115 – Haildo Appears on TV with Nymphs! #2
The rainy city of London.
Since the rift appeared in the world, due to climatic changes, London has become a city where clear weather is a rarity.
A taxi stops on the bustling street filled with people holding umbrellas.
Tap-. Vroom-.
Cha Yura stepped out into the taxi stand where the rain was pouring down.
“It’s drizzling again. London.”
Near the famous London clock tower stood the “World Awakened Association.”
Cha Yura was already feeling nervous about the upcoming S-Rank Awakened meeting there.
“Seo Ye-rim. Hurry up!”
Cha Yura looked at Seo Ye-rim who was coming from afar.
Seo Ye-rim was surrounded by reporters, taking photos from various angles.
Seo Ye-rim was both an S-Rank Awakened and a globally renowned celebrity and fashion model.
Just walking the rainy streets of London was like being in a photo sh**t.
Soon, Seo Ye-rim broke through the crowd of reporters and said,
“I wonder what annoying things will happen this year. S-Rank Awakened meetings always have plenty of bothersome issues. I’m really looking forward to the nonsense they’ll be spouting.”
Most S-Rank Awakened people tended to be somewhat unusual.
Many of them could even be called eccentric or odd.
At last year’s meeting, the S-Ranker from America, “Outlaw – Cash,” and the S-Ranker from Germany, “Smoker – Roberto,” had even gotten into a fight.
That was because Roberto kept smoking indoors, and thinking back on that, Seo Ye-rim felt a headache coming on.
“Seriously, none of them know how to control their tempers. I’m worried that Cash will lose it again and start aiming a g*n at someone or shooting.”
“You saying you can control your temper is strange, Seo Ye-rim.”
“What are you talking about? I’m quite mild-mannered, you know?”
Seo Ye-rim grimaced.
In reality, Seo Ye-rim had a point.
Her ability was “Pyrokinesis,” which allowed her to control flames.
People often called pyromancers hotheaded and many became criminals known as “villains,” typically exhibiting antisocial behavior.
In that sense, Seo Ye-rim was indeed managing her inner fire quite well.
With a sigh, Cha Yura entered the clock tower with her arms crossed.
She calmly said,
“I heard there’s going to be an A-Rank meeting soon, right? I’m more worried about that. There’s always trouble, especially with the A-Ranks. The atmosphere is a bit… tense.”
Cha Yura recalled her days as an A-Rank.
Thinking back to those times still made her dizzy in various ways.
The tension was completely different from that of the S-Ranks; an A-Rank meeting had its own unique stress.
Cha Yura shuddered as those memories surfaced.
“I heard that Il-do has been invited to the domestic A-Rank meeting this time. I wonder if there will be any issues? I don’t think he and Han Ju-ryeon are compatible at all.”
Han Ju-ryeon was someone who adored animals, as did Haildo.
They were similar but in slightly different directions.
However, Seo Ye-rim didn’t seem too concerned.
“I don’t think that’ll be a big issue. More importantly, what’s today’s agenda? I think they said something happened in the Pacific Ocean.”
“I don’t know either!”
The S-Rank Awakened.
They were the heroes and superhumans of the world, finally coming together in one place.
# # #
“I think it’s better to decline.”
After much contemplation, I finally reached a conclusion.
The domestic A-Rank Awakened meeting.
Being invited to that was a huge honor, but attending it felt like overstepping.
After all, I was still a B-Rank.
I didn’t have the qualification to go there.
Moreover—
If by chance I participated in that meeting and took a long time to reach A-Rank afterward…
If I couldn’t grow any further and remained a B-Rank forever…
Then my attendance at the A-Rank meeting would truly become some kind of embarrassing history.
In other words, it would be a huge blunder.
I knew better than anyone how dangerous and shameful such blunders could be, so I decided to decline.
“Muhuhuh, look at how the Illinois is capturing and over-catching the Nymph Pokémon…! All Fairy-types…! Nymph-friendly Fairy-types…!”
And—
I had the duty to take care of Illinois and Inoi.
What if those guys caused trouble while I was at the A-Rank meeting?
With that feeling, I decided not to go to the A-Rank meeting.
I regretted not being able to see the faces of the top A-Ranks in Korea, but—
It couldn’t be helped.
When I genuinely rank up to A-Rank, I’ll attend proudly then.
Anyway.
I regretfully turned on the internet.
“Why has TelTalk changed so that short replies aren’t possible? It’s crossing the line.”
“Sometimes you need to write one letter, but I have to write two. It’s super inconvenient lol.”
“Did the 681st TelTalk crash? Are we going in?”
“Today, the online world is very peaceful.”
Hehehe-.
I rubbed my hands together and started typing on the keyboard.
I figured I should search for my name according to my daily routine—just as I thought, there wasn’t much about me today.
The user “My Assistant Kkungkungi,” who always wrote about me, hadn’t posted anything today.
After posting daily, their absence today made me feel somewhat disappointed and worried at the same time.
Are they sick?
Or perhaps my fans have lost interest in me because I haven’t been active!?
“This isn’t good. I need to somehow raise my popularity. If I’d known this would happen, I should have just gone to the A-Rank meeting, right? No, that thought is—.”
At that moment, I noticed a rather intriguing message in my inbox.
“Hello, I’m Kim Ae-ho PD from the ‘Animal Farm’ production team. We’re looking to film Awakened Haildo and his pets for the upcoming episode 1004, so I’m contacting you—.”
Oh.
“Animal Farm.”
I was familiar with that program.
It was so much fun to watch back when I would wake up every Saturday morning as a kid.
All sorts of adorable animals made an appearance!
“I had a feeling I’d be getting contacted soon.”
I glanced around.
Kkungkkungi was curled up on the sofa.
Ahn Ahn was washing dishes in the sink.
Kkungkkungi was sitting on the sofa and singing.
And Kalilnoi, looking a bit bored, was flapping its wings and playfully hitting me.
“Kalilnoi. There’s dust. I’ll take you for a walk later, so go outside for now.”
—Phew, whew…!
Honestly, I found it strange that they hadn’t come to film me living with such amazing animals.
“The number one in ratings is a sure thing.”
The number one in ratings.
That signified immense fame.
And as fame rises, surely my name, Haildo, would be plastered all over social media!
On every site, my name would be on the best, recommended, and featured lists!
“Hehehe. Great. When are they coming?”
Looking at the date.
It wasn’t long until the filming day!
I informed Inoi of the fact that the filming crew might be coming.
In response, Inoi was very pleased.
“This Inoi wants to appear on TV too…! I want to let everyone know the good points of the native Nymph in a world full of foreign long-eared Elves…!”
Inoi was a Nymph who loved showing off and bragging.
Quickly.
Inoi lifted up its piggy bank.
“This Inoi intends to showcase these mysterious donation coins that I personally collected on TV…! Surely no other Nymph or Elf has been able to gather so many mysterious coins…!”
Indeed—
Inoi seemed to be itching to show off the coins it collected.
Soon, Illinois, chuckling mischievously, said,
“Indeed, this Illinois will promote the Nymph-friendly drawings I’ve worked hard on and even sell the leftover stock…! The power of farm-to-table organic Nymphs…! I will showcase it…!”
No, you aren’t the farm-to-table fairy of the Korean Peninsula.
In reality, Nymphs, like Elves, were not native species of the Korean Peninsula, but I couldn’t say such things.
Because Inoi and Illinois were too excited.
“Illinois is doing a happy Nymph dance…! The owner of the Nymph-friendly house is giving our Nymphs a chance to appear on TV…!”
“Of course…! Let’s do it…! Our Nymphs will finally make it to the airwaves…! Even without wings, we will be flying fairies…!”
Doom chika doom chika-.
Feeling joyous about the TV appearance, Illinois and Inoi raised their hands and spun in circles.
It was quite a lively scene.
However, I felt joyful too.
# # #
Kim Ae-ho, the new PD of Animal Farm.
A healthy 24-year-old with a dynamic ponytail, dressed for a year-round hiking adventure.
She was a former D-Rank Awakened and was emerging as a star in the broadcast industry.
“Although many say terrestrial broadcasts are losing relevance in a world active with YouTube and personal streaming these days…”
The house she was about to visit was known as “The Squirrel Haildo.”
“This is a rare opportunity. Since it’s a program I loved, I’ll make sure to succeed again…!”
As the broadcast vehicle entered the village, just like any rural area, the squirrels began to bark loudly, but surprisingly, they weren’t dogs.
“There are so many squirrels! Everyone, film them! Film!”
Kim Ae-ho felt elated watching the squirrels scurrying around.
Cameras were busily capturing the squirrels, which were moving to and fro, squeezing between people’s legs.
“We’re the first to cover this village on terrestrial television, right? So we need to do our best. Give it your all!”
This village was mainly managed by the Megacorp “Telos Corporation.”
They had been evading media coverage of Primal Village in numerous ways.
Taking advantage of the attention of Telos Corporation, which was focused on the World Awakened Conference in London, PD Kim Ae-ho emailed Haildo—
And that led to today’s filming.
“It’s truly a miracle! Honestly, I didn’t think they would agree to the filming!”
—Phew-.
—Phew, whew-.
Flapping wings of the tiger owls fluttered here and there.
—Zhu zhu-.
—Joo ji…?
—Kyu ji…!
Along with the honey ants scurrying in the fields and rice paddies, helping with farming—
PD Kim Ae-ho felt as though she had entered a fairy tale.
“Look at this! Actual honey ants farming! If I just filmed these scenes and uploaded them to YouTube, we’d easily get a million views worldwide! Everyone, are you filming well?”
Kim Ae-ho roamed the neighborhood, capturing the scenery to her heart’s content.
At 24 years old, she loved animals so much that she realized just how amazing the animals roaming around in this village were.
Each and every one of them was at a level that could easily be designated as a “natural monument”!
For anyone who loved animals, this was truly heaven!
It was the perfect location for episode 1004’s special filming.
“Now we’re headed to Mr. Il-do’s house! This is just the beginning, so everyone, don’t cause any trouble! There are many peculiar people among the Awakened.”
Upon arriving at the house of “Haildo,” everyone paused slightly.
“The owner of the house…! Is here…! This Inoi is finally appearing on TV…!”
“Why are you just standing there staring…? Hurry and come over here…!”
Strange friends jumped out energetically.
