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When I first opened my eyes in the shantytown of the slums.

Now, there was only a three-story building standing on the empty open ground.

“Is that building where the Monster Restaurant is?”

“Yes, that’s correct. The first floor is the restaurant, the second floor is the men’s accommodation, and the third floor is the women’s accommodation.”

“Oh, so you work, eat, and sleep all in one building.”

Upon hearing that the accommodation and the shop were in the same building, half of the reactions were that it seemed fun, while the other half thought it would be more exhausting since work and life wouldn’t be separated.

It was a part that showed how, having lived in the entertainment industry since childhood, I wasn’t familiar with other social experiences.

“Anyway, if you’re self-employed, there’s no such thing as a separate life. The shop is your home.”

“…How does Gyeoul know something like that?”

“…I saw it on TV.”

I’m only 14.

I couldn’t answer that I had jumped into self-employment thinking it was easy and ended up failing.

“These days, you can learn all about the life of a job just by watching YouTube, so I guess you’ve seen that.”

“Ah, right. YouTube. I saw it on YouTube.”

Thanks to Han Seo-jin’s timely assist, I managed to slip out of the situation smoothly.

“But PD, there doesn’t seem to be a mart or anything nearby… Do we have to go out and buy stuff?”

“All the ingredients needed for the Monster Restaurant can be purchased from us.”

“…Buy from the production team? This feels fishy.”

Kim Guk-min, a veteran of variety shows, sensed that something was off.

It already felt different from other restaurant variety shows.

“When you enter the accommodation, there will be a kiosk. You’ll be divided into male and female teams, earn currency, and use it comfortably.”

“…It’s already hard enough just running the business, and now you want us to compete too?”

Earning currency itself is a competition, a system perfect for creating a wealth gap.

If one team has more money, they could boss the other team around or buy things for them with the currency.

Of course, a certain amount of public funds would be set aside for the shop, and the rest would be for personal use.

‘If we don’t do that, we won’t even have money left for the shop.’

But…

Was I tricked again? PD Choi, you jerk.

“PD Choi, you clearly said this was a healing variety show.”

“Are you saying that serving food to the viewers isn’t healing?”

PD Choi pressed the entire cast with his signature sinister smile.

“…That’s not it.”

“For the sake of the viewers…”

“If you put it that way, we have nothing to say… You’re really ruthless.”

Celebrities might have cowered when the viewers were brought up, but not me.

“How is serving food healing? Being served is healing.”

“…Gyeoul, if you keep this up, you’ll get backlash!”

“I’m fine with hate comments, I’m not a celebrity anyway. Anyway, I came here because they said it would be healing, but it’s obvious they’re just trying to make us work. I can’t just sit back and take it.”

As I stepped forward to take the heat, the other cast members started raising their voices too.

“…That’s right! Even if it’s us, Gyeoul is a hero!”

“Didn’t PD Choi say he brought Gyeoul here to heal her? This is too much!”

“Right, there’s no need to show Gyeoul the harsh side of broadcasting.”

As the cast’s reactions grew fiercer than expected, PD Choi and Writer Wang seemed to be hastily discussing something.

“In that case, we’ll give Hero Jeong Gyeoul 1,000 coins to start with.”

“…Huh?”

“…What?”

“…Wait a minute.”

“What’s wrong? You said there’s no need to show Hero Jeong Gyeoul the harsh side of broadcasting.”

“…Well, that’s a matter of fairness.”

“The viewers will definitely backlash!”

“We’ll handle that. For Hero Jeong Gyeoul, we can do that much.”

They tried to use me as leverage to negotiate something in their favor, but in the end, I was the only one who benefited.

“Wait, Yuna, Gyeoul is staying in our accommodation anyway.”

“Right! This is a team battle, not an individual one.”

It was supposed to be about cooperation, not competition, but with just a few words from PD Choi, it already felt like it was shaping up to be male team vs. female team.

“We’re fine with it! Of course, Gyeoul should be treated that way.”

“Wow! Look at them! They’re excited because Gyeoul is in the women’s accommodation!”

Kim Guk-min and Han Seo-jin looked at Winter and Yuna with expressions of disbelief.

“Wait, PD Choi. There are two of us and three of them, right?”

“Especially since they have Hero Jeong Gyeoul on their side, it would be too unfair in games, right? That’s why we brought one more person.”

“Yes! Who is it? Who’s coming? Is it another hero?”

I expected this would happen the moment the competition dynamic started.

During the uninhabited island episode, there were two filming teams opposing us, but now, whichever team I’m on will definitely win.

No matter what the game is.

I thought they’d add someone to keep things interesting.

As if on cue, someone walked out of the building.

A sturdy build with neatly slicked-back hair.

Dressed in a suit, he looked familiar.

“…?”

“Hero Jeong Gyeoul, it’s been a while.”

The man in the suit greeted me first, not PD Choi or the other cast members.

“Wow, Gyeoul knows him? Gyeoul’s connections are wider than I thought!”

“Nice to meet you! He’s really handsome too! Honestly, PD Choi, are you casting based on looks?”

“If that were the case, you wouldn’t be here, hyung.”

The reply came not from PD Choi but from Han Seo-jin.

“…Hey! We’re on the same team, why are you attacking the team?”

“Even if we’re a team, some things just can’t be helped.”

It seemed like the cast was talking too much among themselves, so PD Choi made a gesture.

Kim Guk-min, catching the hint, steered the conversation toward the new cast member.

“Our new cast member, could you introduce yourself?”

“Yes, I’m Kim Cheol-soo, an A-Class hero who was an instructor for the Hwarang in Gyeongju.”

“…Ah! Scorpion Uncle!”

Now I remembered.

When I received a mission from the President and headed to Gyeongju, I had seen him a few times.

Scorpion, the instructor who was a symbol of fear to the Hwarang.

“You remember now, don’t you?”

“Scorpion Uncle?”

Yuna asked what “Scorpion Uncle” meant.

I wasn’t sure if I should explain, but since he already revealed he was an instructor for the Hwarang, it should be fine.

“His nickname during his instructor days was Scorpion. That’s why he’s Scorpion Uncle.”

“Ah… So he was the instructor for the Hwarang, he must have been a demon!”

“You’re not planning to train us here too, are you?”

Even though it was clear he was one of the male cast members, they didn’t seem to believe it easily.

“You’re making us compete with currency, create a hierarchy, run a business, and now you want us to undergo discipline training too? I’m really going to quit.”

…Did he come as an instructor?

As soon as Kim Guk-min said that, doubt sprouted in my mind too.

The production team are not people to be trusted easily.

Even though they brought Scorpion Instructor to balance things out since I joined the female team, he might suddenly wake us up at 4 AM yelling “Hurry up!” and turn us into owls.

As everyone started glaring at PD Choi, he began to panic, as if he hadn’t expected this.

“Unfortunately, that’s not the case. It’s an idea that would have been adopted if it came up during the brainstorming session. It would have been fun.”

“Ugh! This villain!”

“Ah, since Scorpion Instructor is also a hero, you should give him 1,000 coins too, like Gyeoul!”

“Agreed. Both teams will receive 1,000 coins each.”

I had deliberately kept my mouth shut, but Han Seo-jin hadn’t forgotten.

However, judging by PD Choi and Writer Wang’s unchanged expressions…

‘Giving 1,000 coins each was probably already decided.’

They acted like they weren’t going to give anything, but by giving 1,000 coins, the cast’s complaints would disappear.

The production team really are devils.

They’re playing with people’s psychology.

“How about we check out the shop first? Then we can check out the accommodation too.”

“Sure, let’s go inside.”

The Monster Restaurant had a warm vibe.

“It’s industrial-style? But it’s different! Amazing!”

“Really, there’s no cold feeling at all? Who designed this? It’s impressive!”

Unlike typical industrial styles, it mixed wood and fabric elements to create a warm and cozy atmosphere.

“This is good enough… We could run it as a proper restaurant!”

“Right, if we focus on plating and use good ingredients, a premium strategy would work. Winter, that’s a great idea.”

Han Seo-jin and Winter were finally on the same page, trying to strangely change the concept of the Monster Restaurant.

“No! Absolutely not. My goal is to serve monster cuisine to as many people as possible!”

Monster cuisine is already a bit expensive since monster meat is pricey.

Some monsters are easy to prepare, but others require laser cutters to remove the skin and get to the meat, and those are the tastier ones.

Introducing a premium restaurant strategy on top of that?

Each dish would easily cost hundreds of thousands of won… That’s a bit much.

“…Right, we have to cook monster cuisine.”

“Ah, Scorpion Instructor, you must have tried monster cuisine before. How does it taste?”

“…Huh? Monster cuisine?”

Scorpion tilted his head as if he didn’t understand.

“…?”

“I heard heroes enjoy eating it…”

The cast looked at me with suspicious eyes.

“Heroes enjoy eating monster cuisine? Who’s spreading such nonsense…”

“Ssh!”

I desperately signaled with my eyes to stop talking, but he didn’t get it.

Scorpion Instructor is really clueless.

If this goes on, we might have to take down the Monster Restaurant’s sign.

I sent a magical message to Scorpion.

– Say you enjoy it! Quick!

Finally understanding the situation, he quickly changed his tune.

“Who’s spreading such nonsense… I don’t just enjoy it, I’m obsessed with it…”

“Wow, it must be true.”

Only then did the cast’s eyes return to normal.

“You didn’t believe me? I’m disappointed…”

“Ah, no, Gyeoul, it’s not that we didn’t believe you…”

I saved the Monster Restaurant from the brink of closure right from the start.

Scorpion, you’re second in line for tasting.

 

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