Holy Idol [EN]: Chapter 240

< 240. Filming Begins >

Kim Mu-rok massaged his temples. He would have reluctantly cut any other participant, but including Woo Yeon-woo was a direct request from Nakru.

He didn’t know why they were so insistent on Woo Yeon-woo, but that wasn’t the important thing. The person he absolutely needed was missing. He had to figure out a solution.

“This is driving me insane. I’ve been racking my brain.”

After much deliberation, Kim Mu-rok made a decision.

“Let’s add a few more qualifiers. It’ll be too obvious if we only bring in Woo Yeon-woo, so let’s add some others to mask it.”

The FD [Floor Director, a member of the production crew] asked worriedly.

“Won’t we get backlash for that?”

“What else can we do? We’ll just have to deal with it. Let’s pick about five more.”

Kim Mu-rok said irritably, looking at the profiles of the 45 contestants chosen by the vote. They were just profiles, but the preferences of the viewers, Nakru, and the production team were already clearly divided.

Those chosen by Nakru were mostly presumed to be Awakened [individuals with supernatural abilities], or at least those who had something special. On the other hand, the production team chose those with strong personalities, and the viewers chose handsome and beautiful people, excluding established celebrities. Their desires were reflected in an almost blatant way.

“In the press releases, say that we added people who were too good to drop because there are so many talented people in our country.”

“Will they buy that?”

* * *

-LOL what a load of bullshit. Put some effort into the excuse.

-The qualifier they added is Woo Yeon-woo LOLOLOL. They should have picked a special forces guy and talked about talent.

-They were trying to boost viewership with Woo Yeon-woo but he didn’t get picked, huh? What if the viewership doesn’t increase even after picking him like this?

-There’s no way the viewership won’t come out. It’ll be high no matter who they put in.

-Didn’t they add qualifiers on purpose to put Shin Jo-un and Woo Yeon-woo together?

-But why is Maeng Woo-shin a qualifier? I didn’t hear he was coming out?

-Four out of the five additional qualifiers are celebrities LOL. One is an SNS [Social Networking Service] star LOL. It’s just a celebrity special selection.

ㄴIsn’t it not that great of an opportunity to call it a special selection?

ㄴ2 billion [Korean Won, roughly 1.5 million USD] is on the line, how is it not a good opportunity;;?

* * *

Despite various incidents, they finally started filming after many twists and turns.

On the first day of filming, the 50 candidates who gathered at the meeting place glanced at each other awkwardly. It was the first time they had all gathered together, and Kim Mu-rok had boldly skipped the preliminary meeting to realistically capture the atmosphere of the first meeting. The situation was the same for the celebrities appearing on the show.

In particular, the non-celebrity participants felt awkward about the staff setting up cameras everywhere, trying to avoid the frog eggs [monster eggs].

However, Jong-woo weaved through them, repeatedly asking them to take care of Rembrary.

“Please take good care of our Yeon-woo. Our Yeon-woo is weak and surprisingly prone to minor illnesses. Yes, so please don’t put him in too dangerous situations. Yes. Please.”

“Awakened? No, Yeon-woo isn’t Awakened. So please pay attention to him. If he tries to go to a dangerous place, please stop him… Yes.”

After some time, the participants gradually relaxed and began to talk to each other. As voices began to be heard here and there, the open space quickly became noisy.

The participants were now smiling and introducing themselves, or silently observing the other participants. Some people were handing out business cards.

Rembrary, on the other hand, was the one holding his cell phone alone.

‘Try to be a little warmer. Jeez.’

After finishing his greetings, Jong-woo stuck to the wall so as not to interfere with the filming, and then frowned when he saw Rembrary.

There are many non-entertainment people, so who knows how they will spread rumors later, but that guy isn’t even trying to manage his image at times like this.

However, contrary to Jong-woo’s expectations, Rembrary kept looking at his cell phone. As he was doing that, Shin Jo-un came up to him and asked.

“What are you looking at so intently?”

“Ah, this-”

But before he could answer, Kim Mu-rok PD [Production Director] appeared.

The participants who were not celebrities or famous people glanced at the famous participants and quickly became quiet when Kim Mu-rok PD appeared.

Rembrary also stopped trying to explain something to Shin Jo-un and looked at him. Shin Jo-un, who was trying to listen, felt strangely uncomfortable because his words were interrupted.

“Tell me again later.”

“Ah, that-”

Rembrary tried to explain again, but his words were cut off again because Kim Mu-rok PD started explaining.

“Welcome, Hunter Survival preliminary qualifiers!”

Shin Jo-un was curious about what Rembrary was going to say, but he sighed and focused on Kim Mu-rok PD’s words.

“Regarding Hunter Survival, I will first explain the simple filming method. All participants will have a personal camera attached to them, and you can either be aware of the camera and act accordingly, or pretend you don’t know it’s there.”

As soon as Kim Mu-rok PD finished speaking, the staff holding personal cameras approached each participant one by one.

Rembrary recalled that people with cameras followed each person in this way during Sing Survival. It seemed like the same format this time.

“The broadcast will be both streaming and edited. We will stream live internet broadcasts and then collect the highlights and broadcast them on TV. So, if you are going to do something private, or if you don’t want this scene to be broadcast, tell the staff holding the camera to turn it off. They will turn it off immediately.”

Rembrary greeted the cameraman who came to him and scanned the surroundings. Was it because they had to live together? Unlike Sing Survival, this time female cameramen were assigned to female shooters, and male cameramen were assigned to male shooters.

While people were awkwardly greeting their cameramen, Kim Mu-rok PD continued to explain, which can be summarized as follows.

There is a practical program sent by government officials, but the production team judged that it would be dangerous to proceed as it is. So, they will build a foundation by conducting a training camp first.

“They’re doing a training camp. Was it because of this?”

“Ah, I don’t like training. Just proceed right away.”

When they heard about the training camp, complaints arose among the participants, even though they had been notified in advance to bring their luggage. But whether they grumbled or not, the vehicles that would take the participants to the training camp were already arriving in the open space.

* * *

“Ah, I’m worried.”

Jong-woo watched anxiously as Rembrary, along with a total of 50 participants, 50 cameramen, and a huge number of other staff, drove away in cars.

“Should I have gone as a participant too?”

Jong-woo groaned and touched his forehead with his hand. Even if they were celebrity participants, they had been notified in advance that managers could not go with them to this training camp.

He felt uneasy because this was the only time he had left Rembrary alone in this situation, except when filming King Set.

“Will he be okay? Yeon-woo is careful with his words these days and tries to read the atmosphere?”

* * *

Contrary to Jong-woo’s worries, Rembrary was quietly in the car. He ended up riding in a different car from Shin Jo-un, and Rembrary didn’t bother to mingle with people, instead keeping his mouth shut and watching the scenery.

Rembrary was the only celebrity in the car he was in, and people felt a sense of distance because Rembrary was a famous celebrity, so they couldn’t easily approach him.

Meanwhile, after a long time, the car stopped in a wide field in the forest. If there were no frog eggs, it would have given a sense of openness, but several cabins were gathered on one side like a small colony.

“It’s originally a camping site.”

When Rembrary got out of the car and looked at the cabins, the cameraman who got out with him told him.

“Are we doing the training camp there? It’s smaller than a dog house.”

At those words, the cameraman laughed inwardly. You unlucky bastard, is your dog as big as you?

But instead of showing it, he gave further explanation.

“It’s two people per room, and the participants and cameramen will use it together. Ah, the training period will be about fifteen days. They say it’s necessary to film safely.”

“I don’t really like using my body.”

‘Then you shouldn’t have applied here!’

The cameraman in charge of Rembrary shouted inwardly, dumbfounded by Rembrary’s confident remarks, who had been quiet in the car.

I thought you were interested enough to get added as a qualifier. Was I wrong?

However, Rembrary was no longer interested in the cameraman or the small accommodation. It was because he had spotted a familiar person who was already here in one of the cabins and was approaching them. Rembrary’s interest had shifted to that side.

‘That guy?’

The man with the spear. The man who was attacked by the cow-headed monster before. A man from Nakru, like Woo Sung-woo.

‘Why is that guy here?’

I wonder if he came because of me, but when their eyes met, the man with the spear immediately avoided his gaze.

Why is he pretending not to know me? Puzzled, Rembrary stared intently at him, but the man with the spear immediately approached Kim Mu-rok PD.

Next to him, Rembrary’s cameraman explained with a forced smile.

“He’s the instructor.”

“That guy?”

He’s so weak?

“…Woo Yeon-woo. The camera is rolling right now.”

* * *

Fortunately, they weren’t going to train from the first day, so the participants unpacked their luggage in the cabins and went to have dinner.

Rembrary tried to have dinner with Shin Jo-un, but at the request that they line up and eat until the situation stabilized, he had no choice but to have dinner with the cameraman and return to the cabin.

Still, contrary to expectations, the atmosphere was quite peaceful.

But the peaceful atmosphere did not last more than 12 hours.

The next day. A problem occurred on the way to breakfast.

“What exactly is the training like?”

“First, we’re going to build up your stamina-”

“I’m in pretty good shape. Do I still have to participate in the training?”

“Probably. But Woo Yeon-woo. Is it okay to say that without turning off the camera?”

“Why? Should I turn it off?”

“…People will hear it strangely.”

“Which part?”

Like the previous evening, Rembrary was walking in line to the cafeteria, having a pointless conversation with the cameraman. But then, someone screamed from the front.

Rembrary quickly turned his head in that direction. The other participants also buzzed, and the neat line instantly collapsed.

As the screams continued, the participants ran towards the source of the screams. Rembrary was one of them.

“What’s going on?”

As people gathered around, the person who screamed raised his hand with a pale face. And then he pointed in one direction with his finger…

‘It’s broken?’

One of the frog eggs was broken, and there was no black part inside.

The participants already knew through numerous videos that an egg from which a monster had escaped had this shape. The surroundings quickly became quiet.

* * *

-헐 [Korean slang expressing disbelief or shock] Is this a real situation? Or a staged situation?

-The expressions look real though;

-Are you crazy? ㅅㅂ [Korean profanity] Are we all going to die as soon as filming starts?

< 240. Filming Begins > End