Chapter 79
Everyone seemed quite surprised that Ji Yoon-chul volunteered himself.
But he himself had a very serious expression on his face.
"... I want to make up for it."
"Huh?"
"Make up? What does that mean? "
"It means that he wants to make up for his mistakes."
"Ah, Bankai (挽回
While I was explaining the meaning of words to Ken Hashimoto, Ji Yoon-chul slowly walked forward.
"I think I collected the least number of branches...."
"No, Yoonchul. You did well enough."
"No."
He only slightly shook his head at Kang Si-yoon's words.
Ji Yoon-chul frowned and stared at the five cards.
As if trying to figure out what was written on the back of the card.
Looking at him like that, I quietly stretched out my hands to my sides.
"I think it would be okay to trust Yoon-chul once."
"Oh, Karis. Did you become closer to Yoonchul while we were away?"
"That's not it, but I feel determination in Yoon-chul's tone, so I want to give him my trust."
He had no talent for chopping firewood either.
Searching for branches also yielded disappointing results.
I guess he felt like he had to do something, so he had to pick a good card here.
I looked at Ji Yoon-chul's back and hoped that his determination would lead to good things.
"... I'll pick this."
Ji Yoon-chul, who was looking at the cards carefully, chose the fourth card.
He went in front of the camera and revealed the back of the card.
"Fire Card. Create a spark using the Bow Drill within the one-hour time limit to succeed."
"Bow drill? Isn't that something where you spin a wooden stick really hard?"
"Hey, this seems a bit difficult."
"... Did I pick the wrong one?"
Ji Yoon-chul's eyes began to droop again, but I quickly shook my head.
"Obviously, other cards would have had more difficult missions. Yoonchul, would you like to read the other cards as well?"
"Yes."
Ji Yoon-chul turned over the card on the far left.
"Wind. Fill the air mattress with air within the one-hour time limit. But only with your breath."
"Wow, is that possible with just breathing? We have to blow it ourselves without an air pump or anything?"
"I think it's going to be really hard...."
"It would have been really hard if the wind card had been picked."
When it was revealed that he had avoided a mission with a high level of difficulty, the corners of Ji Yoon-chul's mouth slightly went up.
The slightly droopy corners of the eyes also returned to their original state.
Continuing that momentum, other cards were also revealed.
"Land. Assemble a tent that is well anchored to the ground within the time limit of one hour."
"Water. Fill a bucket with water and fill it to 2 liters within the time limit of 30 minutes."
"After listening to the other missions, it seems like things are a little better?"
"I really don't know what to do with the tent."
"I saw Yubin doing the bucket relay earlier. He looked so tired that his clothes got all wet."
"Then is fire really the best card? "
We have to complete the mission with a somewhat unfamiliar piece of equipment called a bow drill, but compared to other missions, it is just simple labor.
It's not like we have to make the fire perfectly, but if we can get some sparks with the right amount of smoke, then the mission is a success.
Ji Yoon-chul's smile grew bigger and bigger.
"Ahem. The last card. Superpower. You must successfully complete the Shout in Silence game 6 times within the 20-minute time limit."
"The Shout in Silence would be fun."
[It's a popular game on entertainment shows. They have you wear a headset with music playing so loudly that you can't hear anything. The first person sees a given word and says it out loud to the next person. The other person guesses the given word by looking at the first person's mouth shape and actions. This process is repeated until the other person guesses the given word. It's quite a mess. ]
"It might be fun, but the chances of success in the mission are low. Ken and I are both foreigners on our team, so communication might not be smooth."
"Hah."
Kang Si-yoon looked at me with meaningful eyes.
"It might be for Ken, but I think you'll be okay since you understand Korean better than anyone else."
"Even if I speak well now, the game can be difficult."
"Anyway, Yoon-chul chose the one that was relatively good, right? Good job, good job!"
"...Thank you."
Ji Yoon-chul returned to his seat and nodded.
He had a slightly smug expression on his face, but soon regained his original poker face.
The production team gave us a quick tour of how to use the bow drill.
A wooden shaft is fixed into a groove made on the fire plate, and the shaft is rotated by moving the bow back and forth while pressing the pressure stone.
If you keep the sawdust burning at a constant speed and create carbonized sawdust inside the home, you will soon have a spark.
In short, it is simple labor that requires strength and endurance.
'If I, who has the strongest strength here, step forward, it will be relatively easy....'
I had seen Ji Yoon-chul's sparkling eyes.
I wanted to continue the momentum that came from regaining confidence through card drawing.
"Since Yoon-chul chose it himself, why don't you try it first? "
"Can you do it? "
"It's my first time doing this, but... I'll give it a try."
Ji Yoon-chul sat in front of the bow drill that the production team had set up.
'His whole body is filled with strength.'
I looked at his back and smiled faintly inwardly.
Although he doesn't show it on the outside, Ji Yoon-chul is now full of energy inside.
"Just hold the bow and keep spinning it."
"All right."
Ji Yoon-chul's grip on the bow was tight.
And then he started moving back and forth vigorously.
"Have you talked to him?"
"We haven't had such a detailed conversation."
"I wanted to know what kind of character he is."
Kang Si-yoon came close to me and whispered.
His gaze was fixed on Ji Yoon-chul, who was moving his arms feverishly.
"Do you think he is doing well?"
"...Can I say it in a cold way?"
"What is judge Karis' cool evaluation?"
"Hmm."
I looked closely at the axis moving between the homes, making a rattling sound.
"The axle is turning fine, but the presser foot needs to be pressed down perfectly to secure it in place. Right now, the axle is rattling too much."
"That means? "
"It's a mess."
"Oh my."
Kang Si-yoon gave off a compassionate look.
Ji Yoon-chul was really working hard on his bow.
Enough to make sweat drip down his forehead.
"Should we help him out? "
"Then we can achieve success faster."
"Okay, I'll be going."
Throwing those words, Kang Si-yoon strode towards Ji Yoon-chul.
Then, without saying anything, he pressed down on the stone with both hands.
"... !"
"Yoonchul, you're doing well. I think it'll be fine if you just keep going like this."
"...Yes."
I was inwardly astonished at Kang Si-yoon's response.
If you just say something like, "You're doing something wrong," the other person might feel bad.
However, if you immediately offer to help without pointing out what is wrong, there will be no conflict of opinion.
Thanks to Kang Si-yoon's cooperation, the axis began to turn with much more strength.
In the room where there had been no sign of smoke rising until just now, heat was slowly building up.
Soon, the long-awaited smoke was produced.
"There's smoke! Just hold on a little longer! "
"Okay, let's keep this pace! "
"... ."
Ji Yoon-chul realized that the target was right in front of him and moved his bow back and forth more vigorously.
His arms were numb and his eyes were burning from the smoke, but he still gave it his all and poured his energy into it.
And finally, the staff member who had been looking under the bow drill raised his hand and spoke loudly.
"We've got a spark! The Tree Tent Team, 20 minutes and 13 seconds!"
"Wow!"
"Thank you for your hard work! Thank you for your hard work! "
"Everyone did such a great job."
We immediately hugged each other and cheered.
Ji Yoon-chul, who was caught in the middle of it, stood there in a daze with his arms shaking as if he had lost all strength, then he smiled bashfully and spoke softly.
"... I did it."
"Yeah, bro! You did great! Don't your arms hurt? They're feeling a little shaky."
"It hurts a little, but I'm okay."
"Yoon-chul nim, you're so cool! There's so much sweat on your forehead!"
"This much doesn't matter―"
"I have to clean it!"
As Kang Si-yoon and Ken Hashimoto showered him with enthusiastic praise, Ji Yoon-chul's chest seemed to protrude a little more.
It felt like looking at a snobby cat.
* * *
After all the hard work, the rewards come.
"Ah, the meat is so delicious."
"Karis nim, you cook the meat so well!"
"Haha, anyone can do this."
"I can't grill meat. If I grill it, it all gets burned."
We enjoyed a sumptuous dinner, grilling a generous portion of barbecue.
I rolled up my sleeves and grilled meat for the guys who had a hard time.
And even though I didn't ask for help, Ji Yoon-chul silently used scissors next to me to cut the meat into bite-size pieces.
"You couldn't eat much because you were cutting the meat? Do you like lettuce or perilla leaves?"
"... I like lettuce."
"Okay, I'll make a generous lettuce wrap."
Kang Si-yoon even wrapped the food himself and put it in the youngest's mouth.
"What do you think? I think I did a good job."
"...It's delicious."
"As expected, my skills never go away."
"Siyoon, I can't eat either because I'm grilling meat."
"You can just eat what you cooked yourself."
"Siyoon is a racist."
"Hey, don't say anything controversial! "
After eating my fill of meat, I joined the other tents that I hadn't seen for a long time.
"Yubin, why are you all so blackened as a group? "
"We picked the wrong mission card and had to light the fire ourselves to eat! It was so hard!"
"What on earth did you pick―"
"Chopping branches and firewood! We're ruined because no one knows how to chop wood!"
Heo Yu-bin's team members had black charcoal powder smeared all over their faces.
I heard that their tent mission was pulled out, and they failed miserably.
The other tents also vented their frustrations, saying that they had overcome difficult times.
"I didn't know pitching a tent would be this hard. Wow, how do you pitch this so quickly?"
Song Hyung-bin said that his head almost exploded while he was pitching a tent.
"Haha, my throat hurts so much. It's hard to do shouting in the silence."
"Eun-gyu hyung-nim, you're secretly a fool! I was really good at explaining things, but you messed up twice in a row, and it all went to waste."
"I was a bit bad. I'm sorry."
Chae Eun-gyu and Yoo Min-ha returned with their throats half-hoarse from shouting in the silence.
The production team had the 28 trainees sit in a semicircle.
And then they slowly dragged something huge from far away.
'... They seem determined to create a sea of tears.'
I immediately thought of three or four people who would burst into tears upon seeing the identity of that object.
A campfire was lit on top of large logs stacked one on top of the other.
We fell into silence for a moment, watching the beautifully burning flames.
"I like the sound of burning wood."
"Yeah, it feels like we're on a retreat or something."
"It brings back memories."
A campfire was always held as a final event during middle school or high school retreats.
The trainees were feeling nostalgic for the old days.
And at that exact timing, the crew turned the beam projector and pulled out the hidden cards.
[Oh, can I look here and talk?]
[I'm nervous]
[I'm so nervous, even though I haven't entered the dorm yet.]
"Oh, that can't come out now...."
"I felt uneasy since the campfire started. Oh, really, what should I do?"
"Why are they showing that now? It's against the rules."
The trainees all sighed in unison.
But the production team didn't care and played our pre-admission interviews one by one.
I glanced to the side.
As expected.
Heo Yu-bin was already sniffling.
Ken Hashimoto and Yoo Min-ha looked at the projector screen with tearful eyes.
'... they'll be crying soon.'
-