In This Life, The Greatest Star In The Universe - Chapter 113:

Translator: MarcTempest

Editor: Rxel

Chapter 113

The explanation for the treasure hunt was over and the team meetings began.

“Do you know any of the quiz answers?”

“Um… I know a few, but there are too many trivial ones…”

“I have no idea.”

For Teams A and B, it was like finding a needle in a haystack.

But by racking their brains and recalling their memories, they managed to fill out some of the answer sheets.

 

“I think we can secure some of them this way. For the rest, we’ll have to rely on the missions…”

“Or we’ll have to steal them.”

That was the common opinion among Team B, who had the least number of golden keys.

“Let’s steal them right from the start. We only have two anyway, so we have nothing to lose. The rules said we can still steal even if we have zero keys. It’s only one per person, but…”

“Then we should target the team with the most keys.”

Team B’s eyes naturally turned to Team C.

Team C, who had won the first mission, had seven keys.

One of the members of Girls on Top, Gil Chaekyung, glanced at someone and smiled faintly.

“Then we’ll go after New Black from Team C.”

“Idols versus idols, that sounds fair.”

“Is that okay? They’re on fire today. Can you handle them?”

“Yes! Please trust us.”

Meanwhile, Team A was also having a strategy meeting.

“We’ve filled out about 40 percent of the answer sheet, so let’s quickly go to the houses that match them.”

“Sounds good.”

“And… about stealing the keys, we have to do that too, right?”

As the other guests nodded at Oh Hyungseok’s words, Model Han Sora suggested something.

“I think we should be more careful about being stolen than stealing, don’t you think?”

“That makes sense too.”

At that moment.

“How about this?”

Comedian Seo Jihyung proposed an idea.

“What if we divide the roles and have someone who specializes in stealing?”

“You mean you?”

“Yes, sir. I may not be good at being funny, but I’ve done a lot of missions in variety shows.”

“That’s true.”

“Don’t worry.”

Seo Jihyung said confidently, “I’m confident in doing any mission.”

Watching him, Yang Okbun peeled an orange and said, “Hey, Jihyung. Then who are you going to target?”

“Of course, Team C. Who else?”

“Hmm…”

The veteran actor asked with a worried tone, “Are you sure? They’re on a roll today. Heechan and Heeyeon look in good shape too. You know you can’t beat Heeyeon physically, right? Unless you’re an athlete, you can’t beat her.”

“Come on, I know. That’s why I’m looking at the other kids.”

“Kids? New Black?” Actor Lee Kangjin asked, and Seo Jihyung nodded.

“Yes.”

“They look like they’re not easy to deal with, even though they’re rookies. Can you do well?”

His pride was hurt by the question, and Seo Jihyung’s eyebrows twitched slightly.

He said confidently, as if to prove himself, “Don’t worry, everyone. I’ll take it from them as you see.”

***

“Don’t worry, everyone. I’ll take it from them as you see.”

“Oh, really.”

Ye Heeyeon crossed her arms and tapped the dirt floor with the tip of her sneakers.

“He totally looks down on our team. I have to give him a good scolding to wake him up.”

“Uh, Heeyeon… Calm down…”

“What calm down, we’re going to smash them from the start!”

Lee Gyeonwoo backed away from her erupting like a volcano, and Maxi continued to eavesdrop.

“Hey, Jihyung. Stay away from Heeyeon, she has a long grudge and no joke. If you lose, she’ll chase you around all day. You can’t handle that. You know? What, you think you can run away? Go ahead and try.”

“Teacher, that’s too much! I don’t have a grudge!”

“Hey.”

Maxi wiped the spit on her cheek and made a sad face.

“Why are you angry at me, I’m just delivering the message.”

“Oh, I’m sorry. Unnie.”

“No, it’s okay. It happens.”

“Please tell me the rest quickly.”

As they listened to the other team’s plans in real-time, Woojoo was solving the problem.

“Number 39 is Grandma Kang Boksoon… I wrote this down on my notepad. She said she was born in North Korea, and she was born in Wonsan.”

“Wonsan is number 7.”

“The next problem is someone I haven’t met.”

“Don’t worry. I remember.”

Lee Gyeonwoo drew a neat circle on the choices. That was how they became a duo and solved the problems.

It was what happened when he was solving the problem after the mission explanation.

-I have a good memory too.

When they were stuck for a long time, that senior stepped up.

He had such a good memory that he solved the problems about the people he had met once.

He was a unique character.

At first, he seemed like a confident and overflowing Hallyu star, but when Woojoo looked closer, he was very introverted.

He responded softly to anyone who approached him, but he seemed to have a hard time with that. It looked like the typical exhaustion that introverts felt when they met outsiders.

Woojoo gave him a thumbs-up as he solved the problem quickly.

“Wow, Sunbae-nim. You have a really good memory.”

“I have to memorize a lot of scripts.”

“No, really. This is something that… you have to have a good memory to do.”

“Is that so? …Oh, we’re done.”

It was the last question.

The team members had been working on a strategy.

They didn’t need a special strategy like the other teams.

They literally had the correct answers to all the problems, so it was more important how they got there than where they went.

Their focus was on the movement patterns.

While Heysion and Junghyun, who had run around the whole town being chased by the black goat, told them the fastest routes, Ye Heeyeon said.

“We have to hit and run as fast as possible. You know what that means, right? We have to get the golden keys first, and as soon as we collect sixteen of them, we go straight to the back mountain. Okay?”

“Take it easy, Ye Heeyeon. You’re so fired up…!”

Ye Heeyeon, who was punishing her brother, looked at Woojoo.

“And Woojoo?”

“Yes, Sunbae-nim.”

“You said you practiced a lot of digging, right? You stay near the entrance of the back mountain as much as possible. We’ll take care of the keys, so be ready to run away at any time.”

“Yes, I’ll do that.”

Woojoo nodded and then asked something that came to his mind.

“By the way, how do we shake off the other teams?”

“That’s easy. Just run fast.”

“…”

Everyone was speechless, and Ye Heechan bit his tongue.

“Little sister. That’s only possible for you.”

“Oh, really? Then…”

That was when everyone was thinking.

Junghyun suggested an idea.

“I have one thing in mind.”

It was an idea that everyone liked.

***

7 p.m.

“The mission will start now. Please get ready… One, two… Three! Please go!”

As the main PD’s signal with the megaphone sounded, 30 celebrities started running at once.

They scattered to the houses they had checked their routes beforehand, while several people stuck to Team C’s tail from the start.

The keys could be stolen until the middle point of the village.

As the guests and the VJs were panting, Team C finally entered a house.

Somewhere, a suspicious sound of chains rattling was heard, but Seo Jihyung of Team A and Song Jinwoo of Team B rushed in without hesitation.

“…?”

But Team C’s people were nowhere to be seen.

Clank-

As the back door closed, they tried to run, but they couldn’t get past the yard.

It was because of the being that was standing there.

Baa-

With a heavy bleat that rose from the ground, yellow eyes flashed in the darkness.

The two men swallowed their saliva at the sight of the huge black furball.

‘Come to think of it…’

They remembered hearing that some people from Team C were chased by a black goat. They had scoffed at them for being chased by a goat, but when they became the target, it was no laughing matter.

Meanwhile, as the two humans stopped, the black goat leader recalled the whisper of Junghyun that he had just heard.

‘Baa. Baa.’

They didn’t know what that sound meant, but it was not important to the black goat.

The leader started to charge at the intruders.

And then.

Swish-

As the black goat rushed in, the chains were pulled tight. But he didn’t reach the humans, and Seo Jihyung and Song Jinwoo looked at each other and snickered.

“Geez, you’re scared of a tied-up goat.”

“Yeah. Hey, goat, we’re just passing by~”

“You’re so pathetic, really.”

Every time they laughed, the black goat became more furious and twisted his body.

And finally.

Thud-

“…….”

The moment the black goat and the two humans locked eyes, the same thing that happened in the daytime repeated itself, only with different people.

***

Jiho was moving with Heysion as a two-person team.

“Grandma Chilseong! Number eight! Hometown Geoje, Gyeongnam.”

“Oh yeah.”

That was how they exchanged passwords and received paper certificates as they went around.

He came out of the first house in a good mood, but he ran into his nemesis right away.

Oh Hyena and Gil Chaekyung of Girls on Top.

The one with fierce eyes and the one with a sweet face popped out of the alley. And then they pointed at Jiho.

“We challenge you!”

Jiho smiled politely at the girl group members.

-Hyung, what if I can’t control my expression?

-Just think of it as acting.

He felt better remembering the previous conversation.

“Hello, Sunbae.”

“Yeah, long time no see.”

As the two of them chatted amiably, Heysion asked, “Do you know each other?”

“We were in the same class in high school. I was the class president, and that Sunbae was the vice president.”

“So you were classmates. I see. But you were the president?”

“Yup.”

“Oh, you’re quite a leader. You.”

“No, not really. The kids made me the president when I brought two pizzas and a chicken.”

“…….”

While they were talking, the production staff said, “The challenger is Gil Chaekyung, and the target is Wang Jiho, right?”

“Yes.”

“How many keys do you want?”

“One… no, two.”

The producer nodded and said, “The mission is a trivia quiz, best of three.”

“Tr, trivia?”

Jiho felt his vision go dark.

He had no confidence in trivia at all. How was he supposed to do this?

This was something that Rihyuk or Woojoo should do…

But he soon shook his head. The two brothers were not around, so he had to do it by himself.

“Okay, then here is the first question. What is the capital of the United States?”

“Chaekyung! New York.”

“No.”

“Jiho! LA.”

“No.”

“Chaekyung! Los Angeles!”

“Absolutely not.”

But once he started, he felt relieved.

It was what it was.

Heysion and Oh Hyena were pounding their chests in frustration behind them, but the vocal and the president and vice-president of Class 1 proudly showed off their ignorance.

“Chaekyung! Washington!”

“That’s correct!”

“Ah…! I was about to say that!”

This happened after more than 50 city names came out.

While Gil Chaekyung, who won the first round, sent him a smug look, Jiho clenched his mouth.

And then the quiz continued, and Jiho’s eyes sparkled.

“When I called his name, he came to me and became a flower. Who is the poet who wrote this poem?”

“Uh… Uh…”

He had heard this before.

When they decided on the names of their Souffles and teased Woojoo, Junghyun had recited this poem.

But why couldn’t he remember?

He had heard the title before.

‘Oh, really, Wang Jiho, you idiot…’ He thought, and his brain automatically reacted to the keyword ‘idiot’.

-It’s Kim Chunsoo. You idiot. Did you sleep in literature class?

Jiho raised his hand.

“Jiho! Kim Chunsoo!”

“Wow… Unbelievable.”

Heysion, who was standing behind him, swept his chest and exclaimed, and Jiho smiled in victory.

Then he smiled at Gil Chaekyung.

“We learned this in our literature class.”

“We don’t have a literature class in our grade.”

“…Next quiz, please!”

Now it was one to one.

The two idols who were burning with competitive spirit faced the quiz.

“This is the last quiz. Name six metropolitan cities in our country.”

“…Metropolitan cities?”

Jiho doubted his ears.

Could he be so lucky?

He had just heard the names of the six metropolitan cities and where they were.

Grandma Im Soonhyun had said that even a Pomeranian would know that.

‘But what were they?’

As he tried to recall the city names in his head, Gil Chaekyung quickly raised her hand.

“Chaekyung! Seoul, Incheon…”

“Nope.”

“Jiho! Busan, Daegu, Daejeon, Incheon, Gwangju, uh, uh… ooh… Ulsan!”

“That’s correct!”

Gil Chaekyung’s eyes widened. She looked incredulous. Jiho felt a surge of pride.

He didn’t know why Heysion behind him had the same expression.

Anyway, Jiho approached Gil Chaekyung and gave her a bright smile.

“Thank you, Sunbae. I’ll take the key!”

***

Woojoo teamed up with Maxi and wandered around.

Their Team C was currently leading with 11 keys, while Team B had 7 and Team A had 9, chasing them closely.

After visiting a few predetermined places and resting near the back mountain, the production crew gave them some sad news.

“Team C lost one key!”

“Why?” Maxi asked, and the VJ answered while looking at his phone.

“Heysion’s team got two keys, and Rihyuk’s team lost three keys, so one was taken away. Both games were quizzes.”

“…What?”

Did Woojoo hear that wrong?

The youngest won a quiz, and Rihyuk lost?

“Rihyuk’s team had a nonsense quiz.”

“Oh…”

“Heysion’s team had a simple common sense quiz.”

“Oh…?”

One made sense, and one didn’t, but it wasn’t a big deal anyway.

And that was when it started.

After getting some keys, the stealing and being stolen started to happen frequently. When one team took the lead, the other two teams would join forces and attack, and that was how the balance was maintained.

It was a dynamic fight.

But from the waiting position, Woojoo was only yawning.

Rather.

“I wish someone would come and find us.”

“Yeah. This is kind of boring.”

As they exchanged such words.

Rustle-

The bushes rustled, and a shifty-looking Mongol man appeared.

It was Seo Jihyung.

But he seemed more surprised to see them than they were.

“Huh. What. Why are you here…”

Then he quickly put on a smug expression and pointed at Woojoo.

“I challenge you!”

Things happened in an instant.

The mission that they would compete in was also revealed right away. It was ‘chicken fight’.

While the production staff drew a line on the dirt floor with a stone, Seo Jihyung smiled triumphantly.

Why was he like that?

He acted as if he had already won, but Woojoo couldn’t understand why.

Using his body was his specialty.

 

Seo Jihyung stood with his legs locked.

Standing on the empty lot where a chilly wind blew, he looked at his opponent with a determined eye.

Chicken fight was his forte.

He had been doing it for almost 10 years on the entertainment scene, along with games like popping balloons.

‘I will win this.’

He could confidently say that with a 99% probability.

The chance of his opponent winning was maybe 1%.

It was impossible unless he was a chicken in his previous life.

Especially look at him.

He was handsome enough to rival Lee Gyeonwoo, but his body was frail.

He seemed to have at least 20 kilograms less weight than him. And with that much difference in weight class, one push would be enough.

That was why he boldly said, “I’ll bet two.”

The game started right away.

Best of three.

‘I’ll finish it cleanly from the start!’

As soon as the game started, Seo Jihyung charged confidently.

And when he threw his body at the idol who was defenseless.

‘…Huh?’

He felt something strange.

There should have been something touching his body, but there was nothing. And then his vision flashed.

When he came to his senses, he was lying down.

“…What, what is this?”

“Are you okay?”

What happened? He disappeared right before the collision and then he felt an impact from behind.

He wanted to borrow a camera from the VJ and see the replay.

That was why he approached cautiously in the second round.

As he moved carefully, Woojoo also moved annoyingly.

The opponent also seemed to consider the weight difference.

‘But what’s with him?’

He said he wouldn’t win unless he was a chicken in his previous life, but he looked like a master who had been rolling in the chicken fight scene for over ten years.

‘Ugh! Why can’t I catch him?’

Woojoo always slipped away just as he was about to grab him. And he always had that smug smile on his face that annoyed him so much.

Maybe it was personal, but Seo Jihyung didn’t like him from the start.

Woojoo made him look bad in the opening, and he ruined his hard work in the cooking mission. Of course, it wasn’t his fault, but he was just a thorn in his side.

So when he had the chance, he decided to give him a taste of his own medicine. But it didn’t go as planned.

However, soon he saw an opportunity.

He realized that Woojoo was getting tired.

‘Now’s the time!’

Seo Jihyung sprinted towards him as he showed a gap in his defense.

But at that moment, his lips curved into a strange smile.

‘…Huh?’

Woojoo dodged him with a swift sidestep. And where Seo Jihyung stopped was the edge of a line drawn with stones on the dirt.

“Whoa!”

Seo Jihyung wobbled on the brink, and Woojoo came closer and pushed him off balance.

“Oof! Ouch!”

Seo Jihyung fell flat on his face.

He felt a weird embarrassment and stayed down for a while. Then someone squatted in front of him.

Leopard-print pants.

And sunglasses in the dark night.

Maxi was looking at him with a pitying expression. Her whispery voice reached his ears.

“Aww… you only threw away the poor key.”

“…”

Seo Jihyung felt like crying for some reason.