Let's Give It a Shot
The aftermath of that shocking and terrifying soccer match was far greater than anyone could have anticipated.
Without anyone realizing it, it had begun to influence many things around the Three Meals House.
"You want to adopt some of the rescue dogs?"
Dojin asked, quickly swallowing the coffee in his mouth.
Eun-seop's request was that unexpected.
Eun-seop also wore an awkward expression, as if he hadn't expected to make such a request himself.
"Yes. I discussed it with the team members, and the majority of them shared the same opinion."
"Hmm..."
Dojin scratched his head, lost in thought.
The security team had never made a request like this before.
So he wanted to grant it if possible, but...
But I've already finalized everything with the shelter.
In a few days, the new stray animal shelter operated by Paju City was scheduled to open.
Dojin, who had taken on the role of external auditor for the shelter, had already arranged to transfer the rescue dogs there in time for the opening.
Receiving a request like this now left him in a bit of a bind.
The shelter had designed its operational plan from the very beginning with the expectation of taking in the rescue dogs from Dojin.
Besides, there was another issue.
If we want to raise all these rescue dogs, there are probably a lot of permits we need to get.
Fostering one or two dogs temporarily was completely different from raising dozens of them like they were doing now.
They would have to undergo various inspections to prove they could raise the dogs safely, and they might even have to undergo periodic external audits.
This was because there were far more people than one would think who claimed to protect rescue dogs, only to sell them off to illegal facilities.
Does that mean we have to build a proper shelter for them right away?
Right now, the only thing they had was a temporary fence built by Shan-hun and Begter.
They couldn't keep that many dogs indoors like Ttorang-i, so they would ultimately have to build a separate outdoor space.
There were plenty of other problems that immediately came to mind.
However, the security team leader's next words resolved Dojin's worries in an instant.
"Ah, I don't mean we want to keep all of the rescue dogs. I should have clarified this first. I apologize for the misunderstanding."
"Oh? Then how many?"
"We're thinking of two, maybe three at most. The dogs are gentle, but the team members who looked after them actually found themselves receiving a lot of comfort."
"Ah! Animal therapy?"
Dojin nodded at Eun-seop's words.
Now he understood why the security team wanted to raise dogs.
As if confirming Dojin's thoughts, Eun-seop continued.
"Yes. After all, most of the team members dispatched here are either rookies or undergoing rehabilitation."
Dojin was already aware of this.
Since the pretext Hye-seok had used when sending the security team here was training.
And in fact, except for the security team leaders, they were all rookies or individuals undergoing rehabilitation therapy.
The atmosphere in the security team was rather heavy.
The rookies were constantly walking on eggshells,
and the rehab patients were gloomy in their own way, making the overall atmosphere quite heavy.
But if the dogs could comfort them, he could easily grant a request of that scale.
"Alright. Please choose the ones you want and let me know. The shelter won't mind that small of a number, so it shouldn't be an issue."
"Yes, thank you. With this, we can finally redeem ourselves..."
"Pardon?"
"..."
"You aren't planning to raise these dogs just to get revenge for the last match, are you?"
"..."
Eun-seop did not answer Dojin's question.
He merely averted his gaze toward the window.
Dojin let out a dry chuckle at the sight and spoke.
"Give it up. I don't mean to look down on the security team's skills, but even without the dogs, it looked like it would have been a tough match to win. No one on the security team could stop Shan-hun or Begter..."
"Ahem!"
Eun-seop's poker face crumbled instantly under Dojin's barrage of hard truths.
He knew it too, deep down.
None of the team members had the physical strength to withstand those two.
But that only applied to the regular team members.
"The team leaders can handle them easily."
"Wait, are the team leaders going to play soccer this time? That's a bit..."
Dojin quickly swallowed his next words.
He had almost blurted out, Isn't that a bit unfair?
But even though he hadn't said it aloud, the nuance was fully conveyed.
"Don't worry. It's not like the team leaders would gather just to beat Shan-hun."
"..."
Dojin couldn't bring himself to agree with Eun-seop's words.
After all, hadn't they already played that ridiculous, chaotic match?
It wouldn't be surprising at all if the team leaders formed an all-star team just to face a squad of humans and dogs.
However, Eun-seop's next words were surprisingly reasonable.
"I was thinking of having Shan-hun form a team as well, so we can start a league."
"Pardon? A league?"
"Yes. Up until now, teams were formed by shifts, so we couldn't play proper soccer matches. The skill gap was too wide, and with four teams trying to play, the schedules never aligned."
The security team operated in four shifts on a three-rotation system.
Under these circumstances, it was impossible to hold proper matches.
Aside from the shift on rest, it was impossible for anyone to fully focus on the game.
"So, I'm thinking of mixing the members to form soccer teams this time. Of course, including Shan-hun and Begter."
Eun-seop's plan was quite detailed.
This meant he had given this matter a great deal of thought.
And as Dojin looked at Eun-seop, warning bells had been ringing incessantly in his head.
This guy is a fanatic.
There had been someone like this at the factory where he used to work.
Someone who was usually quiet but turned into a madman the moment soccer was involved.
Thus, Dojin decided to follow his gut instinct.
"Alright. Do as you wish, Team Leader. However, Shan-hun and Begter must agree to it of their own accord."
In Dojin's experience, it was best to just go along with what people like this wanted.
It's not like it's that difficult anyway.
Yet, as if he had been waiting for Dojin's response, Eun-seop spoke immediately.
"Yes, I have already received positive responses from both of them. They said they would do it if the Representative gave his permission."
"...You work fast."
"This is just the basics."
Eun-seop replied as if it were nothing.
Pfft.
Dojin let out a chuckle without realizing it.
It was unfamiliar to see this side of the usually taciturn man.
But for some reason, this side of him wasn't so bad either.
"By the way, you seem to have gotten quite close to those two. You didn't use to talk much outside of work matters."
It wasn't that Eun-seop had kept his distance from Shan-hun; Eun-seop was just that kind of person by nature.
The type who rarely talked about personal matters outside of work.
So it was bound to be surprising that he had already asked for their thoughts.
"Haha, matters like this need to be handled quickly. And though you might not know it, Representative, the people who played in the match together have gotten quite close since then."
"Ah, is that so?"
"Yes. Thanks to that, the atmosphere within the security team has improved. Before, we only moved within our own shifts, so even though we were on the same security team, there was a bit of awkwardness."
"Ah..."
Dojin knew exactly what Eun-seop meant.
Even when eating in the cafeteria or resting, the security team members tended to stick strictly to their own shifts.
Although things had been improving slightly thanks to Dojin hosting a meat party once a month, it was true that they were still somewhat awkward around each other.
Since the players chosen to represent the security team last time had been drafted from each shift, it seemed their interactions had expanded around them.
Is this the positive function of sports? If the atmosphere is like this...
Dojin looked at the calendar.
Before he knew it, the end of November was approaching.
And that meant it was time for this month's meat party.
"Welcome—oh? Look who it is! If it isn't our big spender, Mr. Baek!"
"Haha, how have you been?"
Entering the butcher shop in town, Dojin smiled awkwardly at the owner's shout.
Unlike Dojin, the butcher welcomed him as if he were greeting a long-lost family member.
"I've been sad because I haven't seen you, Mr. Baek! It's almost the end of the month, and since you hadn't come by, I was so worried you'd switched to another butcher shop."
"Haha..."
"My, aren't you popular, Oppa? First it was animals, and now you've developed the ability to charm butcher shop owners?"
"Well, does he even need a special ability for that? Anyone would love him if they bought that much meat every single month, even if he weren't the Representative."
Passing by the awkward Dojin, Do-hee and Seung-wan naturally handed their pre-written order sheet to an employee.
They were already used to the owner welcoming Dojin warmly, as it happened every time they came here.
It was much more efficient to move separately and order the meat rather than wait for that conversation to finish.
"Whoa, it's a lot today too."
The employee said, looking overwhelmed by the order sheet.
As if this were also familiar, Seung-wan replied with a smile.
"We have a lot of people to feed."
In fact, it was an amount that would normally be needed for a village festival, so it was only natural to get such a reaction.
Even Seung-wan, who bought it every time, was surprised.
Just then, Do-hee, who was checking their channel on her phone, frowned and spoke.
"There are a lot of people looking for new content lately."
"Ah, the content parrots? Ugh, just ignore them. There are attention-seekers like that everywhere."
"I know, but... it feels like there are especially many comments like this lately."
With those words, Do-hee handed her phone to Seung-wan.
"..."
"Even you think the comment section has been a bit lukewarm lately, right, Seung-wan? It's not just this video; the comments on all our recent uploads are pretty much like this."
Do-hee looked downcast as she spoke.
Since she read the comments the most out of the three of them, she was the most affected by them.
Scratch, scratch.
"Hmm..."
Seung-wan scratched her head and frowned.
It was a habit of hers whenever she was deep in thought.
"It is a bit tricky."
She had intended to just brush it off when Do-hee first brought it up.
But seeing it for herself, the response in the comments was indeed worse than she had expected.
While part of it could be attributed to the increase in malicious commenters now that they were a large channel, the overall atmosphere was too negative to simply dismiss it as that.
The problem was that there was no immediate solution.
Given our channel's concept, we can't exactly do anything provocative.
If one had to categorize Three Meals Life in a Closed School, it was a daily life channel.
Since it showed their life at the closed school, the content was bound to be limited.
If anything, it was stranger that they had enough variety to upload different videos for each day of the week as they currently did.
Still, she could understand why the subscribers were reacting this way.
To call it a daily life channel... there have been way too many incidents.
Rescuing stray cats and dogs, a ghost scare, a hawk suddenly appearing,
that hawk bringing in a honey buzzard, and then an otter showing up out of nowhere.
And even the neighbors from the next village trying to kill the otter.
It was almost embarrassing to call it a normal daily life channel.
"...Can't be helped. Should we film a Q&A video today?"
"Huh? What's that?"
"It's content where you take questions from viewers and answer them. Big YouTubers or rising YouTubers do it all the time."
"Oh! Then which one is my brother? Big? Or rising?"
"Well, if I had to say, probably both? Since he grew into a major channel in such a short period."
Do-hee thought about it for a moment and nodded at Seung-wan's words.
Even racking her brain, she couldn't think of any other YouTuber who had surpassed one million subscribers as quickly as Dojin.
"Then are we filming it in Oppa's studio?"
Dojin's private workspace next to the office was equipped with a studio set up for live broadcasts.
She asked assuming they would film there since it was a Q&A, but contrary to Do-hee's expectations, Seung-wan shook her head.
"No, since it's our first Q&A, let's go for a more relaxed vibe."
"A relaxed vibe? What do you mean?"
At Do-hee's question, Seung-wan replied with a mysterious smile.
"Wouldn't it be better to film outside while communicating freely, rather than shooting a stiff video indoors?"
"Well, that's true..."
"And instead of just doing a simple Q&A, eating a meal while doing it would make it feel more intimate."
"A meal? Seung-wan, what are you..."
Stopping mid-sentence, Do-hee turned her head to follow Seung-wan's gaze.
Her eyes had been fixed on one spot for a while now.
And as Do-hee followed that gaze, her head tilted even further.
Why is she looking at that?
What Seung-wan was looking at was the local mart just outside the butcher shop.
To be precise, she couldn't take her eyes off the instant ramen displayed in front of it.
Just as the thought Is she hungry? crossed Do-hee's mind, Seung-wan's next words reached her ears.
"They said they wanted new content, right? Then since we're filming anyway, let's try doing a mukbang too."