126
Kim Soleum’s body runs through the long, dizzying, maze-like corridors of the studio.
Rumble.
Lee Jaheon traversed the narrow indoor space, which shook with a thundering roar, once again at an impossible speed.
Even the original owner of the body, watching through a CCTV-like perspective, held his breath at the pace and the bold movements that made his palms sweat.
And before long….
“It’s the door.”
ON AIR
Double doors with a sign attached come into view. Section Chief Lee Jaheon broke the lock and entered without hesitation.
Bang!
Beyond the door he kicked open.
-…!
An astonishingly vast studio set appears.
A space so massive that its sheer scale was oppressive.
However, the main talk show set in the center…….
Already looked as if it could no longer function.
-…….
The ceiling, where lights once sparkled, had already half-collapsed. The debris of semi-destroyed lights, steel frames, and dust messily littered the floor and the furniture on stage.
And even through those gaps, the Holy Fire Barrage poured down endlessly.
The audience was in a state of chaos, murmuring. Unable to leave their seats, they seemed to be enjoying the situation due to the Contamination, yet looked as if they would scream for their lives at any moment.
Kim Soleum suppressed a groan.
-…I think the live broadcast is completely ruined.
The ruins of a broken variety show were right there….
And.
[Oh.]
Standing alone on the semi-destroyed stage was the Entertainer.
[To think you'd walk in on your own.]
The Host.
He was simply leaning against a desk, using the holy fire falling like meteors through the ruins of the darkened, half-collapsed studio as his lighting.
It seemed he already knew who had dared to destroy the set. Yet, he did not scream in rage.
He merely watched Kim Soleum, who had burst onto the set, with a quiet gaze.
As if he already knew that the one moving that body was not his Friend, but a mercenary dwelling within the emergency pager.
-…….
Feeling as if his eyes had met the Host’s from beyond his field of vision, Kim Soleum swallowed hard.
-Team leader.
“Yes.”
-From now on… something absurd is probably going to happen.
The Host held out his hand.
He proceeded as if he were still hosting the talk show.
[I am delighted to introduce the culprit behind this mess!]
Click.
A single surviving spotlight shone down on Kim Soleum.
[The one who destroyed the talk show set and caused chaos during a live broadcast is… oh, surprisingly, an audience member who attended the previous broadcast!]
[Please welcome him with a round of applause. Ah, booing is also an excellent choice!]
He recognized the identity of Section Chief Lee Jaheon, who was controlling Kim Soleum’s body, instantly.
[For a criminal who has committed such an atrocious act, shouldn't there be appropriate hardships, challenges, and… penalties!]
The stage grew darker and darker.
[Yes, they say executions were festivals in the Middle Ages. Of course, our talk show doesn't do anything as boring as a hanging!]
[I get to introduce a surprise new corner today! It is none other than….]
The silhouette of the Host, who had both hands raised in the darkness, Grew larger and larger.
Like a shadow cast against a wall.
Even, even more massive.
Thump.
The walls of the set that surrounded them disappeared into the darkness.
On a stage that seemed to be floating in the void, A giant cathode-ray TV head descended.
Thump!
A cathode-ray TV as large as the stage itself.
That head settled down, crushing the guest entrance in the center as if replacing the background wall of the studio.
The Host’s massive gloved hand propped up the bottom of the TV as if resting his chin on it, while the other hand pointed accurately at Kim Soleum’s body like a gun.
[Astounding feats! Breath-taking danger! Terribly fun and hauntingly thrilling… Penalty Acrobatics!]
On the TV screen, a new sign sparkled with dozens of ecstatic light bulbs.
Braun’s
Exciting Penalties
Rat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat….
A drumroll echoed.
The knuckles of the Host’s gloved fingers were tapping against the set.
A drumming sound like the moment right before a circus feat.
-…Surely, he won’t try to kill us right away.
Lee Jaheon looked up while listening to the advice of the body’s owner.
-Because it’s still a live broadcast.
The black TV screen.
Poured out.
[It starts now!]
Thump.
It swallowed Kim Soleum’s human figure.
…….
…….
[Now….]
The cathode-ray TV lifted its head again.
Now, within that screen, Kim Soleum’s human figure was trapped.
The audience, excited and amused by this marvelous magic, sent up a round of applause.
[Then, shall we see some tricks?]
Lights flicker.
Subtitles appear.
Penalty 1
Happy Ending Teddy
Countless Teddy Bear-shaped monsters with gaping maws poured toward the Kim Soleum inside the TV, trying to peel off his skin.
Just as they had done to their former owner who had neglected them.
However, Kim Soleum’s body exerted an incredible superhuman strength, grabbing the Teddy Bears’ muzzles and forcing them to bite each other, escaping the danger.
He runs.
The scenery inside the TV changes, and a background suddenly appears.
A city at night. An alleyway.
A manhole on the ground.
Penalty 2
Arms of the Manhole
Trampling over the bizarre arms surging from the manhole, Kim Soleum climbed upward, hanging from a streetlamp like an acrobat.
Long, spindly arms narrowly brushed past him.
Penalties taking the form of the guests Kim Soleum had chosen to recruit until now.
Mercilessly and playfully, they tried to drive Kim Soleum into a dead end, but….
[Oh dear.]
Kim Soleum broke through everything by a hair’s breadth.
Even if his left arm was fractured and his forehead was split, the penalty did not end by him being caught.
But as the numbers increased, the penalties became progressively more violent and horrific.
Penalty 3, Penalty 4, Penalty 5….
Clang!
Kim Soleum slid out from under the knife of the Delicacy Restaurant that cooked sapient beings, having a portion of his hair cut instead of his head….
And.
Penalty 6
Red Scarecrow
A vast cornfield.
Among the densely grown stalks and leaves, a grotesque figure with numerous limbs coiled around everything, chasing Kim Soleum like a centipede.
By this point, it had become so difficult that escape seemed impossible, but….
The one controlling Kim Soleum’s body was Employee D, a Named Character of the Field Exploration Position from the <Dark Exploration Record>.
He dodges and counterattacks as if performing acrobatics. The glinting Blood-Sucking Knife.
Slash, he cuts off three or four of the scarecrow’s arms. A gasp of admiration erupted from the audience.
But it was only a matter of time.
In the cornfield ghost story, one cannot defeat the monster through brute force instead of the gimmick.
There was a clear limit to a body that was already injured….
‘…Is this a penalty designed with the expectation that I’d die here?’
Kim Soleum waited.
He waited, and waited… and the moment the scarecrow lunged as if to pounce.
-Now!
Following Kim Soleum’s advice, Lee Jaheon turned at a right angle.
And he began to run at a terrifying speed.
Toward the TV screen.
“Uh, uh!”
“It’s getting bigger!”
And.
[Oh!]
He succeeds in leaping out of the TV.
Kim Soleum’s body rolled across the floor, and Lee Jaheon landed the body using a breakfall.
Waaaaah!!
That was insane!!
Cheers from the audience poured out.
[Amazing! My goodness!]
The Host seemed to have already forgotten his anger.
As if the only thing that mattered was the completion of a good show, a smiling emoticon appeared on the TV along with a bright voice.
[To pass even the 6th penalty, it was truly a heart-pounding thrill! Ah, it was truly great. Did everyone enjoy it?!]
Yes!!
Cheers and answers came from the audience.
And the Host also responded with a soft voice from within the giant TV.
[Well, then….]
[Go back in and receive the 7th penalty.]
The TV head drew closer again.
[The cheers of the audience were sweet, weren't they? You must repay that enthusiastic acclaim. Oh, I can't end it when the reaction is this good. Please continue. Continue….]
At that moment.
A Faceless Staff member, who had barely managed to retrieve a sketchbook from the collapsed debris, held it up from below the stage.
Emergency Alert.
[…Aha!]
The TV stopped.
[It’s commercial time.]
Disappointed groans from the audience.
[Haha, I’m disappointed too, but I’ll have to wrap up this surprise corner here. Instead, a brilliant show ending awaits you!]
[The short commercial before that will only build anticipation!]
The smiling emoticon inside the giant TV bowed its head.
[That’s right. Once the cameras are off, the audience’s gaze is gone, and the stage lights are dimmed….]
To the figure of Kim Soleum.
[Who could possibly guarantee what wonderful thing will happen to a performer whose corner has ended.]
“…….”
[To be continued in a moment.]
Click.
The camera light vanished.
The staff did not come up to clear the semi-destroyed stage.
On the dark stage, where the sounds of the murmuring audience could be heard clearly.
The Host raised his hand.
Gazing at the performer of the surprise corner whose allotted time had ended and whose usefulness was spent.
Toward the ruffian who dared to break the set and smash his friend.
And, as his massive fingers slowly pressed together to make a sound…….
“Braun.”
The hand stopped.
“Did you incinerate my ‘Plush Body’?”
…….
[Aha, you’ve returned to that.]
[Don't tell me you came here to ask for help? How shameless. But that, too, is a virtue of broadcasting….]
“No.”
Lee Jaheon apathetically recited exactly what Kim Soleum was saying.
“There was something I wanted to ask.”
The emoticon disappeared from the TV head.
‘As I thought.’
Kim Soleum was certain.
Right now, Braun could not look into his inner thoughts.
That’s because the one standing at the front and talking to Braun was Lee Jaheon.
Just because someone reads a script doesn't mean you can read all the thoughts of the person who wrote it.
And he was the same.
‘I’m not over there.’
Because he was seeing and hearing everything indirectly.
Originally, situational factors also had a large impact on persuasion.
However, since the amount of information was coming in refined solely through the screen and dialogue, even Kim Soleum could hold his own without helplessly falling for the great Host’s ‘persuasion’.
In that case, a conversation in the truest sense was possible.
A ‘conversation’… where they don’t know what each other is thinking, yet they listen to what the other is trying to say, trying to grasp the meaning and understand.
“Will you listen for a moment? I think it’s a question even you didn't expect….”
[Ah. On stage, bluster can sometimes be substantial.]
[But that only works for those who are not Entertainers.]
The owner of the talk show ghost story stared at him without eyes.
[If you think the idea of trying to smooth over the situation by impressing this Braun with some cliché script, lines, urban legends, or discourse you've heard somewhere will succeed, it is a very pitiful delusion….]
But.
“It’s not like that. It’s just a personal question.”
The voice was calm.
[A ‘personal question’?]
“Yeah.”
Kim Soleum’s mouth opened.
“Was it very stifling being a Good Friend?”
[ ]
The TV screen stopped moving.
Yet, a smooth voice still came out.
[A being who feels stifled by their given mask has no right to be on stage.]
[In that sense, this Braun likewise has no history of ever considering his mask stifling….]
“I see. I felt quite stifled and scared while I was a plush doll earlier. I wondered if you felt the same.”
[Oh, the formation of sympathy and empathy. Typical. You’ve made a cliché and stale judgment.]
[Go ahead and drone on about why I shouldn't incinerate you and that swordsman whole.]
[Before the commercial break ends.]
“…….”
Kim Soleum thought.
He was certainly standing here with a betting heart, driven by the fear and prediction that if he escaped now, he might face an even more horrific conclusion in the near future.
But one can only bet when there is a possibility.
Kim Soleum, too, did not place a bet on this spot without any basis.
The possibility he had grasped was this.
“Then, was it enjoyable being a Good Friend?”
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