As soon as the image of Yeong-bin being lifted in the "gyro drop" chair by Seoyeon aired on national television, the online communities erupted in heated discussions. After all, Seoyeon, a seemingly delicate high school girl, had effortlessly lifted her father along with the chair.

Here’s how Seoyeon’s fans reacted:

• "?? Why are people making such a big deal?"
• "LOL, so is he heavier than a giant fish or what?"

This nonchalant response came from her dedicated fans. Having already seen Seoyeon display strength in various moments, they were relatively unfazed. To them, it was simply like, "Oh, she can lift things, no big deal."

Naturally:

• "Are you out of your mind???"
• "What the heck, how did she even do that?"
• "As a fitness trainer, let me tell you: considering an adult male weighs about 80kg and the chair about 10-20kg, this is impossible."
• "Why can't she do it?"
• "Hmm… maybe it's possible after all."

There were plenty of posts debating her feat, but they were soon drowned out by those more focused on enjoying the humorous scene.

Following this, the camera zoomed in on Yeong-bin, half-conscious after the drop, which sparked more questions:

• "What's he wearing underneath?"
• "It ripped, but doesn’t it seem really thick?"

As if anticipating such reactions, the next shot seamlessly transitioned to Sua, who was interviewed by the production team:

"Oh, what my husband was wearing underneath? That’s a stab-proof vest he ordered online. You know, from those trendy shopping sites. Yes, it’s a stab-proof vest."

Sua smiled awkwardly as she explained, her delicate eyes drooping in embarrassment.

"Our daughter’s pretty strong, so I guess he tore it while playing with her. Ever since then, he wears it whenever they roughhouse."

The way she described it as lively play between her daughter and husband only led to a flood of confused reactions on online forums:

• "Wait, a stab-proof vest? Can it really tear just because she’s strong?"
• "Oh right, we saw her poke at it before with her finger, LOL."
• "Did he buy it to protect himself from her finger jabs? Are Seoyeon’s fingers bullets or what?"
• "No, stab-proof vests are meant to protect against knives, not bullets. That’s what bulletproof vests are for."
• "But can it really tear like that?"
• "LOL, nah, he probably bought a cheap knockoff from China."

While some posts debated the credibility of a person ripping a stab-proof vest, others zoomed in on the footage to reveal the model he wore.

• "Looks like it’s legit, though. Kevlar fiber and all."
• "Wow, you know a lot. Are you Kevlar fiber?"
• "But can you actually tear that?"
• "No way. Not even a gorilla could rip it apart."
• "But Seoyeon tore it playing with her dad?"
• "If you can tear that, you can tear a person in half while playing."
• "Well, that’s… probably true."
• "Don’t insult Seoyeon ;;"

And so, the debate about whether a person could actually tear a stab-proof vest lasted over two hours after the broadcast, but it was eventually dismissed as an unsolvable mystery. Instead, viewers focused on the more "realistic" part: the chair-lifted gyro drop.

The sight of Yeong-bin lying unconscious on the floor even had some viewers rooting for more:

• "That jerk deserved it, Seoyeon! Just shake him a little more!"
• "Why are you trash-talking someone’s dad?"
• "I’m an Unchained player."
• "Didn’t he fix everything before leaving?"
• "If someone who beat you to a pulp sent you to the hospital, would you forgive them?"
• "Oh…"

Gamers who had been burned by the Unchained launch were particularly amused by Yeong-bin’s predicament, even encouraging Seoyeon to go harder on him. In an unexpected twist, his image, which had taken a hit after the Unchained incident, seemed to improve as viewers enjoyed seeing him suffer at his daughter's hands.

• "Is Seoyeon’s dad really a game developer?"
• "Yeah, he’s with Unchained."
• "LOL, why didn’t he mention his daughter was Seoyeon? He could’ve used her in marketing."
• "Please, let’s not start putting celebrities in game ads."

As the episode progressed, Yeong-bin’s name even made it to the top of real-time search rankings. The production crew, curious about the man, took the opportunity to ask Sua more about him:

"So, how did you and your husband meet? I heard you two have been together since high school?"
"Oh, uh, yes, that’s right."

Sua nodded repeatedly, her nervous movements inadvertently drawing attention.

'Please, just answer with words,' MC Gong Hyung-man thought desperately, hoping the footage wouldn’t need heavy editing to avoid revealing too much.

"Did you two meet at school?"
"Well, I was the head of the game development club, and my husband joined later on."
"A game development club? Oh, right, your husband is a developer. And you’re a programmer too, right? That’s so cool."

The panelists praised her, and Sua responded with a sheepish smile.

"So did you two work together on game development?"
"Oh no, back then I was mainly drawing, so it wasn’t just the two of us. I handled the art side of things."

She mentioned that there were four members in total: herself, Young-bin who did the planning and scenarios, one person who handled music, and another who helped with the art.

"But wait, there wasn’t a programmer?"
"Well, I did the programming too… Later, my husband learned it and we worked together."

"?!!"

The workload seemed heavily skewed toward Sua, leaving the panelists amazed. Despite that, it seemed she had fond memories of their school days.

"We fought a lot back then, though. Especially since all the members were girls…"
"Wait, a game development club where all the members were girls?"
"Yeah, surprisingly, no guys joined."

Even Sua admitted she was puzzled by that, especially since the club president was popular and had lots of friends.

"Do you still keep in touch with those friends?"
"No, we haven’t spoken in over ten years… Something happened."
"Oh, I see."
"Yeah…"

Sua smiled awkwardly, hinting that there hadn’t been any major issues, but they’d simply drifted apart. The other two members had gone on to successful careers: one as a web novelist and the other as a musician.

Sua, on the other hand, joked that she was just a "regular housewife" now.

• "Wait, what kind of life did Young-bin live in school?"
• "Is this a real story? It sounds like a novel!"
• "A regular housewife? How is she a regular housewife? Are you insane?"
• "No, ma’am."
• "Shut up, you fool."

After this lighthearted conversation, the show cut back to the sight of Seoyeon standing over her dad, who was still collapsed on the floor. It was a pose reminiscent of something out of a comic book.

Narrowing her eyes at his torn stab-proof vest, Seoyeon prepared to lift the chair once more for another gyro drop, just as the front door opened with a bang:

"Suyeon’s here!"

The door opened as Sua entered, holding their youngest daughter, Suyeon. The screen flashed "Joo Suyeon," and she smiled brightly as text appeared: "Almost 8 years old."

Suyeon had a sunny, radiant personality, in stark contrast to her older sister Seoyeon. She had an infectious smile that made anyone around her smile as well.

"Wow! Me too, Unnie!" Suyeon exclaimed, having witnessed Seoyeon lifting their dad. She loved being flown around like an airplane, so she recognized what Seoyeon was doing and eagerly asked for her turn.

But Seoyeon shook her head firmly.

"Suyeon, that’s too dangerous for you."

Her voice was so serious that viewers couldn’t help but laugh at the exchange.

• "So Dad’s life is in danger but that’s fine??"
• "LOL, Seoyeon’s dad deserves to be punished, right?"
• "For real, though, it’s his fault."
• "LOL"

Meanwhile, Suyeon pouted, biting her finger in disappointment. Her playful running around instantly melted the hearts of the viewers, who felt like they could watch her antics all day long.

And with such a beautiful family, the whole scene looked like something out of a dream.

• "How can his wife and both daughters be this gorgeous?"
• "Young-bin, you need to start paying extra taxes."
• "What am I doing with my life?"
• "Honestly, I’d rather have this than a rich family."

Unaware of the comments being made about him, Young-bin slowly got up and returned to his chair after hearing his youngest daughter’s voice. Just as Seoyeon grabbed the chair to shake it again:

"You know, while I was on that thing, I was thinking…"
"You were thinking what?" Seoyeon replied, waiting to see what nonsense her dad would say next, ready to send him on a rollercoaster ride instead of a gyro drop if needed.

"Let’s go to the pool."
"…What?"

Wait, why is he talking about the pool?

"You know, that thing… a flume ride or whatever."
"You’d need to go to an amusement park for that."
"Yeah, but it made me think of a pool."
"?"
"And come to think of it, we didn’t go swimming this summer. We should go. Remember, we skipped it when you hit puberty. Now’s the perfect time."

Well… he had a point, but where did this pool idea come from?

• "LOL, what the heck?"
• "Seriously, what’s going on?"
• "Could you manage game development like this, too?"
• "Does this mean Seoyeon and her mom will be in swimsuits next episode??"
• "Suyeon… hehe"
• "Can someone please report this guy?"

Seoyeon’s pondering face was caught on camera as she mulled over the sudden suggestion. It was such a sudden decision, after all.

But the idea of going to a pool did have its appeal. It would be more fun shooting outdoors than indoors anyway.

'My image...'

Though it felt like her image had taken a bit of a hit thanks to her dad, maybe the pool episode could help her make up for it.

"Okay, sounds good."

And just as Seoyeon nodded in agreement, the screen flashed a preview of the next episode with a blurry shot of the family in swimsuits running toward the pool.

Then the screen read:

[Next episode! Joo Seoyeon’s family goes to the pool!]

• "You’ve got to be kidding me!!!!!"
• "No way, are you serious????"
• "They cut it off here??? Are they joking??"

And that’s how the first episode of The Golden Ducklings featuring Seoyeon and her family came to an end, with a record-breaking viewership of 11%.

It wasn’t just the highest rating for the latest The Golden Ducklings episode, but one of the highest in the show’s history.

A massive success. A huge hit.

"This is crazy!"
"Director Jeon Ha-young, your insight is amazing. Seriously!"

While everyone at the MDC variety show department was celebrating, Young-bin, who had been pulled out from watching with his family, was interviewed:

"So when did you realize you were being filmed?"
"…Just now."

Young-bin wondered how on earth he was going to face the office the next day.

The marketing team at Aidis was busy as well. They’d recently sponsored Sky Garden and were preparing to launch a new line of chairs with Seoyeon as their model.

"Team leader, our sales have gone up??"
"What? Why?"

They hadn’t even started advertising yet. Did some YouTuber promote them or something?

They hadn’t even begun selling the new chairs. They’d only started building up hype for the upcoming release.

"So, why are sales up?"
"Because of the Seoyeon challenge."
"???"
"…It’s trending on YouTube right now."
"???"

Team Leader Kwak Hyun-woo was baffled. He had no idea how things had spiraled into this situation.