Group Viewing

On the screen, Yeon-woo used the last round in his rifle ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠for a predictive shot that took out Player 3.

Watching the screen, Representative Jeong Hyeok clenched his fist tight.

"That's it!"

Beside him, Han Byeol was clapping so hard her palms had gone red.

Ugh, this isn't even a World Cup cheer…

Yeon-woo, watching them, gave an awkward little smile.

Back at the company building it had at least felt like an entertainment agency doing group monitoring. But here, all of them piled onto the sofa at home, it was pure group viewing and nothing else.

Then Yeon-woo tossed the rifle to the ground and started moving somewhere.

"What? Why'd he throw the gun away?!"

Han Byeol blurted the words to herself, then ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠immediately realized that Player 7 on the TV was sitting right next to her.

She turned toward Yeon-woo, already so deep in the show that she demanded an answer.

"Why did you suddenly throw the gun away?!"

Yeon-woo just shrugged and pointed at the screen.

"Because I was out of bullets."

Right on cue, the screen displayed the remaining ammunition for the last two players.

"What the hell? At least give the guy some bullets. That's just inhuman."

Manager Kim Min-su looked like he had a lot to say. He pointed at the screen and opened his mouth.

"No, well… Actor Ryu actually asked the production team about that way before this scene…"

He trailed off mid-sentence while still looking at the screen.

That exact moment was playing now.

Long before he eliminated Player 3—back when he had taken out two people with the camouflaged rope the day before—he had asked about looting ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠equipment. That scene came up.

Right. They said the gallery held a vote at the time.

Even Yeon-woo had no idea what had been said in the control room back then, so he focused on the screen.

The moment the PD finished speaking, Manager Kim Min-su on the screen shot to his feet.

"Ahem. Ahem."

The gallery members who had voted looked embarrassed by the 1-to-7 result and turned their heads away with awkward coughs.

Watching that, Son Jin-uk lightly tapped Kim Min-su on the shoulder.

"Whoa, I don't think I've ever seen Min-su get mad before."

"Uh… ahem."

Embarrassed by his own angry face on the screen, Kim Min-su coughed and looked away—exactly like the other gallery members in the control room.

Yeon-woo grinned at him.

"Min-su hyung. I'm touched."

"N-no, isn't that just basic as a manager? Honestly, at the time I wanted to yank every last hair out of PD Yoon Chang-joon's head. Just hand out the ammo or allow looting—why put it to a vote just to cover their own asses? You can see right through it."

Yeon-woo himself had broad shoulders and a solid height, but Manager Kim Min-su had the kind of physique that could shield him from surging crowds.

If that build and those massive hands started yanking hair…

Yeon-woo shook his head.

He was just glad PD Yoon Chang-joon still had his precious hair.

Meanwhile the screen showed Yeon-woo heading for the school.

When he appeared retrieving the white rope that had been used to hoist the national flag on the flagpole, Han Byeol tilted her head.

"Huh? Are you gonna strangle him with that and take him out?"

"…"

A brief silence fell over her completely random remark.

"Han Byeol, they're not actually killing anyone…"

"Strangling? Byeol, that's brutal."

"N-no! If it's not for that, what's he even gonna use it for? Don't call me brutal…"

Leaving the wronged Han Byeol behind, on-screen Yeon-woo quickly went up to the second floor, mapped the interior layout, then headed for the piano room—the best place to execute his plan.

Checking the remaining distance in real time on his smartwatch, Player 1 Kang Hak-joon arrived at the school right behind him.

In reality I had more time than that. They edited it to look like he was right on my heels for the tension.

Watching, Kim Min-su spoke up.

"By the way, Actor-nim. I was watching other camera angles in the control room so I missed it—how did you get the rope into the piano room from—"

Han Byeol cut him off instantly.

"Ahh! Uncle Min-su! No spoilers!"

Kim Min-su, however, seemed more shocked by something else.

"U-uncle…?"

Han Byeol ignored him completely and stayed locked on the Yeon-woo on screen.

Everyone else was the same.

The moment he stepped into the piano room, on-screen Yeon-woo swept the interior with a glance, checked the size and position of the broken window, then headed straight for the front door.

He pulled something out of his bag.

Han Byeol, watching, could only tilt her head again.

"Eeh? A trowel?"

"Not a trowel. An entrenching tool."

Yeon-woo pulled out the field shovel—no one had any idea why they had even issued it—and slammed it hard into the top of the rotten wooden door of the piano room.

The screen cut again to Kang Hak-joon tracking Yeon-woo on his smartwatch.

Online reactions were mostly a wall of question marks.

Drawn as if under a spell, Kang Hak-joon followed up to the second floor and walked straight into the booby trap Yeon-woo had set in advance.

If this had been a real booby trap, I would've rigged a grenade to go off the second the door opened…

While Yeon-woo calmly entertained terrifying thoughts, the Saebyeol family watching the TV sat with their mouths hanging open.

The sudden opening of the back door and the clatter of the fallen mop handle startled Kang Hak-joon.

And right behind him, Yeon-woo appeared like a ghost, sliding into view.

There were only two fixed cameras inside the piano room, and only one of them managed to catch Yeon-woo appearing from outside the window.

Even the production team had never dreamed someone would show up from outside a second-floor window, so the focus was slightly off. To catch Yeon-woo's face they had to zoom hard into the upper-right corner of the frame.

The image quality naturally degraded, and with the tension-building BGM and slow-motion for dramatic effect layered on top, it looked exactly like a ghost video.

"Oh shit. Nearly gave me a heart attack. Thought it was a ghost."

"W-what is that? Why are you outside the building? Oppa, did a spider bite you or ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠something?!"

Faced with the Saebyeol family's demand for an explanation of the completely absurd situation, Yeon-woo broke out in a light sweat.

"W-well… you know those window-washer gigs? Same concept."

"…Excuse me?"

Son Jin-uk pointed at the screen and continued.

"Okay, but where the hell did you learn to set a trap like that?"

"Uh… school?"

"Huh?"

"You know how kids used to stick chalkboard erasers on top of the classroom door for pranks? Something like that."

Scratching the back of his head and answering with perfect nonchalance, Yeon-woo left everyone speechless.

"…"

Yeon-woo looked around at the faces of the Saebyeol family.

That should be enough of an explanation…

Or so he thought.

Yeah, no. Not even close.

Well, what could he do?

Take it or leave it.

Had it truly become a nationwide trend?

To find out, all you had to do was look at elementary schools across the country.

The day after Survival Island aired, every metropolitan and provincial office of education sent an official notice to schools.

It was obvious how the nation's elementary school kids would react after watching the show, so the Ministry of Education had taken preemptive action. Schools poured everything into making sure no one tried to copy Survival Island.

"Yo, you see Ryu Yeon-woo yesterday? Insane."

"Yeah. Watched it with the whole family. My noona was screaming the whole time, it was hilarious. Is there a survival shooting range around here?"

"Doubt it. I tried it once ages ago when my dad took me out in the countryside on the way back from grandma's."

"No way. How was it? Fun?"

When students started talking about Survival Island in the hallway, a teacher passing by issued a warning.

"You kids better not even think about copying that, got it?"

"What? Teach. You can only try to copy something if you can even get close. Don't underestimate us kids. You're the one who shouldn't copy it. The only people who do that stuff are crazy adults trying to farm YouTube views."

"…"

The teacher briefly considered raising a fist to reclaim the teaching authority that had just hit the floor, then thought about making a living and quietly lowered it again.

"Ahem. Anyway, don't even think about doing anything dangerous."

Meanwhile, not only Han Hae-un but even the agents who still didn't know Yeon-woo's true identity couldn't help taking an interest—it was their professional field, after all.

Kim Su-hyeok binge-watched Survival Island again at home and couldn't stop marveling.

Kim Su-hyeok had never been the type to care about pop culture or media.

He only knew the actor named Ryu Yeon-woo because the man belonged to the entertainment company that had set up shop in the Mokhwa Building, and Su-hyeok had dug into the background. Until he looked him up, he hadn't known much.

He never expected a talent like that to be living as a next-door neighbor in the same building.

Of course, casting a world-level actor who pulled in that kind of money was out of the question, but thanks to him Su-hyeok felt like he had discovered a whole new domain: survival hobbyists.

With quality that high, the hobbyists might actually be worth considering… so why is Alpha-Beta so negative about it…

A short reply had come to the text he sent.

Kim Su-hyeok had chain-of-command drilled into his bones, so he wasn't about to talk back or complain about an order—but he still felt a little disappointed.

And that naturally led him to take an interest in the actor named Ryu Yeon-woo.

Hmm. Major works: Sketch, Master Plan, White Blood, The Moon…

Every single one was famous enough that even someone as uninterested in pop culture as Kim Su-hyeok had heard the titles.

"Alpha-Beta always stressed that agents need to enjoy pop culture so their minds don't get worn down by the job…"

He figured he might as well start with the filmography of this newly interesting actor "Ryu Yeon-woo"—he just couldn't decide which one to watch first.