Ryu Chungwoo asked with an uncertain face.

"Horse riding and... shooting arrows?"

"That's right!"

"Wow~"

"I like horses!"

"...Did we get cast because of Chungwoo?"

The manager shook his head at Bae Sejin's question.

"No. The format is similar to Idol Olympics which has already ended and this is made by KBC. I think most of the idols might appear."

"Aha~"

That meant that if we refused to appear, the channel would make it difficult for us to appear on their music show. Got it.

"They're doing it now even though it's not a holiday anymore?"

//TN: This probably refers to special episode shows that are aired during the holiday season.

"Well, there must have been an internal situation at the broadcasting station."

"Hmm~"

Most of the members were agreeable to the answer but Ryu Chungwoo still had a pensive expression.

"Hyung. Are you troubled?"

"Huh? Well... I'm a little worried."

Could it be because of the aftereffects of his injury?

Even if he didn't feel pain anymore, the situation itself might be uncomfortable for him. There was always a risk of injury in variety shows where the invited guests were made to do physical work.

However, this time, the manager opened his mouth with an uncertain expression.

"Well... about that."

"...?"

"Chungwoo... is banned."

"...!!"

"The broadcaster refused since it wouldn't work out well with him participating. Instead, they want you to show a demonstration."

"Oh."

The members were astonished at the broadcaster's judgment that actually made sense. It was obvious that they were thinking he would have given too much advantage.

However, Ryu Chungwoo's expression did not improve.

"I would rather just do it myself... Hyung, can't we not appear on the show?"

"...Hmm, It would be hard to keep appearing on KBC then. Why?"

Ryu Chungwoo shook his head.

"It's too dangerous. Riding a horse is difficult, but shooting with a bow from it is even more dangerous. For how long has the training period been secured?"

"...I heard you'll learn while appearing there..."

"..."

"...Wait a moment."

After getting us in the car, the manager seemed to have a pretty long phone call with the company in the parking lot. Then he got back into the car with a pretty bright face.

"Ah, don't worry guys. They said everything is well prepared."

"Oh..."

"KBC is a public TV channel after all. They won't make you do anything too difficult or dangerous so let's do it!"

Seeing him rant like that, he must have heard something about the show. As he didn't explain much in detail, it seemed like they wanted to get our reaction to the show.

'Could they have also invited a national horseback rider team representative?'

Don't tell me they were going to do some cheap bullshit like bringing the current representative of the national team in front of an idol who had to drop out from the national university due to the aftereffects of an accident to make it seem friendly?

I've been meeting Tnet's amazing broadcasting station guys so often that I had to consider all that could happen.

"And I heard there is going to be a variety of other sports, so I think Chungwoo should be able to play an active part there!"

"Um, okay..."

Ryu Chungwoo still looked uncomfortable but eventually accepted it.

And on the day of the filming, there was an excessive sight.

* * *

The filming location was in Daegwallyeong. What was more interesting was that we went all the way there wearing an outfit I never imagined we would have to wear.

//TN: Daegwallyeong is a historical location

"Hwarang?"

"That's right. The concept of this program is to compete between the Hwarang corps of Silla!"

//TN: Hwarang = an elite warrior group consisting of young beautiful men in the Silla Kingdom before the 10th century. In addition to martial arts, they specialized in literacy, philosophy, and arts.

"Wow..."

I didn't think that even our ancestors were being mobilized to differentiate the show from Idol Olympics. Thanks to this, we were taken to Daegwallyeong in a Hwarang outfit after getting makeup and hair done in Seoul.

I thought my neck was going to break.

And at the filming location...

There was a pink merry-go-round spinning.

"...??"

"That one?"

"Everyone, these are the horses you will ride!"

"...!!"

The camera eagerly followed the members' faces who looked blank.

And after a while, bows were supplied.

It was a colorful toy bow.

The appearance of holding the bow in this historical drama costume was the pinnacle of an unbalanced look.

"..."

"...Wouldn't our ancestors get upset about this?"

I know right.

Anyway, thanks to this, the filming went safely as promised by KBC.

Idols dressed up in Hwarang outfits riding on a sparklingly glorious merry-go-round and hitting animal character dolls with toy bows was a bizarre triple-combo gag.

'Why did they have to call people all the way to Daegwallyeong?'

It wouldn't matter even if we just went to any theme park.

Keun Sejin, who was watching the scene, laughed and stretched.

"Still, the fans weren't called here. They must be having a hard time."

"Ah."

I remembered. I never went to take pictures at filming sites since it didn't fit my schedule, but there were quite a few people who did that and sold the pictures to fans who weren't allowed to come.

"Moondae-Moondae, let's stock up on photos to upload news for Loviewers."

"Should we?"

Hmm. It was a pretty good suggestion.

"Oh~ You sound enthusiastic? I guess Moondae really likes the Hwarang outfit~ Is it because you feel cool wearing it? Is that it?"

This was quite irritating.

"M-me too..."

"Are we taking pictures?"

"I want to see my hair!"

As we were taking a couple of group photos, including the guys who cut in, I could feel some eyes around us. It was another idol group.

'They're the same ones as in the music show's hallway.'

Since we were all waiting here, it was a good way to build more personal friendships. They didn't even have any fan seats here either.

However, these guys didn't seem interested in other groups. Even Keun Sejin was like that. Perhaps none of the idols participating here today were at TeStar's level, so I guess he made a clean decision not to interact with them. He just greeted them politely and didn't look at them again afterward.

'Should I call that being genuinely loyal to benefits only?'

I was not in a position to say that about others either, but... this bastard was a real piece of work. Well, thanks to that, I was comfortable not having to talk with anyone.

After we spent a peaceful waiting time like that...

"This time~ it's a famous group, the national stock! They are the TeStar Hwarang!"

I wasn't sure if it was okay for them to use the 'capitalistic' catchphrase of another cable channel in public broadcasting but our turn was called anyway.

Ryu Chungwoo, who was excluded due to fairness, and Bae Sejin, who voluntarily dropped out of the 5-person limit group, remained on standby. They were going to participate in the next event.

"Do well and be careful."

"...Yes."

Looking at the merry-go-round, I wondered if there was a need to be careful, but the thought disappeared after Ryu Chungwoo's situation.

"Let's go~"

And we got on the merry-go-round.

The merry-go-round started spinning after we were instructed to wear the seatbelt and to give a signal to stop the merry-go-round in case there was a problem.

A cute music box melody started and the merry-go-round began to move up and down. There was a sense of shame I felt about this.

And there was one more rule added there.

"Now then, TeStar Hwarang~ What do you have to do to shoot the arrow?"

"A quiz!"

"You have to get the answer right!"

That's right. It wasn't that we could shoot the arrow indefinitely. You had to answer the problem right to be allowed to shoot the arrow for 10 seconds. So, the group that guessed five questions right in the shortest time was the winner.

"That's right. As the Nangdo of Hwarang with all the literary and martial art skills, you have to guess all the answers correctly, target with the arrow, and even get the timing right..."

//TN: Nangdo = a group of youths who assisted and followed the Hwarang who were the heads of the Hwarang system. The Nangdo were usually commoner children and the Hwarang were children of nobles.

"Hahaha! Please give us the question!!"

At Keun Sejin's words, the talent in charge of being the MC immediately raised his hand and shouted.

"The first problem is guessing the person! One of the most famous graduates of Hwarang was a general who led the unification of the three kingdoms of Silla. What is the name of this general who defeated the army led by Gyebaek in the Battle of Hwangsanbeol?"

"...??"

What was with the sudden level of difficulty of the question? I wasn't saying that it was particularly difficult to answer but the previous group was only asked the name of the location we were at right now.

'Are they trying to fuck us over for being from another cable channel...?'

KBC wasn't stupid so that probably was not it. It was most likely just a matter of luck on which question you were going to get.

The problem was that in the midst of this, Cha Yujin was the first to raise his hand.

"What kind of 'bee' is 'Hwangsanbeol'..."

//TN: The 'beol' in Hwangsanbeol literally means 'bee'.

"Answer! General Kim Yushin!"

"Ah, Park Moondae Hwarang~ That's the correct answer!"

Fortunately, I made it in time right when I heard him say 'Hwangsanbeol'.

'I survived.'

I raised the bow with a sigh.

"Well then, 10 seconds starting from now! Start!"

"Huuhh??"

And like a joke, the merry-go-round sped up. The wooden horse, which had been moving like a turtle, suddenly started running out of control like a group cyclist at the gym.

I saw it while waiting earlier but they were really eager trying to make this funny.

"This is much faster than I thought?!"

"Hahaha! Now~ one!"

And like a lie, Cha Yujin immediately hit a doll.

"One!"

I sighed and aimed my toy bow.

And of course, I didn't get it right. Damn it.

"Oh, it was fun!"

"I liked it!"

Keun Sejin and Cha Yujin smiled, came down from the merry-go-round, and waved to the camera. Surprisingly, we finished in 2 minutes and 7 seconds, setting a new record. What was even more surprising was that Cha Yujin got the answer right to the second question.

It was an unexpected advance. For reference, I also hit the doll this time. It was important to get the hang of it first.

"Great job. You were good at it."

"It was good~"

"There were no major difficulties!"

"We're pretty good~"

Bae Sejin quietly asked beside the guys who sounded like they were teaching a fish how to swim when they talked to Ryu Chungwoo about it.

"...Was it fun?"

I shrugged. Meaning, 'would it have been fun for you?'. Bae Sejin understood it without a word.

"I-I think we did well this time."

"I know right? Let's do it properly again from here."

"Oh~"

Everyone was excited after immersing themselves in it once. I had an ominous feeling that if I did it moderately by myself, I would be embroiled in controversy about my initial commitment.

'I should pay attention to the reactions.'

By the way, Ryu Chungwoo who went up next to demonstrate, burst into laughter and showed a crazy movement of getting all 5 hits by himself within the first 10 seconds. I couldn't even guess what kind of place the national team of archery was in Korea.

* * *

And as time passed, there were competitions from sheep shearing, which was not known why it was included, to the last event through a large-scale game of the Yutnori Korean board game.

"Next is~ the coloring battle!"

"Oh~"

It sounded like a convincing game but it was just a paintball survival competition with a bow. The team of people who survived until the end without getting hit while spraying paint on each other wins.

This time, Ryu Chungwoo and Bae Sejin were involved in the seven-member team match. Since luck played a significant role in this one, Ryu Chungwoo wasn't excluded to become only a demonstration.

'It's comfortable to be apart.'

Looking at other teams, there were quite a few where they were mixed.

"Does this mean that we can just stay still and win while Chungwoo hyung shoots?"

"I'm also shooting!"

"...I'm counting on you."

Bae Sejin, who was not confident, spoke to Ryu Chungwoo with a grim face, which was unusual for him.

Ryu Chungwoo answered shyly with a flustered face.

"Let's just have fun, guys. You can also drop out."

"I want to win!"

"F-fighting!"

When even Seon Ahyun came out like that, Ryu Chungwoo was eventually pushed back.

"Haha, okay. Let's win!"

"Waah!!"

The camera was eagerly capturing the scene.

'Hmm, it wouldn't be a very good picture if we won like this.'

Since TeStar had the best performance among the groups that appeared here, it might be better to avoid winning this event.

'We already won second place in Yutnori.'

It was clear that if we went further from here, there would be people who would treat it as us taking away the opportunity to receive their share of attention from another desperate group. However, if we did it roughly, we would get criticized for not trying, so the best thing to do was to madly do it and fail.

So I nodded my head and shook my fists as if impressed by Ryu Chungwoo's words.

'Let's step on it.'

Don't offer any real help, just pretend to work hard. If I wore this outfit and rolled around on the ground, there would be no choice but to say I worked hard.

And five minutes later, I really rolled on the ground with this decision.

"Moondae, are you okay?!"

"...Yes."

It was because everyone was eliminated and only Ryu Chungwoo and I were left.

This situation came about thanks to the five guys who were immersed in getting the paint right and didn't pay attention to what they didn't match.

I've come to a standstill all of a sudden.

And Ryu Chungwoo was rolling left and right while giving instructions to save the one remaining team member when the arrow came.

I was also rolling around so I couldn't even get roughly hit.

'Wow...'

Let's just drop out of the game already, you punk.

However, Ryu Chungwoo was more immersed in this than I thought.

//TN: Sorry I haven't been able to translate much lately because of the new migraine meds that I'm still getting used to. My brain is kinda foggy and doesn't really function properly because of it so the translation is quite inaccurate in some parts but I tried to make it somehow understandable at least.