Chapter 88
Chapter 88
The Extreme Horror Experience teams were, surprisingly… grouped in a sensible manner.
“We just need to split into two, two, and three.”
“Phew…”
The cowards’ complexions brightened at the news that they wouldn’t be alone. Kim Rae-bin, in particular, looked relieved.
“Th-then… how should we divide up?”
“I want to go with Cheong-woo hyung!”
“Me too!”
Ryu Cheong-woo’s stock suddenly began to skyrocket.
…He certainly is reliable in situations like this.
Ryu Cheong-woo glanced around, then let out a hearty laugh.
“Haha, then how about me… hmm, Rae-bin, and Moon-dae? Shall the three of us go together?”
“Thank you!”
“Ayy~ that’s no fun! Cheong-woo hyung has to be in a two-person team for it to be entertaining!”
Keun Se-jin started throwing a wrench in the works just as things were settling.
That bastard, seriously.
It seemed my suspicion was right—him acting scared while watching horror movies was definitely just for his image.
“Hmm, is that so?”
“Of course!”
…And because Ryu Cheong-woo was swayed by Keun Se-jin, it was decided that the final winner of a game of rock-paper-scissors would assign all the teams.
“Aha~ so this is how it turns out.”
Fuck.
The fact that Keun Se-jin was the one who survived until the end was the most nonsensical part of it all.
Usually, isn’t it the person who suggests these things that ends up failing?
Grinning ear to ear, Keun Se-jin organized the teams in an instant.
And so, I…
“Uwaaaaah!!”
“Let’s go! Let’s go!”
…ended up exploring the haunted house with the insane combination of Keun Se-jin and Cha Yu-jin.
It was a lineup that felt like my eardrums would burst before we even stepped outside.
I barely managed to ask Cha Yu-jin, “……You weren’t scared of horror movies.”
I thought he wasn’t afraid of ghosts and was only weak against gross things. But Cha Yu-jin was jumping at every single step as if he were stepping on live frogs.
“Watching is fine! The real thing is scary! Only fakes are okay!”
“……”
In a sense, isn’t this also completely fake…
But this wasn’t the kind of thing I could reason with him about, so I let it go. Instead, I turned to Keun Se-jin.
“Why on earth did you pick me?”
“How should I put it… the call of conscience? My inner voice was screaming that it wouldn’t be fair to take a ‘Strong Heart’ into a three-person group.”
“……”
“So, I decided we’d show the world a spectacular story of three cowards overcoming their fears!”
What a load of bullshit.
…Hmm, let’s not forget there’s a camera attached to my forehead.
“…For now, let’s move.”
“Right. Let’s do that~”
“We have to go quickly…….”
…I needed to figure out the shortest route.
“But Moon-dae, where do you think the ‘Suspicious Signs’ are?”
“……”
That was also a problem.
In this ‘Invitation to the Haunted House,’ each team had a mission: they had to find ‘Suspicious Signs’ and take photos of them. At least one!
“They said they’d give us a gift if we find a lot and take pictures! Let’s give it a try!”
“…I like that!”
Even Cha Yu-jin, hooked by the keywords ‘gift’ and ‘exploration,’ began to show some reckless courage.
There was no hope for these two.
“…Then, let’s pass through the hallway first and enter the smallest door.”
The staff would likely be waiting in the largest, most conspicuous rooms…!
“Usually, they hide these things. I think we should start with the ones that don’t stand out.”
“Wow, great idea~ Well then, the person who provided the idea should lead the way, right?”
“……”
I really wanted to quit.
However, being at the very front was better than being at the very back, so I took the lead, feeling like I was choosing the lesser of two evils.
“Fine.”
“Wow~ so cool! I’m scared, so I’ll go in the back~”
Still, it seemed he didn’t want to make the mistake of putting Cha Yu-jin at the very end, so Keun Se-jin went to the back himself. I could see his firm determination to milk as many reactions as possible.
“Alright, let’s go!”
“Let’s go!”
“……”
I slowly moved down the hallway. Inside the dim wooden building, the musty smell of mold stung my nose.
“Moon-dae! Look, blood over there!”
“……!!”
I almost cursed. I only turned my head, gritting my teeth as I replied.
“Stop screaming…!”
Keun Se-jin made a sheepish face.
“Got it, sorr—YEEEEEAAAK?!”
“Uwaaaaah!!”
“……?!”
…I snapped my head forward.
There was a woman. She was wearing a servant’s uniform that looked like it belonged in a movie from fifty years ago.
But she had no feet.
And she had no eyes.
She was just drenched in blood.
“Gyaaaaaaak!!!”
“Heeeeeerrgh!! Run!”
……As I ran into the next room along with the screaming idiots, I realized this team was already doomed.
“……”
When we finally came out, the sun was setting.
That meant it had taken us a whole hour to get out of that crazy haunted house.
It was supposed to be a 25-minute course.
I had no idea how embarrassing this would look on broadcast…….
“……My throat hurts.”
“You too? Me too.”
The two guys who had spent the whole time screaming were now frantically gulping down ionic drinks provided by the production crew.
Of course, Keun Se-jin had been screaming half for fun, so it was his own fault—his own karma.
Seon A-hyun, perhaps worried about the ragtag bunch that took twice the expected time, approached us.
For the record, the duo of Seon A-hyun and Lee Se-jin (Actor) had finished in 20 minutes, having taken three photos and found the exit.
……I felt a wave of disillusionment in many ways.
“A-Are you okay?”
“……Well. More or less.”
This was truly an experience where I couldn’t understand why people would pay money to do it.
No, even if I were paid.
If it were just minimum wage, I’d never step foot in there again.
“Moon-dae really suffered~ Hey, thanks.”
“Thank you!”
Since everything was caught on camera, it seemed he wasn’t going to make any absurd claims about hard-carrying the team. I gave a slow nod.
Still, we did come out with photos, so it was a much better situation than if we had just run away.
“Phew…….”
“We’re back.”
When the final team, Ryu Cheong-woo and Kim Rae-bin, returned after 35 minutes, the PD started talking again.
“Great job, everyone~ Now, it’s time for dinner!”
“Don’t tell me…… is dinner ‘extreme’ too?”
“Of course!”
“Ugggh.”
If the cameras hadn’t been there, a riot might have broken out, but since they were, only groans of reaction filled the air.
“It’s an extreme~ whole roasted pig!”
“Heeeeeerrgh!!”
“Whole roast!”
Fortunately, the production crew wasn’t completely tactless; they seemed to know it was time to let us relax.
Before long, a suckling pig began to rotate over a fire in the empty lot next to the haunted house.
It’s already been fully cooked.
Judging by the intensity of the fire, the campfire-like setup was just to keep the meat hot.
Regardless, most of the members were delighted by the incredible sight. Except for Kim Rae-bin, who still looked like his soul had left his body.
“Let’s eat~”
“Thank you for the food!”
It wasn’t quite as overwhelming as it looked, but as always, meat was delicious.
The gift we received for the photos taken in the haunted house was… animal pajamas.
Another set added to the collection.
Counting only the ones I’d received as gifts, I already had over five sets.
Anyway, seeing as they gave us seven sets, they were essentially telling all the members to wear these to sleep during the reality trip.
That’s not hard.
So, at 8 PM, all of TeSTAR sitting in the pension living room were dressed in animal pajamas.
“Thanks to the three cowards doing well, we all get to wear these together.”
“I like it.”
“Th-they’re cute and nice.”
Seeing the guys talking enthusiastically in case it was PPL (product placement), I thought they’d already become true professionals.
Anyway, from now until bedtime, it was officially free time.
However, that obviously didn’t mean we should just do whatever we wanted.
It means we should voluntarily produce some content.
Whether it was playing karaoke games, board games, or writing heartfelt letters to each other—it meant we should do something that looked like we were having fun.
“Whew~ we’re bored, so why don’t we play a truth game?”
Just like that.
“A tr-truth game?”
“Yeah. I saw a lie detector earlier, too.”
“Really? That sounds good.”
But then, Kim Rae-bin, who had been deep in thought, chimed in.
“Hmm, since we spent the daytime playing, I was wondering if we could do something a bit more productive this evening.”
The members snapped to attention at the ominous keyword.
“Productive…?”
“Rae-bin, don’t tell me you’re talking about… making something?”
“Yes!”
“……”
A brief silence fell.
But surprisingly, Lee Se-jin (Actor) spoke up.
“…What are we making?”
“Ah, a new song.”
“—!? What?”
“A n-new song?”
“Yes. Actually, I worked on a track recently! I even brought portable recording equipment just in case.”
Kim Rae-bin excitedly went to grab his bag.
At that moment, everyone rushed to stop him.
“Whoa, Rae-bin! If we’re not careful, this could be a spoiler~”
“Right. And I think it’d be better to start something like this after we finish this round of promotions.”
“…? Is that so?”
Kim Rae-bin lowered his smartphone with a bewildered expression. He looked like he hadn’t expected this reaction at all.
…The guy lacks social skills, but he’s no fool.
Let’s try to bridge the gap.
“The new song isn’t intended to be the title track for the next album, is it?”
“Ah, no!”
Only then did Kim Rae-bin look like he understood.
“What I made is for a fan song!”
“……Ah!”
The ultimate checkmate had appeared.
If anyone reacted with “That’s a bit much” now, they could fall victim to clever editing that made it look like they didn’t want to make a song for the fans.
Of course, it wasn’t just the production crew’s editing anymore. It was the malicious editing of trolls.
[Scene from TeSTAR’s reality show today that’s getting talked about]
[TeSTAR’s comments that people are divided on: Okay vs. A bit much]
…I could already see it dominating the popular posts on community sites.
Fortunately, Keun Se-jin spoke up immediately.
“A fan song sounds great! I’ve always wanted to make one!”
Time for backup.
“It sounds fun. The timing is right, too.”
“…It should be fine.”
“I-I think it’ll be good.”
At the sudden shift in atmosphere, Kim Rae-bin simply looked proud.
“Thank you…!”
I’m sure he didn’t plan it, but it was the only time I’d ever seen Kim Rae-bin win a political battle.
On a leisurely weekday afternoon, TeSTAR fans were having a good time reviewing the content poured out during the promotion period.
After winning first place over VTIC on Music Gayo, some trolls tried to stir up a fight with VTIC fans, but it didn’t escalate into a major issue.
Since it happened after VTIC had finished their domestic promotions, their fandom had a reason to let it slide.
Thanks to that, TeSTAR fans, who were spending a relatively peaceful time, received a notification on social media.
It was from TeSTAR’s account.
Who is it?
Because the members visited quite often, the fans clicked the notification with excitement rather than tension.
[Please accept my heart (WeTube Link)]
Accept your heart?
……??
Dating… it’s not dating-related, right?
Fans clicked the link with a mix of worry and confusion.
And then, they saw the thumbnail of seven members wearing animal pajamas.
…!!