Chapter 361

Chapter 361

Walking through rice paddies in the middle of the night had the potential to be quite frightening. There weren’t lights everywhere like in the city. Instead, there were only the occasional streetlamps flickering on and off. Not that it seemed to have any effect on someone who was used to that sort of thing in the first place, of course.

I turned and asked the person who was following me with a shovel in his hand, “Aren’t you scared?”

“Is there any reason that I should be?”

Forget it. Let’s just keep going. I raised my phone and turned on the camera.

“Is that the camera?” Kim Raebin said.

“Yeah. We should probably film what we’re doing.” I aimed the back camera at myself and waved.

Raebin bowed as well.

“Hello, everyone. It is now 3:30 in the morning, and we have just left our accommodations.”

“Th-that’s right,” Raebin said.

“Let me explain why we’re out here,” I said in an even tone. “We do not wish to be scammed anymore in this carrot economy… We have decided that a revolution is in order.”

“What?” Raebin said.

“A revolution,” I repeated.

Raebin’s gaze became uncertain. “Uh, Moondae… The coins are important, of course, but don’t you think it’s rude to dig up somebody else’s field?”

“Of course it’s rude,” I said.

“Huh?”

I stopped where the rice paddies ended and the outskirts of the village began.

This should be far enough.

“Let’s put the shovel here.”

“The shovel?” Raebin said, seemingly dazed for a moment. Then his wits seemed to return to him. “Uh, if we’re going to harvest carrots, don’t you think it would be easier to take the shovel with us?”

I grinned at him. “We’re not going to the carrot field.”

“…!”

“We only brought the shovels to make other people think that we are,” I said.

There were hidden cameras all over the house. Someone was bound to be watching the feeds, even at this hour. Our unexpected actions would surely already have been reported. No doubt the production team currently thought we were headed for the carrot field.

In fact, they probably predicted we would do so from the start. Carrots were worth one coin each. It wasn’t hard to predict that some of us might try to steal some actual carrots in the night. Even Raebin had assumed that was what we were doing.

“Were you worried that we might be going to steal produce from someone’s field?”

“I did not doubt your morals in the least! This is a variety show, so I assumed that it might be allowed. That is all!” he said.

“Right. Well, you don’t have to worry,” I told him.

This confusion was precisely what I had in mind.

You can sit around in that field all night long. Sure that they would not realize what we were really up to, I was doing them a favor by recording what we were up to. I put a flashlight and a hoe on top of the shovel. After that, I began to walk again.

“A-are we abandoning these?” he asked.

“No. We are going to leave them here for a little while, and then come back for them. We don’t want to walk into a store with shovels in our hands do we?”

“Okay… But what kind of store is open at this hour?”

“There is one,” I said, pointing to a sign that was glowing faintly in the distance. “They are open twenty-four seven, and will travel to your location.”

“…?”

Raebin looked in the direction I was pointing, and I filmed him as he did so. His confused expression filled the screen.

“What are we doing here…?”

“I thought you said you’d been to a store like this before?” I said.

He had told me about it once while talking about his childhood.

“Yes, but…”

“All right, I’ll trust you to handle it.”

“Oh, okay!”

He seemed even more confused, but he accommodated my request right away. Bringing him was convenient, since he wasn’t one to complain.

“All right. Let’s head inside.”

We entered a store in an old building that was still lit. Some illegally posted flyers on the street were fluttering in the wind, their red letters showing.

[Woori Hardware Shop]

[Available for emergency work on-site / Open 24/7]

***

Morning dawned.

“Good morning, everyone,” I said.

“Good morning…” Raebin echoed.

“Wait, why are you guys coming in through the front door instead of your room…?”

By the time we returned to our accommodations, it was after seven in the morning. We weren’t carrying anything other than the tools that we’d taken with us.

The director, who had been camping in the yard, asked us in a confused tone, “Where have you been?”

I had let the production team know we were safe with a text saying we were on an adventure, so they wouldn’t report us missing or anything.

I left the shovel where it belonged in the yard and said, “We wanted to go to the carrot field, but we got lost.”

“Hahaha!”

Are you happy? I want you to laugh more. It’ll be more interesting that way.

After the production team was done questioning us, it was the other members’ turn.

“What did you guys do?” Eugene asked. “Did you eat something nice with Raebin? Did you do something fun?”

“No. We starved,” I said.

“Oh… Okay. Cheer up.”

That’s Eugene placated. I passed the other members who were still sleeping or had just gotten up. One of them threw his arms around my neck in a headlock. It was Big Sejin, of course.

“Oh come on, Moondae, that’s not fair. How could you leave me behind and film something during the night? Feels bad man.”

Let go of me.

“It wasn’t proper filming anyway. We didn’t have a camera, so I used my phone.”

“You’re basically a professional, Moondae. The scene you filmed must have been really important. Now I’m even more upset.”

Oh, come on.

“I thought that if too many of us left together, we would be caught. Okay? Raebin had a job to do, so I brought him along.”

“Ah…” Big Sejin stopped complaining and grinned. “Now I’m even more curious.”

“I’ll tell you all before we have breakfast, so gather the others,” I said.

“Hmm?” he asked.

I grinned. “We’ve prepared something good. It’s time to share.”

Moments later, the production team was informed of our sudden plans to leave the accommodations.

“Guys, you only have four coins. Are you sure you want to go shop for groceries now?”

“Yes. We’re still going,” I said.

“Well, we’re not complaining. Do whatever you want, TeSTAR!”

Smooth talkers, all of them. They seemed excited at the prospect of watching us struggle to buy something to bring home. In any case, we headed back to the supermarket despite the early hour with the production team in tow.

As soon as we stepped inside, Chungwoo said kindly, “Guy’s, why don’t we pick out everything we want to eat?”

“Yeah! Sounds good!” Eugene said excitedly.

“I-in that case, let me go get some fruit!” Ahyeon said.

The production team seemed confused as the members scattered in every direction.

“Huh?”

“What?”

The director warned me quietly, “You do realize that harvesting carrots without permission is stealing, right? We will deduct twice as much as the penalty.”

“We didn’t steal any carrots,” I replied.

He seemed to think that we’d dug up carrots from some field without their supervision and hid them.

Sorry, but that’s not what’s happening here.

“Okay! So that’s it, then?” Big Sejin said.

“Wait,” I said.

“Wow, Moondae! You’re really splurging! One duck per person?” he said.

After we filled our cart with various groceries, we headed to the counter where the manager of the supermarket welcomed us as usual. He’d changed his tune, however.

“Hmm. Let’s see now… Just give me one coin for all of this.”

“…!”

“Thank you!” Big Sejin said, quickly trying to complete the transaction.

The production team protested loudly.

“O-one?”

“Wait a second.”

“This can’t be right.”

“Huh? What do you mean? Didn’t you just hear the manager? Chungwoo, give us a coin!” Big Sejin said.

“Haha. All right.”

Chungwoo held out a single coin and paid for the groceries. Judging from the price on the screen, we had probably racked up a three hundred thousand won grocery bill.

Nice.

The director finally managed to string together words. “What did you do?”

“Do what?” I asked.

“Something is going on here.”

“What are you talking about? This whole system is about the residents setting the prices they want to, right?”

The director gaped, and I heard the other staff trying not to laugh. I glanced at Raebin to warn him not to say anything and nodded.

“It’s nice that they gave us such a cheap price,” I said.

“Yeah.”

Step one was complete.

After we’d had a generous breakfast, we took our cart out in order to help out the elderly residents again.

“Yeah!” Eugene cried.

“Eugene, slow down! I said slow down!” Raebin cried after him.

Once again, we were awarded with an enthusiastic and generous amount of coins.

“Take these! This is for sweeping the yard yesterday!”

“Th-thank you!” Ahyeon said.

“You are doing a lot of good work, young men! I included five coins for you.”

“Wow! I am so touched… I expected no less from someone as handsome as you!” Big Sejin said to an old man.

We made thirty coins in only three hours. It was more than we’d made on the first day. The members exchanged proud looks.

“Wow! We made as much as we did working an entire day on the carrot field,” Big Sejin said.

“That does it. Let’s go.” The director was at the end of his rope. “Sir… Have you forgotten about the massage chair?” he asked the old man.

“Of course not! I would love to have one!”

“Augh!” the director said, clearly in the midst of a minor meltdown.

To translate, I guess he wants to say something like You cheaters! You flatter us. I exchanged a quiet high-five with the members.

Step two is done.

By the time we’d sat down for a short snack, I prepared the final exposé before things got old.

“Dishes are done!” Big Sejin said.

“Let’s get some rest,” Chungwoo said.

The members were lying on the porch, and Chungwoo left the pouch full of coins next to him as if he was going to lie down and get some rest as well.

The production team, who had been going around the village asking what was going on in their confusion, immediately fell for the bait.

“What in the world…”

One of the writers checked the pouch just in case and soon discovered something.

“Huh?”

“What?”

The writer urgently called the director over and held out a coin.

“Th-this coin is different!”

“…!”

The production team began to murmur quietly. There was a flurry of phone calls and other activity before the truth emerged.

“Someone went around in the morning and gave dozens of carrot coins to every house! They said it was a special gift…”

“…!”

Ah, they found us out. But it’s too late.

“TeSTAR…?”

“Yes,” I said.

“We’ve just been informed that over a thousand coins were handed out, and not by us.”

“Is that right?” I asked.

Yes. It was natural that the villagers would become generous again once they believed that they had enough coins to secure themselves a massage chair.

“And apparently there are another five hundred at the supermarket.”

“Right.”

I had negotiated with the supermarket as well.

“From now on, please let us buy everything we need for a single coin when we show up with cameras.”

They had nothing to lose, since they would be receiving payment for what we bought from the production team anyway.

“Excuse me, what is going on?”

“We don’t know anything about this. Isn’t that right?” I asked.

“Of course we don’t,” Big Sejin said.

The director cried out, “Moondae! Raebin! What did you do when you left the house last night?”

We went carrot mining, of course. We hadn’t gone to any of the fields, but we had mined coins, nonetheless.

Though the method was rather unorthodox, of course. It’s your fault for making the coins like a kids’ plaything. They were easy to replicate.

“Wait a second! These… These are fake!”

“Is there a problem?” I asked, tilting my head.

The production team was in shock after seeing the copies that we’d made at the hardware store.

“I don’t see the problem here… They look identical,” I said.

“Yeah. They’re the same coins,” Big Sejin said.

“I agree with you,” Bae Sejin said casually.

The production team repressed frustrated screams as the two Sejins calmly agreed with me. It was true that variety shows in which successful people were forced to endure unexpected tribulations were fun. But that didn’t mean we had to suffer. I had instead decided to turn the tables on the production team that had experienced massive success with every one of their shows by tricking the guests in each one.

These people right here.

“In any case! Moondae, Raebin, we know that you ordered something at the hardware store!”

So you figured that out, did you?

“Yes,” I said.

“The only currency that you can spend right now are carrot coins. What is going on?” the director said, agitated and thinking he’d finally found a clue.

I shrugged. “Oh, they didn’t charge us because they said they were our fans.”

“…!”

“Nobody just does work for free! You paid them!”

Yup. The order was on credit. It was one of the advantages of being a well-known celebrity. The job had been requested in the wee hours of the morning and urgently at that, which meant we had to pay several times the usual rate. But I thought it was money well spent.

I didn’t so much as bat an eye as I said, “Do you have proof?”

“Darn it!”

Whoa, calm down. I don’t want you passing out.

The director shifted his target. “Raebin!” he shouted.

“Y-yes?”

“You’re such an upright person. Are you going to go along with this farce?”

“W-well…” Raebin said.

Ah. Not a bad approach, but I expected you to try this.

“It’s not a farce,” Raebin said.

“I’m sorry…?”

Raebin balled his hands into fists. “Besides, it’s only right that people get more carrot coins.”

“…!”

“If there are any problems, I will buy them the massage chairs with my own money!” he said.

“What?!”

I had already brainwashed—that is, explained—to him the situation, though it had taken two hours to do so. The production team was at a loss.

“Moondae, let’s buy out the entire supermarket. They’re only taking one coin for everything,” Big Sejin said.

“Wait a second.”

“What’s the problem? The residents are asking for this price of their own free will,” I said.

“Sorry! Wait!”

Even the writers were joining in now. They quickly held up a sketchbook with an urgently scrawled message.

[We can’t go over the budget! And we have product placement deals to carry out! Please go easy on us!]

They are surrendering, clearly.

“You want relaxing? We’ll give you relaxing!”

“Only this time around?” I asked.

“Next time, too! Next time, we will send you on a full luxury course to a… I know! A hot spring!”

And so the shenanigans planned with the coins were stymied by our indiscriminate production of the same coins.

This was around the time when the trailer for the first episode dropped.