228. Broadcast Appearance (2)
228. Broadcast Appearance (2)
A few days ago.
It was before it had been decided which show they would appear on.
Utopia had temporarily returned to the academy from Jeju Island.
And while Jin Yu-ha briefly slipped away for personal training, saying he wanted to test out his sword.
The rest of the Utopia Party members gathered in one place.
That is, all of Utopia's female members.
"Everyone's here."
The person who gathered them all was none other than Sofia.
"The reason I called you all here. It's to discuss our broadcast appearance."
"The broadcast? Can't we just pick one roughly?"
Kang Do-hee spoke as if it was no big deal, but Sofia shook her head.
"No. I'd like to propose using this broadcast as a starting point."
"A starting point?"
"Yes, do you all remember what Shin Se-hee said last time? That we need to raise Jin Yu-ha to a position so high that everyone in the world acknowledges him."
Ah.
They remembered.
The day Shin Se-hee impersonated Jin Yu-ha over text and schemed.
The day all the party members formed an alliance to become Jin Yu-ha's joint lovers.
Shin Se-hee had said.
That becoming his lover right away was unreasonable.
It would only be possible after raising Jin Yu-ha to the highest position while maintaining their current relationship.
She had explained that this was the only path for everyone to be happy without tarnishing Jin Yu-ha's honor.
And the party members had agreed.
"This broadcast is suitable as that starting point. Jin Yu-ha has certainly gained fame through various activities so far, but there are far more unknown things that only we know about, right?"
That was true.
They'd made a name for themselves through their YouTube channel.
And the major incidents had spread by word of mouth.
But matters within the academy. Gate strategies, the Hunter Management Bureau, Demonized Humans, Demons, etc.
The things he'd done so far that weren't known to the public were far more numerous.
"So, the recorded broadcast I'm recommending is Meeting Hunters."
"......Meeting Hunters! I, I know that one! The lie detector!"
Im Ga-eul, who was a regular viewer of the program, chimed in with an excited voice.
"Yes, that program is the most suitable for unpacking his achievements. Because it's better for these things to come out naturally than for us to brag about them with our own mouths."
"Meeting Hunters....... It's certainly not a bad choice. Hmm, but people will definitely raise doubts based on the lie detector alone."
Shin Se-hee, who was nodding along with Sofia's plan, added a comment.
"Since we're inside Utopia, it's hard to realize it ourselves. But from the outside, our party is the very definition of extraordinary. So, we should use Sofia's plan as a base, but we need to add something to it."
And so, the Utopia Party members put their heads together and began planning their broadcast appearance.
* * *
And now, back to the present.
"Th-then....... F-first, the bracelet is saying truth! It's saying it's the truth......?"
"Uh, um. So all of that is real......?"
The two MCs let out bewildered voices.
"Why would we lie."
Kang Do-hee confirmed it as if stating an obvious fact.
And the other party members were also nodding in agreement.
The two MCs of Meeting Hunters.
Su-jin and Yu-jin exchanged glances and communicated with their eyes.
'If this airs as is.......'
'It'll be 100% a broadcast accident, right?'
They lowered their voices as if they felt ashamed.
"We're, truly sorry for saying this....... Since the artifact says it's the truth, we have to believe it, but......."
"Well, if everything you've said is true, we could be suspected of running a rigged broadcast?"
"......So, do you perhaps have any proof?"
Even after the lie-detection artifact verification, demanding further proof was a first in the history of Meeting Hunters.
But it couldn't be helped.
If they were hunters who had been active steadily for years, they might not have gone this far.
But their specs were simply too unrealistic for a party barely a year old.
At that, Shin Se-hee, who had been touching her lips with a "hmm—," nodded.
"Yeah, sure. We can show you proof. Would you like to see the most recent one?"
"......Y-you mean, that you killed a Fire Dragon?"
Yes, of all the things Utopia had said, that was the most unbelievable story.
That rare dragon-type monster wasn't some goblin lying around just anywhere.
How could anyone believe they'd just dealt with it right before coming here?
However, Shin Se-hee replied with a calm expression.
"The head is currently in my Subspace Tattoo. Though the rest is being stored elsewhere due to lack of space."
"Please!"
"Show us!"
The two MCs spoke in desperate voices.
"Then, please step back for a moment."
The two MCs moved aside.
Shin Se-hee opened her Subspace Tattoo and pulled out the Fire Dragon's head.
THUD—!
A massive, heavy mass settled inside the studio.
"Kyaaaak!"
"Hiiiik!"
Watching the two MCs make such a fuss, Shin Se-hee smiled.
*
The two MCs stared blankly up at the monster's head placed before their eyes.
The skin was charred pitch black. One of the bright yellow eyes was burst.
But it was more than enough to guess the monster's former majesty.
"This is....... Fire Dragon......."
"If the head alone is this size, just how big is the entire thing......?"
A truly overwhelming size.
It looked more than sufficient to be considered a real dragon's head.
"Wait! Even so, how can we believe this is really the head of a Fire Dragon......!? It could be the head of another lesser dragon!"
One of the MCs, who had been staring blankly, overwhelmed by the Fire Dragon's head, came to her senses and asked Shin Se-hee.
"As far as I know, isn't one of the PDs here someone who even earned a doctorate specializing in monster studies? I think that person could verify it sufficiently."
As if she had anticipated this reaction from the start, she looked toward one of the PDs behind the camera.
* * *
"......Th-this is definitely the head of a dragon species!"
Whoaaaaaaa—!!!
With the added certification from a PD who held a doctorate in monster studies, the heat in the audience seats blazed even hotter.
.
.
.
After taking a short break due to the overheated atmosphere.
The recording resumed.
"......That was truly a whirlwind of a time."
"Yes, we really had no idea it would proceed like this......."
The two MCs heaved deep sighs with exhausted faces.
However, the director filming the video and the staff members were wearing beaming smiles.
'This is huge!'
'It's a massive hit!'
They had only expected to stir up buzz and get slightly higher ratings than usual.
But at this level, first place in the time slot was already practically guaranteed.
No, he could boldly predict it would record historically high ratings among all programs.
"Now, let's move straight into Part 2! We'll have some time to take viewer questions!"
"Alright, let's see what we have! I'll spin the random letter box!"
A large letter box appeared before their eyes as a flashy hologram.
Bang!
When the MC kicked the letter box.
Swoosh!
A single letter popped out.
"Ah, it's a question for Jin Yu-ha!"
[ Question for Jin Yu-ha! I know you train every single day, and I'm curious what your daily schedule looks like! ]
'Hm? A question for me? My training schedule?'
That was a question I could answer properly.
All I had to do was state the training I do every day.
I picked up the mic and answered.
"Umm, I usually wake up around 4 a.m. and check my sword path and do aerobic training until 6 a.m. From 6 to 8 a.m., I do 10-times gravity training. From 8 to 11 a.m., it's live monster combat training. Then I attend academy classes, and after classes, I usually do full-scale training until about 9 p.m. From 9 p.m. to 1 a.m., I usually do sensory control training."
"......Excuse me?"
"Well, it varies slightly by day of the week, but that's the basics."
"W-wait a minute! You barely sleep, only about 3 hours, then when exactly do you, uh, rest?"
"Hm? During classes, in between?"
"Pardon......? I heard classes at Velvet Academy are usually no joke."
"Come on, academy classes are rest time. Ah, except for the swordsmanship major classes. Master's classes are harder than training, though. On those days, I just don't rest."
"......."
It was an expression as if they were looking at a freak.
After that, similar questions kept coming.
[ Question for Jin Yu-ha! Could you show us some of your swordsmanship? ]
[ Question for Jin Yu-ha! What was your most dangerous moment, and how did you feel?! ]
[ Question for Jin Yu-ha! I heard you're not only excellent at swordsmanship but also in commanding. What should we do in this kind of situation? A~ ]
[ Question for Jin Yu-ha! ]
[ Question for Jin Yu-ha! ]
[ Question for Jin Yu-ha! ]
'Seriously. Why do they keep asking only me instead of the others.......'
No.
Maybe this is for the better?
This might actually be better than having a question go to Ga-eul sunbae or Lee Yu-ri and getting a weird answer.
'The questions are nothing special anyway.'
I was a little worried the party members might feel hurt that all the questions kept coming to me.
But judging from the oddly proud expressions everyone was wearing, I didn't see any sign of that.
"......So, Jin Yu-ha, is there anything you can't do?"
"Ah, is that the next question?"
"Oh, no! I-I was talking to myself! Continuing on, the last question! It's for Jin Yu-ha again!"
Swoosh!
But this time, it was a different kind of question.
[ Jin Yu-haaaaa! Have you ever had a girlfriend by any chance? If so, how many times? ]
It was a mischievous question.
Because they were wearing lie detectors, private questions like this were normally filtered out beforehand, but they had missed this one due to the sheer volume of questions flooding in.
'Tsk, so this kind of question finally came.'
"......."
I don't know why, but a sudden silence fell over the studio.
I clicked my tongue.
'Well, it's easy to answer. Though it's a bit embarrassing. There's a lie detector anyway. What's the point of bullshitting.'
I spoke in a calm voice.
"Not even once."
As if I ever had one.
Before I came here, I was an orphan busy scraping by just to survive, so I had no time for luxuries like dating.
The only hobby I had was the phone game Velvet School Life.
And since I got here, I'm living day to day, split into hourly chunks, because I can't let this damn world be destroyed. Dating? Where would I find the time for that sweet and sappy stuff?
"......R-really?"
"I don't have any."
"......Seriously? Not even once, until now?"
"No, I don't. Seriously."
Why do they keep asking what they already asked?
Are they messing with me?
Do they hate guys who have never dated or something?
I frowned.
"Excuse me, I think you're being a bit rude right now? I'm even wearing a lie-detection artifact here. Why would I lie? And anyway, where would I find the time to date? I'm busy as hell clearing gates, doing personal training, and catching those Demonized Human bastards."
I sounded guilty, my words getting more numerous and faster.
Forever-alone types always get sensitive when you poke at their single status.
"......Ah. Then what about later on?"
"Well, later on....... When the world truly becomes peaceful, I suppose I could think about it then."
I don't know why they're so interested in someone else's love life, but I finished my answer like that.
'Tsk, I really shouldn't have come on a show like this. Damn brat.......'
Jin Yu-ha ground his teeth toward Chairwoman Rina like that, but.......
That day, when the fans who had attended the recording returned, Jin Yu-ha's fan cafe erupted into chaos, as if oil had been poured onto a fire.
And, for some reason.
That night. Inside Utopia as well, a party was held, clinking glasses.