The production team quickly built a makeshift archery range. Once everything was ready, Han Si-woo picked up the microphone and said,
“Alright, then each team, please send one member out to shoot arrows!!”
At his words, each team entered into a discussion.
“Who should go?”
“…….”
In response to my question, all my team members looked at me.
“…Fine, I’ll go.”
“Woahhh-!”
Now accustomed to carrying all the pressure, I stepped forward to the archery range.
Meanwhile, the other teams were watching to see who would come out.
Firstly, Team 7 sent out a participant I didn’t know, and Team 2…
“Waaaaaah-!”
“Seo Yoo-jin, fighting!”
…Of course, Seo Yoo-jin came out again.
‘……Again?’
I couldn’t help but feel something was off.
If the main participant for Team 2 was only Seo Yoo-jin, I’d understand.
But Team 2 also had Yoo Seol, didn’t they?
‘Is Yoo Seol really allowing this sort of screen time monopoly?’
Wondering, I glanced over to Yoo Seol…
“Fighting!”
She wore a bright smile, as if she genuinely supported her teammate.
Just to check, I opened my status window and saw her ‘Darkening’ trait still intact.
‘Something’s strange….’
Come to think of it, at the sports day earlier, Yoo Jin had participated in most events while Yoo Seol was quite passive.
Yoo Seol isn’t someone who doesn’t crave screen time.
Why would she give up screen time that she could easily get?
Under normal circumstances, I might have brushed it off, but…
[Trait: Darkening (Temporarily Unlocked) – The world is cruel. You tried to weave a story with hope, but the world wouldn’t let you be. Your heart turns darker as it faces a series of hardships that seem to deny your success. Light and darkness coexist. You decide to embrace the darkness for the sake of your own life.]
[Trait Effect: Live for Myself – All Humanity stats drastically decrease! All Intelligence sub-stats drastically increase! All other total stats slightly increase!]
It was clear that Yoo Seol’s traits and effects had kicked in. So, I quietly asked Seo Yoo-jin, who was stepping forward to shoot arrows.
“Yoo-jin.”
“…What?”
Her tone was quite blunt, probably because I had teased her a bit earlier.
“I mean, it looked like you participated in a lot of events at the sports day, so I was wondering about this too.”
“…And why is that?”
“Did maybe Seol unnie or any other team member say something to you?”
“Geez! Since when did unnie matter!? And Yoo Seol unnie told me I could go out first, so I’m here! What? Are you nervous that I’m going out?!”
…Yoo Seol told her to go out first?
But isn’t Yoo Seol not that nice of a person…?
My mind was in a whirl, as if I was about to catch a clue.
But Seo Yoo-jin didn’t seem to sense my confusion and threw a warning at me.
“Unnie, just because you won some sports day events doesn’t mean you can ignore me! You better be on your toes this time! I’ve been to the national youth archery program in elementary school, you know? I’m going to flatten that high nose of yours, hm!”
“…….”
Seeing Seo Yoo-jin’s confident back as she walked to participate in the game, I shook my head to clear my thoughts.
‘…Right, now is not the time to worry about others.’
Our team’s nose is three sizes bigger than the other team’s, and here I am worrying about the opponent. What a ridiculous thought.
First, I needed to focus on picking that damned song selection.
“Just place the arrow here, grab the bow like this, aim, and shoot…”
“Ah…, yes.”
Once I got to the archery range, the staff began to teach the basic methods of archery.
It didn’t seem too complicated, but…
“Umm, will there be any practice? I’ve never done archery before….”
“…I’m sorry, Ye-rin. The production team insisted we go without practice.”
…The damned production team didn’t even give us a practice chance.
So, with no choice, I would just have to bank on blind luck for my first experience with archery.
At least I could be thankful for my excellent focus.
Despite the target being quite far, I could clearly see all the songs written neatly on it.
‘To perform decently, I’ll need to hit at least the 8-point zone.’
I quickly scanned the target to determine where I needed to hit, while Han Si-woo began interviews starting with the third-place team.
“Does Team 7 have a specific song they want?”
“Ah, we…”
The brief interview finished, and the game started right away.
The participant from Team 7 pulled back the bowstring with quite a graceful posture.
“Oh….”
“Looks promising!”
As the participant struck a convincing pose, doubts began to creep into the minds of the other competitors.
“Fighting-!!”
“You can do it! Go go!!”
Team 7’s other members sent more encouraging messages.
And the result was…!
Piiuu-!
Thwack.
“…Ah.”
The arrow landed right in front of the target, hitting the ground.
“…….”
“…….”
The atmosphere became tense, and a common thought emerged in all the participants’ minds.
‘Of course.’
The production team never intended to give us a chance for song selection.
“Yea~ Team 7 unfortunately failed song selection~ so you will have to choose from the cyber wheel like the other teams.”
“…….”
And so, the representative of Team 7 bowed their head low as they returned to their seat…
“Next up, please welcome Team 2’s representative, Seo Yoo-jin.”
“Yea-!”
Seo Yoo-jin confidently entered, her expression overflowing with confidence despite Team 7’s failure moments before.
“Ha ha, Seo Yoo-jin. You appear very confident! What’s the source of that confidence?”
“Yes! It’s because I’ve previously participated in a national youth archery program!”
“……!!”
The mention of the national program caused murmurs to spread around.
I felt the same way.
‘…Is she serious?’
When she spoke casually to me, I thought it was just bravado, but seeing her say it again in front of the camera made me think maybe it was real.
“I see! So can you share what song Team 2 is aiming for?”
“Well…, our team is open to any song, but what we really want is SAV’s senior group ‘Strawberry Filter’.”
SAV’s legendary girl group, Strawberry Filter.
They predominantly produced bright and lively concept songs.
Given that Yoo Seol and Seo Yoo-jin were on Team 2, they should be able to pull off Strawberry Filter’s refreshing concept without issues.
I checked to see if there were any Strawberry Filter songs on the target.
And….
‘…Damn.’
I confirmed there were about four songs from Strawberry Filter in the 8-and 9-point zones.
‘If things go well, they might score the song they want…?’
Our Team 1 was already lagging behind Team 2 and if they snag the better song, we’d be done for.
I desperately wished Seo Yoo-jin wouldn’t perform as well as expected.
But then…
“Now, Team 2’s representative Seo Yoo-jin, please start your song selection!”
Zhuuuu-.
“Wooooo-!”
The moment Seo Yoo-jin pulled back the bowstring, those thoughts vanished.
Seo Yoo-jin’s form was… simply picture-perfect.
“…….”
Additionally, her serious expression as she focused on the target was striking.
Watching her serious face for the first time made me gulp.
Piiiii-.
Finally, the arrow left her hand….
Thwack!
“Waaaaaaaah-!!”
“What’s going on, what’s going on-!!!”
Unlike Team 7, Seo Yoo-jin’s arrow hit the target.
And it was quite close to the center.
“……!”
With my remarkable eyesight, I could see the score without having to get closer.
‘9 points…!’
There were surely some great songs in the 9-point zone. The songs Seo Yoo-jin wanted from Strawberry Filter were in that range too.
‘No way…!’
I prayed the song wasn’t one from Strawberry Filter as I waited for Han Si-woo to announce the result.
And then….
“Ohhh…!”
As Han Si-woo approached to check the target, his eyes widened in surprise.
I couldn’t help but wonder why such an unexpected reaction from Han Si-woo until I found out the reason.
“Team 2 has selected the song…, the YW Entertainment girl group ‘22nd Night’ – [Black Swan]!!”
“……!!”
Everyone was taken aback by the unexpected result.
Especially the faces of Team 2 and Seo Yoo-jin, who shot the arrow…
“…….”
…looked utterly devastated.
YW Entertainment was notoriously known for not producing girl groups. Yet there had been a saying regarding YW girl groups, which were that…
If YW produced a girl group, it was bound to be a masterpiece.
“22nd Night” was the beginning of the YW first-generation idol legacy.
But the problem was that 22nd Night’s active period was in the late 2000s to early 2010s.
‘So old….’
Moreover, the songs of 22nd Night were more focused on vocal ability rather than dance, meaning they were difficult to perform in team competitions.
It was the absolute worst choice compared to the other songs in the 9-point zone.
“Seo Yoo-jin! What is your impression of the song you selected!”
“Uh…, that… um….”
Seo Yoo-jin struggled to respond, possibly due to the shock of not getting the song she wanted despite scoring 9 points.
“Yeah…, um, I’m not happy with it, but I’ll do my best.”
“…….”
Even so, 22nd Night was a senior group for us, being a first-generation girl group.
Moreover….
‘Han Si-woo must have been active alongside their members.’
She should have at least said something nice about it, but Seo Yoo-jin gave her honest opinion as always.
In response, Han Si-woo froze for a moment but….
Cheeky-.
“I see! I hope you can showcase a great stage!”
Han Si-woo quickly returned to a smile like a professional.
Thus, Seo Yoo-jin sulkingly returned to her seat…
“Now, next up, please welcome the representative of Team 1!”
…My turn had come.
Han Si-woo, with his calm demeanor, asked me as I readied my bow.
“Ye-rin! What song does your Team 1 wish for?”
With no hesitation, I replied to Han Si-woo’s question.
“Yes, we would like to choose an awesome song like the one Team 2 just picked, YW’s [Black Swan] that showcases girl crush!”
Hearing my answer, Han Si-woo seemed pleased and laughed.
“Ha ha! I see! I’m hoping Ye-rin will pick a great song! By the way, Ye-rin, have you had any experience with archery before?”
“No…, not even once.”
“Hmm, I see. But, Ye-rin, you proved your inherent athleticism by winning a total of 8 gold medals at the sports day today, didn’t you? I’m looking forward to Ye-rin’s performance! Once you’re ready, please shoot!”
“…Yes.”
Whoosh-.
As Han Si-woo’s words ended, I loaded the arrow onto the bow.
Stretch-.
Pulling back the bowstring felt heavy, and the once-close target began to seem quite distant.
‘Damn….’
Thinking the fate of our team’s song was in my hands made me super nervous.
‘Anything’s fine, please be a girl crush… girl crush…!’
The good news was that many girl crush concept songs were among the songs on the target.
I mentally chanted ‘girl crush’ as I focused.
Then the moment…
Pah-.
‘…Ah.’
It felt like time stopped, and the surroundings slowed down.
‘…Come to think of it.’
What kind of people are we?
We are a people of archery.
That blood flows in me as well.
‘Jumong…, Dae Jo-Young…. Help me…!’
With that, I poured the spirit of the Korean people into the arrow and shot it.
Piiing.
The feel of releasing the arrow was satisfying.
As soon as the arrow left my hand, I couldn’t help but feel that I had made it.
Thwack.
“Uhhh?!!”
“Waaaaaah-!!!”
The actual results shocked everyone, and the other participants cheered loudly.
With my keen eyesight, I quickly saw the scoring result.
A score almost close to 10, 9 points.
I could barely believe the outcome considering it was my first shot.
‘Yes…!’
In the 9-point zone, there were various popular girl crush concept songs!
I likely had a high chance of getting the song I wanted!
I waited, my heart racing, for Han Si-woo to announce the results.
“Wooow! This song is…!”
And when Han Si-woo revealed the song, I was…
“SAV Strawberry Filter’s [Magical Love☆]!!”
“……Huh?”
…There was no way I couldn’t be taken aback.
I wasn’t just surprised because I had picked the song the other team wanted from Strawberry Filter.
The real problem was…
‘Doesn’t Strawberry Filter have… no girl crush concept songs?’
I just couldn’t recall any Strawberry Filter song fitting the girl crush concept.
‘What was [Magical Love☆] again…’
I tried to recall what [Magical Love☆] was about.
And I could only find myself in despair recalling its concept.
[Magical Love☆]…
This was none other than a magical girl concept song.
The image that immediately came to mind was of Strawberry Filter’s members in twin tails, dressed in costumes, and holding wands in their music video.
There had been much debate among fans due to the song’s overwhelming cuteness and high “kill rate.”
Moreover, it wasn’t just a high “kill rate” issue.
Just like Team 1’s, the songs for the second team competition were totally against the image.
If I, Ha Ye-rin, were to wear twin tails and a costume singing a sweet, lively song, it would be an absolute mismatch.
‘Damn it… This won’t work even with Sky Demon Martial Arts….’
Just like Team 2, I scored a 9 yet ended up with the worst outcome.
At this rate, I thought it would have been better to just opt for random song selection, and screamed silently inside.
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