GIJS

Chapter 55

The Showdown of Two Proud Geniuses

Taewong's anxious prediction became reality.

[We will now begin the [Idol Training Simulationi> Surprise Mission.] [The winner of the surprise mission will receive a benefit that allows them to start the final live broadcast competition from a very advantageous position!]

"Ugh, what's with this surprise mission..."

"Did I brag too soon?"

"What's the mission topic, I wonder?"

"I guess they'll let us know soon."

As soon as Hyunsu finished speaking, new messages started buzzing on everyone's smartphones.

[The topic of the surprise mission is 'Personal Broadcasting'.]

"Huh?"

"...Personal broadcasting..."

"Are they asking us to go live all of a sudden?"

Everyone's face was filled with question marks at the mention of personal broadcasting. Today was supposed to be a day without staff or cameramen.

The following message provided the answer to the mystery.

[From now on, each survivor will be assigned a secret VJ.] [The secret VJ will film you from places where people cannot see you.] [The footage will be live-streamed through the online platform 'X Live'!]

"What's with this secret VJ?"

"Haha, it sounds like a stalker."

"...Does this mean we're being filmed somewhere right now...?"

"Hey, that sounds a bit scary."

[The live broadcast will start exactly 30 minutes from now.] [Soon, tools to conceal your identity will be delivered.] [Please use them to completely hide your identity.] [You must not say your name or your affiliation.] [Idol Training Simulation songs or performances are not allowed.] [Only attract viewers and audiences with your own charm.] [The participant who attracts the most viewers and audiences over two hours will win!]

As soon as the message was delivered, the participants gathered, putting their heads together to brainstorm ideas.

"Ugh, what should I do? This is driving me crazy."

"...Personal broadcasting all of a sudden..."

"Hyunsu, what are you going to do?"

"I don't know. Should I play the recorder?"

"Inhyuk, do you have any special skills?"

"...Hmm, how about throwing something far?"

"Oh, then you could throw Siwoo."

"Haha, I'd like to live longer."

"Anyway, we need to attract attention somehow..."

While the others were brainstorming ideas, Gunja leisurely enjoyed his green grape ade.

"Oh, the grape balls are popping!"

"What, Gunja, have you already planned your personal broadcast?"

At Taewong's question, Gunja shook his head with a smile.

Gunja, facing the personal broadcasting mission, really had no idea.

Gunja had swept through every mission so far, but for this one, he decided not to be greedy.

If it were a dance competition or freestyle rap battle, it might be different, but personal broadcasting didn't suit Gunja's nature at all.

Before starting the training camp, Gunja had watched clips of several personal broadcast BJ's (broadcast jockeys) on YouTube.

[Oh my, oh my, oh my oh my—!! Our Kimota-ri Kimota's star balloons have arrived~] [So happy, really so happy—!! I feel like I'm going to fly to the sky~]

The reaction videos of BJs were quite a shock to Gunja.

"How can they be so unrefined..."

Gunja had no intention of denying their culture. However, the personal broadcast BJs he saw all used agitated tones and exaggerated gestures.

If he ever had to do personal broadcasting, he thought he might try to mimic their flashy behavior if that's what fans wanted.

But he wasn't mentally prepared for it yet.

"I'm not good with personal broadcasting."

"Really? Then we might have a chance if Gunja doesn't participate!"

At just the right moment, the disguising tools prepared by the production team arrived.

The participants had been using hats and sunglasses for disguise, but the production team provided more effective tools.

"A costume?"

"It's shaped like a harbang (a traditional Korean grandfather figure)."

"Gunja's is shaped like a hallabong (a type of citrus fruit)."

"Oh, it's surprisingly cute."

Wearing the costume completely covered their face. With a voice changer attached to the mouth area, it was impossible to identify participants by their voices.

The 'Team Gunja' members, wearing their costumes, fist-bumped and exchanged final greetings.

"Alright, let's give it a shot."

"The winner should be one of us."

"Let's at least not lose to Ju Ha-sung."

"Of course!"

The members shared their enthusiasm and vanished towards their respective strategies.

Left alone after the others had departed, Gunja felt no sense of regret. In fact, he even felt a bit of relief.

"Now I don't have to ride those terrifying amusement rides!"

What Gunja needed was rest.

Given the ordeal he had endured on various rides under the pressure from Hyunsoo and Taewong, he could almost believe Jeju Island was still an exile.

But wasn't Jeju Island now considered a tourist destination?

With the tormenting colleagues gone, he could finally enjoy the scenery of Tamna World.

Under the deep blue sky, beautiful landscapes and quaint buildings came into view.

"Hah."

Wearing the hallabong costume and strolling leisurely, Gunja fully enjoyed the nature of Tamna.

Yes, this is real rest and enjoyment.

As the pleasant island breeze wrapped around him, traditional Korean poetry flowed effortlessly from his lips.

Yu Gunja's Visit to Tamna (柳君子耽羅訪問)

Here I am, Yu Gunja, visiting Tamna.

Fear of Horror Experiences (恐怖體驗極嫌任)

The terrifying rides are very unpleasant.

Personal Broadcasting Mission (個人放送任務有)

A personal broadcasting mission has been assigned.

Don't Know, Won't Do (沒我沒俄安轄居)

It's nice to leisurely settle down and govern myself for a while.

Attention-Grabbing Path (魚拘擄弑路屍路)

Like catching fish, attracting attention is a path of death and destruction.

Nature's Help (自然以遭我助我)

However, meeting nature may bring help from it.

After enjoying the scenery for a while.

Splash—

Hearing the sound of water from afar, Gunja, as if enchanted, moved towards it.

Life full of refinement cannot be without water.

Jeju Island, surrounded on all sides by water, surely has space to enjoy floating and playing in the water.

As he got closer to the sound of water, he also heard someone's frantic voice.

...Receiving the guide's instructions in front of me...

...Ten people on one boat...

...We're getting wet, we're getting wet...

...Our heads are getting wet, our clothes are getting wet...

...Shoes and socks are all getting wet...

"...What a truly strange poem."

As he followed the sound, he saw a woman wearing a bizarre hat reciting a storm of sijo (traditional Korean poetry).

"Getting wet and only getting wet, this is Hallabong, ah bong, ah bong, ah bongbongbong bong~"

It was not just the lyrics, but the addictive rhythm and catchy flow of the sijo that seemed to stick to the ears like glutinous rice.

From the content of the sijo, it seemed that the woman was an operator for this ride. She had creatively turned the safety instructions for the ride into a free-style sijo performance.

This woman was not ordinary.

It is said that experts recognize experts.

Goonja immediately recognized that the woman had deep skill.

Meanwhile, at the 'Hallabong Express' front, Jang Hyun-joo, who was showing off freestyle rap, also recognized Goonja immediately.

"...That person..."

Experts may recognize each other, but it was a different matter.

There was no way not to notice a crazy person dancing with a Hallabong costume on their head.

If it were an inexperienced worker, they might have been startled, but Jang Hyun-joo, who had been working here for three years, was one of the top veterans.

She was not surprised by the sudden appearance of a human Hallabong and instead began to add variations to her freestyle rap.

"Hallabong, welcome to Hallabong Express~"

"!"

"Hello, hello, Hallabong is getting wet~ From head to toe, it's getting wet~ Ah Jua~ Ah Jua~"

With the rhythm embracing him, Goonja smiled inside the costume.

Ah, is she provoking me?

To suddenly change the lyrics like this, truly impressive spontaneity.

But if it's spontaneity, I won't be outdone.

Recalling the impromptu sijo competition with the Zhou family's hypocrite, Goonja's heart started pounding.

The rhythmic steps leading him to the stage.

"Ah Jua~ Ah Jua~"

"Ah Hyo~ Ah Hyo~"

Two prideful geniuses finally faced each other up close.

* * *

Meanwhile, the fifteen participants, excluding Goonja, were struggling with the sudden mission.

It was truly difficult to perform something that could attract viewers with nothing prepared.

It would have been good if they could at least dance, but dances performed on 'A Youth's Time' were prohibited, making that impossible.

The one who managed to break through with music was Ji Hyun-su, who wore a squirrel costume.

As a member skilled in producing, Ji Hyun-su, using paint cans and wooden sticks, performed an impromptu drumming busking.

Dum da da, dum, dum, dum, dum—.

"Wow, the squirrel drums really well~"

"Can you see that? How does he play so well?"

"Wow, even spinning the sticks!"

While Ji Hyun-soo gathered viewers in his own way, there were also combinations that joined forces for a joint performance.

Kwon Tae-woong, Ha Hyeon-jae, and Ki Yu-chan performed a girl group dance medley at the photo zone.

"Woong, why do you know girl group dances so well?"

"Hey, don't talk in a distorted voice! It's funny!"

"Your head is the funniest!"

The combination of the muscle man Shiba dog, the lean rabbit, and the cute quokka made the women continuously press the shutter.

"So cute!"

"What are they?"

"The muscle man's dance lines are so pretty!"

Thanks to this, they managed to gather some viewers, but because the three of them worked together, the number of both audience and viewers was divided by 1/n.

In the meantime, an unexpected combination of In-hyeok and Si-woo also performed well.

The two stood in front of an arcade game that scored high points by hitting with a hammer.

Kwaaang—!!

Beep beep beep—···.

[989 points! HIGH SCORE!]

When In-hyeok struck the hammer, Si-woo, who stood in front, acted as the assistant.

"Hahaha, our polar bear's score is 989 points~ Who wants to challenge?"

"Me! I'll give it a try!"

Kwaaang-.

Beep beep beep—···.

[714 points! So close!]

Since no one came close to In-hyeok's score, his strength naturally attracted attention.

"Haha, already 4,000 viewers~"

"Really? Is that high?"

"Of course. Currently, you three combined only have around 6,500~"

However, at the top of the list was another broadcast.

It was Joo Ha-sung, who, wearing a fox mask, was performing acrobatic stunts in the square. Over ten thousand viewers had already gathered in Joo Ha-sung's stream.

Tae-woong and Hyeon-jae grumbled in dissatisfaction.

"Isn't Ha-sung hyung cheating? If he does acrobatics, fans will think it's all him."

"He hasn't done it in the 'A Youth's Time' competition, so it's not a rule violation."

"Ugh, anyway, he's so smart."

"Yu-chan, Hyeon-jae, let's go try somewhere else."

"Okay, let's go!"

As the three moved, they soon encountered a crowd like clouds.

"Oh, what's this? Why are there so many people!?"

"Hey, we can do it here."

"...Uh, sure, I'm fine with it too..."

"Hey, but doesn't it seem like they're watching something?"

"Yeah."

As Hyeon-jae said, the crowd was watching something.

It was one of the signature rides of Tamna World, the 'Hallabong Express' departure platform.

"What is it?"

"Hyeon-jae, take a look."

Saying that, Tae-woong lifted Hyeon-jae up and put him on his shoulders.

"...Ah?"

Only then did Hyeon-jae realize what the people were excited about.

"It's a cow, it's a cow—."

"—!?"

"From the back of the head to the temples, left and right, upper and lower arms, chest, buttocks, and even knees—."

"Seonbi hyung—!?"

"Everything is a cow~"

With that crazy rhythm, Yoo Goonja's viewer count started to surge wildly.