WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Chen
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ Incarnation of the Malevolent Star ◈
Chapter 94: Part 1 - Whispers of the Dark Brother (94)
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#94.
The extreme power creep in Korean archery was infamous even around the world.
As befitted that reputation, every archery expert on the executive committee for the provincial archery tournament was an international medalist, without a single exception.
Athletes so distinguished that, in other countries, one might only see them on the organizing committee for an international competition.
The very fact that so many such athletes were involved in organizing a mere provincial tournament showed the unrivaled standing of Korean archery.
Their pride as experts stood high.
It was lofty pride, entirely rightful and clean. It had been built solely through honor, effort, and skill.
Therefore, the insult they felt was justified as well.
The strength of this country's archery came from fierce competition founded on fairness and independence.
The important people on the organizing committee should not infringe upon the executive committee's authority.
The atmosphere in the meeting room was colder than the early winter wind outside.
The experts denounced the provincial governor and the organizing committee.
“What does that governor know about archery that they think they can interfere? And what is with the organizing committee, sending out an official notice just because the governor told them to? Has there ever been a precedent for this?”
“Traditional horn bows? What kind of nonsense is that? What the hell did that governor take in kickbacks from the Korean Traditional Archery Association to start spouting such absurdities? It's so ridiculous, I can't even get angry.”
“Would the Korean Traditional Archery Association even make such an unreasonable demand? They have brains too, and they're experts in their own way.”
“Should we submit a protest under the national association's name? We can ignore the official notice for now.”
The experts' anger resonated through the room and grew hotter.
The president of the Provincial Archery Association, now in a difficult position, tried to calm them.
“Just a moment, everyone. Please calm down and listen to me.”
The association president had never been a medalist, or even a former athlete, but their influence was not insignificant.
The experts fell silent for the moment.
Still, the looks they gave the association president were not entirely friendly.
The association president could easily read the emotions in the medalists' eyes.
Could it be? Perhaps? Surely not?
They swallowed a sigh.
‘Seriously. Why did my predecessor have to go and do something like that?’
Though the archery association was known for fairness and transparency, it was not an organization without a single stain.
What organization in this world, where people lived and worked together, could be?
The association president's predecessor had tried to quietly cover up an ugly incident involving the archery team at a middle school in the province, then stepped down amid controversy.
A senior student had shot a junior with an arrow, causing injury. The fact that the former president had tried to cover up an incident that could easily have killed someone said a great deal.
The association president chose their words carefully.
“First... from what I've heard, using a horn bow doesn't actually violate the equipment regulations.
“There is no precedent, so they're only asking for our understanding in advance. But if we look strictly at the regulations, apparently there are no grounds to stop someone from simply bringing one out.”
Naturally, the medalists were dumbfounded.
One of them, speaking for the others, asked, “The rules say that? Really? Are you sure you've not been misinformed?”
The association president nodded.
“I had my doubts too, so I read through the rulebook. The Olympic rulebook, that is... And it seems they're actually right.”
“What?”
“I may not have understood the regulations properly, since I'm not an expert. So why don't you look through them yourselves? Right now, here.”
Being international medalists did not mean they had memorized the Olympic rulebook from beginning to end.
This was especially true of the equipment regulations.
When athletes chose equipment, their mindset was simply, ‘Use the equipment we're supposed to use.’
If they chose among products from brands certified by World Archery, there was no chance of violating the rules in the first place.
“...”
Silence fell over the meeting room for a moment.
Everyone but the association president was busy staring at their phone screens with furrowed brows.
Yet no matter how carefully they read the equipment regulations, they could find no explicit provision barring horn bows from competition.
“Is this really true...?”
One medalist sighed, looking not only bewildered but aggrieved.
“Honestly, shouldn't this be called a loophole in the rules? Everyone thought it was so obviously not allowed that no one bothered to ban it separately.”
The other athletes serving as experts felt much the same.
They felt deeply wronged, but had no grounds on which to complain.
Then another medalist offered an opinion with a sigh.
“You're looking at the wrong issue, sunbae.”
“The wrong issue?”
“This is a matter of basic sportsmanship before it's a matter of equipment regulations.
“There is no respect here. No respect for the sport, or for the other athletes.”
“...Ah!”
“The other athletes are taking the competition deadly seriously, truly putting their lives into it. Then someone comes out with a horn bow as though they're playing around, just to attract attention? That itself is an insult to the competition and to the other athletes.”
That was true enough.
Sportsmanship regulations were among the most fundamental rules.
They were powerful regulations that could impose sanctions whenever someone failed to show respect for the competition, other teams, or other athletes.
“To put it bluntly, if a British representative came to the Olympics with a longbow, how many people wouldn't take it as a joke? It would be the same if a Japanese representative came out with a Japanese bow.”
The speaker shrugged.
“Longbows and Japanese bows aren't recurves like horn bows, but... I think everyone understands what I mean.”
It was all entirely correct, and the other medalists nodded.
Then they looked at the association president.
They were asking the person with final authority for a decision.
The association president silently blamed the governor.
‘Damn it. Why did they have to make me handle something like this? I can't just brush it off with the equipment regulations.’
Until now, the association president had acted vague, saying they had only heard things indirectly and that it supposedly looked this way or that.
In truth, the governor had contacted them directly.
It was a call they could not refuse if they cared about their political future, and a request that came very close to an order.
Hiding their true intentions behind a harmless mask, the association president cautiously asked the genuinely expert athletes before them.
“Everyone, have you looked at the supplementary materials sent with the official notice?”
They had all been so outraged by the notice itself that no one had closely examined the supplementary materials, which seemed like little more than attachments.
“Why the supplementary materials? Is there something in them as important as the notice?”
A gold medalist asked. The association president nodded.
“There is, if it can be called important... It seems the governor has a student athlete in mind.
“If you scan the QR code on page three, there is a related video... No, let's just watch it together on the projector. Could someone turn off the lights for a moment?”
Soon afterward, the video in question played on the screen in the darkened meeting room.
It showed Strongest in Town, Jo Onik, hanging an Olympic archery target at the target distance used for traditional Korean archery, then shooting it with a horn bow and planting every arrow in the nine-point ring or higher.
At first, the medalists watched seriously.
Before long, however, each of them began to laugh helplessly.
“It’s fake.”
One person's words spoke for everyone's feelings.
“To think they were fooled by something like that and came to us with this ridiculous demand... Well, someone who knows nothing could be fooled, but... goodness.”
After that, the medalists exchanged variations of the same opinion.
The association president felt awkward for no reason.
The governor had done something foolish, so why did the association president have to feel embarrassed?
Trying to hide their discomfort, the association president cleared their throat.
“So you're certain this is fabricated? That it's absolutely impossible?”
“Of course.”
The association president was not an outsider to archery. But neither were they as much of an expert as the medalists.
One of the medalists, who had also received coaching training, spoke calmly.
“It has to be fake. There are countless reasons.
“For one thing, traditional bows like that don't even have equal tension above and below. Composite bows are especially bad for that. And it's not as if they calculate the archer's paradox with precision and use arrows matched to the bow's draw weight.”
“Hmm...”
“And look at the arrows. They look like arrows just made by cutting bamboo. Even if their spine balance is good, how good could it possibly be?”
“Certainly not as good as factory-made ones.”
“Yes, exactly. Shooting that kind of arrow from that kind of bow, and what is that? He's flicking the bow like that. Is that called bow-tip flicking? Is that right?
“Anyway, he's making such a mess of it, and on top of that, he's gripping the bowstring hard. Yet every arrow scores nine points or higher from 145 meters away? Does that make any sense?”
“...”
“Even with bows made using cutting-edge technology, with sights attached, stabilizers absorbing vibration, and weights shifting the center of balance to send the arrow as smoothly as possible, it's difficult to guarantee a ten from seventy meters away.
“Really, what more is there to say? It's one hundred percent fabricated. AI is impressive these days.”
There was not a single flaw in the words of the medalist, who knew both theory and practice inside out.
Only this time, their opponent was clearly abnormal.
Common sense and science could not explain the strange phenomena, extraordinary powers, disorder, and spirits harbored by the frightening boy.
“...Then, everyone.”
The association president spoke in a suggestive tone.
“Let's accept the request for now.”
The medalists, wondering what the association president was talking about, were about to flare up when the association president quickly raised a hand to calm them.
“Wait. Please listen a little longer.”
“...”
“We could stop this now, but wouldn't it be better to let that athlete publicly embarrass themself at the tournament, then make the matter public?
“Public opinion would become far stronger that way. Then they would never dare attempt something like this again.
“It could teach many people a lesson too. Wouldn't it?”
Behind the association president's words lay their own self-protective calculation.
‘First, approve the request itself. Then I'll pass along a private message. I'll say they should properly verify whether the video is fabricated.
‘If they hear my warning and abandon the plan, that would be good. If they stubbornly go ahead and make fools of themselves, it'll have nothing to do with me.’
The association president thought further.
‘And would the people who made that fake video really want to enter an official tournament? Their lie is bound to be exposed.’
The medalists, unaware of the seasoned association president's inner thoughts, wore expressions that said, ‘Now that they mention it, that does make sense.’
The bad governor, who treated sports lightly and tried to exert outside pressure with political power, needed to be taught a harsh lesson.
But confronting the governor directly at this point, in order to teach that lesson, was burdensome.
It would be better to set the stage instead.
Let those internet broadcasters who don't know their place collapse spectacularly, unable to bear the burden of their own karma.
Afterward, they could quietly feed the story to the press. That was the wisest form of punishment.
After a brief discussion, the medalists came together in accepting the association president's policy.
#
Legal Hunter was not the only one who wanted to give a heartfelt gift to the lonely country boy for the coming Christmas.
On the night of the twenty-second, with Christmas Eve two days away.
The kitchen of the Guest Lodging Pavilion, lit by cozy reddish-orange lamps, was filled with the sweet scent of fine chocolate.
Though it was their first time making handmade chocolates, the members of Truffle Candy had gone through all kinds of trial and error, each in their own way, despite the simple recipe.
“Finally... We're done!”
Yesul, the third member, stretched with a groan. Both hands were covered in cocoa powder.
The other members' hands were not much different.
Everyone was exhausted, sagging where they stood.
On a wide tray atop the counter, round, uneven, ugly little chocolates were piled up like a mountain.
They were a French dessert called truffle chocolates because their appearance resembled truffles.
There could be no more fitting gift for the members of Truffle Candy to give.
Though they were called truffle chocolates, they did not actually contain truffles.
If real truffles were added, they would taste strange in every possible way. It was better not to do that.
Mina, the youngest, spoke with heavy exhaustion in her voice.
“Unnies, let's package them tomorrow... There are so many. Even if we cut our sleep in half, it wouldn't be enough time to divide them up and decorate every single one tonight.”
Sorin, slumped in a chair, agreed.
“Let's. It's not like they'll spoil after one day...”
Although they were beginners, the four had made enough to wear themselves out because there were many people besides the lonely country boy who would receive some.
The idol industry was a harsh and unforgiving place.
Anyone who did not know how to navigate society could not survive in this industry.
So they needed to give some to Legal Hunter, the second-in-command, probably, as well as to the country boy's grandfather and the other elders in the aging village.
They had even prepared a portion to send by courier to their producer, someone they had not gotten along with very well until now, and honestly could not be said to get along with very well even now.
Of course, the most important recipient was the kind country boy.
They planned to wrap his portion as beautifully as they could and include a handwritten letter written with care.
Sera thought about the cameras set up all around the kitchen.
‘Even apart from professional courtesy, it's better to give them to lots of people if we want to avoid unnecessary misunderstandings. The viewers are watching.’
She had not asked, but Sera assumed the other members thought the same.
Otherwise, someone would have complained when they suggested making an amount too large to weigh on a small scale.
It was consideration for the precious boy, after all.
Because it was simply what they had to do, not one of them voiced a complaint.
There were few people who understood better than entertainers why they needed to avoid misunderstandings.
Sera turned her eyes toward the window.
Stars glimmered across the dark mountain ridges.
They had taken on a special meaning for her after a certain day.
‘...Yes. A misunderstanding. It has to be.’
The hunter and the boy had created the subsidiary channel Candy Box of the Mountain Village for them.
The subscriber count of the subsidiary channel was steadily increasing.
The main channel, Onik Uncle and the Hapless Chief, was growing so rapidly that even the overflow from it was enough to nourish the subsidiary channel.
The more everything seemed to be going well, the more easily a major crisis could come.
People became careless or arrogant, for one thing. And the fickle public's attention and goodwill always carried risks equal to their size.
So they had to be careful in advance.
They could not repay kindness with hostility.
‘People can dress it up by calling it art and all sorts of other things, but idols ultimately make their living by selling the feeling of a romantic relationship.
‘Top-class girl groups may rise above it to some extent, but they still don't escape it completely...’
People said love was humanity's greatest interest.
It was probably inevitable that many viewers watched every move of a broadcaster or celebrity they liked with a wondering eye.
Could it be?
Even Sera herself, who was so conscious of this, sometimes found herself thinking, ‘Surely not? No, it can't be.’
...She really had to be careful.
“Hehe.”
Mina, leaning against the counter, laughed with playful amusement in her voice.
“Jo Onik, that lucky little brat. Getting handmade chocolates as a gift from active idol unnies. He should consider it the glory of his life.”
Pulled from her thoughts, Sera spoke without meaning to.
“We're the ones who received good fortune. So much that I don't even know how we can repay it.”
Mina was momentarily speechless at her oldest unnie's words, then stuck out her lips in a pout.
“Unnie. Could you not suddenly turn this into a documentary?
“It's not fun if you're always so serious. You need to develop your sense for broadcasting.”
Sorin snickered.
“If I'm going to suck on some seriousness with you too, we really were blessed. We didn't even have money to spend like this before...
“Ever since we formed our own label, I've been so, so grateful to receive activity funds every month.”
Legal Hunter's theft of the label was still ongoing.
So the activity funds the members received, or their appearance-maintenance allowance, were not profit distributions. They were advance payments to be offset against future profits.
And the members did not know all of Legal Hunter's plans.
The more people knew a secret, the more likely it was to leak.
Even Sera, the leader, believed that creating a label under a joint venture corporation was the whole plan.
In other words, from the members' perspective, their monthly activity funds merely meant that their agency's investment in them was increasing.
Even so, they were simply happy.
Advance payment or not, it was always better to take whatever money they could get.
Too many senior idols in this industry had waited obediently for a settlement, only to be thrown out without receiving a single penny.
Mina scolded Sorin.
“Unnie, please, I'm begging you, speak more nicely... ‘Suck on some seriousness’? There are so many better expressions!”
“What’s wrong with it? This is my personality. The viewers like it too, you know?”
“That’s because our subscribers are kind and indulge you...!”
Sorin and Mina bickered.
Although Mina scolded her like this on the surface, her real feelings were a little different. It was part of building what broadcasters called chemistry.
Yesul added calmly, “Having money I can use however I want is nice, but it's even nicer to spend money I earned on people I'm grateful for.
“I can't believe I lived without knowing this kind of joy. I wasted half my life.”
Mina sighed.
“Am I the only one here who wants to make a variety show? Why is everyone trying to make a documentary? I really can't take this...”
“Huh? I just said a variety-show line.”
“A variety-show line? What part of that was?”
“I made a sex joke. There's demand for that sort of thing on broadcasts these days.”
“No, I don't understand what part of it was a se... that kind of joke! Don't make me say dangerous things too!”
“And before that, why would idols choose that kind of character? You unnies are really in trouble. Seriously...”
“Trouble? Well. From what I've heard, girls who act innocent like you are usually the ones with those... tendencies.”
“Ah! Seriously! What! Tendencies! Are you talking about! You unnies! I'm really getting mad!”
“Ahem. Mina. Don't, don't raise your voice like that. You need to protect your idol image, right? Or not?”
“Aaargh! You're so annoying!”
Sera, their oldest unnie, truly enjoyed watching her younger members fool around like this.
The viewers who watched and listened to this recorded broadcast on Christmas Day would likely feel the same way.
‘Sorin has relaxed a lot too. Before, she looked like she was forcing herself into clothes that didn't fit.’
The suffocating mold their agency had demanded they fit into.
The standardized idol image and behavior.
Now that they had escaped that stifling mold, everyone seemed able to breathe more easily.
Was it because they could breathe more easily and their hearts were at peace?
Sera and the other members had all been improving every day in the fields they considered their strengths.
Before they were saved by the kind country boy, they would have been grateful if their skills merely did not decline.
Of them all, Sera stood out the most.
At this rate, she might truly succeed as an entertainer.
That hope gave the rookie idols with prior experience even stronger motivation.
Footnotes:
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