Mountain Treasure Hunt
The bus that had driven well past Paldang Dam finally came to a stop halfway up a mountain slope overlooking the Hongcheon River. A grand sign reading Kidaristar Valley marked the entrance to an ultra-luxurious pension complex built entirely of glass.
Choi Hyung-tak’s choice of MT venue lived up to his reputation—overwhelmingly extravagant.
“Whoa……”
“This is insane. Are all these places the CEO’s villas?”
The actors and staff who stepped off the bus couldn’t help but gasp in admiration. The complex was so vast it was hard to take in at once, but five three-story detached villas, each with a unique design, were scattered across the grounds. Between them sat a perfectly maintained tennis court and a mini golf practice range.
Choi Hyung-tak’s personal retreat. Its scale far exceeded anything Kang Tae-san, a man who had lived his entire life as an ordinary citizen, could have imagined.
Cleaning those glass windows must be a nightmare.
While Tae-san was busy making pointless calculations in his head, Choi Hyung-tak—now dressed like an entertainment PD straight out of a variety show—appeared with a megaphone.
“Alright! Everyone, move your luggage to your assigned rooms! Gather in the central courtyard in ten minutes!”
“Is there no break time?”
“MT stands for Membership Training! Training means drills, not rest.”
“Oh, come on!”
What was this, a variety shoot? He knew it. That attention-seeker! Rest? Not a chance. These broadcasting-station—no, agency—guys were going to work them to the bone.
Grumbles erupted from every direction. Tae-san realized how naïve he had been to think he could relax for even two days.
The schedule Choi Hyung-tak had planned was exactly what one would expect from the man—packed and relentless.
“Tae-san!”
Goo Yang-man appeared out of nowhere and slung an arm around his shoulders.
“You ready?”
“……Do you really like wild ginseng that much? Should I just dig some up for you?”
“Word is there’s something even better this time. You’re going to have to run yourself ragged for my prize today. Got it?”
Tae-san lamented his endless life as the youngest member and reluctantly nodded.
Team assignments began in the central courtyard. Three people per team. Goo Yang-man naturally took his place beside Tae-san.
“Sir, may I join your team as well?”
A languid yet strangely powerful voice. Tae-san turned to see Ong Joo-hyuk, the hottest actor of the moment, standing there.
Like Tae-san, he had started as a supporting villain and earned recognition for his solid acting skills. Recently cast as the male lead in a miniseries, he had exploded in popularity. Among lead actors, he was considered the next-generation top star and was currently the most heavily promoted talent at Kidari Entertainment after Eun Chae-won’s generation. Advertisements and overseas offers poured in—he was the very definition of a rising star.
His approach to Goo Yang-man and Tae-san wasn’t born of pure goodwill.
So that’s the guy. The rookie the CEO and Master Goo have been so obsessed with lately.
Ong Joo-hyuk studied Tae-san with a peculiar expression. He had heard the rumors circulating among industry staff and managers. Some said Tae-san had walked a path similar to his own. Perhaps this was the only competitor who could threaten his position.
Ong Joo-hyuk intended to measure Tae-san’s worth right here, today.
“Hmm. Do you work out regularly?”
“Yes, I never skip the gym. Senior.”
“Okay. You’re in.”
Goo Yang-man welcomed the young, fit Ong Joo-hyuk to the team. With him aboard, the wild ginseng was as good as theirs.
Thus, Team 3—now nicknamed the Ginseng Team—was formed.
Choi Hyung-tak announced the first game.
“Alright! The first game is ‘Treasure Hunt’! We’ve hidden notes all over the mountain behind us. Each note has a different point value. The team with the highest score after thirty minutes wins!”
“Are you crazy? You’re making us hike?”
“This isn’t an MT, it’s a survival training camp!”
“Didn’t you study English? It’s Membership Training!”
Sighs of despair rose from the actors. Goo Yang-man immediately jabbed Tae-san in the ribs.
“You heard him. Mountain climbing is your specialty, so you find everything. Got it?”
“……Yes.”
At the sound of the whistle, the actors reluctantly scattered into the mountains. Most only glanced half-heartedly under benches or between branches. Ong Joo-hyuk, burning with competitive spirit, began pushing through the undergrowth.
But Kang Tae-san was different.
He stood at the mountain entrance and took a deep breath. The familiar scent of earth and damp fallen leaves awakened the senses of the herb gatherer who had roamed the mountains for three days and nights searching for matsutake mushrooms on Odaesan.
There. Lots of footprints.
His gaze followed the staff’s tracks.
The grass over there is unnaturally bent.
Tae-san strode over and dug into the soil beneath the bent blades. He hadn’t gone five centimeters before a plastic-wrapped note appeared.
5 points.
He looked up again. In the distance, near a small stone pagoda, one stone stood out—unlike the others, it had far less moss.
Someone touched it recently.
He lifted the stone and, sure enough, found another note.
While Ong Joo-hyuk sweated and searched between rocks, Tae-san swept through the mountain like he had infrared scanners in his eyes, collecting every note.
“Huh? There’s another one over there.”
To Tae-san’s herb-gatherer eyes, the locations the planning team had chosen were painfully obvious.
In less than thirty minutes, the Ginseng Team took first place by an overwhelming margin. While Ong Joo-hyuk had barely managed to find a couple of three-point notes, Tae-san had returned with Goo Yang-man’s bag completely stuffed.
“Heh heh heh! I knew it! That kid’s something else!”
Goo Yang-man pounded Tae-san’s back heartily. Ong Joo-hyuk’s expression, however, was complicated.
What the hell? How is that even possible?
He couldn’t quite grasp the true nature hidden behind Tae-san’s innocent face.
The break was brief. Choi Hyung-tak immediately announced the second game.
“Next up is a test of an actor’s basic skills—‘Act It Out’!”
“What now?”
“Since when did acting fundamentals become a game?”
The grumbling resumed, but the mention of “guess the drama and movie titles” strangely reignited everyone’s fighting spirit.
Watching Goo Yang-man pat his shoulders again, Tae-san clicked his tongue.
Tsk. I don’t really know many movie or drama titles.
Before filming Smile and Revenge, the only dramas or movies he had seen were the free tickets he received after donating blood.
“Team 3, step forward! Who’s explaining first?”
Ong Joo-hyuk went first. The moment he saw the first prompt, he spread his arms wide, closed his eyes, and acted as if feeling the wind.
“Bird? Airplane?”
Tae-san asked innocently. Goo Yang-man shouted in frustration.
“You idiot! Can’t you tell just by looking?”
Ong Joo-hyuk began jumping and rolling on the ground, then mimed rowing furiously or shivering as if cold.
“Hmm, I don’t know.”
“Argh, you crazy bastard!”
Goo Yang-man clutched the back of his neck. Next prompt—Ong Joo-hyuk suddenly crawled on all fours as if emerging from a river, stuck out his tongue to eat something, then mimed firing a gun before collapsing dramatically.
“Gun?…… War?…… Death?”
Goo Yang-man gave up and sat down. The Ginseng Team failed to answer a single question in the first minute.
“You little punk…… You call yourself an actor and you don’t know these famous works?”
Goo Yang-man grabbed Tae-san by the collar and shook him.
“I’m sorry…… I haven’t seen them……”
“Ugh, this is hopeless. Move aside.”
Eventually Ong Joo-hyuk stepped in.
“I’ll guess. Senior, please explain.”
“Yeah, that’s better.”
He pushed Tae-san and Goo Yang-man back and took the explaining spot.
“Next prompt!”
Goo Yang-man mimed shaving his head to represent The Man from Nowhere.
“Senior Kwon Bin’s The Man from Nowhere!”
Next, he stuck out a finger in a crude motion to represent E.T.
“E.T.! Spielberg!”
Ong Joo-hyuk guessed the answers before even seeing the prompts. Unlike Tae-san, he was a true professional who had studied countless works to survive in this industry.
Ong Joo-hyuk smirked at Tae-san.
I win this round.
The moment he felt the competitor he had been wary of was pathetic.
“Alright! The final game—the championship match with the grand prize on the line!”
Choi Hyung-tak’s boisterous announcement was met with exhausted faces.
“The last game is ‘Hammer Rock-Paper-Scissors’! One person from each team plays rock-paper-scissors. The winner attacks with the hammer, the loser defends with a pot. Everyone got it?”
The rules were ridiculously childish, but the word “final” made the actors’ eyes light up again.
“Tae-san.”
Goo Yang-man handed Tae-san the hammer and whispered.
“Clean up the mess you made.”
“……What?”
“If you don’t make up for the points you lost earlier, I’m throwing you into the Hongcheon River today.”
In the end, Tae-san stepped forward as the Ginseng Team’s representative.
But an unexpected dark horse appeared once the tournament began.
“Whoa! Senior Eun Chae-won is crazy!”
“What reflexes!”
It was Eun Chae-won. She had already shocked everyone by boarding the bus despite expectations that she wouldn’t attend the MT, and now she was even participating in the games. With her characteristically expressionless face, she blocked every hammer strike with her pot before it could land and counterattacked with perfect precision whenever an opening appeared. She was like a machine.
She’s even acting right now?
Tae-san shook his head in disbelief. When her opponent finally won rock-paper-scissors and raised the hammer—
“You’re going to hit me?”
“Ugh…… Th-that look in your eyes!”
She suddenly widened her eyes like a pitiful cat in boots and gazed up at him. She was using her monstrous acting skills even for this silly game. The opponent, his heart softened, stood frozen and was eliminated without landing a single hit.
“Eun Chae-won wins!”
“Waaaah!”
Finally, the championship match. Kang Tae-san faced Eun Chae-won.
“Oh, the leads are facing off!”
“This is gold. I should film it and send it to the PR team.”
The staff excitedly pulled out their phones. Eun Chae-won set down the pot she had been wearing on her head, her eyes devoid of emotion.
I have to hit Senior Eun Chae-won?
Tae-san hesitated for a moment. She was strict and intimidating, but she was still a woman. And that beautifully sculpted face……
“Please take care of me, Junior Tae-san.”
“It’s just a game. Please understand, Senior Chae-won.”
“Rock, paper, scissors!”
Tae-san played scissors. Eun Chae-won played paper. Tae-san won.
She stared at him with cold eyes, as if daring him to strike.
But—
Whack!
“……!”
Without a second of hesitation, Tae-san raised the hammer and slammed it down on her head. The blow was so strong that Eun Chae-won staggered from the impact.
Th-this crazy bastard!
The surrounding actors all gaped in shock. A rookie actor had just smashed a hammer onto top star Eun Chae-won’s head!
Tae-san set the hammer down with a solemn expression.
Ten years of part-time work.
Cleaning restaurant grills, working convenience store night shifts, serving at wedding halls—he had learned one thing from countless difficult customers and unexpected situations.
Hesitation only brings greater trouble.
“Rock, paper, scissors!”
Tae-san played rock. Eun Chae-won played scissors. Another attack.
She raised her pot to defend. Tae-san glared at her fiercely, hammer raised.
Feint left, strike right.
He swung the hammer left. Her pot reflexively shifted left. In that instant—
Smack!
His wrist twisted at invisible speed, striking the right side of her head that the pot hadn’t covered.
“……”
Silence fell. Eun Chae-won stared blankly, as if she hadn’t even registered that she had been hit. Tae-san finally raised the hammer in victory.
“The winners! The Ginseng Team!”
“Yeeeeaaah!”
Goo Yang-man’s roar erupted alongside the planning team’s announcement.
“My boy! My wild ginseng! I knew I had an eye for people!”
“……”
Eun Chae-won watched Tae-san, who was being fussed over by Goo Yang-man, with an unreadable gaze.