Seoul Dragon - Chapter 67

It was remarkable that the table tennis table hadn't broken.

That's what people who watched our rally said.

When they looked at our movements with a regular camera, it looked like we were filming a martial arts movie with ping pong paddles.

Only with a high-speed camera could our movements be seen properly.

"If the rally broke and someone got hit, they'd be done for, right?"

"...We'll make sure to film from a distance when you two play table tennis."

"Y-yes, please do that..."

Yeonhwa unnie was also speechless seeing the footage.

The visuals were beautiful, certainly.

The problem was that it was too difficult for ordinary people to see.

Yeonhwa unnie saying she wasn't good at table tennis was a complete lie.

If she were truly bad, she wouldn't have been able to maintain a rally with me at all.

Really, seeing how the rally continued until we both decided to stop, I wondered if we could ever determine a winner.

...Yeonhwa unnie's physical abilities were even more exceptional than I'd thought.

Is it because she's a superior species mutant?

If this unnie had slightly more active hobbies, she might have been talked about among people without even realizing it.

Anyway, while we were watching our martial arts film for quite some time, the car team finally arrived.

But strangely, those people looked refreshed. Why?

According to the rules, the team that lost the random penalty would receive very little spending money, so they should be extremely hungry...

PD Lee Myungho also looked at them suspiciously.

They shouldn't have been in an environment where they could eat, so how?

"Everyone, you're hiding something from me, aren't you?"

"Come on, what would we be hiding! We're not hiding anything at all!"

"What did you eat? The Kang Woohyuk I've known until now would be complaining about hunger by now... And the same goes for everyone else."

The suspicious glances didn't easily subside.

With years of experience, he knew all too well.

Just how ferocious Kang Woohyuk could become when he skipped lunch.

But for him to arrive looking so fine, even with a smile on his face?

Without showing any signs of discomfort?

Something smelled fishy.

In that moment, his eyes met Harin's, and Harin quickly looked away.

...Something was up. Why would Harin avoid his gaze?

It wasn't hard to figure out.

Harin had said she could manifest nightmares. So, what if she brought food from her nightmares?

Then everything would make sense.

"Harin-ssi, right?"

"Y-yes?"

"You can manifest things from nightmares. That means you can bring things from dreams into reality, doesn't it?"

"..."

"I see, so I was right."

PD Lee Myungho sighed.

"How did you figure it out?"

"Do you think I've only known you all for a day or two? You should have been crying out in hunger by now, but you weren't. The pocket money I gave you would only buy one or two snacks at most, and even a passing dog knows that wouldn't be enough to satisfy Woohyuk-ssi's appetite."

"Hey, it's your fault. Why can't you act better?"

Jeongho, who had been watching, snapped at Woohyuk.

In response, Woohyuk adopted a defiant attitude.

"Fine! Yes, we ate, so what! You never said we couldn't eat in the first place!"

"No, but still... this is too much of a cheat."

"The real cheat is you giving us barely any pocket money after inviting guests!"

Jeongho and Suchan chimed in to support Woohyuk's outburst.

"This hyung is absolutely right. How does it make sense to starve guests? Is this how you treat people who went through the trouble of coming here?"

"That's right!"

At this, the train team looked at them with expressions that seemed to ask what these people were doing, while the car team earnestly appealed their innocence.

They argued that it wasn't against the mission rules, and if they had the ability to be self-sufficient, what was wrong with using it?

PD Lee Myungho, who hadn't imposed such restrictions beforehand, could only sigh and let it go.

Thus, we all quickly moved from Chuncheon to Hwacheon.

On the way to Hwacheon, when I asked Harin what she had talked about with the hyungs, she replied that they discussed what she did before becoming a mutant and what she mainly did after becoming one.

"It was pretty comfortable. But I was constantly aware of the cameras rolling."

"Ah, we felt the same way. Yeonhwa unnie even sucked my blood."

"What?! Why suddenly blood?"

"She was too conscious of the cameras and had a lot of mental stress, I think."

"...Are you okay, unnie?"

"Y-yes. I'm fine now. Seohyun gave me blood..."

"By the way, when did you two start speaking casually to each other?"

"Earlier, when we were getting on the train."

"Finally you're speaking casually. You said it was Yeonhwa unnie's wish, right?"

"Hey, you shouldn't mention that!"

I think I just heard something interesting?

"Was speaking casually with me your wish?"

At that, Yeonhwa unnie fidgeted, pressing her index fingers together.

"Y-yes..."

Wow, isn't this unnie too cute? She looks like the epitome of a femme fatale, but her behavior is completely childlike.

A woman who looks like she could drink someone's blood and laugh about it being this innocent was incredibly cute. Is this what they call gap moe?

In times like this, you just act.

"Come here."

"Eh, huh?"

I hugged her lightly and rubbed my cheek against hers. Ah, so soft.

Lately, I think I'm getting too addicted to people's cheeks.

Beautiful and cute things really are the best. In this respect, becoming a woman was good.

If I had done this as a man, I would have ended up with a broken bone or bled to death.

"Uwaaah..."

"Seohyun unnie, stop it. What are you doing in front of everyone?"

"T-the camera!"

Ah, right. The cameras were rolling.

When I quickly regained my senses and looked around, everyone was watching us with warm eyes.

I wondered if that's how adults look at sisters who get along well.

Several hours later, the cast members arrived at a remote mountain village in Hwacheon County and repeated the opening line while exhausted.

The opening line that starts with "As Long As It's Not Me!"

Woohyuk hyung forced himself to raise his energy level, trying to show that they weren't tired.

Of course, the fatigue clearly visible on his face couldn't be hidden.

"It's not too late, but it's already dinner time."

At the PD's words, we immediately caught on. Ah, it's starting.

"So what's today's mission?"

"Originally, we had a lot of things prepared, but since the Bureau agents have all sorts of extraordinary abilities beyond our expectations, we had to scrap many of them. So..."

"So?"

"There was a suggestion from the train team earlier? About having a sports competition. We thought that might be better too, so we're thinking of forming new teams for a head-to-head structure. But before that."

"Before that?"

"What's the foundation of our program? Random penalties, right? But it seems a bit unsatisfying to only decide dinner with a random penalty."

The cast members complained at the PD's words.

"It's not unsatisfying at all."

"You say that, but you're actually disappointed."

"No, I'm not disappointed, I'm telling you!"

"Anyway, I'll assume you're disappointed and start by forming teams. Also, let's divide the Bureau agents into teams in advance. Harin-ssi and Yeonhwa-ssi will be one team, and Seohyun-ssi will be her own team. That's how we'll do it."

"Is there a reason for dividing it that way?"

"Seohyun-ssi said that's how the balance would be right."

"Really?"

"I don't know what sports we'll be doing yet... but I thought at least that division would make sense."

"Just to be clear, using abilities is not allowed."

"Of course I know that. But even just considering physical abilities, I'm a bit overwhelming..."

Harin and Yeonhwa nodded at my words.

"Dividing the teams like that seems good."

To form the teams, we simply spun roulettes. Each person spun a roulette with the cast members' names.

And so...

On our team: me, Woohyuk hyung, Seungho hyung, and Jeongho hyung.

On the other team: Harin, Yeonhwa unnie, Hojun hyung, Suchan hyung, and Junhyuk hyung.

The team names were casually named after the team leaders. Team Seohyun and Team Yeonhwa.

In terms of athletic ability, our side was more overwhelming, but we had fewer people... so for a relay race, the balance was somewhat fair.

Thus, the first mission was to compete for dinner ingredients through a relay race.

It seemed like a race would create a significant inequality, but they restricted my physical abilities by limiting the distance each person could run.

A 400-meter race. And the maximum distance each person could run was 100 meters.

Since it was a "maximum," the other team with Harin and Yeonhwa unnie who could run 200 meters might actually have an advantage.

Of course, they had Junhyuk hyung who was terrible at sports, so the balance might even out... but they could minimize his role, so it wasn't a big issue.

And so, the first competition: the relay race.

I was the last runner for Team Seohyun, and Yeonhwa unnie was the last runner for Team Yeonhwa.

For reference, Woohyuk hyung was our team's first runner, and Harin was Team Yeonhwa's first runner.

Harin wasn't as fast as Yeonhwa unnie and me.

Her running speed without flying was just a bit faster than an adult male.

Perhaps because she wasn't a species that relied on physical abilities, she didn't seem to have as strong physical enhancements.

As a result, the match was quite close.

With only the last runners remaining, the scores were neck and neck.

I thought our team would be significantly behind... but Junhyuk hyung wasted all the time that Harin had gained.

So, it seemed like the situation was developing to be slightly favorable for our side...

"Waaah!"

Suddenly, Jeongho hyung fell just before my turn.

He quickly got up and passed the baton to me.

And at that moment, Yeonhwa unnie received the baton one step ahead of me and kicked off the ground.

KWAAAANG!

Where Yeonhwa unnie stepped, the ground exploded like a shell, and her body shot forward.

Not to be outdone, I also dug my foot in.

Similarly, the ground exploded, and a thunderous sound erupted.

In terms of speed, I was slightly faster than Yeonhwa unnie... so this should be enough to catch up.

The scenery passed by in an instant as if folding, and I brushed past Yeonhwa unnie.

I won.

When I stopped, what I saw was a huge crater formed on part of the race track, and the faces of our teammates watching us blankly.