The silence between the newly formed team was actually hilarious.
Zeno glanced to his left, where Jace stood with an awkward grin, and then to his right, where two old familiar faces and one very animated girl were.
“Uh, so,” Jace clapped his hands together, trying to spearhead the conversation. “Can anybody here actually play this game?”
They all exchanged glances. Mimi beamed.
“I played a few times!” she chirped, her bunny hair clip bouncing. “But I’m not that good… oh, but more importantly—Zeno, did you get more handsome recently? Seriously. You’re glowing.”
Hyunbin, the oldest among them, squinted at Zeno. “You go to some derma clinic, huh?”
Before Zeno could speak, Jace answered on his behalf.
“He doesn’t go,” Jace said, laughing. “Even if the company asks him to. Not even once. He just looks like that.”
Everyone fell silent again.
Mimi and the two older men—Hyunbin and Sangwon—pursed their lips. The injustice of Zeno’s genetics offended them just a little bit (maybe, a lot).
“Anyway,” Jace tried again, “we should talk strategy… or basics. So, nobody played this game?”
“I’ve played!” Mimi said with a small raise of her hand. “But I always lose. Like, always. But my viewers increase every time I lose.”
“Okay. Well. At least you’ve seen the game before,” Jace chimed, trying to stay positive.
“How about you two?” Zeno asked the older men.
“No,” Hyunbin said. “Do I look like I play games, young man?”
Jace sighed. “Alright. I see how this is going to go.”
Zeno turned to him. “You’re good, right?”
“Huh?” Jace asked.
“You. You’re good at this game.”
“Well, yeah, I mean—of course,” Jace said, trying to sound cool, but a red tint was crawling up his neck. “You know how much I play this game.”
Zeno nodded. “Then carry us for the first game.”
“What? No! I can’t do that alone,” Jace exclaimed. “Especially not if we’re matched with teams that actually know what they’re doing. I saw Phoenix play. Not to mention Faze, who’s in the upper ranks in the server.”
Zeno’s eyes narrowed as he scanned the room.
The flashy teams were easy to spot. They were barely talking, most with flashy gear and confident poses. But then his eyes landed on a quieter corner of the hall—a small table where five other artists sat with looks of confusion on their faces.
Four of them were unmistakably rookie idols, barely out of their debut. They were wearing matching jackets with their group logo “VNTY” printed across the back. The fifth was a lanky young man with bleached hair and a familiar streaming channel name tagged to his badge.
Zeno overheard one of the girls say, “So like, the tiny heroes can spit fireballs? That’s actually pretty cool.”
They were lost. Even the gamer with them was too busy instructing them to look confident.
Zeno’s eyes flicked left. Ian’s eyes were fixed on him, and he waved his hand. “Play with us,” he mouthed.
But Zeno shook his head.
“Nope,” he muttered.
Jace looked up. “What?”
“We need to make sure they’re our competitors in the first match,” he said, pointing to the table at the corner.
“They have Bleach, though,” Jace said, referring to the blonde streamer with them.
“You can take him on,” Zeno said. “We just have to make sure that it is them we play with for the first round.”
“How do we do that, though?”
Before Zeno could answer, MC Tiny returned to the stage, microphone in hand and a wide smile.
“I hope you got to know your teammates better!” he announced. “Now, it’s time to determine today’s game and the roster for tomorrow’s elimination round!”
“Let’s play a warm-up game!”
Before MC Tiny could announce what type of game they were going to play, the production crew was already buzzing behind the scenes, clapping each other on the back for how well the stream was doing. The game they chose was also perfect for stirring up drama!
“You’re all going to play the Nonchalant Game!”
Confusion wrapped the room as they wondered about the rules of the new game.
“Now, now,” MC Tiny cheekily said, “The rules are simple. You have five seconds to answer whatever question is thrown your way. If you hesitate, you’re out. No skipping, no stalling. You gotta stay cool under pressure.”
– This is brilliant.
– Artists answering spicy questions? Count me in.
– The questions better be spicy.
There were camera pans to each team, and the staff were already handing out branded buzzers and earpieces.
“You’ll send in a representative. Just one per team. Winner gets a huge advantage! The last person standing will get to choose the matchups for tomorrow’s first elimination round.”
The gasps echoed in the room.
– Power move.
– Whoever wins chooses who dies.
– Phoenix vs. Zeno, please. I’m begging!!
Hyunbin scoffed. “I’m too old for games like this.”
Mimi clapped her hands. “Zeno should go. I’m curious about his answers, too,” she said with a teasing smile.
Zeno didn’t even hesitate. He stood up, sliding his hands into his pockets.
At that exact moment, three others stood in unison.
Ian Seo.
Risa.
And Faze, the streamer with a smug expression, spinning his mic between his fingers like a gunslinger.
Oska, seated near Risa, leaned back with his arms crossed and a brooding look on his face. He didn’t get up, but his frown deepened the moment Risa did.
“Ohhh, we’ve got some spicy players,” MC Tiny said, scanning the line-up as the participants walked up front.
One by one, they took their places. A circle formed.
Ian waved at Zeno again while Risa appeared elated to stand next to him.
“Remember,” MC Tiny said, “you can direct your question to anyone. Just say their name. If they answer in five seconds, they stay. If not, they’re out. One winner. One ruler of the battlefield!”
– RISA VS. ZENO I NEED IT
– FAZE IS GONNA GO FOR THE KILL
– Zeno, stay strong!
“Who wants to go first?”
“Me,” Faze said right away, his gaze fixing on Zeno. It was no news that everyone wanted to battle against Zeno’s team for tomorrow’s death match round, so in the end, they all wanted to target him.
“Zeno,” Faze started off. “Name three actresses you’ve dated.”