Chapter 3
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 3
Chapter Title: Boy Rolling Down Stairs (2)
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School is a small society.
Even in a cramped classroom, hierarchies form. Treatment from teachers and kids varies by class rank, and invisible power struggles and childish games of dominance begin.
“Hey. Jeong Eun-ho! Your house is in that shanty town on the hillside, right?”
Shanty town. Rickety shacks on the verge of collapse.
That’s where my family lived.
On rainy days, the ceiling leaked, turning the whole house into a flood zone. During heavy snow, we all barely slept, terrified the roof might cave in.
There was only one reason I wanted to become an idol.
‘I want to make a ton of money.’
Sappy dreams like moving people or giving comfort? I’d tossed those aside long ago.
‘Please let me succeed.’
I’d always prayed to the moon hanging outside my window. And vowed to keep pushing until that moon turned into dozens of stage lights.
* * *
Click—
I returned to the empty dorm.
As soon as I climbed to the attic room and shut the door, I muttered in a small voice.
“System window, activate.”
No sooner had I spoken than the system window popped up.
[Sub Quest]
- Will you accept ‘Boy Rolling Down Stairs’?
- YES / NO
I stared blankly at the window floating before me. A sub quest after the main quest...
‘I thought it was just Find X, but there’s way more to do.’
My head throbbed.
Boy Rolling Down Stairs. From the name alone, one guess came to mind...
‘Please don’t let it be what I think.’
I pressed YES.
Woooong—
[Sub Quest Activated]
Soon, a window explaining the quest appeared.
[Sub Quest]
- Tomorrow at the DIEN company building, debut team member ○○○ will tumble down the stairs and suffer a leg injury. You must prevent it.
- Reward: ???
“Damn it. My guess was right.”
Boy Rolling Down Stairs meant preventing a member’s injury.
According to the description, one of us would roll down the stairs, and I had to stop it...
Suddenly, I felt like I was losing my mind.
Barely surviving murder yesterday and regressing to the past was enough to drive anyone insane, and now I had to prevent someone else’s injury? In a game, I’d have rage-quit with a middle finger, but this was reality.
‘Wait. What happens if I fail?’
I reread the quest window. It didn’t specify the injury’s severity. But it was certain to impact our upcoming debut.
‘No matter what, I have to stop it. I have to...’
[Sub Quest]
- Tomorrow at the DIEN company building, debut team member ○○○ will tumble down the stairs and suffer a leg injury. You must prevent it.
‘This is way too unhelpful.’
Exactly. The quest was brutally vague. No details on location, person, or time.
‘If it just told me who, where, and when, it’d be easy to stop. How am I supposed to save anyone with this limited info?’
A sigh escaped me naturally, but the weight felt heavier than the frustration.
If I failed, a member gets hurt. Beyond debut delays, in the worst case, they might never dance again.
I let out a short breath and looked up at the sky through the window. The moon hung there.
I closed my eyes and prayed.
‘Please let us debut safely.’
* * *
“Manwol’s Boys.”
“Yes?”
The manager continued in a pretty matter-of-fact tone.
“Manwol’s Boys. That’s your group name.”
Group name. In idol life, it was crucial. Like a book’s cover or a restaurant’s sign.
‘Manwol’s Boys...’
I scanned the members’ faces. Everyone wore complicated, subtle expressions.
I felt the same. Unique compared to other groups, so it might stick in people’s minds...
‘Not sure how the public will take it.’
Cha Jae-hyun asked cautiously.
“Could we know what it means?”
“Manwol’s Boys. It means we’ll deliver full, overflowing songs and performances like a full moon in the sky. Something like that.”
“Oh, that’s nice.”
Cha Jae-hyun smiled faintly. Hard to tell if it was genuine or just sucking up...
“Why the long faces? Don’t like it?”
We all shook our heads at once.
“No. It’s good.”
“I like it.”
“The name and meaning are great.”
...We never had a choice anyway.
The manager looked us over and said.
“There were a few candidates...”
“Could we hear what they were?”
“Hmm... What were they? Just a bunch. Wanna see?”
We nodded, and he pulled a sheet of paper from his drawer.
“Here. Look.”
We huddled around, peering at the paper.
“......”
We stared for a good while. Probably all thinking the same thing.
‘...What is this crap.’
1. Wow Boys
A name meaning we’ll make people go ‘wow.’
‘Dunno what it is, but it sucks.’
2. Caramel Mint
Like mixing sweet caramel and cool mint, promising diverse stages.
‘Not a cafe drink menu... what even.’
3. Culture Creation Unit
Meaning we’ll lead new culture in the idol world.
‘...One screw-up and they’ll mock us as Blunder Creation Unit.’
4. Happy Now
Meaning we’ll make every audience moment happy.
‘Ha.... Talent to pick such trash.’
The manager grinned.
“Manwol’s Boys is the best, right?”
We nodded reluctantly.
Yeah. Definitely better than those four.
“It was supposed to come out way earlier, but you know how picky CEO Eun Seong-sik is.”
‘Eun Seong-sik...’
My face hardened without thinking.
DIEN CEO Eun Seong-sik. Kicked out Kwon Hee-yul, parachuted in his son, and wasn’t satisfied—
‘Jeong Eun-ho, was it? Dumb bastard. Thought bungee jumping off the roof right before debut? Haha! And landing on my new car? Tsk. Fresh pick, too...’
Mocked my death for wrecking his new car. A dog wasn’t even worth his level of scum.
That was Eun Seong-sik.
‘I knew he had a bad rep, but he’s real trash.’
Then the manager asked me.
“Jeong Eun-ho. Why the dark face?”
“Huh?”
“You’ve looked like death since earlier. What? Don’t like the name?”
“No. Not at all.”
I forced a smile quickly. Hiding a knife behind it.
‘Eun Seong-sik. Someday, I’ll take you down.’
* * *
Click—
Out of the manager’s office, we stood there dazed for a bit. Complicated expressions all around.
“What do you think of the name?”
“Dunno.”
“I thought it was fine.”
“Yeah. Better than the others.”
“Obviously. Those candidates.... Whew.”
We were all on the same page.
Wow Boys, Caramel Mint, Culture Creation Unit, Happy Now...
Truly awful names.
“Who even came up with them?”
“Dunno. CEO Eun Seong-sik maybe?”
At his name, my face scrunched reflexively.
Then my eyes met Eun Hae-sol’s. One eyebrow twitched as he looked at me.
‘Oh right. Forgot. He’s Eun Seong-sik’s son.’
Maybe offended I badmouthed his dad, he scowled and brushed past.
Cha Jae-hyun glanced at him and said.
“Why would the CEO do that? He’s busy enough.”
Song Yu-bin chimed in carefully.
“Yeah. Let’s not speculate uselessly.”
Seemed settled.
“No way, look! Black Dice sunbaes’ interview.”
Oblivious Baek Si-woo shoved his smartphone forward.
[Interview]
Ye Hyun-ha: Black Dice? Hmm... Rolling dice is like testing fate. So we made all sides our team color black, meaning we entrust our destiny to skill, not luck.
Reporter: Oh, such a deep meaning... Who came up with the name?
Ye Hyun-ha: Black Dice is the name we chose.
Reporter: Really? Any other candidates besides Black Dice?
Hwang Tae-seok: Hyung. Say that here?
Seo I-jin: Better not.
Ye Hyun-ha: Well... Truth is, CEO Eun Seong-sik brought several, but hard to mention here. Sorry. (laughs) Black Dice is what we brainstormed and refined into something better.
Silence fell.
Baek Si-woo burst out laughing.
“Epic! Those candidates really from the CEO! Naming sense on point.”
Glanced at Eun Hae-sol—his face was rotting.
We all nudged Baek Si-woo to stop, but he kept going.
Only after a few minutes could we change the subject.
“Ah. Now it feels real. We’re finally debuting.”
“Good work, everyone.”
“Yeah. Let’s practice! Go go!”
That’s when I noticed a green light draping over me.
Snapping to, the members were already at the emergency exit door.
I shifted to the quest window on my right vision.
‘Absolutely cannot let them use the stairs.’
No one gets hurt. My vow from last night, repeated endlessly.
“Wait. Guys.”
They all turned to me. I steadied my breath and spoke.
“Let’s take the elevator.”
My plan was simple.
In a situation blind to place, time, and person, the only way to prevent the accident.
Block the risky situation entirely.
If no one uses the stairs, the odds of a tumble drop to zero.
Baek Si-woo asked with an annoyed look.
“Huh? It’s just the floor below, why bother?”
I’d anticipated this. Delivered my prepared line from last night.
“Practiced a lot yesterday, my legs are sore.”
Baek Si-woo backed away from the door.
“Oh. Yeah? No choice then.”
Of course, sore legs was a lie. But effective. No one drags a hurt person down stairs.
Then Cha Jae-hyun looked at us heading to the elevator.
“You guys go with Eun-ho on the elevator. I’ll head down the stairs first.”
Predicted that too.
‘Joking around here would likely get shot down.’
I opened my mouth with max seriousness.
“Hyung. Didn’t you hear? Security guy said this morning—emergency exit’s crawling with centipedes, cockroaches, millipedes, all sorts of bugs.”
Cha Jae-hyun’s face stiffened.
He hates bugs. A monster who never stops practice or skips—not even once—but bugs make him flee mid-dance.
And I knew that trait well.
“What...? You’re kidding.”
“Why would I joke about this?”
“Why are there bugs in the company?”
“Dunno. Heard some psycho released them on purpose.... Anyway, you really going?”
Cha Jae-hyun silently headed straight for the elevator.
As expected—no one risks bugs crawling everywhere on stairs.
Not just him; others too. Human nature hates bugs. Hitting that worked.
I’d even prepped for some idiot saying ‘Bugs? Pfft’ and charging stairs anyway.
‘Lucky no such idiot.’
We headed to the elevator.
‘Barely safe.’
At that point, I had no idea what awaited me...