Chapter 63
Chapter 63
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 63
Chapter Title: Surprise Guests in Hwacheon
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The day of principal filming for *I'll Be Fine As Long As It's Not Me*.
Today's destination: Gangwon-do Hwacheon.
Amid expectations of a grueling march ahead, Kang Woo-hyuk—the main MC of *I'll Be Fine As Long As It's Not Me*—glanced at PD Lee Myung-ho, who was grinning ear to ear at him, and asked,
"Hey, PD. What's got you so happy today?"
"Haha, we've got a special guest today. Thinking about the ratings just makes me smile."
"A special guest? Who is it?"
"You'll see when they arrive. We managed to invite someone truly incredible."
"Oh...."
Woo-hyuk was genuinely curious.
It had been a while since they last had a guest, and there hadn't been any mention of a guest special for today's shoot.
Who on earth could it be that they were keeping it such a tight secret?
As Woo-hyuk puzzled over it, the cast members began arriving one by one.
Lee Seung-ho, Kim Jun-hyuk, Eun Jeong-ho, Lee Soo-chan, Shin Ho-jun.
The members who had ridden through the show's golden age together showed up at the filming site with cheerful faces.
This program started rolling cameras the moment people gathered, after all.
The sharp clap of the slate rang out, and Kang Woo-hyuk kicked off the opening with exaggerated flair.
"The nation's fatigue cure! The show that gets your body buzzing every Sunday with the joy of watching others suffer! Someone else's misfortune is my happiness! I'll be fine! As long as! It's not meeeee!"
Woo-hyuk delivered the opening lines and pressed on.
"A new weekend is upon us. Where will we go this time? What misfortunes await us? Who will cry and who will laugh? I'm sure viewers are looking forward to it too. So, PD, what's today's destination?"
"Want to guess? Where do you think we're headed today?"
"Come on, PD. With all the places in Korea, how am I supposed to pinpoint it?"
At PD Lee Myung-ho's teasing, Kang Woo-hyuk shot back in disbelief.
"Hey, that's what makes it fun to try once in a while, right? Who knows? Maybe one of you will guess it."
Various place names flew back and forth after that, but no one got it right.
Of course, this segment was scripted. The cast already knew where they were going today.
That said, they didn't know what they'd be doing there. PD Lee Myung-ho's courtesy extended only that far.
The rest was up to the members to endure with their bodies.
"Since none of you could guess, I'll just tell you. Today's destination is... Gangwon Hwacheon."
PD Lee Myung-ho revealed it like he was doing them a favor.
Naturally, sighs rippled through the cast.
Gangwon-do Hwacheon?
A place that took forever just to get to.
"Ugh... We're in for a rough one today."
"So what's the opening mission?"
"Now, now, don't rush. There's one more thing I haven't told you yet."
At the PD's words, the cast's faces turned uneasy. Something he hadn't mentioned?
Unlike Woo-hyuk, who had arrived early and knew, the others' expressions darkened by the minute.
If that guy had held something back, it meant they were in for some insane hardship.
"What else?"
Eun Jeong-ho grumbled.
"It's been a while since we last invited a guest. So we put out a feeler."
"A guest? What guest?"
But... what came out of the PD's mouth was the opposite of what they'd expected.
A guest? Who?
This was news to everyone except Woo-hyuk, who had arrived first, so they all turned questioning eyes to PD Lee Myung-ho.
"You'll be shocked when you see them. We invited someone incredibly hard to book."
"Someone hard to book? Who is it?"
"Haha. You'll know when you see."
"Come on, PD, stop dragging it out and spill. Are they here already?"
At Eun Jeong-ho's plea, the PD checked the time.
'...They should be arriving any minute.'
He glanced casually at the sky.
To add impact to the shoot, he'd requested they arrive with wings spread in flight, so if the timing was off, he might need to stall a bit.
But the sky was perfectly clear. Looks like I need to buy a little more time.
They couldn't check their smartphone mid-flight anyway, so even if he messaged, they probably wouldn't see it.
For now, turning guest speculation into content to drag things out should work.
"So, want to guess who the guest is...?"
That was when PD Lee Myung-ho, having decided to stall, opened his mouth.
Suddenly, a massive shadow blanketed the sky.
With not a cloud in the clear blue sky, everyone who looked up in confusion could only gape in horror.
"W-W-Woah!"
Cast, staff... no one escaped the shock. Even passersby reacted the same.
Seo-hyun's true form in mid-air was jaw-dropping, even if they'd heard about it before.
Anyone would freak if a monstrously huge dragon flew overhead.
And in the next instant.
A flash sparkled high in the sky, and the massive shadow vanished.
Immediately after, something huge plummeted straight down.
Right to where the cast stood.
Fwoooosh-!
Enormous wings flapped, whipping up a gale.
"Whoa!"
The wind was fiercer than expected, forcing the cast to squeeze their eyes shut.
And then... after a brief moment, women's voices rang out.
"Hey, sis. What if you transform right there like that? I nearly had a heart attack. Yeon-hwa sis, you okay?"
"Me? I just turned into a bat the second I felt the float..."
"What? So I was the only one panicking?"
"For someone who says that, you spread your wings just fine, Ha-rin."
"You could've at least warned me!"
"Got it, sorry. Next time something like this happens, I'll say something before transforming."
...Huh? Women? More than one guest?
As the cast thought that and opened their eyes to see who had dropped from the sky...
They could only let out gasps bordering on screams.
"Wow, damn..."
"Hyung, who are the others?"
"No idea."
Yoon Seo-hyun, Yoo Ha-rin, Ha Yeon-hwa.
Even standing still, their radiant looks shone; together, they were blinding.
The awe wasn't just for their beauty—especially seeing Seo-hyun in person left them stunned.
She was arguably Korea's most famous person right now.
Seo-hyun glanced around, then gave a slight bow in greeting.
"Hello. I'm Yoon Seo-hyun, Dragon-type Mutant and Director of the Mutant Crime Management Bureau. I'll be a guest on *I'll Be Fine As Long As It's Not Me* today. Looking forward to a great day."
Seeing Seo-hyun greet them, Ha-rin and Yeon-hwa followed suit with introductions.
"Hello. I'm Yoo Ha-rin, Fairy-type Mutant and agent of the Mutant Crime Management Bureau. Nice to meet you."
"H-H-Hello... I'm H-Ha Yeon-hwa, P-Phoenix-type Mutant and agent of the Mu-Mutant Crime Management Bureau..."
And Yeon-hwa trembled once more.
She was face-to-face with her idols, whom she'd only ever seen on TV.
She'd even drunk Seo-hyun's blood to steady her nerves, but it was all for naught.
As they finished their greetings, the dazed cast finally snapped out of it and turned to PD Lee Myung-ho.
"A-Ah, wh-what the— PD! You can't just spring something like this without warning!"
"Haha... I didn't expect it to go quite like this either."
* * *
This should count as a smooth entrance, right?
Just to check, I glanced at the PD, who gave me a thumbs-up like I'd done great.
"Now, as you've all seen from that shocking entrance, the guests I kept under wraps are... Director Yoon Seo-hyun of the Mutant Crime Management Bureau and her two agents! Give them a big round of applause!"
Cheers and applause erupted. Kinda embarrassing.
Still, I decided to play it cool.
It's a broadcast, after all.
Broadcasts need this kind of flair to pull ratings.
Since I'd agreed to appear, I wanted it to be the highest-rated episode possible.
"Wow, my head's still spinning. PD, like I said earlier, you should've given us a heads-up on something this big. Right?"
"The show's been running so long, your tension seemed to slack, so I pulled off a rare surprise. Satisfied?"
Kang Woo-hyuk let out an incredulous laugh at the bantering PD Lee Myung-ho.
"Satisfied my ass! Man, I thought my heart was gonna stop!"
"That's why we booked her. I didn't even think we'd pull it off. All thanks to the Director graciously accepting."
"Ahaha... I've always enjoyed watching *I'll Be Fine As Long As It's Not Me*. Figured it might be fun to join once, so I dragged these two along."
With that casual chit-chat out of the way, curiosity about Yeon-hwa and Ha-rin finally bubbled over.
"Oh... Come to think of it, not much is known about these two. Could you introduce yourselves?"
At that, Yeon-hwa tensed up, while Ha-rin nodded nonchalantly.