Chapter 107
Chapter 107
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 107
Chapter Title: A Test of Cooperation
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Separated from her members by the random room assignments, Seol-ah, who had entered the room first, began unpacking while waiting for her new roommate.
‘This is making me needlessly self-conscious.’
The camera installed high in the corner of the room was subtly unnerving, making her feel like her every move was unnatural.
*Whirr, whirr.*
The soft sound of a rolling suitcase stopped just outside the door.
The face that peeked in belonged to Si-ah, whose fair skin, cute front teeth, and round eyes and lips gave her a rabbit-like appearance.
“Ah! Seonbae-nim!”
“Si-ah!”
Both Seol-ah and Si-ah had been secretly worried they would end up with an awkward roommate, so they were overjoyed and clasped hands.
“Let’s talk while we unpack.”
“Hehet. I just have to pop open my suitcase!”
Si-ah beamed and flung her suitcase wide open. Seeing sensitive items like underwear visible through a plastic bag, Seol-ah quickly moved to block the camera’s line of sight.
“Si-ah, we’re filming. You should put your sensitive things away.”
“Oh!”
Spotting the camera, Si-ah blushed and hurriedly tidied her things.
“Phew. Thank you, Seonbae-nim.”
“Sigh. Today was tough, wasn’t it?”
Seol-ah said, perching on the edge of the bed.
“It wasn’t physically tiring, but it’s my first time filming like this, so I’m really nervous. I’m scared I’ll make a mistake.”
“That’s what makes it tough.”
Seol-ah said with a gentle smile.
“I guess so…”
While Seol-ah and Si-ah were talking, the hallway gradually grew noisier.
Soon, a staff member came in, struggling with a large plastic bag.
“There are two of you?”
“Yes.”
The staff member took out two simple bento boxes that came without soup.
“Please eat and gather back in the lobby by 7 o’clock.”
“Okay. Thank you.”
The meal, served in round paper bowls, was a doenjang bibimbap.
“They didn’t even give us soup.”
“I know. We’ll just have to eat it with water.”
Using towels instead of napkins, Seol-ah and Si-ah mixed their rice.
“Mm… this is better than I expected.”
“The sesame oil is doing all the heavy lifting, but it’s probably just because we’re hungry, right?”
“Ah, seriously. I thought my wrist was going to break during the chest compressions earlier. I can’t believe they made us do that on a variety show…”
For a moment, Seol-ah recalled the CPR scene from earlier.
‘Did the person who first found my dad when he collapsed know CPR? If they had, would he have survived?’
“…Unni, are you crying?”
“Ah, no. My eyes are just dry since there’s no boiler heating.”
Seol-ah wiped away the tear that had trickled down her cheek, applied some eye drops, and returned to the previous conversation.
“It feels like they had an ulterior motive, but I still think it was a good thing from a societal perspective.”
“Yes…”
“Does your manager still make you skip meals?”
“Ack… No. Thanks to you, Seonbae-nim, and Manager Min-jun.”
“You even know our Timjang-nim’s name?”
“Of course! I heard he was in Fire Emblem’s debut lineup.”
Seol-ah ate her meal with a curious smile.
* * *
On her way to the lobby, Seul-bi ran into Ro-si and made a call.
“Oppa!”
-*What is it? Is something wrong?*
“Nope. We had bibimbap, and I was just curious what you guys were eating.”
-*You scared me… We’re having kalguksu.*
“Eh? Is that all? I was hoping to console myself with some pictures, but that’s a letdown.”
*Bzzzt. <Photo>.*
*Bzzzt. <Photo>.*
*Bzzzt. <Photo>.*
-*Hey! What are you doing?*
The pictures Choi Yoo-jun had posted in the group chat appetizingly showed translucent slices of parboiled octopus, spicy raw fish salad, and kalguksu.
“Khehehehe.”
-*…The kalguksu is our meal…*
Sensing Min-jun’s slight panic, Seul-bi snickered.
“So the octopus and raw fish salad are side dishes for drinks? Come on, why would you hide that? I wanted you guys to eat something delicious.”
-*…I was worried you’d get jealous.*
“Mhm. Always so considerate. Enjoy your meal. Don’t worry about us.”
-*Okay… See you tomorrow.*
As Seul-bi hung up, Ro-si burst out laughing.
“Ehehe. Min-jun Oppa got caught trying to be considerate, huh?”
“Yep. Aren’t our oppas cute?”
“Yeah! Very.”
Ro-si and Seul-bi linked arms and walked on with cheerful expressions.
Just then, they saw Seol-ah and Si-ah leaving their room.
“Unni! Si-ah’s with you? Same room?”
“Yes!”
Si-ah said with a bright smile.
“Did you have bibimbap too, Unni?”
“Yeah.”
“Did you see what the oppas ate?”
“No?”
“The octopus and spicy raw fish salad looked so good. It’d be great if we could go eat some after our schedule ends.”
“Aish! Talking about food again!”
With Yi-na joining them, Answer was complete. It turned out that each Answer member was rooming with a member of N-Pink.
* * *
“If you’ve been drinking, just go to sleep, man.”
“Don’ wanna. Gonna do VR.”
Tipsy and stumbling, Choi Yoo-jun put on the VR headset.
“You’re going to break the TV like that.”
“As the manager of the great Answer and Hyung’s disciple, one must maintain a sound mind even when drunk, you see, you son of a… uh…”
“…What kind of nonsense is this now…”
Choi Yoo-jun muttered to himself, flailing his hands around.
*He’ll probably sober up if he keeps at it.*
I opened my laptop and browsed Answer’s Tube channel.
The recent videos of their Ellegang photoshoot and school uniform shoot had garnered views in the tens of thousands.
-I became a fan because of the VR, then these videos sealed the deal.
-Why do I like Seul-bi the most when there are three centers?
-lol Is it because she eats well? And Seul-bi could totally be the center in any other group.
-For real. Seol-ah-noona is an amazing singer, and Seul-bi is a great dancer and can rap well too!
-Huh? Isn't Ro-si the main rapper? I thought Seul-bi was the main dancer. And Yi-na is the center.
-Now that you mention it, Ro-si feels a bit out of place. What’s her deal? Do they have two centers?
-The former member was a lead vocalist, so maybe Ro-si is a lead vocalist too?
Come to think of it, Ro-si hadn’t been given a proper stage to shine yet.
The fact that *Best Idol*, a show built on idol competition, wasn’t featuring rap was probably because none of the Your Girl members they were desperate to promote were skilled rappers.
For a moment, an indefinable change began to stir in my ‘Third Eye’ before gradually fading away.
*What was that? Why does it keep teasing something and then disappearing?*
*‘Well… it’s probably nothing.’*
I pushed the thought aside and opened the VR map-making tool. I needed to perfect the map before Answer’s showcase.
I was deep into my work, adding effects to the map’s background, when Choi Yoo-jun suddenly caught my eye. He had his arms spread out like wings.
He looked like someone on a narrow plank at the top of a tall building, trying to grab a cake at the other end.
“Yoo-jun, be careful. Don’t go falling on the flo—.”
“Ah, aaack!”
Before I could finish, Choi Yoo-jun tilted as if he’d lost his balance in mid-air and then leaped forward.
*Thud!*
After slamming into the wall next to the hotel window, Choi Yoo-jun slid down to the floor.
“…You idiot.”
* * *
In the lobby, teams were being interviewed in the order they arrived for insert shots, while the host and production crew had a long, serious discussion.
-Alright, we’ll finish up with N-Pink and then start the main shoot. The remaining teams will do their interviews after.
“Yes!”
-We will now begin the official mission to determine the next best idol.
-This is a mission that requires quick thinking. You will watch an original choreography and must master it by tomorrow morning.
“Haaaah…”
-However, there would be no difference in scores if that were all, right? Outside of the demonstration, you will only be allowed to practice after 5 AM tomorrow.
“Haaaah…”
Lacking confidence in their ability to learn dances by sight, about 40% of the contestants sighed with worry.
“Shouldn’t this kind of mission have been in the first round?”
“For real. The order feels weird.”
“The first round really felt more like the finals.”
“We’re wearing mics.”
“Ah!”
The members who had been grumbling, having completely forgotten they were mic’d up, flinched at Seol-ah’s words and glanced nervously at the sound team.
-Now, let’s welcome the team that will be assisting with this original choreography mission, Glass Fox!
-Hello, everyone. I see a lot of familiar faces.
“Hello!”
-Yep, howdy-doody?
The contestants gave wry smiles at the exaggerated greeting from Glass Fox.
“Ugh… ‘Howdy-doody’…”
“What’s ‘howdy-doody’?”
“A greeting from about a hundred years ago.”
“Ugh.”
The MC reappeared in the center, holding a 70-centimeter-tall hourglass.
-This is a precisely timed 30-minute hourglass. Our production team has verified it multiple times with a digital stopwatch. The design is quite beautiful, isn’t it? It’s a very desirable clock. To the crew, please send me the purchase link after filming. I think it would be a fantastic decorative piece.
The MC went back and forth with the crew about the hourglass for a while.
-Alright! The moment the last grain of sand falls after this hourglass is flipped will be the moment the choreography lesson ends.
The sand in the hourglass began to fall, and the 30-minute choreography demonstration started.
The choreography was just under two minutes long, but it featured unusual moves that weren’t commonly used.
However, Seol-ah, who was fairly confident in her dancing, was able to memorize the sequence and details of the choreography.
As her mind relaxed, Seol-ah found herself distracted by other things.
‘It can’t be this simple… There must be something more to it…’
As the end time drew near, a nagging feeling, a premonition she couldn’t quite grasp, kept tickling her mind. It was because there was a clear divide between those who had already learned the dance and those who were anxiously struggling.
‘My roommate, Si-ah, is struggling with the dance.’
‘Seul-bi’s roommate is also struggling.’
‘Ro-si is struggling, but her roommate is relaxed.’
‘Yi-na has learned it, but her roommate is struggling.’
“…Ah!”
Seol-ah let out a gasp at her sudden realization, drawing the attention of those around her.
“Unni, what’s wrong?”
Seul-bi, who was at ease, approached Seol-ah and asked quietly.
“…I’ll tell you in a bit.”
-Alright! Stop! 30 minutes are up! Even if your bodies don’t remember, I trust that your minds do.
“Ahaha! Isn’t it the other way around? Our bodies should be the ones to remember…”
The members of Your Girl, overflowing with confidence, were laughing and enjoying the situation, while most of the other contestants let out troubled sighs.
-As I said before, the dorm rooms will be unlocked after 5 AM tomorrow. It seems this mission requires not just muscle memory, but a good memory in general. I wish all the contestants the best of luck. Let’s all head to bed for tonight! I want to get back to my room quickly too.
“Thank you for your hard work!”
“Thank you for your hard woooork!”
-Please return your mics. And the teams that haven’t done their interviews yet, please stay behind.
With the host’s closing remarks and the staff’s request, the filming wrapped up. Seul-bi quickly scurried over to Seol-ah.
“What is it? What is it?”
“Si-ah, can you bring all of N-Pink to our room?”
“Huh? Yes!”
Instead of answering Seul-bi, Seol-ah called for all the members of N-Pink and Answer.
Soon, the N-Pink members gathered, looking puzzled.
“I’m sure some of you might have noticed something while watching today’s mission.”
“That one Answer member and one N-Pink member were put in each room?”
Seol-ah nodded at Seul-bi’s words.
“That, but there’s something else too unusual to be a coincidence. I’ll tell you what I noticed. I didn’t find the choreography difficult. But my roommate, Si-ah, is struggling. Seul-bi, you’re comfortable with the dance, but your roommate, Ji-yoon, is having a hard time, right? Gabi is doing well, but Ro-si…”
“Ah! They mixed us up on purpose!”
“For real!”
“Ahh, you’re right!”
One by one, they understood Seol-ah’s explanation, but when some N-Pink members still looked confused, Si-ah, sensing the mood, spoke up.
“So, what Seol-ah Unni is saying is that they seem to have intentionally paired a skilled person with someone who isn’t. And maybe tomorrow, the scoring method they reveal for this ‘blind mission’ won’t be based on individuals, but on the lowest score in each room. Is that… what you mean?”
“Exactly.”
“Aah!”
The N-Pink members who finally understood gasped.
“To protect their own individual or group scores, most people will ignore their struggling roommate, so they’ll all get low scores. Except for those who were paired with someone from their own group.”
“That makes sense.”
“So let’s forget that we’re competing and work together.”
“…As if we could ever compete with you, Seonbae-nim… Anyway, what Unni said seems right, so I’ll prepare with Ro-si Seonbae-nim.”
N-Pink’s leader, Gabi, said confidently, trying to hide her bitter feelings.
“Okay. We’ll do our best too, so see you tomorrow.”
“Yes! Seonbae-nim!”
Just then, the members of Your Girl, who were passing by the door, glanced at Answer and N-Pink with questioning eyes. Seol-ah and the rest of Answer gave them a faint smile.