Chapter 248
Chapter 248
The power was back at the villa.
After a hot shower and finishing the laundry in the dryer, the guys sat around a pot of baeksuk. We even boiled a pot of porridge.
"Ah, this is the life..."
"I—I really ate well!"
"Hyung, your cooking is always the best!"
"Sure, thanks."
Honestly, since there were almost no vegetables, I didn't think it would taste better than eating out, but given the circumstances, two local chickens were reduced to bones in an instant.
Not bad.
I predicted our future meals.
If the cellar was that size, there’d be more than just meat—there would be other long-lasting ingredients too. Since it was an emergency, I could probably ask for understanding if we used one or two more things within reason.
...I hadn't looked properly because I was too busy rushing out in embarrassment.
Damn it.
—“Aaaargh!!”
—“I told you it was weird! Argh!”
My mind went blank as the dizzying memory of my blunder flashed through my brain again.
Let’s forget it. It’s not good for my mental health.
"Um, still no contact with the production crew?"
"Yeah. Should we go outside and try?"
The others were busy trying to find a way to communicate with their fully charged smartphones.
Well, now that power is back and we have food, there’s no rush.
The revised weather forecast wasn't very reliable, but it would clear up in two or three days at most. At this point, I didn't care about screen time or whatever; I just wanted to focus on staying as comfortable as possible. Honestly, they'd crossed a line.
I put down my spoon and made a suggestion.
"Shall we check if there are vegetables in the basement storage? Since it's an emergency, I think it's okay to use some."
"Should we?"
"I'm in! Oh, and let's clean up that blood! The crew will be just as terrified as we were when they get here~"
"I-I'll go find a mop...!"
So, as soon as we finished cleaning up the meal, we headed back down to the basement with cleaning supplies. I didn't forget to bring plenty of flashlights in case of another power outage.
There should be some long-lasting... spices, or maybe pickled olives for snacks.
And as expected, we found a few more items.
"Oh, wine~"
"Is there a possibility that this cheese is extremely expensive or a limited item, such that we might not be able to provide sufficient compensation to the owner if we consume it?"
"...Let's just eat something else."
But that wasn't the only thing we found in the basement.
"Whoa, look at this."
"......!"
While wiping the bloodstains off the freezer, we found another door, cleverly hidden in the shadow of the massive machine.
This one was quite small. At my height, I’d have to hunch over to move through it.
Ryu Cheong-woo examined the door closely.
"Hmm, this is..."
"...Isn't this the boiler room for the building this time?"
A plausible suggestion.
"Open it!!"
"The power went out, so it'll be a problem if the gas suddenly cuts out too~ Let's check it just in case?"
"Yeah, that's a good idea."
"Oh!"
"Then, I'll open it."
It seemed we were in agreement. I propped the mop against the wall and turned the metal doorknob.
Rattle.
The door opened smoothly... revealing an unexpected interior.
"...A passage?"
"Flashlight!"
As Bae Se-jin shone his flashlight inside, a concrete passage that curved in the distance appeared. It wasn't the kind of structure you'd expect under a regular house.
Whoosh.
A draft smelling of underground structures brushed past my nose.
"Whoa."
"Wow, what is this??"
"I-Is it okay for us to go in...?"
Whether they'd completely forgotten about being terrified by the bloodstains or not, the guys started whispering, seemingly excited by the prospect of exploring the unknown.
I could understand. They'd been stuck indoors doing nothing, so even this was interesting.
Ryu Cheong-woo narrowed his eyes slightly and pointed inside.
"It looks like an emergency escape route... Look there. Those look like guide lights."
"Ooh."
Indeed, a faint green light was leaking from further inside.
Did they build this for disasters?
If so, I felt they should have told the people filming here, but I guess it's up to the owner.
Ryu Cheong-woo shrugged.
"Since we're stranded... it wouldn't hurt to check it out."
"Let's go! Let's go!"
"...It should be fine."
So, we ended up entering the passage, propping the entrance door open with a mop.
Of course, having learned their lesson from the previous incident, the guys turned on every flashlight they had and walked comfortably through the passage.
However, the passage was considerably longer than expected.
After passing three or four emergency lights...
"I think we've come quite far outside the villa?"
"...I agree."
Since we didn't know what this passage was, some of the guys were starting to get nervous.
I sighed and said, "Wait here. A few of us will quickly check the end of the passage and—"
"NONONO!"
"What are you talking about? We have to go together!"
"......"
What a mess.
Anyway, after turning a few more corners...
"T-There, it looks like a door...!"
Finally, the passage ended, and a door appeared.
There was a strangely well-designed lock on the door, but it didn't seem to be engaged.
"Oh, the owner must have good taste."
"Yeah."
I waited for the others to finish chatting before placing my hand on the doorknob again.
"Then, I'll open—"
"Whoa, Moon-dae, Moon-dae, wait! Shouldn't we do this together?"
"That's right! Me too!"
"...Fine."
Sure. Do whatever you want.
Thanks to these guys who were so eager to prove their sense of community even without cameras, a bizarre scene unfolded with seven people hanging onto one door. They even shouted a slogan. It felt like a school retreat... well, they looked happy, so there was no need to say anything.
Seeing Bae Se-jin reach out a hand too, I slightly shifted my hand on the handle.
"Alright, let's open it together."
"One, two... three!"
Click.
The first thing I felt was a strange resistance.
But with seven grown men opening the door at once, it swung wide open without a hitch.
And then.
Crash!
"......!"
"W-What??"
A dark indoor space was revealed, but there was no time to take it in.
"Uwaaaah!!"
"Waugh!!"
Screams very similar to the ones heard in the basement a few hours ago echoed through the space.
"...??"
"E-Eh?!"
Outside the door... were people.
Faces I recognized, even.
Holding camera equipment stands as if they were about to strike... it was the production crew.
What?
Why are you guys coming out from there?
"No, why are you guys there!! Where did you come from!!"
"Oh my god!"
It seemed the other side was thinking the same thing.
The crew members let out pathetic groans and collapsed forward.
"Uuugh!"
The two groups stared at each other in utter confusion, shouting, before finally calming down after some time had passed.
"So... you were on emergency duty."
"Yes... that's right."
The haggard-looking crew members looked like they hadn't washed properly in days.
"Who would have known the weather would turn like this and trap us?"
Hearing that, a thought suddenly occurred to me.
That text message.
—Everyone, the situation is such that we cannot launch boats or move on foot from the island, so please wait a moment. We will devise a plan soon.
I wondered why they specifically mentioned 'moving on foot from the island,' and it turned out there were people residing on the island at all times.
Come to think of it, no matter how natural they wanted the footage to be, it would be insane to leave only the cast on the island and have the entire crew leave. Who knows what accidents might happen?
However, it seemed they hadn't anticipated a natural disaster of this scale.
One crew member shuddered.
"The forecast only said showers at most... Ugh."
So, the crew had been stranded here without any preparation. They seemed to have suffered quite a bit, running low on water and food.
And then, the obvious question came up.
"But where is this...?"
"Ah, this is the variety show set! The containers."
"......!"
I remembered what I'd seen outside the villa on the first day.
"The containers with the logos?"
"Yes, yes."
They said they used those un-dismantled containers from the escape variety show as their filming preparation base.
"We were going to use it as tourist content for you guys if the weather got bad... but yeah, it's ruined."
"Hahahaha..."
Anyway, thanks to that, the place was comfortable and sturdy enough for people to stay for a few days.
So the crew had been using it as a temporary shelter, only to be horrified when we suddenly burst through the wallpaper.
"W-Wallpaper?"
"Yes. No, how did you even get here when you didn't know the location?"
The crew was shocked when they saw the passage we came through.
"Heol, there was something like this??"
"I'm seriously not going to leave PD Park alone..."
As a behind-the-scenes story I learned later, it was a structure that was supposed to be used in the previous escape show but hadn't been revealed due to the cast's movement route.
The main PD and others knew about it, but the junior staff left here on emergency standby didn't.
Anyway, there was only one reason they hadn't contacted us and were suffering like this.
"Ah, we figured you guys wouldn't have much food and would be anxious... we thought it would be a burden if we said we were stranded here or whatever."
They felt bad because they'd brought us here promising we could enjoy healing content to our heart's content, only for things to turn out like this.
I read between the lines.
They must have thought TeSTAR would throw a fit...
Honestly, from the crew's perspective, it was a situation where we'd have every right to complain.
However, a small, unexpected remark followed.
"And the filming footage would be ruined..."
"...??"
"Filming footage...?"
I wondered what they were talking about when a natural disaster had struck and all the cameras were dead.
"Ah, that... a few fixed cams are probably still alive even now?"
"What??"
"They're new equipment. The, uh, infrared cameras are probably still alive too."
"Heol, I see~"
"......"
It's fine. There's no way there were cameras in the basement anyway. They won't see that sight.
Anyway, a sensible rescue proposal followed.
"There's quite a bit of food at the villa! Don't worry and come with us. Oh man, you've suffered so much..."
"That's right. Let's talk after you've washed up and eaten."
"A-Are you okay...?"
"We're fine... sob."
"Thank you."
The crew moved to the villa, grateful that there was an indoor passage instead of the dangerous, storm-lashed unpaved road.
And as soon as they came out through the door, they shouted, "Ah, so it led here!"
"...??"
What's with that... familiar reaction?
"Writer Choi said she wanted to use a treasure hunt here as today's content."
"None of us were in charge of the installation here, right? Right. Anyway, so it's everyone's first time coming in... Ah, there were a lot of ingredients here too. Thank goodness."
The crew shouted brightly.
...And then they immediately scattered in all directions, finding and checking hidden cameras from somewhere.
"Wow, thank goodness. We can save these cuts!"
"......"
Is this for real?
I spoke up without realizing it.
"...Story-wise, wouldn't it be a bit disconnected? There are no cameras in the passage."
"Ah, don't worry."
The crew brightly crushed my hopes.
"Just in case, we kept our cameras rolling for recording purposes too. Your appearance will have been captured well!"
"Of course, the editing will be great, so don't worry about that."
"......"
Fine, let's give up on this part. No, it'll be good content. My worries were somewhat lessened.
I just need to get past the basement part during the blackout.
But an even more shocking fact was revealed next.
While the crew members were moving around the villa checking cameras here and there, alternating between admiration and sighs...
"Ah, the main one is dead..."
"Is this the end?"
"Um... do you happen to need this as well?"
Kim Rae-bin suddenly pulled out a camera.
"...!"
That... that's the camera I brought after it was selected as my hobby.
I knew they were distributed for the purpose of having each person walk around the island with one for about half a day toward the end of filming.
I thought everyone had shoved them away and forgotten about them.
Even I had almost forgotten about it given how things were going, but it seemed this stiff-necked guy had recorded something.
The crew was grateful for now.
"Oh! Thank you."
"Yes, we'll take a look."
I shrugged.
Well, it probably wouldn't be more than a few cuts...
[Day 1 of being stranded, 9:11 AM. The recorder is 21-year-old Kim Rae-bin, in charge of producing and rapping for the group TeSTAR.]
[Just in case, I intend to record all these events...]
"......"
On the camera I caught a glimpse of, Kim Rae-bin's serious face was captured in a close-up.
This guy rambled on about the background of each stranded person and gave a briefing every three hours.
It was like a first-person camcorder disaster movie.
[12:00 PM. Distributed canned food and instant rice. I hope we don't run out before this storm passes.]
[6:00 AM. Yesterday, everyone slept together in the living room. Cha Yu-jin told a bizarre story that created unnecessary anxiety. Surprisingly, Ryu Cheong-woo hyung enjoyed it.]
And the record of the day of the blackout.
Kim Rae-bin, with his fists clenched, shouted at the camera.
[We... will save the chicks!]
"......"
"Bwahahaha! This is gold!!"
"Rae-bin, you're the best!"
"I-Is that so?"
I had a gut feeling.
I'm screwed.
And sure enough.
This camcorder record would go straight into the teaser...