Chapter 18

Chapter 18.

He'd never had a reason to visit the studio's third floor before, so he hadn't known, but apparently it was normally used as a multipurpose storage room.

Now, well... it had become an arcade.

“Pick whichever one you're most confident in, hyung~”

Juan, who had approached at some point, gave Yuseong a friendly nudge in the side with his elbow.

How did this guy end up all the way here?

“This is the only safe zone that the cosmic debris cannot enter, and an additional stage that you cannot leave until you meet the conditions.”

Hyun Kangoh, pretending to be the staff member guarding the area, suddenly appeared and began explaining.

“You can only escape by achieving the target score in your chosen game... So do your best! Fighting!”

One might think they could simply do well enough to pass, but apparently, anyone who set a new record and maintained it until the end of filming would receive a prize later.

Perhaps that was why everyone was so worked up.

“Didn't Rubin come with you?”

“Ah, unfortunately, our dear Binnie hyung was captured by the cosmic debris and ended up getting locked away somewhere~”

“...So he got locked up.”

Yuseong nodded calmly as Juan made air quotes with his index and middle fingers while saying “Binnie,” pronouncing it in an exaggerated manner.

“But there's another friend of yours here, hyung~”

“Who?”

Who was there that Juan could call a friend?

He followed Juan's gesture toward the basketball arcade machines.

“Ta-da-da-dan~”

Along with that homemade sound effect, the person Juan introduced was...

“Seong Iseong-Iseong~”

Oh, right.

“He's playing basketball.”

“Wow, he's really good at it.”

Yuseong slipped among the spectators cheering him on and quietly observed.

Iseong was throwing basketballs with a practiced form, and his score had already exceeded one hundred points.

“He's only just started the second round. Apparently, basketball used to be his hobby.”

“Oh, really?”

Even Yuseong could see that he certainly wasn't bad.

He repeatedly bent and straightened his waist to pick up the balls, throw them, and score...

Just watching made Yuseong's back ache, but Iseong was sinking shots one after another with such practiced form that it was understandable why the spectators were impressed.

Iseong finished the third round with 287 points and flashed a V sign toward the camera on the ceiling.

Yuseong had never played this kind of game before, so he didn't know much about it, but it must have been quite a high score because everyone began chanting Iseong's name.

“Ah... You came too, hyung?”

The moment Iseong noticed Yuseong and spoke to him, everyone's attention shifted toward them.

“Are you going to try this?”

Yuseong had been planning to try the shooting game or darts if possible, but basketball...

For some reason, he felt confident he could do well, so he readily nodded.

“I've never played this before. I just have to keep getting the balls into the hoop, right?”

“Yes, just like I was doing.”

Yuseong placed his hand over the start button and bent forward slightly to get into position.

Click!

When he pressed the button, a sound effect said something in English, and the balls came rolling down below.

He had picked up a few things in theory while watching Iseong play.

Although he'd only watched for a little over a minute, he'd briefly analyzed how to increase the speed at which he could score.

Having reached his conclusion, Yuseong picked up a ball in each hand and kept his face forward, fixing his gaze on the hoop moving from side to side.

“Wow!”

“Whoa~ Hyung, wow~ You're just like Seo Xung!”

“Yuseong hyung, that's amazing!!”

“He's absolutely killing it...”

Clang, clang, clang, clang...

His score climbed at a frightening speed, and the metal net shook without pause as balls continuously poured back down.

The way he mercilessly fired shots with alternating hands surpassed even the most seasoned arcade veterans.

Apart from one or two misses, every shot went in, earning him 98 points in the first round.

From the second round onward, he seemed to have gotten a firm grasp of the game, combining speed with composure until he finally surpassed Iseong's score—

And in the third round, he exceeded 300 points, reaching the fourth round, which even Iseong hadn't managed to enter.

“Hyung, you were totally lying when you said this was your first time.”

“But it really is.”

His final score was 402 points.

An overwhelming victory.

If he could maintain that record, the prize was practically guaranteed.

Yuseong leisurely stepped away from the applause surrounding him.

Iseong watched him with a complicated, subtle expression.

“...You must exercise quite a bit normally—. You're good.”

“That was... because I watched you do it and learned, Iseong. I just figured out the trick.”

Was he starting to feel bitter about losing to someone playing for the first time?

Haha, what a child.

Perhaps because of the dopamine surging through his head, he added that thought inwardly with more childishness than usual.

Yuseong walked away in high spirits.

He'd beaten Iseong, and he'd exceeded the ninety points required to escape.

Now...

“Sia. It's time to go home.”

“Uwaaaah!!”

Shall I take Lee Sia with me?

He patted the back of the startled boy, who had released the joystick and was trembling like a vibrating phone.

He had spotted Sia just before playing the basketball game.

He'd been about to greet him, but upon seeing the boy concentrating so intensely on the claw machine that he seemed ready to pop his eyes out, oblivious to the surrounding noise, Yuseong had simply left him alone.

What he was trying to catch was a frog plush toy.

Apparently, he had to retrieve the single frog among the dozens of stuffed animals to escape.

When Yuseong had glanced over earlier, it had looked as though Sia was on the verge of catching it, so he'd assumed the boy would have succeeded by now...

“Were you supposed to catch several of them?”

“No, just this one...”

The claw appeared to have been used solely for scratching the top of the frog's head, because its position was almost identical to when Yuseong had last seen it.

“To set a new record, I have to catch more than five, including the frog, but the claw's grip strength is... way too weak...!”

“Really? Hmm... Is someone else allowed to help with this...?”

Kangoh, who had overheard their conversation, promptly approached.

“It's allowed if you're on the same team!”

...Really?

____________

Several dozen minutes later.

The first-floor hallway of the studio building.

“Oh, stuffed animals.”

Ijun pointed toward Yuseong and Sia as they trudged over.

He was pointing at the frog and dog plush toys they were each carrying.

“I heard from the staff earlier that you two were trapped on the third floor. They called it an arcade trap. It looks like a lot happened. You seem exhausted.”

“...A few things happened.”

Yuseong rolled his eyes upward as he answered.

A lot certainly had happened...

The claw on the machine had been so limp that it might as well have been a pair of tongs made of paper, and getting the toys out had been an exhausting ordeal.

They had spent a full thirty minutes just getting two plush toys.

As soon as they realized that, they'd hurried back downstairs.

“Chan, you managed to escape safely too. That's a relief.”

“...They let me go after fifteen minutes.”

Kang Chan's eyes were also dull, as though he'd been through a great deal.

“I heard you set a new record on the basketball game, hyung.”

“How did you know?”

“I heard about it on the way to find the production station.”

Sia added some information to Ijun's words.

“He scored 402 points.”

“Wow, that's really impressive.”

“But apparently today was his first time ever playing that basketball game...”

Kang Chan, who had been listening to them whisper as though sharing a secret, furrowed his brow slightly.

“...First time?”

He singled out the word.

The people at the arcade had reacted similarly when they heard his score, so Yuseong knew Chan was merely asking out of surprise, but regret suddenly washed over him.

Ah, I shouldn't have emphasized that it was my first time.

He'd said that without even knowing whether the real Soyuseong had ever played basketball before.

Making a mental note not to forget to mention this in his letter to Soyuseong later, Yuseong gave a vague, “Yeah, yeah.”

“Well, that's surprising.”

Kang Chan also ended the conversation with a single indifferent remark.

“Anyway, what about the fuel?”

Yuseong changed the subject during the brief silence.

Now that all the members were together, they needed to move quickly.

They were standing in front of the practice room where they'd separated earlier.

The haunted-house atmosphere remained, but there were no obstacles.

“Ah, here it is.”

Patrick and Ijun rummaged through their pockets and pulled out several small plastic capsules.

Apart from one slip of paper marked 'SHOT,' all of them were duds.

“SHOT... That's probably a song title, right?”

“I think so. Could it be 'SHOT' by our seniors, Born to I?”

Patrick habitually rolled his tongue as he spoke.

Born to I.

They were the senior group that had debuted through Catch Your One.

That makes sense.

They hurried straight to the production station to make fuel and received two more capsules containing additional materials.

Inside were the words 'Dance' and 'Rap.'

[You've all successfully produced your fuel! Amazing!]

[I am an AI created from Hyun Kangoh's data. From now on, I'll deliver your mission instructions.]

The announcement continued for the trainees who had returned to the open area.

At Kangoh's lines, as he pretended to be an artificial intelligence hologram, Yuseong heard someone quietly ask whether the host had really died after all.

[Your first capsule should have contained one of these.]

[SHOT, Hater Eater, Love Victory, Still Boy, One Hit Wonder.]

[These are song titles.]

The artists' names appeared alongside the titles on the screen.

'SHOT' by Born to I. Just as expected.

[Your second capsule should have contained one of these...]

[Vocals, Rap, Dance.]

[These three position keywords are the second base you must additionally incorporate into your songs.]

[Simply put, they indicate the direction of your Pioneering. For example, the 'Hater Eater' teams should have received Vocals and Rap. In that case, you must choose one of the two and Pioneer your song by creating an additional section that highlights the selected position.]

Like last time, the Pioneering system had been introduced, but there would be no benefit points awarded for using it,

And the rules stated that teams would compete against others with the same Pioneering direction, rather than teams performing the same song.

“What should we do?”

“Well, that's...”

“Dance.”

“Dance!”

Their discussion was brief. The moment Yuseong asked, everyone called out “Dance” in perfect agreement.

It was probably because dance was a position that gave everyone an equal opportunity.

For Yuseong, who had the highest Dance stat, it was naturally a welcome choice as well.

Once they lined up according to their selections, there were six teams each for Vocals and Rap, and eight teams for Dance.

Iseong's team lined up directly behind Yuseong's.

They had the same Dance position and even the same song, 'SHOT.'

We've really become rivals.

Upon spotting Yuseong, Rubin fell into despair and clutched his head.

[The fuel will only activate once you successfully complete your performance. Only activated, fully prepared fuel can restore the channel.]

[Then, I wish you the best of luck. Goodbye!]

BOOOOM!

The moment Kangoh finished speaking, an explosion rang out, and the pillars supporting the screen caught fire.

Crackle, crackle...

Someone beside him hiccupped.

It was Sia, who had been so startled by the realistic explosion that he'd frozen in place after jolting violently.

At this rate, they're going to scare the poor kid to death...

_____________

Nine o'clock that evening, on the day the filming site was ablaze with preparations for the second mission.

“It's happening...”

- What's happening?

“Episode one of Play ON is starting...”

Outside the filming site, the first episode of Play ON was about to air.

With one minute remaining until precisely nine o'clock,

Social media timelines were overflowing with passionate posts about the trainees everyone had taken to heart and excitement that the program was finally beginning.

However, there was one person who couldn't bring herself to join this wave of excitement and was sitting at her desk, tearing at her hair.

“What do I do? What if I jinx it by watching live?”

It was none other than the female otaku who had attended Yuseong's first competition performance, fallen completely under his spell, forgotten her controversial real-life favorite and her 2D favorite, and become a devoted Soyuseong fan.

On the desk in front of her lay the Yuseong slogan she'd received on the day of the first competition, while beside her arm rested a phone displaying her social media profile.

'Fucked-Up Artist.'

The account, which had only that single line in its bio, was completely covered in photographs of Yuseong, from its header and profile picture to the post pinned at the top.

It was an account dedicated to supporting Soyuseong that she'd hastily created on her way home from the studio after attending the recording.

Her nickname was Nurungji.

The overwhelming emotions she was experiencing for the first time in ages were simply too much to bear, and Nurungji didn't think she could watch the first episode alone. So she called up an acquaintance she'd known for years through an instant messenger.

That acquaintance had no interest whatsoever in other people's fandom activities and simply ignored whatever excited rambling Nurungji engaged in, but that was precisely why she'd chosen them as her viewing companion.

As expected, this time too, the acquaintance casually tossed out a single comment.

- Seems like it'll be fine?

“No, seriously. Whenever I become a fan of a male idol, you know that... Have you seen that picture of the grim reaper knocking on every door? Everything blows up and goes wrong, just like that. So I'm worried that because I became a fan of Soyuseong, they'll start giving him terrible edits from the very first episode.”

- Ah... But he's popular, isn't he? Would they really do that to someone popular enough for even me to know him...?

“That's true, but... he was completely edited out before, too.”

- Then there's nothing you can do.

“I'm telling you, I can't tolerate him being unfairly targeted to that extent~!”

- Didn't you like it when handsome guys were unfairly treated?

“Of course not. And that's only for 2D characters.”

Nurungji threw a punch into the air.

While they were talking, the advertisement disappeared from the WLC dedicated live-streaming site she'd opened in full-screen mode, and the Play ON logo appeared prominently.

Nurungji immediately straightened her posture and sat neatly.

[An unknown universe, a realm of infinity—]

[Boys challenging countless possibilities.]

[Are you ready to join them on their journey toward becoming number one in every dimension?]

The narration of operator partner Hyun Kangoh played alongside solemn background music,

And behind the white subtitles against a black background, an effect showed stars of the universe rushing past at high speed.

Soon, the trainees appeared as pitch-black silhouettes, their figures obscured by shadows.

[It begins now.]

[...'Top Play ON'.]

The screen divided into multiple sections, each displaying the face of an individual trainee.

And there, in the middle, at the brightest and most radiant center...

Was Soyuseong.