Chapter 135
He was indeed a reality PD who couldn't just pass by a nice space like a rest area without doing anything.
We woke up in a hurry, rubbing our sleepy eyes.
"What game is it?"
"First, can you please decide the order? Decide who will go first, from 1 to 7."
They asked us to decide the order right away without even telling us the name or format of the game.
We put our heads together and thought about who should go out first.
"I think we need to be a little careful about what we do because we don't know what will come out."
"But the more you think about it, the more your head will hurt, hyung."
"Well, in times like this, it's better to just decide without thinking."
Song Hyung-bin agreed with Kang Si-yoon's words.
It seems like memories of having to rely on luck and probability while filming
Even back then, I realized that there was no benefit to overthinking it.
The more I think about it, the more my head hurts.
"Then, go first, Karis."
"Me?"
"When it comes to sports, of course Karis is the best among us, and you're also good at using your head, so you'd probably be the safest."
"That makes sense! "
I had no choice but to agree with Chae Eun-gyu's logical answer.
So, it was decided that I, Kang Si-yoon, Song Hyung-bin, Yoo Min-ha, Heo Yu-bin, Chae Eun-gyu, and Ji Yoon-chul would go out in that order.
"Have you made your decision? "
"Yes!"
The reality PD handed us five white envelopes.
"Shall we choose the first runner, Mr. Karis, as the representative?"
"Can you tell me what's inside the envelope? "
I asked a question before I extended my hand.
The contents of the envelope were surprisingly simple.
"This contains money that you can use in the game."
"Wait a minute, if it's money―"
"Ah, I think I know what it is."
Kang Si-yoon, who was quick-witted, quickly opened the car door and stamped his feet as if he wanted to get out.
"It's a game of loyalty, right?"
"That's right. Within the amount of money Mr. Karis has chosen, you can each order food at the rest stop while keeping an eye on each other. If you are the first runner and are very hungry, you can order expensive food. However, the money left for the runners who come later will be reduced. The time limit is 15 minutes, and each runner must buy food once during this time."
"Wha, what if the people in front spend all their money and the people behind can't buy anything?"
Heo Yu-bin asked in an anxious voice.
Then the PD smiled and dropped a huge bombshell.
"If the amount is exceeded, you will not be able to eat the crab set meal scheduled for lunch when you arrive in Sokcho. The crab set meal will be enjoyed among our staff members, so I hope that your telepathy will work well with each other."
The news that they might not be able to eat lunch, especially the delicious food called crab, shocked and horrified the members.
"It doesn't make sense to go to Sokcho and come back without eating crab!"
"Kids, don't be greedy. If you just eat something moderate and come back, we can all eat together later."
"... I really want to eat crab."
Even the quiet Ji Yoon-chul was not immune to the temptation of crabs.
He was staring at the envelopes of money with all his might in his long, muscular body.
'In the end, is this heavy responsibility being given to me?'
If I were to pull out an envelope with a pitiful amount of money, it would be a disaster.
"Mr. Karis, which envelope would you like to choose?"
"Please, Karis! I believe in you!"
"We'll survive if you pick well here, hyung-nim!"
Even if you think about it for a long time here, nothing will change.
I chose the first envelope without hesitation.
"I'll take this."
"Please open it and check the amount!"
A tense moment.
The members' eyes were fixed on my hand like glue.
I opened the envelope, hoping that it wouldn't just show the lowest amount.
Three ten thousand won notes greeted me.
"30 thousand won?" [22.64 USD]
"It seems okay, but it also seems a little lacking."
"It's ambiguous...."
Fortunately, the minimum amount was avoided.
Among envelopes that ranged from a high of 100,000 won to a low of 5,000 won, it was still a mid-level denomination.
Chae Eun-gyu quickly checked the members' fasting conditions.
"Hey guys, are you hungry?"
"Yes!"
"I'm really hungry because I left without eating anything, hyung."
"This is a big problem. If we continue like this and one person loses their sight, 30,000 won will not be enough."
"Hey, hyung! Why are you so worried!"
Kang Si-yoon smiled cheerfully and slapped Chae Eun-gyu on the back.
"Everyone will eat to their heart's content and come back! Soon, we'll be able to eat crab, so who would be greedy here?"
But his positive words had no effect.
"You are the most anxious, Siyoon."
"That's right! Hyung is the most anxious!"
"I'm also the most scared of Siyoon."
"Me too."
"He's a madman, a madman."
"Why, why is everyone looking at me like that? I didn't do anything wrong?"
How well each person can control themselves while carrying their hungry stomachs will determine the success or failure of this mission.
I grabbed the car door handle and got ready to leave.
"The total time limit is 15 minutes! To clear the mission, all members must buy food within 15 minutes. Okay, then.... Let's begin!"
I quickly got out of the car as soon as the departure signal was given.
I could hear the members shouting behind me.
"Buy as little as possible and come right away!"
"Karis Hyung-nim, you can hold your hunger well!"
"You have to come quickly!"
"Save our money, hyung!"
Aren't you expecting a lot of sacrifices from the first runner?
I sighed and looked around at the snacks outside the food court first.
'I need to save money, and since I'll be eating lunch soon anyway, I don't really feel like eating a proper meal. So I'll just buy a quick snack.'
The safest one is walnut cookies, the soul food of Korean rest areas.
So I headed straight to the walnut section, but was a little surprised by the higher prices than I expected.
"5,000 won for one bag...."
You can quickly figure it out by doing some simple calculations.
Even if you buy just 6 5,000 won items, it will quickly add up to 30,000 won.
So I completely revised my goals.
'Just put off eating until later.'
My hunger doesn't matter.
Mission success is more important.
I don't know if it was a habit I developed while continuously completing quests given by the system, but my mind was consciously focused on the goal of 'success'.
I even ran and jumped to the convenience store inside the rest area.
"Triangle kimbap, triangle kimbap."
Luckily, the triangle kimbap cost 1,300 won.
Without hesitation, I grabbed a triangle kimbap and headed to the checkout counter.
And then I ran back outside, holding the change in my hand.
"What did you buy?"
"You came so quickly, hyung?"
"Heok, heok. Siyoon, go quickly!"
"Uh, uh, uh. Okay, I'll be back!"
The members welcomed me back to the car at an incredibly fast speed.
If I had chosen the right food, it would have taken much longer, and people kept asking me what I had bought.
"Oh my god!"
"Karis, aren't you going to be hungry? After eating that?"
"It's okay. Clearing the mission is a priority."
"Hyung-nim-!"
Heo Yu-bin, who saw the triangle kimbap in my hand, ended up hugging me tightly.
'I think we can clear it with some ease at this point.'
But life doesn't always go as planned.
"Wait a minute. Hey, Siyoon. Why did the envelope suddenly get so light?"
"Ah, ahaha. Well, I don't know!"
Kang Si-yoon couldn't resist the temptation of a rest-stop udon set meal.
"I just quickly bought some walnut cookies to save time!"
Yoo Minha came back after buying a bag of walnut cookies without thinking, which put our remaining balance in jeopardy.
Fortunately, Heo Yu-bin, who was inspired by my spirit of sacrifice, also bought a convenience store triangle kimbap.
"Yoon-chul ah. Really?"
"Yes."
"You really weren't hungry?"
"Yes."
Ji Yoon-chul went one step further and came back with only two candy bars, so we were surprisingly able to clear the mission with ease.
I didn't know that my two younger brothers would follow me and use the convenience store method.
Thanks to that, we succeeded in catching the crab.
Everyone happily gave each other high fives, but Kang Si-yoon could only laugh awkwardly.
"Hey, if this happens, what will become of me, Yoon-chul?"
"... The one who ate well?"
"Hey, what if you say it so directly?"
After refueling at a rest stop, we finally arrived at our destination, Sokcho.
Before going to the pool villa where we were staying, we had some time to stop by the ocean for a while due to the strong requests of the members.
"It's the sea―!"
As soon as Yoo Minha got out of the car, he ran towards the sea with both arms stretched out.
The scene felt like a scene from a youth drama.
"Min-ha, if you keep going like that, won't you end up in the sea?"
"Then, we can get some fun scenes?"
"Min-ha wasn't completely crazy about the portions, like Hyung."
"That's right. Some people even ordered expensive udon, saying he'd intentionally make an ordeal because it wouldn't be fun if it went like this."
"Ah, ahem! Karis, take a picture of me. Do you remember how to take a Polaroid picture?"
Kang Si-yoon changed the subject to avoid attacks coming from all sides.
I got the Polaroid camera from him.
"As I said before, I'm not good at taking perfect pictures."
"Hey, I guess it's better than before."
Kang Si-yoon suddenly spoke in a serious tone as he took out a pair of blue sunglasses from his pocket.
"You should really use this opportunity to hone your photography skills. They say that if you practice, you can improve at anything. Let's take a bunch of pictures with my camera during this vacation."
"You just want me to take a lot of pictures of you, don't you?"
"That's true, though."
Still, I did my best to save Kang Si-yoon's life shot.
I tried bending down and moving around to find an angle where the backlight wouldn't shine on him.
But the results were similar to before.
"Hey, first of all, isn't the focus a bit off?"
"I focused as much as possible on Siyoon's face."
"It came out a little blurry for that. Did your hands shake?"
"Was it like that? I don't quite remember."
"I'm frustrated, so I'll demonstrate again!"
Kang Si-yoon snatched the camera and quickly took pictures of me.
After seeing the results, he snorted again and became angry.
"No, seriously, I just took a quick picture of you, but why do you look like you're in a pictorial? This is a little weird."
"It's the difference in appearance, Siyoon. There's nothing we can do about it. Didn't I say that before?"
"It's even more annoying when you talk like that!"
It was so refreshing to feel the sea breeze after such a long time.
It's been so long since I last went to the beach that I can't even remember.
I didn't have enough time to go on vacation in the game, and I never even thought about seeing the ocean in the first place.
"It feels great to be out like this after always being in the practice room."
Chae Eun-gyu's words seemed to represent everyone's feelings.
As everyone sat on the sandy beach and looked out at the sea in silence, Yoo Min-ha clenched his fists and spoke loudly.
"I want to do our debut show without any mistakes, finish the music show with flying colors, and get good grades, and then go on vacation like this!"
With the end of our reward vacation, our reality show filming comes to an end.
Now all that's left is to run nonstop until our debut show, scheduled for July.
Although it must have been a really hectic schedule, all the members had determined expressions on their faces.
Song Hyung-bin was the first to get up from his seat and stretch.
"But let's just rest well today and tomorrow without any complicated thoughts. When it's time to rest, rest. When it's time to work, work hard."
"That's right!"
"I want to go back to our accommodation quickly and go swimming!"
"... I want to sleep."
So we got back in the car and drove to the private pool villa.
The moment we entered the accommodation boasting a spectacular view, unexpected items greeted us.
"What?"
"What should we do as soon as we get here?"
"Isn't that a water gun?"
"Oh, here's another mission card."
Yoo Minha, who entered the living room first, quickly picked up the mission card.
"Prepare for an attack! In one minute, the staff will launch a full-scale attack. Hurry up and pick a weapon and fill it with water!"
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