Emergency Mission: Have your first sexual intercourse with one of the Favorability management targets. (0/1)>]
[Insufficient daily calorie intake to activate the ordered effect.]
[Calorie intake required for exchange: 451,297kcal]
Even if he lowered his expectations, the result didn’t change. Although the required calories had dropped by nearly half, 800,000 or 400,000 calories were equally difficult to consume physically.
Even after that, he tried challenging the wish-granting by changing the content in various ways, but he only kept confirming failures. For now, there seemed to be no room for compromise regarding the mission.
[Effect ordered to the system: Resolving or offsetting the system side effects applied to the psychology of Cha Do-beom, the target of favorability.]
[Insufficient daily calorie intake to activate the ordered effect.]
[Calorie intake required for exchange: 109,516kcal]
‘Haa.’
[Effect ordered to the system: Deleting or modifying <Penalty of Talent ‘Physical Control’: Explosively ignites the desires of the target in physical contact, inciting uncontrollable levels of behavior at an arbitrary probability.>]
[Insufficient daily calorie intake to activate the ordered effect.]
[Calorie intake required for exchange: 199,516kcal]
Even when he specifically designated Do-beom’s separation anxiety state or the problem of desire explosion, it still showed that over 100,000 calories were required.
He had already realized that it was something impossible, but he couldn’t easily shake off his lingering attachment. If he gave up on a solution, he would have to forcibly engage in sexual intercourse with someone, so how could he easily admit defeat?
“Preparation is all done! I apologize for making you wait so long, actor Seojin!”
However, he couldn’t keep clinging to this. It was time to go back to acting.