Seoul Dragon - Chapter 69

The sleeping quarters random penalty.

Those who win the random penalty sleep comfortably indoors.

Those who lose the random penalty sleep outdoors in the early winter weather of November.

They say it's November, but nights in mountainous regions are colder than most urban winters.

Especially in a place like Hwacheon in Gangwon Province.

They'll provide tents as a courtesy, but if you rely solely on tents, it's perfect weather for getting facial paralysis.

That's why everyone had to give their all for the sleeping quarters random penalty.

Just what kind of random penalty would it be this time?

"To be honest, we really struggled with this random penalty. Since two of our guests have such developed senses of smell, we couldn't use our most prized weapon."

The PD spoke as if it was truly regrettable.

Meanwhile, the cast members asked the PD with somewhat anxious expressions.

"So what are we doing?"

"We were going to play a trick with taste or smell... but it seemed a bit disappointing to do that after inviting such distinguished guests. So we're thinking of doing a simple team game."

"No, sir. Didn't you see earlier? If we do physical activities with them, we'll die!"

"Since they can control themselves well, there's no need to worry about that. Besides, there won't be any intense physical confrontations."

"Then what exactly is this random penalty?"

"It's simple. Bottle cap flicking. Inside the house, which will be tonight's indoor sleeping quarters, there's a long table. Only four people who can flick a bottle cap the farthest without it falling off the table will be allowed to sleep indoors."

It was a simple yet well-balanced game.

The four people who could flick the bottle cap the farthest within a limited space would get to sleep indoors.

You could say it's a game where overwhelming mutants like us might actually have to accept a penalty. There were limits to controlling our strength.

Even when using minimal force, we'd still send it flying farther than an average adult male could.

So if anyone had an advantage, it would be the cast members.

Smiles appeared on their faces.

"Then shall we start with a practice round?"

"Sure."

Starting with Woohyuk hyung, the cast members took turns flicking bottle caps.

Some barely reached the edge of the table, while others flicked too gently and didn't go far at all.

Looking at his bottle cap that barely reached the edge of the table, Woohyuk hyung let out a sigh.

"...Can't we just count this as the real game?"

"No, we can't!"

"Ah, what a shame..."

The cast members and we looked at him incredulously.

That's a bit too much...

Of course, I might have done the same thing, but in situations like this, it's best to go along with the atmosphere.

Eventually, the cast members' turns ended, and it was the guests' turn.

Harin went first.

Among us, Harin had the least impressive physical abilities, which turned out to be advantageous for her, and she managed to flick the bottle cap to just barely cling to the edge of the table.

"...PD-nim."

"No, you can't."

"I haven't even said anything yet."

"You said it was a practice round, so it's clearly a practice round. Harin-ssi was going to ask if this could count as the real game, right?"

"...Tch."

"This girl has learned only bad things, only bad things."

The surrounding cast members clicked their tongues. The funny thing was that Woohyuk hyung also joined in.

"I wonder who she learned it from..."

"Wow..."

"What?"

"I didn't know people could be this shameless."

At that, laughter erupted from the filming crew. Even to us, it was quite a funny scene.

Anyway, after Harin's turn... my turn and Yeonhwa unnie's turn finally came.

Tension filled the air.

Considering what we had shown earlier, it wouldn't be surprising if the bottle cap got embedded in the wall or even broke through it.

"...Please be gentle. This hanok was difficult to arrange."

"Of course."

...That's what I said, but I wasn't sure.

If I'm too gentle, it wouldn't be fun.

And it's not fun to lose by being too gentle either.

Suddenly, I felt mischievous.

"But what if I hit it too hard and break the wall?"

"You're joking, right?"

"I'm not joking, I'm not used to controlling this kind of strength."

Actually, it was just a lie. I wanted to tease the PD a bit.

But not knowing this, the PD looked up at the ceiling and said:

"If this place collapses, we'll have nowhere to sleep..."

"Oh, come on, it won't collapse."

Then, glances from around me flew in as if to say, "What nonsense are you talking about?"

"You literally shattered the ground earlier."

"I'll do my best."

I got into position. How much should I control my strength?

Although it was a practice round, since I'd never had this experience since mutating, I wasn't sure how much strength to use.

For now... right, I'll try using just enough strength to lightly grip an object.

I put my middle finger and thumb together, pulling back my middle finger with my thumb.

If I pull too hard, I might break the wall, so just the right amount.

Then, releasing my thumb, I flicked my middle finger toward the bottle cap.

Flick-!

With a crisp sound, the bottle cap flew.

Crack!

Immediately after, I heard the sound of something getting embedded. The bottle cap had gotten stuck in the hanok wall.

...I need to be gentler next time.

"...At least the wall didn't collapse, so that's fortunate."

The PD sighed as he saw the scene.

"Um... yes. I'll be careful. Actually, this is my first time flicking bottle caps since my mutation, so I'm not quite used to it..."

"Don't tell me Yeonhwa-ssi is the same?"

"N-no... I've tested various things after mutating, so... I roughly know..."

Somehow, I don't think I'm imagining the PD's sigh of relief?

Yeonhwa unnie successfully controlled her strength. This unnie, she knew how to handle her power better than I expected.

...I can control mine well too, but this kind of experience is a first.

Still, now that I've got a feel for it, I should get good results in the actual game.

Originally, the biggest fun of the sleeping quarters random penalty was teasing the members who had to sleep outdoors.

Everyone probably thinks I'm the most likely to be eliminated.

I'll show them that's a miscalculation.

The main game of the sleeping quarters random penalty, bottle cap flicking, began.

My turn was quite late in the order.

In truth, the order didn't really matter.

What mattered was who could flick the bottle cap closest to the record.

The cast members chose the most stable approach.

Since a bottle cap flying off the table would result in no record at all, instead of aiming for the edge of the table, they flicked the bottle caps just far enough to pass the middle section.

Of course, some failed to control their strength and flicked either too gently or too hard.

"No, nooooo!"

Would you believe that the person currently letting out this scream is an MC who received a Broadcasting Arts Award?

But since there would be a rematch if too many people sent their bottle caps off the table, Woohyuk hyung started to interfere with the other cast members.

"Seriously, what's wrong with this guy!"

And his interference was quite effective, causing most of the cast members to either flick too gently or send their bottle caps off the table.

Eventually, the cast decided to have a rematch after our turns were over.

But Yeonhwa unnie, Harin, and I were fired up. If only four out of nine could survive, wouldn't it be best if the three of us made it?

Harin went first. As she had shown earlier, she successfully managed to get the bottle cap to rest right at the edge of the table.

An overwhelming first place.

It would probably be very difficult to beat that.

"Hmph."

The camera captured her confident smile. She'll probably gain quite a bit of popularity when this airs.

Similarly, Yeonhwa unnie showed a performance at a similar level to Harin's. The gap was so narrow that they could almost be considered tied for first place.

"Wow..."

The cast members were simply dumbfounded.

If I succeeded here too, all but one of them would have to sleep outdoors in weather cold enough to give them facial paralysis.

They tried frantically to distract me, but... I'm not someone who gets swayed by such things.

I calmed my mind and flicked my finger in complete tranquility.

Having already practiced, my strength control was perfect.

I was sure I could reach that edge, at a level similar to Yeonhwa unnie and Harin.

...That should have been the case.

But what on earth was this?

"Waaah!"

Why did my bottle cap barely go out of bounds?

This can't be happening. I jumped up from the table and asked the PD.

You just said it yourself. There would be a rematch.

"Rematch! I'm included in the rematch, right?"

"Haha. Of course."

Great, one more time, now I'll perfect it...

"Niiice!"

Perfectly... failed.

The bottle cap I flicked flew off the table again, falling pathetically to the floor.

Wait, what's going on? I can control my strength just fine in daily life now, so why can't I control it for bottle cap flicking?

In the end, I had to bitterly accept my fate as a member of the outdoor sleeping group.

The indoor sleeping members were Harin, Yeonhwa unnie, Jeongho hyung, and Suchan hyung.

The rest of us were all relegated to sleeping outdoors.

"This can't be happening..."

Woohyuk hyung patted my dumbfounded shoulders.

"But is it okay to have her sleep with us?"

"Ah, don't worry. We brought an extra tent just in case."

The PD said he had prepared an extra tent in case I, Harin, or Yeonhwa unnie had to sleep outdoors.

I'm so touchingly grateful...!

As soon as the random penalty results were decided, those who lost had to go set up tents.

Since this process was all part of the sleeping quarters random penalty, I had no choice but to silently set up the tent where I would sleep.

At that time, four outdoor sleeping members approached, perhaps to help with setting up the tent.

"Seohyun, do you know how to set up a tent?"

Junhyuk hyung suddenly asked me. I nodded without hesitation.

"Yes. I completed military service."

"...Oh, really?"

Come to think of it, many people knew I was a man before, but quite a few didn't know I had completed military service.

I nodded.

"Yes. So I've set up tents like this many times."

"Oh..."

I used magic to fix the tent's shape and drove in the tent pegs.

With magic and overwhelming strength combined, the tent instantly took its proper shape without any special tools.

"Wow, you really can do everything?"

"Have you all set up your tents yet? Let me know if you need help with heavy lifting. I can finish it without much effort anyway."

"We'd appreciate the help."

I completed the tents instantly using a similar method.

This is much easier than before.

Just securing the pegs alone used to require hammering with a shovel, but now I didn't need to do that. I simply slammed my palm down once, and the peg was driven into the ground.

The first thing you're supposed to do is establish the basic shape of the tent, but with magic solving that, all I had to do was secure the pegs.

Securing the pegs didn't involve any complicated procedures either; I just pounded them with my palm, and they were immediately fixed in the ground.

The PD let out a hollow laugh at my ridiculous tent-setting speed.

What's so funny? Never seen someone who completed military service before?

In the military, there are people who can set up a 24-person tent alone, so this is... nothing special.