Chapter 26

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Translated by Sylph

Read it only at Novelbyu.com & Utoon.net

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[This participant is someone who received attention for his outstanding dancing skills.]

‘Moondae isn’t 7th either!’

She clenched her two hands and screamed all sorts of things inwardly.

The reward for persistently uploading videos and posts on SNS asking people to vote… no, to buy stock, came rushing in like a tidal wave.

And, passing 6th place, 5th place.

[This participant… received attention for his popping ideas and unique talent, didn’t he?]

Finally, the MC called out Park Moondae.

[5th place, Participant Park Moondae!]

The figure of Park Moondae, who was sitting in his seat, jumping up was caught by the camera.

‘Crazy, crazy, this is crazy…….’

She couldn’t hold back her overflowing screams and wrote a post on SNS.

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[Crazy, Moondae is 5th, ah Moondae-ya ㅠㅠ I really knew you would do well because our Moondae is a genius ㅠㅠㅠ Thank you for becoming an idol, really ㅠㅠ]

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And then she deleted it without registering it.

A sliver of reason, that her SNS account, which had already become a famous account, should not be used as an element for unnecessary nitpicking, prevented her from registering it.

Park Moondae, who went up to the platform, bowed his head once so that his golden-brown hair shook, and then began to speak.

[I think it’s a rank that I don’t deserve. I will show you how I develop so as not to deviate from the expectations of the shareholders who purchased my stock. I look forward to your kind cooperation.]

And he bowed his head.

It was a standard acceptance speech, but perhaps because of the word choice, it reminded one of a corporate fair rather than an idol.

Around the time when words like ‘Moondae puppy, are you a CEO? lol’ were rampant on SNS, the MC threw a pre-prepared question.

[You received a lot of interest for the chicken feet PR, if you happen to debut, what kind of mukbang would you like to conduct again?]

[Um… steamed pre-grilled tripe?]

At the unusual and accurate product name, the MC burst out laughing.

[Is there a reason?]

[Among the ones I tasted, it was the most delicious after the chicken feet.]

At Park Moondae’s calm answer, the sound of laughter came from here and there.

The MC packaged it humorously.

[Ah, this time as well, a product related to PPL! He is a participant who thinks a lot about Idol Inc. ~ Like this, 5th place! It was Participant Park Moondae.]

[Thank you.]

Park Moondae just smiled faintly and bowed his head to greet once more. And he went up to the seat corresponding to his rank.

It was an editing of a speech that was appropriately sensible and didn’t give any room for unnecessary controversy.

She, who was watching, exhaled a sigh of relief.

Every time, she had been worried because editing that subtly gave strange room regarding Park Moondae’s attitude was mixed in.

‘He must have bit another participant.’

Sure enough, Kim Raebin, who was announced as 4th place, received harsh editing.

The conflict in the team match with the participant who was 7th had been emphasized, and it seemed to be the aftermath of that.

Anyway, she watched the rest of the announcement with a much more comfortable mind.

In fact, to put it bluntly, she didn’t care who it was.

‘If possible, just the degree that I hope Seon Ahyun would do well? Oh, and I hope Cha Yujin fails a bit.’

The malicious fans of Cha Yujin were uploading so much nonsense on SNS while calling Moondae by a derogatory name that she felt like she wanted to sue them out of anger.

However, since usually preferred participants who appeared after leaving an agency, it was a structure where it was traditionally difficult to quiet public opinion with an agency’s lawsuit.

‘Even more so, Moondae is from the general public…….’

She was just worried if he might have been hurt while searching by any chance.

‘As soon as he debuts, I’ll send as many PDFs as possible to the agency.’

Making a firm resolution, she watched the broadcast habitually.

Seon Ahyun was 3rd place.

“T-T… Thank you. Hic,”

Seon Ahyun gave his thank-you speech while crying his eyes out.

A reaction cut of several team members of October 31, who were tearing up along with the moving BGM, was caught together.

“I d-didn’t th-think… that I w-would be able to d-do it. I-It’s, it’s all… thanks to the team members, because of them. A-And for v-voting… I am really gr-grateful.”

The MC mouthed ‘Not voting, but stock!’

However, the cross-editing of Seon Ahyun, who couldn’t see because he was out of his mind, took a small laugh amidst the emotion.

Seon Ahyun went to find his seat while sniffing, and in that process, the heartwarming interaction of October 31 team members including Park Moondae was briefly spotlighted.

It was proof that the production team was also conscious of the hot reaction on the internet.

Afterward, the 1st and 2nd places ended with Cha Yujin and Ryu Chungwoo coming up as candidates as everyone expected, and Cha Yujin being announced as 1st place after a competition.

“I’m really happy!”

‘Ryu Chungwoo would have been better!’

Cha Yujin, who was giving a bright acceptance speech while excited, felt subtly annoying.

But since she wasn’t a fool to the point of writing malicious comments, she decided to just be happy with Park Moondae’s 5th place.

The ranking announcement ceremony ended dully with a participant who didn’t receive much attention being announced as 49th place.

Park Moondae’s screen time also ended with the last heartwarming scene of the October 31 members gathering together to tease Seon Ahyun and laugh.

‘It’s a shame.’

From the perspective of a fan like her, the supply was insufficient. She wanted to see more.

Hoping that she could go to take photos on the way to work next time, she prayed for Park Moondae’s success.

Probably, the filming for the next team match would have continued right after that ranking announcement ceremony ended.

‘Wouldn’t at least one of either Big Sejin or Seon Ahyun be on the same team again?’

She made various guesses and hoped from the bottom of her heart.

‘Whoever it is, I hope Moondae creates a wonderful stage with a comfortable mind!’

* * *

It felt like my head was going to break.

Just what kind of situation was this again?

“Ah! He pointed to Participant Park Moondae!”

The MC’s excited voice and the participants’ surprised exclamations rang out from all directions.

“Heol!”

“Moondae-hyung?”

Even though it had decreased from 77 to 49 people, it was still a ear-splitting size.

Are you surprised? I’m surprised too.

Why did that guy point to me?

“Like this, Participant Park Moondae… will join Participant Kim Raebin’s team.”

Proceeding with the 2nd team match filming immediately after the ranking announcement ceremony was a schedule that even I had expected.

– This time the team will be… decided by drawing lots!

– The 7 participants I picked will become leaders, and they will answer a quiz to pick team members!

I thought such a rule would come out at least once.

But I didn’t know he would pick me.

Kim Raebin.

A participant from the same agency as Cha Yujin, currently 4th place. From what I know, he goes up to final 2nd place.

For reference, I haven’t even greeted him before.

“Then Participant Park Moondae, please move!”

“…….”

I trudged and stood next to Kim Raebin.

‘I can’t just ask him why he picked me all of a sudden.’

If I did that, I don’t know what kind of editing would go in. For now, let’s just nod to each other like meeting an employee of a client company.

“I look forward to working with you.”

“Yes. I also look forward to working with you.”

Fortunately, unlike his fierce impression, he bows his head well.

‘It seems it wasn’t a malicious intention.’

I think prejudice had acted because he had a handsome thug-like face that teenagers would prefer these days and three-white eyes.

‘Then does it mean he chose me because Park Moondae really looked useful?’

Since Kim Raebin was a participant who rapped, it wasn’t strange even if he didn’t have to check the main vocal position in terms of parts.

In the first place, if a participant with a low rank had picked me, I would have just thought they picked a main vocal.

However, surely… there was a participant who was originally supposed to debut as a main vocal in Kim Raebin’s previous team.

But he went out of his way to exclude him?

‘Ah, the previous team members are uncomfortable, I see.’

Come to think of it, I thought it could be possible to exclude them.

Because Kim Raebin’s previous team was the place where the atmosphere was destroyed because of the individual 1st place reward.

Hmm. I remember the last broadcast.

– Didn’t you give this kind of part on purpose?

– No. So that everyone can digest it most appropriately and show the maximum on stage…….

– So you thought I would only be able to do this much.

It didn’t come out on the broadcast, but I heard that after the individual match reward was announced, there was even a guy who grabbed someone by the collar.

‘They captured that ferocity very well on the broadcast too.’

Thanks to that, the only one who survived in the broadcast edit in a good sense was Cha Yujin.

The main vocal of that team didn’t particularly have screen time, but since it’s uncomfortable, it’s not strange even if they cut each other off.

And if he chose Park Moondae, who was the most verified among the remaining vocals, it made sense.

‘Still, picking me first is a bit strange.’

It wasn’t a matter to pay attention to right now, so let’s pass it.

I quickly organized my thoughts and grasped the situation.

“Next quiz! Five words starting with ‘Bak’!”

“Bakmulgwan (Museum), Baksu (Applause), Bakjwi (Bat), Bak Hyeokgeose, Bakgoji (Dried gourd shavings).”

Kim Raebin immediately raised his hand and quickly got the correct answer. His momentum was solemn.

“Wow! Participant Kim Raebin, consecutive correct answers!”

“Aaaa!”

“Isn’t this too advantageous for a rapper?”

Along with the plentiful reactions of the participants who grasped the broadcast ecology, Kim Raebin immediately pointed out the next participant.

“I will point out… Participant Cha Yujin.”

Even if it was the previous team, he took the 1st place in the meantime. I would have done the same.

He was unexpectedly wise.

Looking only at the previous team match pattern, he looked like he had more ruined social skills than Lee Sejin, but as expected, was it the power of rumors and editing?

However, if the team members were formed like this, I didn’t know what kind of influence it would have on me.

‘It seems it will be too different from the 1st match.’

“Well picked!”

“Yeah.”

Cha Yujin, who ran over as soon as he was pointed out, pretended to know Kim Raebin. And then he held up a thumb to me.

“We’re doing it together!”

“Yes… we are.”

“Because you’re good on stage!”

“Yes. I look forward to working with you.”

I didn’t know how much longer I should talk like this. It was awkward.

The funny thing was that it seemed only I was awkward. Cha Yujin is nodding his head as if he grasped some context by himself.

I could already roughly guess the future communication.

In the meantime, Kim Raebin was picking team members without hesitation. Since his batting average was quite good, the team members were filled up quickly.

“Participant Ryu Chungwoo.”

“Participant Min Jeonghun.”

And I gradually felt uncomfortable.

The lineup was excessively good. What ‘good’ meant here was that their ranks were high.

All team members were within the top 15. Just thinking about what kind of editing would come out, my mind was already dizzy.

‘At this rate, there’s no answer unless we’re good at the level of the celestial world?’

Even more, only my picture became a bit strange.

Because Choi Wongil was among the first 7 people to pick participants to work with.

“Seon Ahyun-hyung!”

“Big Sejin, ah, Lee Sejin-hyung!”

Choi Wongil had almost restored the team members who were on the same team in the 1st team match, starting with Seon Ahyun.

Of course, I was excluded. Since Kim Raebin picked me first, there was no choice.

‘Hmm, even if there was that choice, I think he wouldn’t have picked me.’

However, there was one more person from October 31 whom Kim Raebin picked first.

“Lee Sejin, Participant Lee Sejin A who was a former child actor! Joining Participant Kim Raebin’s team~”

Lee Sejin walked toward this side with a not-so-good complexion.

It meant that a dud, which hadn’t exploded in the 1st match thanks to the crazy social life of Big Sejin and Gold 1 and 2, had joined Kim Raebin’s team.

“…….”

Why did he pick Lee Sejin again?

Did he pick him just because he had the highest rank among the remaining people?

Looking at the remaining people who hadn’t been picked yet and then turning my head, I coincidentally saw Choi Wongil’s team.

“Moondae~”

When our eyes met, Big Sejin and Gold 1 and 2 stretched out their hands with sad expressions as if they were doing some kind of skit.

And Seon Ahyun, with a flustered expression, waved his hand restlessly.

“…….”

What in the world is this ominous feeling that I seem to have boarded the wrong line?

My spine felt chilly. It seemed like it was a moment where supernatural help was needed.

‘Status Window.’