Chapter 25

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Translated by Sylph

Read it only at Novelbyu.com & Utoon.net

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Seon Ahyun accepted the bowls Park Moondae handed him in a daze.

Immediately after, his interview was inserted.

[Seon Ahyun: T-To be honest, I-I can’t eat… eat instant food very well.]

And like a flashback, a video taken by a fixed camera was briefly broadcast.

Seon Ahyun’s figure, with his head buried in the bed as if he felt unwell, was faintly visible in the thin light from the bathroom.

[Park Moondae: Are you okay?]

[Seon Ahyun: I-I’m okay….]

[Park Moondae: Wait a moment.]

Park Moondae went out of the dormitory.

And after a while.

[Participant Park Moondae who brought digestive medicine]

He reappeared along with the subtitle.

In fact, this was something that happened during the initial grade evaluation.

At that time, Park Moondae was in the state where the ‘Sleep is for the Dead’ trait was activated, so he wasn’t sleepy even late at night and had relatively enough time.

Thanks to that, he just had the leisure to respond to the voice of his conscience as a return for the chocolate Seon Ahyun gave him.

For reference, Park Moondae had completely forgotten about this matter by the time he was preparing for the PR broadcast.

Seon Ahyun, who had no way of knowing that, said this in the interview with a sorry and grateful expression.

[Seon Ahyun: I think he… exchanged it for me because he was worried I-I wouldn’t be able to eat….]

[Seon Ahyun: T-Thank you, Moondae-ya.]

[Park Moondae: (Nods head)]

Of course, Park Moondae’s cut was edited in from a completely unrelated interview.

However, on the surface, it looked quite heartwarming.

– I never imagined such a development.
– What, Chicken Feet Jwa is the definition of goodness itself.
– Was he actually a tsundere?
– I’ve come to like Moondae a bit lol.

Since general viewers were like this, fans were even more so.

– Moondae doesn’t play tricks, so it’s easy to be misunderstood maliciously, but he seems like the type who actually takes good care of those around him.
– Our puppy… was truly a puppy.
– Moondae, oh man, this pushover ㅠㅠ No, he chose the chicken feet well, but oh man, still giving away all of his own ㅠㅠ
– Moondae was the one who picked the flower crown.
– Moondae puppy is kind.

Park Moondae’s fansite master was naturally happy with the favorable editing and reactions, but she was also slightly anxious.

‘What if someone starts marketing his personality?’

Appealing through personality was perfect for catching a backlash.

This was especially true as the program progressed toward the latter half.

Because my participant’s spot would only open up if that participant was dragged down.

Personality marketing was something that could be smashed even if someone just reported a minor immoral act from school days.

And among the other participants, there were quite a few people whose graduation photos had already been uploaded.

‘Come to think of it, nothing is known about Moondae.’

Was it because he was such a quiet student?

Maybe he was from a foreign country or the countryside. She imagined Park Moondae sitting on a gazebo above a rice paddy levee wearing a straw hat with an indifferent expression.

‘It suits him…!’

Originally, in the early stages of becoming a fan, there was a symptom where the person felt like a picture no matter where they were placed.

Meanwhile, on the broadcast, images of various participants preparing for the PR live were being shown.

From Kim Raebin, who picked an electronic piano and made a logo song for Idol Inc., to Big Sejin, who promoted sneakers and showed a random play dance of idol hit songs.

There were quite a few interesting scenes.

Focusing on a few top-ranked participants like that, the circumstances of the participants who couldn’t bring any bowls at all were also briefly shown.

[Those who do not have collaboration items, please promote our program! !]

Of course, most of them did not make it into the top 33 and barely carried on the broadcast for 10 minutes.

Since a dozen or so people were conducting the already cliché content similarly at the same time, there was no way it would be fun.

And they briefly showed the participants who promoted unique collaboration items, and Park Moondae naturally appeared here.

The scene where Park Moondae set up the chicken feet and sat down was proper starting from the subtitle.

[Park Moondae (Chicken Feet Lover) A.K.A Mukbang Rising Star]

[Cha Yujin: It was really amazing.]

Cha Yujin’s reaction of watching with his mouth open passed by briefly.

Her timeline was once again plastered with the word ‘cute.’ Her own post was also included there.

– Moondae is so cute, destroy the chicken feet ㅠㅠ

The PR broadcast preparation process ended moderately warmly, as if the live had ended well.

It passed by as if it never happened that some participants accidentally exposed other participants’ secrets or complained about sensitive issues that occurred during filming.

Even though two people voluntarily left after being ridiculed on the internet.

As long as the program had entered the track of popularity, there was no need to unnecessarily reproduce participants’ controversies in the main broadcast.

Since they had already guessed it would be like that, most viewers focused on the next content after sneering or criticizing once or twice.

It was the announcement ceremony for the individual matches within each team.

[Everyone! Do you remember the reward that the participant who took 1st place in the individual vote within the team in the 1st team match gets?]

[Ah….]

[In the 1st ranking announcement ceremony, it was an unconditional pass!]

On the screen, they caught several participants muttering, ‘I hope it’s me.’

And after the MC dragged out time by adding useless words with brilliant skill, he called out the winner for each team one by one.

Of course, the majority of the participants tried to at least pretend to congratulate.

[Wow~]

[Congratulations!]

In particular, the team members of Ryu Chungwoo, which had been controversial, tried hard not to look the least bit displeased when Ryu Chungwoo’s 1st place was announced.

However, it was broadcast in a subtle atmosphere again on the show.

[….]

[…Ah.]

[Congratulations.]

[Yeah, thank you. You guys worked hard… I’m sorry.]

[…No. Not at all.]

‘It’s not good because they’re doing it too much.’

Having become accustomed to this pattern, she was to the point of feeling repelled by the editing instead. Perhaps hardcore survival viewers felt similar emotions.

Of course, the 1st place in the individual match for Park Moondae’s team, ‘October 31,’ was also announced.

[The 1st place of October 31 is…… Congratulations! Participant Seon Ahyun!]

[…!]

The members of October 31 surrounded Seon Ahyun, who was startled.

[Oooooh!!]

[I knew Ahyun would do it~]

[Congratulations!]

[You worked hard.]

[T-T-Thank you…….]

It was a suitably harmonious production.

‘Thank goodness!’

While she was relieved, she also felt a bit regretful.

‘I thought Moondae could have received it.’

She knew that receiving that had no practical merit and might just result in being attacked, but she still felt regretful for no reason.

Similar hints appeared here and there on her SNS timeline as well.

– Congratulations Ahyun-ah~
– It’s a bit regretful, but Moondae’s reaction was heartwarming so it was good.
– Blonde Moondae was caught for a long time! Aat ㅠㅠ So happy.
– Everyone did well, so it wouldn’t have been strange no matter who received it ㅠㅠ
– Moondae puppy worked hard~

If she searched a bit more explicitly… she thought she might be able to find reactions like this quickly.

– Moondae did both the arrangement and the mental care, but Seon Ahyun is the one who’s getting a free ride lol. Ah, my faith in humanity is destroyed~

Of course, they were probably malicious individual fans.

Fortunately, thanks to Moondae’s new visual giving words of congratulations on the screen, the topic was quickly switched.

She quickly captured and uploaded Moondae’s close-up shot.

– I don’t know who did it, but thank you so much for blonde Moondae… (Captured photo)

On the broadcast, the MC was saying something significant again.

[By the way, what would happen if a participant who was originally disqualified passed?]

[Uh…!]

[Ah, no way.]

[Everyone, the lowest-ranked passing participant will be eliminated!]

For reference, she, who was watching, was not interested at all.

‘Moondae, please don’t call him quickly…!’

She was just anxious, hoping that Park Moondae would be called in the latter half.

[Then I will announce the 47th participant.]

She intended to make a promotional video for Wetube while the lower-tier rankings passed, but she couldn’t grasp the mouse properly in her hand.

‘What is this that’s making me nervous…!’

By the time she couldn’t stand it and brought a soda to sit down, the announcement finally entered the 30s.

It was after cutting once more in the middle to conduct a boring beverage PPL content.

‘Even though Moondae didn’t even appear in a single cut…!’

It was because she hadn’t touched the drink after almost spitting it out, but as a viewer, it was an unknown reason.

Only around the time the 31st place was announced did a scene she could be interested in appear.

[31st place is… Participant Kwon Heeseung!]

He was a participant of October 31 whom Park Moondae was inwardly calling ‘Gold 2.’

Among the people who greeted him as he went out to the platform was Park Moondae.

[Congratulations.]

It was extremely cute that he gave an awkward high-five with a serious expression.

In the meantime, the MC made an unfunny joke.

[He is the first member of the October 31 team to advance to the next broadcast! Is that why he’s 31st?]

[It seems so!]

Starting with Kwon Heeseung, the members of October 31 began to be called out to the platform at intervals.

After Choi Wongil and Ha Iljun (Gold 1) were announced in the lower mid-20s, their names were not called for a while.

The next was 13th place.

[Congratulations. 13th place is… Participant Lee Sejin! Ah, there are two of you!]

Lee Sejin and Lee Sejin reflexively raised their heads, then one laughed awkwardly while the other hardened his expression and returned to normal.

[Between the two of you… Lee Sejin B! Also known as Big Sejin! He was the leader in October 31.]

[Ahaha!]

Big Sejin laughed excitedly and offered a handshake to Lee Sejin, and Lee Sejin accepted that handshake reluctantly.

Afterward, Big Sejin went up to the platform along with the cheers and recognition of various participants.

[Wow! 13! It’s a rank that seems just like our team. It feels like destiny.]

Big Sejin made a joke suitable for the situation.

And after neatly finishing a thank-you message and encouragement that looked serious and sincere, he went up.

At least he was in the top 12!

She swallowed her saliva and waited for the next announcement.

Since Park Moondae had almost no pre-formed recognition before the 1st episode aired, this alone was a huge achievement.

[The participant who put their name in 11th place is… Seo Hyuncheol!]

And Moondae’s name was not called until 11th place.

Finally, it entered the ranks that could be counted on one’s fingers.

10th place, 9th place…….

[The participant who put their name in 8th place is…… Ah, the participant who performed SoftSweet’s song in the first team match.]

‘Done…!’

She relaxed her shoulders and exhaled.

They would probably call Moondae. She thought of it as almost a given.

Because the child actor Lee Sejin’s initial recognition was overwhelming, and Seon Ahyun’s indicators were too good thanks to the last stage.

She had thought that those two would be called later than Moondae.

[This participant who showed reversal charm is…….]

After showing the remaining three participants of October 31 in turn for quite a long time, the MC continued his words.

[Participant Lee Sejin!]

[…!]

Lee Sejin jumped up with a stiff face.

Seon Ahyun and Park Moondae, who were still in their seats, offered congratulations as was their habit.

[Congratulations.]

[C-Congratulations….]

[…Thanks.]

It was broadcast that Lee Sejin smiled faintly and accepted the greetings awkwardly.

And she screamed out loud.

“Eeeeee!”

The reactions in the related communities were also exploding.

– Heol.
– Heol, Lee Sejin.
– I thought he would be in the top 5.
– 8th place?
– Even though there was some talk about his personality, he came out as a hard worker, so I thought he would maintain his rank.
– He had quite a few fans, this is strange;;
– It seems his rank was pushed down because other participants hit the jackpot?

Lee Sejin left the platform after leaving short and bold words saying ‘Thank you, I will do it with the strength to die.’

She gripped the mouse.

‘Then just what rank is Moondae?’