Trapped in the Idol Universe

A moment of silence passed.

So startled that even Bi seemed lost for words, no sound came from him either.

Then, after quite a while, Taeeon’s voice broke the stillness.

“...Psychopath?”

As everyone’s eyes turned toward Bi, Roy drove the nail in once more.

“Yeah. Psychopath. He didn’t have any friends, so I said I’d hang out with him. But he’s a nice guy.”

When Roy tried to put his arm around Bi’s shoulder, Hojin hurriedly yanked him away.

Taeeon also subtly stepped between Roy and Bi, and Yeonwoo had long since hidden behind a tree.

“W-what? Psychopath? You mean that guy, if he gets pissed off, he’ll beat us all to death, right?!”

The reasonable suspicion made the atmosphere even darker. Then, belatedly regaining his senses, Bi jumped up and tried to explain.

“What?! No, I’m not like that—”

Bi waved his hands in panic, trying to clarify, but none of them looked willing to listen.

Especially the scary-looking man who had been glaring at him since earlier—he was quietly scolding Roy.

“Roy, no matter how much you want to make friends, I told you not to befriend just anyone.”

“Huh? He’s a good guy. When I was sick, he even threw me into the nurse’s office.”

“Threw... you?”

Everyone froze in shock at the word threw.

Not only did he not help an injured friend—he threw him. Truly a psychopath.

Tongue-tied under the growing misunderstanding, Bi stammered out in a trembling voice,

“No, my ability isn’t psychopath, it’s psychometry...”

Only then did Roy, remembering, clap his hands and correct himself.

“Oh, right! Psychometry! But it’s kinda similar, isn’t it? Everyone understood anyway.”

As Roy scratched his head and grinned sheepishly, the four others shouted in unison.

“Not even close!”

✧

After that brief mess, the four of them fortunately cleared up the misunderstanding.

The kid might be stupid, but even Bi understood that Roy hadn’t meant any harm.

And since Roy offered to buy dinner as an apology, you could call it a happy ending of sorts.

“Galbi, we have to go in now, so look after Hojin-hyung, okay? He’s shy around strangers, so don’t get too friendly.”

“Where are you going? You said we’d play together.”

“Yeah, after it’s done. So until I get back, take good care of him, alright?”

Roy gave him a wide grin and a thumbs-up.

Roy had a plan.

He couldn’t just invite Taeeon and Yeonwoo and leave Hojin out. But he also couldn’t leave Hojin alone while going to the prelims, could he?

So he came up with Galbi.

What else was the guy doing anyway?

Maybe not as reliable as Taeeon, but still—a B-rank Awakener. Better than leaving Hojin alone.

“You called me here for this, didn’t you?”

...He hadn’t discussed that part with Galbi.

Maybe he should’ve told him in advance?

Rubbing his nose awkwardly, Roy tried to smooth things over with his ultimate weapon: cuteness.

“Aing.”

“Argh!”

Galbi screamed and covered his eyes when Roy shyly poked his shoulder and made a tiny finger-heart.

Taking that as a sign of acceptance, Roy beamed and shoved Hojin into his arms.

“Thanks, buddy! But even if you get hurt, my hyung absolutely can’t. Got it?”

“Screw off, you annoying bastard! I hope you crash out of the prelims!”

“Thanks for the support!”

God, were they friends or enemies?

Meanwhile, Hojin watched the two of them bicker with an expression of disbelief.

Why on earth did Roy hang out with someone like that? He worried, yet somehow, he could also see why they got along—and that made him even more conflicted.

“Hyung, we’ll be back, okay? Let’s go.”

Hooking arms with Taeeon and Yeonwoo, Roy led them toward the entrance.

“Participants for Star Hero preliminaries, please proceed this way~”

The Star Hero preliminaries were said to run over two days.

Today was the grand first day.

After a brief verification process before entry, the three received stickers with their participant numbers.

“Please attach the sticker to your chest and head inside.”

Following the directions, the three stepped into the arena—and soon stopped, awestruck.

Ten enormous climbing walls towered in the center of the stadium.

“Whoa...”

“Holy crap. What even is that.”

“The CEO really splurged this time.”

Apparently, those rock walls were the preliminary task.

“Let’s go take a closer look.”

He might’ve been tricked by Junseo into joining the program, but seeing something so impressive up close stirred his curiosity anyway.

As Roy bounded down the stairs, Taeeon and Yeonwoo hurried after him.

“Roy, wait up.”

“Hey, mutt! Didn’t I tell you not to wander off alone?!”

If Hojin had been there, he would’ve frowned and said, How is Roy a mutt?

“Hyung, look! It’s even taller up close!”

Dangling from the first-floor railing, Roy craned his neck back to look up.

Compared to that, the wall he’d climbed over at Jincheon Athletes’ Village to meet Yeonwoo was nothing.

“Is that made of real stone?”

“No way they expect us to climb that, right?”

“C’mon, no way...”

Standing side by side before the railing, the three tried guessing what the task might be.

Climbing the wall? Jumping between them? Ideas flew until the announcement rang out.

— “The Star Hero preliminary match will begin shortly. Participants, please check your numbers and wait in your assigned areas.”

Checking the numbers on their chests, the three looked around.

Unlike Roy’s three-digit number, Yeonwoo and Taeeon had four-digit ones.

There were about 2,500 participants total, divided into sections of 250 each.

“Only me over there? Guess we have to split up.”

“We came together, so why’re you the only one with an early number?”

“Maybe ‘cause I registered before you guys. Let’s meet here after it’s over.”

“Got it. Do your best.”

“Roy, be careful and don’t get hurt.”

Roy waved off Taeeon’s nagging and headed toward his section alone.

On the way, he noticed eleven missed calls from Junseo.

What the heck? Did something happen?

Startled, Roy called back, and Junseo’s voice came through immediately.

[“Roy-ssi, you made it?”]

“Yeah, I’m here. On my way to the section. Why did you call so many times?”

[“Ha... thank goodness. I thought you weren’t coming.”]

Roy flinched a little at that. Honestly, if not for Hangyeol, he would’ve ghosted.

“That’s harsh, PD-nim. You don’t trust me?”

[“Haha, of course not~ I just wanted to give you a little heads-up before we start. You saw the climbing walls, right?”]

“Yeah. What are those? Don’t tell me we actually have to climb—”

[“You catch on quick. Since you said you’re D-rank up, I went ahead and set the standard at C-rank. There were more applicants than expected, so we needed a challenge to separate them.”]

We really have to climb that...?

Speechless, Roy stared blankly at the towering wall.

[“Hello? I can’t hear you well—maybe bad reception. Anyway, I’m counting on you.”]

Even after the call ended, Roy stood frozen, phone still pressed to his ear.

Roy, age seventeen.

An F-rank who’s basically an S-rank disguised as F.

Possessed skill: Godslighting.

Cold sweat poured down like rain as he realized the fearsome truth—

he might actually get eliminated in the prelims.

✧

The climbing walls, forty meters high, stood in the stadium.

At the top of each was the Star Hero qualifying flag.

At first glance, the task seemed simple: bring back a flag within the time limit.

But the problem was the height.

Forty meters—about fifteen stories high. The flags were barely visible from below.

No matter how superhuman Awakeners were, they were still human.

Their physical abilities might exceed the average, but fear worked the same.

Still, there was a reason Junseo had the head of Daehan Guild raise the walls that high: to weed out the weaklings.

Participants could only use their skills—no external equipment allowed.

Did that mean all non-combat Awakeners were doomed to fail?

Of course not. Junseo wasn’t the type to send home valuable healers or mental-type users like that.

The flags atop the walls came in three kinds:

one in the center, one held in a hawk’s beak, and one perched precariously beside a wilted flowerpot.

Participants only needed to retrieve one of them, undamaged, to pass.

“Ham, did you already know Roy before this?”

“Speak comfortably.”

“Really? Then I will, great.”

Yeonwoo grinned, genuinely pleased.

“I haven’t known him long. Two months maybe? He was a customer at the café, and we got close. Roy’s my savior.”

“Savior? What the hell, that’s such a creepy word. Ham, you in a cult or something?”

“No?”

“You sure? Sounds cult-y to me...”

“Then call it lifesaver? I almost got killed by a blood fiend, but Roy saved me.”

“Holy crap! For real? Okay, that’s savior-level.”

“Right? What about you, Yeonwoo?”

“Me? We met at school. I came out after lunch and he flirted with me—with a red bean jelly. Kid was adorable.”

“...A red bean jelly?”

“Yeah, red bean jelly. Man, I’d never eaten anything that good before.”

It could only have been the ones he bought.

Those few pieces he’d painstakingly hunted down—told him not to share, to eat them himself...

Seriously, his so-called lifesaver was stupidly kind.

As Taeeon wondered if he should start learning to bake, the crowd suddenly stirred.

“Isn’t that Pluton’s Seo Hyunwoo? Yeah, the guy in the mask.”

“A heavyweight like that showing up? That’s kinda unfair.”

“There’s no rank limit anyway—it’s because of guys like him. There’s S-rank gear on the line.”

“Saw on the forum earlier, a bunch from Daehan Guild came too.”

Turning their heads, they saw a masked man approach the climbing wall of Section 10.

That’s Seo Hyunwoo from Pluton.

After awakening, Taeeon had developed a fascination with guilds and researched them.

Naturally, he started with the Big Three.

Pluton was a special guild dealing in information—there was said to be nothing in this world they didn’t know.

Because they mostly operated in the shadows, the faces of their members weren’t public,

but their signature masks made them easy to recognize.

As Pluton’s ace, Seo Hyunwoo was an A-ranker—

quiet personality, outstanding ability, mysterious charm—

an Awakener as popular as any idol.

Facing the rock wall, he silently reached a hand toward the shadow cast at his feet.