translation by mourningmoor
Neither of us were the captains for this game, but we were the leaders of our respective teams. That meant, whether we liked it or not, it had turned into a "team versus team" match.
Win or lose, it wouldn't look good.
If I lost, my pride wouldn't allow it, and if I won, I’d be hated by ARCHE's fandom for daring to push Yoo Noah into the water.
What would be the best way to win while keeping up appearances?
"Alright, face each other."
The referee positioned us at the center of the floating platform, facing one another.
As soon as the starting whistle blew, Yoo Noah would come at me immediately. I’d block him about three times, then pretend to make a mistake and push him off...
But before I could act, something completely unexpected happened.
Yoo Noah moved before the whistle even blew.
And instead of pushing, he yanked me toward him.
Yoo Noah, gripping me tightly, jumped straight into the water.
A foul.
"What the—"
What the hell. He actually dared to get me wet.
I was too dumbfounded to even finish my sentence, swallowing my frustration instead.
Right then, the whistle sounded.
"Yoo Noah, foul. Team A loses."
As soon as the referee made the call, Yoo Noah smirked wickedly.
"Looks like I lost, hoobae-nim."
Behind us, Younghoon and Sabi screamed in delight.
In front, Yoonseo and Hanjoon stood there looking utterly baffled.
And standing in between them, Yoo Noah looked like he was having the time of his life.
With cameras rolling from every direction, I had no choice but to force a grin and act along.
Still, as I got out of the water, I made sure to mutter something.
"You happy?"
I spoke so quietly it was practically ventriloquism—on camera, it would just look like I was giving Yoo Noah a bright smile.
"Yeah, very."
Yoo Noah, who had climbed out first, extended his hand and pulled me up.
Now he was even putting on the "kind senior" act.
"When else would I get the chance to dunk hoobae-nim into the water? Gotta take these opportunities when they come."
Surprisingly, the production team’s reaction wasn’t bad.
They were taken aback at first, but later, they praised Yoo Noah, saying it made for a great scene.
Even our members didn’t seem to mind.
"Hyungnim, I was a little worried you’d take Yoo Noah sunbaenim too seriously."
Roa pointed out a very real concern.
He must have been thinking about how ARCHE's fandom would react if I had actually beaten Yoo Noah. He knew I wasn’t the type to lose easily.
But with Yoo Noah getting disqualified instead, I had won without even fighting properly.
That meant we had dodged any backlash from ARCHE’s fandom.
In fact, some were saying they found me even more likable now because I had been the one who got tricked by Yoo Noah’s foul play.
Hanjoon, on the other hand, had a different reason to be happy.
"Wow. At first, I was kinda pissed that our team lost, you know? But then I saw you fall into the water. The great Kang Ichan, actually falling in. That alone makes this the best moment ever. Just knowing there’s someone out there who can make you drink water… I love it, leader."
The other two were just relieved they won without getting wet.
Well, whatever. I wasn’t happy about it, but we had managed to create a scenario where everyone was satisfied.
That debt, though—I’d be sure to pay it back.
* * *
It was an unpleasant promotional shoot, but we definitely gained a lot from it.
First of all, in terms of buzz, we completely overwhelmed T.I.ONE.
Domestically, the Taei incident had already flipped public interest in our favor, but internationally, not much had changed.
However, with this shoot alongside ARCHE, we managed to capture the hearts of overseas fans as well.
International fans picked the highlight of the shoot as the final penalty scene—the ‘bungee jump.’
The losing team had to draw lots to determine who would receive the penalty, and of all people, it had to be Roa.
‘Roa = coward, Roa = injured. Of course, it had to be that guy.’
Without hesitation, I called out ‘Black Knight.’
No one could argue against my reasoning—how could L.I.T’s main dancer, who had only recently recovered from an injury, take a reckless bungee jump? If something went wrong, it would be a disaster.
But I had my own objective.
According to the game rules, the person who drew the lot could choose someone to jump with them.
“I will jump with Yoo Noah sunbaenim.”
His expression crumpled.
He could handle every other ride just fine, but he absolutely hated bungee jumping. There was a reason for that, of course.
“Why me, of all people?”
“Sunbaenim, you’re the one who pushed me into the water.”
“Well, yeah… but still, a bungee jump…”
“As the team leader, take responsibility and jump, sunbaenim. It’s fun.”
Without hesitation, I chose Yoo Noah and stepped onto the bungee platform with him.
“This isn’t fun, Jess.”
After securing his safety gear, Yoo Noah came up to me and whispered in my ear.
“Is this your way of getting revenge?”
“Why isn’t it fun? Weren’t you once someone who soared across continents?”
His eyes narrowed slightly, and he gave a sly smile before speaking.
“Let’s not bring that up.”
“Why not, sunbaenim? It’s all coming back to me, clear as day.”
I pointed downward with my finger, mimicking something falling, and grinned.
I was imitating the Demon King as he plummeted into this world when the dimensional gate had opened.
Yoo Noah clenched his jaw, flashed a bright smile, said “Thanks a lot,” and then jumped.
Out of his 2,000-year-long life, that day was probably the most humiliating moment for the Demon King.
That’s probably why he hates falling like this.
But, true to his nature as both a Demon King and a top idol, he made the jump look pretty spectacular.
Watching Yoo Noah, I yelled in my mind—
Hoping my telepathic message would reach the Demon King.
“Screw you, sunbaenim.”
And then, like a bird, I spread my arms wide and leaped from the platform.
It felt liberating.
The footage from that day was re-edited into a solid promotional video and played between the three award ceremonies, adding plenty of entertainment value.
With the promo’s popularity, our market value skyrocketed as well.
And just as I had confidently promised PD Pyo, we won an award.
Not only did we claim the title of Global Rising Artist, but we also secured a spot in the TOP 10 Best Teen Artists.
And my magic circle reached 7.6.
* * *
After successfully completing HAMA and PMA, the year-end music festivals followed one after another.
Preparing for concerts was one thing, but since we had to show something new for each year-end stage, our practice sessions were exploding in intensity.
And every time I stepped onto the stage, my circle increased little by little.
The higher my circle rose, the more dazzling the performances became, and that, in turn, returned to me as mana.
As a result, my mana hall expanded, and as my abilities recovered, the symbolic finger markings of a Grand Mage also began to reappear.
“Did you get a tattoo?”
Since it looked exactly like a tattoo, I kept getting asked this question.
This time, the person asking was PD Pyo.
We were in the middle of a meeting about the concert schedule.
At PD Pyo’s words, everyone’s gaze shifted toward my fingers.
The markings forming along the ring line were proof that I was a mage. And not just any mage—a very high-ranking one.
During the final HAMA performance, Yoo Noah noticed it and made a comment.
[Jess, that looks cool. You’re finally returning to your true form.]
[I covered it with a ring, but you can see it?]
[Why are you even covering it? There were tons of people who sought me out just because they couldn’t create that themselves.]
But to the people of this world, it just seemed like a stylish tattoo.
“You wouldn’t believe me if I said it appeared overnight, right?”
PD Pyo’s gaze lingered on my fingers again.
Then, with a rather firm tone, he answered.
“Nope, I wouldn’t.”
“Okay, then yeah, I got a tattoo.”
I nodded and looked at PD Pyo as if asking, ‘Is there a problem?’
He swallowed once and shook his head.
“Well, the ARCHE kids all have at least one tattoo too.”
These days, more and more idols are getting tattoos.
So even agencies had become pretty lenient about it.
“Just don’t go overboard with it. You have to cover it up when appearing on public broadcasts, and if the area’s too big, it’ll be a hassle to hide.”
“Yes, I’ll keep that in mind.”
Maybe because I answered too obediently, PD Pyo seemed a little taken aback.
“O-okay. Thanks. Then let’s continue the meeting.”
As if nothing had happened, the meeting went on.
Finger markings—just a tattoo to some.
Either way, covering them was probably the best option.
Even the Demon King, who had been happy about their return, had left me with a concerned piece of advice in the end.
[Still, you should cover it for now. If that ‘someone’ behind the SS Group recognizes it, it’ll be troublesome.]
I didn’t like it. But he wasn’t wrong, so I was conflicted.
I was still at 7.6 circles. No—recently, I had leveled up a bit more to 7.7.
After the concert, I might be able to reach 8 circles.
Maybe I’ll just hide it until then.
Once I reach 8 circles, I’ll finally be able to face that mysterious mage.
I subtly adjusted my ring to completely conceal the markings, then refocused on the meeting.
“Three weeks after the Korea concert, we have the Japan concert.”
The Japan concert had been decided a while ago, and the announcement went out two days ago.
Since our popularity in Japan was skyrocketing, Niji TV took aggressive action, saying we couldn’t afford to miss this opportunity.
Ticket sales start next week, and Niji TV predicted that it would sell out on the day of the ticket opening.
I thought the same. In Korea, all seats had sold out within five hours of opening.
Fans who failed to get tickets voiced their complaints—why was it only scheduled for three days, why was the concert venue the Gymnastics Arena of all places, why wasn’t it at least at Gocheok Dome?
And now, a concert in Tokyo?
Fans who missed the Seoul concert would probably go all out for the Japan tickets.
But seeing how they called another scheduling meeting, it seemed like an additional concert had been arranged.
“Two weeks after the Tokyo concert, let’s go to Hong Kong.”
In the last meeting, they had asked for opinions on a Hong Kong concert, and it seemed like they had decided to go through with it.
Then that meant… it was about time for the U.S. to start showing interest, too.
“Ichan, ask the members about their opinions on a North America concert.”
It’s here. The interest.
“North America?”
“Yeah. An agency in the U.S. reached out. Instead of an arena-scale tour, they suggested doing a full U.S. tour at the scale of our current Gymnastics Arena concerts. About six cities.”
A concert tour in six cities, at the Gymnastics Arena scale?
That was an even better offer than expected.
Which made me a little suspicious.
“Are we even at that level?”
Our popularity overseas had been rising day by day, but things moving this fast made me a bit uneasy.
PD Pyo smirked mischievously as he looked at me.
“You’ve been too busy to monitor things lately, haven’t you?”
“Nope. Where would I even find time for that?”
Even Roa, our official monitoring guy, had long since given up due to our packed schedule.
“You guys blew up. You know Simon & George, right? Those famous reactors? They edited and uploaded a compilation of your ‘falling into L.I.T.’ moments, and it went completely viral.”