Ch.273Noah’s Ark

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While editing the first episode of <Physical 300>.

“PD! The vote count is finished.”

“Oh, okay. Just a moment.”

PD Ji Yonghu waved his hand dismissively at the junior PD’s words.

Seeing this gesture, the junior PD approached with an anxious face.

“Was what we did not good enough?”

“No, it’s not that. I just want to make it more entertaining.”

While calming the junior PD’s anxiety,

PD Ji rubbed his eyes.

‘Out of about 300 participants, maybe fifty have decent entertainment value?’

In fact, even this was quite a lot.

Objectively speaking, there was sufficient material.

But compared to the main content, it felt lacking.

“It’s just that Donghu is too amazing, but the other matches were incredible too.”

The junior PD, relieved it wasn’t his fault,

tried to comfort PD Ji who was replaying the ball-stealing scene several times.

“I know, I know. I’m just being greedy.”

Taking a deep drag from his vape and carefully exhaling upward,

PD Ji shook his leg nervously like pressing an accelerator.

“For the team leader vote, Donghu is first place, right?”

“Yes. Second place was Cade as you expected, and third was the marathoner Sindre.”

“It went exactly as we predicted.”

PD Ji finally stood up, putting aside his disappointment.

“Where did you organize the results?”

“On the whiteboard.”

“Right, that makes it easier to see at a glance.”

After moving to his spot, PD Ji stood in front of the whiteboard with the voting results.

From 1st to 15th place.

He saw the results labeled “Winner Candidate Vote” but actually meant “Team Leader Vote.”

The interesting point was:

“Donghu received all 150 votes.”

Kim Donghu had received votes from all 150 participants who passed the first round.

Yes, 150 people.

“…So Donghu voted for himself too.”

“That’s so relatable. Should we include this in the broadcast?”

“Use it as a setup. You know what I mean?”

“Ah, yes! Got it!”

We need elements like this to make it entertaining.

Muttering this, PD Ji checked the next round’s event.

“Now it’s time for the team mission?”

++++++

On the day of <Physical 300>’s second round filming,

the participants gathered again after a long time.

“I never dreamed they’d provide accommodations like this in Korea.”

“With over half of the 150 contestants being foreigners… Netflix must be loaded.”

“They’re investing a lot, but I wonder how much they’re planning to milk from this.”

The participants were chatting about how much Netflix had invested.

Then.

“Hello.”

“Donghu! You’re on time today?”

“I had a family commitment, couldn’t help it.”

“Haha! Caring for family is what makes a real man. You’re truly the perfect male!”

As soon as Kim Donghu appeared, all eyes turned to him.

Perhaps because he’d even held a fan signing session?

Kim Donghu had already become the de facto leader among all participants.

“I didn’t expect you to make a video message for me… thank you so much.”

“It wasn’t difficult at all. It’s my off-season anyway.”

“Come on, when is it ever off-season for you, Donghu?”

Kim Donghu’s fan service.

It was truly fantastic.

A global superstar leaving video messages,

signing autographs, and doing it all without hesitation despite how bothersome it could be.

Of course, the participants maintained appropriate boundaries,

but the fact that he did all this while respecting those boundaries was impressive.

Usually, fame makes people lose their humility,

but Kim Donghu showed none of that.

“What competition will we have today?”

At Cade’s question, Kim Donghu shrugged.

“I wonder, maybe… it’s about time for team competitions?”

“Team competitions?”

“There are too many people.”

A full 150 people.

Obviously, it would be impossible to feature all of them on the show.

But they couldn’t suddenly tell people not to appear either.

In situations like this, nothing beats a group game that involves everyone.

In fact, Kim Donghu’s prediction was accurate.

-“Welcome to all participants who have survived to the second round.”

-“From the second round, there will be team games centered around team leaders.”

The announcement continued as Kim Donghu had predicted,

reading like a script.

-“Team leaders were determined by the winner candidate votes you cast earlier.”

-“First team leader, Group A, Kim Donghu, 150 votes.”

At the announcement of the first team leader, everyone momentarily froze.

150 votes? With 150 people, receiving 150 votes meant…

“Donghu Kim, did you vote for yourself?”

“…Ah.”

Kim Donghu’s face turned red.

+++++

After all team leaders from 1st to 15th place were announced,

I looked at the team leaders standing in line beside me.

‘They’re all definitely skilled people.’

Not just strong or fast,

but well-rounded individuals.

Anyone could see they were worthy of being team leaders.

-“Team leaders will select one person at a time, starting from first place, to form teams of 10 people each.”

With this announcement, everyone generally understood the rules.

One by one, starting from first place.

Form a team of 10 including yourself.

Then have those teams compete against each other.

Now I understood why they chose team leaders through the winner candidate vote.

‘It would be boring if all the team leaders ended up on the same team.’

To maintain exciting competitions,

they deliberately dispersed the talent.

In that sense.

‘Who should I pick?’

Selecting team members was a decision that required careful consideration.

The greatness of group assignments lies in the fact that you can’t carry alone.

Of course, it might be possible with smaller tasks,

but on a stage like <Physical 300>, it would be difficult.

So I decided to pick the strongest hand.

“I’ll take the wrestler, Han Jangsoon.”

If I had to be specific, he ranked exactly 16th, just missing team leader status.

Freestyle wrestling gold medalist Han Jangsoon.

The reason he didn’t become a team leader was probably due to recognition.

Not many people know Korean wrestling athletes well.

Even with an Olympic gold medal.

‘Besides, there’s more than just one or two Olympic gold medalists here.’

Among the sea of physical talents,

with a feeling of finding hidden masters.

How focused was I on selecting team members?

Thanks to the privilege of choosing first,

I was able to assemble quite a good team.

“Being chosen by Donghu… it’s truly an honor.”

“Honor? I’m the one who’s happy to have selected such amazing people.”

“Don’t say that. Hehe, we’re practically the winning team here!”

“That’s right, that’s right. Just being next to actor Kim Donghu means we’ll definitely win!”

After briefly chatting to break the ice among team members.

-“Team 1, Kim Donghu’s team, please proceed to the next stage immediately.”

Following the announcement, we moved to the next set and.

“Whoa.”

I was shocked at what I saw.

-“The second round mission is Noah’s Ark Moving.”

What I saw before me was a ship about 3 tons in size.

How they brought it here was already a question,

but even more surprising was that we had to move it.

-“A total of 15 teams will move Noah’s Ark to the designated location, and rankings will be determined by time.”

-“The 5 teams with the lowest rankings will be eliminated immediately.”

It was a simple mission.

Move something heavy and you’re done.

The problem was that the heavy thing weighed about 3 tons.

And it wasn’t just about moving it.

“They really love mud.”

The ground was muddy.

Obviously, we couldn’t just drag it across the ground.

I could see wooden planks maliciously scattered around.

We needed to create stepping stones with them,

and use those to pull Noah’s Ark.

“Huh.”

Is pulling it the end? Not quite.

The distance was about 150m.

And the destination point was on an incline.

“I can really feel the human malice here.”

While I was contemplating how to pull it,

-“You will have about 10 minutes for strategy discussion.”

The announcement continued,

and immediately a 10-minute timer started.

We immediately approached Noah’s Ark.

To clearly examine what kind of structure it had.

“There are many good places to grip, with oar-like things on both sides.”

“There’s a rope in front! And a square panel at the back that we can push!”

“The inside is the problem. There are… so many animal models inside.”

“No wonder it’s called Noah’s Ark.”

The ship wasn’t simply heavy.

To prevent proper weight balance,

they deliberately put in heavy animal models

and left them disorganized to move around.

“…There are ropes inside too, and chains.”

“The models have hooks, I think we’re supposed to tie them down?”

It’s truly malicious.

Are we supposed to secure everything firmly before pulling?

“Money makes things like this possible.”

Should I try this someday too?

After jokingly muttering that to myself,

I gathered my team members again.

“Let’s spend about 5 minutes making stepping stones as soon as the game starts, and the rest can secure the animal models.”

“Sounds good.”

The strategy was actually simple.

Make sturdy stepping stones.

Secure the animal models.

And then just pull.

++++++

At the same time.

“We need to run this simultaneously, it would take too much time otherwise.”

“Right?”

“So they must have made a few more.”

PD Ji Yonghu checked the overall situation through a large screen.

Netflix didn’t want to drag things out,

so they built three of these enormous sets.

A move that showed they truly understood that time is money.

“Kim Donghu’s team has started now.”

“Okay.”

And so the Noah’s Ark moving mission began,

and PD Ji looked forward to seeing what kind of performance Kim Donghu would show.

He had seen the video of him pulling an aircraft,

but this was an object without wheels.

It meant they had to move the weight purely with strength.

Therefore, it required not just power,

but also a certain level of technique, making it an incredibly difficult mission.

But.

Creeeeak!

As if mocking such concerns.

“…Huh?”

Kim Donghu, with ropes wrapped all around his body at the front,

positioned all team members on both sides and behind.

Taking the lead.

Krrrrrrack!

He pulled Noah’s Ark.

‘No wheels? Then I’ll be the wheels.’

This was the result of Kim Donghu’s simple thinking.