Survival Island Filming (1)
At Yoon Chang-joon's words, Yeon-woo rose from his seat.
"We're arriving sooner than I expected."
Yoon PD nodded and came over.
"It's not an island all that far from the mainland. By the way, you don't seem to get seasick."
"Ah, no. I'm fine."
He had once spent more than half a year on maritime duty aboard a Chungmugong Yi Sun-sin–class destroyer, the Choi Young. There was no chance a boat like this would make him sick.
"Anyway, Ryu Yeon-woo-ssi. Safety first, safety second. You understand that, right?"
He had never imagined a star of this caliber would appear on a variety show of his own making, so as pleased as he was, the pressure weighed on him just as heavily.
It was variety in name only. In reality it was extreme survival itself, which meant the filming was bound to get rough.
If a top star like Ryu Yeon-woo got hurt during the shoot — even slightly — the press would splash it across every headline, and controversy over safety would inevitably follow.
That was why Yoon PD felt Yeon-woo's appearance was a double-edged sword: the star power would deliver enormous publicity, but it also meant shouldering serious risk.
Understanding the PD's concern, Yeon-woo smiled and nodded.
"Of course. I won't do anything reckless out of competitive spirit or greed. I'm still filming a drama, so I can't afford to get hurt. Don't worry, PD-nim."
When he first heard that Ryu Yeon-woo wanted to appear, Yoon PD had thought it pure good fortune and simply felt glad. But as time passed, the fact that an untrained civilian like Yeon-woo had volunteered of his own accord left him fretting — what if youthful blood and overconfidence led the kid to show off and get injured?
Still, Yoon PD's face, which had gone pale from seasickness, seemed to regain a little color at Yeon-woo's firm assurance.
I was worried because he's still a young actor in his early twenties, but he's someone you can actually talk to. Thank goodness.
Nodding, Yoon PD held out the blindfold he had been carrying.
"Once you disembark and the game begins, we'll instruct you to put this on. After that, the staff will guide you to your designated starting point."
"Understood."
After handing over the blindfold, Yoon PD left. While waiting for the boat to dock, Yeon-woo reviewed the rules he had already been briefed on.
First day of the survival game runs until five in the afternoon.
The original proposal had called for nonstop survival, day and night, until only one person remained — but that had apparently been changed for safety reasons.
Fighting in the dark was a recipe for accidents, large and small.
Ordinary people who've never experienced night combat can trip over a root and end up injured. For the other contestants' sake, this is the better call. Hmm. I wonder where this boat is headed.
Aside from the fact that they had departed from Wando Harbor, no one had been told in advance which island they would be filming on. Ever since the boat cast off, Yeon-woo had been tracking how long they had been underway.
There are over seventeen hundred uninhabited islands in South Jeolla alone, so the odds of guessing which one are slim. But an uninhabited island of a size where thirty people could fight, at roughly this distance… three candidates come to mind…
Just then, a staff member's voice called from outside — they had arrived.
Once the boat moored at the pier, Yeon-woo and Kim Min-su stepped out.
Contestants who had arrived on separate boats were scattered across the small dock.
The moment Yeon-woo appeared, every gaze swung toward him.
"Whoa, he actually came."
"I'm a celebrity too, but this feels like seeing a real celebrity."
Murmurs rippled through the crowd.
In the looks directed at Yeon-woo he could read surprise, curiosity, and a touch of envy — but nowhere among them was there any sense of regarding him as a genuine rival or threat.
Nice. They're properly underestimating me. When this show first airs, the viewers' eyes probably won't be much different.
"All right, filming starts now."
At the FD's cue, everyone stood.
Cameramen around them began rolling on the contestants.
While they waited, each person had followed instructions to put on protective gear, and they had been issued survival guns, smartwatches, and backpacks stocked with various supplies.
Yoon Chang-joon PD raised a white megaphone and spoke.
"Welcome to Survival Island. This is Gagul-do, which became uninhabited four years ago due to population decline. The basic rules are as previously announced, and game-related information will be delivered in real time through the SL Electronics smartwatches you're wearing."
At his words, the contestants examined the smartwatches on their wrists.
Some of them had probably figured out that the smartwatch product placement had come through thanks to Yeon-woo; others couldn't have cared less.
At the mention of Gagul-do, Yeon-woo surveyed his surroundings.
One of the islands I looked up online beforehand.
Gagul-do was roughly circular, with an unpaved road looping around its perimeter and a small branch school that students had once attended. A gentle mountain rose at the island's center, and abandoned houses and temple ruins dotted the landscape. As the fishing village's population steadily dwindled, the island had emptied out; with no particular attractions to draw tourists, the whole place was little more than a ruin now.
After a brief pause, Yoon PD continued.
"Please put on the blindfolds you were given earlier. Safety personnel will shortly guide you to your starting points."
The contestants each donned their blindfolds.
Yeon-woo pulled his from his pocket and put it on as well. Beside him, Kim Min-su clapped a hand on his shoulder.
"Actor-nim. Like the PD said earlier — you absolutely must not get hurt."
"I won't. Don't worry."
Being treated like a child for the first time in a while drew a faint smile from Yeon-woo.
Min-su hyung has been with me since high school, so I probably still look like a kid to him.
A staff member approached.
"I'll guide you from here. Managers will move to the control room with the production team."
"Yes, understood. Actor-nim — fighting!"
Kim Min-su cheered Yeon-woo on, then followed the other managers with the crew. Blindfolded, Yeon-woo boarded a vehicle with the staff member.
"You can sit here."
"Yes."
As he settled into his seat, the man beside him — also blindfolded — seemed to recognize him from his voice alone and spoke up.
"…Are you Ryu Yeon-woo-ssi, by any chance?"
"Ah, yes. That's right."
At Yeon-woo's answer, soft sounds of surprise came from the other contestants in the rear seats, who had been listening intently with their vision blocked.
"Ohh, I'm a fan. Would it be okay to take a photo together after filming?"
Yeon-woo smiled faintly at the voice from beside him.
"Of course. But for us to take a photo together, we'd both have to be eliminated today — or at least both survive until tomorrow, right?"
"Now that you mention it, yeah. Aw, too bad."
At the regretful tone, Yeon-woo's expression turned wry.
Does he mean he doesn't think he'll make it through, or that he thinks I'll be eliminated today? He's definitely thinking the latter.
Yeon-woo let out a quiet snort of laughter.
Those eliminated today would leave on the evening boat. Anyone still standing at five o'clock would sleep in prepared lodgings and resume the game the next morning — that much had been explained.
The van, bouncing along the rough unpaved road, came to a stop.
"Kim Seung-heon-ssi, you'll be getting off first."
A staff member escorted one of the passengers out of the vehicle.
The van continued stopping and starting, dropping people off one by one, until Yeon-woo's name was finally called.
"Ryu Yeon-woo-ssi, please disembark."
"Yes."
A staff member took Yeon-woo's arm and carefully helped him down from the van.
Even blindfolded, he kept his balance remarkably well as he walked forward under the staffer's guidance.
Rustle—.
The sound of leaves underfoot told him they were entering an area of grown vegetation.
Not a dense forest, exactly — but given the uphill grade, this is the mountain. Northwest side of the island, then.
After walking for about two minutes, the guiding staff member stopped.
"Please sit on the ground here and wait. When your smartwatch vibrates twice, that means the game has started — remove your blindfold and immediately put on your safety goggles. Under no circumstances are you to remove your protective gear, or you'll be disqualified on the spot. Please keep it on at all times for your safety."
"Understood."
Yeon-woo nodded with an easy smile.
As he sat down, he heard the staff member's footsteps receding.
Still blindfolded, he shrugged off the backpack and felt through its contents once more with his hands.
The PD is pretty serious about this survival thing.
By touch he found a simple hot bar, a water bottle, a shovel, and a rope.
They'd even packed a folding military entrenching tool — did they expect someone to dig a trench?
And why the rope? It's not like anyone's going to be tying people up.
Scratching his head, Yeon-woo decided it would come in handy somehow, slung the pack back on, and toyed with his gun.
Cameras installed nearby were probably filming him even now.
Bzzzt—.
The smartwatch on his left wrist vibrated twice.
It's starting.
Yeon-woo pulled off the blindfold, put on his safety goggles, and checked the smartwatch.
Survival has begun. As previously instructed, three hits detected through your impact-sensing protective gear will result in elimination.
The instant he confirmed the message, Yeon-woo fired several rounds at a nearby tree to zero his sights.
Bang—!
Hmm. Not live rounds, so the muzzle velocity is slow and the drop is significant.
It was roughly similar to the gear he'd used years ago playing survival games with friends.
Once he had a feel for the weapon, Yeon-woo took off running.
The van was doing about twenty kilometers an hour on the unpaved road, and it stopped roughly every twenty seconds — so the straight-line distance to the people placed next to me is about a hundred meters.
On flat ground, he could cover that at a full sprint in under fifteen seconds.
Factoring in the sloping terrain and the weight of his gear, though, it would take about a minute of hard advance before he made contact with an enemy.
Push hard and take out the ones who got off before me first.
Even a blind bullet counted — three hits and you were out.
The more contestants nearby, the less room he had to maneuver. Clearing the immediate area was the smart play.
With ghostlike footwork, Yeon-woo raced through the mountain terrain — fast and silent.
Minimizing every sound of movement, he pushed through the fairly dense undergrowth between the trees.
Climbing the slope at an angle to seize the high ground, he soon drew close enough to hear someone rustling through a backpack.
Yeon-woo instantly killed his presence, took cover behind a boulder on the incline, and looked down.
There he is.
Apparently not expecting anyone to come charging at him the moment the game started, the guy was leaning against a tree, pulling items out of his pack one by one to inspect them.
Distance is roughly fifteen meters.
Compared to a real firearm, the grouping was naturally poor, and since these weren't actual bullets the drop was severe. But it was more than close enough to land a clean hit.
Accounting for the zero and the drop he'd checked by firing at the start, he carefully squeezed the trigger.
Bang—.
Thwack—.
The pellet flew true and struck the man's helmet.
"Ugh!"
Startled, the opponent clutched the back of his head and reflexively shot to his feet.
…You just got hit and your first move is to stand up instead of dropping flat?
It was the posture of a man begging to be finished off.
By Yeon-woo's standards, it was incomprehensible.
Bang-bang—.
"PD-nim! Player Twenty-Two just went out!"
"What?"
In the control room, Yoon PD — who had been checking the angles of cameras installed across the island — turned at the unexpected report.
"Is it another sensor glitch? Contact the nearest safety officer and have them swap out Player Twenty-Two's gear."
"…Th-that's the thing. It doesn't seem like an equipment malfunction. Could you check Camera Forty-Seven?"
At the staffer's words, Yoon PD pulled Camera Forty-Seven up on the control room's large monitor.
It was a fixed camera on the island's northwest face.
Clear as day, the feed showed a player who had cleanly eliminated an opponent with precise shooting — and the eliminated player, gear glowing red, standing with both hands raised.
"What? How is someone already out?"
"Look at this."
The staffer brought up Player Seven's body cam.
Footage from one minute earlier.
It replayed a figure tearing through the island's vegetation at tremendous speed, weaving between trees, then landing a pinpoint shot.
"…Who is Player Seven?"
"Well…"
The staffer glanced once at Kim Min-su, seated among the managers at the back of the control room, then continued.
"It's Actor Ryu Yeon-woo."