227. Broadcast Appearance (1)
227. Broadcast Appearance (1)
The news that Utopia would appear on 「Meeting Hunters」 spread like wildfire.
Especially among those
who, after the U.S. Monster Subjugation Request,
had been suffering through another drought of new content, watching the same clips over and over until they were threadbare.
The fan cafe that dedicatedly stans Jin Yu-ha and all of Utopia.
【Flower on the Cliff】
— Yu-ha, when are you coming, come quickly....... I'm cold.......
— You're so late....... Jin Yu-ha. Are you trying to turn me into an old lady?
— Hey, Jin Yu-ha! Your wife is hungry right now, what on earth are you doing! Feed me, hurry!!!
└ Here you go, a dish personally prepared by Jin Yu-ha~ Link — Homemade Food by Jin Yu-ha.jpg
└ Aaaaaaaah!!!!
└ What's going on? Aaaaaaaah!!!!
└ What's going on?? I should have a taste too. Aaaaaaaah!!!!
└ Aaaaaaaaaaah!!!
└ Yu-ha I love youYu-ha I love youYu-ha I love youYu-ha I love youYu-ha I love youYu-ha I love youYu-ha I love youYu-ha I love you
— 「Climbing Yu-ha's Nose Bridge」 <= tbh if u think this bitch has a mandatory three-times-a-day Yu-ha-pic-posting requirement then upvote
└ [agree]
└ [agree]
└ [agree]
With no news, they were enthusiastically losing their minds and crying out from thirst for Jin Yu-ha and Utopia.
This time, Utopia had proven their looks and skills on the world stage during the U.S. Monster Subjugation Request,
and their fame had grown even larger, so the cafe was pure chaos.
That was when it happened.
The post from 「Climbing Yu-ha's Nose Bridge」, who had built a towering reputation by always uploading rare photos of Jin Yu-ha, went up.
[ Utopia will be appearing on a broadcast this time. So...... I should watch it, right? ]
It was nothing more than a single plain line of text without a single photo, unlike usual, but its impact was enormous.
— Nose Bridge, stop talking nonsense and give us a hot-as-hell Jin Yu-ha pic....... Gasp! Why is this real? Hey, it's, it's real!!! The official announcement just dropped! It says the Utopia kids are on Meeting Hunters?
— Wha, whawhawhawhawhawhat!? For real, our Yu-ha is going to be on a TV show!!?
— That's insane, Hunter Meet, don't they usually not call cadets? I heard they only call active-duty hunters.......
— Kyah, the Velvetsra way is so fucking baller lmaoooo
— But isn't that program kinda famous? As the place where kids who talk big get completely exposed.
└ yeah so many people exaggerate their stories that the lie detection artifact is basically the standard gimmick lol
— Oh, then are they doing that too? You know, that, there's a corner where they pick viewer questions and read them.
└ yeah, probably? It's a regular segment.
└ Then, Yu-ha will hear my question......?
└ Holy shit! This is a chance. A chance to show Yu-ha my true feelings!!! Everyone get out of my way, get lost!!! lol lol lol
└ Heading off to write my post right now.......
└ lmao the cheetah is laughing. I already wrote it the second the official announcement dropped.
And so, the frozen clock of the fan cafe began to tick again.
* * *
"Hello, viewers! Meeting Hunters! The hunter we're meeting today has been the subject of truly intense interest even before we began, hasn't she?"
"Yes, truly. Perhaps the most interest in the history of our Hunter Meet. So, our staff worked incredibly hard. So many people rushed in that the servers crashed several times......."
"Wow, enough to crash the servers. My expectations for our guest today just keep growing, you know?"
Inside the spacious studio.
The two women acting as MCs opened the show, exchanging practiced dialogue.
And backstage, I swallowed hard.
'Hoo boy, I really didn't think they'd actually do this.......'
Of course, even in the Velvetsra game, things like broadcast appearances or magazine interviews sometimes came up as requests.
A type of request that raises your fame a lot if you succeed, but the other rewards are such trash that almost nobody ever accepts them.
I wouldn't have done this either if it weren't for the Mana increase elixir refined from the Fire Dragon.
'And the Velvetsra characters all have such strong personalities that they often end up wrecking the broadcast.'
When that happens, your fame actually plummets.
I glanced sideways.
Looking behind me, I saw Im Ga-eul trembling.
"Huh, huh, huh, hoobae....... I'm, I'm so nervous, there are so many cameras, so many people. Hand! Hold my hand!"
"Okay, sunbae, I'll hold it for you."
And Lee Yu-ri also had a stiff expression, as if unfamiliar with this kind of setting.
'Still, it's a relief that Kang Do-hee, Shin Se-hee, and Sofia have experience in this area.'
Fighting Dog and Cheonhwa were already veterans of things like interviews.
Sofia was familiar with this environment from her modeling work.
And Ichika, I didn't know what she was thinking, but she was acting the same as usual, which put me at ease.
That was when it happened.
The female MC, who had been chatting about our exploits while showing footage, made eye contact with me and nodded.
It was the signal that it was almost time to go on.
"Alright, shall we stop all the chatter now and bring out those people everyone's talking about?"
"Yes, everyone, please give them a warm welcome with a rousing cheer and applause!"
Grand music swelled.
Waaaaaaaaaah─!!!
Clapclapclapclapclapclapclapclap─!!
Against the backdrop of the applause erupting from the studio audience, my party members and I stepped onto the set.
*
The MCs of Meeting Hunters.
Su-jin and Yu-jin swallowed hard as they heard the audience's cheers and applause.
They had expected a hot response, but not this hot.
It was on a completely different dimension from when other hunters had visited before.
They, too, had researched Utopia in earnest while preparing for this project.
Consequently, they had gotten somewhat used to Jin Yu-ha by looking at his photos and videos.
On top of that, they had hosted various programs besides Meeting Hunters.
Having met many handsome celebrities and hunters, their standards had risen, and they were confident they wouldn't be surprised by just anything.
But,
they couldn't help but stare at Jin Yu-ha walking toward them from the front, their mouths agape and eyes wide.
'Wow....... The real thing is.......'
'......Is he even human? Isn't this some kind of charm magic?'
There was a dignified air in the way he strode forward with a slightly languid expression.
His black hair, which had grown long unlike before—since when had he grown it out—was tied back,
and the contrast between his snow-white skin and jet-black hair boasted a fatally decadent beauty.
The photos and videos they had seen beforehand didn't seem to have captured even 50% of the real thing.
In fact, it was because Jin Yu-ha's charm stat had increased when he promoted to 3-star, but how could they have known that.
'......He's insane.'
'......He's insane, isn't he?'
A continuous stream of admiration.
They felt like they could understand why Jin Yu-ha was so worshipped by people.
'Oops.'
'Gasp!'
They realized their mistake upon seeing the Utopia Party members staring blankly back at them.
To invite them out and then say nothing—what kind of disgraceful display was this?
It was a moment that could have easily caused a broadcast accident.
"Ahaha! I'm so sorry—! Whew, your presence in person is just so overwhelming, I momentarily forgot my words."
"Wow, Su-jin, you too? Me too! You're so, so, so, so handsome I just stood there staring with my mouth open!"
They smoothly opened their mouths as if it had all been intentional from the start.
Though, it was actually 100% pure sincerity.
"Ahem! Now then, allow us to introduce them! The hottest supernova of Velvet Hunter Academy! A gathering of geniuses! The Midterm Evaluation, Haeundae, and recently even the U.S.! There's nowhere their name hasn't been heard!"
"Yes, we have the Utopia Party with us! Jin Yu-ha, please say a few words!"
At their well-coordinated and welcoming introduction, Jin Yu-ha bowed his head with a calm expression.
"Hello. I'm Jin Yu-ha, party leader of Utopia."
"Welcome to Meeting Hunters, Jin Yu-ha!"
"I understand this is your first time appearing on a broadcast in front of people like this. Aren't you nervous?"
"I'm a little nervous."
"Haha. But you'll loosen up as we talk. Don't be too nervous!"
"Ah, here. This is our program's signature! The lie detection artifact! Everyone, please put on the bracelets!"
Jin Yu-ha and his party members put on the lie detection artifacts as she instructed.
"From now on, you must only tell the truth. Otherwise, a red light will come on. Ah, but if a topic comes up that you really don't want to discuss, just say 'pass.' If the red light comes on, there's a harsh penalty! If you say 'pass,' there's a mild penalty!"
With the two MCs' smooth, flowing progression, the interview proceeded without a hitch.
"We heard that the first person to join Jin Yu-ha was Lee Yu-ri. How did the two of you come to work together?"
"Uh, um, well, you see. It was when I was clearing Camela Forest before enrollment. Back then, one Damage Dealer back-attacked me....... No, I mean, they said they were coming but didn't show up......."
"Kang Do-hee and Shin Se-hee, you were already quite famous back then as the rising prospects Fighting Dog and Cheonhwa, weren't you? So how did you end up forming a team with Jin Yu-ha? Now, of course, no one doubts it, but at the time, a lot of people were really surprised."
"Hmm, well, they lumped the male quota students and special admission cadets together for basic training. That's when I saw Jin Yu-ha's swordsmanship skill and was so shocked that I clung to him first?"
"......I saw Jin Yu-ha stand up for another male quota student, and I thought he was someone I could trust, so I accepted his party proposal."
"What about you, Im Ga-eul?"
"Ah, I, I met my hoobae Yu-ha during Live Gate Training! Back then, my grades were at rock bottom, and I was worried about having to repeat the year. That's when my hoobae taught me how to use my abilities!"
"I was originally doing modeling work. On my way home, I got kidnapped during the Midterm Evaluation. I had actually given up on the academy because my family opposed it. But I had passed the entrance exam and forgot to cancel my enrollment. If I hadn't met Jin Yu-ha back then, I would have been in real danger......."
"He saved me when I was about to be attacked by an incubus-type Demonized Human."
As the party members talked about how they met Jin Yu-ha
and how they came to join Utopia, stories from the past
came pouring out of the party members' mouths—Jin Yu-ha's deeds up until now.
He had enrolled amid all kinds of contempt as a male quota student, but
he won the group sparring,
subjugated Demonized Humans early in the semester,
subjugated Demonized Humans during the Midterm Evaluation,
subjugated Demons during the vacation,
handled the Haeundae monster wave,
subjugated a Demonized Human in Jukai Forest,
completed the U.S. Monster Subjugation Request,
and just before coming here, he even took down a Fire Dragon?
......And on top of all that, saving the lives of his party members and others was just routine,
and every single one of these previously unknown activities was on an insane level.
Listening to these stories, the two MCs gaped in disbelief.
'No, does this even make sense......?'
'Holy shit, is all of that true......?'
Their gazes naturally turned toward the bracelets the party members were wearing.
The lie detection artifact, which normally should have lit up red and become a point of laughter as they received penalties,
was glowing green from start to finish.