Trapped in the Idol Universe

Roy felt anger welling up in his chest.

‘No. He’s still a good person.’

The leader of the F’s steadying his heart. As much as he wanted to stage a mutiny, cameras—dozens of them—were everywhere. He had no idea which one was filming him, so image management was essential. frёewebηovel.cѳm

“Well... I can try. But hyung, you said you can see the future.”

“I can.”

“Then can’t you at least tell me where the blood fiends are hiding? If I knew that, I could just avoid them.”

“Ohho?”

Gwakhyeol, ever the leader, gave a thumbs-up.

“Really? Amazing! Then go ahead and see.”

Our team, I’d assumed, was doomed—but it turns out we’re the Avengers?

I looked at him eagerly.

“But first, there’s something I need to tell you.”

“What is it?”

“I already used my ability this morning, ahem ahem. As you know, my stamina is poor—I can only use it once per day at most.”

That meant he couldn’t use his precognition again today. But what had he used it on this morning? Surely he must have seen a future where he passed the evaluation with me—otherwise he wouldn’t have called my name. He said he was a pharmacist by trade; graduating pharmacy school meant he couldn’t be that stupid.

“Well, it can’t be helped. But what did you see? Was it me passing again?”

To that, Gwakhyeol blinked as if hearing it for the first time.

“No? I saw this morning’s menu. I didn’t have the energy to go to the cafeteria, so I tried to get a boost... heh heh.”

In that instant, Roy lost his composure.

“...You’re joking?”

I thought he was competent—turns out he’s just dead weight. A total waste.

“ahem, ahem! Ack!”

Perhaps embarrassed by Roy’s stare, Gwakhyeol began coughing up blood again. Roy only looked on with contempt. Then he realized another fatal flaw: the cough and hemoptysis. Blood fiends have extraordinarily acute hearing. In that sense, Gwakhyeol possessed every quality that would draw a blood fiend’s attention. A ready meal for monsters, rolling his eyes at Roy.

“I-I’m sorry. How dare I be picked....”

Gwakhyeol fell to a supplicating stance, and Roy felt a pang of guilt.

“No, you don’t have to go that far...”

“No, ahem ahem. Please don’t abandon me. You can use me as bait—just don’t throw me away.”

If he put it like that, Roy would feel like trash. Luckily no camera was pointed at them—if it had been, some devil’s edit would’ve turned this into a meme to burn down every forum.

“Alright! Alright, but let’s do something about that cough first. Can I see you?”

Roy gripped Gwakhyeol’s shoulder and met his eyes—preparing to gaslight him. Since he couldn’t reliably control his skill, he couldn’t risk using it on a blood fiend. The risk was too high. This was the best he could do, assuming the other party agreed.

“Hyung. Look at me. Can you control that cough?”

Gwakhyeol shook his head.

“I wish I could stop, too. But it’s not under my control—”

“Then if I can make it stop, would you do it?”

“Would you really? Of course!”

He’d promised to avoid using his skill on people, but given circumstances... and with consent, it felt acceptable.

“What’s the method? Please, tell me.”

“Okay. But first, I’m sorry.”

Gwakhyeol looked puzzled at Roy’s sudden apology.

“I know it’s hard, but at least when a blood fiend is near, please ❀ Nоvеlігht ❀ (Don’t copy, read here) hold back your cough. You can do it.”

【Skill ‘Godslighting’ is cast.】

Fortunately, the godslighting succeeded.

“Right. So what’s the method?”

Roy hesitated, licking his lips and averting his gaze.

“Just... try holding it in once.”

“Huh?”

He’d said there was a method—now this? Gwakhyeol cocked his head in confusion, then clapped as if realizing something.

“Ah! You used the ‘handsome-face’ trick on me?”

“Ugh! Can you stop saying that?”

“Oho! No wonder I suddenly feel like I can’t cough, ahem ahem ahem! Achoo!”

And so the second evaluation began. First into the arena: team number one—Gwakhyeol, F, and Lee Roi, F. One hour on the clock. Within that, they had to locate where the guild masters were imprisoned and rescue them. Their mission feed was not shared; waiting contestants could only guess by the sounds from the speakers. The first sounds were:

[ahem.]

[...]

[...]

[Kyeeeek!]

“Aahhh!”

“Ugh!”

A horrific chorus of screams.

✧

While Roy suffered, ’s much-anticipated first broadcast aired. Though wracked by his cough’s side effect, Hojin couldn’t miss Roy’s show and sat before the TV for the first time in ages. The footage opened with the preliminaries—the largest scale in survival-show history.

[South Korea population: ~51 million]

[Awakeners: only 0.02%, 10,108 individuals]

[Applicants: 5,002]

Captions declared that over two days, nearly ten thousand people thronged Seoul World Cup Stadium. Drone shots showed participants and audience; some waved upon spotting cameras. Hojin’s heart swelled to think Roy had been among them. The feed cut to busy staff prepping the venue: the master of the Daejeon Guild overseeing huge rock-wall installations, stagehands guiding contestants, empty seats filling in fast motion.

<ST☆R Hero>

War of the Chosen Stars!

A dazzling logo appeared, and the program began in earnest. The edit focused on memorable contestants—there was no way to show all five thousand prelim stories. Hojin had been curious about the stadium’s inside; it surpassed his imagination.

‘It’s huge...’

He’d been proud when Roy passed, but seeing the scale, he felt distance instead of awe. As the church elder said, growing apart from Roy seemed fated.

‘And it’s my own karma that did this.’

He resolved to pray harder to avoid drifting further. He touched the silver ring engraved with a black cross—a gift from the church elder, said to link him to the New Heaven and prove his membership.

Buzz—

His phone rang: a group chat from art academy friends. They, too, were watching . One sent a link: a clip of a contestant blasting energy at the cliff top, catching the backdraft, and being carried off on a stretcher. The broadcast alternated eliminations and passes to heighten drama, and as expected, community posts and SNS reactions were pouring in.

By accident, Hojin hit “back” and opened a list of threads. He clicked on several that caught his eye. fɾēewebnσveℓ.com

[Title: What’s all this fuss about Star Hero?]

All the hot posts are about Star Hero. A new idol survival show?

– ㄴㄴ Awakeners.

– What do they do, fight blood fiends? lol

└ Yep

└ Why is this happening;;;

[Title: Curious about contestant profiles]

Didn’t they have a press showcase?

– It was yesterday

– But only Hangyeol and the three guild masters attended

[Title: Coffee King’s real name is Kim Taeeon...what a King God-General]

(Tag image of Taeeon in prelims)

But I didn’t want him to get this famous ㅜㅜ

– NNNNNNNG😭

– King...he barely shows up at the café, rumors of enlistment... yet here he is

– I was lying down, saw King’s face, jumped up

– Don’t become famous ㅠㅠㅠ

– Is he a celeb? Why does everyone know him?

└ Local legend in Sokcho

└ Son of Sokcho

└ In Sokcho you might not know the mayor, but you know Coffee King’s face

– When he first appeared I thought “cute,” now he shook the earth and my heart

“Pfft.”

Hojin couldn’t help laughing at such wild fangirling. He knew Taeeon’s café was popular, but not like this.

‘So he’s been exploiting someone this beloved all along?’

Technically it was Roy’s request that got him special treatment, but Hojin had shouldered some responsibility. He’d wondered how long he’d owe favors—but after this broadcast, he might finally stop hitching a ride in Taeeon’s car. Amused, he began refreshing the board enthusiastically.

[Title: Honestly curious about Seo Hyunwoo’s face]

A-grade means 900% chance he’s handsome

– Awakeners only need skill, why care about looks?

└ Don’t you know high grade = top tier handsome?

└ I know, but I’m not into guys’ faces

– I wish they’d drop the mask lol, then I’d vote

[Title: Stop the face talk]

This is Awakeners’ survival, not making idols!

Every time I see whining about no handsome ones I want to smack someone

– Why is this guy so angry?

– If they’re pretty and handsome, isn’t that fine?

– Too many face-rating posts lol

– I predicted this when they said 70% by vote. Let go of expectations, it’s easier

[Title: Question about Star Hero]

Why are some contestants advancing without using skills? Dumb?

– Certified useless

– They said the wall was 40m? So 80m round trip

– Even S-grade would crack their skull from that height

[Title: No wonder they canceled comedy shows]

So many talents flock to SH

(GIF of contestant dancing under the cliff looking at an eagle)