Debut or Die

Ryu Chungwoo asked with an ambiguous face.

“…We’re going to shoot… riding a horse and holding a bow…?”

“Alright!”

“Wow!”

“I like it!”

“…Perhaps, did we get cast because of Chungwoo?”

At Bae Sejin’s question, the manager shook his head.

“No, Well, it’s… It’s similar to the previous Idol Olympics which was made by KBC, so the format is like that. I think most idols will come out.”

“Aha~”

It meant that if we didn’t show up, it would be an obstacle in appearing on music shows. Got it.

“Huh, but the holidays are over, we’re doing this now?”

“Well, there must have been an internal situation at the broadcasting station.”

“Hmm~”

Most of the members were convinced, but Ryu Chungwoo still had a mysterious expression.

“Hyung, is there a problem?”

“Hn? Um… I’m a little worried.”

Ah, is it because of the aftereffects?

Even if he didn’t feel any pain, the situation itself might be uncomfortable. There was always a risk of injury in entertainment shows where people like this were called in and forced to do physical work.

However, this time, the manager opened his mouth with an ambiguous face.

“Um… About that.”

“…?”

“Chungwoo… is banned.”

“…!!”

“The broadcast refused because the game wouldn’t work with him there. Instead, they want him to show a demonstration.”

“Ugh.”

The members were shocked by the incredible judgment that made sense. It was clear that they secretly put their trust in him.

However, Ryu Chungwoo’s expression didn’t improve.

“I think I’d rather do it… Hyung, we can’t go out like this, right?”

“…Mm, it must be hard to keep appearing on KBC. Why?”

Ryu Chungwoo shook his head.

“It’s too dangerous. Riding a horse is difficult, but shooting a bow from it is even more dangerous. How long has the training period been secured?”

“…They said you’ll come and learn…”

“…”

“…Wait a minute.”

After getting us in the car, the manager seemed to have a pretty long phone call with the company in the parking lot.

Then he got back in the car with a bright face.

“Oh, don’t worry, guys. They said everything is already prepared.”

“Oh…”

“Still, KBC is a public broadcaster. They won’t make you do anything unreasonable or dangerous, so let’s do it!”

Seeing him rant like that, he must have heard something. Since he didn’t explain in detail, it seemed he needed a reaction.

‘Did they call the national horseback riding team?’

There was no way they would wrap up the show with warm scenes by bringing in the current national team in front of an idol who retired from the national team due to the aftereffects, right?

I’d met so many of the great broadcasters on Tnet that I had to value it from my side and measure the angle.

“And I heard that they’re going to do various other sports, so I think Cheongwoo can play there!”

“Um, I understand…”

Ryu Chungwoo still looked uncomfortable, but he eventually agreed.

And on the day of filming, we got to see a tremendous sight.

* * *

The filming location was at Daegwallyeong.

What was even more interesting was that I went there wearing an outfit I had never imagined before.

“Hwarang^[1]Hwarang, also known as Hwarang Corps, and Flowering Knights, were an elite warrior group of male youth in Silla, an ancient kingdom of the Korean Peninsula that lasted until the 10th century. Sumber: Wiki. ?”

“Yes. The concept of this program is Silla Hwarang competing with each other!”

“Wow…”

I didn’t know that they even mobilized their ancestors to differentiate themselves from Idol Olympics.

Thanks to this, I was taken to Daegwallyeong in a Hwarang outfit after getting my makeup and hair done in Seoul.

– Don’t lean on your hair too hard because it can get ruined!

I thought my neck was going to break.

And in the filming location we arrived at.

A pink merry-go-round was spinning.

“…??”

“Excuse me?”

“It’s your horses!”

“…!!”

The camera eagerly captured the blank faces of the member.

And after a while, bows were supplied.

They were colorful toy bows.

Our figure holding the bow in this historical drama costume was the pinnacle of disparity

“…”

“…Isn’t our ancestors going to get angry with this?”

Yeah.

Anyway, thanks to that, the filming went safely as promised by KBC.

Idols dressed up in Hwarang outfits riding on a bling-bling merry-go-round and hitting animal character dolls with toy bows was a very strange triple-complex gag.

‘Why the hell did you have to call us to Daegwallyeong?’

It wouldn’t make a difference if we just went to any theme park.

Watching the scene, Keun Sejin laughed and stretched.

“Still, there’s no fans calling us out here. I heard they have a hard time.”

“Aah.”

I remembered. I’d never been to the filming because it didn’t fit my schedule, but there were quite a few people who took pictures and sold them.

“Moondaemoondae, let’s save some pictures to upload news for the Loviewers.”

“Shall we?”

Hmm. It was a pretty good suggestion.

“Oh~ Aren’t you enthusiastic? To be honest, Moondae also likes the Hwarang’s outfit~you think it’s cool, right? Isn’t it like that?”

This was kind of annoying.

“M-Me too…”

“Are you taking pictures?”

“I want to see the hair!”

As I was taking a few group shots including the guys who had interrupted, I could feel gazes from around me. It was from the other idol teams.

‘It’s the same as in the hallway of the music shows.’

It would be good to build a more personal friendship here since everyone was on standby. There were no fan seats, too.

However, these guys didn’t seem interested in other groups.

Even Keun Sejin. It seemed none of the idols who participated here had a similar level to Testar, so I guessed they just made sure they kept their hands clean. They greeted the others politely, and after that, they didn’t even look back.

‘How should I say this, they’re real bastards.’

I was in no position to talk, but… These bastards were really huge jerks.

Well, thanks to that, it was comfortable not having to talk to anyone.

After such a peaceful waiting time.

“This group~ It’s the famous National Stock! Here is Testar’s Hwarang!”

I wondered if it was okay to use other cable’s extreme capitalist catchphrase on public broadcasting, but in any case, we got called for our turn.

Ryu Chungwoo, who was excluded to make it fair, and Bae Sejin, who voluntarily dropped out of the five-member quota, remained on standby. They would participate in the next event.

“Good luck. Be careful.”

“…Yes.”

Looking at the merry-go-round, I wondered if there was a need to be told to be careful, but my doubts disappeared after being hit by Ryu Chungwoo’s backstory beam.

“Let’s go~”

And I got on the merry-go-round.

The merry-go-round began to spin after the explanation to wear the seat belt and give a signal to stop the merry-go-round if a problem occurred

– Ddara ddda climb~ Ddara ddda~

A cute music box rang out and the merry-go-round began to turn up and down. I felt a sense of shame.

And one more rule was added here.

“Then, everyone, Testar’s Hwarang~ What should you do before shooting an arrow?”

“Quiz!”

“We have to guess the answer!”

Right. We couldn’t shoot indefinitely, we had to guess it correctly and then we could shoot for 10 seconds.

So, the group that got five questions right in the shortest time won the game.

“That’s right, as Hwarang group with all the martial arts, you have to guess the correct answer, the target, and even the timing~”

“You don’t have to guess the timing, you have to guess…”

“Hahaha! Give us the question!”

At Keun Sejin’s words, the entertainer who was in charge of being the MC immediately raised his hand and shouted.

“Now, the first question, guess this person! He is one of the most famous Hwarangs, and he is the general who led the unification of the three kingdoms of Silla. What is the name of this general who defeated the army led by Gyebaek in the Battle of Hwangsanbeol?”

“…??”

What’s with the difficulty level?

It wasn’t particularly difficult, but the previous group was only asked to say the name of the place where we were now.

‘Are you trying to mess with us because we’re from a cable program…?’

KBC wasn’t an idiot, so it probably wasn’t like that. It was just a matter of luck.

In the midst of this, Cha Eugene was the first to raise his hand, turning this into a problem.

“What kind of bee is Hwangsanbeol^[2]beol means bee, that’s why Cha Eugene got confused …”

“Answer! General Kim Yushin!”

“Oh, Hwarang Park Moondae~ Correct!”

Fortunately, I could get rid of the audio ‘Hwangsanbee’.

‘I survived.’

I sighed and lifted my bow.

“Okay, 10 seconds from now! Start!”

“Huh??”

And like a joke, the merry-go-round sped up. The wooden horse, which had been moving like a turtle, suddenly started running like a group cyclist at the gym.

I had seen it while waiting earlier, but they really tried hard to be funny.

“This is faster than I thought?!”

“Hahaha! Come on~ One!”

And like a lie, Cha Eugene hit a doll right away.

“One!”

I sighed and aimed my toy bow.

And of course, I didn’t hit it. Damn it.

“Ah, it was fun!”

“It was nice!”

Keun Sejin and Cha Eugene smiled and came down from the merry-go-round and waved to the camera.

Surprisingly, they finished in 2 minutes and 7 seconds, setting a new record.

What was even more surprising was that Cha Eugene answered the second question correctly.

– Then, the second question~ WWW, which is commonly seen in the address bar is…

– World Wide Web!!

-…? That’s correct!

It was an unexpected save.

By the way, this time I also managed to hit a doll. Getting the hang of it was important.

“Good job. It seems you’re doing well?”

“Good job~”

“There were no major difficulties!”

“Let’s do it again~”

Next to the guys who were taking control, Bae Sejin asked quietly in front of the chrysalis.

“…Did you have fun?”

I shrugged. It meant it was fun. Bae Sejin understood without words.

“T-This time, we did a good job.”

“I know. Let’s continue to do well~”

“Yeah~”

After doing it once, everyone was excited as if they were immersed in it. In this gap, I had a foreboding feeling that if I did it alone, I would be engulfed in a subtle controversy despite my initial intention.

‘Let’s pay attention to the reaction.’

By the way, Ryu Chungwoo, who came out next as a demonstration, burst into laughter and showed a crazy trick of hitting all five dolls alone within the first 10 seconds.

I had no idea what kind of place the Korean national archery team was.

* * *

And as time passed, from sheep shearing–which I couldn’t guess why it was even included–to a large yut nori^[3]Yut Nori, also known as Yunnori, Nyout, and Yoot, is a traditional board game played in Korea. Sumber: Wiki game, we finally arrived at the last event.

“Next~ It’s a coloring battle!”

“Oh~”

It sounded plausible, but it was just a paintball survival game. The team who shot paint at each other and survived without getting hit until the end won.

This time, it was a 7-member team match, so Ryu Chungwoo and Bae Sejin were included. Since luck played a big role, this time Ryu Chungwoo didn’t miss out as a demonstration.

‘It’s comfortable to be away.’

Looking at other teams, there were quite a few places where they were mixed.

“Is this going to be a picture where if we stay still, Chungwoo hyung will shoot everything and win~?”

“I will shoot, too!”

“…I look forward to your kind cooperation.”

Perhaps not confident, Bae Sejin said to Ryu Chungwoo with a grim face.

Ryu Chungwoo said awkwardly with an embarrassed face.

“Let’s just have fun, guys, you might get eliminated.”

“That’s weak!”

“I want to win!”

“F-Fighting!”

Even Seon Ahyeon stepped forward like this, so Ryu Chungwoo was eventually pushed back.

“Haha, alright. Let’s win!”

“Wow!”

The camera eagerly captured the scene.

‘Hmm, it won’t be a very good picture if we really win like this.’

Since Testar performed the best among the groups that appeared here, it might be better to avoid winning in this event.

‘We’ve already finished second in yut nori.’

If we went further from here, it was clear that there would be people who thought that we were taking away other groups’ opportunity to receive the portions.

However, if we did it half-heartedly, we would get criticized for doing it half-heartedly, so it would be best to get immersed like crazy and fail.

So I nodded my head and shook my fists as if impressed by Ryu Chungwoo’s words.

‘Let’s roll.’

Don’t give any real help, just pretend to work hard.

If I wore this outfit and rolled around on the ground, they would have no choice but to say that I had worked hard.

And five minutes later, with this decision, I really rolled on the ground.

“Moondae, are you okay?!”

“…Yes.”

It was because everyone was eliminated and only Ryu Chungwoo and I were left.

This situation happened thanks to the five guys who were immersed in shooting the paint and didn’t care that they didn’t shoot it right.

All of a sudden, I became the person who held out until the end.

And when an arrow came, Ryu Chungwoo rolled hard to the left and rolled to the right, giving instructions in order to save the one remaining member of the team

I myself was rolling, so I ended up not getting hit.

‘Wow…’

Let’s get eliminated.

However, Ryu Chungwoo was more immersed than I expected.

• 1. Hwarang, also known as Hwarang Corps, and Flowering Knights, were an elite warrior group of male youth in Silla, an ancient kingdom of the Korean Peninsula that lasted until the 10th century. Sumber: Wiki.
• 2. beol means bee, that’s why Cha Eugene got confused
• 3.Yut Nori, also known as Yunnori, Nyout, and Yoot, is a traditional board game played in Korea. Sumber: Wiki