Chapter 48

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Translated by Sylph

Read it only at Novelbyu.com & Utoon.net

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The team, where Ryu Chungwoo was the leader, practiced in a chilling atmosphere. It was because of the never-ending conflict between the team members.

[Choi Wongil: I didn’t know (Lee Sejin-hyung) would react so sensitively.]

[Ki Jeong-gyun: Does he have a victim complex or something?]

[Ryu Chungwoo: ……Phew.]

Even the interviews and BGM inserted in the middle created an uncomfortable atmosphere.
Since there were no participants without ambition, the practice didn’t stop. However, it couldn’t proceed properly either.
And instead of the parties involved in this conflict, the production team gave all the growth stories to Cha Yujin, who was isolated from the conflict.
Park Moondae appeared here. If anything, he was in the role of an advisor helping the protagonist’s growth.

[Park Moondae: Is something troubling you?]

And several cuts of Park Moondae talking with Cha Yujin in various places and handing him snacks passed quickly.
Although I only supplied snacks for a quick conclusion of the situation like a mother giving rice cakes to a tiger, the scenes looked quite good thanks to Cha Yujin’s interview saying, ‘Moondae-hyung helped me.’

-??
-What’s this lol
-Are the two of them close?

Park Moondae’s fans were also flustered as it was a picture they hadn’t seen much.
Although the stage was successful after being on the same team as Cha Yujin in the last 2nd team match, no personal friendship had come out.
Moreover, why did he take refuge toward our kid instead of leaving it to the verified leader, Ryu Chungwoo?
However, the doubt quickly subsided. Because cute additional bait was always welcome.

-He’s taking care of the food incredibly well
-As expected of Moondae-pup. He’s a man sincere about eating
-Moondae-pup: Unexpected healer
-Why do I see my grandmother from a twenty-one-year-old (soon) idol?

On the screen, Cha Yujin successfully completed the stage by appealing his passion for focusing on the stage terrifyingly instead of his existing innocent image.
He would receive some criticism for eating up all the screen time by himself, but he left a clearer impression than that. It was a narrative where internal growth and desperation were hit.
Park Moondae cooled down as he saw Cha Yujin taking away all the kinds of screen time he wanted to receive, but his fans enjoyed seeing Park Moondae’s cute, good-natured, and reliable appearance on the broadcast to their heart’s content.
Even the reactions of general viewers were good.

-Park Moondae is more mature than I thought
-I guess there’s a reason why he gets along well with his teammates.
└Right. His first impression was… he looked quite rude, but it’s unexpected.

Since it was a cut that appeared as a sidekick to Cha Yujin, who was explicitly given screen time, Cha Yujin took all the aggro.
To Park Moondae, only a good image was faintly left.
Thanks to that, the day after Episode 10 was aired, Park Moondae, who was looking through the internet, came to have a complex and subtle feeling. It was because he came to say words of a full stomach.

‘It’s good to continuously make up for the early image. But… as expected, I didn’t catch desperation.’

I needed that image that Cha Yujin took. But the only stage left in the future was the final.
And there was no reason for the production team to specifically give a narrative to Park Moondae in the final. Because so far, they only gave him characters that would make the broadcast interesting.

‘Should I give up?’

Park Moondae, who was clicking his tongue, organized the remaining filming schedule in his head.
Then suddenly, he caught an event that would be in the next filming.

‘Wait, is it possible with that… too?’

Of course, the broadcast entirely depended on the production team’s editing. But it was worth the effort to try and pull out a cut usable as content.
Park Moondae hardened his mind.

‘There’s nothing bad about trying.’

For reference, he was in a state of not noticing that Seon Ahyun, who was trying to say let’s eat jjimdak, saw his figure lost in thought and quietly put down his smartphone.

* * *

“Wow, it’s a bit hot now.”

Lee Sejin muttered as he entered the filming site.
It was already late April. The first filming started in winter, but time flew by in an instant.

‘I’ve completely adapted.’

I thought with a bitter feeling as I moved ‘Park Moondae’s’ body, which was no longer unfamiliar, and changed into the uniform.
At that time, Lee Sejin, who glanced this way, spoke to me.

“Uh, you seem to have grown taller?”

“What?”

“I guess you’re working out hard. You’ve bulked up a bit too.”

I realized it anew at those words.
Over the past few months, I had grown quite a bit in height and gained a fair amount of muscle, so now there was almost no difference in body size between my original body and this one.

“I’ve heard that people grow taller even after they turn 21, but it’s the first time I’ve seen it in reality.”

“It’s the first time for me too.”

“Aigoo~ Is that so.”

I shrugged and moved on.

‘Is it around 177?’

Recalling the height I measured a few days ago, I sat down in the waiting seat at the filming site. It was rather awkward that there were no unfamiliar faces around now.

“Moondae, hello~”

“Hyung, hello!”

‘Even if I return to my original body, I might need an adaptation period.’

It was an incredible thing. I roughly returned the greetings and took out my smartphone. Since I had to return it soon, I intended to turn off the power in advance.
However, a new notification was on the smartphone. It was from the SNS account for public opinion exploration that I opened anonymously.
As I clicked habitually, a post that had just reached tens of thousands of shares appeared.

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[The original singer of the trot that Moondae sang posted on SNS lol (Link)]

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It wasn’t a rare thing.
As the program overheated, unrelated celebrities were gradually mentioning the participants.
When I moved to the link, an SNS appeared with a large picture of a trot singer’s face holding up a finger heart while smiling broadly.
In the background, a TV screen showing the scene of ‘Park Moondae’ singing trot was faintly visible.

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[Participant Park Moondae of who sang my song wonderfully! I’m rooting for you ^^ I hope you definitely debut! #IdolInc #LetsDoADuet #TrotCoolGuy]

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“…….”

Well… it’s a good thing the original singer is satisfied. Since the fans also seem to find it interesting.
It was when I was turning the page while thinking so. Another post by the trot singer flashed on the screen. This time too, he had posted a large photo.

‘Wait.’

That’s a photo I took.

Checking again, it was indeed the event photo I took several years ago.
It was a cut I had released on a fansite out of conscience because it didn’t sell. Since the natural light was good on that day and the quality of the photo was high, he might have wanted to post it on his SNS.
However, it was somehow uncomfortable. As I turned off the smartphone again, I realized the cause.

‘I didn’t exist here right now, did I?’

As soon as I entered Park Moondae’s body, I had clearly tracked the traces of my original body. But my personal information itself didn’t exist.
But the photos I took remain?

‘That’s strange.’

I immediately went to YouTube and pressed the search bar. Then I searched for the most famous fancam among the ones I took.

[Youngrin Legend Fancam]

It was a fancam of the judge Youngrin passionately completing a stage in heavy rain during her unknown days. With this, Youngrin had prepared the foothold for her rise.
Then a familiar thumbnail appeared at the top of YouTube.

‘It’s here.’

There was a video.
Of course, it wasn’t my original account.
I had deleted the account where I uploaded the unsold data when I started my civil service exam student life. So… according to the current point in time, it was around last year.
Sure enough, the uploader’s comment was pinned at the top of the video’s comment section.

-Uploading because the original was deleted. I’ll delete it if the owner appears.

“…….”

With this, it became almost certain.

‘I don’t exist, but the data I took remains?’

It was a bit chilling. It was even more so since a status abnormality that I would die if I didn’t become an idol within a short period of time was created.

‘Did the karma of selling data really return?’

It was a thought I had half-joking, but it gradually doesn’t feel like a joke.

‘What on earth are you?’

Even if I turned on the status window and asked, there was no answer. I feel like I’ve become an idiot.
What on earth is this guy’s purpose?

“Hey, what are you doing?”

“Wait. Thinking for a bit.”

First, I quickly escaped from the thoughts. I found the contradiction inadvertently, but right now the filming is imminent.

‘So I’ll look into it more after the work is finished.’

I immediately finished my thoughts and returned the smartphone.
If I were distracted elsewhere for no reason, I would only become prey for attitude controversy. I had to clear my head.
Fortunately, there was no need to effort. As soon as the filming started, the MC pulled the situation with a rapid development.

“Welcome everyone to the long-awaited 3rd ranking announcement of ~”

When the participants sent practiced applause from several months of filming, he went straight to the main point.

“However, before we find out your ranks, there is one thing! We must find out first. It’s your sincerity.”

That content came right away. I guessed the MC’s next words.

‘He’ll say let’s see how sincere you are about this audition. With “Casting Call”.’

That’s right. This series traditionally puts in another provocative content around this time.
Named ‘Casting Call’.
To summarize in one word, it was a place where agencies that were close to Tnet and appropriately named came to cast the participants.
However, if you chose an agency, you had to drop out of the program.
So there would be almost no cases where a participant who performed remarkably in the program up to here would leave.
Participants were not idiots, and there was no reason to go to an uncertain agency when they could debut as a group with guaranteed recognition right here.
In the end, there was no case where a guy capable of debuting here would escape, so it meant it was just an event to add tension to the program.

‘But I can use that tension.’

So I intend to appeal how sincere ‘Park Moondae’ is about this program as much as possible by inducing a conversation.
…Of course, there is a higher probability that it will be cut in editing.

“……Hup.”

I heard the sound of swallowing saliva from the side. Probably most of them guessed ‘Casting Call’ from the timing and the MC’s words.
And it was also a moment when they could sufficiently conflict if they were in the middle or lower ranks in the last ranking announcement.
Since the probability of debuting here was low, they would want to catch another lifeline.
The image of taking a route to escape could be smoothed over to some extent with words like, ‘The agency that suggested it has been my wannabe for a long time, so I want to start a new challenge. I will show you a better and more grown appearance in the future.’

‘In fact, there were constant dropouts in the lower ranks.’

In the last season, I think about five people blatantly fled. Thinking about the early termination of the broadcast right after, it was a very wise cutoff. Only the ranks within the debut zone were screwed.
The MC took a tiresome pause until the participants were out of breath and opened his mouth.

“Right now~”

The lights on the large screen in front came on.

‘Is a list of agencies appearing?’

By the time the sound of whispering about ‘Casting Call’ increased around me, the MC spread his arms wide and continued.

“Psychological test!”

“?!?”

“Through the prepared personality type test, we will match you with the K-pop concept that fits you perfectly~”

The sound of ‘Wow…’ from the participants whose tension was released echoed around.

“…….”

I cooled down.

‘Was it just variety show screen time?’

Or they could decide the next team match based on that data.
Anyway, what’s certain is… that I was baited.

‘Darn it.’

The participants moved to small rooms ten people each according to the staff’s guidance.
It was good that I didn’t wait thanks to being cut off in alphabetical order, but the aftertaste was bad because of the realization.

‘I just drank kimchi soup for nothing.’

The inside of the room I entered was a place renovated from a booth for 1-person practice, and a camera was installed in the middle of a small desk for two people.
It was a typical space for single angle cuts.
I suppressed a sigh, went around to the opposite side, and sat in front of the desk. A questionnaire was on the tablet pre-set in that position.
The SNS-style design popular these days lowered the reliability.

‘It looks like a form floating around somewhere on the internet.’

Guessing that it might have been urgently outsourced, I tapped and selected the multiple-choice questions.