213 – Clashing Selfish Hearts #1
To be honest, I liked getting people’s attention.
Is there a story about me circulating on the internet?
“Highlights of Haildo’s Activities Today”
If there was a post like the one above, I couldn’t muster enough patience not to click on it.
Whether it was a good story or a bad one, I felt compelled to see it to feel satisfied.
In that sense, I watched the broadcast that started simultaneously on MyTube, checking social media reactions on my phone in between.
I was sure there would be stories about me!
“Episode 1 viewership has surpassed 15 percent lol. Not bad considering it aired simultaneously on MyTube?”
“More than 10 people dropped out just 10 minutes into episode 1, that’s hilarious lol”
“Isn’t this embarrassing for the country? lol”
“Looks like 1/3 of the A-rankers are just hype, huh?”
The mood on social media after 10 to 20 minutes of the broadcast was like the above.
There was a lot of talk about the shocking development where more than 10 people dropped out en masse on the first night after showing a decent progression up until then.
This was roughly as expected.
Then when Han Ju-ryeon’s team clashed with our team, the social media reactions were like this.
“Wait, so Kang Jung-yeol really got ‘cut’?!”
“Cutting is really ruthless lol. Can all the sweet ants use it?”
“Lee Jin-A is a virgin, so goddess pass ㅎㅎㅎㅎ. From today on, any insult against Lee Jin-A counts as an insult against me.”
“The otaku who withstood temptation seems kind of cool ㄷㄷ”
Overall, the focus of the edits was on the performances of the sweet ant Ahn Ahn, Lee Jin-A, and the battle with the otaku, which meant there were many reactions about Ahn Ahn, Lee Jin-A, and the otaku.
This reaction was understandable up to this point.
However, the state of the forum after the broadcast was like this.
“Han Ju-ryeon Haildo kiss ㅗㅜㅑ”
“Random kiss scene in the survival show, what’s going on lol”
“How do I watch the next episode? Can I see it if I join the channel membership?”
“Personal statement) I will kill Haildo who stole Han Ju-ryeon’s lips”
“Is there a link to Haildo’s SNS?”
“Be careful lol. They say if you post negative comments about Haildo, you’ll end up in Namsan underground—”
My story of having a great fight with Han Ju-ryeon’s team, and the tale of heroically perishing while battling the S-rank demon “Superconductor Dragon,” all got overshadowed by the buzz of the last scene.
People began to chatter about Han Ju-ryeon’s mouth-to-mouth resuscitation on social media, and “Han Ju-ryeon” and “Han Ju-ryeon kiss” rose to 1st and 2nd in the newly created real-time search rankings respectively.
For reference, 3rd place was “Squirrel Beast,” and 4th was “Cut,” for reasons unknown. And 5th place was “Cut meaning.”
Anyone could see that my name, Haildo, the top performer in episode 1, only appeared for the first time at 6th in the search rankings, which was far from the publicity I had envisioned.
“My performance….”
1. Strategically outmaneuvering and conquering Do Jun-hwan and Kim Yu-mi’s team.
2. Fighting with Han Ju-ryeon’s team and quickly defeating Kang Jung-yeol.
3. Showing off in a 1:1 duel with Han Ju-ryeon.
4. Sacrificing my own body to quickly end the situation against the suddenly appearing demon “Superconductor Dragon.”
I could easily point out at least four memorable moments regarding my performance.
And I thought at least two of those would be highlighted as ‘Haildo Special’ on social media.
But the reality was different!
All my scenes of self-sacrifice ended up being overshadowed by Han Ju-ryeon’s mouth-to-mouth resuscitation!
Was my effort not worth even one kiss from a beauty?
Of course, the mouth-to-mouth procedure and first aid involved are incredibly significant and respected tasks that contribute to society, but—
“This isn’t right.”
“Hey! Haildo, what is that?!”
Amidst all this, Seo Ye-rim shouted at me.
Shivering, she trembled.
“I didn’t say there would be such a scene!”
“I didn’t know either!”
Why hadn’t the producers warned me in advance that such a scene would occur? Han Ju-ryeon, the person involved, also hadn’t mentioned anything to me.
“Oh. Wait—.”
Then suddenly, I remembered that right before Han Ju-ryeon, who had come to visit me in the hospital, left the room, she seemed to hesitate and try to tell me something.
Her face was flushed, and she seemed to want to make a somewhat embarrassing confession.
At that time, I thought Han Ju-ryeon was merely acknowledging, “You subdued me without the Squirrel Beast. That’s my defeat.”
Such acknowledgment would have been embarrassing for the proud Han Ju-ryeon.
In the end, Han Ju-ryeon had hesitated to tell me something, turned around swiftly, and left the hospital room. I hadn’t realized it then, but thinking back now—
Could she have known that such a situation would arise?
Ding dong ding dong-.
My phone began to ring loudly.
Messages started pouring in from acquaintances.
In the family group chat, the texts I had received had already surpassed 100.
“Mom: Haildo, what the hell happened!!! A kiss in front of the entire nation!!!”
“Dad: What do you mean your heart stopped?”
“My cute sister told me to save this: Oppa died and came back to life!!!? That’s awesome!!! Shit!!!! I have to brag to my friends!!!!”
Roughly, these were the kinds of stories.
It was utter chaos.
Soon, my phone rang again amid the noise.
“Ari”
It was Ari, who said she couldn’t join the broadcast viewing today due to an urgent matter.
“2%”
“1%”
Having been continually spying on social media during the broadcast, the battery on my phone was almost dead and perhaps couldn’t handle the deluge of incoming messages, resulting in it shutting off.
While looking for a charger, Lee Jin-A handed me a power bank and said.
“Haildo, why didn’t you tell me such a scene would appear?”
Lee Jin-A’s voice was unusually cold and chilling.
It was so different from her usual playful or carefree demeanor that I was taken aback.
“No, I really didn’t know!”
I felt slightly scared, as if I was being treated like a criminal or suspect. But if I thought about it rigorously, wasn’t I the victim?
If so, who was the perpetrator?
Was it Han Ju-ryeon, who performed mouth-to-mouth on me?
Or was it the producers who edited it this way?
Just then, the usually docile Inoi suddenly jolted awake, trembling as if startled.
“…I, Inoi, can’t believe I had to see my past memories broadcasted like this. I must have dozed off from being too sleepy…! But the last kiss was somewhat worth watching…!”
“This Coris also thinks it was a wonderful kiss! It would certainly be fine to call it ‘Core-Biggy, Lip Smack’…! But I really would like someone to turn on the air conditioner…!”
Coris asked to turn on the air conditioning.
In fact, the air conditioner in the room was already blowing out a very cold breeze.
Drip—.
But even with the cold air swirling around, sweat dripped down my back and forehead.
Perhaps it was because I was anxious and flustered, but also because the surrounding air was very humid and muggy.
It felt like having a giant stove on.
And indeed, a human-sized stove was huffing nearby.
Seo Ye-rim said.
“Haildo! How are you going to take responsibility for this?!”
Responsibility?
What responsibility was I supposed to take?
Soon, Seo Ye-rim spoke rapidly.
“Haildo! You are a prominent executive of our Telos Corporation…! If you engage in mouth-to-mouth resuscitation with Han Ju-ryeon, a member of the family of the ‘Nature’ group, it will be a negative factor for our stock, leading to a drop!”
That was quite shocking.
What did my mouth-to-mouth with her have to do with stocks?
I wanted to open the stock app and check, but my phone was out of battery. After all, stock market closing time was now.
Soon, Do Jun-hwan nodded.
“Executives who are Awakened, like you, must be careful about their actions and statements. Haildo, if you participated in the A-rank survival as a representative of Telos Corporation, it could significantly impact the stock…”
Saying so, Do Jun-hwan repeatedly gulped down from a liquor bottle labeled “Illinois.” His eyes looked dazed as if possessed by a spirit, and his face was more red than purple.
It was clear he wasn’t in a normal state.
“First…, I think I need to head home!”
I chose to retreat to my humble abode in this chaotic situation. Since childhood, whenever faced with troublesome situations, I had preferred to run away and hide, especially when teased for holding hands with Xiao Xiao.
With that feeling, I hurriedly chose to return home.
# # #
“Ye-rim, this time the PPL seems to be effective, right? Most of Haildo’s equipment is from our Telos Company. The reactions are quite good right now.”
After Haildo returned home.
Seo Ye-rim received an excited call from her secretary and friend, C-rank Awakened Ahn Young-eun.
The suit, lightning rod, and other equipment used during Haildo’s performance bore the Telos Corporation logo, which garnered much praise from many people.
This could be considered a blessing for the company.
However, Seo Ye-rim felt quite unsettled.
She felt as if she had lost to someone, her stomach churning, and irritation bubbling up deep inside. The problem was that there was nowhere to relieve this feeling, nor anyone to vent her frustrations to.
“Young-eun, this broadcast was planned with TTS Broadcasting Company, right? How much do they get paid for advertising from the ‘Nature’ group every year?”
“It should be quite a bit. Just a moment—.”
Han Ju-ryeon was part of the emerging “Nature” group. Seo Ye-rim could sense the intent to subtly promote the “Nature” group and Han Ju-ryeon through the editing and direction of this broadcast.
Just the fact that the scene of Haildo defeating Han Ju-ryeon 1:1 was cut spoke volumes.
‘Stupid Haildo may not know, but this guy has become a pawn in the conspiracy of the companies! Those “Nature” folks are aiming for Haildo, who belongs to Telos?! This is a challenge to Telos…!’
A challenge to Telos.
That was also a challenge to Seo Ye-rim herself.
Soon, friend Ahn Young-eun said over the phone.
“They say the ‘Public Relations and Human Resources Executive Director’ from Nature visited TTS Broadcasting Company this time. They seemed to have had discussions for investment attraction…?”
“Public Relations and Human Resources Executive Director? Does Nature have such a lofty position?”
“It seems to be a new position. Who it is… that….”
Ahn Young-eun hesitated over the phone.
About 5 seconds passed.
“It’s Nymph Illinois, they say?”
Illinois.
At that remark, Seo Ye-rim’s expression scrunched up.
But on the flip side, it was also the moment the reality of the forces aiming to attack Seo Ye-rim became clearer.
“Ye-rim, that… the mouth-to-mouth was just a life-saving action, right? So maybe you shouldn’t be too concerned about it…?”
Ahn Young-eun stammered out the words after thinking for a long time.
Of course, Seo Ye-rim acted like it was no big deal.
“What should I care about? I’m fine. What do you mean I should care? It’s nothing new for Haildo to act on his own, get hurt, faint, and end up in the hospital.”
Seo Ye-rim’s voice was truly nonchalant.
As if nothing was wrong!
Ahn Young-eun grew more anxious over that fact.
‘I thought she was angry because Han Ju-ryeon performed mouth-to-mouth on Haildo, but it seems that’s not the only problem. Ye-rim is just angered at Haildo right now.’
Thinking that, Ahn Young-eun listened as Seo Ye-rim said.
“That variety show proposal from TTS last time, you remember it, right?”
“Surviving alone on a deserted island? You’re talking about ‘I Survived Alone,’ right? You said you’d refuse that, right? You said it was nonsense, and it’d be hard to clear your schedule….”
“Accept it. TTS Broadcasting Company can put in plenty for advertisement fees. But attach a condition—I’m not going alone to the deserted island; one more person will go with me. Get it moving as quickly as possible.”
Tick-.
Seo Ye-rim hung up the phone.
She didn’t particularly like using money as a weapon, but she thought there was no escaping this since the stakes had been raised.
