PIB CH 04

Chapter 04 — The Second Quest: Become an Idol

“Phew…”

After walking eight slow laps around the hospital room, Ji-hyun wiped the sweat off her forehead with a towel.

She could finally move around fairly well now. Her blood pressure didn’t drop when she stood or sat anymore.

Honestly, it made sense — she’d worked hard on her rehab.

Has it been three weeks already?

Her eyes drifted toward the small, faint quest window floating in the corner of her vision.

You’ve possessed the idol you admired most.
Quickly adapt to Ahn Ji-hyun’s body and recover your condition. (80%)

***

Eighty percent? That’s almost done.

If things kept going this way, she’d be able to leave the hospital soon.

She flexed her fingers experimentally. They moved smoothly.
Her body felt alive again — and that made her eager to get out.

Honestly, I already tried to sneak out a few times.

Ji-hyun let out a groan, remembering her failed attempts.

When she’d first started to move her fingers, she’d tried to contact her old self — Jang Se-hee’s phone — to figure out what had really happened.
Had she died and her soul just… ended up here? Or had their bodies somehow switched?
She needed answers.

But the moment she tried, a message appeared.

You cannot progress this step at this time.

She’d thought the “quest” system only gave hints. But it turned out to be much stricter — and much more dangerous.

There weren’t any electric shocks or invisible walls like in a video game.
Instead, an even more chilling warning had appeared.

***

⚠️ Warning:
This action will negatively affect your quest progress.
Forcing it may result in a death state.

***

Who in their right mind would risk that?

Just thinking about it made her skin crawl.

Her original body — hit by that massive truck — might be dead, or it might not.
And now she was trapped in the body of a top-tier idol. That was already stressful enough.
But on top of that, the system was warning that one wrong move could kill her again.

“Death state,” huh?

Sure, in a game that might mean you could just respawn… but this wasn’t a game.

What if she died again and woke up in someone else’s body next time?
Some random person on the street? A child? A man?

No, she wasn’t going to test it.

From that angle, she supposed she was lucky.
If she had to possess someone, at least it was Ahn Ji-hyun — someone she already knew and admired.

I’ll figure out what happened to my real body once I can leave.

No news article mentioned a “young woman who died saving an idol.”
If she had really died, it would’ve made the headlines — no way a story like that would be buried.
So there was hope.

For now, I’ll just focus on this quest.

She raised a water bottle and took a sip — and suddenly, a chime echoed in her head.

Ding!

Her progress bar jumped to 100%.

“Huh? What— all of a sudden?”

Blinking, she stared at the glowing text in front of her.

You have completed the first quest. Please proceed to the next quest.

“The next one? What is it?”

No answer, of course.

Then another window appeared.

A new event quest has begun.
Event Quest: You’ve found where you belong.
Return to the annex.

***

“Event quest? Not the second quest? And what’s this ‘annex’ supposed to be?”

Before she could think further—

“Ji-hyun, can I come in?”

It was the familiar voice of Manager Sung-han, the same one she’d met when she first woke up.

She opened the door for him herself. He smiled gently when he saw her walking on her own.

“You look much better now.”
“Yes, thanks to you…”

She smiled politely, but her words trailed off.

Something about him made her uneasy. He was kind — respectful even — yet a strange discomfort kept crawling up her spine.

Trying to shake off the feeling, she quickly changed the subject.

“Was there something you needed?”
“Ah, the doctor said you’re cleared to be discharged. But if you want, you can stay a bit longer and rest.”

His tone almost suggested he wanted her to stay.

Truthfully, Ji-hyun wanted that too. She still didn’t understand this new life, and she hadn’t fully adjusted to her new body.

But the “event quest” floating in front of her eyes felt like it was pushing her — insisting she leave.

A strange, gut-deep sense that she had to go.

“It’s fine. I’ll go home.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes.”
“Really sure?”
“Yes.”

Her tone was firm.

So Sung-han sighed and helped arrange the discharge papers.

Soon, Ji-hyun was back “home.”

Not at the MOA group dorm, but at a smaller private apartment nearby — likely the “annex” the system mentioned.

“You don’t have any schedules yet, so it’ll be good to rest here alone for a while.”
“Yes, of course.”
“Take a week to recover slowly. After that, we’ll talk about your next steps.”

He left after saying that, the door clicking shut behind him.

Ji-hyun sank onto the sofa, hugging her knees.

What do I even do now?

Her chest felt heavy. Maybe she should’ve stayed at the hospital a little longer.

A week to rest and recover? And then what? Start working again — as a real idol?

That was insane.
Her only “performance experience” was an elementary school talent show!

And right then —

Ding!

The cursed quest window popped up again, as if mocking her panic.

Second Quest:
A dream come true!
Become an idol. (0%)

***

“What?”

Her eyes went wide.

“Are you out of your mind?!”

She grabbed at the air where the window floated, shaking her hands angrily — even though she couldn’t actually touch it.

“Become an idol?! Me?! How am I supposed to—”

Then she froze.

Because as she’d waved her arms in frustration, something felt… different.
Smooth. Powerful. Rhythmic.

This body… it’s got groove.

Her movements felt effortless, as if her body itself remembered how to dance.

Let’s test it.

Without hesitation, she went down to the basement studio of the annex.

Music filled the empty room, and she started moving instinctively — letting her body follow every beat.

And what came out was…

“Wow…”

It was incredible.

She’d seen idols dance before — she’d memorized countless routines as a fan.
But this was different.

Ji-hyun’s body moved like it knew exactly what to do.
Every motion she imagined, it executed perfectly — smooth, strong, and graceful.

Even though she was still recovering — even though this wasn’t her real body — it moved like a professional dancer’s.

If I practice a little more… I could really move like Ahn Ji-hyun.

It was thrilling. Her pulse quickened.
The more she danced, the more it felt like flying.

By the time she finally collapsed onto the floor, sweat dripping down her back, she couldn’t stop smiling.

That was fun.

She glanced at the floating quest window again — and blinked.

Become an idol. (10%)

***

Only ten percent?

She groaned.

Well… I guess that makes sense. Ahn Ji-hyun wasn’t just good — she was on a different level entirely.

Even hitting ten percent of her skill was something to be proud of.

Still, that didn’t make the goal feel any less impossible.

All right. Time to shower.

She climbed the stairs back to her room, the sound of her footsteps echoing a little too loudly in the quiet house.

And then… she felt it.

A chill.

A faint, cold breeze brushing the back of her neck.

Even under the warm shower, the uneasy feeling wouldn’t go away.

Why… does it feel like this?

As the hot water ran down her shoulders, Ji-hyun finally realized what that sensation was — the strange, prickling awareness that someone… or something… was watching her.