translation by mourningmoor
Kim Isaac, who was helping to start the fire, suddenly lifted his head.
A bird had just taken flight from deep within the forest, far from the camp.
“Who went into the forest?”
Lee Hanwoo’s gaze swept across the camp.
K.I.T.—in other words, the Kim Team members—were all near the camp.
They were supposed to be gathering leaves to cover the roof, but these guys were just hovering around the sandy beach.
Then was it the other team?
Lee Hanwoo craned his neck and looked toward L.I.T.’s side.
“Roa-ya. Where’s Ichan?”
Not seeing the leader, he asked, and Roa, who was sweating buckets while trying to start the fire, answered.
“Ichan hyungnim went into the forest to get leaves.”
“The forest?”
Lee Hanwoo turned his head toward the woods.
The way the bird had suddenly flown up felt ominous, sending a shiver down his spine.
“Should we go look for him now?”
At Lee Hanwoo’s words, the assistant director standing beside him replied.
“Choi PD-nim went after him. There’s no need to worry.”
“Really?”
If PD Choi had followed him, then it was reassuring. He had enough jungle experience to handle most crisis situations.
Lee Hanwoo turned his head back toward L.I.T.’s side and looked at the two struggling to start the fire with a hint of pity.
“Aigoo. That side’s a problem too. A real problem.”
Still, judging by how they had at least figured out how to properly ignite a flame, they must have practiced a bit before coming. That was commendable.
“Siu-ya. Roa-ya.”
The way they simultaneously lifted their heads at his call was quite cute.
“Take a break for now. I’ll go help out.”
“Yes, thank you.”
Usually, when people heard that, they’d immediately put down the fire sticks and step back. But these guys didn’t. They kept trying, taking turns to light the fire.
They had some determination to them, at least. That made him like them a little more.
Watching the two for a moment, Lee Hanwoo turned to Kim Isaac and grumbled.
“Shouldn’t it be like that?”
At that, Kim Isaac’s gaze immediately landed on Kim Junmo and Jackie Kim.
“Hey, Kim Team, what the hell are you guys doing? The younger ones are struggling to start a fire over there, but you’re just leaving everything to the chieftain?”
It sounded like a joke, but Kim Isaac’s voice was laced with barbs.
Then, he turned his attention to Kim Hyunsoo and Kim Seokhwa, who were supposed to be gathering leaves.
“Oi, you two over there. How’s the leaf collecting going?”
Seriously, is there anything you guys can actually do properly?
Are we even going to get any sleep at this rate? Are we going to eat? When’s the hunting happening?
As team leader, Kim Isaac’s nagging continued loudly.
This wasn’t even a "polar opposite experience" experiment, but the difference in attitude between the two teams was ridiculously severe.
Lee Hanwoo abruptly stood up and threw the fire stick down as if tossing it away.
“You do it. Or make them do it.”
Since the jungle was such a brutal place, chieftain Lee Hanwoo was quite strict with underprepared cast members.
If they didn’t get their act together, the chances of an accident happening were high.
That was why he always asked PD Choi to bring properly capable participants.
This program wasn’t for people who only worked hard when the cameras were rolling, nor for those who wasted time trying to get screen time.
It was for those who thought lightly of the jungle, blinded by their hunger for recognition, recklessly jumping in. And because of those people, not just him but the entire staff suffered.
For that reason, he didn’t like most of this season’s cast.
Kim Isaac was a jungle veteran, experienced enough to be called a chieftain, and Kim Seokhwa had already been vetted, having been personally scouted in private.
Then, what about the rest…?
They were all ticking time bombs. No one knew when they would explode.
However, <King of the Jungle> PD Choi Yongjun called these ticking time bombs a “means for revival.”
A way to boost the ratings that had slumped due to the recent manipulation controversy. A way to bring back the viewers who had left.
The popular top actor Kim Hyunsoo was cast for the sake of viewership. Kim Junmo and Jackie Kim had been inserted as a package deal by Kim Hyunsoo’s agency.
L.I.T. had also been chosen as a desperate measure to attract younger audiences.
From the cast members' perspective, it probably wasn’t a bad choice either.
Even though <King of the Jungle> was being criticized by viewers due to the manipulation controversy, it was still a national variety show.
Just appearing on the program was enough to guarantee a spot in the news rankings on portal sites.
Especially for Kim Hyunsoo, who needed to promote his soon-to-be-released film, and for L.I.T., a second-year idol group trying to build their recognition and take a step forward—<King of the Jungle> was something they desperately needed.
Yeah, they must’ve been desperate.
That’s why they had even practiced starting a fire.
The problem was with the ones who had nothing to promote, nothing to gain, and had come unprepared—just killing time.
“I don’t like it.”
Lee Hanwoo looked at Kim Junmo and Jackie Kim with disapproval before approaching the L.I.T. members.
The smallest member… His name was Roa, right?
His thick lips were pressed tightly together as he earnestly scraped the fire stick with the back of a knife.
His posture and technique weren’t wrong, but the kindling was too damp for the fire to catch.
This place had a rainy season lasting until October, meaning the ground rarely had a chance to dry. Plus, there had been a heavy downpour just before they arrived.
As Lee Hanwoo approached, he suddenly spoke up.
“Want me to give it a try?”
“No?”
Wiping the sweat off his forehead with the back of his hand, Roa answered with a bright smile.
“I can do it.”
“You’ve done it before?”
“Yes, when I practiced with the members, it worked well. But today, it’s hard.”
Lee Hanwoo found it admirable that these young idol singers had even practiced starting a fire with a fire stick.
That was the kind of basic respect any cast member should have for the program.
Not that anyone actually followed it.
“The wood’s too wet because of the rain.”
Gesturing for Roa to step aside, Lee Hanwoo took the fire stick and began striking it.
A strong spark flew, but the damp kindling and leaves refused to catch fire.
As Siu and Roa watched, Lee Hanwoo kept scraping the fire stick.
And then—
A commotion erupted near the entrance of the forest.
All the surrounding people, including Roa and Siu, turned their attention toward the woods.
Lee Hanwoo was just about to look that way himself.
Normally, the fire stick had to be scraped with the back of a knife to create friction and make sparks fly—
But for some reason, before he even struck it, a spark leaped on its own, and the wood caught fire.
“…Huh?”
What in the world?
For a brief moment, he doubted his own eyes.
But he didn’t have time to dwell on the strange phenomenon.
“H-hyungnim?”
Roa, staring toward the entrance of the forest, stood up as if entranced.
“Ichan-ah. Hanjoon hyung.”
Siu did the same.
Lee Hanwoo, who was a step behind in understanding the situation, immediately bolted toward the entrance of the forest.
“What’s going on? What happened to PD Choi?”
King of the Jungle's chief producer, PD Choi, was being carried back on Hanjoon’s back, completely unconscious.
His face was ghostly pale, and his lips were bluish.
Did he get poisoned or something?
“Team doctor! Team doctor!”
Lee Hanwoo called for the medical team and quickly spread a blanket on the sand so they could lay PD Choi down.
Hanjoon carefully set him down.
“What happened to PD Choi?”
Lee Hanwoo looked back and forth between PD Choi’s face and the returning L.I.T. members.
“Was it poison? Did he get stung by a venomous insect? Did he touch a toxic plant or something?”
Lee Hanwoo looked up, urging someone to answer quickly.
Finally, L.I.T.’s leader, Kang Ichan, spoke up in a cynical voice.
“No, it’s not poison or anything like that.”
He glanced at PD Choi with a slight frown before continuing in an indifferent tone.
“He just fainted.”
* * *
It was a snake with a distinct emerald glow all over its body, a very beautiful one.
Its head formed a perfect diamond shape, and its black eyes gleamed like obsidian, making it as beautiful as it was venomous.
The first person to discover the snake was Hanjoon. Then, Jaewon.
[Ichan-ah. It's a snake. A snake.]
While Hanjoon let out a scream and an odd, bizarre voice, the youngest stiffened up. Looking pale and unable to make a sound, Jaewon just stared intensely at the snake.
So, if someone were to faint, I figured it would be Jaewon.
From my right side, I felt a cold movement accompanied by the distinct sound of a snake. The snake, supported by a branch, was slowly approaching near my shoulder.
But there was no need to panic or be scared.
After all, the snake couldn’t harm me. The awe I invoked wasn’t limited to humans. No, in fact, being an animal, its instinctual senses were likely sharper than those of humans.
So, if I just left it alone, it would have fled on its own.
After calculating, Jaewon's expression stirred my thoughts for a moment. If I left it, would he faint? Would it look funny on screen? What about Jaewon’s image?
So, I moved quickly.
[What’s so scary about a snake?]
I clicked my tongue and, without even glancing at the snake, reached out and grabbed its head. Then, I threw it towards the forest.
It all happened in an instant.
Hanjoon's face turned pale in shock.
At the same time, life seemed to return to Jaewon’s face, which had been stiff as stone.
It was close to being bothersome, but at least he hadn’t fainted, so I was relieved.
But in the end, someone else fainted instead.
[Ugh. PD-nim!]
At the unfamiliar voice, I turned to the side.
The VJ, who had been capturing the whole scene, and PD Choi, who had insisted on guiding us and following us, I had completely forgotten about the two of them.
The VJ was calmly doing their job, but the PD’s legs buckled, and they collapsed, losing consciousness right there.