Chapter 107: Wrapping Up the Task (2)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 107: Wrapping Up the Task (2)
'No wonder they said they already had enough footage.'
When it comes to video, it’s hard to salvage even 10% of the raw footage, let alone half, once it goes through editing.
Especially for content that just shows rookie idols having a blast on amusement park rides?
No matter how many fun scenes they cut together, it probably wouldn't even last ten minutes. And out of that, about a minute and thirty seconds would be filled with my "precious" moments of suffering.
But a surprise mission here?
It was a decent plot twist. It even tied in well with the music video concept.
'I never thought I’d live to see the day I’d be rescuing Park Ju-woo at an amusement park.'
The only memory I had of Spark and an amusement park was a late-night live performance where they were brought in as a last-minute filler before a famous rapper took the stage.
That live performance was unforgettable in many ways.
It couldn't have been easy for the members to sing passionately in a place where there were hardly any fans to cheer for them, but that was a matter of their professional ethics, so I’ll leave that aside.
Everything was abysmal—from the crowd's cold indifference toward the idols brought in as bait, to the poorly prepared backing tracks and the shoddy sound system.
Compared to that, things were much better now.
Even though they were technically more junior now than they were back then. It was one of those things you just couldn't wrap your head around.
"You didn't tie Ju-woo hyung up on the Viking or something, did you? He might actually faint!"
Lee Cheong-hyeon made a fuss. Of course not—would the production team really do something so atrocious? If they did, Park Ju-woo would have to start using the same shade of foundation as me starting tomorrow.
"If you guys don't rescue Ju-woo soon, that might actually happen."
"What?!"
"So everyone, focus! You have to go play with Ju-woo!"
The PD clapped his hands to gather everyone's attention.
Right, we couldn't leave our main vocal all by himself.
The rules were simple.
First, find the hint notes hidden throughout the amusement park.
Second, everyone must gather at the location where Park Ju-woo is by the 8:00 PM deadline to succeed.
The current time was 6:00 PM. It seemed like we had plenty of time, but considering the crowds and the size of the park, I figured it might be tight.
"Before we start looking for the notes, should we discuss how to go about it?"
Jeong Seong-bin spoke up first. Having left him in charge of group meetings for several months, he was now a natural at moderating.
Following him, Kang Gi-yeon, Choi Je-ho, and Lee Cheong-hyeon took turns sharing their opinions.
"Wouldn't it be better to split into teams? It seems inefficient for all five of us to move together."
"Isn't it better to have more eyes on the lookout rather than splitting up and missing something?"
"That's true, but since the mission is only cleared once we all gather at the end anyway, it might be better to move as a group."
Mm-hmm. Good attitude. I don't even need to step in.
If I just cross my arms, nod along, and do whatever the kids want...
"Then, just in case, should we start from the entrance and work our way around together? Let's be thorough so we don't miss anything!"
...Park Ju-woo is going to be waiting alone at the amusement park until 8:00 PM and then just go home, you idiots!
Thinking of Park Ju-woo standing all alone in this vast ocean of an amusement park made me feel like tears might spring from my tear ducts, which I thought had long since run dry.
Swallowing a sigh, I stopped the boys who looked ready to bolt toward the entrance at any second.
"I think it might be better to scout the inside of the park first. What do you guys think? How about we split into two teams and have one check the attractions while the other checks the rest areas?"
"Would that be better after all?"
"Yeah. Your ideas make sense, but we have a time limit. We can decide whether we need to find every single note or just some of them after we've read a few."
Usually, they hide plenty of dummy hints in case people fail to find them, so we probably wouldn't need to find every single one.
The production team probably didn't expect us to find all the hints either.
"Then how do we stay in touch? We don't even have our phones."
Choi Je-ho pointed out a very good point. It was the exact question I had been waiting for.
"Let's use a messenger."
"A what?"
"We agree on how each team will move in advance, and then one person can keep running back and forth between them."
"Isn't that too harsh on that one person?"
Kang Gi-yeon said, looking taken aback.
But it was fine. Because I was going to be the messenger!
That way, I could leave the important role of finding hints to the members while I could check the progress of both sides myself.
Above all, I’d probably show up on camera less. My screentime for this amusement park trip was already more than enough with "Screaming Kim I-wol."
"Let's decide with rock-paper-scissors to be fair. We can't just have you running around, hyung."
"Seong-bin, what was the second virtue of an idol?"
"Being good at your main job."
"Right? Then who has the best endurance in our team?"
Jeong Seong-bin couldn't argue with that.
"I've already memorized the park map, so let's just split the teams, quickly decide the search routes, and head out."
At my words, the boys answered vigorously. The curtain was rising on the great expedition to find Park Ju-woo.
The first harvest came from the team of Lee Cheong-hyeon and Kang Gi-yeon, who had headed toward the attractions.
The note the youngest members found near the exit of the bumper cars read:
【Why do sparks fly from the ceiling of the bumper cars?
Difficulty: ★★★★】
"It wasn't a hint, it was a quiz show?"
"Yeah. They gave us this when we got it right."
Kang Gi-yeon then handed me another note.
【To the Aquarium!
Difficulty: ★★★★★】
The location written on the note was the aquarium, located even deeper into the amusement park than the bumper cars.
If you solved the problem after finding a hint, it would tell you the location of the next hidden note. Depending on the difficulty of the question, you could find out a location closer to the final destination.
It was an interesting setup. It allowed for some time management.
But...
"You got this right?"
"Yes. Cheong-hyeon did."
I read the question once more.
It looked like it had been a short-answer question.
When I glanced at Lee Cheong-hyeon, he gave me a wink and spoke.
"Hyung, I'm the designer of the Goldberg machine at Bulkkot High School!"
"Right, you're the best."
I gave him a thumbs-up and ran off to deliver the good news to Choi Je-ho and Jeong Seong-bin.
Ah, let me correct that. I did take the miniature train once in the middle.
The two of them were waiting for me in front of the honey butter corn stand, our designated meeting spot.
"What's with the balloon?"
Choi Je-ho asked, pointing to the helium balloon tied to my wrist.
"Cheong-hyeon tied it on me. He said a messenger needs to be visible from far away."
"Unbelievable."
While the two oldest members were busy bickering over trivial things, Jeong Seong-bin approached.
He was also holding a white note in his hand.
"Hyung, we found a hint too, but..."
【What is the unit used to measure the sugar content of corn, fruit, etc.?
Difficulty: ★★★】
"It's Brix."
"Oh, I-wol got it right!"
"Huh? Is that it?"
Jeong Seong-bin, who had been whipping his head back and forth between me and the PD, clapped belatedly.
At this point, I started to wonder if Hanpyeong Industry making me search for high-sugar holiday fruits every Chuseok was intentional.
【To the Churros Stand!
Difficulty: ★★★★】
"Aren't there tons of churros stands? I think I saw a few on the way here."
Choi Je-ho frowned as he looked at the note.
"Since the other kids are heading to the aquarium, you can rule out any direction that's the opposite of that."
"What kind of question did they get?"
"A science question."
Hearing my words, Choi Je-ho exchanged a look with Jeong Seong-bin.
I could almost hear their conversation.
It was probably something like, 'Are you confident in science?' 'No.' I just prayed they wouldn't get a question about calculating the concentration of sugar water at the churros stand.
The quiz extravaganza disguised as a treasure hunt continued for another hour.
Fortunately, instead of calculating sugar water concentration, the churros stand asked about the causes of dust explosions. Thanks to Jeong Seong-bin, who watched the news often, they were able to make it to the cotton candy shop near the aquarium.
But without a doubt, today's MVP was Lee Cheong-hyeon.
This kid actually pulled off the feat of answering a five-star difficulty question at the aquarium.
'What was the question again?'
'The scientific name of white coral.'
'And the answer?'
'Corallium konojoi!'
I was genuinely curious. How on earth did Lee Cheong-hyeon end up memorizing the scientific name of white coral?
It seemed I wasn't the only one wondering.
'How did he get this? It was a question meant to be missed.'
The entire production team was in shock when Lee Cheong-hyeon managed to recall the answer after racking his brain for five minutes.
Lee Cheong-hyeon himself was nonchalant.
'I read the Slippery Sea Creature Guide very carefully when I was little.'
'You must have read it really carefully...'
We gave him a sincere round of applause.
As a result of those efforts, the five of us combined the hints obtained from the aquarium and the churros stand to reach the Central Garden of the amusement park.
"The last hint must be somewhere around here, right?"
"Probably. Honestly, I thought this would be the final location."
Kang Gi-yeon said sheepishly as he watched Lee Cheong-hyeon look around.
As it passed 7:00 PM, the surroundings were already growing dark. So I also expected Park Ju-woo to appear from somewhere in the garden, scattering petals of success.
'It seems they wanted to drag things out to some extent... but is there a reason it has to be this complicated?'
It didn't seem like the production team viewed this segment as just a simple mission to fill screentime.
I could tell by the difficulty of the questions and the structure where solving a mission only gave the next location, requiring us to find the note ourselves.
That was why I had even taken the leisure of riding the miniature train to stall for time.
I hadn't expected them to account for every single possibility, even going so far as to give quizzes that were beyond the difficulty level of a typical variety show.
As a result, we were now combing through the garden with the deadline looming.
It was then.
"Found it!"
Choi Je-ho shouted from a distance.