New Friends (4)

The final boss hidden beneath the skin of a young child. Proof that Seol Ha-woon was right once again.

While the entire Korean peninsula was in an uproar, Lee Si-ah browsed through various portal sites.

As expected, countless reporters had pre-written their articles before the broadcast even ended.

Lee Si-ah quickly took screenshots.

Most of them would subtly edit or take down their articles soon, but she planned to spread them before they could. Had they learned nothing from last time?

You guys deserve to get dragged~

The live chat was still filled with nothing but gasps and screams. It was a miracle the server hadn't crashed with how fast the messages were scrolling. Normal communication was completely impossible.

Lee Si-ah opened an online community instead.

There were countless posts, but refreshing the page instantly pushed ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠down dozens of pages. If I post now, it'll get buried, so I should write it later~

That was how an amateur thought.

Pages getting pushed back meant, in other words, that the number of active users was astronomical. It was the perfect storm to get a post onto the trending board.

[Labyrinth NaN] Reporters who wrote their articles too early.jpg

The ".jpg" was crucial. Among posts that did nothing but spam exclamation marks, uploading an image with a highly provocative title would make the views and upvotes skyrocket, shooting it straight to the trending page.

"Hehe."

But the labyrinth wasn't over yet.

The boss fight remained.

"Screeech!"

Right on cue, the spiked monster on the screen roared.

The boss battle was fierce. The monster withstood Kate's javelins multiple times and deflected Lee Jun-ho's sword strikes, but it faltered under Seol Ha-woon's sniping.

It was a shot that hit its "back" with pinpoint accuracy.

With its weakness exposed, everyone rushed in, tearing into the boss's rear.

"Krrgh!"

A shriek of agony. Hacked to pieces, the dying boss glared in a specific direction with a final, wrathful gesture. Then, it fired its spikes.

Swoosh!

A desperate, mutually destructive attack fueled by pure malice.

The menacing spikes shot forward like bullets.

The monster's target was the rooftop—Seol Ha-woon, the one who had seen through it and exposed its weakness.

*Whoosh...*

At that moment, the world slowed down. Slow motion. The camera shifted from the spikes flying through the air to Seol Ha-woon's perspective.

He stared at the spikes hurtling toward him and reached out his hand.

Then, the spikes that had been rushing to impale him stopped dead in their tracks right before his eyes. As if blocked by an invisible barrier, they lost all kinetic energy and ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠fell to the ground.

Clatter. Clatter.

The fragments of the spikes crumbled dryly like grains of sand.

Just then, the camera zoomed in on the back of Seol Ha-woon's hand. The "mana layer" over his skin gleamed under the camera lens.

Lee Si-ah scanned the public opinion on live chat, communities, and social media.

Fortunately, the accusations of Seol Ha-woon trolling were somewhat buried.

Actually, rather than being buried...

It had completely buried Kim Du-gyeom instead.

I dislike Kim Du-gyeom. In fact, I utterly despise him. It isn't just because of the heinous nature of his crimes.

There are many villains who commit crimes in this world. There are criminals far worse than Kim Du-gyeom.

Yet, the reason I remember Kim Du-gyeom so vividly is because the people he killed—the family he slaughtered—were good people.

Too good. Good people who should never have been sacrificed to a piece of human trash like Kim Du-gyeom.

I had met that family before.

So, while the current situation isn't entirely bad, it makes me anxious.

Because I feel like that crazy bastard, Kim Du-gyeom, might pull something at any moment.

His tone was suddenly so blunt. I couldn't tell if he was sulking or just jealous.

"What's with him?"

Uncharacteristically for Kang Hyun, he sent three messages in a row.

And then...

"..."

It was Seo Ji-woo.

Seo Ji-woo, who hadn't even spoken to me, let alone texted me since that day, suddenly?

It felt strangely ominous, but I decided to reply for now.

"Man, how is this going to turn out?"

On a dark night, along the walking path of the Labyrinth Exploration NaN headquarters. PD Im Hyeong-uk was grinning from ear to ear as he scrolled through his smartphone.

"This week is insane too."

The entire world was talking about Labyrinth Exploration NaN.

As a staff member, the sheer volume of PPL and advertising inquiries pouring in was already historically massive, but the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠place where he felt it the most was definitely the internet.

Not only in Korea, but across Asian regions like China, Japan, and Southeast Asia, the show was completely sweeping the boards, and reactions were slowly starting to build up in North America and Europe as well.

If there was one slightly disappointing thing, it was that Seol Ha-woon wasn't getting dragged as much as expected in this episode.

Maybe it was because he hard-carried every labyrinth, or maybe Lee Jun-ho's fandom was backing him up, but despite being more self-righteous than ever, the public was actually turning on Kim Du-gyeom instead. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠They said it was unsightly how he pretended to be nice but refused to yield the Scout role.

"What kind of nickname is 'Useless Kim Du-gyeom'... Huh?"

Im Hyeong-uk spotted a bench along the path. Someone was sitting there.

Even from just the back of his head, it was clearly Kim Du-gyeom. He was trembling slightly, clutching his smartphone tightly. It was a strange sight.

"Du-gyeom. What are you doing out here?"

Kim Du-gyeom flinched and raised his head.

"...Ah, it's nothing, PD-nim."

His expression was definitely not "nothing."

Im Hyeong-uk smacked his lips and sat down next to him.

"What, is it because of Seol Ha-woon?"

"..."

Kim Du-gyeom said nothing.

"You can tell me. It's fine."

"...No, it's okay."

Im Hyeong-uk felt a soft spot for Kim Du-gyeom. He had never met a kid as kind as him.

Of course, there were plenty of contestants who treated the writers and PDs well. That was because they wanted screen time, favorable editing, or some other convenience.

But Kim Du-gyeom was an exception. He truly wanted nothing.

He was a pure, innocent kid who didn't calculate things at all.

"Don't lie. We all saw Seol Ha-woon picking on you."

For some reason, Seol Ha-woon targeted Kim Du-gyeom relentlessly. Even this time, when Kim Du-gyeom was purely the victim, a war had broken out between their fandoms, and only innocent Kim Du-gyeom was taking the hit.

"Should I... help you out?"

"No, no. Ha-woon hyung is PD Kim A-rang's one-pick."

"...That's true."

That was the reason why the PDs and writers couldn't openly scold Seol Ha-woon. He was Kim A-rang's favorite, and he had a massive amount of screen time. Especially in the next World Labyrinth, he was so heavily intertwined with Kang Hyun that it would be impossible to write Kang Hyun's narrative without Seol Ha-woon.

"Still, kid. Who knows? Maybe he'll get caught up in some massive controversy later. He looks like he's hiding something shady anyway."

But Im Hyeong-uk was all talk. He couldn't openly help him.

To be honest, Seol Ha-woon was a bit terrifying. The look in his eyes was no joke.

"...I'm really fine."

Kim Du-gyeom smiled bitterly and stood up.

"I should get going, PD-nim."

"Where to?"

"To train."

"Hey, take it easy. If an A-Tier works that hard, what are the guys below you supposed to do?"

With a small smile, Kim Du-gyeom bowed politely.

Im Hyeong-uk scratched the back of his neck as he watched him walk away.

"Man, why does that bastard Seol Ha-woon keep picking on such a nice kid..."

He was as cute and gentle as a fawn.

Feeling frustrated for no reason, Im Hyeong-uk looked up at the full moon in the night sky. An object seemed to shimmer on the moon's surface.

A Porsche 777.

"...I'm definitely buying that with my performance bonus."

The day after the broadcast, the station and the dorms were quite desolate. There was no filming scheduled, allowing the explorers time to process and review the broadcast, while the staff handled post-broadcast tasks.