Roi felt a little down after learning the secret of his birth.

‘No wonder something felt off.’

Yeonwoo preferred daytime to night, Taeon preferred the ground to the sky, and Hojin felt more secure in water. A famous foreign fire‐attribute Awakener claimed he’d never felt heat once he awakened—yet he was only a lower‐ranked A. At the time, the world was vast and there were many Awakeners, so I assumed cases like mine might exist. And lately I’d even been able to control my flames and skills fairly well.

‘So I thought I was lucky...’

But it wasn’t luck at all. This wasn’t something to shrug off!

Click.

Click.

Click.

Each time Roi bit his nails, the sharp sound echoed through the room. He and Taeon and Yeonwoo, whom he’d left behind, watched as he shut himself in the empty room and sank into thought. The rooftop hideout he once claimed was no longer private enough for solitude. Roi skipped meals as he racked his brain.

‘I have to raise my proficiency for the remaining skills.’

But the only way seemed too horrific. The more exposure to heat, the more proficiency rose...

‘Should I buy a sauna membership or what?’

But something told him a gentle sauna wouldn’t cut it. What happened today was incomparable. It was a training so brutal it might as well have been a death sentence. Only in such an extreme situation could proficiency rise, it felt. Just imagining it made him nauseous.

‘Why did the CEO have to give me a fire attribute?!’

The root of all this was Park Junseo. He had to be the chaos‐evil one. At least to me.

‘Then wouldn’t it be simpler to just eliminate the CEO?’

Weak against heat despite being fire‐attributed, Roi’s thoughts turned extreme. Grinding his teeth and cursing Junseo for a moment, Roi slowly breathed to calm himself.

‘Well. Still, having gained something is a good thing, right?’

—My ass! I almost died and came back! A panorama of torture and abuse over the past week flashed through his mind: meditating under a waterfall, dangling from a cliff for contemplation, buried neck‐deep in the earth for twenty‐four hours, being roasted alive...

‘Should I report this for sure?!’

No. iRoi, compose yourself. Huuuh. What maddened him more was that it had an effect. Roi decided to follow the Guild Leader’s teaching and challenge himself step by step—starting small. First, he’d ditch the beloved handheld fan he’d clung to all summer.

“Hah. Goodbye.”

Roi placed the white hand fan on the floor, lifted his foot, clenched his eyes shut, and stomped down with all his might.

Kwaajik!

✧

As a result, Roi spoke less and grew highly irritable—like a girlfriend under a curse.

“I’m so pissed. Who’s spreading these stupid rumors?”

He’d neglected monitoring during grueling training, and outlandish gossip now circulated as fact.

[Title: Debut‐planned First’s visual rookie boy group]

Rumors of their debut since last year, even group photos circulating. But now with iRoi joining, they’re confirmed as a seven‐member group!!

(photo)

Siho, Zen, Daon, Tomo, Youngbin, Pyungseop

(photo)

iRoi

“So Nyan’s debut was real ㅜㅜ”

“They picked well—each one’s crazy handsome”

“At 1‐second Nyan I forgot everything else”

“After seeing iRoi, the rest look like civilians...”

“Joining here means Sihiro bombed in the second survival lol”

Bombed? Who bombed! I caught two blood fiends and still got D‐rank—that’s infuriating! Roi stomped and shouted.

“Debut at First?! Am I brain‐dead? Debut there?!”

He yelled mid‐breakfast, freezing the brothers’ spoons in midair.

“Ge... geez. Stop storming and eat your meal. Get your energy and calm down.”

“Yeah. Put down the phone and eat. At least be comfortable during breakfast, okay?”

Taeon’s gaze landed on the padded jacket Roi wore over his breakfast shirt. What wind had blown him to dress like that in this heat...? Roi had the high‐performance padding zipped to his neck. Already S‐rank, it wasn’t for reawakening. There had to be another reason, but he wouldn’t say.

“Nappeudora. Don’t you like heat? When I visited your room this morning, you didn’t even have the AC on.”

“What?! Aren’t you worried you’ll get heatstroke...?”

“Ham ah. Can’t you tell by his condition? My buddy’s done for.”

“......”

Taeon couldn’t grasp Yeonwoo’s words but rolled his eyes to avoid showing it. Meanwhile, fanning the inflamed Roi was...

“What’s wrong with our ✧ NоvеIight ✧ (Original source) company?”

It was Han Gyeol, the star actor of First Entertainment.

“I love our company. It’s one of the top three agencies, like the three great guilds here.”

Zzz! Before he could finish, Roi shot Gyeol a savage glare.

“What are you here for now?”

“The more I see you, the fonder I get~ So, will you talk to me today?”

Damn. Like a leech. No matter where he went, Gyeol followed, like taunting him. Especially that smug grin, as if provoking him.

“Why don’t you just join our company? I could get you a spot.”

How can someone spit such nonsense? He said he wanted to be a dog when worldbuilding—guess some of that stuck.

“I’d rather die.”

“Aww~ so harsh. But hey, that’s part of your charm, iRoi~”

Is that a compliment or shamelessness? Yeonwoo gaped at Gyeol in disbelief. If Yeonwoo was speechless, it was clearly the latter.

“Please mind your own business and eat.”

“Heeey~ iRoi, you feed on heat, right?”

The heat was bad enough—now this added fuel. He’d heard the rumors. Gyeol glued to his side would only spark gossip. He’d already firmly denied it—but perhaps not forcefully enough. Glancing around, he saw most contestants gathered in the dining hall for breakfast. Perfect. He’d reject Gyeol once more here.

“Actor Seo Han‐gyeol?”

“......?”

“......!”

A stranger stood at the entrance. Roi looked back in surprise; Gyeol went pale despite his back being turned. Thump—thump—every step the man took echoed as his dress shoes struck the floor. Judging by Gyeol’s reaction, he must be an acquaintance. Dark‐skinned, sharp eyes, solid build—a formidable presence. The man stopped behind Gyeol and lightly tapped his shoulder. Cool and composed, the man faced him; Gyeol broke into a cold sweat. Roi’s eyes flicked between them—then the man smiled and offered a business card.

“Perfect timing to find our actor together.”

[First Entertainment CEO Kim Il‐deung]

“May I have a moment of your time?”

Rather than quelling rumors, these damn First people poured gasoline on a burning house. Gush!

✧

While Roi suffered, Hojin did too—due to the MGV ticketing.

He’d never succeeded even buying burger buns at the school shop, but today he felt lucky. Since meeting Roi, only good things happened. Surely this time would be good too. He arrived at an Internet café three hours early, memorized ticketing tips, practiced refresh spamming, even used an app to sync server time. He did everything he could.

[18:59:58]

The countdown began. His palms sweaty, tension mounting.

[19:00:00]

The moment arrived. Hojin slammed refresh. Perhaps blessed by the cat god, the booking window appeared soon after.

“......!”

His startled hand froze. His heart raced faster than when facing a blood fiend—felt like it might burst out of his chest.

‘C‐C‐Calm down.’

He clenched his nerves and moved the mouse. His hand trembled so hard the cursor jittered as if lagging. He aimed for the Yongsan branch—the biggest screen in the country. But...

[Seat already selected.]

[Seat already selected.]

[Seat already selected.]

Each click brought a popup: seat already taken. Two times he maintained composure; by the third, his mind crumbled.

‘Why...? I clicked it!’

Why wouldn’t it proceed? Each time he closed the popup, available seats visibly dwindled. He realized too late choosing the popular screening was a mistake. When he pressed Back...

[Page not found.]

The server crashed.

“......!”

He couldn’t believe it. Tears sprang from frustration. He slammed his face on the keyboard.

‘I’m an idiot. Can’t even book one ticket.’

Lost in despair, his phone buzzed. He startled. It was about time for a message from Roi.

‘I told him I’d go to the PC café to book MGV... I bragged I’d see it in theaters...’

With trembling hands, Hojin flipped his phone. It wasn’t from Roi but an InHeart alert.

[Star Hero: Hello, Mr. Kim Butler! This is the official InHeart account for . We’ve been impressed by your consistently creative content and your five million followers. To celebrate the second survival of , we’d like to offer you complimentary MGV screening invitations.]

Crazy...? Creative content? All I posted was a photo of Roi, yet Kim Butler had become a name. His InHeart channel “1‐Second Nyan” had long surpassed five million followers. Since one million, sponsorship offers poured in, but he’d never replied—he wasn’t in it for profit. But this time, he couldn’t refuse.

[Kim Butler: Yesss, I’ll take it!]

No matter the conditions, he had to accept.