The long-awaited morning of the second survival arrived.

Since dawn, ten tour buses had been lined up in front of the lodging in a flurry of activity.

“Departure soon~ Please board quickly by team!”

At the staff’s prompt, the participants hurried toward the buses. But only Roy stood in front of the bus, busily looking around.

Knock knock–

At that moment, he turned toward the sound. Yeonwoo, who had opened the window wide, was leaning out.

“Are you not hot? Look at you sweating.”

“I’m fine.”

“Wait inside. They’ll come.”

“What if I can’t find the bus.”

One by one, the buses with all the team members aboard began leaving the lodging. Growing anxious, Roy was about to call again when–

“Leader, cough cough!”

“Hyung!”

A familiar face came into view in the distance. It was Gwak Hyeol, the beneficiary of the “invite a team member” ticket earned by winning the mini-game.

Only then did Roy’s expression brighten, and he dashed breathlessly toward Gwak Hyeol.

“Hyung, are you okay? Aren’t you hot? Thanks for coming all this way.”

“I’m fine, cough, Leader. More than that, your style’s gotten bold since I last saw you.”

“......”

Roy tugged at his own bangs, embarrassed. The night before, Seohyunwoo had handed him a sealed envelope of documents, which he’d accidentally burned, sending sparks into his hair. As Yeonwoo tried to fix the charred bangs with scissors, he’d taken the older guy at his word—that he’d been cutting his own hair his whole career—and ended up with bangs so short they looked mouse-nibbled, fully exposing his eyebrows. In technical terms: choppy bangs. He could pull it off on his own face, but on anyone else it would’ve been disastrous.

“It was urgent. But thanks for coming.”

“No, thank you for inviting me. I was secretly disappointed, cough cough.”

As they exchanged greetings, Yeonwoo’s almost-shout came from behind.

“Hurry up and get on, you! We’re leaving!”

Turning around, Roy saw that every bus but theirs had already departed for the venue.

“Let’s go quickly.”

The sweltering heat was already becoming oppressive. Roy moved inside the bus and briefly introduced Gwak Hyeol to the team.

“This is Gwak Hyeol-hyung, who appeared on .”

“Nice to meet you, cough cough. I’ll do my best not to cause trouble.”

As soon as Gwak Hyeol’s introduction ended, applause erupted. All resentment that had filled their eyes when Roy first nominated him had vanished. Roy had worried the team might feel awkward, but thankfully their personalities weren’t that intense.

“We’ll finish introductions after we get off. Writer-nim, will you have time to talk with us then?”

“Yes. I’ll give you time after we move locations.”

The second survival would take place outdoors, not in the auditorium. Unlike the first round, there would be an audience, so the scale was much larger. Junseo had heard that Hojin would come to the filming today. Roy felt relieved he hadn’t left only Hojin behind.

Will all the members gather in one place today?

If they won on a day like this, it would be especially meaningful.

✧

The outdoor arena for the second survival was a gigantic man-made forest: dense trees, rugged terrain and ravines, even wild animals. Bleachers overlooking the arena were set up for spectators, and opposite them was a space for the staff. The newly arrived participants headed straight to the base camp. Until the survival began, all information was strictly controlled, so the participants had blindfolds placed over their eyes.

“The ride’s shaking me up, ugh!”

Rattle rattle! The bus shook violently, as if climbing a rocky mountain. Gwak Hyeol, who wasn’t in the best health to begin with, looked as if he might be killed by the ride. After a lengthy journey, they finally heard an announcement that they could remove their blindfolds. When Roy took his off, he saw a red tent set up among the thick forest.

“What is this?”

“Is this real?”

Yeonwoo and Anna’s eyes widened beyond imagination. Seohyunwoo, also surprised, looked around with enlarged eyes.

“Hyung, what are you doing?”

Roy approached Taeeon, who had scooped up some dirt and was feeling it with his fingertips.

“It’s real dirt.”

“Really?”

The texture felt unmistakably genuine. Roy had assumed they’d prepared only virtual terrain like during the grading or the first survival. How much money must they have poured into this? Roy clicked his tongue and surveyed the surroundings. At that moment, Gyebokji, who had gone into the shelter, called to the team.

“Hey, come here and look!”

Inside the shelter were a large table, chairs sized for potted trees, a simple medical kit, a whiteboard, a radio, and a map. The odd thing was how unhelpful the map was.

“What is this? Who drew this halfway?”

Yeonwoo frowned as he flipped the map over and over. It clearly represented the arena, but aside from the rough terrain and a few key points, most of the area was blurred. The only thing legible was a red X marking their current location at the base camp.

“Do the other teams have one like this?”

Roy, equally puzzled, studied the map when static came from the radio.

Jijijik–

[ participants, hello?]

At the familiar voice from the radio, all eyes turned. It was Hangyeol.

[Did you all arrive safely at your base camps?]

Before the survival began, Hangyeol said he had a brief announcement.

[You’re currently at each team’s base camp. The map shows only your own camp; other teams’ locations are not marked.]

He explained that if more than half of the ten teams in the survival were eliminated, the game would end, and the team that killed the most queens would receive a benefit.

[If a queen is eliminated, regardless of survival, that team is disqualified and their base camp will change color to that of the team that eliminated the queen.]

That meant the number of base camps would equal the number of queens eliminated.

[You cannot change the pre-assigned queen.]

He added that from this round on, small and large injuries were expected, so they should play safely and fairly.

Static covered his final words. At the same moment, a countdown echoed across the arena.

5

Quickly studying the map, Roy located their position: southeast. To the right was a ravine; to the left, a bear icon indicating a wild bear habitat.

4

“No team’s going to recklessly try to catch a queen at the start. Let’s search the surroundings first, then move.”

For the search squad, they chose the stealth-adept Seohyunwoo and the swift-footed Dongyoil. Dongyoi would send his sub-character in place of his main. The remaining members would stay at base camp to defend and protect Gwak Hyeol.

3

“Hyung, can you do it?”

“Just trust me, Leader. For this day, I haven’t—cough cough—seen the future for a whole week! Ugh!”

“Ah... I’m scared you’ll keel over on me...”

Yeonwoo looked at Gwak Hyeol with worried eyes. Then he scribbled something on a Post-it and secretly stuck it to his back.

[Radish cubes]

Gwak Hyeol planned to be active only at the start and then remain at base camp. In case he ended up alone, another team might find and attack him, so at least this was a precaution.

2

Roy stretched out his hand to the center, and the team members placed their hands on top of his.

“Thank you all for trusting and following me despite my shortcomings up until now. I’ll do whatever it takes to make sure your efforts aren’t in vain and we survive. Let’s do our best. Fighting!”

“Fighting!”

1

[Survival start! We wish you the best of luck.]

With Hangyeol’s voice booming through the arena, the match began.

✧

Meanwhile, opposite the bleachers, dozens of monitors displayed each team busily. Some teams were scouting; others remained at base camp, drawing up strategies or preparing defenses. Junseo watched the screens with folded arms, his gaze fixed on Roy’s team. Roy was the youngest among all participants. Everyone had expected him to be led around by the older guys, but from the grading stage he had voiced his own opinions boldly, and now he was completely leading the team.

Even with an F grade he still gets ignored.

Yet the team followed his lead as if it were obvious. He had a charisma that drew people in. He seemed playful and unmotivated, but when it counted he was decisive and left no room for complaints. His judgment and quick thinking beyond his years also helped.

At that moment, the head writer, watching the monitors beside him, spoke.

“That team is the most ideal. I thought it’d fall apart with a young, low-ranked leader.”

“The atmosphere does seem the best, right?”

“Yes. The lineup is great too. Though having two Fs does bother me.”

“You can’t discriminate by rank.”

“I know, but I’m only human.”

No matter how egalitarian one tries to be, it’s hard to ignore visible numbers. Just then, the assistant director approached Junseo with news from the audience side.

“PD-nim, spectator admission has closed.”

Only then did Junseo remember Hojin and moved behind the camera filming the bleachers. After all, it’s nice if the spectators are good-looking too, right? The obsessive fangirl asked the camera director to find someone who looked like this, ➤ NоvеⅠight ➤ (Read more on our source) showing Hojin’s photo. But...

“He’s not here.”

“Look better.”

“I’m serious. He really isn’t here. Didn’t he come?”

“He didn’t? That can’t be.”

Junseo checked the list of spectator wristbands the assistant director had rolled up. Only Hojin’s name was clean.

“Kim PD.”

“Yes, PD-nim.”

“How many didn’t show?”

“One person. We called but no answer. Must’ve had something urgent.”

Of all people, it was Butler Kim. But could his duties to his master really be more important than this?

✧

He had a reason. He was involuntarily leading two lives. Seated in the back row of the Salvation Church chapel, Hojin clasped his hands tightly and whispered fervently.

“Great New Heaven, I will become your faithful servant. Amen.”