Han Jihoo was already juggling a number ball as he walked over, tossing it into the air with his right hand and catching it again.
The number spun flamboyantly in midair.
“I’m number 38. Got an easy one.”
“I’m 55.”
“Everyone got decent numbers. I’m 19…”
Following Han Jihoo, Lee Doha and Kim Jaemin also revealed their numbers.
Roy glanced up at the sky for a moment.
The deep blue sky, completely clear of clouds, filled his vision.
“Holy crap… Roy hyung, you’re number 2…”
Kim Chan trailed off mid-sentence and covered his mouth.
He had already felt bad when Lee Hajun got number 1, and now Roy had pulled number 2.
Whether it was number 1 or 2, there really wasn’t much of a difference—it was just bad luck either way.
Having two people in their group land in the extreme front of the order… it was nothing short of terrible luck.
[Hero-nim, maybe I should’ve created a Luck stat for you after all…]
Even Earth’s voice sounded annoying at that moment.
Roy fiddled with the wood chip shaped like the number 2 before shoving it into his pocket.
“Let’s get ready. We don’t have time to sit around.”
Roy gently peeled off Lee Hajun, who was still clinging to his waist, and ran a hand over his own face.
His expression was a mess—he’d cried from the shock of nearly losing Ber, and he hadn’t looked in the mirror yet, but he was sure he looked worn out.
Lee Hajun nodded firmly at Roy’s words.
When he was the only one who pulled number 1, he’d been completely out of it.
But knowing Roy was right behind him in the order gave him strength.
“Contestants with earlier numbers, please come this way for makeup!”
Thankfully, the production team didn’t seem inclined to let the contestants appear on the live broadcast looking like a wreck.
Roy wasn’t the only one with a bad complexion—the other contestants weren’t exactly camera-ready either.
“After your makeup, you’ll change into the outfits here.”
“Okay.”
Roy gave a quiet reply and closed his eyes.
Moisturizer was applied, and various brushes moved smoothly across his face.
It was one of the things he’d gotten used to since arriving here.
In the As Continent, typically only women wore makeup.
Men would sometimes lightly groom themselves for a party, but nothing as serious as this.
“Please open your eyes and part your lips slightly.”
Following the makeup artist’s instructions, Roy moved his facial muscles.
A subtle eyeshadow was added around his eyes, and a soft pink lip gloss was applied to his lips.
“All done.”
“Thank you.”
Roy stood up looking significantly more polished than when he had first sat down.
Another contestant immediately filled the empty chair behind him.
After changing clothes, Roy stepped out to find Lee Hajun anxiously waiting in front of the makeshift studio.
“Roy hyung!”
“Are we going straight into filming?”
“No. They said it starts in thirty minutes. What do we do?”
The production team didn’t ask anything of the contestants.
They just kept repeating that only three minutes would be given.
Everything was left up to the contestants.
Naturally, that threw everyone into confusion.
There had never been a script, but no one had expected that even the live broadcast would be this unscripted.
Standing on a live stage was one thing, but being completely alone in front of a camera and trying to fill three minutes—that was much harder than expected.
***
“Contestant Lee Hajun is number 1, and contestant Hwang Roy is number 2. Congratulations on drawing early numbers!”
“…Thank you.”
Roy barely managed to get the words out.
Everyone knew early numbers weren’t a good thing, so being congratulated for it felt strange.
But the staff member’s expression was so genuinely cheerful that it didn’t seem like they were hiding sarcasm behind their smile.
“Hyung, seriously, what do we do? My mind’s completely blank right now…”
Roy wracked his brain, but no brilliant ideas came to him.
“You should show what you’re good at. Just do the thing you’re most confident in.”
That simple thought was what finally sparked something in Roy.
Letting those precious three minutes go to waste would be foolish.
Rather than just staring blankly into the camera, it was better to treat it like a stage and sing or dance.
“Ugh, what should I do…!”
Lee Hajun looked even more flustered at Roy’s suggestion.
He clutched at his hair in frustration—only to realize the stylists had just finished fixing it—and quickly let go, then started stamping his feet in place.
[Hero-nim, have you decided what you’re going to do?]
‘No.’
[…]
Roy’s blunt response left Earth silent.
He gently stroked Ber’s egg and slowly opened and closed his eyes.
‘If I grab a broom and do another sword dance, they’ll seriously think I’ve lost it.’
[Yes.]
That thought naturally led to the broom.
Sword dancing was the one thing Roy could do with confidence.
But doing it without a sword didn’t feel powerful enough.
Still, repeating the broom dance might just etch it even deeper into the public’s mind.
But Earth’s firm response erased the idea immediately.
Roy felt ridiculous for even considering it, especially when he’d wanted so badly to erase the gifs and clips still circulating.
‘I’ll just… sing.’
He really had no better ideas.
Looking around, he noticed that some of the other contestants seemed to be preparing for talent performances.
For Roy, that meant the broom dance—so that idea was dismissed again.
***
“Contestant Lee Hajun, please step in front of the camera.”
“Y-yes…!”
Lee Hajun, completely frozen with nerves, shuffled over to the single chair set up in the studio.
The stark white background was empty except for that one chair.
“Please look at the center camera. This screen here shows the live chat from viewers. You’re free to respond if you’d like—everything is up to you.”
Next to the camera stood a monitor about the size of an adult male’s torso.
Even though the broadcast hadn’t officially started, some viewers had already joined and were sending messages in real time.
Before he could even read a single line, the messages on the screen shot upward, leaving Lee Hajun wide-eyed in shock.
Were there more viewers than he expected? The speed of the comments flying up the screen was dizzying.
[- What’s with the screen? Why is it pitch black?]
[- The live hasn’t started yet. It’s not time.]
[- Why did I even come here to watch this?]
[- Why are there so many people? LOL]
[- Everyone’s here to hate-watch, huh? LOL]
There were no images of the contestants on the broadcast yet, so there wasn’t any real discussion about them.
Lee Hajun nervously swallowed as he stared at the screen scrolling nonstop.
“We’re starting in 10 seconds. 10, 9, 8, 7…”
The production staff began counting down, and Hajun’s jaw dropped.
He froze on the spot.
“Hajun!”
Standing by the camera, Roy shouted loudly to get Hajun’s attention.
That snapped Hajun out of it.
He widened his eyes and bit the inside of his cheek to regain focus.
But he bit too hard.
Tears welled up in his eyes.
As he instinctively raised a hand to wipe them away, the broadcast went live.
[- Who is that?]
[- Whoa. He’s still a kid.]
[- My TV is massive and I can see every soft little baby hair on his face.]
“Oh no…”
Even Roy’s voice hadn’t helped enough—Hajun’s mind was completely blank.
His voice trembled, and with his tear-rimmed eyes flushed red, the chat went wild.
[- Is he crying right now?]
[- Did the production team threaten him or something?]
[- Seriously, do something! This is painful to watch.]
The moment Hajun saw the word painful, he sprang up from his chair.
“Ah, h-hello!”
His voice cracked at the end, but the greeting was loud and clear.
[- LOLLLLLL]
[- Is he still in middle school or something?]
[- That voice though, full of energy.]
[- Finally, he’s doing something.]
“I, um, I’m good at dancing, so I’ll dance!”
Roy nearly burst into laughter and had to cover the lower half of his face with a hand.
As Hajun danced furiously, his face beet red, Roy couldn’t bring himself to laugh—not when he felt like an older brother watching over him.
‘Is this how people felt watching me flail around with a broom pretending to do a sword dance?’
The production crew, ever merciless, didn’t even play music.
If a contestant requested music in advance, they’d play it—but Hajun, being first in line, clearly hadn’t had the presence of mind for that.
[Is this a cappella?]
[- This is just sad… ㅠㅠ]
[- I can hear the sound of his clothes flapping and his breathing… ㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠ]
Hajun didn’t even have the energy left to read the comments.
All he could do was keep glancing at the timer on-screen, praying the time would go faster.
Even though every second of that 3-minute performance was precious, he just wanted to disappear from the embarrassment.
His face was burning—his cheeks felt like they might explode from the heat.
“…Thank you very much.”
***
When the three minutes finally ended, Hajun bowed deeply to the camera.
His face was contorted like he was about to cry.
But surprisingly, the chat was filled with warmth and support.
[- You did well.]
[- My palms are sweaty just from watching.]
[- Sweetie, Grandma’s rooting for you.]
“Contestant Hwang Roy, please come forward.”
[- Hwang Roy? Who’s that?]
[- Broom guy!]
[- Ohhhh! I saw that meme!]
As soon as Roy’s name was mentioned, broomstick emojis started flooding the chat.
Seeing them as he walked toward the camera, Roy’s eyes trembled fiercely.
“…Hello, I’m Hwang Roy.”
He composed himself and bowed politely to the camera.
“I’d like to sing for you today.”
[- His voice is nice.]
[- Why is his skin so pale? Freaking unfair for a guy.]
[- He doesn’t even seem nervous.]
But that wasn’t true.
Roy’s fingertips were subtly trembling.
The tension of knowing that his every expression and move was being broadcast live to a sea of strangers was more overwhelming than he’d expected.
“I should have requested accompaniment in advance, but things were hectic. I’ll be singing a cappella—thank you for your understanding.”
[- Why’s he so formal?]
[- Is this his concept?]
[- If it was, he would’ve brought out the broom again LOL]
[- OMG, now I can’t stop thinking about the broom.]
At the word broom, Roy’s lips curved into a faint smile, but he almost broke character.
“Someday, I hope we’ll meet again—”
Before his expression could fully crumble, Roy launched straight into song.
[- I can’t criticize his singing.]
[- Has he improved since the audition?]
[- I’ve never seen someone improve this fast.]
[- His voice is so good.]
If he looked at the chat, it would’ve distracted him, so Roy lowered his eyes slightly and focused on the song.
[- …Does it look like flower petals are falling behind him to anyone else?]
[- You too? Thought it was just me.]
[- Is that some kind of built-in CGI effect?]
[- His face alone is carrying this performance.]
[- Wow, totally different image from when he had the broom.]
[- Stop with the broom talk ㅠㅠ I was getting into this ㅠㅠ]
[- Oops, sorry.]
“On the path we used to walk together—”
The whole song was over three minutes long, so he couldn’t sing it all.
He chose a good point to cut off the middle and ended with the final verse.
By then, only five seconds remained on the clock.
“Thank you for listening. I hope to see you again.”