Chapter 10

They didn't even talk about last season during the first filming, so I never imagined that it would come out here.

The comments section is filled with "??!?" And then Youngrin naturally continued without changing her expression.

[To prevent the same disaster, the production team will give all the decision-making power to the shareholders!!]

The lights on the stage are turned on intensely one by one according to Youngrin's words.

[The members? Shareholders, please choose!]

[Number of people? Shareholders, please decide!]

[Do you want a team like this? Shareholders, please bind it!]

[Or…]

Like a stage effect, the lights began to flicker.

[Do you hate to see that team member look young? Then remove them!]

– Did the production team go crazy?

One appropriate comment caught my eye.

Under the flashing lights, Youngrin is delivering a serious closing remark.

[Our company's life and death depend on the shareholders!]

[<Idols Joint-Stock Company> re-listed is starting now!]

The camera moves upwards.

The stage, which looked like a big star, was lit up with flashing lights that looked like a galaxy.

And in the middle of the stage, I could see the back of ten people standing in the spotlight. These are platinum grade participants.

The camera moved up and down once, zooming in on the participants. Because the stage was so big, ten people seemed to fill it up completely.

The intro started as soon as the camera stopped moving.

One by one, the participants turned around, and the camera caught their movement.

It was a single part that was a benefit of the platinum grade, but it wasn't a big deal because it only took less than a second for each of them.

'I'd rather pick the center like the original.'

I felt a strange feeling as I saw my cut pass by.

'Hmm, it looks like hands and feet aren't as shriveled as that.'

After the intro and the song started playing, the gold grade appeared around the platinum grade. It seemed natural with the power of editing.

Entering the pre-chorus, the lighting changed, and silver grade appeared on both sides, then bronze grade appeared from behind at the beginning of the chorus.

And the group chorus.

"Oh."

It was plausible. Thanks to the ghostly cut of the moment when the choreography didn't match, the movement seemed in perfect order.

In addition, there was a surprisingly positive response in the comments section.

Although most people were embarrassed by the fact that they liked it.

– Why do I like the song?

– It's RJC, but the theme song is always a God song.

– What a waste of the song. You'll give me another stone.

Of course, they didn't forget to comment on the participants whenever there was a close-up on the screen.

– Such young skin… It's a bit uncomfortable to see.

– I thought it was funny that he just hit himself in the neck, but did you see it?

– As expected, your skills aren't good if you're ugly either.

└Please stop generalizing, because it will make the squid sad.

(Author Note: Squid in this part means ugly people)

└Even if you're good at it, being ugly will make you look bad.

└This bastard, really.

└hahahaha

Of course, there were also moments of admiration.

– Wow, he was handsome just now.

– Wow, why are you here?

– How did you cast him?

– If he looked like that, he wouldn't come out here.

Roughly—it was a reaction that appeared when participants with an appearance stat of B or higher were close-up.

Oh, I just saw a close-up of Seon Ahyun. As expected, the camera catches the side with the best face.

…Wait.

I compared the responses in the comment box with the participants in the close-up.

"…Did I make a mistake?"

It becomes difficult if there is a significant gap between the beginning buzz volume.

'Putting singing and dancing to the side, should I have made my appearance to be an 'A' class?'

Even if they took only one close-up on the theme song stage, it would have been a hot topic if the appearance was great.

Also, if only a few homepage masters were holding on to them, they would have been photographed at a product presentation, and their photos would have been shared on social media. (t/n: 홈마 or homepage masters is a master of an (idol) fansite usually who takes photos. Basically means fansite masters.)

There is a good chance that the first elimination could have been avoided if the fan base was stronger.

Given that there is a status window, I should have been able to show my skills as a growth type, right?

Considering that this season was ridiculed at first and skyrocketed after it aired, I put this strategy aside— I had forgotten that mockery was also part of interest.

I felt a chill in my heart and looked at the stage screen again.

A few close-ups passed even at the ending.

The one that stands out the most is Lee Sejin, the child actor. I could tell the production team was willing to work hard because they gave him a few seconds to develop the topic before the show.

When I think about it now, most of the debut members I know were of grade B or above, and their faces matched the set.

If the editing focused on participants with high visual stats, I'm in big trouble.

Park Moondae also looked pretty good, but he wasn't a man who stood out for his handsomeness.

As soon as I lost some confidence and tried to review my strategy, the screen suddenly changed. It was a mid-advertisement.

Then I heard a familiar voice.

[<Idol Joint-Stock Company>, relisted!]

Is this where the first ad appears?

Since filming was over a week ago, I thought they had enough time to edit it that way.

I focused on the advertisement because I was curious whether there was any hint of the editing direction.

[I hope there are many talented friends.]

[I have high expectations.]

[No (beep—) also comes out? The participants must be very nervous.]

It was a scene where the judges laughed and talked. I think they're saying everything that always comes out in the trailer.

[Amazing, it's just an amazing performance—]

[You look like you were born to do it.]

[Wow!]

[Where the hell did you come from now?]

Oh, my ranking evaluation has passed. This has reduced the worries of editing the whole thing. Only then did my shoulders drop a little.

It was my first mass media exposure, so I think I overreacted.

No matter how early it is, the battle usually doesn't happen until episode 4, so let's not be nervous and calmly add to my strategy.

Unlike me, who had regained peace of mind, the judges, who had hardened their faces, said harsh things without warning.

[Now this is… I can't even call it a stage.]

[You know that's an excuse, right?]

[It seems you just lacked preparation.]

[Aren't you embarrassed?]

And the faces of the participants, who were all showing serious faces and biting their lips, overlapped and passed one another.

…Looking at the background, it seems that they even use the expression they made since they were having a hard time practicing.

In the end, the cut made it look like something unexpected had happened.

[(Beep—) -ssi, (Beep—) -ssi, wait, wait—!]

[(The participant suddenly leaves the seat.)]

The face of the child actor Lee Sejin, who was crying, was shown up close.

[(The whole story?)]

As the screen went dark, the logo of Idol Joint-Stock Company came up magnificently.

The logo went off at the end of the changed theme song, and the MC's voice could be heard.

[The re-listing of the new Idol Joint-Stock Company! The first gateway to—(Beep—) evaluation!]

[Huh!]

The trailer ended with the participants covering their mouths as if they were shocked.

"…."

Comments kept pouring in as soon as I lowered my head.

It was understandable.

That evening, the Internet entertainment news comment box was turned upside down.

* * *

After finishing my workout, I warmed up my meal and accessed the portal website.

First of all, these were the titles of the articles that were shown on the main page.

[〈Idol Joint-Stock Company〉 who beg for forgiveness from the 'shareholders,' the new stock? 'Male Idol'.]

[Unveiled 〈Re-listed! Idol Joint-Stock Company〉, 'Shining Star' first release!]

['Please invest, shareholders!', the stage of 77 participants in the new season of 〈Idol Joint-Stock Company〉 ]

The title alone was moderately neutral, but public opinion can be seen by clicking on the article and looking at the response.

It's been a while since the comments section on entertainment news was blocked, and if you look at the emoticons that are visible, at least—.

'Frustrated' has exceeded 12,000. Obviously, they pressed this option instead because there was no 'Mad' expression, which meant that public opinion was going crazy.

There were also many columns.

[Idol Joint-Stock Company, adopting slogan for freedom]

['Buy me!', children who have become stocks.]

Let's click on one.

[It's not even 'Please pick me' anymore. Participants are no longer treated humanely in the program shouting to buy your idol stocks. A sadistic way of handing over the right to escape from life to death—.]

Well, I don't need to see more.

Because most of the comments about the program on the Internet and SNS were negative.

– These bastards have no real reflection.

– Fuck, from the first season, they said it was stock with all kinds of things, and they sold our voting rights and came back without dying. Do you like the money you make from selling kids?

But the production crew will be delighted because it's not like the participants are criticized.

Season 2 was disappointing because the popular participant and the content were both messed up.

However, due to the program's sadism, they suppressed the image this season, and the production crew turned off the pointless behavior.

Anyway, the survival program was always hard, no matter how harsh or arrogant it was.

Even from the participant's point of view, catching people's attention might be better.

Because thanks to the popularity of the program, there are comments like this.

=======================

[This IJC 3 Platinum Grade Summary.]

: I captured the 'Music Night' stage. It's because I feel sorry for the kids who are good at this, so please refrain from cursing in the comments.

=======================

Most of the comments were about handsome participants or had good facial expressions, but I also noticed a few people talking about Park Moondae, which made me feel weird.

It was mainly about being cute or popular.

– Park Moondae is cute, so I watched the stage again, but the camera didn't do a good job of catching him. ᅲᅲ But after seeing the trailer, I think he did well on the ranking stage, so I'm thinking about watching it.

"…."

It felt weird. It was the first time in my life that I had read an article that expressed open interest in me.

I felt it when I was selling data in college, but I was surprised that people would give their time and money just because they were likable, even though they didn't know them well.

I'm not sure if it's because I live a life without time or money.

But when I became the person involved, it felt even weirder.

However, it wasn't a bad feeling.

'…What else should I do next?'

I suddenly wanted to move.

I carefully looked over the people's responses to the participants and then made a list of the priorities for future stat distribution.

It was then.

[The beginning of fame!]

1,000 people remembered your existence!

: Draw General Characteristics ☜ Click!

I got a notification for this, too.

I read the pop-up contents. The 'draw' below felt like the one that popped up on the stage last time.

I immediately click, and a slot machine pops up.

Again, the gray box and the copper box were mixed together this time.

This time, I hope there will be characteristics that help me quickly improve my looks or skills.

I waited for the slot to stop with more anticipation than last time.

And the moment the slot was about to stop, suddenly another pop-up appeared.

[Slot machine is a great success!]

: You draw hero characteristics!