Chapter 25
As I ran to the other side of the hallway, I passed the central staircase.
I could hear the other cells above and below excitedly knocking each other over and tearing off their name tags.
It's only natural that there would be this much noise when you throw a mini-game that could cause a five-minute mess at a group of energetic boys.
"Can I just tear three more?"
As I nodded to Kang Si-yoon's question, I looked around and pursed my lips.
"Why are you doing that?"
"Honestly, there are only three left, so we can just pick on the ones left here and be done with it."
"yes."
"As I said before, I thought that if we tear it off too easily, we'll run out of room for our share."
That makes sense.
It's a little funny for me to say this myself, but if the situation up until now were edited into a broadcast, it's obvious that only Karis von Walden's part would be focused on.
Dealing with five or six other people.
This means that Kang Si-yoon and Heo Yu-bin's screen time has not been secured yet.
That's why Kang Si-yoon wanted to tear off the last three name tags himself.
I kept moving my feet, searching for a suitable target.
Not too knocked out, but not too wild either.
I'm talking about a trainee who can draw a proper fight scene.
When passing near cell 24.
I heard someone struggling in front of me.
'It's inside the cell.'
As I was walking towards the room where the noise was coming from, a trainee came out with his training suit top in a mess.
Judging from the name tags already being ripped off, it looks like someone inside has stolen it.
I peeked into cell 23, whose door was slightly open.
Then a shadow appeared, breathing heavily.
"Siyoon."
"Huh?"
"Do you think you could pull off a decent picture with someone like that?"
The Kang Si-yoon I've watched so far is a friend with a very quick wit.
This time too, it was a look in his eyes that seemed to quickly realize that I was wandering around trying to find a suitable partner for him.
"Hey, bro, I'm not that bad at sports, am I?"
"Is that really so? I thought it was because you lacked strength since you couldn't properly block the door earlier."
"Guys, stop the banter! I think the person inside noticed us!"
After hearing Heo Yu-bin's words, I looked inside again and saw that Shin-hyung, who had been resting against the wall, had started to move.
"Siyoon, it's according to plan. I'll distract him by buying as much time as possible, and you go back and subdue him."
"Don't try to win this alone."
"I'll try to hold back my excitement as much as possible."
I prepared to enter Cell 23, reviewing the operation again.
But at that moment.
"Come in quickly! Even though I look like this, huh, I'm definitely not tired!"
The delicate trainee stood up unsteadily.
Contrary to his confident words, his breathing was very rough.
Kang Si-yoon exchanged glances with me and whispered.
"Hey, Karis. I think you've got the wrong person."
"That's right. I thought he might still have some strength left to rebel."
"Oh, really! You two, stop whispering and come here! Or I'll go!"
The mysterious trainee came running towards us, holding out his hand.
Hmm. He's definitely running, but why does it look like he's running in the water?
I took my time dodging to the side and tried to pat the trainee on the back.
But before I could do that, Kang Si-yoon grabbed both of his arms.
"Oh. Oh!"
Kang Si-yoon let out an exclamation and shook his hands slightly.
I secretly felt like the other person was resisting strongly.
He looked straight at me and shook his head vaguely.
"You're wrong. You don't have any strength in your hands."
"Oh, no! I'm holding on really hard right now!"
"I'm really sorry. I can't feel anything."
"No way!"
The trainee looked genuinely shocked.
It looked like a scene from an emoticon, with the cat looking like it had been struck by lightning.
"We have to tear it apart, as I feel sorry. Siyoon, I hope you can let that friend go without any pain."
"Okay. I'll try my best to make it as painless as possible."
"Where on earth are you going to send me? No, I won't go! I can't die!"
Before he knew it, Kang Si-yoon was caught up in Karis von Walden's unconscious way of speaking.
When Kang Si-yoon tried to grab the trainee's back with a pitiful look in his eyes, he gritted his teeth and screamed.
"The moment I give up, it's all over, and if you don't give up, you'll never give up! I will never give up!"
"Huh?"
"This moment is my last 4th quarter!"
I don't know what the hell this line is, but Kang Si-yoon's opponent suddenly displayed new strength and started struggling.
Kang Si-yoon also felt the evil power returning to his grasp, and he smiled brightly and began to engage in a showdown.
"Good? Where did you see that line?"
"I, I just saw it in a life comic book! Giving up doesn't exist in my dictionary—!"
Unfortunately, he lost his balance when his left foot slipped.
The fight ended blandly as Kang Si-yoon quickly removed his two name tags, taking advantage of the moment when his center of gravity collapsed.
"Thank you for your effort!"
And Heo Yu-bin, who had been watching the situation from the very back, barged in and took off the last name tag on the back.
I looked closely at the name written on the name tag.
'Yoo... Min-ha?'
Kang Si-yoon also frowned slightly when he saw the name of the trainee he had torn apart.
Just yesterday, we heard this name and passed it over.
'Is this the trainee that Baek Si-hwa talked about as being shameless?'
I stared at Yoo Min-ha, full of questions.
As soon as he lost, he was spread out on the floor, completely discharged.
'... You think this kid who seriously spits out lines he reads from a comic book is shameless?'
Even though we didn't really have much conversation, I guess there's something called human intuition.
Especially since I lived as a crown prince in the game for 10 years and dealt with thousands of people, from masked nobles to dirty soldiers.
When it comes to human-related experiences, I am second to none.
No matter how I looked at it, I didn't feel any evil energy from Yoo Min-ha.
Let's leave this thought for later.
I reached out my hand to Yoo Min-ha, who was lying down.
"Are you okay? Can you get up?"
"Heok, heok... If I just lie down like this for a bit, I'll be okay."
"Lie down comfortably."
"Yes!"
Yoo Min-ha., who listened to what I said at face value, turned over.
His appearance, drenched in sweat, was somehow pitiful.
"Oh, what a shame. We could have won!"
"Thank you for your hard work. How many name tags did you tear off?"
"Five. If I had just a little more stamina left, I could have ripped off everyone's name tags and won. Ha, I lost."
Up to 18 is an absurdly small number.
Based on Yoo Min-ha's condition and the inside of the cell, the cell members other than himself would have already been out.
To declare that you can do a 1 vs. 3 with us in such an extreme situation....
I can't tell if he's a total idiot or just stupid.
Yoo Min-ha smiled faintly, wiping the sweat from his forehead.
"By the way, you guys are really amazing. Have you never been ripped off before?"
"Ahem. We have the ultimate weapon, Karis."
"Ah, I saw it when we watched episode 1 together! Somehow, he was still handsome in the morning. I'm so jealous! Without makeup, I look so haggard. Hehe."
"No, that's too much praise. You too, um. um. You're good enough."
"I could tell you were talking after taking your time?"
I smiled awkwardly and scratched my head.
'Even though we're talking like this, I don't feel like he's being rude, like Baek Si-hwa said. I wonder what kind of ill feelings there are between the two of them.'
Since it is impossible to judge the relationship between strangers, it is best to just watch quietly for now.
Yoo Min-ha, whose sweat had almost completely dried, stood up and bowed his head.
"It was an honor to be able to compete! It was fun. It's a shame that I couldn't collect 18 name tags, but it's okay because I'm lacking something!"
"That's positive."
"I always try to live positively. I wish I could choose a topic for my PR video, but I think a random topic would be fun. A true idol is someone who can improvise and respond to situations like this."
Yoo Min-ha clenched his fist.
"I often see lines like this in my life comics! Anyone can suddenly face trials, but what matters is how you overcome them. And luck follows hardship, so never be discouraged, be passionate, and work hard every day—!"
"Achoo."
Yoo Min-ha's passionate determination was put on hold when Heo Yu-bin sneezed.
Kang Si-yoon, who was desperately holding back laughter, waved his hand and giggled.
"Wow, you've had a wonderful life."
"You see! My motto is to always approach everything seriously and live a wonderful life without regrets! I think that without passion, nothing is possible, and giving up without strength is just wasting the time given to us―."
[Notice, notice. The name tag removal has ended. Please gather in the auditorium in 30 minutes. Notice....]
This time, Yoo Min-ha was once again blocked by the production team's notice.
I greeted him for a moment, looking at him, who has a slightly gloomy expression.
"I hope we can meet again and talk."
"Good! Thank you for being so friendly to me even though it's our first time meeting."
Yoo Min-ha smiled brightly and waved his hand.
Unlike his personality of constantly shouting "fighting", he had a very puppy-like appearance.
On the way down to the auditorium, Kang Si-yoon muttered in a small voice.
"He didn't seem to have a bad personality."
"Siyoon thought so too. Looks like we felt similarly."
"I was talking to myself, did you hear that again?"
"You're talking so openly right next to me, of course I can hear it."
It seems like we had the same thoughts during our short conversation.
"He just seemed so passionate about something."
"What does that mean?"
"Why, he emphasized that he really likes comics. Since you're also a fantasy fanatic, you speak like this, so I thought you two were kind of similar."
... Now that I hear it, it makes sense.
I cleared my throat and chose my words carefully.
"Ahem. No matter how much I like books, I don't go around reciting mottos like that."
"You possess the character and use sophisticated tones."
"...I lost."
"Huh. Karis is nothing special."
All the trainees gathered in the auditorium were in a state of total exhaustion.
There was one guy whose tracksuit was completely torn, and another guy whose name tag was attached to a piece of non-woven fabric that was completely torn.
"There are moments when I regret not being too gentle."
"Hyung, if you did anything more than that, someone could have been caught."
"I can easily tear off even the non-woven fabric―."
"Don't get competitive in strange places, bro."
When everyone gathered, trainer Choi Sia appeared.
"Did you all enjoy the surprise name tag removal mission that appeared this morning?"
There were mixed reactions.
Common sense tells us that not many people would have enjoyed being forced to wake up at 8am and fight each other.
"Cells that have acquired 18 name tags, please come forward now!"
Nine cells, including our cell, came forward.
There were fewer numbers than I thought.
'PR videos are going to be a real gambling table.'
All trainees except for 27 will be randomly selected to choose a topic.
Only the lucky ones will survive.
"The 27 trainees who succeeded in the mission can go to the waiting room next to the auditorium and tell the production staff about your costumes and topics. The rest of the trainees, come here, and we will randomly select a topic."
Heo Yu-bin was crying before even entering the waiting room.
"Even if I get a free topic, I feel lost. I have no idea what to do or how to do it...."
"I think it would be good for Yubin to go in a way that makes the song stand out."
"Song?"
"The basics of self-PR are to show that you have a charm that is superior to others. Since Yubin sings much better than the other contestants, I think it would be advantageous to appeal in that direction."
"Song, song... !"
Heo Yu-bin, who had been thinking hard about something after hearing what I said, brightened up slightly.
"Thanks to you, hyung-nim, I think I understand a little bit! Thank you."
"Ask me anytime."
"By the way, have you thought about what topic to talk about, hyung-nim?"
I stopped in front of the waiting room, the corners of my lips slightly raised.
I've been thinking about it for a long time.
And I was able to make a more certain decision because of episode 1 of
"I will show myself."
—