Chapter 74

“Starting now, the Omega individual match will begin.”

“The Omega individual match will proceed tournament-style using the specially installed pool arena.”

The contestants stared at the thick inflatable pool structure with tense expressions.

A buoy floated in the center of the clear blue water.

“The buoy itself isn’t very wide.”

“And with the way it’s built, water’s probably going to splash onto it constantly. Looks slippery too.”

At the conversation between Jun Shin and Sun Choi, Gyeol carefully examined both the pool and the buoy.

Water was already soaking the top surface. Though the platform itself was flat, it looked thick enough that your feet would probably sink slightly into it.

Which meant it would wobble badly too.

“Still, the pool itself doesn’t seem very deep. Maybe one meter at most.”

Sun added quietly before glancing toward Gyeol.

Sensing the look, Gyeol unconsciously turned his head, and their eyes met.

Even without speaking aloud, Sun mouthed softly:

“Still, please be careful.”

He seemed worried because Gyeol couldn’t swim.

Even though Gyeol thought shallow water would be fine, he still felt grateful for the concern.

He answered with a small smile, and Sun smiled back.

“The participants will wear designated animal ears and tails selected through a random draw.”

“If both the ears and tail are taken, or if a participant falls off the buoy, they will be eliminated.”

“The final remaining contestant will be declared the winner.”

“The winner will receive a Golden Date Card.”

Out of all the possible gimmicks—number jerseys, hats, balloons—the fact they’d specifically chosen animal ears and tails made the production staff’s weirdly perverted tastes painfully obvious.

Gyeol clicked his tongue internally.

To think he’d end up wearing animal ears and a tail at this age.

Stuff like this was only cute on kids around Yuli’s age.

Thinking that, Gyeol followed behind the line of Omegas waiting for the drawing.

“It’s a cat.”

Hanseul Ga, who drew first, showed off the little cat illustration printed on his ball.

He was handed gray cat ears and a long tail.

The ears were attached to a headband, while the tail fastened around the waist like a belt.

“Oh, mine’s this one.”

The ball Hee Jun Kang picked had a bear on it.

The production staff handed him round brown bear ears and a short, plump tail.

Seeing that, Gyeol’s eyes widened slightly.

The tails clearly reflected the characteristics of each animal. Hee Jun’s tail was dramatically shorter than Hanseul’s.

At a glance, it didn’t even look one-third the length.

The people who draw short-tailed animals have the advantage.

The longer the tail, the easier it would be to grab. They’d have to move much more aggressively to defend it too.

And the more violently they moved, the higher the chance of slipping off the buoy.

“If a cat and a bear go against each other, the cat definitely seems disadvantaged.”

“Aaaaah. Everyone, fighting!”

Jun muttered quietly while Tommy pumped his fist enthusiastically to raise morale.

After realizing his own tail was much longer than Hee Jun’s, Hanseul’s expression turned faintly sour.

Gyeol tried to guess the remaining animals.

Dogs, rabbits, tigers, monkeys... probably something along those lines.

“Looks like Jaekyung got a dog.”

“The floppy ears suit you, Jaekyung.”

Woo Seok casually struck up conversation with Jaekyung Park as he received light-brown dog ears and a long fluffy tail.

Apparently Woo Seok thought this was a good chance to approach him.

Jaekyung ignored him completely, pretending not to hear as he walked past.

Woo Seok’s face stiffened slightly.

“I got...”

As the fourth contestant to draw, Isu Yoon trailed off while raising his eyebrows.

“What? What’d you get, Isu?”

“What is it?”

Smiling awkwardly, Isu showed the others the ball.

“...A tiger.”

One contestant failed to suppress a snort.

Then everyone burst into laughter.

Even Isu flushed red and laughed sheepishly.

“Isu hyung, isn’t that way too intimidating for you?”

“You too, Tommy? Guess you don’t want French toast anymore.”

“Huh? Why are we suddenly talking about French toast?!”

Tommy—normally the one getting teased—shouted excitedly over the sudden reversal in roles, while Isu pouted irritably.

Caught in the second wave of laughter, Gyeol barely managed to hold himself back from openly laughing too.

A tiger.

A full-on tiger for someone like Isu Yoon, who suited tiny prey animals like rabbits.

“I think my tail’s the longest.”

Returning to his spot, Isu complained quietly.

And he was right. The tiger tail was even longer than the cat tail.

Apparently pleased by that fact, Hanseul’s face relaxed back into neutrality as he comforted him.

“You’ll still do well, Isu.”

Something about that scene snagged strangely in Gyeol’s mind.

As far as he remembered, this was the first time Hanseul had directly spoken to Isu.

“Seriously. You look pretty athletic too.”

Jaekyung joined in beside Hanseul.

“Right, Hee Jun?”

He even pulled Hee Jun Kang into agreement, and Hee Jun nodded several times immediately.

The whole scene felt strangely familiar.

“Last one, Gyeol Go. Please draw.”

Gyeol reached his hand into the box covered with black cloth so nobody could see inside.

Clatter clatter.

Unlike his expectation that only one ball would remain since he was last, several balls brushed against his hand.

Producer Yoo really was Producer Yoo.

This way nobody could accuse them of rigging the draw.

Gyeol grabbed the ball buried deepest in the corner at the bottom.

He usually had terrible luck with random draws, but hopefully this time he’d get something advantageous.

He offered a brief prayer internally before pulling it out.

“......”

Gyeol’s expression turned strange after checking the ball.

“What is it, Gyeol hyung?”

“What did you get, Gyeol Go?”

At the contestants’ insistence, Gyeol turned the illustrated side toward them.

“A deer.”

Printed on Gyeol’s ball was a white stag with large antlers.

The first thing that crossed Gyeol’s mind upon seeing it was uncertainty.

He genuinely couldn’t tell whether this animal was advantageous or disastrous compared to the others.

“Wow, a deer. It kinda suits you.”

And unfortunately, his bad feeling proved correct.

The tail was short.

Slightly longer than the bear’s, maybe, but dramatically shorter than the cat or tiger tails.

The real problem was the headband.

Attached to Gyeol’s headband weren’t just deer ears.

It also had huge, elegant antlers stretching upward.

Is this... seriously fair?

Calming himself, Gyeol carefully put the headband on first.

Even at a glance, it was unstable from the sheer size and weight.

“But seriously, it suits you really well.”

“Yeah. It really does.”

“You look awesome, hyung!”

Sun Choi, Woo Seok Jung, and Tommy all chimed in one after another.

Because of the middle person in particular, Gyeol couldn’t fully relax, so he only forced a brief smile and thanked them shortly.

Avoiding Jun Shin’s steady gaze on him, Gyeol accidentally met Yo Han Sung’s eyes instead.

Yo Han was staring directly at him.

Stop looking at me.

A sudden urge to cover his face surged through him, and Gyeol quickly turned away.

Back during his SAVE ME days, he used to happily wear animal-ear headbands handed to him by their tiny handful of fans.

But now the situation was a mess, and while the short tail gave him an advantage below the neck, the giant antlers made him disastrously vulnerable above it.

He wasn’t feeling particularly cheerful anymore.

Next came the tournament bracket drawing.

Gyeol drew number four.

His opponent would be Hanseul, who drew number five.

“So I’m up against Gyeol Go sunbae right from the first round.”

Hanseul spoke confidently.

Judging by his attitude, he genuinely seemed convinced he could beat Gyeol.

Gyeol simply laughed it off casually.

“First round. Number 2, Jaekyung Park. Number 3, Hee Jun Kang.”

Beep. Beep.

After the familiar notification sounded twice—

Beeeeeeep!

—the match began.

Standing atop the buoy, Hee Jun raised his guard.

Seeing that, Jaekyung laughed.

“Let’s take it easy, Hee Jun. No need to waste all our energy, right?”

Among the five Omegas, Hee Jun was the smallest.

He and Jaekyung were similar in size, but Hee Jun’s frame was noticeably slimmer.

“Okay. Let’s do that...”

The moment Hee Jun answered, Jaekyung lunged at him instantly.

As the two collided, the buoy rocked violently.

The match ended in seconds.

The buoy tilted toward Jaekyung’s side, throwing him off balance.

Hee Jun immediately seized the opportunity, lowering his body and slamming into him with full force.

Jaekyung clung desperately to the edge until the very end, but while trying to protect his long dog tail from being stolen, he ultimately fell into the water.

“The winner is Hee Jun Kang.”

“Whoa, Hee Jun! Total upset!”

“Hee Jun hyung, you were awesome!”

At the contestants’ cheers, Hee Jun grinned brightly and flashed a V-sign with his fingers.

Then he immediately helped Jaekyung climb back onto the buoy.

“Second round. Number 4, Gyeol Go. Number 5, Hanseul Ga.”

Standing atop the buoy, Gyeol faced Hanseul from a careful distance.

“Looking forward to this, Gyeol Go sunbae.”

“Same here.”

Before starting the match, Gyeol lightly clenched and unclenched the hand wrapped in bandages.

Thankfully, the pain wasn’t severe.

This should be manageable.

As long as he didn’t use the hand recklessly, it probably wouldn’t interfere much with the game.

He pressed strength firmly into the soles of his feet.

The buoy surface was slick with water from the previous match.

And while the antler headband might look visually impressive, stability-wise it was a complete disaster.

Still, what could he do?

Now that it was decided, he just had to win no matter what.

Didn’t they say true masters never blamed their tools?

Beeeeep—

Beeeeep—

Beeeeeeep!

The instant the signal sounded, Gyeol launched himself forward.