LIGHTNOVELONLINE Chapter 100
“Still, it’s not like the chasing team has it all easy.”
I nodded at Senior Kim Guk-jong’s words.
“Right? There are rules like a complete ban on using legs for three minutes…”
Senior Giri also agreed, recalling the additional rules with a nod.
Looking at the numbers, it seemed like the chasing team was at a disadvantage with double the participants, but in reality, the chasing team had more penalties.
It seemed that the dream team was too overpowered for this situation.
“But, Guk-jong hyung, aren’t we going to come up with a strategy?”
“Giri, what strategy do we need? With Dong-hu, you, and me here, it’s just like Yu-Gwan-jang.”
“Yu-Gwan-jang?”
“Yubi, Gwanwoo, Jangbi.”
So, what are we going to do for twenty minutes? Senior Kim Guk-jong shrugged.
“Well… we just get to know each other. Dong-hu, don’t you do any sports besides boxing?”
“Uh… Actually, I do a lot of martial arts, not just boxing.”
“Oh, martial arts! Giri, that’s right up your alley.”
“Come on, hyung, Dong-hu’s the real deal.”
And thus, the back-and-forth chatter resumed.
Then suddenly, an unexpected topic popped up.
“Dong-hu, you’re good at running too, right?”
“Yes? Yes, I’m good.”
“How fast can you run 3km?”
“Ten minutes.”
“Really? Then… do you play soccer?”
“Huh?”
“Hey, since we’ve met like this, it would be great if you’re good at soccer too.”
Soccer? Why is soccer suddenly coming up here?
‘Is he joking?’
I tried to laugh it off, but as soon as I looked into Senior Kim Guk-jong’s eyes—
‘He’s serious.’
To him, the mission team was already just a fish caught on a line.
Just like ringing a bell doesn’t mean you won’t catch a mouse, giving the chasing team penalties doesn’t change their fundamental role.
“If you happen to like soccer… Well, unfortunately, it looks like time’s almost up.”
Senior Kim Guk-jong began to speak but quickly checked the time and reached for the center of the table.
“Before we go, let’s do a final cheer. And for the strategy… we can communicate in real-time since we have walkie-talkies, okay?”
“Yes!”
“One, two, three!”
“Fighting!”
We had about an hour and a half of limited time.
“Alright, let’s split up for now and keep updating each other via walkie-talkies, and if it’s not a situation to gather, we act independently!”
“Yes!”
With that response, I rushed towards the elevator to check the floors.
‘There are five floors with video.’
2nd, 6th, 8th, 13th, 19th.
Logically speaking, it would be safe to say that the 2nd floor was already taken from the start.
‘But even finding it would take some time.’
With the elevators also set up to favor the mission team right now.
All the elevators were on the 1st floor, making it awkward to wait until the 22nd floor.
At this moment, I could think of only one strategy.
“…VJ-nim, I’m sorry.”
“Huh?”
“It looks like we’ll have to take the stairs.”
Going down from the 22nd floor to the 1st floor?
‘I run 10km a day.’
That wasn’t an issue for me.
+++++
At the same time.
Unlike the chasing team, the mission team had meticulously planned their strategy.
“First off, let’s press all the buttons except for the elevator we’re using so the chasing team can’t use any.”
“Seok-sam hyung.”
“Ah, right, I talked too much, should I stop?”
“It’s been a long time since we’ve had a good strategy. But now… we have others here too, so we can’t do everything.”
If we focus on the elevators we’re using and seal a few, it would be fine.
With that thought, Yoo Ji-seok pondered for a moment before quickly reaching a conclusion.
“Then for now, Su-jin and Kang-soo will go to the 2nd floor to secure the elevator, and the rest of us, including me, will go up a bit and then scatter.”
“Yes!”
We couldn’t delay the use of elevators forever, but even delaying it for about five minutes could have a snowball effect.
Thus, the mission team’s strategy was quite tightly knit.
“It’s strange for us to be at a disadvantage with a 3:6 ratio, don’t you agree?”
“Ah, right. Leave the 2nd floor to us, so you can go up comfortably.”
“…Kang-soo, you really won’t betray us this time, okay? This is a game we must win.”
“Ji-seok hyung! I’m not the kind of person who betrays randomly!”
“Okay, okay. Let’s go! Let’s go go go!”
The mission team dispersed in an orderly manner.
“Ugh, where on earth did they hide the tape?”
“I know the floors, but knowing where it is makes it hard to find.”
“Right, Su-jin, you check the lower part, and I’ll check up top.”
“Yes!”
On the 2nd floor were Kim Su-jin and Kang Soo.
At that moment, with the two left in close proximity, they were looking for tape, more discreetly hidden than expected.
Ding ding ding ding.
“…Senior, do you hear a bell sound?”
“Huh? Nah, it must be my imagination. It’s only… been about six minutes?”
With the elevators all shut down, how could anyone get to the 2nd floor?
Kang Soo chuckled lightly, as if to say, “Don’t joke,” at Su-jin’s words.
Ding ding ding ding.
The following bell sound wiped the smile straight off Kang Soo’s face.
“Is this for real? Who is it? How did this happen?!”
Zshhhh.
Even in his panic, Kang Soo quickly turned on the walkie-talkie.
The bell sound was still ringing, but they had a bit of time left.
“Ji-seok hyung! There’s a bell sound on the 2nd floor! I think someone’s coming! Did the elevator already move?!”
-What!? No way! That can’t be! There’s no way the elevator moved! Did you mishear?
“It’s real! They’re really coming! I don’t know who it is, but…!”
-If that’s the case, does that mean they came down from the 22nd floor to the 2nd? Does that even make sense?
“I’ll check to see who it is and contact you again, just be careful, hyung!”
-Okay, okay! Let’s meet alive for now!
With that, the communication ended in a hurry.
Kang Soo used his high vantage point to check who was coming.
“Oh, found you, Senior!”
Just then.
“I found you too.”
A voice that shouldn’t have been heard whispered directly into Su-jin’s ear.
“Ahhhh!”
With breathing that didn’t match someone who had come down from the 22nd floor,
Exhibiting monster-like stamina without breaking a sweat,
“Hello, Senior.”
“…It wasn’t just a matter of running 3km in ten minutes; it seems like a monster is coming that surpasses Guk-jong hyung….”
Kim Dong-hu appeared.
“Ah, no, no… how?!”
“I just ran down, it didn’t take me long. But can you open this for me?”
Clunk clunk.
At the 2nd floor, where the tape was located, they were in a standoff.
The good news was that there were two doors.
Meaning it was the start of a game of wits.
But here, the mission team had been given a special item,
As previously mentioned.
“Kang-soo! Use the item! Kim Dong-hu can’t use his legs for three minutes!”
“Ugh!”
The three-minute leg use ban item.
An item that only shows its true value when used in the worst-case scenario.
It was really unfortunate to have to use it just seven minutes into the game,
But it was a hundred times better than being caught after dragging out a standoff.
“Su-jin! When Dong-hu can’t use his legs, let’s just pass by!”
“Yes!”
Clunk!
As soon as Kang Soo confirmed Su-jin grabbed the tape, he immediately opened the door.
Since Kim Dong-hu couldn’t use his legs, he judged that his movements were completely halted.
‘Now, it’s time to taunt.’
As I walked past leisurely, I planned to secure a bit of footage.
Swoosh.
“Huh? Hey, hey! Dong-hu, what are you doing?!”
Until Kim Dong-hu performed a handstand.
As soon as he raised his body, his shirt slipped down to reveal clearly defined back muscles and abs.
‘This guy is a walking weapon!’
And he’s still in high school!
An actor!
“Looking at his body, he’s like a special forces member!”
But that wasn’t the end of it.
“Senior! Su-jin, you have to leave the tape behind!”
He walks.
I’m not sure if “walking on your arms” is the right expression,
But anyway, Kim Dong-hu was walking on his hands.
Bragging about the toned muscles attached to his arms,
That image of him walking on his hands was pure horror movie material.
“Why are you going to such lengths?! What’s the deal with you!”
Kang Soo was genuinely scared of Kim Dong-hu.
Although he took pride in doing variety shows, he had never encountered such a character before.
Kang Soo was about to poke fun at romance but was caught off guard by the no-backward approach.
He was fully committing himself to the performance, even as a newbie to the show,
Making it even odder that it wasn’t frightening.
“Run! Run! Let’s just ignore him and run! Three minutes is a really long time!”
If we could just get to the elevator!
With that, Kang Soo and Su-jin started running frantically.
As they passed the monster walking on its hands, they headed straight for the elevator.
Once they got inside the elevator, they pressed the button for the 6th floor.
Ta-da-da-da-da-dak.
With all their might, they rapidly hit the close button.
Thud!
Once the elevator door closed,
Kang Soo calmed his startled heart and opened his mouth.
“Wait, what’s with your childhood friend?!”
“S-Seems like he has a really strong competitive spirit…?”
This was the first time Su-jin had seen that side of him, making it hard to accurately diagnose the situation.
Kang Soo recalled what happened with a wry smile.
“Can that really be explained by just a competitive spirit? That doesn’t seem right at all….”
Anyway, now that they knew how scary Kim Dong-hu was,
Kang Soo immediately wanted to alert everyone about Dong-hu’s threat via the walkie-talkie.
But right at that moment.
Ding~
The elevator stopped at the 5th floor.
They clearly pressed for the 6th floor; why did it stop at the 5th?
As that thought crossed his mind,
The elevator door opened,
And what Kang Soo saw was simply unbelievable.
“Ahhhhhhh!”
A somewhat girlish scream came from Kang Soo.
“Oh, you can’t leave so quickly; I’m hurt by that.”
Descending the stairs and catching the elevator,
Kim Dong-hu appeared, smiling brightly before them.