Chapter 17

Chapter 17.

[By the time you're watching this message, I'll probably have already disappeared from this dimension...]

Once the situation had settled down, a large screen brought out by the staff displayed the host, Hyun Kangoh.

He was wearing a laboratory coat over his usual suit, with a pair of half-rimmed glasses added to emphasize his intellectual appearance.

[But don't worry, everyone! I've hidden some useful things around here in preparation for an emergency like this.]

Crackle—

[The first thing you need is fuel.]

[I've brought a fuel base here. But what you'll need for this is teamwork! Form teams, find the base, and make fuel!]

[The second message will come after that... Aaaaaah!]

Heavy static shook the screen before it went black.

Hyun Kangoh's brief scream was swallowed by the darkness as well.

As expected of a musical actor, his vocal power is impressive.

The first thing they had to do was form teams.

Each team would consist of four to five members, and they were free to choose their own combinations.

If this had merely been variety-show content, they could have been less cautious, but it was obvious to everyone that they would be taking the stage for their evaluation performances with the teams they formed now, so everyone quickly began looking around.

Before long, most of the attention was focused on Yuseong.

However, Yuseong himself was too busy considering how to assemble a team that could deliver above-average results regardless of which song they received to notice.

'As expected... I should bring Ma Rubin.'

Let's secure a reliable main vocalist first.

The moment he turned around to look for Rubin somewhere in the crowd,

“...Hyung.”

The person who suddenly appeared before him was Kang Chan.

“Team up with me....You will, right?”

...Interesting.

“Sounds good.”

He readily accepted.

Chan was a solid choice too, so there was no reason to refuse. Besides, Yuseong was pleased that he'd approached him first.

Considering that Kang Chan had never once displayed a yellow light above his head, Yuseong found it curious how easily he had been persuaded.

His reputation score was... Let's see...

[85]

...That's quite high...

Just as he began wondering about the relationship between Enchantment and reputation scores,

Kang Chan's gaze, which had briefly wandered elsewhere, returned to Yuseong.

“...I'm not doing this because I believe what you said, hyung....I just want to watch you up close.”

“Yeah, sure.”

When Yuseong answered his whispered words with a kindly smile, Chan's gaze turned sharp.

Has he become a little more troublesome since I last saw him?

While Yuseong was discussing with Kang Chan whether they should recruit Rubin next, someone approached them.

“Ah—. I didn't expect this...”

It was Seong Iseong.

“Hmm... It's not entirely unpredictable, though—. Still, it's disappointing.”

It had been quite some time since they'd last met, but that irritating smile in his eyes was as familiar as if Yuseong had seen it yesterday.

By 'I didn't expect this'... he was referring to Kang Chan standing beside Yuseong.

He must have had his eye on him.

Kang Chan had described himself as a disposable piece, but apparently the producer hadn't gone so far as to prevent him from joining Iseong's team.

“Maybe I should've come a little sooner... But there's nothing I can do now that things have turned out this way—. I suppose we'll have to meet as competitors?”

“Yes, I suppose so.”

“Then I'll be going. Sorry to interrupt....Chan hyung, I'll see you later.”

After waving to Kang Chan, Iseong walked away at a leisurely pace.

There was exactly one way Yuseong could give Iseong what he wanted.

They could join the same team.

Though Iseong would never choose Soyuseong just to be on the same team as Kang Chan.

That was why neither Yuseong nor Iseong even suggested it.

As though casually declaring themselves rivals was the most natural thing in the world.

...Wait.

At that moment, Yuseong was suddenly seized by an ominous premonition.

'He isn't going to steal Ma Rubin away, is he...?!'

Worried that Iseong might get ahead of him elsewhere out of spite for failing to recruit Kang Chan, Yuseong hurriedly pushed through the crowd.

“Rubin!”

“Ah, hyung...”

When he finally found Rubin, the boy had the eyes of a puppy that had done something wrong.

Sure enough, Iseong was standing beside him.

And there he was, openly draping an arm around Rubin's shoulders with a victorious smile.

He was unbearably irritating.

To think he'd lose Ma Rubin like this.

“Ah... I guess we have pretty similar tastes—. Our picks overlapped again.”

“That's understandable...”

“If you'd been just a little faster, I would've been in serious trouble... Right, Rubin... hyung?”

Rubin reflexively nodded and gave a toothy grin.

Though his eyes were filled with fear, as if he'd been intimidated by Iseong's presence.

...So he couldn't refuse.

And with that, the two left Yuseong behind.

That Seong Iseong fellow has been subtly provoking me for a while now...

Perhaps he's irritated because he's falling behind despite being a predetermined candidate.

Recruiting Rubin was probably nothing more than spite.

“...Is there anyone else you want to bring in?”

“There is. I was thinking of Ijun... Oh, Ijun!”

Just then, Ijun spotted Yuseong, raised both thumbs high above his head, and came running over, so Yuseong promptly tucked him under his arm.

Afterward, they considered whether to add one more member or two.

In the distance, they could see Iseong picking up Juan and Hwanyeong, so those two were crossed off the list.

Not that Yuseong had intended to recruit Kim Hwanyeong in the first place.

In the end, they brought in Patrick Ryu, who had been on their team during the previous mission, and Lee Sia, who was among the predetermined debut candidates.

“You're really accepting me? Uh... My wish suddenly came true... Really? I seriously can't believe it...”

As soon as his place on the team was confirmed, Sia stood as stiffly as a Lego piece, repeatedly asking if it was real and saying he couldn't believe it.

Rather than having recruited him, perhaps it would be more accurate to say they accepted him when he approached as though enchanted.

He had walked right up to them with a yellow light floating above his head, so he really had been enchanted.

Although he was a predetermined debut candidate, he was still only seventeen years old.

Yuseong also remembered how his gaze transformed completely onstage, in contrast to how young he acted offstage, so he gladly welcomed him.

Yes, yes. This is a very good choice.

With the bonus of having a predetermined debut candidate on the team, surely they'd manage to get plenty of screen time somehow.

Once everyone had finished forming their teams, the screen switched on again.

[Gasp, gasp... I'll leave you with just this final message!]

[Because of the channel synchronization failure, cosmic debris must have flowed into this place! To put it simply, monsters!]

[They can smell the fuel base. In other words...]

[There's a base near wherever those things are! Which also means there's a greater risk of being attacked...!]

[Please, everyone, be caref— Aaaaaah!!]

Hyun Kangoh delivered a passionate performance right up until his final disappearance.

Only the swivel chair he'd been sitting in remained on the screen, spinning round and round.

The fuel bases were shaped like capsules.

Apparently, if they found the capsules scattered throughout the studio and dormitory buildings within the time limit and brought them to the production station, they would be converted into fuel for the transport devices.

Presumably, that would be how the songs were assigned.

“Now then, shall we get going too?”

When their turn arrived, the trainees entered the studio with Yuseong leading the way.

About half of the contestants had already gone in before them.

Apparently, they were being spaced out for safety reasons.

With most of the lights switched off and only minimal illumination remaining, the building looked eerie, as though something might leap out at any moment.

White smoke regularly billowed from devices that had apparently been installed at some point, creating an atmosphere of horror.

“Doesn't this feel like a haunted house?”

Patrick said, tapping a long strip of partially burned fabric hanging from the ceiling.

“...Hmm. A ghost might... appear.”

“They say if you say things like that, one really will appear...!”

Sia tightly gripped the hem of Ijun's clothes as he calmly surveyed their surroundings.

A ghost, huh...

“Don't worry. There aren't any.”

“...There aren't?”

“No, there aren't.”

Sia froze at Yuseong's words.

“How do you know that, hyung?”

“Because it's two in the afternoon.”

He answered Ijun's question as though it were obvious.

“Ah—” Even Patrick, who had been listening, let out an exclamation.

Sia finally seemed reassured as well, regaining his composure as though he'd never been frightened.

'...There really aren't any here, though.'

Based on his experience catching evil spirits back when he was an eight-tailed fox, he could sense that there really was nothing of the sort in this place.

But if he actually told them that, they'd probably be even more frightened.

Instead, he detected another presence nearby.

It was coming from inside the practice room beside them.

The other party seemed to be holding its breath too, because all he could hear was the sound of feet slowly brushing against the floor.

Well, now... That's not one of the other trainees who went in ahead of us.

“Shh... There's someone in here.”

“...Someone?”

Yuseong moved Kang Chan, who had approached him, behind him and carefully opened the door.

“...Who's there?”

He saw someone covered from head to toe in black cloth.

Their entire body was so thoroughly concealed that he couldn't tell whether their face was hidden because they were looking down or because they were standing facing the wall.

“You said there weren't any ghosts! You said there weren't any...!”

“No, that's a person... Ah, that hurts. It hurts.”

“That's a ghost... Ah...?”

While Yuseong was calming Sia, who was resentfully swinging his little fists at him, the cloth began to move.

At the same time, the fists that had been striking Yuseong stopped abruptly.

Thud... Thud.

“...?!”

Thud, thud, thud, thud, thud—!!

“A-a-aaaaaaah!!!!”

The black figure charged toward them in long, rapid strides, closing the distance in an instant.

Sia screamed at the top of his lungs, trembled violently, and then took off running in a completely unknown direction.

So this was what they meant when they said the cosmic debris would attack them.

Then there must be fuel here!

“I'll go after Sia! Patrick, please collect the fuel and wait here!”

“Ah, yes!”

Following the plan they had devised on the spot, Patrick and Ijun stayed behind while Yuseong and Kang Chan chased after Sia.

“Where did he go...?!”

At first, it seemed possible to catch up with him. If only they hadn't been chased by other 'debris' along the way.

They managed to shake them all off and even bounded up the stairs, but they couldn't find so much as a hair on Sia's head.

“We lost him.”

“...Hyung, I think it'd be better if we split up for a bit and looked for him. This place is big...”

“Would that be better...?”

Just as they caught their breath and were about to separate.

Bang.

Then, grab, yank.

“?”

Kang Chan disappeared before his eyes.

The door to the supply room opposite them had opened, several hands had shot out, grabbed him, and dragged him inside.

To think they'd been forcibly separated the moment they agreed to split up...

Startled, Yuseong violently twisted the doorknob, but the door wouldn't budge.

“Chan? Can you hear me?”

“...”

“Huh...”

There's no need to make the attacks this serious.

After roughly ruffling his hair, he knocked on the door to signal that he was there, told Chan he'd come back for him later, and left.

As Yuseong continued on his way, asking other trainees he encountered whether they'd seen Sia, he followed their accounts until he arrived at the emergency stairwell.

A single shoe lay abandoned in front of the fire door. It was a sign that someone had escaped through here.

The moment he entered, the sounds coming from throughout the building rushed into his ears all at once. Frowning briefly at the noise, Yuseong slowly climbed upward.

Bang, bang, bang!

Crash, bang, bang!

Pew, pew!

What on earth is that sound?

The loud electronic noises and stomping sounds grew louder as he approached the third floor, pounding so heavily that he could feel them in his chest.

The crashing sounds were understandable, but what was with the pew-pew noises?

“...?”

Puzzled, he opened the door, and there...

“M-my legs feel like they're going to explode! Save me!!”

“Please, please!”

“I think this machine is broken!!”

There were dance rhythm games, punching machines, claw machines, darts, shooting games, basketball arcade machines... and trainees burning with competitive spirit.

...Before him lay the scene of an utterly ordinary arcade.