Season 3: Chapter 220. Ragtag Group (2)
— Did she refuse until now?
— What?
— Did she agree because they won?? Haha.
— Was it because she was just a candidate and not a commander before?
— To get rid of the dead weight?
Viewers grew curious about why Sa-Rang had refused to film before.
— No wonder she didn’t appear.
— Yeah, even during the Best Dressed event, she barely appeared even though she was the main character.
— But isn't she appearing now because she had to? She's practically the main character for making it to the quarterfinals.
— She's probably appearing because of the MVP interview anyway.
Numerous speculations arose while she hesitated to answer.
"It was..."
In the end, she never finished and the screen transitioned.
Static.
— ????
— Hey, director!
— What the heck ㅡㅡ
— This teasing... feels familiar.
— Is it just me or does this editing feel like the usual nuts teasing on YouTube? Haha
The screen remained black for a moment. Slowly, the darkness lifted and the video began. Viewers expected to see game content or hear from the think tank.
— ??
— Huh?
— What's this?
The screen brightened and revealed a cold clean white-toned office. The people dressed in the same clothes with only their tie colors differing. They worked at their respective desks. The camera focused on everyone, making it unclear where to look. Without any background music, only the occasional phone calls and rustling papers could be heard.
— ?
— What is this?
— Huh?
— An office??
— Is this an error?
— Is it the editing room?
The scene looked so different from what they saw before that viewers thought showing the editing room had been a broadcast error. It wasn't. The Fake National Team actually filmed in this company office with people working as usual.
Ding.
A man appeared over a partition. A thin, white line emerged from his head and formed a rectangular speech bubble filled with information.
[Name: Kim Jin-Seong
Age: 31
Job: Marketing Team Assistant Manager
Special Feature: Participating in the National Competition
Nickname: SeoulHomeKimManager]
Correct. He was a member of the national competition.
— Oh.
— So a player works at this company.
— There was someone like this?
— Who is he?
— Just a company employee, haha
— What kind of nickname is that? haha
Employee Kim Jin-Seong stood up from his seat. He approached the camera, seemingly unaware of the speech bubble still attached to his head, and collected some documents. Then, he headed toward his superior's desk.
“Uh, Manager...”
His words faded into a muffled sound as if heard from a distance.
The scene changed again with some static. This time, a supermarket appeared. Many housewives pushed their carts on a weekday morning during lunchtime. The promotional staff offered samples while some moved large boxes and stocked shelves.
Ding.
Among them, a white line appeared over one person.
[Name: Lee Dong-Hyun
Age: 29
Job: Supermarket Logistics Staff
Special Feature: Participating in the National Competition
Nickname: Porter]
This was also a new face for the viewers. Then, the scenes changed rapidly and showed countless professions: an app developer, chicken shop owner, academy instructor, and gym owner...
[Name: Park Ji-Hoon
Age: 35
Job: Gym Owner
Special Feature: Participating in the National Competition
Nickname: Protein]
All these people were team members in the national competition.
“Phew... Huff... Just one more!”
The last to appear was the gym owner, Park Jihoon. He was shouting while lifting an enormous weight.
“Grrrrrrr!”
— Outside the capsule, he looks like he could beat everyone, haha
— All new faces, wow.
— I think I saw him in the inspection squad.
His incredible muscles and strength were eye-catching, but the camera eventually focused on the Monster drink beside him.
— Even ads here, haha
— What's with the ad, haha
— "Grrrr~"
— Haha, I thought I misheard it. Was it "Grrrr~" haha
“Grrrrrrr!”
He successfully lifted the weight and dropped the barbell, which rolled toward the camera with a heavy thud.
Boom!
The scene switched to the game screen.
Protein, who had just thrown the barbell, screamed as he fell, “Aaah!”
Boooooom!
He was falling from the wall destroyed by the elephant. And he wasn't the only one. Lee Dong-Hyun from logistics, Assistant Manager Kim from marketing, the academy instructor, the developer... they were all falling.
— They were all in the inspection squad.
— Were they all in the same squad??
— Oh no.
— Wiped out, wow.
— All dead, geez.
— It's like The Sixth Sense, wow.
They had all been part of the inspection squad. This scene showed the critical moment of their defeat in the second game.
Static played again and the white background of the interview studio returned. A robust man sat there. It was gym owner Protein.
[What were you thinking when you fell from the collapsing wall?]
He answered the question floating above his head, “Well... I thought, 'I’m screwed.'”
— I’m screwed, haha
— So true.
— The game ended there.
— The elephant was an OP unit even thinking about it now.
[Did you think there was an issue with the orders?]
“If I said I didn’t blame the orders at that time, I'd be lying. It was too reckless a command... I thought. Even with the delay, it wasn’t that long. It was a high-risk order from the start.”
There had been a one to two second delay in executing Best Yi Sun-Shin's orders. In a game where even a second or two was precious, this tiny difference caused extreme results. The soldiers naturally blamed the commander.
“Besides, Cookie usually leaves a lot of the judgment to us. Cookie focuses more on setting up the stage.”
Ting!
With a clear sound, the screen changed and another member appeared. It was SeoulHomeKimManager from the marketing team. His team members called him SeoulKim for short.
“The commander suddenly told us to jump off the wall. It didn’t make sense...”
He was also answering a similar question. Then, the question changed.
[Your nickname is quite unique... weren't you an assistant manager?]
SeoulKim replied shyly, “Ah, yes. I am an assistant manager. The nickname is my life's goal.”
— What kind of person... haha
— The dream of every office worker.
— SeoulHomeKimManager, haha
The question changed again.
[Shouldn't you be working instead of doing this?]
SeoulKim felt startled.
“What?”
— Eye shock, haha
— Did he just realize it now? Haha
— ㅇ_ㅇ
— In English, it would be Bastard Kim, haha
— Cookie, why didn’t you tell him? Haha
“Ah, well... I didn't intend to do it to this extent. Somehow... haha. Is this going out on the broadcast—”
Ting.
The screen changed again. This time, a familiar face appeared. It was the inspection squad leader Malatang, Lee Wan-Yong.
“Hm. The second game was pure chaos.”
He briefly stroked his beard before elaborating.
“You know that sense of real combat? The commander had just changed.”
He struggled to find the right words before continuing.
“Like using someone else's arm? Those tiny sync issues on the field didn’t align. Honestly, I thought we would lose the third game too.”
Then, the question above his head changed.
[But you showed a different side in the third game.]
“Yes. It was largely because my mindset changed. I was determined to follow orders no matter what.”
Malatang recalled a certain scene.
“Well, I saw something in the second game.”
His voice continued as the screen changed. It showed Almond riding an elephant.
“Almond handled an elephant alone.”
Screeeeeech...!
Almond slid down the shield and slashed the elephant’s entire head.
— Wow.
— It was amazing.
— Still epic to watch again.
“Seeing that... I realized immediately. This wasn’t Almond’s decision.”
— Haha, what a confident expression, wow.
— So sure, haha.
“This was the commander’s order. This is what the commander wanted... We couldn't execute it because we were lacking...”
Static appeared again and the screen changed.
[Joseon vs. Persia]
[Game 3]
The third game had been the turning point.
Boooooom!
Persian elephants charged forward to reclaim their base’s wall.
— Deja vu?
— Same situation, only the positions are different.
— Oh wow.
— Scary.
The Joseon soldiers faced the same situation as their crushing defeat in the second game. The elephants charged and kicked up dust. The scene slowed as Malatang's voice narrated it.
“I felt it too. This was exactly like the second game as if it had been deliberately set up.”
Then, the other members’ voices also chimed in.
“We were so tense like, ‘Here we go again.’”
“Ah, what is it this time? What do we do?”
“That’s when Malatang hyung shouted first.”
Malatang's spear soared into the sky.
“Haaaaaaa!”
He leaped onto the wall first with no hesitation.
“Then, the order came.”
“It was completely different from the second game.”
“... Yes. Our bodies reacted instantly. Malatang hyung went first and the order followed.”
“Waaaaaa!”
Behind him, countless inspection squad members charged and intense guitar music played in the background.
“Haaaaaa!”
Bang!
The soldiers launched themselves off the edge of the wall. Many fell onto the elephants’ backs.
“My heart pounded so hard...”
“Ah. I knew then. This was it.”
“If you fall from someone else’s push, you’ll plummet. But if you jump, you’ll soar.”
Bang!
Numerous soldiers landed on the elephants and swept through the enemies.
“Waaaaaa!”
The deafening cheers from the crowd echoed out.
— Wow.
— It’s still amazing even now.
— This was crazy.
— Wow.
At this moment, the camera zoomed in on the commander. Her expression hadn't changed much, but her eyes showed a hint of surprise. And Joseon finally won.
[Victory]
All the players emerged from the capsules. Almond spread his arms wide and ran to hug the players.
“Waaaaaa!”
“Joseon! Joseon is in the quarterfinals...!”
The tremendous cheers from the audience filled the entire stadium.
“We’re going to the quarterfinals!!!”
The commentators, the think tank, and everyone else stood up and shouted. All the players put their arms around each other and pressed their heads together.
“Joseon! Joseon!”
They shouted as Bread led the chant.
“Fighting!”
“Monster! Monster!”
“Grrrrrr!”
— Haha.
— Haha.
— Still funny.
The new commander, Best Yi Sun-Shin, awkwardly joined in. The camera zoomed in on her face. She smiled more brightly and happily than ever like a child.
“The reason I changed my mind... It was...”
Her voice trailed off as the screen changed.
A white castle and snow-covered trees appeared. Several bicycles passed by with the national competition team members on them.
Almond was riding a bicycle and the camera zoomed in on her face behind him. Her reason, less significant than expected, flowed out as a voiceover.
“I just wanted to get closer.”
In the slowly moving footage, she smiled with the beautiful scenery in her eyes.
“After playing the game together, I also wanted to try filming together and talk more.”
Pang, Spam, Latte, and Carrot's faces also appeared next to her one by one as they rode their bicycles. They laughed so much with their mouths wide open and eyes tearing up that it made one wonder what they were discussing.
“A ragtag crew? Yes, but...”
With these words, the faces of many inspection squad members from previous interviews quickly flashed by.
“We are a team.”
Boom!
The screen went black and the title appeared.
[Fake National Team]
[Fake Athlete]
— Wow.
— General...
— Military anthem: comradeship, something, something...
— Amazing...
Viewers continued chatting emotionally even after the video ended, but it hadn’t ended yet. Only the emotional part was over.
[Bonus Clip]
Bzzzt.
Suddenly, a man's interview played.
— ???
— Huh?
— Cookie’s scene??
— Cookie’s interview, haha
— Oh, what’s this?
— Service because they rested so long?
— Ah... that guy...
The image was low quality, the voice sounded distorted, and a black line covered the person’s eyes.
“Ah. So, it’s not like that!?”
He lamented in a distorted voice as if he was being unjustly accused.
“I didn’t say Japanese people are short...”
The backstory of that statement was about to be revealed.
— Stop explaining, haha.
— Those nuts deliberately did this, haha
— Give me back my emotions, haha
— This is crazy, haha