After making sure that Lee Danbi was okay, I turned my attention to the sight in the waiting room.
Since this was the first time the members were in a waiting room that wasn’t a competition waiting room for the survival program, it seemed like they were spending their time a little more restlessly than usual.
And the one that shocked me the most was,
“Ugh, ugh, hmmph, I want to stop eating…….”
“Please keep eating. Giving up so weakly over such a small amount. This Nagi Zen will not forgive you.”
It was Baek Kiryang, chewing on some
minari
while shedding tears, and Nagi Zen, who, like dedicated health trainer, was sticking by his side and continuously handing him more
minari
1
.
“Dissing unlucky people, that’s fine. But falling down drunk, that’s not acceptable. Come to your senses quickly, Bambi.”
“Bitter … chew…..”
It seemed that Zen was worried about Baek Kiryang, who was drunk and out of his senses, getting injured during the second half of the filming that would follow the break, as it would require physical activities.
‘It seems like he’s starting to come to his senses, but he’s still just force-feeding him.’
We’re not even in the myth of Dangun
2
, so I had no idea why he was making him chew on that minari so foolishly.
Sure, I learned about it, and I knew it was good for detoxification, but still….
“Just buy some medicine from the pharmacy and give it to him. He already has a small stomach as it is.”
“Mirina is better. I can’t feed Bambi those suspicious medicines full of foreign words.”
“…….”
Rather than feeding him some grass whose name you can’t even remember, just give him actual medicine. What do you even think modern medicine is? And that foreign language is Bambi’s native language.
‘It’s really hard to survive in Pantheion.’
I had no idea where to start pointing out the problems, so I just stopped thinking.
Sometimes being a fool could be good for your life, I learned that through Do Yuda.
When I turned my head, I noticed Do Yuda, who was eating a lunchbox next to me.
I thought he was just quietly eating a single lunchbox since the table wasn’t particularly crowded, but upon closer inspection, I realized that he had stacked empty lunchboxes underneath the one he was eating.
There were four of them.
“…….”
When Do Yuda realized that I had counted the number of lunchboxes, he stopped moving and looked sideways like a guilty puppy. Perhaps wanting to hide the evidence of his conquest of the snacks placed in the waiting room, he subtly moved his body to the side.
“….If you’re going to eat, eat with confidence.”
“…Yes.”
I found it funny how Do Yuda was acting all nervous even though I hadn’t said anything, so I tried to hold back my laughter and spoke. Do Yuda nodded and gave a brief reply, looking embarrassed.
‘If you continue to eat like that … what if you die?’
Well, children needed to eat a lot during their growth period.
I couldn’t guarantee that he would only be like that during his growth period, but I decided to just think of it that way.
I sighed lightly and shook my head, and then I caught the fragrant aroma of coffee wafting in the air.
I shifted my gaze towards the source of the scent and saw Lee Hwayoung, who was reading a book while drinking coffee, which wasn’t very British of him.
‘That side of him is nothing like Choi Jeokhyeon.’
Choi Jeokhyeon was a strange person who only used the latest technology and had no attachment to things at all. But his nephew, Lee Hwayoung, was fascinatingly an analog person in a world dominated by technology. He used a notebook and fountain pen for taking notes, and he only touched his phone for less than 10 minutes a day—completely different from most people who were glued to their phones all day.
The people who were treated as psychopaths simply for occasionally being spotted without a phone, tablet, or laptop, and just sitting around drinking coffee, must be people like Lee Hwayoung.
While I was letting out a chuckle at Lee Hwayoung, who was completely on his own wavelength, someone entered the waiting room.
“Everyone, have some coffee.”
It was Woo Kangwon, holding several 4-cup carriers filled with coffee in both hands.
The guy who handed out coffee to the staff approached me, bent down, and asked quietly, “I’ve also delivered some to the seniors’ waiting room. Is that okay?”
“Oh, good.”
It wasn’t just
okay
, it was completely nice support.
Koreans have this strange basic mindset that
if someone gives you something, you should treat them well,
and
if someone buys you food, they’re a good person
. So, taking care of people like this could be quite helpful.
As I raised my thumb, Woo Kangwon smiled gently and handed me a small box. Not sure what it was, I just stared at it blankly, so he mouthed the words “
You eat it
” to me.
“…….”
The white box he insisted on handing to me gave off a sweet aroma.
‘Why did you give me this…….’
When I looked up at Woo Kangwon with that question, he simply patted my head, stood up, and then went straight to Lee Danbi to give him the same thing. Watching that, I started to get an idea of why Woo Kangwon had given this to me as well.
‘Ah.’
Woo Kangwon was worried.
He was worried that Lee Danbi and I were hurt by the criticism we had received from the sexual harasser and the hostile atmosphere we had been subjected to.
“…….”
I was just a little tired, and nothing was wrong, but I thought it was so typical of Woo Kangwon to go out of his way to take care of me like this.
I stared at it blankly for a moment, then sat down on the sofa. I opened the package and scooped out a small piece of brown cake, then put it in my mouth.
Normally, I wouldn’t have touched it, but for some reason, today, I felt like I shouldn’t do that.
“Wow, this is the first time I’ve seen that hyung eat a snack like this. Amazing!”
Do Yuda, who had taken a slice of the other cake Woo Kangwon had placed on the table, saw me eating the cake and, acted all surprised and exclaimed dramatically. I didn’t react to it, but it seemed like Do Yuda also hadn’t expected an answer, as he casually sat next to me and began eating his cake.
“Clean your tongue with this and do it again. Mirina. Got it, Bambi?”
“Okay…….”
“Zen-hyung, please don’t bully Kiryang-hyung.”
“Guys, there’s plenty, so eat slowly.”
“Thank you for the fooood.”
Before long, the other members gathered around me, chatting pleasantly while eating the treats Woo Kangwon had bought. Drawn in by the soft and warm atmosphere around me, I took another bite of the cake.
The cake Woo Kangwon handed me was a cappuccino cake, less sweet than the ones on the table. I found myself smiling a little as I wondered if he had specifically picked this in consideration of my preference for less sweet things.
‘….It’s sweet.’
Still, since I had hardly ever eaten things like this in my original life or this one, the unfamiliar sweetness stung my tongue. As I chewed on that sweetness over and over, lost in thought, I suddenly heard a soft thud, and the coffee aroma I had smelled earlier wafted over.
“…….”
When I looked up, I saw Lee Hwayoung with a sullen expression, his gaze turned elsewhere. And when I followed the direction of the thud sound, I noticed a cup of warm coffee placed in front of me.
“You want me to drink it?” I smiled and asked, holding the coffee in my hand.
In response, without answering or meeting my eyes, Lee Hwayoung let out a blunt “
Hmph
” sound.
“Thank you, I’ll enjoy it.”
“…….”
When I thanked him for the coffee, Lee Hwayoung once again said nothing, turning abruptly and returning to the seat he had been sitting in earlier.
‘He’s acting all shy.’
While I was chuckling at the back of the prickly Lee Hwayoung, Do Yuda spoke up.
“We’ll have to run around a lot in the second part, right? I studied beforehand, and it felt almost like a game of tag. Ugh.”
“We’re all dressed up in formal suits and dress shoes. Is it really okay to run around like this? We could get injured.”
“I think it’s unavoidable because of the concept. I heard that the agents actually go into battle in the second part.”
As the members had mentioned, if the first part was more like a talk show disguised as an information war, the second part was more like a game where we physically run and complete missions. Excited by the much healthier content than the first part, the members started talking about their athletic abilities with energized faces.
“I’m confident about running! I always came in first place at the sports day! I’m awesome, right?”
“I’m not confident. I’m not that good at sports.”
“Me neither … I’ve only played piano since I was little, so I’m not really good at physical activities……”
Judging from the conversation, it seemed like our group members could be categorized into two types: the intellectual group, consisting of Kiryang, Lee Hwayoung, myself, and Lee Danbi, and the physical group, made up of Woo Kangwon and Do Yuda.
“Bringing heavenly punishment to the enemy. Nagi Zen punishment mode ON.”
Zen was … just Zen.
Perhaps now used to Zen’s nonsense, Woo Kangwon responded without missing a beat, saying, “
Okay, let’s fight together
“, and then smoothly shifted the conversation to talking about me.
“Now that I think about it, Seungbeom’s physical condition seems much better than when we first met. These days, he doesn’t get dizzy like he used to, and he doesn’t collapse or have nosebleeds anymore. If it weren’t for that, I’d be worried about physically demanding filming like we have today. I’m so relieved.”
“…Is that so?”
Whether it was because I was obsessed with work or because I had gotten so used to my original healthy body, I hadn’t consciously noticed, but it seemed like my condition has improved quite a lot recently. Before, I had wondered if there was some kind of congenital illness in Han Seungbeom’s body or if there had been some impact during the possession process, as his body had been quite weak. But recently, there haven’t been any issues at all.
“You used to be really skinny, but lately you seem to have gained some muscle.”
“But we can’t let our guard down. The body is still as frail as a twig. You need to step up your game.”
As I listened to Woo Kangwon’s words and Zen’s reply, I got lost in thought.
‘It’s strange. There’s been no change in my life, not in the amount of time I spend exercising, eating, or sleeping. Why did my condition suddenly improve so much?’
Before, no matter how hard I tried, nothing improved, like pouring water into a bottomless well. Now, the rapid recovery made me suspicious. Was there some change related to Han Seungbeom’s special abilities that I wasn’t aware of? Or was I overreacting?
While I was pondering these questions, the manager checked his watch and gestured to us.
“We’re going to go film part two now!”
Even as I got up in response to those words, the uneasy feeling still lingered.
***
“…The team that successfully uncovers the opposing team’s ‘
top secret
‘ or captures all of the opposing team’s agents as hostages will win.”
Once all the cast members gathered and the cameras started rolling, the main host explained the rules of the game to us.
To summarize the main host’s explanation, each team has a
‘Top Secret
‘ that, if discovered by the opposite team, would cause them to die. The winning team would be the one that could deduce the other team’s ‘
top secret
‘ by completing various missions and gathering clues.
Another way to win was by capturing all of the opposing team’s agents as hostages during the 10-minute interval when the teams switched between offense and defense positions. But this didn’t seem to be a common practice on the show, as the hostages could frequently be freed by their teammates.
“Wait, but why do they look so big when I see them right next to me?”
“What’s their average height?”
While the rules were being explained, the panelists, who had been glancing at my members, slowly began to build up the tension. And, as expected, the one they targeted was Woo Kangwon.
“Agent Woo Kangwon used to be an athlete, so shouldn’t he be wearing at least a sandbag or something?”
“No. Please make his start slower. That way, it’ll seem fairer. Just look at his body.”
To put it simply, their demand boiled down to: ‘
We’re scared, so give a penalty to make him equal to us’
.
I shook my head in annoyance at their petty nitpicking, and then my gaze met Woo Kangwon’s. He was smiling
very
gently and, leaned down towards me, quietly whispered.
“Even if they think so hard like that, the result isn’t going to change. Right, Seungbeom-ah?”
“…….”
“Everyone is so cute.”
Ah, Woo Kangwon’s crazy rampage mode is ON.
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Translator’s Corner:
Minari (미나리)
. It’s also known as water celery / chinese celery / Japanese (flat leaf) parsley, etc. Most of her cousin is extremely toxic, but she’s edible and popular in some country, including Korea. ↩︎
Dangun’s myth is the founding myth of Korea
. Once upon a time, Hwanung, the son of the ruler of Heaven, descended to the human’s world. One day, a tiger and a bear came to Hwanung and beg him to make them human beings.
Hwanung told them that they had to eat mugwort and garlic only and stay in a cave for 100 days without seeing sunlight
. After 21 days, the tiger could not endure the situation any longer and left the cave. However, the bear persevered and was transformed into a woman. Hwanung changed himself into a human form and married her. Between them, Dangun was born. Dangun later founded Gojoseon, the first kingdom in Korean history ↩︎
It felt like just yesterday when I said Idk why we’re in chapter 50 already, so how come we’re already on chapter 150 now … well, I guess I’m not sane ….