Trapped in the Idol Universe

And Roy was completely caught in Hangyeol’s mind games.

What’s on your mind?

He’d never been so clingy, and now he was playing innocent. That earned him a new charge of “infuriating.”

“Don’t you want to know why I stopped being a fan? You weren’t looking my way.”

“Oh, that? I decided to be more open-minded. Not everyone in the world can like me. It hurts, but I have to accept it.”

Shit. Weren’t you obsessing because you couldn’t handle that? He must have reached enlightenment overnight, because his slimy face had never looked more detestable.

“And my eyes are all healed now—”

“You never really got injured in the first place.”

Ouch. Hangyeol blinked but calmly continued.

“My schedule got backed up anyway, so I was just about to make my comeback. What—do you miss not seeing me around?”

Where’s that dog barking...? Roy glared without a word, and Hangyeol tucked his tail again.

“Just kidding—haha! I thought a fire-type Awakener would be warm, but you’re a real cold guy.”

“What do you mean by that?”

That my personality’s shitty? That I’m rude? That I’m a heartless piece of trash? As if his brain wasn’t full of negative interpretations already, Roy closed his eyes and took a slow breath.

Don’t let him distract me. Keep it simple.

If he let Hangyeol derail him, he’d lose control. With that self-hint in mind, Roy abruptly held out his phone.

“Enter your number.”

“My number?”

“Do you think it’d be anything else?”

Hangyeol looked confused—he clearly hadn’t expected Roy to ask first. Who’d be crazy enough to ask a celebrity for their number? But that crazy guy was standing right here. Roy shook his phone insistently, and Hangyeol took it without thinking.

“If you enter your manager’s number, I won’t let it slide.”

He even threatened him. Flustered, Hangyeol punched in his digits. Roy took back the phone and called to confirm.

“I’ll contact you—so pick up.”

“I’m busy.”

“I know. Still, pick up.”

“Why should I?”

“Meet me exactly five times outside. Then I’ll tell you why I quit being your fan.”

“...Five times?”

“Take it or leave it.”

When Hangyeol gave a lukewarm response and turned away, Roy grabbed his wrist.

“No—wait! You have to answer me before you go. You really will tell me if we meet five times? Just like that?”

“Yes. So pick up when I call. And remember what I said.”

“You mean switching to being your manager?”

“Yes. You know Gwak Hyeol, right?”

“You’re calling me ‘hyung?’ So we’re on casual terms now?”

Hangyeol couldn’t hide a smirk at the accidental honorific. Roy, startled, pretended not to hear.

“Do I know him or not?”

“You do—participant Gwak Hyeol. The one who does those prophecies, right?”

“Right. He says Blood Fiends have been skulking around you.”

“...?”

Hangyeol’s playful expression froze. He looked as if he wanted to ask why Roy hadn’t said that before.

“I was a fan once, too. I’m telling you this out of old affection—so just beware.”

He’d thrown Gwak Hyeol under the bus again.

“Huh? Wait—what does that mean—”

“I have filming, so I’ve got to go. Stay alive, okay?”

Roy shook off Hangyeol’s hand and turned away. If Hangyeol died anyway... Roy decided his fate would end there.

✧

Back in the studio, his teammates hurried him along—they said filming was delayed because of him.

“What took you so long?”

“Sorry.”

“No need to apologize... Anyway, we need a team leader. Want the job?”

“Me?”

Roy hesitated at the sudden suggestion. But it seemed to be the team’s unanimous wish—they all stared expectantly.

“There are four A-ranks here. You really want me to lead?”

It felt natural—they’d all treated Roy like leader in Round 2—but things were different now. Last time he had authority; now it was voluntary. Even Anna and Yoil agreed, which puzzled him. Anna shrugged with a smile.

“You did great last time. I hate being leader, so someone experienced should do it.”

Yoil nodded in agreement. If Roy refused, the mood would turn awkward. Flustered, he relented.

“Okay, I’ll do it.”

Taeon beamed and pinned the leader’s badge on Roy’s chest.

“Thanks. Let’s do well again.”

“Sure. I’ll work you all harder this time, so get ready.”

But it wasn’t the teammates who needed to be ready—it was Roy. Moments later, Junseo approached with a grin and asked the group.

“Is Roy the Team 1 leader?”

“Yes.”

“Once decided, you can’t change.”

What was that about? It sounded like he might get a chance to replace Roy later. But before Roy could ask, the team all answered in unison.

“We’ll stick with him.”

Junseo gave a knowing smile and patted Roy’s shoulder, then moved on without saying more.

During the brief meeting break, the main question was whether Team 1 would skip tomorrow’s daily mission.

“How about we start practice right away and skip the mission?”

They already had plenty of points and didn’t want to waste time. Besides, the lower-rank teams probably saw the missions as their only hope—it felt wrong to snatch that away. The team nodded in agreement.

“Then let’s head to the training ground—”

Just then, an assistant director handed each team a tablet and stood center stage to address everyone.

“Attention please! You can use today’s earned points on the tablets you’ve just received. Here’s how to use them.”

Eyes shifted to the screens.

“You can only purchase one of each item per day. The purchase period ends at midnight before the third-round survival begins.”

They explained only confirmed purchases by then would be delivered on the day.

“Also, you cannot bring anything into the third-round survival venue unless purchased with points. Please note this.”

When had that rule been mentioned before? Roy tapped through the tablet list. Suddenly, he froze.

[Team 1: 1,000,000P]

At first glance, there seemed to be nothing he needed—but then he saw it: under each member’s profile and rank was a point value. A-ranks were 300,000P, B 150,000P, C 50,000P, D 10,000P.

What the...?

Roy almost let out a curse, but clamped his mouth shut. His teammates looked confused.

“What’s this?”

“Wait—why us?”

“Three hundred thousand points each?!”

Apparently the “everything you need” to bring into survival included the members themselves... Even worse, Team 1 was all A-ranks—except him. Yoil and Yeonwoo had been bumped to A for Round 2 performances.

Now, despite having the most points of any team, they needed another 500,000P to bring in all six members. If anyone else led, they’d only need 210,000P more—but with Roy, the one-ten-thousand-pointer, as leader, things had become a major pain.

“Dammit—”

“Roy!”

As Roy let slip a harsh expletive, Taeon quickly clamped his hand over Roy’s mouth.

“Shh! We’ll figure something out, okay?”

No! He couldn’t calm down. They were facing off against the broadcast network itself.

We’ve been outplayed!

Every other popular contestant was a high-rank Awakener. Since teams were viewer-voted, of course they’d group all the stars together—and that would be the favored winning team. The producers surely knew that. Even if they offered extra chances to other teams for fairness, the power gap was too big to close. And °• N 𝑜 v 𝑒 l i g h t •° viewers hated predictable outcomes. So the producers had covertly applied a penalty to the popular team.

Now Team 1—the most likely finalists—suddenly risked elimination.

✧

Team 1 was in despair. Great despair. Because their leader was only worth 10,000P, making an already uphill battle even steeper.

“Whoever pushed for me as leader, speak up.”

“...”

No one spoke—they’d all agreed, after all. Taeon said they’d think of something, but there was really only one way. Roy had to step aside.

Missions ran once per day, first-come for the top four teams, seven chances total. Team 1 needed at least five successes so everyone could participate. He’d expected they’d sell off items or rations, but...

My head hurts.

Roy was sick of Junseo’s provocation. Then one question struck him. Every surviving contestant had the right to participate, especially in viewer-voted teams. No matter how greedy Junseo was for ratings, they couldn’t ignore public opinion.

Are they planning to include unpurchased contestants by other means?

What scheme could Junseo have in mind to set this up already? His logic was impossible to predict. So Roy decided that no matter what, he’d find a way to bring all his teammates along. Forgoing missions for other teams? No. There’d be no concessions left in Team 1’s handbook. Flea’s liver? He’d strip every last resource from them if he had to.