Chapter 45: A Five-Minute Mission

“Fan support? For us?”

“Yeah. They contacted the company a while ago asking if they could send it, and it finally arrived. You have no idea how badly I wanted to tell you guys.”

The manager chuckled as he spoke.

The members looked at him once, then back at the shopping bags in front of them.

To be honest, this wasn’t the first time Shim Eunchan had received fan support during his idol career.

Even though B the 1 had been considered a flop group, they still had a handful of fans devoted enough to send gifts.

But for Eunchan—who had already lived through one lifetime and regressed—it had been so long that the experience felt entirely new.

Just thinking about it made his chest tighten.

Someone had personally chosen all this food while thinking about them.

They had searched for vendors, placed orders, coordinated everything, and sent it here.

That alone was enough to make him deeply grateful.

“We should take a verification photo for the official account.”

“Right. Should we take it over here?”

Whenever they received support before, they would always take photos and upload them to their official social media.

The members lined up side by side and posed for the camera.

After the quick photo session, they opened the boxes and immediately let out exclamations of amazement.

“Whoa. This is insane. Everything in here is stuff I like. Huh? Hyung, your box is different from mine.”

“Really? You’re right. Wow. Mine only has things I like too.”

“This is amazing. We need to take pictures. Don’t eat yet, hyung. Let’s put everything together first.”

They gathered all the lunch boxes into one place.

The colorful spread looked gorgeous and incredibly appetizing.

Everyone pulled out their phones to take pictures before returning to their own meals.

When Eunchan opened his lunch box, his mouth fell open.

He could only blink at the luxurious feast before him.

Inside were all his favorites.

Fried chicken.

Braised burdock root.

Flying fish roe rice balls.

Inari sushi.

Abalone, eel, and braised beef short ribs were arranged beautifully.

Even the seasonal fruits neatly placed in one corner smelled incredible.

He had never mentioned liking health foods, yet seeing abalone and eel included made it obvious.

Eat well and gain strength.

That was probably the intention.

The exact contents varied slightly between members, but everyone had received the same premium trio: abalone, eel, and beef ribs.

“…Wow.”

Still admiring the meal, Eunchan’s eyes met Hyun Wooyoung’s.

“I guess I shouldn’t have given you that protein bar earlier. You should’ve saved your appetite for food like this.”

“Huh? Ah, haha. What are you talking about? I appreciated the thought behind the protein bar. Of course I’m grateful for this too. I’ll just eat everything.”

“…You’re going to finish all that?”

Wooyoung looked skeptical.

Eunchan felt wronged.

Apparently Wooyoung had somehow become convinced that he barely ate.

Sure, there had been times when he’d eaten unusually little.

But it wasn’t that extreme.

Actually, thinking about it, even back then he hadn’t eaten that little.

“I normally eat this much.”

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen it.”

Apparently overhearing the conversation, Do Junseo jumped in.

“When Eunchan eats a lot, he really eats a lot. Seriously. You’ll be shocked when you see it, Wooyoung.”

“Exactly! See?”

Eunchan replied proudly.

“He’s like a vacuum cleaner. Just sucks everything up.”

“Let’s stop at one verse.”

Eunchan smacked Junseo lightly as he enthusiastically continued.

Meanwhile, he glanced at Wooyoung.

That expression definitely said I still don’t believe you.

“Oh? That’s the look of someone who doesn’t believe me. Just watch later. You’ll see how much I can eat.”

“No, that’s really not necessary…”

“Oh? Junseo, look at him.”

“The youngest and Eunchan really get along well.”

Ryu Seo-oh casually commented from the side.

The implication that the two of them were on the same maturity level made Eunchan suppress the urge to argue.

No.

Absolutely not.

Their actual age difference was enormous.

“This beef is amazing. It’s so tender.”

Junseo sighed happily after trying a piece of short rib.

Eunchan briefly considered telling everyone to wait until after rehearsal to eat.

Then again, eating now and having more energy for the live stage was probably better.

He picked up an inari sushi himself.

The savory, slightly sweet flavor immediately stimulated his appetite.

“This is really good.”

“Right? …Wait. I thought you’d say that after eating the meat.”

“What’s wrong with inari sushi? Are you insulting the lunch our fans prepared?”

“What? No! That’s not what I meant!”

Junseo’s frantic denial was so funny that Eunchan laughed.

He swallowed his bite and reached for another piece of food.

Then—

A familiar screen suddenly appeared before his eyes.

[Mission Activated]

[Check Quest? Y/N]

Now?

At a time like this?

Seriously?

Eunchan froze with his chopsticks halfway to his mouth.

Still, he only had one real option.

Trying not to attract attention, he casually placed a piece of eel into his mouth and slowly chewed while reading the floating window.

The soy-glazed eel was perfectly tender.

Honestly, he didn’t necessarily need to check the quest right now.

But thinking back to the previous mission involving Jung Minyu, it probably wouldn’t be too difficult.

And if completing it meant raising even one member’s stats, it would be worth it.

Just checking won’t hurt.

He selected Y.

The window immediately changed.

[Quest]

Target: Hyun Wooyoung

Make him say:
“Why are you making my heart flutter?”

Conditions:

• Must succeed in a single attempt.
• You may never say the phrase directly.

The delicious taste of eel instantly disappeared.

For a moment, Eunchan nearly shouted, Are you kidding me?!

What kind of quest was this?

“Why are you making my heart flutter?”

In what universe was that a normal thing to suddenly hear?

If this were a game with an actual developer behind it, he would have grabbed them by the collar and shaken them while demanding an explanation.

Unfortunately, the quest had already been accepted.

There was no backing out now.

That meant he had to succeed.

“…”

But what if he failed?

So far, he’d only completed one quest.

And that one had been ridiculously easy.

He had no idea what kind of penalty awaited failure.

Pain would be manageable.

But what if he suddenly lost consciousness?

Today was their comeback stage.

He couldn’t afford unnecessary risks.

The more he thought about it, the clearer the conclusion became.

Attempting this quest right now was impossible.

Especially this objective.

“Why are you making my heart flutter?”

How was he supposed to get Hyun Wooyoung to say something like that?

Moon Sebyeol?

Sure.

But Wooyoung?

There was no way.

He also didn’t know whether quests could stack.

If new quests wouldn’t appear until the current one was resolved, failing this one could block all future opportunities.

And that would mean no stat upgrades.

At worst, it might actually be better to fail quickly and move on.

The system really was absurdly unfriendly.

It barely explained anything.

It simply threw quests at him and expected results.

It didn’t even tell him what the failure penalty was.

After some thought, Eunchan decided he would deal with the mission after the broadcast ended.

The moment he reached that decision—

A new window appeared.

As if it had been waiting.

[Quest Time Limit — 05:00]

You little thug!

For the first time in a while, Eunchan was grateful that swearing wasn’t one of his habits.

Otherwise, a curse would have slipped out automatically.

You’re putting a time limit on it now?!

Without warning?!

What kind of nonsense is this?!

He silently mouthed a string of complaints.

“Eunchan, why are you staring at your lunch box like that? Is there something you don’t like?”

Moon Sebyeol’s voice snapped him back to reality.

“No, hyung. Nothing like that.”

“Really? Then why aren’t you eating? Are you tired? Wait… don’t tell me you have indigestion. Should I go buy some medicine?”

“No, no. I’m fine.”

As expected of someone naturally sociable and attentive, Sebyeol noticed things quickly.

He seemed worried that Eunchan’s nerves had upset his stomach.

That wasn’t the case at all, so Eunchan immediately shook his head.

Then he noticed that Sebyeol had already finished his meal.

“Hyung, want some eel?”

“Wow, Eunchan.”

Smiling brightly, Sebyeol walked over.

“Our Eunchan-hyung, why are you making my heart flutter like this?”

…

Huh?

Eunchan stared at him blankly.

This quest should have targeted Moon Sebyeol.

If it had, he would have cleared it instantly.

What a waste.

Feeling utterly defeated, Eunchan fed Sebyeol a piece of eel and tried to console himself.

Then he felt a gaze.

Turning his head, he met Wooyoung’s eyes.

Maybe because of the quest, Eunchan suddenly became hyperaware of him.

He glanced at the countdown timer.

The numbers were steadily decreasing.

Fine.

At this point, it was all or nothing.

“Wooyoung, what is it? Do you have something to say?”

“No. Nothing.”

Is this an opportunity?

Maybe it would be better to push forward while the atmosphere was like this.

Eunchan desperately searched for a solution.

But no matter how much he thought about it—

He had a feeling a better opportunity wasn’t coming.