“It’s a Triangular-horned Serpent. This is the perfect monster to fight right now.”
The Triangular-horned Serpent was level 34.
That made it a suitable opponent for Roy, given his current level.
“Besides, Triangular-horned Serpents never move alone.”
A hush fell.
Across the land, it looked as if waves were rolling in.
As if the earth itself was being washed in black waves, serpents with sharp triangular horns on their heads seized control of the area.
“Ber, Aqua.”
At Roy’s call, Ber and Aqua positioned themselves at his sides.
Shin Jimin clasped her hands together, gazing at Roy’s sturdy back with a fluttering heart.
Watching his jet-black hair flutter in the wind, her heart thudded helplessly.
Ever since watching him on stage, Shin Jimin had begun seriously digging into everything about Roy.
She even rewatched the stage performance she had attended.
Then she realized something.
‘He doesn’t look as good on camera.’
Even through the screen, Roy was considered one of the top visuals among the current contestants.
His hair and eyes were as dark as if ink had been poured over them, and his pale skin stood in stark contrast, catching everyone’s gaze.
But anyone who saw Roy in person would agree—without exception—that he looked much better in real life than on screen.
Shin Jimin would even bet her favorite photo card on it.
‘I wish I could film him with a real camera…’
She felt a pang of regret.
The broadcast cameras simply captured things as they were, without caring how to make the subject look cooler or more beautiful.
Even now, the cameraman filming Roy’s battle nearby was just doing his job soullessly.
“Watch out on the left!”
Shin Jimin pointed to where a Triangular-horned Serpent Roy had missed was lunging at him.
Her eyesight was far superior to Roy’s, so she could clearly see the movements of the monsters surrounding him.
She wanted to grab a weapon herself and fight off the monsters, but the production team had asked her to use only her support abilities as a buffer.
Despite her frustration, Shin Jimin kept her eyes glued to Roy, determined not to miss a single move.
She wished time would slow down, just so this happy moment could last a little longer.
***
“Roy hyung!”
Kim Chan, who had been resting in the lounge, spotted Roy trudging over and rushed to greet him.
At the place where Roy arrived, those who had finished the mission were tending to their exhausted bodies.
Fans rescued by the contestants were also gathered in a corner, stretching out their stiff limbs.
“Here, put this blanket on.”
Roy looked every bit like someone who had just come off a battlefield.
His once-neat hair was now a mess, soaked with sweat and dust, and dark circles had formed under his eyes.
“How high did you level up to take this long getting back?”
Most of the contestants had already completed their missions and gathered here.
Roy was among the last to finish.
Since there was no time limit on the mission, everyone had tried to level up as much as possible before returning, yet Roy was still especially late.
“Forty-eight.”
“Level forty-eight?!”
Kim Chan’s voice rose in surprise at Roy’s answer.
The contestants resting nearby all turned to stare at Roy.
“The fan who got paired with you must’ve had incredible buffer abilities. Most of us only got to the high thirties. I reached forty-five myself. I thought I leveled up the most, but I guess not.”
Kim Chan gave Roy a thumbs up in admiration.
Then his eyes landed on Aqua, who was clinging to Roy’s back.
“This cute little creature is…?”
“Say hi. This is Aqua, Water Spirit. I summoned her for this mission.”
“That’s insane…”
Aqua wagged her tail gently, eyeing Kim Chan with caution.
Just as her aloof looks suggested, Aqua always observed strangers before approaching.
It wasn’t as if she didn’t know Kim Chan at all—he was her contractor’s comrade in this world—so she was just being extra careful.
But contrary to Aqua’s intentions, the sight of her big, rolling eyes was enough to make anyone clutch their chest in awe.
“…Participant Hwang Roy.”
There was someone else drawn in by Aqua’s cuteness.
Kim Jaewoo gazed at Aqua with a dazed expression, his cheeks visibly flushing.
“You’ve… summoned a new spirit…”
Roy sighed.
Normally, Kim Jaewoo was perfectly fine, but whenever he saw Roy’s spirits, he acted strangely.
“Would you grant me the honor of an introduction as well?”
“Poru.” (There sure are a lot of weirdos here, Contractor.)
Aqua gripped Roy’s shoulder even tighter with her tiny hand.
Two pairs of eyes watched with trembling excitement as her small hand crumpled Roy’s clothes.
***
“The last contestant has returned!”
While Roy debated whether to hide Aqua in his arms, the final contestant appeared behind him.
This contestant was also covered head to toe in mud, evidence of a tough ordeal.
“Thankfully, I heard there were no truly dangerous incidents!”
At Lee Jian’s cheerful words, Roy briefly recalled the moment he almost drowned in the lake.
At the time, he had been on the brink of losing consciousness.
Yet the production team had waited for Roy to escape on his own rather than helping him.
Like Roy, most of the contestants looked pale and exhausted.
Lee Hajun even had tears brimming in his wide eyes.
“Did you fans enjoy today’s mission as well?”
“Yes!”
Unlike the contestants, the fans mostly looked cheerful.
Fans who had completed the mission alongside their favorite contestants, like Shin Jimin, seemed to be on cloud nine.
From the start, the production team had selected high-level buffers as the fans.
To them, the monsters swarming this island were no more threatening than ants crawling at their feet.
They weren’t in any real danger, and even got to buff the contestants they’d only ever seen on screen.
Except for a few, most fans were highly satisfied with the shoot.
“Finally, let’s take some time to say farewell to the fans who worked so hard for you all today!”
After tidying up his grimy appearance as best as he could, Roy approached Shin Jimin.
She waited for him, face flushed with excitement.
“Thank you so much for today. Thanks to you, I was able to level up a lot.”
Roy bowed nearly ninety degrees, startling Shin Jimin into bowing back.
“I… I was so happy to be with you today, Participant Hwang Roy.”
In truth, she had become a fan after seeing Roy on stage, so she didn’t know much about his real personality.
From the videos circulating on broadcasts and in online communities, she guessed that, despite his cold looks, he was actually quite kind-hearted.
Still, she wondered if it was all just for the cameras.
But meeting Roy in person, she found him far warmer and more considerate than he’d ever seemed on screen.
He didn’t show much expression, but whenever she looked the slightest bit scared, his jet-black eyes would tremble.
After that, without fail, he would come close and check on her with a careful glance.
Even in the midst of intense battle, he’d sent Ber to protect her.
“I’ll keep cheering for you! I know you’ll debut!”
It had been a long time since she’d found someone she wanted to support this much.
Shin Jimin resolved to use all her skills to spread Roy’s charm far and wide.
Even before this mission, she’d been active in online communities promoting Roy, but now she felt so fired up, she could charge into a bonfire with a bundle of straw on her back.
“Thank you so much.”
Roy reached out and gently took both her hands. He’d seen the other contestants shaking hands and even hugging their partner fans after the mission, so he followed suit.
But since his clothes were too dirty for a hug, he settled for carefully holding her hands.
Shin Jimin looked even more moved, glancing down at the hands that had shaken Roy’s, her eyes shimmering with unshed tears.
“If you board the bus over here, it’ll take you back!”
It was time to say goodbye, however reluctantly.
Roy waved his right hand until Shin Jimin boarded the bus and left.
Ber and Aqua, who had also grown attached to her during the battle, waved their wings and tiny hands from Roy’s shoulders.
“Everyone, you did great today! Go back to the dorm and rest well! You have a week off starting tomorrow!”
***
After seeing the fans off, the contestants gathered in front of Lee Jian, exhausted.
The mention of vacation made their eyes light up.
Lee Jian surveyed them sympathetically before making an important announcement.
“In two weeks, the second ranking ceremony will be held!”
The contestants, who had just been looking forward to a break at the dorm, now tensed up.
With no time to prepare themselves, the second ranking ceremony was suddenly right around the corner.
“This time, a total of twenty contestants will be eliminated.”
Lee Jian’s expression was just as dark as he made the announcement.
The murmurs among the contestants grew louder.
Those who had been in the lower ranks at the first ceremony looked especially anxious.
Currently, seventy contestants remained.
With twenty to be eliminated, nearly a third would not move on to the next mission.
“The footage of today’s mission will be specially edited and uploaded to K Corporation’s official YouTube before the main broadcast!”
If only they’d told us in advance.
That was the thought running through every contestant’s mind.
Especially those who had been caught on camera looking a mess during the mission now wore grim expressions.
Lee Hajun grabbed his already messy hair with both hands, practically tearing it out.
Crying until his face was a mess was the least of his worries.
Not only had he failed to protect his fan, he’d ended up being protected by them during the mission.
To make matters worse, the fan he was supposed to rescue had been stuck in a swamp full of worm-like monsters, sending him into a panic.
Just seeing dozens of worms as thick as his wrist crawling around was enough to make him retch.
“I’m finished…”
Han Jihoo, standing beside him, patted Lee Hajun’s back in consolation.
He felt the same regret.
If he’d known the video would be uploaded to YouTube separately, he would’ve tried harder to show more chemistry with his fan.
He realized he’d been too focused on just getting through the mission.
“Now, let’s move to the dorms!”
With that, Lee Jian stepped off the stage, and the production crew began guiding the contestants to the dorms in an orderly fashion.