The Idol Who Returned from Hell Chapter 26

“Currently, blue team has 19 survivors total, red team has 32 survivors total. The blue team needs to work even harder for a comeback victory!”

MC Go Hyeon-ju’s voice reached my ears.

The situation was definitely unfavorable.

Obviously, dodgeball is a numbers game – the more people you have, the better.

When the number of survivors in the court decreases, it becomes hard to withstand the concentrated bombardment pouring in from the outside.

We were losing by a considerable margin, but I actually felt relaxed about it.

Why?

Because I didn’t have even 1% of a feeling that we might lose.

{Master, let’s stop going easy on them now. I’m suddenly getting sleepy.}

‘If you’re sleepy, you can go sleep first, can’t you?’

{Still, I have to see Master win before I go. Anyway, I found that human really annoying from the start. Hurry up and get serious! Do it!}

‘I was planning to do that even without you saying so.’

I let Cerberus yawn and shouted loudly to Kang Seon-woo.

“Hey, old man Kang!”

“Hwi was the one who provoked, so why are you calling me?”

“No, I just wanted to give you a warning.”

“It’s not like you’re announcing a murder, what warning—”

“It would just be better for you to get out first right now, don’t you think?”

After bouncing the dodgeball on the floor a few times, I widened my eyes and selected my target.

I aimed thoroughly only at the course where I could most reliably go for a multi-kill.

‘If we’re losing in numbers, I just need to seize the initiative.’

Swoosh!

The ball that left my fingertips once again curved in at a sharp angle and knocked down the three trainees who had been clustered in the back.

Kang Seon-woo froze momentarily upon seeing the attack that flew at tremendous speed.

“Uh, hey there, Si-hwan?”

“Hurry up and grab the rebound! Pass it to me as soon as you catch it!”

Lightly ignoring Kang Seon-woo’s pitiful plea, I shouted to our team members positioned around the red team’s court.

“You have to save me! Catch the ball!”

Seong-hwi also shouted urgently, but the ball that had bounced out with strong elasticity was already in Ma Si-hyeok’s grasp.

Finally thinking he could do his part, Ma Si-hyeok called my name in a very excited state.

“Brother Si-hwan! I’ll throw it!”

“Throw it high, high!”

If he threw it at an awkward height, it could get intercepted by the opposing team.

Ma Si-hyeok looked uncertain about whether it was okay to throw it really high.

But he still shot the dodgeball high into the sky as I had told him.

“Isn’t that going too high?”

“If he catches that wrong, it looks like it’ll fall right into their territory…!”

The trainees wearing blue vests couldn’t hide their anxious looks.

Most of them were people who got out because they couldn’t even catch normally flying balls.

A high toss with long airtime would be even more terrifying.

But for me, who had caught even worse things in hell, this level was a piece of cake.

‘It reminds me of the days when I used to jump over the hell floor where lava was bubbling up.’

Cerberus, who had climbed onto my shoulder, also seemed to remember the old days as he barked and wagged his tail.

{Let’s go, Master! Let’s stick that ball right in that annoying guy’s face!}

With my eyes fixed precisely on the dodgeball, I anticipated the landing point and kicked off the ground with one foot.

“……”

“No way, is that for real! This is just a mini-game, do we really need to go this far!”

Thanks to the tremendous airtime, I could see clearly below.

Seong-hwi’s bewildered expression and Kang Seon-woo’s face as he fell backward from being too shocked came into my view precisely.

‘Well, you should have known who you were picking a fight with before provoking.’

My right arm, with the sleeve rolled up to the shoulder, gripped the dodgeball tightly.

And with that, I brought it down toward the target with a smooth swing.

Thud!

“Guh!”

This was honestly admirable.

I had thrown it with similar force to when I used to play catch with Cerberus.

But Seong-hwi managed to react and try to catch that ball.

However, he couldn’t withstand the force contained in my attack and ended up dropping the ball from his hands.

After landing lightly on the ground, I dusted off my wrist while giving him a faint smile.

“Your reaction speed is impressive. You almost caught that.”

“…How annoying.”

Seong-hwi ground his teeth.

Of course he’d be frustrated. He had issued a challenge to me only to suffer complete defeat after just one rally.

The gaze glaring at me was quite heated.

‘A narcissist with incredibly strong competitive spirit too.’

Another modifier for Seong-hwi was added in my mind.

Meanwhile, thanks to my aerial attack, the atmosphere had flipped once again.

“Si-hwan, amazing!”

“Brother, you’re seriously so cool!”

“Hit them all and come back! We can win!”

Even guys whose faces I didn’t know were caught up in the frenzy, making a racket.

Being excited was unavoidable. They were about to win without lifting a finger.

It was a natural progression since everyone would know how big an advantage it was to be able to freely create their own PR videos.

On the other hand, the red team was in chaos after Seong-hwi, who had been playing the leader role, left the court.

“H-hey. You attack.”

“Me go forward? How can I beat that guy! Can’t do it, can’t do it.”

Kang Seon-woo came right up near the center line and spread both arms toward me.

“Si-hwan! This is my last request. Send me off without it hurting! Please! I got too scared!”

“Well, what should I do for you.”

Still, since there was some affection there, I couldn’t bring myself to openly throw a fastball.

When I caught the ball and lightly tapped his head, Kang Seon-woo even bowed deeply while expressing his gratitude.

“Thank you for sparing me! Really thank you!”

“Yeah, yeah.”

All the trainees watching the game burst into laughter.

For some reason, whenever I get caught in the same frame as Kang Seon-woo, unintended comedy scenes seem to be created.

After that, the dodgeball game was quickly wrapped up.

The trainees, who were intimidated by my pitching skills that I had shown a few times, couldn’t even easily come out to attack. So I easily seized the ball every time and racked up consecutive multi-kills again.

“Yes, game over! Finally, the benefit of choosing PR video themes goes to the blue team!”

“Wahhh!”

As soon as the ending whistle blew, I saw participants running toward me and hurriedly backed away.

‘If I get body-slammed by those kids charging like that, I won’t even be able to pick up my bones.’

{Uh, um, Master! I’m going up first, so come back alive!}

‘You’re being cowardly, running away by yourself!’

Like an angry wave, Cerberus quickly got down from my shoulder as the crowd surged toward me. Then he ran out of the auditorium so fast that the Yorkshire Terrier’s short legs were barely visible.

In the end, left alone, I was captured by teammates who had gathered from all sides and forced to undergo a celebratory toss.

“Ryu Si-hwan! Ryu Si-hwan!”

“You sing well, dance well, and are good at sports too – what are we supposed to do!”

“I’m dizzy, I’m dizzy! Put me down!”

Only after being tossed into the air about five or six times could I step on the ground again.

Geez. If I get serious about competing one or two more times, I might face even more terrible things.

I wiped the slight sweat that had formed on my forehead while listening to additional explanations about the PR videos.

“Participants, thank you so much for engaging so enthusiastically in the game. It was definitely fun to watch!”

If it hadn’t been for the theme selection rights, I wouldn’t have exerted myself like this.

The KNet production team that brilliantly took hostages was truly amazing.

“The victorious blue team should come down to the 2nd floor set in 2 hours and create videos with the themes they want. The set also has various props that match different themes, so please think hard about good ideas during the preparation time. On the other hand, our red team will have to entrust their fate to this lottery machine.”

The guys wearing red vests let out small groans.

Seong-hwi still had eyes that hadn’t cooled down from his anger.

‘Manage your expressions a bit. I’m getting more sorry watching you.’

What was he going to do if that became good editing material later?

No matter how much he seemed like a character who didn’t really care about others’ gazes, he still needed to take care of his own image that would appear on the actual broadcast of 〈ISL 2〉.

Really, he was extremely my-way in every aspect.

“Brother! Have you decided what theme to do? Oh, drink some water first! You must be thirsty from running around so much. Hehe.”

Yu Ha-woon grinned while personally handing me a water bottle.

When I expressed my gratitude first and drank the water, Ma Si-hyeok, who was next to me, looked at me with a slightly aggrieved expression.

I had a feeling I knew why.

‘Don’t tell me he’s upset because he couldn’t bring me water first?’

The moment I saw the two water bottles in Ma Si-hyeok’s hands, I realized my guess was correct.

This isn’t even some affection-raising game, yet the kids keep making a fuss trying to take care of me first.

When the ones who should be receiving care are themselves.

“Theme? Hmm… I’ll have to think about it from now on.”

“Brother Si-hwan has many things only you can do. You probably have quite a lot of options.”

“Haha, even when you say that, nothing’s really coming to mind yet.”

I laughed awkwardly at Ma Si-hyeok’s one-sided praise.

But it was unexpectedly sensible words.

‘Definitely, when it comes to PR videos, everyone will choose similar themes.’

Since first impressions are important, the concepts trainees can set are limited.

If you show something too flashy or too unfamiliar, it could backfire.

They’d most safely act cute and appeal, or show off talents like voice impressions, or really simply sing or dance.

However, being safe means you might not get any particular attention and just pass by unremarkably.

‘Let me think about what I can do within a standardized format.’

That’s when a really good inspiration suddenly flashed in my mind.

I tapped Ma Si-hyeok’s broad shoulder once while flashing him a smile.

“Thanks to you, I immediately got an idea. Thanks, Si-hyeok.”

“I, I really didn’t say anything important to you, Brother—”

“No, even if it seems like nothing to you, it can work importantly for other people. Really, thank you.”

Then Ma Si-hyeok’s expression brightened considerably.

Despite his appearance, seeing him grin foolishly while nodding his head, he really looked like a large dog.

During the given 2 hours, I took a clean shower, changed clothes, and returned to the dorm.

Cerberus was really tired, as he had collapsed right onto my bed and fallen asleep.

I quickly selected a few songs on my phone.

‘Still, since I had classified many in advance, I can choose quickly.’

After the preparation time ended, I went down to the 2nd floor set where the PR videos would be filmed.

The first to greet me was Chae Ha-ru.

“Brother.”

“Oh, Ha-ru. You came down quickly?”

“There wasn’t really anything to do. I came down and was practicing while you were washing up.”

“What did you draw—”

At my question, Chae Ha-ru quietly showed me the paper inside the red capsule.

[Face Genius – Highlight your face as much as possible during the PR video!]

Really, this guy also has golden luck flowing.

“How do you amazingly get something like this?”

“I would have preferred if something else came out. I have no idea what to do.”

“Ha-ru, you could just look at the camera quietly with your bangs up and that theme would be fulfilled, right?”

“Really?”

“But if you really just stay still for 3 minutes, you’ll get scolded by me.”

Chae Ha-ru drew a theme befitting Chae Ha-ru, but.

“I, Kang Seon-woo, curse Ryu Si-hwan.”

“Why is this guy like this again?”

“I, Kang Seon-woo, extremely curse Ryu Si-hwan!”

Kang Seon-woo, so excited that his eyes were spinning, grabbed my shoulders and shook me back and forth.

Obviously, it seemed like the theme drawing went terribly wrong.

What on earth did he draw to be acting like this?

[3 Types of Cute and Adorable Face – You must show 3 types of cute and adorable face in your PR video!]

“There’s no cuteness nor adorableness in my body! I’m already an adult who’s well past 20, so how can I openly do a 3-type of them!”

“If you get yourself together and refer to other idols’ face—”

“Those people can do it because they’re really cute-looking! If someone like me with upturned eyes acts cute, it’ll be horrible! Really, Ryu Si-hwan is so annoying!”

“You drew it yourself, so why are you blaming me…”

Well, it wasn’t entirely not my fault, so I had nothing more to say.

But what could I do? I also had to play hard to avoid such options.

‘Ugh, really horrible. Just imagining it is horrible. If I had gotten a cute face…’

…Let’s stop thinking about it.

The group with decided themes went to the left room, and the group that could choose themes went to the right room.

Having lined up quite early, I entered the filming location after waiting about 15 minutes.

As soon as I entered, the props placed on the shelves greeted me.

There was quite a variety, from cute headbands to musical instruments.

I smiled inwardly while looking at the instruments.

“Can I use this acoustic guitar?”

I got permission from the staff and acquired the acoustic guitar.

During my Black Hash Entertainment days, I had taken guitar lessons for 5 years.

While staying in hell, I had practiced chords in the air so I wouldn’t forget how to play guitar.

Fortunately, when I tried playing guitar after returning to Korea, my skills hadn’t rusted yet.

I sat on the white chair while looking at the camera.

Then I cleared my throat once and strummed the guitar.

“Hello, national managers. From now on, we’ll begin a high-quality radio broadcast.”