Chapter 107
Chapter 107
Translator: Penny
Chapter 107
Upon arriving at the waiting room of the ISAC arena, where the Come to My Universe filming was taking place, I found white uniforms and name tags laid out.
"I was hoping for purple..." Kim Dobin muttered, picking up the training suit with a hint of disappointment.
The white training suit set—a jacket and pants—had a fairly standard design.
"At least it's better than pink," I replied dryly, shrugging the jacket over my short-sleeved T-shirt. Honestly, I couldn't imagine surviving in this outfit without air conditioning.
After changing into the uniform and stepping onto the arena floor, I found a lively atmosphere of camaraderie already in full swing.
Of course, Reve also had idol groups they were familiar with.
For example, KICKS, clad in green training suits, or Altair, wearing the purple uniforms Kim Dobin had longed for.
Altair only had three members present, but among them were two faces I was genuinely thrilled to see.
Of course, that was sarcasm.
The KICKS guys turned away as soon as they saw us, as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
They probably figured it was wiser to avoid any confrontation, especially with fans' eyes everywhere and hidden cameras lurking despite the filming ban.
The KICKS Parachute subtly raised his hand in a wave, pretending to know us without his members noticing. I nodded in acknowledgment and quickly averted my gaze.
My eyes met Cha Yeonho's as he chatted warmly with another idol member who seemed to be a friend.
I smirked and casually waved. Cha Yeonho forced a smile and returned my greeting.
Kim Dobin, who knew about the recording, whispered in my ear, "Hyung, you're not using that recording to blackmail Cha Yeonho Sunbae, are you?"
"Why would I waste my time on such pointless and unproductive things? Your imagination is truly wild, you know."
I replied casually, checking the location of the Reve fan section. The fan manager was coordinating the crowd.
I slipped next to Ryu Jaehee, who was already waving to the fans, and joined in.
As the opening ceremony began and the athletes' representatives took the stage to recite their oaths, I yawned lightly, my hands tucked into the pockets of my tracksuit jacket. When will this ceremony end? I'm bored to death.
A lack of sincerity in front of the camera has been detected.
Original Intent Score -1
"Hyung, Hyung! The camera!"
As the Original Intent Pain surged through me, Ryu Jaehee poked me from behind, making me flinch.
Even though I had maintained this stance consistently after my first competition before the regression, I couldn't see any reason to stand rigidly at attention during the opening ceremony.
I straightened my posture and forced myself to stare ahead with my "ecological eyes." Still, I tolerated it because they only updated the Dead Eyes debuff during scheduled events.
After the opening ceremony, the Event Matches began one by one. Basketball, the event I was participating in, was the second-to-last on the schedule.
"Hey, shouldn't they at least match the weight classes for wrestling?"
"Exactly! This makes us look like the villains."
I clicked my tongue as I watched Gyeon Hajun standing across from his opponent on the wrestling mat, their hands locked in a grip.
The opponent was even smaller than Ryu Jaehee. The sheer size difference made the outcome a foregone conclusion.
The opponent had come out brimming with confidence, boasting about technique over strength. But his expression suggested he'd never imagined facing someone as tall as 182cm in the very first round.
"Well, we're certainly grateful for the free pass to the finals."
"It's kind of a victory that hurts our pride? A victory that feels... off? Something like that."
Thanks to this, Gyeon Hajun easily threw his opponent and secured his first win.
And the next opponent was...
"Hey, Jun-a! Win! You have to win!"
"Hajun Hyung! You absolutely have to win!"
It was the KICKS Leader.
He jumped to his feet and roared at the top of his lungs. I'd rather eat dirt than see that guy advance to the finals!
Kim Dobin was kneeling reverently on his chair, praying aloud.
Listening to his muttered words, I realized he was hedging his bets by invoking every deity from every religion he knew.
Seo Yehyeon glanced at us, then smoothly rose from his chair to join the cheering.
Gyeon Hajun and the KICKS Leader, both aware of the cameras, showed no outward signs of discomfort, but their gazes toward each other were sharp and intense.
I could understand Gyeon Hajun's animosity, given his valid reasons, but I wondered why that bastard was glaring so fiercely.
After a prolonged and fierce exchange, the victor emerged...
"Ah, of course we had to win! We can't afford to lose against them!"
"Wow, Hajun Hyung really unleashes his Conqueror's Aura whenever he faces KICKS!"
"Hey, you can't mess with Hajun. He just overpowers them with brute strength, no technique needed?"
"If Eden Hyung beat Hajun Hyung in arm wrestling, what does that make him...?"
It was, of course, Gyeon Hajun.
He had advanced to the finals, proudly won the gold medal, and returned to a hero's welcome. We slapped his back and laughed heartily.
The sight of the KICKS guys' faces, crumpled in defeat, only made our victory sweeter.
Hajun chuckled at Kim Dobin, who kept glancing at the gold medal around his neck, and draped it around Dobin's neck instead.
With the gold medal proudly around his neck, Dobin left with Ryu Jaehee and Seo Yehyeon to compete in the archery competition.
"Ah, who was that anime character who was really good at archery? If I get really into it, maybe I could shoot better too."
"Inuyasha's Kagome."
The Maknae Line's conversation faded into the background. I sent a silent, sympathetic thought to Seo Yehyeon, who should have been with them.
The archery range was quite a distance from our seats, so we couldn't see the action up close like we could with the wrestling matches.
"Should we go watch?" I asked.
Gyeon Hajun, who had been resting in his chair, nodded enthusiastically.
We approached the group who had already staked out their spots to cheer and watch, and settled down in a suitable spot.
Seeing the members sitting stiffly in the participants' seats, their faces tense with nerves, I couldn't help but chuckle.
It was obvious to anyone that they were rookies in their first year. Kim Dobin, who was even wearing his gold medal, stood out even more.
Archery Group A: Altair!
Cha Yeonho, dressed in a lavender uniform, strode forward with his teammates. The roar of the crowd was noticeably louder than for the previous team.
I watched Cha Yeonho take a poised stance, grip his bow, and draw back the string.
"Wow, did he just eat and shoot arrows all day?" I clicked my tongue at the scores, which were plastered with 10s, 9s, and 8s. It seemed like winning gold in archery was out of the question. Even before my regression, Cha Yeonho had set new archery records.
The other two members also scored decently well, allowing Altair to breeze through the preliminary rounds.
Archery Group B: Reve!
"Just... please let me beat KJ's score. Please, please, please!"
I gritted my teeth, forcing myself to add the honorific "Sunbae-nim" after his name, even though I loathed doing so.
Ugh, that bastard I don't even want to call "Sunbae."
As I prayed fervently, Gyeon Hajun turned to me with a surprised expression. "Not Cha Yeonho Senior's score?"
"That's way beyond my reach," I replied. Knowing our members' skill levels well, I decided to abandon any unrealistic ambitions. It's not like this was our first time at ISAC.
Seo Yehyeon, his face serious, gripped the bow and drew back the string with perfect posture. Visually, he had already surpassed Altair, securing our first victory.
"Wow, he's so handsome!"
Even among the idol groups brimming with top-tier visuals, Seo Yehyeon's face drew gasps of admiration.
Damn, he really is handsome. He's worked so hard to maintain his looks and hone his skills that I can't even bring myself to tell him to give it back.
I carefully released the drawn string, and the arrow shot toward the target at high speed. It struck the very center of the bullseye.
X-ten! An X-ten has been scored!
When the third X-ten appeared, I instinctively jumped to my feet.
"Wow, is he insane? Is he seriously insane?"
Gyeon Hajun seemed equally stunned by the result. He remained seated, blinking in disbelief, without even trying to stop me.
The remaining scores were all 9s. Is Seo Yehyeon in peak form today?
Of course, this didn't mean he had a natural talent for archery. He was just having a lucky streak today.
If Seo Yehyeon had truly been talented at archery, he would have maintained this form consistently even at the ISAC before the regression.
"At this rate, we might actually win!"
We could become the comet-like rookie group that dethroned Altair and claimed victory, my beloved members.
But our inflated dreams of winning...
"Is he out of his mind? He mocked me for scoring a 1, and then he shoots a 0 himself?"
Thanks to Kim Dobin's arrow lodging in the 0-point ring, it was over. The homonym from earlier escaped my lips again.
With Seo Yehyeon, it had been an expression of admiration. With Kim Dobin, it was the most refined version of a curse I could muster in this situation, where I couldn't bring myself to swear outright.
If he had followed up with a few 10s or 9s, it might have been bearable. But he kept shooting 3s and 2s—how could my temper not explode?
If I had gone out there instead, we would have at least scored one point. I resolved never to let Kim Dobin compete in archery again.
So what's he even good for? He's too slow to run relays, and he can't shoot an arrow to save his life. Should we just make him the team cheerleader? Is he our Reve mascot?
Ryu Jaehee didn't exactly excel, but he performed adequately, consistently scoring between 6 and 8 points.
Thanks to Kim Dobin's colossal blunder, Reve was eliminated in the preliminaries, despite Seo Yehyeon's heroic performance, which included three X-tens.
Ryu Jaehee, who had been venting his frustration by tugging violently at Kim Dobin's tracksuit, suddenly turned serious.
"Hyung, if Kagome from Inuyasha shot arrows like you, she'd have been monster chow long ago."
Noticing Kim Dobin constantly glancing at me, I spoke in the warmest, most reassuring tone I could muster.
"Dobin, KICKS barely avoided elimination in the preliminaries. Consider yourself lucky to still be in the competition."
After the archery competition concluded, lunchtime finally arrived.
For breakfast, we had sent out sandwich lunch boxes as a reverse support gift. Now, we were preparing to distribute the lunch reverse support boxes.
Even before my regression, Ryu Jaehee used to collect money from us, insisting we needed to provide reverse support.
I recalled the youngest member nearly collapsing in protest when the agency provided only a single rice burger without even a drink for reverse support.
After that incident, we started pooling our personal funds to prepare reverse support gifts properly.
Thanks to this, Ryu Jaehee told me that Reve had become a group whose fans could proudly boast about their reverse support efforts even before my regression.
Reve's Once-in-a-Lifetime Opportunity to Sweep the Medals
As we approached the front of the fan section, a massive banner emblazoned with cheering slogans and a group photo of Reve stood out even more prominently.
Waving to the crowd as they chanted our names and Reve's name, the cheers grew even louder.
Unlike me, who was waving with maximum enthusiasm, Ryu Jaehee was busy providing fan service alongside Kim Dobin, showcasing his "aegyo trio" to the delight of the fans.
"If this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, does that mean we won't be able to sweep the medals at the Lunar New Year ISAC?" I asked, reading the banner's slogan.
A resounding answer came back: "Eden, don't overthink it!"
"It's okay! They'll just change the banner's slogan again!"
Ah, right. I'm taking this too seriously again.
📝 Translator’s Note:
You may notice that certain lines or phrases in this novel appear both in their original Korean (or Hanja) form and in English translation.
This is intentional — these phrases are classical idioms, divine titles, or poetic expressions that carry layered meanings.
To preserve their original tone and authenticity, the raw text has been kept for reference, while the English interpretation is provided right before or after it. This helps convey both the literal and cultural nuance of the original work.
but if you guys dont want tha raw for future chapters or my future other novels u can just text me on discord and say so discord name Mr.Penny