This is definitely a plot.

There’s no doubt about it—an elaborate scheme to humiliate me and kill me with embarrassment. A plot by Mr. Wangmo and his shadowy cohorts to smear me.......

"Ha ha ha ha ha!"

Ugh. Disgusting.

Ignoring the lackeys chattering happily while checking online reactions, I cranked up the TV volume.

[All right! Preliminary Group 2 match is starting!]

On the screen, Teen Spirit’s Yeonhu and Hahyun were competing in the solo round.

The beautiful boys wore headsets with serious expressions, clicking their mice.

"Heh heh heh heh."

"Why are you laughing?"

"I’m getting ready to laugh at them in advance."

They always get called lazy, but even while cursing and grumbling, those neighbor boys are the ones who still head to work at the crack of dawn every day.

Diligence doesn’t guarantee success, but among successful people, there are none who aren’t diligent. Teen Spirit is genuinely hardworking. Guys who cheer each other on with, “You idiot, hang in there!” and live earnestly.

"They live that diligently—when would they even have time to practice games? They’ll probably lose right away, just like me—"

That was the moment.

[Hahyun is flying right now! This is real gameplay!]

[The quality is completely different from Group 1. This is practically a different game. See? The movement is different.]

The commenters on the TV began to murmur.

-He’s good

-This is what real gaming looks like

-I thought it was a comedy because of Seonmo

-Wooju is crying... he’s just crying

On screen, Hahyun’s cute character, fully armed, was wiping out nearby players.

"......What? Why is he good?"

"Hahyun is insanely good at games. Gaming is his hobby too."

The maknae said.

"Teen Spirit is good at games overall. I play with them sometimes, and their tiers are super high."

"......."

"Hyung, you’re like a rare Pokémon. A legendary game-illiterate."

Hahyun and Yeonhu advanced to the main round with ease.

The two boys high-fived each other and put on business smiles.

[Soul! We’re going to the main round!]

[For our Souls, I’ll definitely get first place!]

The bright-eyed, well-behaved kids went offstage.

And I kept watching the Dorlympics, searching for hope.

"No. It’s not too late yet. Surely there’ll be at least one person worse than me. There’s no way......."

That was when Lee Hyeonjo showed up in the kart racing game.

I felt hopeful.

"Hahaha! It’s Hanjo! Hanjo!"

"Hey, mister, I’m really curious."

Ri Hyuk asked, puzzled.

"Why do you think Hanjo would be worse?"

"Because I’m better at everything except rap."

"Well, obviously you’d beat a rapper at everything except rap...... Sure. You probably need that kind of delusional belief to preserve your mental health."

Ignoring Ri Hyuk, I kept watching.

But contrary to my expectations, the kart with Hanjo’s big-headed character started showing insane movement.

-F1 racer Lee Hyeonjo

-Kart master lol

-Marseille turn holy crap insane judgment

-You can steal items like that?

-Damn... one friend is filming flying cars, this one’s filming F1

The commentators exclaimed in admiration at Hanjo finishing the preliminaries in first place.

[Isn’t it well known that Hanjo and Wooju are the same age and close friends? They’re just too different!]

[At this point, they’re practically different species!]

[To be honest, Wooju is a rare case. With that sharp judgment and incredible physical sense, the fact that he’s bad at games.......]

The lackeys clapped and burst out laughing.

"......."

As the kart racing preliminaries ended and the Dorlympics prelim episode was about to wrap up.

Hanjo stepped out for the first-place interview, surrounded by the commentators.

His neat, handsome face looked especially annoying today.

[Hanjo!]

[Yes.]

[That was incredibly impressive. It really felt like, ‘I am Lee Hyeonjo!’ How are you so good?]

The people who hadn’t complimented me even once were showering him with praise.

Tremble.

My body shook like reeds in a marsh.

[Well.]

Hanjo smiled softly.

[I’ve played this game since I was young, so I guess it’s still in my body.]

[That was amazing.]

When they asked him to say a word to the camera, Hanjo went, “Hmm...” and said,

[I think Sun Wooju is probably watching this right now. He monitors every broadcast he appears on, so I’m sure he’s watching.]

"I’m not. I’m not watching."

"Hyungs, Wooju hyung has finally lost his reason to jealousy!"

[I heard he got eliminated in the preliminaries. Haha. I’ve been teased a lot lately, so this feels kind of refreshing.]

[Oh! Is that a provocation!]

[A great provocation! But Wooju can’t comment on that!]

[Sealing the opponent’s mouth and striking! Truly a strategist, Hanjo!]

As the commentators egged him on, Hanjo gave a wink like a magical princess.

[My friend. I’m going to the main round.]

[Hahaha!]

[To a place you can’t reach.]

"Aaaaargh!"

"Pwahahahahaha!"

The lackeys piled onto me, laughing hysterically as I hugged a cushion and rolled around in frustration.

"Lee Hyeonjooooo!"

Like hell I’m ever buying you a magic wand again!

"Our country’s game pride is way too intense."

"Yes, yes."

"Treating someone like an idiot just because they’re bad at games... I mean, I lose one game and my grandma calls to mock me, my friend mocks me on TV, and now even the neighbors are coming over to tease me."

"We did?"

They looked at me with sulky faces and tilted their heads.

They asked each other.

"Did you tease Wooju hyung?"

"No. Did you?"

"I didn’t either."

"If it’s not you or me, then who? Seems like nobody teased him."

Then they nodded.

"We only laughed at hyung’s gaming skills. We didn’t tease you."

"Right."

"Just that you’re really bad."

"‘Really’ isn’t strong enough. You need a crazy-strong prefix. Like ‘catastrophically.’ Catastrophically bad."

......That’s what you call teasing.

As I trembled again like reeds in a marsh, Biju’s bright voice rang out.

"Guys. The meat is burning."

"Yes!"

They were absurdly cheerful among themselves.

They flipped the beef on the grill set up in the dorm living room, everyone happy together.

This was a meat party between neighbors for the Chuseok holiday.

"This meat is really good. It’s the best I’ve had recently."

"It’s Korean beef from Pyeongchang County. They sent it to us to cheer us on since we’re Olympic ambassadors."

"Wow."

Teen Spirit spoke while chewing with their chopsticks.

"That’s crazy. We’re ambassadors too—why didn’t we get any?"

"It’s NewBlack. We’re not the same."

"True. You guys go on stage."

I sat there with a sad face, waiting for someone to pay attention to me, but no one looked my way.

In the end, I soothed my disappointment and picked up some meat.

"By the way, I heard you’re performing with TNT seniors this time? Together with Daylight seniors."

"Huh? How did you know?"

"Word gets around."

Huiyeon said as he stole lettuce meant for his younger brothers. His innocent face chewed like a rabbit.

"We wanted to perform together too, but they said no. There were already three idol teams, so it’d be too many."

"I heard they’re minimizing the K-pop side."

"Yeah, it’s a shame, but if it’s TNT seniors, it’s understandable. They’re legends from what people call the second generation these days."

That was true—TNT and Sixty Seconds had been the top two.

Hahyun said,

"Ah, but I’m jealous. The Olympic closing ceremony."

"Jealous, right? Hehehe!"

The maknae shouted eagerly.

We smiled quietly instead of answering that there was nothing to be jealous about. Ri Hyuk firmly stepped on the maknae’s foot.

‘As expected, our kid has no sense.......’

Teen Spirit’s maknae, Woobin, changed the subject.

"Oh, right. Wooju hyung, I really enjoyed your fashion show this time. The clothes were seriously beautiful."

"Really?"

My mouth spread into a grin without me realizing it.

"It was good, right?"

"Not just good—like, wow. Seriously insane. The fashion show was no joke."

"Hahaha. It was nothing."

Maybe I really did look decent on the runway, because the other Teen Spirit members gave thumbs up without complaint.

Soon, the topic shifted to French bread.

Were French baguettes really that good, what foods had I tried in France, what was the Eiffel Tower like in person, and so on.

After swapping stories, the topic moved to NBS.

"So we’re going to show the fashion show runway behind-the-scenes on TV too."

"Ah!"

The neighbor boys snapped their fingers.

"That! That! What was it again?"

"NBS."

At Ri Hyuk’s words, Teen Spirit nodded.

"That’s the one we sent a congratulatory message to, right? For the launch."

"Yeah."

"Wow. It’s finally opening."

"Since it came up, want to watch a bit? We haven’t seen it yet either."

Soon, Junhyun grabbed the remote, and the TV on wheels rolled over menacingly.

"Let’s see. NBS......."

It wasn’t near the front, so he had to scroll up a bit.

Soon, the channel appeared.

Our NBS, wedged between a cooking channel popular with homemakers and a channel specializing in Japanese dramas.

"It stands for NewBlack and Scarlet. NBS."

Yeonhu snorted and waved his hand.

"Hyung, do you think we’re idiots? That we’d fall for that? Just because we fell for your static electricity magic once......."

It’s true though.......

And you guys are idiots—no, never mind.

"Oh."

Watching the newly launched channel felt strange.

A new business venture for a company just learning to walk.

Maybe because it ◆ Nоvеlіgһt ◆ (Only on Nоvеlіgһt) was still in its early stages, the channel looked a bit small-scale. You could tell just from the ads.

-Non-dividend life insurance!

-Ah, I don’t know how to put this, but it’s really good for men!

-Call now. 1577......

-Perfect for stomach health!

-Silla unified the Three Kingdoms. Then who unified sashimi? Yes. That would be Silla Sashimi Restaurant!

They were the kind of ads I used to see when I had the TV on all day in Gunsan after getting cut from the debut lineup.

As Junhyun and Teen Spirit’s rapper kids rapped along to the insurance riders delivered at machine-gun speed.

A yellow background with the NBS logo appeared.

"Looks like launch congratulatory messages."

"Oh!"

It seemed they were airing congratulatory messages from stars.

Right away, [Teen Spirit] appeared first, and the kids waved their chopsticks.

"Huh! We’re first?"

"What?"

"Shouldn’t we be last, given our level?"

Biju smiled and soothed them.

"Impact matters, so they probably put you first."

"Ah. Right?"

That was when it happened.

After Teen Spirit, Senior Lee Geonwoo appeared immediately.

"......."

"......."

Then Hailey Blue appeared, smiling primly, blue hair tucked behind her ear, wearing a hanbok.

"Th-that person! That senior who curses really well......!"

"Wow, the lineup is insane. We were the weakest."

As Hollywood stars followed, saying, “NBS! Congratulations!” Teen Spirit quietly set down their chopsticks.

"......."

"......."

Huiyeon said with a resolute face,

"I thought we’d climbed pretty far... but now my desire to challenge is overflowing."

"We’re still... that thing. What was it. The baby fish?"

"Minnow?"

"Right. Minnow. Damn."

Then they slung arms around each other and hyped themselves up.

"Let’s keep living hard, you bastards. We’ve got a long way to go."

"Let’s do well, you scraps."

As Ri Hyuk scolded them for using the word ‘scraps’ while eating, I turned my eyes back to the TV.

A caption appeared in the top-right corner.

[NewBlack TV Behind the Scenes: Special Broadcast]

[NewBlack Visits the VMA!]

I’d heard this was content prepared for the channel launch.

They’d air the full version on TV first, then upload it to MyTube afterward—a look at our behind-the-scenes.

From the U.S. VMA awards everyone was curious about to the most recent fashion week.

"Wow."

Yeonhu said as he finely sprinkled MSG over the beef on the grill.

"Your company’s editors are really competent."

"They probably get the highest salaries at our company."

"Seriously agreed."

Even I was impressed by the clean editing, on par with terrestrial or comprehensive channels.

It was only a small channel in scale.

The polished captions, music choices, and cuts made it look like a full-fledged variety show.

We exchanged satisfied smiles with the younger members.

‘The future is bright.’

While chatting with Teen Spirit and eating meat, I searched the internet.

-Lemon Entertainment launches ‘NBS,’ a bold challenge in entertainment begins

-NBS launch, ‘Chuseok NewBlack special broadcast planned... please look forward to it’

-Lemon Entertainment schedules new drama on NBS... “Will it succeed?”

It looked like coverage matched exactly the press releases that had gone out.

Compared to terrestrial broadcasters or other big channels, the buzz was definitely lower. Even with our name attached, it was the same.

Souffles seemed to be watching diligently, though.

To really get known, it would probably take some time.

‘I hope it does well.’

We smiled at each other.

Everyone was probably thinking the same thing.

The maknae, who’d been nodding at me, held out his phone with a satisfied smile.

"Hyung."

"Yeah?"

"Want to see this? It’s a humor post about your gaming."

"......."

A vein popped on my forehead.

Yeonhu offered me the wrap he’d been about to eat.

"Eat this, hyung."

"......?"

"They say eating vegetables makes you less angry. If you only eat meat, you get angry easily."

"Who says something that ridiculous?"

"My mom."

I swallowed.

"Oh. I thought it was something weird professors say."

"She is a professor......."

"I’m sorry. I’m just sorry."

"But she’s in applied music, so it’s fine."

"......."

Everyone burst out laughing at the sight of me clutching my chest in shock.

Lively laughter floated over the grill.

It was a bit noisy, but being in a kitchen full of people’s warmth during Chuseok week felt good.

After eating, we spent the holiday playing games together on PlayStation or Xbox.

"Heading out?"

"Yeah. We should go."

Teen Spirit said as they grabbed their jackets.

"You guys are busy preparing for the Osaka concert, and we’re preparing for our album too."

"Your album’s coming out."

"In November. A repackage. And... ah, right."

Huiyeon said,

"Hyung, please take good care of us during recording."

"Got it."

"When you visit our company, we’ll treat you to a full course."

"Oh!"

The maknae rested his chin on my shoulder and asked,

"Hyung Huiyeon, can I come too?"

"Yeah, you can come."

We waved at each other, deciding to all hang out together.

At the doorway, Yeonhu, stuffing his sneakers on, pulled his cap down and made a mischievous face.

"Oh, right. There was something we wanted to tell Mr. Ri Hyuk."

"......?"

"You’re doing an Osaka Dome concert this weekend, right?"

At that, Teen Spirit started giggling.

Why are they like that?

What’s at Osaka Dome?

"Hahaha! We should tell them about that too. The Osaka Dome thing."

"Hurry, tell them."

As we tilted our heads, Teen Spirit cleared their throats and said,

"We’ve toured quite a few Japanese domes, so we’re dome experts, okay? There’s a rule about domes, and Osaka Dome is a bit special."

"......?"

"We’ll tell you something important. Heh heh heh."

Teen Spirit whispered with evil grins.

Japan’s five major domes.

The venues often used as symbols of popularity when Korean idols or famous singers tour Japan.

Tokyo Dome.

Osaka’s Kyocera Dome.

Nagoya Dome.

Fukuoka Dome.

And Sapporo Dome.

There are larger venues, of course, but performing here gets you the evaluation of, ‘So you’re a top-tier popular singer in Japan?’

Massive venues with capacities exceeding 50,000.

"......."

Kyocera Dome in Osaka.

The final stop of our 2017 Japan tour—and our first Japanese dome concert—stood before us in all its grandeur.

Staring up at it like a giant, we swallowed.

"......It was real."

The words Teen Spirit had said echoed in my ears.

-It’s hard to believe, but Osaka Dome has a ‘no jumping’ rule.

-No jumping?

-Yeah. We don’t know the details, but if tens of thousands of people jump at once, it registers as a magnitude three or four—enough to freak out nearby residents. Tokyo Dome used to cause a fuss too.

-Ah.

We asked, enlightened,

-Because it’s a country sensitive to earthquakes, right?

-Well, something like that, but there’s a specific reason you can’t jump at Osaka Dome.

-Why? 𝒇𝒓𝒆𝒆𝙬𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝒎

Back in the present, Seokhwan explained,

"When they were building Osaka Dome, there was no land available. So after searching everywhere, they ended up building it here."

"So that’s why."

"Yeah."

"......."

"......."

We turned our gaze from the dome to the side.

A massive sphere.

Three enormous, round gas tanks stood there. Like three lackeys next to Junhyun.

Ri Hyuk asked with a face like he was about to faint,

"So those are gas storage tanks, right?"

"Yeah......."

Because there was no land, Osaka Dome had been built on a gas plant site.

And the ground there was weak, making it vulnerable to impact.

As we heard that jumping simultaneously could be dangerous, Teen Spirit’s words came back to me.

-If you want to die, then jump. Hahaha!

We stared uneasily at the gas tanks.

"It’ll be fine, right?"

"It’ll be fine. Surely nothing will......."

Suddenly, the image of lively Souffles popped into my head.

Their soft, bread-like bodies jumping—and us becoming stars in the sky as we vanished.

"......."

"......."

"Lackeys. Come here."

"Yes, sir."

We all hugged each other and trembled, screaming, "Aaaah!"