Chapter 193:

Chapter 193:

Translator: MarcTempest

Editor: NicoleTempest

Chapter 193 Their Own Ways (3)

Did you fight? I suppressed the reflexive retort that almost came out of my mouth.

“No, I just came up too.”

“Then why...”

Hwijin looked around anxiously, unable to understand the situation.

Yu-geon shook his head as if he had a clue.

“He packed all his stuff. He probably won’t come back.”

Hwijin asked with a tone of certainty.

“Do you know something?”

“Um...”

Yu-geon hesitated for a moment, then quietly pointed to the camera with his chin.

“Oh.”

It meant that he couldn’t talk about it while the camera and the recorder were on.

Hwijin wasn’t so clueless that he couldn’t catch his drift, so he quietly closed his mouth.

“We don’t need to... tell the producers or anything, right?”

He must have notified them of his departure himself. He had to get his phone before he left.

How could he leave without a car here... I unconsciously looked down and moved to the window to pull the curtain. Then I learned a new fact.

“...”

When I pulled the curtain, I saw a wall. Not the wall of the next building, but the wall of this room.

The frame that looked like a window was attached, and it was covered with a curtain. I thought it was a window for sure. for new novels

“This is fake.”

It was a decoration made to look like a window on the broadcast.

“Sigh...”

Everyone started to get ready quietly in the awkward situation.

Tick tock. The sound of the clock’s second hand was loud in the silence.

And finally, at 10 o’clock, the sound of the camera and the device turning off was heard. Everyone got up from their blankets and sat up straight.

“Hyun-seong, it must be uncomfortable. Do you want to come down?”

Hwijin pushed his blanket to one side of his bed on the opposite lower floor and made room for me.

“Ah, yes.”

As I came down the ladder with a short answer, Yu-geon opened his mouth.

“You might not have known if you were in the upper ranks, but the stage arrangement changed on the spot as people dropped out from the lower ranks.”

Hwijin nodded at Yu-geon’s words.

“Ah, I heard that. So some trainees went to less visible positions to adjust the arrangement...”

“Yeah. And An Juhyeon was one of them. I almost went down too, but... There were too many trainees in the lower ranks who didn’t master the choreography, so they had to have one person who could do it properly in each position. So I stayed in my original place.”

“Ah...”

A sense of powerlessness that nothing would change here. A sense of resignation that no matter how hard he tried, he was just a screw holding up the system and could never be the main product.

He had hoped that he could get some spotlight if he tried hard enough in the lower ranks, but that seemed to have collapsed.

What was Juhyeon thinking as he looked at the stage that seemed so high from the 90th rank?

The debut was a feast for only those at the top.

I realized that their debut was nothing but a headcount filler to create a grand ‘narrative’ of how amazing it was.

I might have felt ashamed of my humble dream of just showing my face a little bit, like an egg in front of a rock.

“...”

“Anyway, even if I get cut, I’m not going to give up and be ignored. Don’t worry too much.”

My image of Yu-geon until then was a pro-runner who had a shitty life.

He was talented, but... I didn’t get the impression that he was using a good strategy. I had no idea what he was trying to do, and I was a bit anxious.

“We all... have to do our best.”

Hwijin nodded as he tidied up his blanket, and the ceiling lights went off as it was time to sleep.

“Let’s go to bed. We have to assign groups and prepare tomorrow. It’ll be busy again.”

We had finished the first hurdle, the opening stage, and now the remaining people had to prepare for the first group mission.

The group mission was... a cover battle. My head was already throbbing.

“Yeah. We all worked hard, and let’s do our best tomorrow.”

“Yeah.”

We each covered ourselves with our blankets and got ready to sleep, but I couldn’t fall asleep.

Come to think of it, had I ever closed my eyes on time since I came here?

I was stressed out too, of course, since the situation was like this.

‘Only one week left.’

I clenched my fist and sighed. This was already half over, I just had to do a little more.

The next morning, we ate breakfast by grade and went down to the auditorium, where the MC was standing on the stage in a neat suit.

“Shooting will start soon! Please gather by group.”

We followed the instructions of the production team and scattered to join the A-grade line with Yu-geon and Hwijin, and the air felt awkward in an instant.

Do you think they’ll film with the losers? I smirked at the blatant rejection and confrontation. And I felt a bit annoyed when I saw Naru, who was at the center of it.

[Hello, trainees! Are you all running towards your dreams with enthusiasm?]

The MC’s comment prompted a response from everyone, who looked at the stage with soulless expressions and raised their voices.

“Yes!”

“Yes!!!”

They all blinked their eyes, hoping for a chance to be caught on camera.

[Today, finally, you must be looking forward to the first group mission that makes your heart flutter. To encourage you to challenge yourself, I prepared a small gift for you.]

What is it? Did they bring something for PPL again? I looked at the box that the production team brought with cloudy eyes, and my eyes widened.

“That’s...”

I blinked my eyes, wondering if I was seeing things wrong. But no matter how many times I looked again, the scene in front of me didn’t change.

“Holy cow, it’s chicken!”

Crispy chips, sweet chili sauce, and a special cheese dip. A perfect balance of sweet and salty, a masterpiece called ‘Crispy Cheese Chili Chicken’.

‘That came out of nowhere as a PPL?’

I tried to recall my memory. The brand had done PPLs all over the place, so it must have appeared in some variety shows... Was it here?

I didn’t know what it was like in reality, since this was a virtual world. But seeing something familiar after a long time made my eyes moist.

It made sense. I have been involved in this product since the development stage.

As I looked at the box with teary eyes, the other A-rank trainees around me whispered to each other.

“What’s wrong with him... It’s not like he’s risking his life for chicken...”

I didn’t care. I waited for the MC’s comment with a grateful expression, looking back at the trace of my hard work.

[Well, well, but it would be too boring to just give it to you, right? Let’s make teams first, and then have a mini-game with side dishes as the prize.]

The chicken would be cold by then. How mean.

“Wow!!! Chicken!!! Chicken!!!”

“Chicken, chicken, chicken!!!”

The F-rank trainees who had suffered from kimchi, rice, retort, salad without dressing, ramen, etc. for a week screamed like zombies.

[Okay, calm down a bit! Let’s start with the team formation for the mini-game!]

The MC, who had been relaxed all along, urged the progress with a face of genuine horror. It was total chaos.