Chapter 219
We even received earphones along with a handheld microphone.
Everyone looked bewildered as they headed towards the boarding area for the 'T-Rex Express', which is called the icon of the parallel world.
As soon as I arrived at the boarding gate, the first thing that caught my eye was none other than the karaoke machine.
"Why is there a karaoke machine here... ?"
"Oh, no way. Hey, are you kidding me?"
For some reason, Yoo Min-ha asked a question to the smiling manager before Kang Si-yoon and I, who were quick to judge the situation.
It was an unusually serious look in his eyes.
"Teacher, no matter what, how can we sing while riding this? It really sways a lot, falls down, and spins up."
"Because it's an amusement park, we play games like this even more!"
"No!"
I thought Yoo Minha was saying that it was a very difficult attraction to sing on, so he couldn't do it.
But his mind was actually elsewhere.
"I really want to just enjoy the ride! If I have to sing, I won't be able to focus on the ride and enjoy it."
"... Was that what you were saying?"
"I thought you were too scared to sing."
Since it had come to this, Chae Eun-gyu asked our manager to explain the game quickly.
Karaoke machines, hand microphones, and amusement rides.
When you think about these three things together, you can immediately guess what kind of game it is, but for us, there was one thing that was more important than anything else.
"What do we get if we win, teacher?"
A privilege that only winners can enjoy.
The most important thing was to have the privilege of teasing the loser's side in a fun way.
In particular, Kang Si-yoon looked at our manager hyung with his fists clenched curiously.
'Are you trying to beat me again this time?'
Unfortunately, this time I cannot give in.
I can't just go out there and be seen by Seleves all over the world as a worthless loser.
"As you all might have guessed, this game involves singing while riding the 'T-Rex Express.' What was our title song this time?"
"
"Wow! It's the title song of our 2nd mini album
When Song Hyung-bin added an additional explanation of
"This game is not an individual match, but a team match. After splitting into two teams, you have to sing
"What if I win?"
"You know you have free time from this afternoon until tomorrow, right? During your free time, you probably want to walk around downtown Tokyo and buy various things."
As Manager Hyung raised the corners of his lips, Ji Yoon-chul sighed in response.
"... Is it money?"
"Yoon-chul got the right answer! The winning team will receive a whopping 500,000 won of pocket money. Unfortunately, the losing team will receive 250,000 won of pocket money!"
A whopping difference in allowance.
Of course, if there's something you want to buy, you can buy it with your own money, but it's true that the more public money there is, the better.
Thanks to this, everyone's competitive spirit burned hotter than ever.
"Okay! Okay! I just warmed up my neck with the bumper cars, so it's totally possible! Let's quickly form a team!"
"How do we divide the team, teacher?"
"Well, how about we do it the classic way by Party-dividing?"
"Party-dividing?"
["Party-dividing" is a slogan used in children's games to divide three or more people into two teams. Participants shout the slogan while holding out one of two options: the back or front of their hand/palm.]
At the mention of Party-dividing, the members didn't understand for a moment.
"Oh, this has different names depending on the region. I was talking about Dedenchi."
"Was it turning your palm over and people who have the same thing become teams?"
"When I was young, I thought it was 'Flip over, turn over.'"
"Oh, me too!"
As our manager said, the name for this game was different depending on the region they grew up in.
Some people say that Dedenchi is correct, and others say that Flip over and Turn over are correct.
So, to avoid any confusion, Manager Hyung came up with a special strategy.
"It would be less confusing for Karis if he just shouted out the slogan. I don't think there was anything like this in Estonia."
"Oh, yes. There was no such thing."
I nodded, trying hard to pretend not to know.
I almost said that in our neighborhood they called it Dedenchi too.
Be careful, because if I let my guard down, I could create a huge controversy that Dedenchi advanced to Estonia.
"Then, let's divide the team into groups based on whatever Karis makes and shouts out."
Suddenly the moment came when you had to get creative.
I was struggling to decide what to say, and decided to just use the most intuitive word.
"Up, down."
"Down!"
"Up."
"Up."
There are four members with their palms facing upwards. Song Hyung-bin, Chae Eun-gyu, Yoo Min-ha, and Ji Yoon-chul.
And the members who went down were me, Kang Si-yoon, and Heo Yu-bin.
"Ahhhhh! Hey, why are you following me! Hurry up and go to the other side! There's no point in doing that!"
"That's what I want to say. Why are you turning in the same direction as me, Si-yoon? Don't follow me."
"Ha.... I wanted to show Karis that I could win twice a day."
Kang Si-yoon looked genuinely discouraged.
I also bit my lip to suppress my regret.
I'm not happy to be on the same team as the guy who stabbed me in the back in the bumper car earlier, but there's nothing I can do about it.
Because yesterday's enemy becomes today's comrade.
While we were arguing with each other, the other side seemed quite satisfied.
"Hey, the team isn't bad. Alright, alright."
"Let's go get 500,000 won!"
"...Go for it."
Through rock-paper-scissors, it was decided that Chae Eun-gyu's team would board the 'T-Rex Express' first.
Yoo Minha, who got on the ride he had been waiting for so long, couldn't hide his excitement as he wiggled his body up and down.
"This will be fun! Oh, this will be so exciting."
"Even if you're excited, don't forget to sing. We have to win the prize money."
We remained on the platform and watched the live feed from cameras attached tightly to the roller coaster.
"I don't think they'll do well?"
"Since they score you on a karaoke machine, you might get a high score if you just scream loudly."
"Hey, then we have the advantage. You scream a lot, Yubin. When you were on the roller coaster earlier, I honestly thought you were shooting ultrasound."
"... I'll give it a try."
I watched Heo Yu-bin nod and sighed inwardly.
It won't be long before my eardrums are ruptured on both sides.
The live broadcast camera was fixed so that only the members' faces were visible.
So I couldn't really see what was going on around the roller coaster.
You have to judge solely based on the members' facial expressions and screaming.
"Let's go!"
"It's a bit slow at first."
The start was smooth.
I thought Song Hyung-bin was creating a good atmosphere by cutting the first part.
Just before entering the pre-chorus, the members' faces suddenly darkened.
It means that the roller coaster has entered a dark area.
[No matter how much I go around and around, in the end it all comes back to me―, hey, doesn't this seem to be going down?]
[This story, which was all decided, read the eyes that were hoping for an ending― Oh my, what is that, up there! Bow down! Bow down! Bow down quickly―!]
[Hyungbin, sing a song, sing a song! You can't miss it―.]
A shadow appeared in the sky, as if something was passing by.
As the members started adding more and more strange words to the lyrics, the chorus slowly came.
The moment when Chae Eun-gyu grabs the microphone and is about to shout 'Formula'.
The broadcast cameras all shook together and it felt like the roller coaster was falling.
[Formulaaaaaahhhhhhhh! Eee ...]
[Kyaaa ...]
[Formulaaaa ...]
[Whoaaaa ...]
[Sin, sing through the earphones!]
It was a total mess.
The audio was consumed by the countless screaming that erupted.
Although it could be heard that someone was trying very hard to sing, it was mostly drowned out by Yoo Minha's tremendous shouting.
Even Ji Yoon-chul, who was always good at maintaining a poker face, was an exception this time.
After leaving a single comment that screams erupting from all directions could be heard piercing through the earphones, he covered his ears tightly and muttered something to himself.
Kang Si-yoon, who had been quietly looking at the screen, said calmly.
"The audio director must be having a hard time."
"That, Siyoon. I don't think that's something we should be talking about."
Heo Yu-bin's hint that we too will soon find ourselves in a similar situation.
About two minutes later, the roller coaster carrying Chae Eun-gyu's team returned to the boarding area.
Even when we experienced the special feature of summer in Jeju Island, everyone's faces were a mess.
Now everyone was looking even more serious.
"Wow, this is crazy. This is crazy."
"Are you that scared?"
Heo Yu-bin grabbed Song Hyung-bin's arm and supported him.
Song Hyung-bin shook his head and explained the situation very briefly.
"Dinosaurs are dinosaurs, but Yoo Minha's vocal range is crazy. I feel like blood is coming out of my ears."
"Don't talk about others as if you didn't do it! Hyungbin screamed a lot too!"
"At least I was trying to sing while screaming! You just screamed without even doing your rap part."
"I couldn't help it! How could I not scream when there was a Pteranodon darting back and forth above my head?"
I helped Ji Yoon-chul take out his earphones quietly and alone.
Since I knew all too well the indifferent expression that Ji Yoon-chul usually had as his default, his current condition was even more unusual.
"...Hyung."
"Why, Yoon-chul?"
"Are my ears attached properly?"
Ji Yoon-chul spoke to me politely with a blank look in his eyes.
The experience of 'T-Rex Express' must have been so great that he forgot that yaja time was still going on.
Chae Eun-gyu, who got off the roller coaster relatively unharmed, went straight to Manager Hyung to check the score.
"Teacher, I really tried to sing from beginning to end by myself. Didn't you hear me?"
"I'm sorry, Eun-gyu, but all I could hear was you guys screaming."
"Haa.... I really sing out proudly even though people were screaming on both sides...."
Unfortunately, Chae Eun-gyu's singing was not heard at all.
However, since it was a karaoke machine, the members were happy and thought that they would get good scores even if they screamed all kinds of things.
"6, 68 points?"
"So salty! So salty!"
"I think there's something wrong with this machine, teacher!"
I guess even the karaoke machine thought this level of noise was a bit too much.
When the score came out lower than expected, Kang Si-yoon immediately clenched both his fists.
"Okay! Hey, we can just win! Heo Yu-bin, raise your spirits!"
"Ugh, I really don't want to ride...."
"No choice! Let's go quickly!"
I sat alone in the front seat of the roller coaster, and Heo Yu-bin and Kang Si-yoon rode behind me.
The back of my head already feels cold.
Because of the physical pain caused by the loud noise that would soon be heard.
"I don't think I'll be able to hear much if I put on earphones."
"Don't let your guard down, Si-yoon. Didn't you see the other members' faces earlier?"
"Well, if it's Yubin's voice, he'll definitely get it pierced."
I looked at Kang Si-yoon, who was acting innocent, and wrinkled my nose slightly.
"You are the one who needs to be watched more closely. Focus on singing as much as possible. In particular, don't laugh."
"Yeah, yeah."
Kang Si-yoon answered me confidently, but his confidence began to waver not long after the ride started.
"Hey, it's moving-. Whoa! Those claws are so vicious!"
"Shhh! Shhh! It's disturbing the song!"
Even though it was originally Kang Si-yoon's part, I was singing it.
As the elaborately crafted velociraptor twitched its weapon-like claws, Kang Si-yoon and Heo Yu-bin's voices rose slightly.
I continued singing, ignoring the surrounding noise as much as possible.
'I have to sing from beginning to end. So that I don't get buried by those two.'
I've already witnessed it before.
Even though Chae Eun-gyu sang until the end, his voice was buried under Yoo Min-ha and Song Hyung-bin's.
Eventually, I have to sing loud enough that I don't lose to the screaming.
The roller coaster that was carrying us slowly started to pick up speed.
The air became strangely cold, and the eyes of scary-looking dinosaurs flashed everywhere.
"Hey, this is getting more and more gloomy―"
"Huhh ..."
"No matter how far you go, it all comes back to me."
As I was singing the free chorus with all my heart, the light around me disappeared.
As darkness fell, the air grew colder.
-Kurururung!
The roller coaster suddenly shot forward and began to fall.
In my sight, still singing powerfully, I saw the mouth of a giant T-Rex.
"Waaa ..."
"Ah, ahahahaha! Ahahahahaha! Hahahahaha!"
As I listened to Heo Yu-bin's tremendous screams and Kang Si-yoon's crow's cry that returned, our roller coaster hurtled straight into T-Rex's throat.
"Formulaaaa ..."
I shouted the lyrics proudly and thought to myself.
Is this even possible?
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