Free Web Novel“The time has come.”
I spoke as I watched the contestants scattered all over the field, frantically running around to get balloons.
Had it been about two minutes since the game started?
The balloons had just begun falling from the sky down to the ground, so the contestants looked busy trying to pick them up.
“What nonsense are you talking about? We need to run away, fast···.”
“Tsks-tsks. Don’t be so rash, Ryu Wuss.”
As expected of a wuss, Ryu Ayeon was trying to get out of here as fast as possible, protecting the balloon we’d been given with her whole body.
But to me, that seemed extremely foolish.
“Ayeon’s right. If we stay here, the other contestants will target us and swarm in.”
Maybe she was nervous too, because Seo Ryujin kept glancing around and suggested we move while she came closer to me. There really were a few contestants creeping toward us, eyeing our direction.
However—
“Have you ever seen a lion run away just because a flock of sheep gathered?”
“What?”
It seemed even Seo Ryujin hadn’t yet realized the true nature of this game.
“What are the rules of the game we’re playing right now?”
“You protect your balloon.”
“That’s only half right.”
It only sounded complicated because MC Jang Junseok had given such a long-winded explanation, but the nature of this game was very simple.
Either you protect your balloon, or you pop someone else’s.
So why should we be the ones running?
“They said we have the best rewards.”
“Ayeon, have you ever heard of the Fire Ox Strategy?”
“What?”
Ryu Ayeon apparently didn’t know about the Fire Ox Strategy.
Back in the Spring and Autumn Warring States period, there was a country called Qi that once faced the crisis of annihilation from a coalition attack by other nations.
But then a man named Tian Dan used a brilliant stratagem to defeat the coalition armies and save Qi from destruction.
That very stratagem was called the Fire Ox Strategy.
He released a herd of oxen with their tails set on fire toward the coalition army besieging the city, turning the tables in a legendary counterattack.
I intended to recreate that.
“We’re going to be the oxen now.”
“What kind of insane nonsense is that?”
“Hey··· look, they’re closing in!”
Leaving the two, who still didn’t understand what I meant, behind, I checked the balloon I’d been given.
Tap tap.
They’d bragged about using special material, and sure enough, no matter how roughly I pressed it with my bare hands, it didn’t seem like it would pop.
After confirming that, I reached for the other item we three had been given—the gloves.
Tiny little spikes studded the inside of the palm.
If I wore these and hit a balloon hard enough, it would probably pop.
‘It doesn’t look like anyone’s found tools yet.’
Right now, aside from us, the other contestants were running around trying to grab the balloons scattered from the sky as soon as the game began.
In other words, most of them didn’t even have balloons yet, so they had no time to look for tools to pop them.
Because of that, even those who were eyeing our balloons were only sneaking glances and keeping their distance; no one was rushing in recklessly.
Even if they approached us, they had no tools to pop the balloons.
‘We’re invincible right now! We’re the only ones with weapons.’
The production team was unbelievably foolish.
Because the three of us had the best rewards, it seemed they’d given us these tools for a minimum level of defense. But I had absolutely no intention of using them as shields.
“Listen carefully. From now on, we’re going around popping the other contestants’ balloons.”
“What?!”
I couldn’t understand why we should be afraid when the others couldn’t even attack us.
“And at the same time, while the others waste time chasing balloons and targeting each other, we’re going to sweep up all the hidden tools.”
“Uh··· wait, then···?”
Only now did it seem like Seo Ryujin understood.
We already had tools. What would happen if the other contestants had no tools?
“It looks like the production team wanted us to squeal and scream while we ran away···.”
Crack.
I lightly loosened my body.
“But that’s not really my style.”
It had been a long time since I’d smelled this kind of easy prey.
It was time to go back to the days when I was the nightmare of Saenarae Kindergarten.
***
“Haa··· haa··· what even is this···.”
Contestant number 27 of Idol Ground 100, Park Garam.
She had barely managed to run like crazy and hide in a remote corner of one of the training buildings, catching her breath.
Winter had mostly passed, but it was still too early to call it spring, and the air was pretty chilly—yet Garam was sweating like it was pouring down rain.
Garam was one of the more popular contestants, enough to place fourth in the last ranking ceremony.
—I am definitely going to beat those three in this game.
But the three contestants ranked above her were so overwhelmingly dominant in recognition and buzz that she hadn’t been able to break out of fourth place.
At least in this sudden game called Battle Field: Ground Zero with its long-winded name, Garam had vowed to beat those three ranked above her.
And no wonder—she had always performed well in every mini-game or mission so far, but because of the DubDub Trio, she had never managed to actually get first place, and her resentment had piled up.
On top of that, as if the heavens wanted to help her, this time the game even placed restrictions directly on that trio.
—For contestants Lee Sion, Seo Ryujin, and Ryu Ayeon, we will give balloons that contain the biggest rewards in this game!
When she heard Jang Junseok’s explanation, Garam had been excited, thinking her chance had come.
‘When did those three make an alliance?!’
But once the game actually started, things went in the complete opposite direction of what she’d expected.
—Come here!
—Kyaaaah!!! Why are you targeting me?
—It’s revenge for the invasion 500 years ago!
—Help! Tasukete!!!
The trio at the top, whom she’d assumed would be running away, instead joined forces and charged at other contestants—especially those who already had balloons.
And the first victim of that sudden assault, led most aggressively by Lee Sion, was none other than Kurosawa Yuri, who was close with Garam.
She screamed as Sion grabbed her, but no one could go to help Kurosawa Yuri.
—Don’t come closer··· I don’t want to do this either.
Trying to get past Seo Ryujin and Ryu Ayeon, who were standing on either side of Yuri with their palms raised as if to guard her while Sion popped her balloon, was simply too dangerous.
Just like that, the balloon Yuri had barely managed to get was stolen by Sion, and her body was thrown mercilessly onto the field.
The sight was so brutal it was hard to watch, yet Sion was smiling brightly.
And then—
—Next is··· you.
The moment Sion murmured that toward the remaining contestants with balloons watching from the sidelines, not yet grasping what was happening, Garam took off running without looking back.
She ran so blindly that only when she reached a place so empty that she couldn’t see anyone anymore did she finally come to her senses and hide.
‘That’s a demon···.’
Only then did Garam truly realize it.
The trio at the top weren’t just top-ranked by popularity—they were also top-tier in athletic ability.
At this point, she couldn’t help being curious about what on earth was going through the production team’s heads when they decided to put balloons on those monsters.
It was like giving weapons to dangerous beasts that were already deadly even if you just turned them loose, then telling the contestants to go catch them.
‘This is insane. I should just hide and hold out until the game ends.’
Garam lifted her head and looked up at the sky.
There, she could see a single balloon floating alone.
—Battle Field: Ground Zero will end when the balloon floating in the sky expands and pops!
She had to endure until that balloon, which was slowly getting bigger, finally popped.
Thankfully, when the balloons had fallen, Garam had watched carefully and been able to grab one.
Originally, she had planned to protect it while popping other contestants’ balloons to get multiple notes, but that idea had long since turned into just trying to protect the one balloon she had.
However—
“Hide, hide, hide away··· or your hair will give you away.”
“Hngh!”
Lyrics to a children’s song with a very familiar melody drifted from nearby.
As soon as Garam heard that sound, she clapped a hand over her mouth and even stopped breathing.
‘It’s Lee Sion!’
The footsteps coming toward her, humming along as if she was just singing for fun, belonged to Lee Sion.
She wanted to curse the heavens for sending her this way, but first, not getting caught was more important than anything else. Garam didn’t dare make a sound, holding her breath and not moving a muscle.
“It definitely feels like our Garam ran this way···.”
Sion’s voice now sounded so close it was like she was right next to her.
‘Please··· please, just go somewhere else···.’
Garam desperately prayed Sion wouldn’t find her and would just turn around and leave.
Perhaps her desperate prayer had worked.
“Eh··· I guess she already went somewhere else.”
Just one step.
Hearing Sion say that when she was only a step away from where Garam was hiding, Garam almost let out a shout of joy.
Thud.
She listened to Sion’s footsteps fade away.
But Garam still didn’t dare let her guard down; she kept her breath quiet and stayed hidden until the sound of Sion’s footsteps could no longer be heard.
Only then—
“Haa···.”
Did Garam finally release the rough breath she’d been holding and relax her tense body.
“It’s too dangerous here··· she might come back.”
She had thought it was safe because it was such a remote spot, but after almost getting caught by Sion, she no longer felt safe.
There was still a long time left until the game ended, so Garam decided to look for another safe place and got to her feet.
Just as she was about to step out from the narrow space between the buildings where she’d been hiding—
“There you are.”
She came face-to-face with Sion’s head, which had slid sideways into the gap between the walls.
***
“Damn it, I trusted you, Lee Sion!!!”
“This can’t be what you had in mind when you designed this, can it, boss?”
“Who cares! It’s funny, that’s all that matters!”
Hyungsoo couldn’t help admiring the massacre show he was seeing from Sion through the cameras.
In fact, when Battle Field: Ground Zero had first begun and he was watching the early situation play out, PD Park Hyungsoo had thought, to put it bluntly, “We’re screwed.”
“PD-nim, the contestants are too busy reading the room.”
Getting the balloons had gone according to plan, but after that, no one did anything—they just watched each other and stalled, creating dull scenes one after another.
‘I trusted the contestants too much.’
Looking back, Hyungsoo regretted being so optimistic—thinking that just throwing a situation at these kids with no variety experience and no broadcast background would be enough for them to handle it well on their own.
Trying to wrestle over balloons, searching for tools, stealing notes from others—those were things only variety veterans used to the format would naturally do.
The contestants were still basically no different from ordinary high school girls in those aspects, and he had expected too much from them. Cold sweat had trickled down his back.
However—
—Just take them all!!!
—Screw it, I don’t care anymore, I’m grabbing it!
—I’m sorry··· I’m sorry! I didn’t want to do this either!
The peaceful stalemate was shattered by the arrival of the Mad Max trio.
The DubDub Trio, who were supposed to run away with their treasure balloons, instead started swinging them around like decorations and going on a rampage.
“Kyaaaaaah!”
The Mad Max trio made contestants’ screams ring out from various corners of the training complex.
“Hey, there’s a slingshot here. The ammo is a bit weird though. Won’t it hurt if you get hit?”
“I found a pair of gloves!”
“These are handcuffs. Are we supposed to tie them up and steal their balloons?”
Apparently even that wasn’t enough for them, because while the other contestants ran for their lives, the DubDub Trio swept through and collected all the tools the production team had hidden.
Especially—
—I’ll head this way on purpose and make some noise. You hide on the opposite side, and Ayeon, you hide near me. If any contestant comes for me, you grab them right away.
Sion was like a fish in water.
It was as if she could see exactly where contestants were hiding and where they would run. She even played around as she herded them.
She was a perfectly seasoned hunter.
“But why are they leaving all the notes behind?”
“They’re not leaving all of them. They’ve been carefully taking the 1-minute PPL coupons.”
“What? They don’t even need that, honestly.”
“Exactly. Which is why it feels like they’re cooking something up.”
Just now, on the monitor, Hyungsoo watched Sion practically make contestant Park Garam faint, then casually pop her balloon, check the note inside—
—What, it’s an iPad?
And then toss the note into the arms of the collapsed Garam before heading off to find her next prey.
‘I’m so relieved.’
Seeing that, PD Park Hyungsoo let out a silent sigh of relief.
If the DubDub Trio, who were already almost wiping out the other contestants and their balloons, had taken all the notes too, it would have been a serious problem.
No, Hyungsoo was 100% certain it would have caused massive controversy.
—What was that damn PD thinking when he made these rules?
—Seriously. This is just designed so the top 3 in popularity can take everything.
—The other contestants can’t get a single prize.
—If they were going to do this, they should’ve just given all the prizes to those three from the start. Why make everyone suffer like this?
If the broadcast aired with most contestants not getting any prizes, it would stop being a cheerful event and turn into a blood-soaked UFC.
But right now, thanks to the DubDub Trio popping balloons and handing the prizes to other contestants, the mood was still firmly in the realm of variety. Hyungsoo could only shower praise on Sion and on Miyoung, who’d parachuted her in.
“PD-nim, Lee Sion is on the move again!”
“Don’t lose her! Get her no matter what!”
Back in ◆ Nоvеlіgһt ◆ (Only on Nоvеlіgһt) Barcelona, there had been a so-called “Messi meta,” where you always passed the ball to Messi whenever you got it.
Taking a page from that Messi meta, Hyungsoo had already instructed the filming team to always focus on Sion whenever something happened.
And today, his “Sion meta” seemed to be working beautifully.
***
‘Please just go somewhere else, Sion···.’
Right now, Suyeon was extremely tense.
Right at the start, she had gotten lucky and managed to grab a balloon.
As soon as she got it, she ran off the field without looking back.
Because—
—Why should we be the ones running away?
She had seen Sion’s pouting face as she complained.
From experience, Suyeon knew that whenever Sion made that expression, she caused some huge incident. Knowing that, Suyeon had run to escape the danger and looked around for a safe place.
That was when she found the red snow-melting box.
The inside was a bit dirty, but it was a perfect hiding place for someone as small as Suyeon.
She doubted anyone would actually think to check inside a snow-melting box, so she quickly hid there, leaving the lid open just a crack to keep an eye on what was going on outside.
—I don’t date anyone within 20 years up or down!
—Why is it always me!!!
And so she ended up watching Sion’s balloon-stealing show.
When she saw Lee Gahyun become a victim too, Suyeon couldn’t help feeling terrified.
Sion showed no mercy, even to people she was close with.
She was certain Sion wouldn’t go easy on her either.
“Hmmm··· I smell the scent of a failed contestant somewhere around here.”
‘What the—!’
Hoping desperately that Sion would go somewhere else, Suyeon broke out in goosebumps as she watched Sion walking straight toward the snow-melting box.
It was as if she knew Suyeon was hiding there.
“Don’t cry, don’t cry, if you cry, Santa Claus won’t give you a present~”
Humming relaxedly as she sang the Christmas song, Sion slowly approached the box, and Suyeon briefly considered making a break for it.
‘I can’t run! She’s way too fast!’
She knew that if she ran, she’d be caught in no time. She couldn’t move.
While Suyeon hesitated, Sion finally reached the snow-melting box and—
Knock, knock.
Started lightly tapping it with her fist.
“Do you wanna build a snowman?”
When she watched that line in the animated movie, Suyeon had never imagined it could be this terrifying.
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At last, the lid of the snow-melting box opened.
“Don’t freak out, Kim Suyeon.”
Curled up and bracing herself for Sion’s attack, Suyeon instead heard the usual mischievous voice.
When she opened her eyes and looked up, she saw Sion smiling brightly down at her.
“Sion···.”
“This is Santa’s present for a Suyeon who didn’t cry.”
Sion tossed a piece of paper into the box toward Suyeon and then vanished.
‘What is this?’
Suyeon sat there dazed for a moment, not understanding, then picked up the paper Sion had thrown and looked at it.
[1-minute PPL – For Main Broadcast]
It was a note with a reward written on it.
