The Gates Opened on the First Day of Debut – Chapter 32

Author: rolypoly

“Rock, paper, scissors! Rock, paper, scissors!”

The staff member shouted the calls in succession.

The staff member in charge of the rock-paper-scissors game always led with scissors first, and if he lost, he would throw paper next.

Because they lost to a rock, they subconsciously thought they could win by throwing paper next.

“Argh! I lost!”

The result was an easy victory for me.

I won the first round by throwing rock, and the second round by throwing scissors.

“Dungeon cleared. Go ahead and take a gold ball!”

The staff member pointed to a transparent box filled with colorful balls.

I casually pulled out a gold ball from the top and headed straight to the next dungeon.

“Found it! So that’s the dungeon… Huh?”

On my way to the second dungeon, I ran into a few trainees who had finally found the first one after wandering around.

The trainees cast glances at me that practically screamed, He cleared the first dungeon already? But I paid them no mind.

I had to clear as many dungeons as possible in the beginning while the other trainees were still confused.

“Ah, please wait a moment! There’s a trainee who arrived first. Read this in the meantime.”

When I arrived at the second dungeon, just like at the first one, the staff member handed me a sheet of paper.

There was someone who had arrived at the second dungeon before me.

[Dungeon #2: Right? Or Left? Cham-cham-cham!

Description: Play Cham-cham-cham with the staff member three times and win twice.]

Only the type of game had changed; everything else was the same as the first dungeon.

“Are you ready?”

“Yes.”

I stared intently at the back of the trainee who had arrived first.

‘How tall is he… he looks at least 190 cm.’

I could tell who it was just by his height and build.

Kang Haesoo.

He’s two years younger than me and reportedly trained to be an athlete until his first year of high school.

Well, whatever—that wasn’t what mattered right now anyway.

“Get ready… Cham-cham-cham!”

The serious-faced staff member shouted while swiping the toy hammer in their hand to the left.

Almost at the exact moment the staff member moved the hammer, Kang Haesoo snapped his head to the right.

The first round was Kang Haesoo’s victory.

“Cham-cham-cham! Ugh…”

This time, the staff member moved the hammer to the right, but Kang Haesoo turned his head to the left.

The game ended in less than thirty seconds.

Kang Haesoo asked the staff member with a nonchalant expression.

“I won, right?”

“Uh, ah… Yes. You can take a gold ball.”

The staff member seemed a bit flustered after being completely defeated from the very first round.

But regardless of the staff member’s confusion, Kang Haesoo took a gold ball and left to find the next dungeon without a second thought.

I stared blankly at Kang Haesoo’s receding back and thought.

‘Isn’t that practically cheating?’

The difference was so minute that an ordinary person wouldn’t notice.

But I, having played the same game dozens of times, could tell.

‘He definitely reacted after seeing which way the staff member turned the hammer.’

Was that even humanly possible?

If his reflexes were at that level, why did he quit sports to become an idol?

“Next trainee! Are you ready?”

“Ah, yes.”

“Then we’ll start right away. Cham-Cham-Cham!”

Like the staff member for rock-paper-scissors, the one for Cham-cham-cham had subconscious habits and patterns they weren’t aware of.

The staff member for Cham-cham-cham turned the hammer to the left, then to the right.

However, if the left-right combo didn’t work on the previous trainee….

“Cham-cham-cham! Ah… I lost again.”

The next directions are up and down.

I followed the sequence, turning my head down and then up, easily winning the game.

“You can take one gold ball.”

“Yes, thank you.”

Without hesitation, I pulled a gold ball from the transparent plastic box and headed for the next dungeon.

Or rather, I tried to.

“Oh….”

I hadn’t noticed because I was distracted by Kang Haesoo and the game in front of me, but someone had been standing behind me, watching me play.

“He-hello?”

I greeted him involuntarily.

Perhaps I felt some internal familiarity because I’d seen him so much on communities and social media.

The person watching me from behind was none other than Han Theo.

Even after receiving my greeting, Han Theo didn’t answer but just stared blankly.

“Uh… good luck. I’ll be going now….”

Just as I was about to leave for the next dungeon, thinking I shouldn’t have greeted him for nothing.

“Hey.”

“Yes?”

“Can I ask you something?”

Han Theo had something to ask me?

Before I could say anything, Han Theo continued immediately.

“Do you have any tips?”

“Tips…?”

“For this.”

Han Theo said, pointing to the paper the staff had handed him.

“I’ve never done it before.”

“When you say you’ve never done it….”

“The Cham-cham-cham game? I heard the name for the first time today.”

Ah.

Only then did I realize what Han Theo was struggling with and what he was asking.

‘He’s a third-generation Korean-American who lived in the US since he was a kid, so it makes sense he wouldn’t know.’

Hmm….

I understood what Han Theo was saying, but I couldn’t answer right away.

‘Should I help him or not?’

I also had to go clear the next dungeon.

Even if I had experience from dozens of regressions, variables could arise at any time, and absolute time was not abundant.

And above all, Han Theo was my biggest competitor.

“Alright.”

Though a chaotic whirlwind of worries and thoughts scrambled my mind, I ultimately nodded.

If you act too cunning on EX-Class K-POP Idol, you’re likely to become Jang Hyuksoo’s sacrificial lamb.

It’s much better to be someone who is foolishly kind than to act clever and end up failing miserably.

‘It’s not a difficult request, so let’s just help him and go our separate ways.’

However, there was one thing that had been bothering me for a moment.

“But why are you speaking informally?”

Of course, Han Theo and I were the same age.

But today was our first time talking, and it didn’t seem likely that Han Theo would know my age….

“Why?”

“Huh?”

“Aren’t you twenty? I’m twenty too.”

“Ah, no. You’re right. I’m twenty.”

“If it’s uncomfortable, I’ll use formal speech.”

“No, it’s fine. Do as you like.”

What the—he knew my age?

Well, yeah… I suppose he could.

We did meet as opponents during the first evaluation.

“You said it’s your first time playing Cham-cham-cham, right? Well, how should I help? Didn’t you see me doing it earlier?”

Han Theo nodded silently.

He had watched, but it seemed he hadn’t fully understood what kind of game it was.

“You just have to move your head according to how that staff member moves the hammer. If you move in the same direction, you lose.”

I did my best to explain the Cham-cham-cham game to Han Theo while moving my head and hands busily.

Han Theo, listening to my explanation with a serious face, nodded.

“Did you understand?”

“Mhm.”

“Then I’m going, okay?”

“Yeah, thanks.”

Though I felt a lingering sense of doubt, there was nothing more I could do for him.

I moved my feet toward the stairs to the second floor where the next dungeon was.

But even while thinking he’d do fine, I strangely kept worrying about Han Theo.

Just before going up the second-floor stairs, I glanced back at Han Theo, who was playing Cham-cham-cham for the first time in his life.

—Squeak!

Ah.

Han Theo, who had been miserably defeated at Cham-cham-cham, was hit on the head by the staff member’s toy hammer.

* * *

There were twelve dungeons prepared by Jang Hyuksoo in total, three per floor.

Even if a hundred trainees cleared only one dungeon each, at least seven to eight people would gather at each dungeon.

However, no trainee was satisfied with just one dungeon.

At the dungeons on the lower floors relatively close to the auditorium, more than twenty trainees stood in line to play.

‘It’s quiet.’

Having returned to the auditorium first, I sat down and looked around.

On average, people had about three balls; at most, they had about five, and the colors varied—gold, silver, and bronze.

—Beeeep!

The timer on the screen reached 00:00:00.

“Now, now! All dungeons are now closed! All trainees, please stop your dungeon raids and gather in the auditorium.”

The trainees who had been desperately struggling until the very last second to clear even just one more dungeon began trickling back into the auditorium one by one.

A staff member came up to the platform and handed a sheet of paper to the MC.

“Thank you. Let’s see here…. Oho, I see.”

The MC nodded as he scanned the paper with an intrigued expression.

The trainees, not knowing what was going on, looked at the MC while fiddling with their various colored balls.

“Trainees, is everyone here?”

“Yes!”

“Very good! You all worked hard clearing the dungeons! It was your first time raiding dungeons, so it must have been very unfamiliar and difficult, right?”

The trainees laughed awkwardly at the MC’s words.

The games were familiar, so they weren’t hard, but it must have been difficult because there were too few dungeons for the number of people.

Of course, it wasn’t particularly hard for me because I knew which dungeons had relatively fewer people.

‘After a quick scan from the 1st to the 2nd floor, I went through the 4th-floor dungeons where there were no people… and then clearing one more on the 3rd floor made it perfect.’

I stared at the gold and silver balls sitting between my legs.

The trainees sitting near me were already looking back and forth between me and the balls with wide eyes.

“Then, shall we check the rankings immediately?”

“Rankings…?”

“The dungeon clearing rankings, of course!”

As the MC snapped his fingers as if stating the obvious, the screen changed.

[1st Place: Kim Chowol

Grade A: 6, Grade B: 3, Grade C: 1, Total: 10]

The trainees were shocked when they saw the 1st place.

“10? How do you do 10?”

“Is Grade A the gold ball? 10 is shocking enough, but 6 of them are gold balls?”

“No way. I only got 2 bronze balls….”