16
Chapter 16 Hidden Strength
As soon as Saturday arrived, Do Minho and Director Lee Seunghun headed to the ABS broadcasting station in Seoul.
“Hello. I’m Park Hotae, the PD in charge of Quiz 5000.”
Normally, PD Park Hotae didn’t meet ordinary participants before filming, but this time he personally came down to the
lobby to welcome Do Minho and his guardian, Lee Seunghun.
“I’m Lee Seunghun, director of Happiness Orphanage.”
“Have you eaten?”
“Yes.”
“Then shall we talk over some tea at a nearby café?”
“Alright. But I heard there’s a preliminary round today?”
Director Lee glanced at the youngest writer, Min Yumi, who had come down with the PD.
“Do you have another schedule afterward?”
“Not exactly, but we do have to return to Munseon-eup. I’d prefer to get the work done first. I’m fine, but Minho is
still a child. He already spent over four hours in the car, and he has to go back the same way. On top of that, there’s
the preliminary round. He’ll be exhausted.”
Even for people living in Seoul, a 6 p.m. preliminary round was quite late.
“Ah, I was only thinking of myself. Alright, let’s do the test first.”
PD Park nodded and accepted the suggestion.
“…Excuse me?”
Director Lee looked puzzled, as if wondering whether it made sense for the schedule of such a large program to be
changed so easily by a single PD.
“I said we’ll do the test now.”
“Was this test not originally planned?”
“Well… you could say that. But don’t think too much about it. Grabbing an opportunity with just one submission is also a
kind of ability.”
It was clearly special treatment.
But it was also justified.
“If you’re planning to appeal emotionally just because Minho is an orphan—”
“You don’t have to worry about that. I’d be lying if I said the thought never crossed my mind, but this is a quiz show.
Logic comes before emotion. It focuses more on admiration than sympathy. To be blunt, if a child has artistic talent
that could rival Picasso, do we really need to turn it into a sob story?”
“I see.”
‘But is Minho really that talented?’
Director Lee still didn’t fully grasp just how extraordinary Minho’s artistic ability was.
“Did you really draw that portrait of Announcer Joo Youngmin and even make a sculpture?”
Unlike him, the Quiz 5000 staff already had some idea of Minho’s talent thanks to Joo Youngmin, and so did other
employees at ABS.
Even staff from the cultural department and those knowledgeable in art had shared their opinions.
That was why PD Park, despite being known for chasing ratings, could afford to act composed and set aside Minho’s
personal story for now.
“Yes.”
“Then can you draw one more picture for us?”
Within the station, people were even betting whether the portrait was truly drawn by an eight-year-old.
“Right now?”
“To be honest, even though our program is a quiz show, the reason we called you here is because you drew something like
that at your age.”
“Alright. I’ll draw as much as you want.”
“I like that attitude. Let’s head to the office. Director, please come along as well.”
Minho’s preliminary wasn’t really a quiz test. It was closer to an art demonstration.
“Just because you draw well doesn’t mean you’ll win our show.”
“I know.”
“But if you really are that good, we’ll at least let you appear, regardless of your preliminary results.”
Because of the nature of Quiz 5000, even participants with strong appeal still needed basic knowledge.
“I won’t appear if I fail the preliminary.”
“What?”
“If I fail the preliminary, how can I win in the main round?”
‘Interesting.’
“So you came here to win?”
“Of course.”
“Alright. I’ll be rooting for you.”
“How many questions are in the preliminary?”
“Fifty. Get thirty or more correct and you pass.”
“So just sixty percent?”
“Haha, that’s right.”
‘He calculates quickly. Definitely not an ordinary eight-year-old.’
To Park, it didn’t matter whether the portrait had been drawn by an adult or not. The situation itself was already
exciting.
‘Maybe I should turn this into a proper story.’
---
“I spent an entire week drawing that portrait.”
‘What? So it wasn’t real?’
Staff members who had gathered to see the supposed genius felt a brief disappointment.
“But I can still show you how well I draw right now.”
As soon as Minho began sketching, their disappointment turned into awe.
‘What is this…’
It was only a few lines at first, but those lines quickly formed faces and expressions.
‘This is incredible.’
With just a few strokes, Minho erased all doubts.
“I’ll show you the rest next time. I came here to solve questions, not just draw.”
“….”
‘If this is how good he is casually, how good is he when he’s serious?’
‘Maybe that portrait wasn’t even his full ability.’
Now that their doubts were gone, they were filled with anticipation.
“Bring the questions!”
“Yes!”
“Type A!”
“…Yes!”
---
“Sixty-four points.”
“An eight-year-old scored sixty-four on a Type A test?”
Quiz 5000 prepared different difficulty levels. Type A was for high-level participants, difficult even for graduates of
top universities.
Passing usually required only forty points.
“Some answers might have been guesses, but it’s still impressive. Not just for his age, but even compared to adults.”
“Which ones did he get wrong?”
“Mostly science-related questions.”
“So more of a humanities type?”
“Seems like it.”
“He’s strong in history and social studies, weak in science.”
“So he focused on what he liked.”
“Exactly.”
Preliminary results were used to design main round questions.
“Either way, we’ve caught something big.”
“Could he be the next Hyunsu?”
“We’ll have to see.”
“But he guessed a lot.”
“Guessed?”
“Look at this.”
Numbers were scribbled across his answer sheet.
“With fifty questions and five choices each, he assumed each option would appear evenly. So he adjusted his answers
using patterns.”
“…Wow.”
“He even calculated by subject. He’s definitely smart, but maybe not exactly what we expected.”
“Still, his art is real. Let’s build a story around that.”
“Understood.”
PD Park shook his head at the unnecessary concern of his team and left the meeting room.
He then joined Minho and Director Lee during the interview.
“Sorry for the wait.”
“How were the results?”
“You passed. Even adults struggle, so it’s impressive.”
He gently patted Minho’s head.
“But wouldn’t it be inconvenient to go back today and return next week?”
“…?”
“Why not stay in Seoul tonight? We’ll film tomorrow. We’ll arrange accommodation and meals.”
“If that’s alright…”
Director Lee felt grateful despite the inconvenience.
“Minho, is that okay?”
“Yes.”
‘He must’ve struggled with the test.’
Before, Minho had been full of questions, but now he looked calm.
“Was it that hard?”
“It was.”
‘Hard to get wrong.’
Minho had already prepared his own strategy.
“So I’ll finish quickly.”
“Don’t worry. We’ll give you practice materials.”
‘Not that they’ll help.’
Minho refused them.
“I’ll rely on my own ability.”
‘Those materials won’t help anyway.’
Winners of Quiz 5000 had always said the same thing.
“After question ten, nothing comes from the materials.”
“Up to ten is skill. Eleven to fifteen is about your weak points.”
Most contestants still failed before reaching that point.
‘I’m looking forward to it.’
There was one variable.
The staff believed Minho was weak in science.
So from question eleven onward, they would prepare science-heavy questions.
“Still, take this. It’ll help.”
PD Park handed him a thin booklet.
‘Only up to question five.’