“Thank you so much for being with us today. Next time, we’ll be back with an even more exciting broadcast.”
— [No! Don’t end it!]
— [Show us more mukbang!]
— [Interested]
The chat window was overflowing with messages full of regret about the broadcast ending.
Before Dangheon’s first broadcast, even if Bada Entertainment turned on a YouTube live stream, the chat would be practically empty.
Hwang Guman, his face full of deep emotion, rubbed his dry eyes as he looked at the chat.
When he first founded Bada Entertainment, he had been overflowing with ambition.
He wanted to succeed and show those who had cast him aside what he was made of.
But at first, Bada Entertainment only had one trainee, Lee Doha.
Even though Lee Doha could practically carry the team alone, it wasn’t possible to debut a Hunter Idol as a solo act.
Maybe he’d unknowingly built up some virtue in a previous life.
After recruiting Kim Chan and Roy, Bada Entertainment had been sailing smoothly with a massive sail.
“Aqua, come here. Let me wipe your face.”
As soon as the broadcast ended, Roy took care of Aqua first.
After falling in love with the unique flavors, at some point, she had tossed aside her fork and knife and started eating with her hands.
Her small face was a complete mess.
“Pork, pork.” (Ahem, hmm.)
Aqua let out an embarrassed cough and quietly let Roy wipe her face.
He wondered if her mental age had gotten younger too, now that her body was so small.
“Roy, you can rest now.”
“Okay.”
Today’s schedule was only the YouTube live broadcast.
Roy made his way to the practice room.
Even though it was break time, this was when he needed to raise his idol skills the most if he wanted to climb the rankings.
Even just maintaining the ranking he got at the first ranking ceremony would be enough to survive this round.
Roy figured his ranking probably hadn’t dropped compared to last time.
His grade was still a question mark, and his job was Spirit Summoner, so maybe that’s why the production team seemed to give him extra screen time.
‘Earth is awfully quiet.’
By now, Earth’s voice should be noisily echoing in his head, but he didn’t hear a thing.
Come to think of it, ever since he summoned Aqua, things had been unusually quiet.
“Beep.” (They say they’re unable to talk to the contractor right now.)
Ber, who had flown over with his heavy belly, settled on Roy’s shoulder.
Roy’s eyebrow twitched at Ber’s words.
‘Ber, can you communicate with Earth?’
“Beep.” (Not completely, but sometimes.)
Both Earth and Ber were transcendent beings, so it seemed they had their own way of connecting.
‘Could it be because I summoned Aqua?’
Roy tried to reason it out.
At the time, he’d thought it was just luck that he managed to summon Aqua, but maybe Earth had helped him.
‘I need to summon the other Spirit Kings soon.’
Han Jihoo had hinted that after the second ranking ceremony, the production team would start giving out missions that could help them level up in earnest.
This time too, Roy had managed to raise his level close to 50 with Shin Jimin’s help.
Among the contestants, that was enough to be near the top.
‘The top-tier contestants are all around level 300.’
Currently, the Hunter Idol group with the highest average level in Korea was High Cycle.
Roy thought that if he could get his level above 300, he might be able to regain nearly all his previous abilities.
“For now, let’s practice.”
Kim Chan and Lee Doha were also in the practice room, preparing for their own live stream, so it was pretty quiet.
The two of them were planning a broadcast where they would coordinate outfits for each other.
Roy turned on his phone, connected it to the practice room speakers via Bluetooth, and played a song.
It was High Cycle’s latest track, ‘shut’.
***
“Thank you, thank you.”
The name of the last survivor for the second ranking ceremony was called.
Since it was a live broadcast, the chat was filled with desperate messages from fans hoping their favorite contestant would survive.
The chat froze for a moment, then exploded with activity again.
— [At this point, isn’t he basically a zombie?]
— [ᄅᄋ He should be called Kim Zombie]
— [His luck is insane. Surviving at the very end is even more impressive than being first place]
Kim Jaemin, his face soaked with tears, kept bowing nearly ninety degrees.
The suppressed sobs coming through the mic had both survivors and those who were eliminated wiping their eyes.
[Our Hero is in 10th place……! Earth can die happy now……!]
Mimicking the speech of a historical drama protagonist, Earth expressed heartfelt gratitude in Roy’s stead, who was only clapping.
Earth, who had been silent for a while, reappeared the night Roy returned to the island, accompanied by a flashing system window, without any warning.
Like someone who had escaped after being trapped on a deserted island, Earth poured out everything he hadn’t been able to say, leaving Roy awake all night.
Roy didn’t cry, but he did feel a lump in his chest.
Above all, Kim Jaemin had almost been eliminated again, so even after his own rank was announced, Roy couldn’t fully enjoy his relief.
Unlike last time, Lee Doha, who placed 2nd, looked calm.
Han Jihoo kept his 3rd place, and Kim Chan had climbed all the way up to 5th.
Lee Hajun also rose to 12th.
Seeing Lee Chulhun slip to 15th, Roy had to make a conscious effort to keep from smiling.
“Lastly, let’s have Song Doyoon, our number one trainee, lead us in thanking the fans who voted for us!”
Song Doyoon, unable to hide his excitement, took a deep breath.
He and Lee Doha had competed neck and neck for first place until the very end.
Song Doyoon, who clinched first by less than a hundred votes, wore an expression of deep emotion.
“Everyone, attention!”
Song Doyoon’s booming voice filled the set through the mic.
Following his lead, the contestants straightened up and faced the camera.
“Salute the fans! Thank you!”
“Thank you!”
All 50 surviving contestants delivered their thanks in trembling voices. Lee Jian also stood at the front, bowing with the others.
“Everyone, please gather over here!”
After bowing, the production staff guided the contestants, who were trying to collect themselves, to one side.
It was a space set up next to the ranking ceremony stage.
“What’s all this…?”
“PPL.”
As the ratings went up, so did the number of product placements in the show.
The staff had gathered only the best of the bunch in this spot, and tear-stained faces gathered around.
“That’s it for today’s filming, so please relax and enjoy your meal here!”
Each round table had eight chairs.
On top of the tables, a mountain of assorted foods and goods was piled up, like presents under a Christmas tree.
“Let’s sit over here.”
Sniffling with a bright red nose, Kim Jaemin pointed to a table at the edge.
Kim Chan and Lee Hajun, who had been crying beside him, nodded in agreement.
Roy and Han Jihoo also took seats nearby.
The person who quietly sat next to Roy was Kim Jaewoo, who had placed 4th in this ranking ceremony.
Kim Jaewoo’s rank had also risen a lot since the first ceremony.
“Hello. Hi to Ber and Aqua, too!”
Someone who always greeted Roy a bit awkwardly raised his right hand shyly as soon as he saw Ber and Aqua.
“Beep.” (This guy’s face is red again today.)
Ber was the first to respond to Kim Jaewoo’s greeting.
Apparently, Ber had grown fond of him, as he spread his wings wide and lifted his right wing to touch Kim Jaewoo’s palm.
“Ber…”
Kim Jaewoo, moved, tried to pet Ber, but Ber, not willing to allow that much, quickly pulled back.
“Pork.” (Ber, you have no dignity as a Spirit King. That’s your problem.)
Aqua, on the other hand, acted as if Kim Jaewoo didn’t even exist.
After turning her back to him, she gently tapped Roy’s hand with her tail, her eyes fixed on the food.
“Doha hyung! Over here!”
Lee Doha, having been surrounded by other contestants offering congratulations, finally joined the table.
He was surprisingly friendly with everyone.
“Why aren’t you all eating yet?”
“We were waiting for you.”
Han Jihoo grinned and lightly tapped Lee Doha’s arm.
Lee Doha quickly started arranging the food on the table to make it easier to eat.
“There’s so much. Kimbap, sandwiches, even macarons.”
Everything was packaged so that the brand names were clearly visible.
“This drink has cotton candy on top.”
The staff hadn’t missed the drinks, either.
Everyone had been starving after hours of filming, so they started sampling the food with their chopsticks.
“This is seriously delicious…”
Before anyone noticed, cameras had gathered around their table.
Since most of the top-ranked contestants were sitting there, it attracted attention.
Lee Hajun, trying not to show he was aware of the camera, took a huge bite of his sandwich, his cheeks puffing out.
One camera was focused entirely on Ber and Aqua.
Ever since Roy’s live broadcast on the Bada Entertainment YouTube account, Ber and Aqua had gained their own fanclub.
“Is everyone enjoying their meal?”
“Yes!”
They thought it was just a PPL shoot, but Lee Jian reappeared, holding a microphone.
The contestants, caught mid-bite, stared at him with wide eyes.
Usually, this meant a surprise mission was coming.
Everyone waited for Lee Jian’s next words, unable to swallow the food in their throats.
“Looks like everyone’s focused on eating. If you look on the table, there’s a basket of plushies, right?”
They’d thought it was just decoration.
The teddy bear plushie, wrapped in bright flowers, had been sitting in the basket, ignored.
It didn’t even have a visible brand name, so it hadn’t drawn anyone’s attention.
“Inside the plushies, there’s a hint for the next mission!”
Just then, a strange light shimmered in the plushie’s eyes, which had been sitting motionless until now.
“No way…”
“Ahhhh!”
It hadn’t even been long since the second ranking ceremony ended.
Some contestants hadn’t even processed the sadness of losing close friends.
Even so, everyone was hungry, and since it was a PPL event, they’d been eating the food on the table to make the broadcast lively.
No one expected the teddy bear plushie to suddenly stretch and stand up.
Kim Chan froze, forgetting about the sticky drink spilling over his crushed cup.
“Beeeeep.” (What sort of bizarre doll is this now?)
Ber, who’d been nibbling a macaron with his claw, waddled over to the plushie and tapped its belly with his right wing.
Maybe he used more force than expected, because the plushie staggered backward, helpless.