Chapter 126: The Great Prison Break (2)

A massive ten-story building rented entirely by Doubles.

The group was filming their own content, <The Great Prison Break>, at this location.

I truly wanted to applaud the self-content team’s increasing ambition and scale each time, but…

There was no room for that now.

“Huff… Huff.”

Thump-thump-thump—

Seohan gasped for air as he ran up the stairs, skipping two steps at a time.

The elevator had long been overtaken by the other members, so the only remaining route through the high-rise was the staircase.

But even as he kept sprinting upward, a question kept nagging at him.

‘Is it supposed to be this intense?’

At this point, it wasn’t self-produced content—it was an extreme outdoor variety show!

Self-content team, please stop working so hard.

“Uwaaaah!”

His breathing was ragged, and in his hand was the precious golden ball.

To keep it from being taken by the guards, he had to get down to the third floor immediately.

“Haah… ha. First, I need to rescue the hyungs caught on the third floor… then go back to the tenth to complete the mission….”

Seohan glanced back at the camera director running alongside him and gave a brief situational update.

This person was really having a hard time too.

‘I’m dying here.’

Clutching his trembling legs, Seohan climbed one more step.

“I think I’m gonna die… haah….”

He thought he had successfully shaken off the older members…

But the moment he arrived on the third floor, his eyes widened at the sight waiting for him.

“Do Seohan…?”

“…!”

“Seohan!”

At the end of the hallway stood a familiar face. Seohan flinched as he saw Seo Ian calling his name desperately.

“What the—why is that hyung here?”

Right then.

“Oh, it’s Do Seohan!”

Kang Siwoo had come up from the opposite direction.

In an instant, Seohan was caught between the two of them, and his face turned slightly pale.

“Are you kidding me.”

A literal rat in a trap—was this real life?

Both of them shouted in urgent voices at the same time.

“Hey, him! Catch him!”

“Do Seohan, come here!”

Surrounded by two guards, it was a tight spot. Seohan’s eyes darted around.

What do you do in a moment like this?

“Run!”

Zoom!

Like a mouse squeezing into a hole, Seohan darted between them faster than anyone.

Whoosh!

“Uuuugh!”

Missing Seohan by a hair, Seo Ian let out a wail.

“Uwaaaah! Seohan’s escaping!”

“Do Seohan, did you do nothing but run your whole life?”

“That’s the correct answer!”

So, why did this sudden chase scene even begin…?

Here’s how it all started.

·

·

·

·

The Stardust members had gathered on the first floor of the building. A loudspeaker above crackled with an unpleasant static noise.

“……”

I swallowed hard, waiting for the speaker to make an announcement.

The familiar voice actor from the <Dusty Campus> self-content echoed through the first-floor lobby.

[You are secret agents dispatched from the Dusty-Dust Star.]

This time, it was a 007 concept version from the Dusty-Dust Star.

Instead of a crisp suit, Ha Junseo was dressed in a prison uniform, striking a pretentious gaze at the camera.

Jin Sehyun tapped Ha Junseo’s shoulder and shook his head.

“Hyung, that outfit’s killing your vibe.”

“Oh, really?”

Well, it was hard to look cool in a prison uniform.

I silently nodded in agreement.

“Looking cool doesn’t matter right now.”

“Breaking out is what matters, of course.”

In any case, the agents now faced the crisis of a lifetime.

Because they were suddenly framed and locked up in Dusty Prison.

[The five agents who had been falsely accused and captured attempted an escape from within Dusty Prison last night.]

“We succeeded?”

“Phew… yesterday was rough~.”

Unlike the cheerful Seo Haim, who asked with a bright smile, Cha Seongbin was already immersed and pretended to wipe sweat with his sleeve.

“It was thrilling, wasn’t it?”

Cha Seongbin tilted his head toward me and asked casually.

“But Seohan, what crime did you get caught for?”

“Me?”

My charge was rather fatal.

“Theft… for stealing noonas’ hearts.”

“Wow, that suits you~.”

“What about you, hyung?”

I shamelessly recited the line from the script and looked at Cha Seongbin.

The corners of Cha Seongbin’s mouth curled slightly.

“I’m guilty of area-wide sniping.”

“Ehh, what’s that supposed to mean?”

“A crime of causing collective insecurity among civilians with overwhelming talent…”

“Mm, it’s annoying because it’s true.”

Jin Sehyun clicked his tongue and cut off Cha Seongbin’s words.

“Sehyun, what about you?”

“Guilty of fact assault.”

“Ah.”

That one sounded like it didn’t need any further explanation.

Anyway, that was enough investigating of everyone’s charges, and right on cue, the speaker began crackling again.

[Unfortunately, you failed to open the main gate of the prison and are now trapped. To fully escape from Dusty Prison, you must find hidden hint balls throughout the building and use them to assemble the password.]

“Hint ball?”

“Maybe something’s written on the balls.”

No sooner had the speaker’s announcement ended than a screen lit up in front of us.

[There are four different colors of hint balls. Red ball, green ball, blue ball, and finally, the golden ball.]

Flash—

Images of the four colored balls appeared side by side.

[Red ball, green ball, blue ball: provides hints related to the password]

It seemed like if we went around collecting the balls, we’d be able to assemble the password.

“Oh, this sounds fun.”

Perking up her ears, Seo Haim asked the air a question.

“Then what’s the golden ball?”

[The golden ball is the most special. If you use the golden ball, you can rescue another member who is imprisoned in the prison.]

“Rescue?”

“Hmm… this feels suspicious.”

If it meant someone could be rescued… that also meant someone could be locked up.

And just as expected.

[There is one thing agents must be careful of during the mission. If you are caught by the guards targeting you, you will be dragged back to the prison located on the third floor.]

“Ah, I knew it!”

Right then, Jin Sehyun, quick on the uptake, snapped his fingers.

“That’s right, there are seven members, but earlier it said five agents.”

“Oh!”

“So that means there are two guards?”

It definitely seemed so.

Last time, it was ‘Catch the Professor,’ and now it looked like some sort of ‘Find the Guard’ content.

I slowly looked around at the members with a suspicious gaze, when Seo Haim suddenly threw a blunt question.

“So who are the guards?”

“That’d be me.”

Standing next to Seo Haim, Kang Siwoo quietly raised his hand. It was a confident answer with not a trace of hesitation.

“Huh?”

“You, hyung?”

Seo Haim shrieked and jumped away.

“Eeeeek!”

“I’m a guard too…!”

Next to him, Seo Ian hyung hesitantly added, but he didn’t come off very threatening.

But if it was Kang Siwoo… that was a whole different story.

Ha Junseo let out a sigh of relief and muttered.

“I felt like my life was in danger.”

“Everyone heard that, right? If you get caught, you’re dead.”

That hyung seriously had the vibe of a real prison guard.

“I really want to live a long life…”

“What’s with you all? I won’t hurt you.”

“A lion probably says that to a rabbit too before eating it, you know?”

Taking a step back from the smiling Kang Siwoo, I got ready to sprint at any moment.

Just in time, the long explanation came to an end.

[Then, we hope you all manage to escape safely. Good luck, agents.]

And then—

Fweeeeeet—

A staff member blew a whistle.

“Let’s run first.”

First-floor lobby.

While the two guards were temporarily stationed on the third floor, the remaining five were forming their own strategy.

“Hmm-. In my opinion….”

Jin Sehyun stroked his chin as he began.

“It’s definitely more advantageous to split up.”

“Should we each take a floor and search?”

Since the building had ten floors, moving as a group of five would be terribly inefficient.

So while I agreed with the hyungs that it was better to split up…

I raised my hand and offered a different idea.

“That’s good too, but I think pairing up in teams of two would work as well.”

“Teams of two? Why?”

The reason was simple…

“Siwoo hyung absolutely can’t be left alone.”

It was instinct.

I just knew he’d get dragged off the moment he got caught.

“That’s true.”

“Honestly, Ian hyung is basically a paper doll. If he gets caught by the leader hyung, it’s straight back to prison.”

“But what difference does teaming up make?”

To Ha Junseo’s innocent question, Jin Sehyun gave a brutally realistic answer.

“The advantage of two people is… if things go south, you can ditch one and run.”

“Wow, look at how strong our team’s bond is.”

“…Or maybe we could work together and escape as a team?”

“Too late to cover it up, hyung.”

I clicked my tongue as I spoke.

Can I really pair up with Jin Sehyun?

As I was seriously thinking it over, Cha Seongbin chimed in.

“I think splitting into two, two, and one is the way to go. The most confident one goes solo~.”

“Then who’s the confident one?”

I expected Cha Seongbin, whose self-esteem was always maxed out at times like this, to raise his hand first—but no.

“Me!”

Seo Haim grinned and raised her hand high.

“Hmm…?”

She didn’t exactly inspire confidence.

Jin Sehyun scratched his head as he looked up at Seo Haim.

“What is this, she looks like the type to step out first in a horror movie and get taken right away.”

“Me?”

“Are you really confident?”

“Don’t let appearances fool you—I’m super quick. I was a relay runner in middle school.”

“Ooh~ a relay runner~.”

“I dominated every school sports day!”

Well, if she says so, I should believe her.

“Then I’ll leave it to you, hyung.”

“Mhm!”

Thanks to Seo Haim stepping up, temporary teams were quickly decided.

Jin Sehyun placed a hand on my shoulder and said,

“Then I’ll go with Seohan.”

That’s… concerning.

I turned to Jin Sehyun with shaky eyes.

“Don’t… ditch me, okay?”

“I’ll ditch Seo Haim, but not you.”

“I’m touched.”

Maybe she heard that quiet comment from all the way over there, because Seo Haim frowned and grumbled.

“Ha! Unbelievable.”

“Survive boldly on your own~.”

With that, the two oldest and two youngest were paired up. Our team planned to sweep from the lower floors upward.

“You hyungs are starting from the top floors?”

“Yeah.”

Seo Haim would farm hint balls in the middle floors.

Checking his watch, Jin Sehyun started moving and said,

“Let’s all meet around the fifth floor. And make sure to check your radios constantly.”

“Okay.”

“Let’s all meet again after escaping!”

“Just don’t get caught by Kang Siwoo! We won’t be able to save you!”

“Of course~!”

Step, step.

And just like that, Seo Haim left without hesitation.

.

.

.

.

Ten minutes later,

I stood with Jin Sehyun in front of the main entrance on the first floor, staring at a piece of paper next to the door lock.

[R(6) G(7) B(7)]

“The hint balls are important, but ultimately the password has to be entered here. That notation has to mean something…”

“Well, RGB means colors, right?”

“Yes. Definitely.”

I nodded as I answered.

R was RED. G was GREEN. And B must be BLUE.

There was no need to overthink it—this was obvious. That also meant the password was likely three digits long.

“But what do the 6 and 7 mean?”

“Hmm.”

Still, the mystery remained.

We were trying to figure out what the numbers next to the letters meant…

“Ah!”

It hit me.

“Could it be the number of hidden hint balls?”

“The number?”

“Like, maybe there are six red hint balls in the whole building… seven green ones, and seven blue ones?”

Jin Sehyun’s eyes widened.

“Oh…! That sounds right!”

“Right?”

“Do Seohan, are you a genius?”

Slap!

Jin Sehyun, in his excitement, slapped my palm hard under the guise of a high-five.

“Ow.”

“Hey, now that we know, all that’s left is to find them.”

“Exactly, that’s the most important part.”

What mattered now was the count—meaning we had to find all the hint balls and combine them to get the password.

That made farming more important than we thought…

I smiled and looked up at the ceiling.

“The hyungs are doing okay, right?”

And just then—

Bzzzzt—

An ominous crackle from the ceiling speakers echoed in response.

Then came the announcement.

[‘Kang Siwoo’ the guard has captured Seo Haim.]

[Seo Haim captured.]

[Seo Haim captured.]

Huh?

I looked up with a reluctant expression.

“What the—?”

Wait, that hyung already?

Didn’t she just take the elevator to the fifth floor?

“She got caught already…?”

Jin Sehyun murmured in a stunned voice.

“I feel like I just put a hot dog in the air fryer and the power went out before it even finished.”

“My thoughts exactly…”

I didn’t fully get what that felt like…

But I totally understood the sentiment.

“She said she was confident!”

Seo Haim got captured in ten minutes—was this for real?

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