Chapter 338

Chapter 338

It was April, and Kim Raebin’s fan had taken herself to the theaters for the first time in a long while.

I must be out of my mind! She was a college student with graduation looming just around the corner. She was also currently in her mid-term exams. And yet she’d applied for every single screening event she could until she finally won a ticket—she was very aware how absurd he was being.

More insanely, she’d done all this based on an untrustworthy gossip article that stated a K-pop idol group was going to be in the upcoming Limestone movie. The movie, as it happened, was based on Ruins Factory’s universe, the same company that had made 127 Section. No self-respecting Korean could resist the impulse to go watch it. Speculation had run wild about who this idol group might be, of course, but it was her favorites who were the most likely contenders.

Everything fit together perfectly.

- I mean, think about it. They’ll definitely call on the same group they collaborated with in the past

- You mean… T**?

- I’m so excited. What is going on here?

On the surface level, most people were excited, reactions varying from positive to anxious. The communities that had formed around the game, of course, were cursing the game company, saying it had lost touch by going after the American market.

If it was true that they had somehow slotted in a K-pop idol group, then most people believed that the game company had made the universe look cheap for the sake of some jingoist Korean marketing. Interestingly, similar reactions were arising within the lesser known idol fan communities.

- TSuns got sent straight to America as soon as they won a daesang domestically LOL. That is so like T1. I literally don’t know what to say to that

- I don’t like this

- They’re not interested in Korean audiences anymore. They expect us to rely on translated gossip to get news about them

- An idol cameo? LOL That is so cringe. I can hardly believe it

Kim Raebin’s fan was of a similar opinion.

Wait, do they intend to base the new independent label out of the US, too? The fans, who already suspected that the agency was unlikely to actually let TeSTAR form its own label, were already readying themselves to come down on the agency. On the public side, however, they were shushing any negative reactions toward TeSTAR.

The agency must be out of their minds, to make all this trouble while TeSTAR’s on hiatus. Despite all the heated back-and-forth, T1 Stars had not released any official statement. Under normal circumstances, the agency would have quickly denied allegations, released something to the press, or something along those lines. Their silence was only making the fans more nervous and suspicious.

Their cameo is probably so poor in quality that they can’t even defend themselves. Don’t tell me they bundled TeSTAR with some garbage deal? Why are they keeping so quiet about a short cameo appearance? Is there more to this than we know about?

TeSTAR was on tour, so there was no other content for people to distract themselves with. TeSTAR wasn’t responding to questions that flooded the comments during W Live streams, either. Many now believed that they were actually making an appearance in the movie, and had been asked to keep silent about it. Anxiety surrounding the situation quickly grew.

Please don’t be in the movie! the college student thought even as she sought out ways to get into the screening.

Time had passed, however, and yesterday had been the first day the movie had began screenings. Everything changed after that.

- Holy sh*t

- Limestone is always right

- Oh my god. Just watch it, everyone

- Anyone who was worried about excessive jingoist marketing really doesn’t need to worry about this one…

The movie was excellent, with a critic rating of four out of five stars on average. The game’s universe had been translated into the film successfully as well, which made for great source material for all the enthusiastic jingoist WeTubers.

Then there was TeSTAR’s appearance in it.

- I was so shocked. They were

She’d stopped reading right there and logged out.

The bastard! You can’t upload spoilers like that where they can be searched! She didn’t want anything to ruin her experience. She had refused to log on to social media again right up until her screening—not even TeSTAR’s official social media account.

I’ll go in completely blind and be an accurate judge. Rigged comments meant to inflate movie ratings were common, as were fans doing their best to make the first-day reviews seem favorable. She remained wary.

All I know for certain right now is that TeSTAR will be in it! She sat down in the movie theater, her mind cool and level.

“Hey, I want some popcorn.”

“Shut up,” she said to her brother, whom she’d brought with her because there had been nobody else who would go with her.

Before long, the emergency exits were shown on the screen, and a logo appeared. It was the Limestone logo in English, followed by the title of the movie.

[Cosmic Gunner]

It was a typical title for a movie like this. There was a short burst of cheers throughout the theater, as one might expect from a preview. But the grand story that followed, while being extremely cinematic, failed to impress her. She wasn’t into science fiction and was having a hard time understanding, and the game wasn’t all that interesting, either.

Just as I thought. She chewed on her caramel popcorn indifferently.

So when does TeSTAR appear? It was a fun movie, however. The dark humor used when describing how Earth had met its demise, the amazing transitions, and the friendly storyline—all in all, it was a movie that could be enjoyed even by people who didn’t know much and were not interested in science fiction or superheroes.

Not bad. It was a classic Limestone movie. She relaxed, staring at the screen in a daze. She assumed that, as with most Hollywood cameos, TeSTAR would appear after the midpoint of the movie. At this point in the movie, the protagonist had arrived at a space station and was staring at the decadent and fancy neon signs.

“Well, that’s quite something.”

- (I swear, I totally had it wrong.)

The narration that accompanied the protagonist’s words caused the audience to laugh. In the meantime, the protagonist noticed a sign for a pub and quietly walked inside.

A band was delivering a powerful, profound performance, and the screen closed in on them for a moment before the protagonist chose a table and sat down, their music continuing to play in the background. Then he exchanged humorous banter with a supporting character who was a trusted ally.

“So you’re from Earth. What’s it like over there?”

“Well, the bar music is just as noisy.”

The strange-looking band in the background began shouting, employing a lot of English slang.

“What did you just f*cking say?”

“I love this song, buddy! Best song I’ve ever heard!”

One of the members of the band, blurry and unfocused in the background of the shot, glared at the protagonist and then nodded, turning away. The audience laughed again.

The protagonist spoke again.

“They’re just teenagers. Impertinent little things.”

“Careful, now! What passes for common sense on your planet might not hold up here.”

The small alien ally who sat opposite the protagonist lowered their voice and introduced the world that the protagonist was about to discover.

“Over 1,200 planets are tied to this station!”

Elaborate, grand shots of outer space were spliced together, the dialogue playing out over the top.

Wow. The visual effects were stunning, and the college made a small noise of surprise.

The alien continued to speak, describing the peculiarities and treasures belonging to the various races that made use of the space station, their power dynamics, and the armed groups. Quite a lot of this new information contradicted common sense on Earth—including what was considered dangerous.

“The smaller ones all carry around force shooters because of the Protection Act. You see them over there?”

“People like you?”

“Yes, people like me.”

A wide shot of the pub was shown again, and the supporting character chuckled as they revealed a force shooter tucked away in their chest pocket for a moment. The protagonist squinted at it.

“And finally… stay clear of the lunatics who don’t bother to hide that they’re lunatics.”

“Lunatics”

“You know, people who obviously stand out from everyone else!”

The camera moved again, panning toward the seemingly teenage band on the tiny stage that had spoken to the protagonist only moments ago. They were climbing down from the stage, finished performing, and a group of soldiers wearing intimidating battle suits immediately picked a fight with them.

The band members, whose back and side profiles were the only parts of them visible, were colorful in appearance like game characters crossed with members of a rock band from the seventies. They were nowhere as big as the soldiers, however. It looked as though the band was about to take a beating.

“Well.”

When the camera showed them from the perspective of the soldiers, the band members were clearly unimpressed. Their faces were very familiar to most people at the screening as well.

“…!”

“No way! TeSTAR!”

Excited shouts came from all around the cinema thanks to their surprise appearance.

“They don’t bother to hide it because they don’t have to!” said the voice of the supporting actor.

“…!”

There was a quick, well-choreographed fight scene in which the soldiers were taken out with extreme ease thanks to the band’s strange-looking space instruments. One of the members sent the final soldier flying over a table with a laser beam.

Then, brushing the dust off his wrinkled doctor’s coat, he cautiously but protectively wiped at a green stain on the fabric. The single movement was enough to tell the audience that the stain had been made on purpose, for style’s sake. He looked up, revealing a young man wearing thick makeup and glasses. He cracked his neck, his expression devoid of emotion.

Whoa. The college student suddenly realized that the costume was based on the doctor character from 127 Section. It took her a moment to realize that this was actually Bae Sejin.

“…!”

He looked completely different from Bae Sejin, the idol. His voice had been unrecognizable when he shouted in English earlier, even though she knew TeSTAR very well. In fact, the change was so drastic that it made Bae Sejin seem utterly unfamiliar.

For the duration of the short amount of time he’d been on-screen, Bae Sejin had been completely immersed in his character.

What in the world? Kim Raebin’s fan gulped. She had used to think of Bae Sejin as deadweight before, and now she viewed him more as their weakest player, who didn’t seem to fit in with the others. But he was obviously a professional when it came to acting.

The scene changed again. The seven band members walked slowly past the protagonist’s table, ignoring the soldiers who lay sprawled on the floor.

Bae Sejin didn’t even turn around as he spoke.

“Come listen to us again sometime.”

“Well, uh, I sure am honored to—”

The protagonist didn’t get to finish. The band walked offscreen, and the sound of a door opening and closing could be heard. The two main characters, staring wide-eyed at the door, before quickly huddling together and whispering to each other.

“See that? That’s the sort of place this is.”

“Wow…” the protagonist said, blinking.

“So just now, I…”

“Yeah, you could have died. But listen. I have this great plan I want to share with you…”

The theater filled with laughter again. Only someone who knew the group in the cameo would be able to enjoy it fully.

Kim Raebin’s fan held her popcorn tub, shocked. The scene, which had finished on a laugh, was obviously meant to introduce the universe the movie was set in to the protagonist as well as the audience. There had been humor and a twist, and the scene itself had been impressive. TeSTAR’s cameo had included all three of these elements.

Holy cow. There was no way T1 could have arranged something so good. The members themselves had to be behind it. It definitely wasn’t T1’s doing.

“Bae Sejin…” she muttered, her mind drifting to the member who had really shined in the scene. She didn’t typically spare him any thought. Then a realization hit her like a bolt of lightning.

Wait, that song they were playing…

Later in the movie, when the band music that had played in the bar returned once more in the final battle scene as well as the credits—accompanied by vocals—she knew she’d been right.

Exploding far away

The high notes were perfect, even though it was a pop song.

Who else was capable of creating such a fantastic soundtrack, if not Kim Raebin and Park Moondae? She had definitely picked the best members.

And when she returned to the internet after the screening was over, TeSTAR’s short cameo and the soundtrack had already begun making waves.