Chapter 18

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Translated by Sylph

Read it only at Novelbyu.com & Utoon.net

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“Wow, I’m really nervous!”

“I hope we show up a lot.”

The voices of sweaty teenagers echoed through the training center’s auditorium.

‘Their energy is good.’

In the middle of the night, they came to the set, wore uncomfortable uniforms, and were sitting on uncomfortable steel chairs while filming.

Well, since there were cameras everywhere, it was hard to show that it was uncomfortable. I was the same way.

Was I not enduring Gold 1, 2 and Big Sejin, who had come over here and were messing around after getting tired of talking among themselves?

“Moondae hyung-nim, how do you feel ahead of the first episode?”

“Ah~ I heard you’re ready to become a legend of the rank evaluation?”

“Amazing! Mr. Moondae!”

“Stop it…….”

My life, where I couldn’t ignore this kind of trivial nonsense, was the real legend…….

I wanted to drink something cold.

‘…Ah, there’s a drink.’

Now that I looked, an ionic drink was placed under each seat. Seeing that it was arranged so that the brand was clearly visible, they must have finally landed a PPL.

It was an unknown brand, but anything was fine. I opened the drink and gulped it down.

And I almost spat it out right away.

“…….”

I knew why they put in a PPL.

It tasted terribly bad.

“Countdown starts soon! Please shout along from 10!”

With the staff’s shout, the logo disappeared from the beam projector screen in front, and numbers appeared.

“10! 9! 8!…….”

When the countdown ended and the melody of the theme song flowed out, cheers and applause broke out from here and there.

Thus, the long-awaited first episode was broadcast.

* * *

The first episode was specially organized and reflected for as long as 2 hours.

It meant that the participants sat on steel chairs for 120 minutes and couldn’t move except for broadcast reactions.

However, I didn’t think the participants cared about such things.

Only one thing was important.

‘How much did I appear on the broadcast?’

Of course, there were probably many more disappointed participants.

What about me?

Well, let’s review the content along with the reactions I found by searching the internet after the filming was over.

First, all sorts of internet reactions, including articles criticizing and best comments, were sent to the screen openly.

And subtitles appeared.

[Numerous controversies!]

[Just how did the real filming of proceed?]

The viewers reacted just like before.

It meant they continued to watch while cursing at the broadcast.

– No, do they just send that out without filtering it? As expected of cable class, it doesn’t go anywhere lol

– Feels like chewing on spicy popcorn

– It’s so boring, just show the kids

Fortunately, the opening passed in an instant, and the first participant appeared.

[Ah~ I’m so nervous!]

‘Oh, Choi Wongil.’

That’s right. The group evaluation that Choi Wongil belonged to was broadcast first. Choi Wongil received quite a bit of screentime in the typical youngest position.

‘I thought for sure the first participant was someone else.’

And the first participant didn’t receive any screentime after that either.

‘They won’t appear in the future either.’

It was like that overall.

A state where the selection was completed internally by the production team. Some participants didn’t even receive proper reaction cuts.

What was interesting was that the participants who were my group members just before received quite a bit of screentime.

Starting with Choi Wongil, the evaluations of Big Sejin and Gold 1 and 2 were broadcast even before the first part ended.

The feeling was good. It’s good to start by being illuminated as a decent team when entering the team battle.

‘Of course, the most important thing is my screentime.’

If my evaluation wasn’t completely edited out, it should have appeared in the first episode in order.

And fortunately, it appeared.

[The next participant is entering now!]

My screentime first appeared at the end of Part 1.

It was a strange feeling to see Park Moondae walking up to the stage on the screen. Should I say it felt like watching someone imitate what I had done?

From behind, Big Sejin and the Golds started slapping my back and grabbing my shoulders and shaking them.

They’re not even giving me a gap to fall into sentimentality.

“Hey hey hey, you’re coming out! See?”

“…Uh, it’s me.”

If you shake me more, I won’t even be able to see even if I have eyes, so stop it.

Since I couldn’t say that, I returned an appropriate response and focused on the screen again. The conversation with the judges was coming out.

[Yes, participant. Please introduce yourself.]

[…I am Park Moondae. Please take care of me.]

As soon as Park Moondae’s greeting on stage ended, an interview was inserted immediately. It was a positive sign, evidence that effort went into the editing.

[Q: Is there anything you want to say?]

[Park Moondae: No. (Silence)]

[Park Moondae: Nothing special.]

BGM without a hint of a smile and chilling sound effects were a bonus.

“……Hmm.”

Let’s see…… I’m sure that was an answer to a question about whether I had any complaints about the team members.

They’re pasting it like this?

It was editing that made me withdraw the words ‘positive sign’ in 7 seconds.

‘This is chilling.’

The judges’ incredulous reactions flowed more exaggeratedly on the screen.

[No, is that all?]

[Yes. I have no career worth introducing.]

As soon as that answer ended, another interview cut appeared.

[Park Moondae: I have no experience related to the entertainment industry (before appearing on this program).]

[Q: Have you ever received training?]

[Park Moondae: No.]

I thought I was screwed here.

I had spoken in a way that was hard to cut on purpose, fearing they would use cut-up answers, but I didn’t know they would make them into short answers altogether.

At this time, the internet reaction was also fierce.

– The answer is really insincere

– Concept guy?

– He looks unmotivated, why did he crawl out instead of living as a normal person;;

– I’m at the stage of being pissed off or it’s going to be funny because he’s so bad

And all the incredulous whispers of the judges inside the screen came out with subtitles.

[Ah, looking at the application form here, there’s really nothing.]

[I know.]

The stiff expressions of the participants who had received evaluations earlier and were sitting, and the cuts of them whispering to each other, passed by in an instant. I wonder where they cut those from.

The judge’s next words also had screen effects as if they were speaking sarcastically.

[Then let’s see the stage.]

[Yes]

Park Moondae on the screen grabbed the microphone, and the accompaniment flowed out.

And the moment the first verse came out,

[Ding-dong! It’s the sound of an ice water purifier~]

An advertisement came out.

The privilege of cable, the mid-roll advertisement.

“Heok!”

“Hyung, don’t worry too much.”

Exaggerated reactions and worries poured in from the surroundings.

“Are you okay?”

‘A guy who hasn’t appeared in a single cut yet is worrying about me…?’

He was riding the mood too much, I suspect it’s because of the camera.

I replied calmly.

“It’s fine as long as it appears on broadcast.”

Of course, it was nonsense. Regardless of what I actually did, if the editing was ruined, it’s over.

However…….

Inwardly, I smirked.

‘It doesn’t seem like they’re going to kill me off altogether.’

The fact that the mid-roll advertisement was inserted in the middle of the evaluation meant that it was okay to break the flow once.

In other words, it meant that the content that would come out after the advertisement would not make the viewers annoyed.

The short mid-roll advertisement ended quickly, and the prelude flowed out again.

By this time, the internet public opinion was hitting the floor.

– I’m not really curious but an advertisement even comes out lol

– Ah, give screentime to the kids who are good, not the bad ones

– Normal person concept guys not accepted

– I don’t want to see any more ugly people who think they’re really good in a survival show

And the moment Park Moondae, who grabbed the microphone, started singing, the comments stopped for a moment.

[I, I remember the me that I knew…….]

[…!!]

The appearance of the judges opening their eyes wide and the participants suddenly raising their heads were inserted endlessly through cross-editing.

– ?

– What is it

– Eng

– Why is he good

– ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ What, he’s good

To be honest, I was also flustered like the internet reaction.

‘…He’s good.’

With the editing added, it came out as if some hidden genius had appeared at the audition.

Even the ambiguous hand movements that couldn’t even be called choreography were cut well, so they looked plausible.

It was much more favorable editing than I thought.

‘I suspected they were trying to give a reversal fun by killing expectation in the beginning and showing the stage well, but.’

[As if every day is a PARTY, woo~]

In the high notes of the second half, there was even a cut of the judge Mudie covering her mouth.

‘I don’t think that came out of my evaluation?’

Are they offsetting it like this after ruining it in the interview?

While I was feeling dubious, the internet public opinion turned around in an instant.

– Wow, he’s really good

– It’s understandable that he wants to escape being a normal person, I totally acknowledge it

– Oh, the high notes were insane

– His voice is so good ㅋㅋㅋㅋ I’m flustered

– It’s been so long since I saw someone who sings Party in Me well ㅠㅠ Park Moondae? I should buy the stock

Even the production team kept the short silence after the song ended.

[Thank you for listening.]

[…….]

When they zoomed in on the reactions of other participants along with the silence, it became a needlessly dramatic scene.

The explosive reactions of the judges that followed were also illuminated quickly one by one, and large subtitles were added to the choreographer’s words as if a famous quote had come out.

[You know you did well, right!?]

[……I practiced hard to sing well.]

[No, this kind of thing is just something you’re born with. You have talent.]

If there was a problem, it was that my reaction to those words became very dull relatively because they edited it that way.

And they probably did it on purpose.

[Then you’ve never received special lessons either?]

[Yes.]

[Not at all? So not even an academy?]

[Yes.]

Because even the internet reactions were like this.

– ㅋㅋㅋ Yeah, it doesn’t seem like he practiced hard

– Moondae-ya, there’s no soul in your answer

– That guy had a soul when he was singing, where did it go?

It’s just that they didn’t think ‘Park Moondae’s’ reaction was malicious anymore, and the fact that jokes were being mixed into the comments was positive.

Hmm. I roughly got the gist.

‘Did they set the character as a skillful normal person with no sense… a my-pace?’

I’ll get cursed at a bit, but it wasn’t a bad start.

No, rather it was good.

If the team battle editing after this wasn’t crazy enough to be strange, it seemed like I would pass smoothly until the second round with this initial recognition.

‘In this flow, they might even be able to package the dance appropriately and pass it off.’

With a hopeful premonition, the relevant content began to appear on the screen. It was the content of judge Youngrin requesting a dance.

The internet reaction around here had been ambiguous.

– I see, he must not be able to dance

– Wow, but they’re telling him to try dancing

– It’s going to be solemn ㅠㅠ

– I’m already embarrassed

[Yes. Then would this song be possible?]

[Uh……?]

However, as soon as Park Moondae requesting a song immediately and the appearance of the staff being agitated by those words were broadcast, the comments began to get excited again.

– What is it

– What, what did he request?

– Why is the staff waving their hands lol

– I can’t even imagine what it would be

And as the insanely cheerful flowed out, both the editing and the comments went crazy.

[!!!!]

As subtitles filled with exclamation marks and the judge spitting water were cross-edited with Park Moondae dancing with a serious expression, the atmosphere went out of this world.

“…….”

“Euhahahat!!”

The voices of the participants laughing out loud echoed from all directions.

Seriously… it was embarrassing.

‘No…… I just tried to look like I was working hard even on an easy song.’

I came out like a lunatic who was sincere about popcorn.

I became worried if I would become an internet meme as it is, but as expected, I had to see the scores.

– ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

– What, Moondae is cute? ㅋㅋㅋㅋ

– He’s sincere about the stage, anyway he is

– He’s really working hard lol

‘The reaction is…… good?’

The reaction was better than when I was singing. My goodness.