Dance Mafia

"Hello, everyone~ This is your MC, Cheon Tae-rim. Nice to meet you~."

In a spacious room that looked large enough to hold fifty people ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠easily, twenty participants had been called in separately after the hundred trainees finished their shared daily schedule. Along with the others who were still blinking in confusion at the sudden summons, he found the space packed with cameras of every kind—and MC Cheon Tae-rim himself. It was a clear signal that they were about to film something serious.

"As expected, everyone here is already wearing at least two or three badges as a baseline. Impressive!"

Over the course of two evaluations, more badges had been handed out to the upper ranks, and Cheon Tae-rim was making a point of mentioning it. Looking around, Han-hee saw that everyone had little badges pinned to their sweatshirts. Himself included, of course.

"The people gathered here are the TOP 20 of the second audition, as decided by the judges! You all passed the second audition in the upper ranks."

Han-hee glanced down at one of the badges ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠hanging from his clothes—the one that had just been added. The number-two-shaped badge they'd handed out upon arrival must have been what that meant.

"All right! Curious why you were called here separately? First, would you take these?"

At MC Cheon Tae-rim's words, the production staff passed out earmuffs wrapped in soft, fluffy fur. The ones Han-hee received were white; looking closer, he realized they were Bluetooth headsets with speakers built into the lining.

"Yes! All of you have been given the chance to appear on Idol Survival Plus, produced by K-plus, as special participants! Come on, a round of applause!"

"Waah, waaah—!"

Told to clap, people clapped, awkward cheers mixing into the applause. Idol Survival Plus, huh. Han-hee found himself almost impressed. Incredible. So they controlled screen time through benefits like this? Living in the dorms had already made it clear—this show was dead serious about stacking the successful trainees into a pyramid.

Convenience for the top ranks, hardship for the bottom—if you could call that a kind of entertainment. He'd felt it during the first and second rounds too: pure results-first ideology, and on top of that, they were exceptionally good at wringing dry anyone who fell behind. Ruthless to the core.

"And so! The long-awaited first content of Idol Survival is—Dance Mafia!"

"Dance Mafia?"

What was that supposed to be? Even as he kept clapping, Han-hee looked lost, and Song A-seong leaned over to speak to him.

"Han-hee hyung, do you know Dance Mafia?"

"I know regular Mafia games, more or less…"

"Dance Mafia is similar. It's a game where you find the mafia hidden among the citizens…"

Song A-seong gave him a quick rundown of Dance Mafia.

"So everyone dances to the song playing through their headsets, but the people ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠chosen as mafia hear a different song from the citizens?"

"Yes. So the citizens have to watch for anyone whose timing is off or whose moves look weird and catch the mafia, while the mafia try to blend in and pretend they're citizens."

"Ah. Got it."

The production staff then walked them through the rules of their prepared Dance Mafia. Three mafia would be chosen out of the twenty, one police officer would exist among the citizens, and the citizens had until the fifth attempt to find every last mafia member.

"Seeing is better than hearing a hundred times! Learning by doing is best, right? Everyone, heads down, please. Night has fallen. From this moment, we will choose three mafia."

The twenty of them, sitting in a circle, bowed their heads and drummed lightly on the floor or their knees. It felt a little like a school retreat. Then Han-hee felt a finger poke him squarely in the back.

"Mafia selection is complete. Now we will choose the police."

Three out of twenty. A fifteen-percent chance, and he'd drawn mafia.

"Mafia, lift your heads and confirm each other!"

"…"

Han-hee raised his head—and before he could even look any farther, he locked eyes with the two people sitting on either side of him. Lee Jae-jin and Kwon Do-ha.

You've got to be kidding me…!

They'd just lined the three of them up as mafia in a neat little row?

"Mafia, heads down again once you've confirmed. Police, stand up, please! Yes, good. Morning has arrived. Everyone, wake up~."

"Ahh~ I slept so well."

Fiddling with the white furry headset, Han-hee opened his status window. More precisely, he checked the slots hanging beneath it—leftovers from the roulette rewards he'd earned and not yet used through daily missions.

Four packs of red ginseng, one hair-dye ticket, one skin-care ticket, and…

Right there was the thirty-minute mind-reading skill that had dropped after he'd cleared today's mission. Today's mission itself hadn't been much. Simple enough to finish during the shared schedule: practice the second theme song, BLOSSOM, fifty times.

For such a nothing mission, the reward felt generous… was it meant for this game?

He'd wanted to save it for a more important moment. He hesitated. Wasn't it a little wasteful to burn it now?

"Han-hee-ssi, get ready."

"Yeah. They say it's starting."

With him between them, Kwon Do-ha and Lee Jae-jin spoke from either side. The two of them had been cast into a vague rival dynamic during dorm life often enough that they still felt a little stiff around each other.

Of all things, the three of us as mafia… if I don't want to get eaten alive by these two, do I have to use it?

It wasn't as if he hadn't considered saving it for a critical moment—like a hearing—to read the person whose mind he still couldn't quite crack. Even so…

I doubt he has no idea something like this exists, and if I ever got caught, trust would shatter completely.

He was hiding things, but he wasn't a criminal; respect was still due. No one liked having their thoughts read without consent. Better to put it to practical use when he needed to secure screen time.

"Dance Mafia, first attempt! Begin!"

The moment it started, Han-hee activated mind reading. Then he looked across at participant Ahn Do-hyeon. Dance stat 88—among this group, the highest dance stat after Lee Jae-jin.

The intro to the second verse of Sunlight, huh.

Nearly two weeks into dorm life, they'd finished the choreography for Sunlight ages ago, so matching the beat was no problem. Kwon Do-ha and Lee Jae-jin on either side of him locked in without a single freeze-up.

Kwon Do-ha was a monster whose dance stat had already climbed another point into B+, and Lee Jae-jin was simply the best dancer in the room to begin with. Jae-jin's dancing had clean angles in every single move—looking at him alone, no one would ever suspect a thing.

And Han-hee himself wasn't half bad either.

His overall skill level had finally settled into a stable track. Thanks to that, even though what poured into his ears was a blaring, gaudy trot number, dancing along to the melody he mapped out in his head wasn't all that hard.

Humming under his breath, he swept one foot across the floor and brushed his upper body down, then dropped his center of gravity low.

The second verse of Sunlight carried on from the last line of the first verse—about reaching up to be pulled to one's feet—so the whole section sat the weight low. One of the moves required bracing a hand on the floor and rising through the core of the waist. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠The difficulty was so high that a whole wave of participants had fumbled it here.

"All right~ That's it! Now take off your headsets and find the mafia!"

The song ended, and at the same moment Lee Won-yeong, who'd lost his balance, crashed down hard on his rear. Won-yeong seemed to have chosen to focus on vocals over his lower dance stat, so the occasional choreography slip still happened—and today was apparently one of those days.

"Ahh~ isn't this a little too easy~."

"I think Won-yeong came in a full beat late at the start, too."

Ahn Do-hyeon and Ahn Jae-seo, Won-yeong's roommates, playfully steered the mood. As the shared surname suggested, they were cousins, and both were dance specialists. Older cousin Ahn Do-hyeon at 88, younger cousin Ahn Jae-seo at 86. When two strong dancers said it, suspicion swung onto Won-yeong in an instant. Screen time in its own way.

"It's not me! I really just messed up—hyung, you know I've always been bad at dancing…"

Lee Won-yeong wore a helpless face, and somehow being piled on suited him better than expected. There were people who liked that kind of look.

Han-hee, Jae-jin, and Do-ha hung back, watching the situation unfold, then slipped their hands behind their backs for a quiet high-five. Looks like we're getting through this.

"What are you hyungs doing?"

"Yeah! Why are the three of you off on your own?"

"Wait, are the three of you the mafia?"

"…!"

And then Song A-seong, who'd drifted closer, caught them. Startled, Han-hee looked at him before he could stop himself—and found suspicious eyes staring back. Song A-seong, Woo Cheong-hee, and Min Ho-su had already drifted over, and the people who overheard them began to stir.

"Those three as the mafia?"

"That actually makes sense. I'd pick them that way too."

Under the sudden weight of every gaze and every doubt, Lee Jae-jin fired back at once.

"Ahh~ I object to accusing people with zero evidence. Besides, the three people who messed up their moves look suspicious to me—Lee Won-yeong-ssi, Han Min-hyeok-ssi, and Kim Yo-han-ssi."

Han Min-hyeok, called out by Jae-jin, only shrugged. Min-hyeok's dance stat had always been a bit low, so he was one of the ones who'd been struggling in practice.

Among these twenty, other than me, Jae-jin, and Do-ha, the only person who's unlocked a trait is Han Min-hyeok… and the way he's getting treated is rough.

Han Min-hyeok might be TOP 20 from the second audition, but in the individual skill evaluations during dorm life he'd landed in the middle group for both vocal and dance—not the upper. His vocal, dance, and charm stats ran 80, 79, and 90 in that order. The sorrow of a charm-specialist build.

Jae-jin kept defending himself. Even while dancing, his field of vision must have been enormous; he'd apparently watched every single mistake.

"Kim Yo-han-ssi got the foot-extension order wrong in the intro, Han Min-hyeok-ssi missed a hand movement, and Lee Won-yeong-ssi came in late on the beat. And all three of them fumbled the bridge. It's this clear-cut, and you're suspecting innocent people—that's just unfair!"

"Wait, when did you even see all that?"

"Mmm~ I'll admit I got it wrong~."

"I messed up too, but it was a real mistake…"

As the room grew as loud as a marketplace, the MC called out.

"Everyone, time is up. Please point out the person you suspect is mafia!"

"Ahh~ I don't know! Sorry, Won-yeong!"

"I'm really not!"

In a flash, Lee Won-yeong took the most votes and was eliminated, and night fell again. The three mafia quietly exchanged looks. Sorry, but the next person to kill had already been decided.

"Morning has arrived. And overnight… Song A-seong-ssi has been killed…"

"Ah! That's so mean!"

Even as he was dragged out, Song A-seong looked straight at them. On the surface, Han-hee wore a stricken expression and saw him off. Getting caught high-fiving behind their backs by the police left them no other choice. A-seong had clearly confirmed during the night that they were the mafia, but he'd been assassinated and eliminated before he could open his mouth.

"Aaaah, I think I know!"

Woo Cheong-hee and Min Ho-su, watching their friend get hauled away, made a fuss—but the surrounding chaos drowned their voices out like a riotous marketplace. In the middle of it, the second round began. How were they supposed to survive four more of these?

"Dance Mafia, round two! Begin!"

Han-hee looked at Ahn Do-hyeon again, and the moment their eyes met, he understood. Ah. He was trying to bait them. Originally this was the intro of the second theme song, BLOSSOM, but the nodding Ahn Do-hyeon was preparing the intro of Sunlight.

Han-hee bounced lightly on his feet, working through the steps. If Sunlight was a hard song pretending to be easy, BLOSSOM was openly hard—no room for carelessness.

While stepping, he watched a few people deliberately dance something else to lure the mafia, then entered BLOSSOM's intro after skipping the very front by a hair. Matching it too perfectly would look strange, so he'd left a deliberate gap.

A quick glance around showed Jae-jin had gone in on the exact correct timing to begin with, and Do-ha wasn't much different. People who were just that good—he never needed to worry about them in the first place.

I'm the one using mind reading, so why does it feel like they're the ones using it?

Feeling oddly guilty about smudging the front, he was the only one who ended up looking weird.

"Hmm~ Lee Han-hee seems pretty suspicious~."

Han Min-hyeok's laughing voice floated over, but Han-hee pretended not to hear and hummed the lyrics under his breath. An appeal that he could hear the song just fine. The trot blasting in his ears seemed even louder than before, but he'd already listened to BLOSSOM hundreds of times lately, so it wasn't a real problem.

And then a suddenly thrusting elbow cracked him across the face.