Chapter 1058: Overcooked (11)

Supernova Dodgeball.

The moment the mysterious name appeared, all of us turned toward Ri Hyuk.

"Ri Hyuk. Do you know what this is?"

"No."

Even Ri Hyuk looked completely unfamiliar with it.

"I know the Super Bowl, but I've never heard of something called Supernova Dodgeball."

"...What is this thing?"

In the end, there was no choice but to look it up ourselves.

Jiho, our designated search specialist, typed Supernova Dodgeball into his tablet before immediately retreating.

"There. I searched it. Now you guys can handle the English reading."

We patted the youngest member's head as he proudly accepted credit for typing a few words.

It was an age when praise was desperately needed.

Looking at the search results, Ri Hyuk said,

"Hmm. There's a lot. I'll just open the Wikipedia article first."

"Okay."

Wearing his glasses, Ri Hyuk rapidly skimmed through the article titled 2018 Supernova Dodgeball.

The rest of us stood behind him offering moral support.

"Go!"

"Fighting!"

None of us could match him when it came to reading English.

Conversation was one thing.

Reading speed was another.

Ri Hyuk was faster than all of us combined.

"I'm done."

"Already?"

"It's about the same speed as reading Korean."

"...That's impressive."

Jiho looked genuinely amazed.

"Wow. I guess that's what happens when you've lived overseas."

He sighed dramatically.

"Maybe I should've gone abroad when I was younger too."

"Mmm."

The rest of us exchanged glances.

His father would've just wasted a bunch of money.

He probably wouldn't have learned English anyway.

For some reason, it felt more likely that Jiho would've spent his time teaching Korean to foreign kids than learning English himself.

But in the interest of maintaining a loving relationship with the youngest member, everyone wisely kept their mouths shut.

Then we listened to Ri Hyuk's explanation.

"This Supernova Dodgeball thing is a special event."

"A one-time thing?"

"Apparently. It isn't annual."

"Why are they doing it?"

"To explain that..."

The greatest brain in the New family gathered his thoughts and began laying everything out in an orderly fashion.

"It all starts with the World Cup qualifiers this year."

The 2018 World Cup.

France and Croatia eventually met in the final.

Korea defeated Germany 2–0 but narrowly failed to advance past the group stage.

Meanwhile, the United States and Canada had been experiencing their own situation.

Oh. We got eliminated.

You too?

Both countries failed to qualify.

Apparently, it started with internet users from both nations teasing each other online.

A cheerful argument centered around who sucked more.

The United States lost 4–0 to Costa Rica and then lost to last-place Trinidad and Tobago.

Sorry, I can't hear you over the sound of Canada losing 3–0 and 2–0 to Mexico.

The two countries started creating memes mocking each other's soccer teams.

What began as football jokes gradually escalated.

Tsk. Typical football-only barbarians. Bow before Canada's dominance in winter sports.

The reigning Stanley Cup champions are from Washington, though.

Mentioning recent results is against proper sporting etiquette!

The roasting war intensified.

Honestly, what does Canada even have besides maple syrup?

Nothing. But if you eat too much maple syrup and end up in the hospital, do you at least have health insurance?

...!

Just as debates about sporting achievements became increasingly heated, a famous American stand-up comedian named Benjamin Washington made a proposal during one of his shows.

"Why don't we settle this once and for all?"

The audience laughed.

"Instead of fighting online like cowards, let's decide who's better through sports."

More laughter.

"What sport?"

He paused.

"Dodgeball."

The audience erupted.

"I'm serious. I'm even uploading a video about it soon."

And so, a joke about an American-versus-Canadian dodgeball match was born.

Initially, it was simply a group of American comedians challenging Canadian comedians.

But—

"It got bigger."

"Way bigger."

Apparently the idea exploded online.

Celebrities from both countries started volunteering.

I want in too.

The event snowballed.

Let's determine which nation is truly the sports powerhouse!

The choice of dodgeball helped.

It wasn't a sport either country treated seriously.

Nobody's pride was tied to it.

Win or lose, everyone could laugh.

Naturally, the birthplace of capitalism wasn't about to let that opportunity go to waste.

"Hello, everyone!"

"I'm a sponsor of the Super Bowl."

"I'd love to sponsor this event too."

The name Supernova Dodgeball was created because it sounded somewhat similar to Super Bowl.

Then the broadcasters joined.

"If there's sports broadcasting involved, we're obviously in."

One network after another became involved.

Eventually, the entire thing evolved into a massive live event broadcast throughout both the United States and Canada.

"As the event got bigger, the purpose changed too."

Ri Hyuk nodded.

"It started as internet users arguing online. Now it's become more like a friendship diplomacy event between the United States and Canada."

Apparently even the White House and the Canadian government had become interested.

The First Ladies of both countries would be attending.

"Anyway."

Ri Hyuk finished.

"That's how it happened."

"..."

"..."

We sat there blankly for a moment.

The scale of the story was overwhelming.

Junghyun blinked.

"I feel like I just heard something incredible."

"Seriously."

The entire chain of events—from World Cup elimination to international diplomacy through dodgeball—had been chaotic enough to leave us dizzy.

Still, our interest was thoroughly piqued.

Scrolling down the participant list, Biju spoke.

"Hyung, look at the lineup."

"Oh wow."

"It really is stacked."

Retired NBA legends.

Hollywood megastars.

Pop stars like Hayley Blue.

Every name was familiar.

Though there was one surprising detail.

"Wait."

"This person's Canadian?"

"I thought they were American."

A surprising number of celebrities we'd met at awards shows and automatically assumed were American turned out to be Canadian.

As we continued scrolling, we spotted another familiar name.

Colin Evans

"Oh."

The youngest member of Moonlight was listed on Team USA.

And on Team Canada—

Jacob Ryan.

"Interesting."

"This must be a huge event."

Considering Moonlight's agency tried to insert their artists into every trending event possible, the fact that we'd been invited felt significant.

Then I raised a question.

"Wait. We're Korean. Why did Hayley invite us?"

"Probably because they need more people."

Ri Hyuk pointed at the numbers.

"The U.S. has about ten times Canada's population."

"Oh."

Now it made sense.

The American team was packed with absolutely ridiculous names.

Canada needed enough celebrities to compete on that level.

Apparently they had started looking elsewhere.

"There are a few British celebrities too."

Ri Hyuk scrolled further.

"And some Australians. A couple of New Zealanders."

Strictly speaking, it looked less like Team Canada and more like Team Commonwealth.

Our assumption was simple.

They needed extra players.

So they invited us.

"Let's ask Seokhwan hyung."

We contacted the TF team responsible for managing our schedule.

"What do you think?"

"Are you kidding?"

Our math demon practically lost his mind.

"You have to do this."

"Immediately."

"Call Hayley Blue right now and tell her yes."

I quickly sent the message.

Seokhwan continued.

"I don't know exactly how she's planning to help promote Overcooked, but this opportunity is insane."

He shook his head.

"This might be the biggest public-exposure event you've ever participated in."

Then he frowned.

"There is one concern."

"Injuries?"

"Exactly."

Everyone nodded.

"If somebody twists an ankle there..."

"I'll just wear a cast and hold a microphone."

I raised an imaginary cast.

"Souffle! Please enjoy our spectacular cast performance!"

Seokhwan burst out laughing.

"Seriously, though."

"It's too good to pass up."

"But next month is the Japan dome tour."

Not only Seokhwan.

The entire TF team felt the same way.

"You absolutely can't miss this event."

"But the concert schedule..."

"We just have to avoid getting hurt."

"Be careful."

Everyone repeated the same warning.

Then Assistant Manager Hong Seoyoung from PR looked through the lineup.

"Moonlight only seems to be sending two members because of the participant limit."

She tilted her head.

"You guys probably can't all participate either."

"How many are they taking?"

"One second."

I messaged Hayley.

The reply came almost immediately.

Hayley Blue: Only two competitors.

Hayley Blue: Everyone else can still come.

Hayley Blue: See you then, my lovely little X-Men.

I relayed the message.

"Two people."

"Oh."

The TF team immediately looked at me and Junghyun.

Everyone nodded.

"Ah."

"Those two."

"If it's them..."

Junghyun and I exchanged confused looks.

Then Seokhwan—who had been worried about injuries only moments ago—grabbed our hands with deadly seriousness.

"Wooju."

"Junghyun."

"Hm?"

"Yes?"

Everyone spoke in unison.

"Don't injure anyone."

"..."

Seriously?

Blue-painted fingernails tapped rapidly against a keyboard.

See you then, my lovely little X-Men.

Blue hair.

An appearance like a fairy.

A beauty so ethereal and lovely that anyone seeing her would instinctively want to cry:

Fairy Queen!

Hayley Blue brushed back her hair and smiled.

"I've done it."

"As expected."

"I'm awesome."

Holding a hair tie between her teeth, she casually gathered her hair into a ponytail.

Then she admired herself.

I'm ridiculously beautiful today too.

How could anyone look this good?

She glanced down at the athletic uniform emblazoned with the word Canada and smiled proudly.

Screeeech.

The sound of sneakers scraping against a court echoed through the air.

They were gathered at a basketball court in Los Angeles.

With Supernova Dodgeball approaching, celebrities representing Canada had assembled for practice.

Wearing a captain's armband, Hayley spoke.

"I'm the captain."

"Which means I possess the legal authority to smash the heads of anyone who disagrees with me."

That isn't a real authority.

"Questions?"

British and Canadian celebrities crouched in groups, nervously glancing at one another before finally speaking.

One person raised a hand.

"Did we really need to recruit NewBlack?"

"Why?"

"You don't like them?"

"No, I'm just curious."

"I've been saying this for ages."

Hayley crossed her arms.

"If we're bringing foreign mercenaries, they absolutely have to be NewBlack."

Everyone nodded.

They had heard her stories countless times.

The tales of the Black Goat Slayer and the Copycat Monster.

The moment foreign-player restrictions are lifted, we recruit them.

This was the opportunity Hayley Blue had been waiting for.

Canada had complained about lacking participants.

The Americans had replied:

Then bring people from other countries too.

Restrictions were lifted.

Hayley smiled.

"The Americans have no idea."

She pointed dramatically.

"They have no idea that the rabid dogs we've recruited are going to launch flaming dodgeballs directly into their backsides."

"Hayley..."

Someone rubbed their forehead.

"You do know this is dodgeball, right?"

Hayley ignored them.

Another person asked,

"How did you convince NewBlack to come?"

"Their comeback's about to happen."

"I figured they'd avoid sports because of injury risks."

"I told them I'd get them a performance stage."

"...Ah."

"I can arrange something like that."

At that moment, Jacob Ryan raised his hand.

The youngest member of Moonlight was surrounded by adults.

"Can we perform too?"

"Who are you?"

Hayley squinted.

"Jake?"

"I'm Jacob."

"..."

"I'm Jacob Ryan from Moonlight."

The young idol visibly flinched beneath the gaze of the blue-haired creature.

"Come here, kid."

Hayley crooked a finger.

Jacob obediently stood and approached.

She handed him a dodgeball.

"Throw this."

"At me."

"With everything you've got."

"My name is Jacob..."

"Throw it."

"Wouldn't that be a little unfair?"

He hesitated.

"I'm a guy."

"You're a woman."

"Throw it."

Jacob threw.

Hard.

Despite his slim build, he was still a healthy teenage boy.

The ball flew fast.

Whoosh—

Hayley caught it effortlessly.

Then—

Crack!

A lightning-fast return throw.

FWOOOOSH!

The ball screamed past Jacob's ear.

His hair fluttered violently.

The ball slammed into the wall behind him before bouncing away.

Jacob's legs gave out.

He collapsed into a sitting position like a pair of broken chopsticks.

Everyone reached the same conclusion.

Never challenge her.

Looking down at Jacob, Hayley cast a shadow over him.

"Jake."

It's Jacob...

"If NewBlack had thrown that ball..."

She nodded seriously.

"I would've been lying on the ground right now."

"..."

"You need that level of dodgeball skill before I'll use my influence to arrange a celebratory performance."

Nobody understood how those things were connected.

But nobody dared question her.

Thump.

Thump.

Hayley bounced the ball casually.

Everyone smiled nervously.

"All right!"

"Let's work hard and wait for NewBlack!"

"Yes!"

"They're going to crush everyone!"

...It was summer in Los Angeles.

After agreeing to participate in the suspiciously massive dodgeball event—

We continued our Southeast Asian concert tour through Taiwan and Malaysia.

Meanwhile—

NewBlack Comeback D-4: What Kind of Song Is Overcooked?

Three Days Until NewBlack's Return: What Records Will They Break This Time?

NewBlack's New Single Overcooked Has the Music Industry on Edge

The release date was rapidly approaching.

"Ha..."

"Ugh..."

Every day felt suffocating.

It was as if ropes made of tension had wrapped around my entire body.

Pulling tighter.

And tighter.

Like I might explode.

Jiho sighed.

"This is always the worst part."

"One week before a comeback."

"I seriously want to run away."

"Me too."

He nodded vigorously.

"Should we just disappear somewhere?"

"Souffle would find us."

I could already picture the posts.

[WANTED: MISSING IDOL]

Anyway.

Everyone was tense enough to dream about running away.

We massaged each other's shoulders.

Messaged friends back in Korea.

Anything to distract ourselves.

Hanjo: I'm dying from stress...

Unfortunately, our friends were just as stressed.

Hanjo: They're making a rap division for the Idol Olympics.

Hanjo: If I choke there...

Hanjo: Our main vocalist is already losing sleep.

Apparently groups like Street Boys and TeenSpirit were training intensely.

I asked why they didn't just skip it.

Hwiyeon: If we refuse they'll mock us foreverㅠ

Hwiyeon: Damn antis.

Hwiyeon: Hope they trip over their own shadows.

Apparently that was the situation.

So we tried encouraging our fellow idols.

Me: We're going to the USA vs Canada dodgeball match for promotion.

Hanjo: ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

Hanjo: Idol Olympics sounds way better now~

No matter how many times we explained that this wasn't ordinary dodgeball, nobody took it seriously.

"It's a huge event..."

I pouted.

Not that encouragement would've helped much anyway.

#1 Moonlight — All I Want

Moonlight's song was posting historic streaming numbers and seemed destined to debut at No. 1 on Billboard.

More importantly—

"This isn't going to be easy."

Domestically, Overcooked would face another problem.

Release day was Friday.

The same day that Mission Singer would air the battle between Cha Woohyun and Ri Hyuk.

And naturally, the songs would be released too.

Overcooked vs A Poem About Yesterday vs Halley

The firepower of those two songs was terrifying.

Even reaching No. 1 on the daily chart might be difficult.

Then the members turned toward me.

"Hyung..."

"Yeah?"

"You created this situation."

"..."

I covered my eyes with both hands.

I could practically hear hallucinations.

"Hahaha! My name is A Poem About Yesterday, the legendary drama OST now performed by the God of Song himself, Cha Woohyun!"

"And I'm Halley! The song that let Ri Hyuk battle Cha Woohyun blow-for-blow after transforming an indie singer-songwriter track into a legendary competition performance!"

The members grabbed me and shook me mercilessly.

"Take responsibility, Sun Wooju!"

"Take responsibility!"

I could only shed silent tears while being rattled back and forth.

...Hang in there, Overcooked.