Falling for the Omega Idol-Chapter 108: THE MISSING THREE

AFTER half an hour, the staff instructed the 60 remaining contestants to file out of the warehouse. They were told to line up based on rank in six orderly rows according to rank, each containing ten contestants. To Haneul, it felt like herding sheep—chaotic and mechanical all at once.

Ranked 23rd, Haneul positioned himself in the third row on the left. The chatter of the other contestants buzzed around him, but none of it registered. His mind was too preoccupied, grappling with the startling realization that the three problematic members of the final debut group were nowhere to be seen.

Yes, that’s right, those three were not in the top 60.

Earlier, while sharing snacks with Robin, Seojun, and Haru, Haneul realized he hadn’t paid attention to the rest of the top 10 after they arrived. For reasons he couldn’t quite explain, his gaze had been fixed on Taeyang. Then Robin appeared, pulling his attention away. By the time he thought about the other three, the rest of the top 10 had already mingled with the other contestants.

With only 60 contestants remaining, it wasn’t difficult to scan the crowd for the three people in question. Yet, no matter where he looked, they were nowhere to be found.

As they walked, following the staff members at the front, Haneul scanned the other contestants once more. And once again, the three were nowhere to be found. It finally registered in his mind—they most likely hadn’t made it past the first elimination round.

He didn’t think it was possible, but their absence proved otherwise. Sure, there were small changes here and there, but nothing that seemed big enough to lead to this—all three of them failing to make it past the first elimination round. Seojun and Haru were still here, so why wasn’t it the same for the other three?

The only difference he could think of was his decision to join this survival program—a chain of events set in motion by his arrival in this world. It began when he stopped the accident that had taken his parents’ lives and left his sister in a coma, which then allowed him to finally chase the dream he’d always wanted but could never pursue before.

But could those little things really have such a big impact? Yeomra had said that this world was just another version of the one he came from, with the key difference being the existence of secondary genders. Of course, some changes were inevitable because of this. For instance, someone who had been female in his previous world might be male here. A perfect example was Robin’s Omega father. In a world without secondary genders, Robin’s father could only have been female. Yet here, he was male.

That kind of change, he could understand. But the changes that deviated from what happened in his previous world? Those made no sense to him. The only common thread tying all these differences together was Boys Odyssey. Every change he had encountered so far was connected to this survival program. First, there was the change in the PD, then the host, and even some of the mentors. And now this—the elimination of three contestants who were supposed to make it into the final debut group.

Could his decision to join the program really have caused such significant changes? To him, he was just a small cog in the grand machinery of things. How could his presence alone have created such a massive ripple effect? No, wait—he wasn’t the only one who joined Boys Odyssey in this world, was he? There was someone else here now, someone who hadn’t been part of the program in his previous world.

Haneul raised his head and looked in the direction of the first row to the left. To the man ranked 1st and standing at the very front of the row - Jung Taeyang.

Just like him, the other hadn’t been part of Boys Odyssey in his previous world. At first, he thought it might have been because Taeyang didn’t continue with the program after passing the audition. But that clearly wasn’t the case. The only explanation was that Taeyang hadn’t joined Boys Odyssey in the previous world, but had chosen to do so in this one. Why had such a change occurred? Did the Taeyang of his previous world live a different life than the Taeyang of this one? But didn’t Yeomra say that all parallel worlds were just slightly different versions of each other? Could Taeyang’s life fall under that ’slightly different’ category?

Before he could delve deeper into his thoughts, he noticed quiet conversations stirring all around him.

"Why did we stop here?"

"Look, is that a ship?"

"Are we going there?"

"Why would we go in the ship?"

"Maybe we need to go somewhere, so we needed to board the ship."

"Do you think this is part of the next mission?"

At the mention of the ship, Haneul realized they had stopped moving. Lifting his head, he looked ahead and saw it—a ship.

His gaze settled on the ship ahead. It was a pristine modern ferry with a sleek white exterior that looked brand new. Large crystal-clear windows stretched along the sides, giving a glimpse of its spacious interior, clearly built to hold a significant number of passengers. The front deck featured an open area with polished railings, ideal for enjoying the view during the journey. The hull’s sturdy design combined functionality with a touch of luxury. At the front, a wide boarding ramp extended smoothly, blending seamlessly with the ship’s elegant structure. Painted boldly on its side was the name The Argo, standing out against the spotless white surface.

"Haneul hyung, why do you think we stopped here?" Haru asked, turning to face him. "Does it have something to do with that ship?"

’Yes, we’re going to live there for the next two or three months,’ Haneul thought, but he couldn’t say that out loud. Instead, he gave a small smile and replied, "Maybe."

At that moment, the four mentors appeared on the deck, standing above and looking down at the contestants below. frёeweɓηovel.coɱ