Cheat day

Sugar Man (13)

His feigned ignorance was truly annoying.

“Your target is Baek Woo-jin! You must do your utmost to make that despicable person the first one eliminated!”

“Waaaaah!”

Amidst the cheers of 99 Sugar Men, Baek Woo-jin looked bewildered.

“Bwahahaha!”

“Isn’t Banchan-yong supposed to take care of the mental state?”

Jwa Wang-taek made a good point.

“Everyone knows they should lose weight and be healthy! Who doesn’t understand that? After work, when you’re exhausted! When a chubby guy like me goes to the gym or pool, who wouldn’t mock me? It’s not that I don’t want to change; we all have our reasons! But!”

I emphasized my words.

“No one can tolerate watching my money go to someone else! No, I won’t let that sly guy take the prize money that I should have! No matter how tired or embarrassed we might feel, there’s no way anyone is going to stand by and let someone take our money! Isn’t that right?”

“Yes!”

The 99 Sugar Men responded loudly.

“Eating less rice! Switching to brown rice instead of white is a trivial matter for later. You can’t survive in this battlefield with vague goals of lowering your blood sugar!”

My voice grew louder.

“Set your sights on the true enemy! Only the anger and hatred to annihilate that target will lead you to the prize of 100 million won!”

“Whoaahhhh!”

The roar could shake the filming studio.

With such enthusiastic reactions from the participants, the future of the Sugar Man Project looked bright.

“I’m a bit scared of that guy,”

Chaji-chan said, and Joo Ji-seung slowly nodded in agreement.

***

After wrapping up the opening shoot, we checked the fasting blood sugar levels of the participants.

The Sugar Man with the highest fasting blood sugar recorded was YouTuber Dong Dong-guri (Choi Yang-jun) at 512 mg/dl, while the lowest was actor Go Il-kyu at 218 mg/dl.

Baek Woo-jin’s level was 280 mg/dl, which was quite high, showing just how precarious the Sugar Men’s conditions were.

From now on, we will check fasting blood sugar levels weekly, allowing participants to survive in order of their decreasing levels.

There were questions about whether people with higher blood sugar would be at a disadvantage, as well as alternative proposals to calculate based on blood sugar ratios.

However, if we did that, the Sugar Men might prioritize survival over immediately lowering their blood sugar, which we wanted to avoid.

The goal of the Sugar Man Project is for participants to lower their blood sugar as quickly as possible, so we decided to base it on absolute values, which all participants agreed upon.

“This food is delicious!”

After checking fasting blood sugar levels, we provided lunch for the participants.

Since intense exercise was scheduled for the afternoon, they needed to eat first to avoid the risk of hypoglycemic shock from exercising on an empty stomach.

As we distributed the lunch boxes and iced Americanos sponsored by a diabetes meal company, the Sugar Men’s reactions were quite positive.

“This could last me three months!”

“Right? I was worried they’d just give us chicken breast or something.”

That lunch could very well be their last supper, so I wanted it to be a little more delicious and healthy.

“Here.”

I approached Baek Woo-jin and placed a soboro bread and a Java chip frappuccino in front of him.

“What’s this?”

“Not enough? Eat it and have more.”

“Do you think I’m an idiot? Eating this will raise my blood sugar.”

“Are you not going to eat it?”

“Of course not.”

“Cheh.”

I thought this would be enough to get by, but I guess I should have prepared donuts instead of soboro bread.

“Wow. You were serious, huh? Why are you doing this to me?”

“Why? Because this could be your last meal, and I’m feeling sympathetic.”

“Why last? I’m going to win! Right?”

Baek Woo-jin asked, looking around, but no one responded.

It seemed that both the participants and the production team still didn’t recognize the severity of the situation.

“Giving up would be easier.”

“Yeah, I’m not doing that. I’m going to earn 100 million won.”

“Hey, think about it. If you win, wouldn’t that mean the Sugar Man project is a failure? Everyone would call it rigged.”

“I only care about getting my 100 million won.”

“Idiot, your money is on the line too. If you just quietly leave, that’s how you’ll make money.”

“Yeah. I’ll win and make it a hit too.”

Clearly, words weren’t going to work.

“It’s the first assignment for the Sugar Man project this week.”

While bickering with Baek Woo-jin, time passed quickly.

As the participants gathered back in the center of the filming area, Woo Wang-seon began explaining the first challenge.

“Stair climbing. The Sugar Men will be divided into 10 groups to compete. Each person will climb the stairs, and the group that climbs the most stairs within the set time will be the winner. The winning group will receive a blood sugar adjustment of 10 points.”

The winning team will be allowed to deduct 10 mg/dl from their actual fasting blood sugar level when they check it next week.

Since the blood sugar levels were similar for most of them, a mere 10 mg/dl could be the difference between survival and elimination.

“Climbing stairs is effective for improving cardiorespiratory fitness and lower body strength. The leg muscles, particularly the thighs, are the largest muscles in the human body and can have the most significant impact on your blood sugar control.”

Chaji-chan explained why they needed to climb the stairs.

In truth, this was something that anyone with diabetes would have heard numerous times.

Muscles help capture sugar that goes into the bloodstream, so building muscle is essential for maintaining blood sugar levels.

The thighs, being the largest muscles in the body, yield the fastest results, which is why doctors always advise thigh exercises.

“If there are benefits for the winning group, will there be something for the last place group?”

Jwa Wang-taek asked Woo Wang-seon.

“There is. The team with the lowest performance will receive a penalty for lunch.”

Two trays appeared on the central screen.

On one side was a nutritious and balanced meal consisting of brown rice, soybean paste soup, chicken with perilla leaves, seaweed, and napa cabbage kimchi.

On the other side was brown rice, soybean paste soup, boiled chicken breast, and blanched broccoli.

Broccoli. And they had to eat it without any dipping sauce, which made for a very cruel meal.

“This is cruel.”

“Ugh. How boring.”

Both Woo Wang-seon and Jwa Wang-taek shook their heads.

“Boiled chicken breast and blanched broccoli have no seasoning. We wanted to emphasize that eating can sometimes be a painful experience, so we did our best to prepare this.”

As Joo Ji-seung introduced the meal plan, despairing sighs filled the room.

Seeing the participants discouraged about having to eat such tasteless food rather than the task of climbing the stairs confirmed that the Sugar Men were indeed of the same ilk as I was.

“I will now announce the groups!”

“Please remember to use the elevator when coming down!”

“We will begin warm-up exercises!”

Trainers from the gym stepped forward to guide the Sugar Men.

They informed them of the randomly assigned 10 groups and allowed them time to greet each other while also explaining the precautions and safety rules for the game.

They emphasized the use of the elevator when coming down, as overlapping routes with those going up could lead to accidents, and heavier individuals could place strain on their joints when descending the stairs.

“What is this?”

“Isn’t that a Berry Watch 6?”

“It’s a device to check how many stairs you’ve climbed.”

“Oh, it’s like a pedometer.”

It’s a feature included in the Berry Watch 6 sponsored by WH Electronics.

“Do I have to pass this on to the next person?”

“No, each of you can wear it individually. It’s linked together, so the total will be displayed immediately.”

“Cool.”

“But is this just heavy for me?”

Baek Woo-jin held up the ankle brace he prepared to prevent injury and asked.

“That’s the one for you.”

A staff member put the brace directly on Baek Woo-jin’s ankle.

“Something seems off. This is really heavy.”

They added weights to Baek Woo-jin’s brace, making it heavier just for him. Even without that, he was already out of shape, so with 2 kg weights on each ankle, he would surely collapse under the strain while climbing stairs.

“This is really strange. What about the others?”

Just as Baek Woo-jin was about to grab another brace, Cha Ji-chan blocked his way.

“Everyone else is ready. Hurry back to your spot.”

“My brace feels weird.”

“It’s not weird. They’re all the same.”

“I’m telling you, it really is strange! It’s heavy!”

“They say it’s a good thing.”

“Then why is mine lumpy?”

“You shouldn’t injure your ankle. It has to be thick to hold you securely.”

“That’s too much, though! Just a moment, I want to try a different one.”

“You’re being such a hassle. Don’t you know that the longer the shoot takes, the more the production costs?”

“We’re starting the game! Sugar Men, please gather in front of the building!”

“See? They’re calling us.”

“Oh, this is really strange.”

Baek Woo-jin turned around helplessly but then suddenly changed direction and reached for another brace.

Cha Ji-chan tried to stop him, but the sudden movement was too quick to block.

“What the heck!”

Cha Ji-chan furrowed his brow.

“The weight is different!”

“I told you it’s a good thing.”

“How am I supposed to climb the stairs wearing this? Ugh! Seriously! Why are you guys doing this to me today?”

As Baek Woo-jin jumped around and shouted, Cha Ji-chan discreetly asked a staff member,

“Is there any way to manipulate the numbers?”

“I’ll check.”

“Check what? Do you really hate it that much for me to make money? Then why don’t you just raise your blood sugar levels!”

“Oh, hurry up. The shoot is getting delayed.”

Cha Ji-chan waved his hand dismissively, which only made Baek Woo-jin even more agitated.

“What’s going on? Did I do something wrong? Why are you so shameless?”

“Sir, we need to start filming.”

“No, do you think I’m the one in the wrong? What exactly did I do? Let go! I’m not done talking!”

Two staff members grabbed Baek Woo-jin from both sides and pulled him away.

“You’re sharper than I expected.”

Joo Ji-seung came over to me.

“Yeah, we need to find a different way.”

“It’s best to be cautious during team competitions. The people who are in the same team as Woo-jin might suffer for no reason.”

“That’s true.”

The people who ended up on Baek Woo-jin’s team could end up unfairly affected.

All the blame lay with Baek Woo-jin, so it shouldn’t impact anyone else.

“Let’s just watch today.”

“Right. It’s not just today.”