Chapter 61

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Translated by Sylph

Read it only at Novelbyu.com & Utoon.net

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As Park Moondae expected, everyone from the viewers to the audience fell into a state of chaos at the new-concept result of ‘an average of 6.47 people’.

Some audience members were even picking up their smartphones and posting on their SNS.

– People booed, so the atmosphere on site became totally cold. Idol Inc. is truly amazing until the very end.
– Where on earth did the crazy idea of taking an average come from?
– Better to just cleanly keep it at 5 people, or 6.47 people? lol
– Why did the production team discard the 0.47 person? Let’s take the 7th place as a guest member.
└ lol This is it.

However, after the confusion passed, the reaction was unexpectedly not purely negative.
This was because people felt that the production team had put in a lot of effort, leading to a somewhat solemn atmosphere.

– Well, at least they didn’t rig it.
– The production team probably wanted to do about 9 people too.
– Guys who are conscientious in strange places… They might draw aggro, but they don’t manipulate…
– Yeah, if it’s choosing between 5 or 6 people, it’s 6.

People accepted the situation well enough. Of course, there were still plenty of people crying out that the number of people was too small.

– They should have blocked 1-person voting from the start, you crazy bastards at Idol Inc. ㅠ

And around that time, as if timed perfectly, a new VCR began to play.

[Hello?]
[Yay!]

It was a video of the participants, wearing pastel linen outfits they hadn’t seen before, waving and smiling at the camera.
They were walking between dark structures. Lights twinkled between the structures.
The atmosphere of the site and the internet subsided in an instant.

– What’s this?
– When did they film this?
– What kind of video is it?

The participants held the camera and took turns saying a word about their feelings regarding the final broadcast. Then they ran off somewhere.

[Thank you for always supporting us!]
[I love you~]

Because it looked like a typical moving VCR, the viewers showed a ritualistic response. The audience members who were watching the VCR also cheered whenever the participant they supported appeared.

And the participant who remained until the end happened to be Park Moondae.
Park Moondae looked awkwardly at the camera and just smiled.

[Thank you. I will definitely debut.]

It was a definite statement, unlike him.
Leaving behind those short words, Park Moondae also ran and disappeared off the camera screen.

Naturally, comments exploded in communities where there were many fans of Park Moondae.

– ㅠㅠㅠ Oh my, Moondae…
– Moondae must debut.
– Please invest in Moondae, who is prepared with both mentality and skill… If you call today, you can make an investment for 100 won that will last for 5 years…
– Is he the one where everything he says becomes true if he disses his parents?
└ Yes, that’s him.
└ Gasp, Your Honor, I didn’t write anything.
└ Even if you exclude his family history, he’s an all-rounder. Just try one bite.
└ lol Actually, I already voted. He’s damn good.
└ Oh, thanks.

To gather even one more vote, the fans endured their anger at every response mentioning his family history and continued their sales pitch.

Meanwhile, on the empty black screen where all participants had disappeared, the acoustic version of that was playing in the background grew poignantly louder.
The viewers were swept by a strange lingering feeling.

– It really feels like the end.
– The final broadcast vibe is real.
– Probably more so because of the BGM.
– Guys, can’t all 20 of them just debut… ㅠㅠ
– Isn’t it worth a try for about 20 people? The production team should re-vote on the number of debut members even now.

And the angle of the video turned. It was the direction the participants had run.
Following the turning camera, the participants were seen going up on a lift.

– ?!
– Heh.
– No way.

Before they knew it, the broadcast transmission screen switched to the concert hall. The participants were seen coming up onto the stage.
What had looked like a video was actually a real-time transmission.

– Ah…
– ㅠㅠㅠ

And the participants picked up microphones and began to sing.
The acoustic arranged version of .

– ㅠㅠㅠㅠ
– No, guys, don’t go.
– Do Idol Inc. for the rest of your lives.
└ Are you cursing them? lol But please do that, I’m serious.
└ Let’s just be cute together every week and only do stages ㅠㅠ Not elimination ㅠㅠ
– Ah, I’ve grown attached to everyone, how can I let them go?

The participants smiled brightly and sang their hearts out for each of their parts.
However, even before the first verse was over, participants began to sniffle one after another.

Of course, Park Moondae calmly handled his part. The ad-libs in the latter half of the second verse were also pleasantly clean and caught the ear well.

– He really sings well.
– There was a reason why the fans were going crazy.
– It’s not too late to join the fandom now, right?
└ Not just not late, aren’t you a winner? You don’t have to waste emotions and just catch him at the last broadcast and only suck the honey of the debut. lol
– I’ve decided to dig into Park Moondae now. Even his face is to my liking.

Although there were a few exceptions, the stage made even the audience members sniffle because of the participants who were lost in the melancholy arrangement.
The ending finished with a close-up of Lee Sejin’s white face with tears streaming down.

– He’s definitely handsome.
└ Out of 13 episodes, today seems to be his peak.
– A face that definitely belongs to an actor.
– Everyone worked hard ㅠㅠ
– I hope everyone does well…

The participants who came down from the stage were also flailing, unable to escape the lingering feelings.
Around the time the stylists, who were fixing the makeup of the sniffling participants, were starting to get annoyed, the sound of the MC introducing a new VCR was heard from above.

‘Ah, is it that.’

Park Moondae guessed the content of the video without much excitement. It was the family content that never missed the final episode of an audition.
Of course, Park Moondae had no family, so he just ignored it and moved on.

‘They must have filled it with lots of scenes of people sobbing.’

He briefly thought of Kim Raebin crying so much that his eyes were swollen and didn’t even look like sanpaku eyes while watching a video message from his grandmother.
Thinking that it would have been very easy to pick cuts since most of the participants cried anyway.
For reference, Park Moondae was only captured in a few scenes calmly patting the backs of the participants.
He had no idea that it actually made people feel more for him.

“…It’s all over now.”
“…?”

An unexpected person spoke to Park Moondae.

‘What.’

It was Lee Sejin, the former child actor.

“Well… the program will end soon.”
“Do you mean it’s not over because you’ll be debuting?”

‘Why is this bastard picking a fight all of a sudden.’

Since it was a timing when he already had a lot on his mind, Park Moondae just didn’t answer and ignored the words.

“…Must be nice.”

Lee Sejin just mumbled like that and went to a corner to sit gloomily.

“….”

Park Moondae decided not to respond at all. If there was someone who cared about others just before the final ranking announcement, that person was a pushover.
The participants, who were encouraging each other even at the beginning of the live broadcast, became stiff with extreme tension once the emotion of the last stage faded.

It was exactly at that timing that the staff called them again.

“Move to Area B! We’re moving!”

The participants moved in a swarm with stiff expressions.
A long, long final ranking announcement ceremony awaited them.

* * *

His shoulders ached from fatigue.

‘If I didn’t have the fatigue reduction characteristic, I would be dying.’

It was hard to even turn his head or change his posture.
The fact that several thousand people were staring at this side from below acted as a quite strong pressure.

‘They are even closer than when doing a stage.’

The audience was closer than even the team match stage, which had been the closest.
If he even rolled his eyes a little, he would meet the eyes of an audience member below the stage.
Slogans were also waving right below.

It was written in Gungseo font, which looked very determined.

‘I feel like I should at least wave my hand.’

However, he couldn’t do that in this tense atmosphere.

“Now, who will be the participant to take the glorious 6th place…”

This was because the MC had been recycling his progress for 15 minutes with several lines including that one.
It was amazing that 20 minutes had passed since they came up, but not a single person had been announced.

‘Looking at the number of votes, it was understandable.’

Since he heard that the text votes exceeded a million, it wasn’t strange that they were still counting.
The MC only received the sign from the production team after about 3 more minutes had passed.

” , the final stock rankings combining internet and live broadcast text investments, 6th place! Announcing it now!”

He felt the participants’ bodies stiffen around him.

“This is a participant who attracted attention with overflowing leadership and outstanding skills.”

On the electronic board, the faces of corresponding participants were displayed confusingly.

‘…But why am I there.’

I could understand Ryu Chungwoo and Big Sejin.
I tried hard not to make an expression of absurdity.
However, because I already looked like I had no expectations in my eyes unlike the other two, when my face was caught, several people laughed below even in this atmosphere.

“Congratulations, Lee Sejin… B!”

Big Sejin’s eyes widened, and as soon as the ‘B’ was attached, he burst out and bowed his body.

“Haha…!”

Countless requests for handshakes and congratulations from the participants around him poured onto Big Sejin.
I just lightly high-fived Big Sejin, who was coming out after receiving all the congratulations he could get.

“Ah… thank you, really, thank you so much. I tried hard to let go of expectations.”

Big Sejin spoke fluently about his feelings on making it into the debut group with a flushed face, and after showing something like aegyo toward his fans, he went up to the platform.

‘He really debuted.’

It seemed likely since he was on an upward trend.

‘He’s much better than someone I don’t know well.’

I calmly waited for the next ranking announcement.
…And after a long wait of over 15 minutes, the next ranking was announced.

“5th place is…! …Ryu Chungwoo!”

It was a completely expected selection.
I thought that his ranking had dropped a bit, but he seemed to have really not expected it as he showed tears for the first time in the program.

‘A decent person is good.’

I sent sincere applause this time as well.
And the next, 4th place.

“Participant Kim Raebin! Congratulations!”

Kim Raebin was so nervous that he couldn’t even receive the congratulations properly and stumbled as he ran to the platform.
And he spat out his feelings in a stream with only clear pronunciation.
…But honestly, it sounded more like a presentation than a speech. This was because he recited what he was good at and what he was in the process of complementing.

“…Therefore, the competency I am developing recently is vocals. I will also pay more attention to communication skills in the future so that I can play my role as a member of the group in any situation with a more complete appearance.”

Only the last two sentences were somewhat like a speech.

“…Once again, I thank the shareholders who invested in me. And Grandmother, Grandfather. I love you.”

And he bravely took his mouth off the microphone.

‘…Shouldn’t he also say he loves his fans.’

Kim Raebin seemed to have realized that only after returning the microphone, as he looked at the MC with a face of ‘oh no’, but the boat had already sailed.

‘…Still, he’s a guy with many uses.’

I was reasonably convinced.
The next announcement was 3rd place.
I hoped that it might be time for me to be called, but… such a thing did not happen.

“3rd place is… Seon Ahyun! Congratulations!”

Seon Ahyun’s face appeared on the electronic board that had been lingering long between Cha Yujin and Seon Ahyun.
Heat instantly returned to Seon Ahyun’s face, which had been pale.

“Th-thank you….”

Seon Ahyun received congratulations without crying, unexpectedly. Thanks to that, I ended up hugging him following the others, although I didn’t intend to go that far.

“I, I am a truly lacking person. I… I’m really, th… thank you to the shareholders and… friends who believed in and supported such a me. I… I will become a person you can be even m… more proud of. Th… thank you.”

Seon Ahyun cried loudly while going up after returning the microphone.
It felt strange to see a guy who definitely hadn’t debuted in the future eventually making it.
Hmm…. I think it’s close to a good feeling.

‘Because Seon Ahyun is a decent guy.’

Then all that’s left is….

“The final ranking announcement ceremony of that is getting more and more heated! We are now ahead of the long-awaited announcement of 1st place!”

‘It eventually turned out like this.’

I held back a sigh.