“The Athletes’ Oath. All of us, the athletes, pledge ourselves as follows.”
“Wow, the one doing it this time is that guy. He’s a rookie, so why does he give off such a senior vibe?”
“He’s really handsome.”
As the filming of the Idol Sports Championship began and the atheletes’ oath was taking place, whispers from another idol behind the podium could be heard. They had likely tried to lower their voice as much as possible, but thanks to Han Seungbeom’s keen hearing, I caught every single word.
‘I knew this would happen.’
In the Idol Sports Championship, the idol who led the oath was usually selected by the production team and notified ahead of the competition. While the selection criteria weren’t disclosed to the public, but based on the idols chosen so far, it was strongly hinted that they were always
the most popular participants at the time of their appearance
.
It didn’t matter if it was someone who was enjoying a short-lived popularity spike due to a certain meme trend, the main character of a dramatic comeback, a sensational rookie who appeared like a comet, the most popular member of a first-tier group, or a member of the group with the biggest hit song of the time. As long as they were the person who attracted the most interest from the public, they were selected regardless of their seniority.
Naturally, the selection criteria was criticized for being subjective and amounting to discriminatory treatment of the participants. However, people who were obsessed with ranking celebrities couldn’t help but be curious about who broadcasting station judged to be the hottest star of the moment. Since this kind of curiosity boosted ratings and generated buzz, the tradition has continued to this day. I guess it could be said that it served as a kind of symbolic representation.
“One, all of the athletes will follow the rules of the game.”
And, unsurprisingly, the person who was chosen to take the oath for this year’s Idol Sports Championship was none other than me.
Actually, it was little awkward to stand on a podium with a bunch of people behind me who were, on the surface, much more senior than me, and be bragging about, ‘
Yeah, I’m the hottest guy right now
‘, but…….
‘If not me, then who the hell is going to do it?’
I thought it was a given.
I would push away anybody who stood in front of me.
Except for my family’s children.
“This concludes our oath. All athletes of the Idol Sports Championship.”
“All athletes of the Idol Sports Championship.”
Despite having thoughts that would freak people out, I flawlessly finished the oath with a totally straight face. The members, who had been looking at me with tears in their eyes like overly proud parents, waved their lightsticks wildly and cheered.
“That’s our hyung.”
“That’s our Leada.”
‘Where on earth did they get that?’
I ignored the members, who were too embarrassing to be shown anywhere—more specifically, Pat and Mat—and descended from the podium.
***
Bam!
“Over-the-shoulder throw! One full point
1
!”
[“Wow, Athlete Zen’s moves are amazing?”]
[“Yes, with this, Kiri of Raize and Nagi Zen of Pantheion have advanced to the Judo finals.”]
“Waaaaaah!”
“Zen!”
When Zen, who was in the center of the stadium, threw his opponent with a technique, an ear-splitting scream erupted from the stands where the Muses were seated. The fans, unable to hide their surprise, stood there with their jaws dropped open, probably never expecting Zen to make it to the finals.
“He has gone crazy.”
“Our stupid snake is a man, it’s so shocking…….”
‘It’s understandable that it’s hard to accept. The kid who was always doing stupid things with Do Yuda is suddenly turning everything upside down.’
In fact, when I recalled how he was able to catch me right away after I was pushed down the stairs, it was clear that Zen was never lacking in strength or athletic ability. He was also physically outstanding, being the second tallest in Pantheion. Plus, he had experience in judo since his school days and had been trained to death by someone with national-level skills, so it wasn’t completely unexpected.
“Good job.”
As I shouted toward the arena, the guy, who had been catching his breath with his hand on his waist, seemed to have heard my voice and turned to look. Then, the Muses’ screams erupted once again, and the surrounding idols, sitting on the floor, chuckled and clapped their hands absentmindedly.
“Wow, is this a photoshoot?”
“He’s handsome.”
It was probably because the screen showed Zen’s face in close-up.
Right now, Zen’s skin was glistening with sweat, and his hair, which had become disheveled during the match, was sticking to his face, giving him a much rougher and edgier look than he usually showed on stage. His eyes, which had always looked cold, were becoming sharper, as if the sensitivity of the match hadn’t worn off yet, since it hadn’t been long after it ended. The physical strain from the game had also left his muscles tense and bulging.
In other words, it was exactly the kind of scene that people would love.
Do Yuda seemed to have noticed that as well. He playfully crumpled his face and shouted in teasing.
“Ah, don’t be so handsome!”
Zen, who had pinpointed the location of the members by the sound of Do Yuda’s voice, grinned as soon as he caught sight of me and responded with a blank expression.
“Oh, Leada. Am I handsome? Victory.”
Whatever happened to that cold, serious aura he had earlier? Zen’s expression softened in an instant, causing everyone around to burst into laughter.
‘If he just kept his mouth shut, he’d be a cool and decent guy, but that brat … has no intention of shutting his mouth.’
As I was having those thoughts and looking at him with cold eyes, they started to make some filler comments while the final was being prepared.
[“Our Kangwon-ssi, who’s banned from competing due to his past career as athlete. How do you feel watching your groupmate, Zen, perform so well? Since you’re on the same team, I guess you give him a lot of advice?”]
[“Haha, I’ve only practiced with him a few times. Since Zen had already learned quite a bit of judo back in his home country, I didn’t really contribute much.”]
As the conversation from the commentary booth echoed through the speakers, Zen, who had been waiting for his opponent in the finals while drinking water, held up papers with the words “
Lies
“, “
Almost died
“, and “
I’m not an athlete. I’m a regular person
” written on them, showing them one after the other to the camera.
[“Ah, it seems like there was no agreement on that?”]
At the announcer’s mischievous question, Woo Kangwon, who was sitting next to him in a suit, blushed a little and smiled innocently.
[“Ahaha, I really only taught him the basics, but it seems Zen had a bit of a hard time. Still, I believe it will be helpful to him, as his opponent in the final has been doing judo as a hobby for quite some time. Now, the final match! Let’s watch together!”]
Despite feeling a bit embarrassed, Woo Kangwon gracefully handled the conversation and then smoothly transitioned to commentating on the match as the opponent walked in.
[“Alright, the final match has begun.”]
After exchanging greetings with Kiri from Raize, the match began again.
[“The grappling match is heating up. Given that both athletes have experience in judo, it’s safe to say this is a well-rehearsed sequence.”]
I lifted my head to check the arena, and as Woo Kangwon had commented, the two players were reaching for each other’s collars and sleeves, testing each other’s strength and slowly feeling out the situation. While Zen was able to grab the collar more often, every time his grip weakened, the opponent quickly broke free, so it seemed like no proper technique was landing.
[“Ah, it seems that right now, athlete Nagi Zen’s stamina is relatively lower than athlete Kiri’s due to the consecutive matches. It looks like athelete Kiri is trying to take advantage of that.”]
In a sudden move, Zen’s opponent grabbed his collar, causing his
dobok
2
to completely come undone. His well-defined abs were exposed clearly. While the other idols had all worn turtlenecks under their
doboks
to cover their bodies, Zen was wearing his
dobok
exactly as it was meant to be worn, which led to this unexpected wardrobe malfunction.
“WHOAAAA! YOU’RE CRAZY!”
“Button up! No, don’t button it! Button up!”
“He’s hard carrying the show.”
3
The Muses shrieked like a flock of crows at the sudden visual stimulus. But Do Yuda, seemingly used to the scene on the screen, just mumbled with half-open, indifferent eyes.
“He looks so strangely thin when he wears clothes. If you’re going to hide them like that, just give it to me, fool.”
[“You can’t let your collar get grabbed. You have to be careful.”]
Despite the uproar around him, Woo Kangwon didn’t seem to be bothered and continued his commentary. I couldn’t decide which was weirder, the fans who were turning into crows at the exposure of their baby, or Woo Kangwon, who was just watching the game with a straight face, not caring whether his dongsaeng’s hidden stomach was revealed or not. One thing was clear, both were acting true to their instincts.
I tried my best to pretend I didn’t see the scene, and then, in a dry tone, spoke to Zen who was struggling with the match.
A spell for victory.
“Zen, Do Yuda is badmouthing you.”
“Eek, hyung, what am I supposed to do if you tell him that?”
As soon as those words were spoken, as if they were a signal, Zen, who had been fiercely sizing up his opponent, swiftly extended his long leg to break the opponent’s balance and immediately grabbed his collar, toppling him over.
‘Ah. So this is what he’s been practicing all this time.’
It was the move Woo Kangwon had been teaching him throughout, taking into account the advantages of Zen’s long limbs.
“Half point!”
4
The moment the opponent fell back onto his bottom, the referee raised one arm horizontally and shouted. Although the opponent’s back didn’t touch the floor, he had braced himself with both hands behind him. As the referee declared a half-point, the match time ended. Zen had won.
“Woaaaah!”
[“Go give him a hug! Hug him!”]
“Zen!”
Following the announcer’s suggestion, Woo Kangwon dashed out of the commentary booth and approached Zen, who had just finished bowing to the crowd, with a bright smile and arms wide open for a hug. However, Zen took a step back, bowed deeply, and assumed a natural stance.
“Please show, in front of everyone.”
It seemed like he was asking him to show off his skills for the first time in a long time.
After a moment of hesitation, Woo Kangwon slowly assumed a serious stance. Somehow, the atmosphere became even more tense than the final match, making it feel like Zen was facing the final boss, rather than the other way around.
As Woo Kangwon tensed his body, the lines of his well-defined muscles became clearly visible on screen, even though his suit was not revealing at all. It was as if his body was showing the kind of life he had lived so far. Zen, swallowing nervously, watched Woo Kangwon’s movements carefully.
But Woo Kangwon stood still in place, not moving his arms or legs at all.
In response to the attitude that seemed to challenge him to try making a move, Zen exhaled sharply and quickly launched an attack.
However, at the moment when Zen tried to make a move.…
Bam!
Woo Kangwon instantly dove into the empty space created by Zen’s outstretched arm, grabbed Zen by the collar, and flipped him over in one swift motion. Zen’s long body, which Kiri had struggled so hard to throw, was effortlessly flipped over, and he fell with his back hitting the floor.
It was a perfectly executed, textbook technique.
“One full point!”
The referee, who was watching from nearby, instinctively raised his hand up and shouted a full point.
“…Huh?”
“What?”
A hush fell over the stadium at what happened in the blink of an eye.
“WOAAAAH!”
“WOO KANGWON! WOO KANGWON!”
After a few moments of stunned silence, all the spectators finally snapped out of it and started cheering and clapping.
“As expected, real athletes are on a different level….”
“How can he move like that in those clothes?”
No matter how much amateurs fry and roast each other
5
, at the end of the day, a former athlete is a former athlete.
It was a spectacle that confirmed all the intense matches that had taken place earlier were nothing more than child’s play in Woo Kangwon’s eyes.
Woo Kangwon might be retired now, but he was once an athlete who received high expectations from the public and performed brilliantly in the national team selection. It was inevitable that the entire stadium would be heated up, as Woo Kangwon had met the desire of people who wanted to see him in action.
However, as if he didn’t care about the reactions of the crowd, Woo Kangwon smiled his usual smile and first checked on Zen.
“Great job. You’ve improved a lot, haven’t you? You did so well, I’m proud of you.”
Stretched out on the mat, Zen spaced out for a moment after hearing those words, then slowly spoke.
“Hyung, isn’t your butt too close to my face?”
“So-sorry…….”
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Translator’s Corner:
One full point is called
Ippon
, the OG Japanese term. The Korean used here is 한판. Actually I want to translate it to “Ippon” but hmm … considering this is Korean idol sport events … well I just translated it in literal away.
So, Judo has four grades of score:
Ippon
,
Waza-Ari
,
Yuk
o, and
Koka
. An
ippo
n literally means “one point” and if one where to get
Ippon,
they will win the match immediately. It’s like a knockout in boxing.
An
Ippon
may be scored for a throw, a pin, a choke or a jointlock. For throws, the four granting criteria are speed, force, landing on the back and skilful control until the end of the landing. For pinning techniques, the pin must be held continuously for 20 seconds. For chokes and locks, it is scored when the opponent gives up or is incapacitated.
Anyway, for moves below that, they will be graded as Waza-Ari, Yuko, or Koka, and it can be accumulated to reach “Ippon”. The referee for judo should be good at maths.
If the scores are identical at the end of the match, the contest is resolved by the Golden Score rule. Golden Score is a sudden death situation where the clock is reset to match-time, and the first contestant to achieve any score wins. If there is no score during this period, then the winner is decided by
Hante
i, the majority opinion of the referee and the two corner judges. ↩︎
Dobok (도복)
is the uniform worn by practitioners of Korean martial arts, such as taekwondo.
Do
means “way” and
bok
means “clothing”. The dobok came from the Japanese
keikogi/dōgi
, used in Japanese martial arts, such as judo.
Idk why the wikipedia describes it that way, but anyway it’s just “Clothes worn for sports such as judo, taekwondo, etc.”. You know, that white uniform every martial arts used. ↩︎
Okay, actually the word used here is 통나무. If you open dictionary, it means “log”, and the full sentence if translated literally would be like “He’s looking like a log”. My guess is, the “log” here refers to the famous meme “Log Theory” in Korean gaming community. It’s a term used by Korean League of Legends player. It is usually expressed in terms of a game where
one person carries all the burden and carries (a one-man show)
.
The idea comes from … you know a wooden log is long right? To carry it, several people needs to carry it together. But in this meme, all the other team members failed and you are the only one who’s still standing and is carrying the log by yourself.
I’m not sure if my understanding is correct tho, but I guess that’s it. The authors often used gaming slangs before, so I think this is the same case.
My guess is, it means Zen is “carrying” the game since all other idols wear additional shirt, but he’s the only one who didn’t. ↩︎
Half-point (절반) is
Waza-ari
. Getting two
Waza-ari
will get you an
Ippon
. But anyway, it’s still 0.5 score, so if the time ended first without Ippon, the one who got the highest score, even if it’s just 0.5 will win.
The details are right too. When
Ippon
, the referee will raise their hand high with all fingers extended. Meanwhile for
Waza-ari
, they will raise their arm horizontally. ↩︎
Fry and roast (지지고 볶다)
is a slang, used when people annoy and irritate each other a lot, fights a lot but still gets along very well living in harmony. Basically used here because the idols are fighting but in friendly way. ↩︎
Day 7 … ugh … I guess I’m doomed
Anyway MC’s early monologue made me curious, so I checked for all the oath representative for the real life events, and yeah, it matched. It also made me realize that Hybe indeed already finished their feud with MBC, since their rookie groups were attending the 2024 ISAC, and SM also sent NCT Wish. It’s really YG that stucks with their pride….
Oh, if you’re curious with this TMI, here the list for the oath reps,
2010, Chuseok
: Leeteuk (Super Junior), Son Dambi (Soloist)
2011
: Hwanhee (Fly To The Sky), Suzy (Miss A), Minho (SHINee)
2012
: Andy (Shinhwa), Uee (After School), Yoon Doojoon (Beast)
2013
: Suzy (Miss A), Dongjun (ZE:A)
2014
: Minho (SHINee), Doojoon (Beast), Dongjun (ZE:A), Bora (Sistar)
2015, Lunar New Year
: Jo Kwon (2AM), Bora (Sistar), Dongjun (ZE:A), Luna (f(x))
2015, Chuseok
: L (Infinite), Seolhyun (AOA), Baro (B1A4), Naeun (Apink)
2016, Lunar New Year
: Sungjae (BTOB), Yuju (GFRIEND), Jungkook (BTS), Zico (BlockB)
2016, Chuseok
: Sungjae (BTOB), Hani (EXID), N (VIXX)
2017, Lunar New Year
: Seolhyun (AOA), V (BTS), Tzuyu (TWICE), Baro (B1A4)
2018, Lunar New Year
: Irene (Red Velvet), S.Coups (Seventeen), Jihyo (Twice), Shownu (MonstaX)
2019, Lunar New Yea
r: Cha Eunwoo (ASTRO), Tzuyu (Twice), B.I. (iKon)
2019, Chuseok
: Yeji (ITZY), Mark (NCT 127)
2020, Lunar New Year
: JooE (Momoland), Daehwi (AB6IX)
2022, Chuseok
: Yena (Soloist), Yohan (WEi), Sieun (STAYC), I.N (Stray Kids)
2024, Chuseok
: Shinyu (TWS), Wonhee (ILLIT), Sullyoon (NMIXX), Sion (NCT Wish)
The 2011 2012 2013 also supposed to have two parts (Lunar New Year and Chuseok) but it was from ancient era, I can’t find any traces left … well anyway. If you’re curious, “are they popular?”. The first time it broadcasted in 2010, the chosen idols were the variety show darlings. Then in 2011, I guess that’s the popular good looking people … Suzy is the nation’s first love, and female idols at that time who were in her level were only … hmm, YoonA and IU, but both of them never joined ISAC. The lineup for 2014 and 2015 were not only the popular idols, but the ones who were making records in the previous ISAC.
Well, although you could say it was true that the selection is also pretty objective. Since it’s a MBC program, so sometimes they chose idols who appeared in their own entertainment show/drama … though you can see real “hottest main character at that time” from time to time, like AOA’s Seolhyun who used to be some sort of CF Queen, EXID’s Hani whose fancam is still the most legendary kpop fancam, or Momoland’s JooE who was very popular with the general public due to her viral meme ads and moments, or Cha Eunwoo who’s … Cha Eunwoo.
For the 2024 … well if we excluded the seniors who came as individuals, the event is full of rookies … so no one stood out except Sullyoon who’s already 2 years old idols and already been proclaimed as the visual line of 4th gen … I’m surprised they’re not taking someone from ZB1, but I guess they need to appease the big companies so they will send their artists this year too
So, as you can see, during the 2nd gen, it used to really mean something because the idols who were chosen usually the ones who were the most anticipated by the public. But since big groups are all running away from ISAC now, it’s kinda not having the same effect anymore
OH IF YOU’RE CURIOUS HOW SEUNGBEOM MUST HAVE LOOKED LIKE WHEN TAKING THE OATH, just watch Cha Eunwoo when he did it. He’s 100% handsome.
omg his visual is really Seungbeom … tall … skinny … pretty … angel…..