Chapter 76: One-on-One Battle Royale

“This mission is finally……!”

As Lee Jian stopped speaking and glanced around the room, the participants’ Adam’s apples bobbed up and down in unison.

“A one-on-one battle royale mission!”

A wave of shock flickered across the participants’ faces. They looked at each other. Only 30 people remained.

They were all people who had once run toward a single goal as part of the same team. A one-on-one battle royale meant that you had to eliminate your opponent to survive.

This was the most brutal mission of all those that had appeared so far.

“This is seriously……!”

The faint-hearted already had tears welling in their eyes. Lee Hajun briefly imagined facing off against his beloved brothers and clenched his fists tightly to keep his eyes from reddening.

“Then, from now on, we will begin selecting battle opponents!”

The participants’ minds were working furiously. Roy also looked around, recalling those he absolutely did not want to face.

‘As long as they’re not close friends, it shouldn’t matter.’

Roy had no intention of being eliminated in this mission. That meant he had to drop others at all costs.

A cold gaze landed on Lee Chulhun’s face, which was smirking unlike the others.

‘If possible, that guy would be perfect.’

He was tenacious. Having barely survived at the bottom ranks, the malice burning in his eyes had only grown darker.

At that moment, sensing Roy’s gaze, Lee Chulhun turned his head and met Roy’s eyes. His crooked smirk was infuriating enough to want to hit him.

‘Just wait.’

He slowly formed words with his lips—looking closely, it was a declaration of war. Roy responded by flashing a bright smile at Lee Chulhun.

Seeing the contorted face of the one who couldn’t control his expression made Roy’s previously tight breath relax considerably.

“Hwang Roy, please come up on stage.”

The order of selecting opponents continued. The participant whose name was called would go up on stage and draw one of the transparent balls inside a box.

The pitch-black ball had a solid line running across the middle. Twisting it open revealed the name of the opponent they would have to face.

‘Lee Chulhun, Lee Chulhun, Lee Chulhun.’

Roy muttered Lee Chulhun’s name as he rummaged through the balls. Then, he felt one fitting perfectly in his palm.

He pulled it out, and all eyes—including Lee Jian’s—focused on the ball Roy was holding.

Most participants seemed desperate not to face Roy, clasping their hands together and silently begging. Kim Chan and Lee Hajun even shook their heads from side to side, as if they would faint if their own names came out.

“Ah.”

Roy’s pupils dilated as he read the name inside the ball. It was an unexpected name.

“Still, it’s a relief that everyone’s avoiding each other……”

Lee Hajun chuckled softly, looking around at the brothers.

“I was willing to be a sacrifice if it came down to one of you.”

Kim Jaemin looked disappointed. He had barely scraped by at 30th place. Now he realized this was probably the moment he would fall.

If possible, he wanted to be the stepping stone to help those he was close to advance comfortably to the next round.

“Why would you say that, hyung?”

Kim Chan’s voice was pained. It was always heartbreaking to see Kim Jaemin, who had survived through more than just luck, lose confidence like this.

“Yeah. Especially after getting that legendary-grade armor this time.”

Han Jihoo smiled gently and added a word. Only then did Kim Jaemin’s expression brighten.

“That’s right. I can’t disgrace the armor.”

Legendary-grade artifacts were bound to the wearer. Unless the participant died, the artifact remained theirs forever.

“Let’s all survive this time too.”

Roy extended his right hand first. Fortunately, luck had helped everyone avoid each other. Once they defeated their designated battle opponents, they could all advance to the next stage together.

“I’ll definitely win, hyung.”

Lee Doha was the first to place his hand over Roy’s, whispering quietly. His narrow eyes shimmered with a strange light.

“Right. I’m counting on you.”

Roy smiled as he met Lee Doha’s gaze, knowing the feelings of the one who was counting on him.

“Shall we all shout a fighting cheer together?”

Han Jihoo smiled brightly and lightly put his hand over Lee Doha’s. Others followed, placing their hands together.

“Ajah Ajah, fighting!”

Despite the cliché simplicity of the cheer, their faces brightened. They all looked like they believed without a doubt that they would survive.

But the moment they began practicing with their opponents, they realized this mission was by no means easy.

“Hello! Long time no see!”

“Yes. Nice to see you.”

Roy reached out to shake the hand of his opponent, who also extended a firm right hand. The strong grip shook up and down rapidly.

{Our energies seem to match well, don’t they?}

Though only one person had entered the practice room, an overwhelming aura filled the entire space.

As Jihoo had said, if these two were put together, they would probably chatter nonstop all day.

Roy averted his gaze slightly, feeling pressured by the sparkling eyes staring intently at him.

“To be honest, when Roy hyung first picked my name, I was kind of resentful.”

“Is that so?”

“Your skills have grown like bamboo shoots with every mission.”

Roy’s eyes had also wavered when he first saw the name he had drawn—he had picked a much stronger opponent than expected.

“But since we’re facing off anyway, I thought it’d be better to do it boldly? Surviving this far is already impressive.”

Choi Eunhyu’s gaze had become serious. At eighteen, he was among the youngest participants.

Roy knew how passionate Eunhyu was about being a Hunter Idol since they had done a ghost mission together before.

“So, let’s do this right, hyung. No holding back!”

Choi Eunhyu extended his right hand once more toward Roy. This time, Roy shook it with even firmer strength.

“Who knew picking a song would be this hard…….”

“Let’s just eliminate half from this shortlisted list for now.”

The two huddled together in deep thought. This mission required them to remake a famous song from the ’90s and put on a stage.

For Eunhyu, these songs were released before he was even born, and for Roy, they were all unfamiliar tracks.

At least recent Hunter Idol songs had been familiar through research, but past songs from regular idols or singers were something they hadn’t listened to.

“Beep!” (I like this song.)

“Porr!” (I vote for this one.)

Wings and hands fluttered over the tablet. Roy’s spirits were also gathered nearby, continuously listening to the candidate songs.

Ris, who loved to sleep, was curled up inside his shell, dozing, while Solum leisurely groomed himself by licking his front paw.

“Hmm—.” (Everyone’s so dedicated.)

Solum, still adjusting to the otherworld, watched Ber and Aqua busily bouncing around with fascinated eyes.

“The songs Ber and Aqua picked aren’t bad.”

Choi Eunhyu looked at the two spirits in surprise. Having so many choices made it hard to decide, but the list had just been narrowed down to two.

“One is a typical dance song, and the other’s a ballad.”

Roy tapped the floor lightly with his fingertips. His singing rating was A, and his dancing rating was S.

No matter which song they chose, it wouldn’t do to just sing or just dance. It was better for an impressive stage to show both.

“I personally think the dance song is better. What about you?”

“Hmm……..”

Eunhyu fell into thought. Roy’s performance during the dance break was vividly imprinted in his mind.

The shock from that moment still made the back of his head tingle. He had never seen anyone improve so fast—it was a humbling experience.

“Alright! Let’s go with this song!”

Their decision was quick. Doing a ballad would be too risky for the stage. The dance song they chose was the signature hit of a male duo who had swept the ’90s.

“But won’t other teams pick such a famous song too?”

“Shall we check it out?”

“Yes!”

The participants were given no restrictions on song choices. Any popular ’90s song could be chosen freely.

But if their chosen song overlapped with another team, it could lead to an awkward situation.

“They went with a dance song.”

“That side’s doing rap ballad, no, R&B!”

Roy and Eunhyu checked around other practice rooms to see what songs other teams had picked.

Some teams were clearly wary of them and reluctant to share. But once convinced that overlapping songs meant disadvantage, they finally revealed their choices.

“Phew, lucky. No overlaps.”

“Then shall we fix it on this song?”

“Sounds good!”

The song they chose was the Jade Siblings’ “Cold Farewell.” The debut track of the two actual brothers had ranked number one in annual sales the year it was released.

“The more I listen, the more my shoulders can’t help but move—it’s really so exciting, isn’t it?”

Once the song was chosen, they immediately began the remake process. Simply practicing the original and performing it wouldn’t fit the remake mission.

In fact, Roy had almost no talent for writing lyrics or composing. Both were stuck at F rank.

He was too busy raising his singing and dancing ranks to pay attention to those skills.

“Shall we divide the parts first?”

Putting aside the complicated parts, Roy tried negotiating with Eunhyu. The song had a rap section.

‘Rap, huh.’

Rap was a part Roy hadn’t tried yet. Though it looked easy at a glance, Roy knew rap was never easier than singing parts.

Besides, singing skills had little to do with rapping. Although Roy’s singing was A rank and he could mimic it decently,

after seeing those with main rapper skills, he had long given up on the rapper position in his heart.

“I’m not confident with rap either……”

Eunhyu smiled wryly, understanding Roy’s feelings. They scanned through the other candidate songs they had shortlisted earlier.

The problem was, none were better than this song. Most songs suited for good stage performances had already been taken by other teams.