Chapter 34

On the screen, Kim Raebin calmly explained the reason.

[Kim Raebin: Participant Park Moondae has a wide range of vocals, so there is no pressure in terms of selecting the song.]

[Kim Raebin: I also have seen a lot of scenes where he flexibly accepted other team members during group activities. He will be my first team member.]

Shortly after, the scene where Kim Raebin quickly won the mini-game and pointed to 'Park Moondae' was shown.

And an interview with Park Moondae who had a blank expression came out.

[Park Moondae: …?]

[Park Moondae: Thank you, but… (Why?)]

Thanks to the BGM and additional captions, Park Moondae, who joined Kim Raebin and bowed his head, seemed very flustered.

And another cut scene where Kim Raebin clenched his fists and expressed a small sense of victory was shown.

It was like a WeTube skit.

"…"

It wasn't just once or twice that the production team created reactions like this, but it was the first time they were able to pinpoint my true feelings.

[Kim Raebin: Next up is Cha Eugene.]

[Kim Raebin: And Ryu Chungwoo.]

Kim Raebin picked his team members without hesitation with his own logic, and the scene where the team members were confused continued.

It was a cute production in its own way.

'They must be trying to save Kim Raebin.'

It was an edit that openly neutralized his brutal appearance in the first round.

However, the atmosphere did not last long.

After the red caption 'But' appeared on the screen, a suffocating scene filled with only white noise was shown.

[Midterm evaluation a few days later.]

[Who rearranged it?]

The scene of Kim Raebin lowering his head was crossed with the scene of several team members looking back at him. A big caption popped up again.

[What happened?]

And…

An intermediate advertisement.

"…Hmm."

I poured the rest of the beer down my throat.

They were trying to get ratings… Now I'm amazed. It's great, <Idol Inc.> crew.

When I checked during the intermission, all kinds of speculation were rampant on the Internet.

The popular opinion was, 'Isn't Kim Raebin's team match ruined again?'

– From the moment the reason for choosing Park Moondae came out, I thought that he really had no eyes for people.

"No…"

So far, Park Moondae was the first to get rejected.

The beer made me feel a little more relaxed, but I was more pissed off than usual.

I turned off the screen grumpily and turned on Tnet again. The commercial had just ended.

As expected, after the song was decided, the discussion scene was broadcasted on the screen.

[Ryu Chungwoo: Shall we hear Sejin's opinions first?]

In general, the editing highlighted Ryu Chungwoo, who even took care of his less sociable team members.

In particular, his calm response to Lee Sejin's nervous reaction was shown on the screen.

'Lee Sejin, too.'

Is this going to be a picture of Ryu Chungwoo eating up everything again?

There were a few scenes that charmingly highlighted Cha Eugene as a choreography genius, and a few scenes of Kim Raebin spending time arranging the song, but the victory still belonged to Ryu Chungwoo's decision.

It was from the midterm evaluation that the situation changed.

[You touched the original song a lot, but it feels worse than the original song.]

The evaluation was edited more seriously than the original lukewarm atmosphere.

It was the effect of the original singer's sudden remarks being woven and inserted in the middle of the evaluation.

[On your stage… I couldn't feel the power of <Burning Like the Sun>.]

I didn't know that this bullshit would be aired.

In such a serious atmosphere, a team member pointed to Kim Raebin as the person involved in the arrangement.

[(Right away) Raebin did the arrangement.]

The team members' quick attention to Kim Raebin was blatantly emphasized on the broadcast.

It was a spine-chilling editing

'Damn it…'

I put on an act to cover this up, but are we all going down together?

At that moment, the screen suddenly began to zoom in on 'Park Moondae'.

"Huh?"

'No way.'

Park Moondae on the screen had a thoughtful expression on his face, and then a flashback cut was suddenly inserted.

[I think it'd be good to lower the key before doing it.]

[How about adding some rap?]

[The arrangement goes well with the concept of the cheering squad.]

[…Yes.]

It was a scene where some of the team members were telling Kim Raebin to try adding elements that didn't suit the song.

As Park Moondae observed it carefully, his gaze was directed in.

Then on the screen, the midterm evaluation came back again.

Park Moondae opened his mouth casually.

[Yes. Since Raebin could arrange it, we consulted with the arranger, and we all decided on the direction of the arrangement.]

Kim Raebin's face with a surprised expression was zoomed in.

Then, Park Moondae's interview was inserted.

[Q: Why did you defend Raebin?]

[Park Moondae: (Surprised) I was just telling the truth.]

That's… It was a cut from an interview related to arrangements for the first team match.

"…Huh."

'I was being deliberately blunt about it in order to naturally change the subject.'

After going through the magic of editing, Park Moondae, who didn't care about others, looked like he had just told the truth.

'It's absurd no matter how I think about it.'

Regardless of my bitterness, the broadcast went on.

[Sincerely conveyed.]

[Kim Yujun: I'm sorry…]

After the team member apologized to Kim Raebin, the atmosphere rapidly changed to hopeful and warm, and the focus was on Kim Raebin's touching interview.

[Kim Raebin: I think I have done well in gathering the team members.]

As he said that, Kim Raebin, who smiled faintly, surprisingly didn't look bad.

And the new arrangement… Ridiculously enough, Kim Raebin and Park Moondae were suddenly shown as if they were having fun with each other during chatting.

[Ryu Chungwoo: I saw the two of them talking about something during the break.]

[Ryu Chungwoo: But when I went back…Raebin was already on the keyboard, and Moondae was excited saying we would (beep-)]

The narration from Ryu Chungwoo's interview and the arrangement discussion process made it really look like that, so it was even more ridiculous.

[Ryu Chungwoo: Are geniuses like that? Haha.]

After that, the short cuts continued as if Ryu Chungwoo adored the two unsociable geniuses and the team was fused well, then the amount of preparation for the stage ended.

"…"

I really didn't expect it would work out like this.

Anyway, I wasn't shown as a bad person, so I would have to settle for this much.

Besides, I thought the stage was the best part of it, but I was very satisfied with how the production team took great care in editing it.

The ending was good, too.

[3rd place?]

[Nobody expected this.]

This was because they put the team's 3rd place in the middle of an advertisement and highlighted it as if it was very strange and shocking.

You can see that they have pulled out everything.

It's a neat profit.

"It's nice."

I straightened out the bedding. As the tension was eased, the fatigue set in.

'I can monitor the Internet tomorrow.'

Because I didn't look at the reaction immediately at this time, It was only around lunchtime the next day that I realized that the aftermath of my portion in Episode 7 was much greater than I had expected.

* * *

– I have decided to embrace Park Moondae. Compared to the guys in the first team match, he's a fairy

– Looking at Moondae again, his face is fine. He and Raebin seem to be doing well, so keep working as a team

– Rabbit and puppy are a fantastic combination, but the fact they're a medieval rabbit and a countryside mixed breed is the icing on the cake.

– Oi oi, did you ever imagine a day when this combination would do badly? (Shrug)

– I thought we would fight, but we surprisingly became close:;

"…Oh."

Surprisingly, as soon as episode 7 aired, the public opinion of Park Moondae rapidly changed among Kim Raebin's fans.

Most of them were normal fan accounts that didn't slander other participants, but some of them used to giggle and called 'Park Moondae' with insults until yesterday.

What a change of pace.

Park Moondae's fan accounts who were worried about the negative votes were relieved, but some of them were angry.

– Whenever I see people just wash their mouths after cursing like that, it really… made me speechless. I hate myself for feeling relieved.

– The thought of fangirling with those people once both of them debut made me sigh… I'll just watch Moonda1..

– Moondae showed a great attitude, came up with great ideas, and even performed a great stage, why should I care about anything else.

'I hope they don't get too stressed out.'

Spending money should be fun, but these people didn't seem to be able to enjoy that, so I didn't feel good about it.

Even if we might debut on the same team in this program, all the participants were currently competing with each other so this part might be inevitable.

Still, most of them were happy that the stage was selected well.

Immediately after the main broadcast was over, seven episodes were arranged on the broadcast schedule from midnight to this morning and lunch, so the inflow effect could be seen.

The stage video immediately entered the WeTube real-time popularity ranking.

– How can these crazy people handle this crazy concept so well?

– They're heroes who come to mess with my grade, but I love them

– I can't believe they changed the cheering song of the baseball stadium to a hero theme song. The stage, as well as the idea and arrangement skills, were absolutely phenomenal

– Ahh the kids must have matched their own colors too, they wore an item for each color! This kind of detail made my fangirling heart race.

– Is this stage in 3rd place? Aren't you embarrassed by the vote?

– This is the summary. 0:06 Cha Eugene (Red), 0:16 Min Jeonghoon (Green), 0:24 Ryu Chungwoo (Blue) … [Watch more]

Personal fancams that were released at dawn were also having a terrifying increase in views.

This match was bigger than the first team match, but even taking that into account, the number of views on the 'Park Moondae' fancams was increasing tremendously fast for someone in the main vocalist position.

The comments were also more favorable than in the first round, and the 'dislike' ratio was lowered.

– I can't deny that he's a genius

– Thanks for the blonde hair, Moondae. Thanks to you, my sister cheered up and held back her resignation. I'll buy a lot of Moondae stocks. Let's make a debut and try silver hair and pink hair.

– It's amazing, being able to come up with a hero concept after horror! I'm rooting for you a lot. I hope you make a debut!

– Why do you look more handsome and better every time I see you? What will happen if I end up ascending to heaven once you debut?

I felt embarrassed, but I was happy.

Although this result was inevitable, I couldn't deny that I felt a sense of accomplishment.

As I thought so, the last best comment caught my eye.

-The main vocalist, who is not just young and cute but also good at dancing, is just like a left-handed pitcher. I would have to grab you from the pit of hell so thank you so much for walking into the idol market with your own feet. You can't get out anymore, Moondae^^

"…"

To be honest, I am a little scared.

'I won't suffer from an abnormal condition like 'unable to retire' once I debut right?'

I quickly dispelled the no-good ominous delusion and cleared my mind.

Anyway, at this rate, there seemed to be nothing to worry about at the next ranking announcement ceremony.

'Now, there are two stages left.'

After two more team matches, the program would end.

It felt strange to think that I had already entered to enter the second half of the show.

I thought it would be cool that the day where I could get rid of this trashy condition drew near, but it wasn't necessarily the case.

Maybe it was because my grades were much better than I had expected.

I'd been stuck in the corner of my room preparing for the civil exam for the past few years and I hadn't felt any sense of accomplishment, so the taste of this success was quite stimulating.

'I was worn out, so of course, I would get carried away.'

Avoiding sudden death… If I looked back at it a few years later, I might think of it as a meaningful experience.

Of course, that scenario won't happen if I fall behind, so let's think about survival first.

Ring.

As soon as I made up my mind, a message came in.

[Keun Sejin: MoondaeMoondae How are you doing? Do you want to go together with me on the day of the shoot? With Ahyeon too. ]

* * *

The faces of the guys I met on the day of the shoot were completely dead.

No, Choi Wongil the troll is removed so why are you guys dying? Who makes you like that?