Hello, Me Too

"Friendship knows no hierarchy and should never be treated differently. In the past, to bear witness to friendship, we would let the guests on the show form their own teams," the host said with a smile. "They say people either click or they don't. Often, those who don't get along at first glance have a hard time becoming friends. So in the past, we respected our guests' choices as much as possible."

"But self-chosen friendships inevitably involve other feelings. How can those be called true friendship?"

"Two people meet by chance, get along by chance, then unexpectedly weather hardships together and find happiness, until they realize the other is a true companion. This whole series of changes should be random and involuntary, accompanied by wonderful, unpredictable highs and lows!"

"So today, every guest here will have a true friend chosen by fate. Two strangers, each with different experiences and feelings—what sparks of friendship will fly when they collide? I'm sure all of you watching are just as excited as I am!"

Cheers from outside surged in all at once. The host clapped enthusiastically, clearly delighted by the lively scene he'd created.

But for the people inside Friendship Garden, this wasn't so wonderful. The participants who had arrived in groups were especially upset. More than anger and confusion, they felt fear. Some couldn't accept what was happening and ran toward the edge of the plaza, shouting that they wanted to withdraw from the show.

The cheers and applause died down, followed by scattered laughter. The host looked down at them, his smile unchanged. "Friendship Garden will only reopen once friendship has been born."

Those trying to run clearly knew something about this game. Someone shouted about "inside information," saying that the survival rate for Hello, Me Too was actually very low,