Chapter 48

The <Husky> team, led by Ryu Chungwoo, practiced in a brutal 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 Jungkyun: Do you have a victim mentality?]

[Ryu Chungwoo: …Sigh.]

The Interviews and BGM inserted in between created an uncomfortable atmosphere.

The practice didn’t stop because none of the participants were unambitious. But it didn’t go well.

And instead of the parties involved in the conflict, the production team drove all the growth stories to Cha Eugene, who was alienated from the conflict.

Park Moondae appeared here. To put it bluntly, he had the role of an advisor who helped the main character’s growth.

[Park Moondae: Are you having a hard time?]

And several scenes of Park Moondae conversing with Cha Eugene at various places and giving him snacks quickly passed by.

The scenes looked good thanks to Cha Eugene’s interview ‘Moondae hyung helped me’, although he only supplied snacks to end the situation quickly like a mother who gave rice cakes to the tiger.

(TL note: I think it’s referring to Korean folklore ‘The Sun and the Moon’ where a mother fed rice cakes to a tiger in an effort to not get eaten.)

-??

– What’s thisㅋㅋ

– You two are close?

Park Moondae’s fans were also bewildered because it was an image that they hadn’t seen much.

In the previous second team match, he was on the same team as Cha Eugene and made a successful performance together, but there was no personal relationship between them.

Besides, why did he leave behind Ryu Chungwoo, the proven leader, and fled to Park Moondae?

But the doubts quickly faded. Because cute extra content was always welcome.

– He’s so good at taking care of food

– As expected, Moon Puppy is a man who is serious about eating

– Moon Puppy: Unexpected healer

– Why do I see my grandmother in a 21-year-old (soon-to-be) idol?

On the screen, Cha Eugene successfully finished the stage by appealing to the viewers with his passion to focus on the stage instead of his existing innocent image.

He might get criticized for eating all the portions alone, but he made a more solid impression. It was a narrative that stuck to inner growth and desperation.

Park Moondae himself cooled down as he watched Cha Eugene taking the amount of portion he wanted to receive, but his fans simply enjoyed seeing Park Moondae’s cute and reliable personality come out on the show.

Even the reaction from the general audience was good.

– Park Moondae is more mature than I thought

– There’s a reason why he gets along well with his team members.

└Yeah, my first impression of him was~ He looked rude, so this is unexpected

Cha Eugene took away all of the agro because the cut appeared as a side note of Cha Eugene, who blatantly took all the portion.

For Park Moondae, only a good image remained.

Thanks to this, the day after the 10th episode aired, Park Moondae, who was browsing the Internet, felt complicated and odd. Because it sounded as if it was enough.

‘It’s good to continuously recover the initial image. But… I didn’t catch the desperation either.’

He needed the image that Cha Eugene showed. However, the only stage left was the final.

And there was no reason for the production team to give a narrative to Park Moondae in the final.

Until now, the broadcast only gave him personalities that would make the show fun.

‘Should I give up?’

Park Moondae clicked his tongue and organized the upcoming filming schedule in his head.

Then, all of a sudden, he discovered an event that was going to happen right after the filming.

‘Wait, even with that… Is it possible?’

Of course, the broadcast was entirely up to the editing of the production team. However, trying to make a cut that could be used as content might be worth it.

Park Moondae made up his mind.

‘There’s no harm in trying.’

By the way, Seon Ahyeon was trying to ask him to eat jjimdak together, but he didn’t notice that he secretly lowered his smartphone when he saw him lost in thought.

(TL note: jjimdak = Korean braised chicken.)

* * *

“Wow, it’s a little hot now.”

As he entered the set, Keun Sejin muttered.

It was already the end of April. The first shooting began in the winter, but time passed by so quickly.

‘I’ve totally adjusted.’

Thinking bitterly, I moved Park Moondae’s body, which was no longer unfamiliar, and changed into a uniform.

Then, Keun Sejin, who glanced over here, talked to me.

“Oh, it seems you’ve grown tall?”

“What?”

“You must have been working out hard. You’ve also bulked up a bit.”

Those words gave me a fresh realization.

Over the past few months, I had grown quite a bit in height and gained muscle moderately, so there was almost no difference in size between this body and my original body.

“I’ve heard people say that you can grow taller even if you’re over 21, but it’s the first time I’ve actually seen it.”

“It’s the first time for me too.”

“Aigoo~ Sure.”

I shrugged my shoulder.

‘It’s about 177.’

I sat in the waiting area of the filming set, recalling the height I measured a few days ago. It was rather awkward that there were no unfamiliar faces around anymore.

“Hello, Moondae~”

“Hyung, hello!”

‘Even if I go back to my original body, I need a period of adjustment.’

It was frustrating. I took out my smartphone, roughly returning the greeting.

I had to return it soon, so I was going to turn it off in advance.

However, a new alarm popped up on the smartphone. It came from an anonymous SNS account for public opinion searches.

I clicked on it reflexively and saw an article that had just been shared by 10,000 people.

[Original singer of the trot song sung by Moondae made a post on SNSㅋㅋ (link)]

It’s not uncommon.

As the program became overheated, celebrities who weren’t involved were also mentioning the participants

When I moved to the link, a photo of the trot singer’s face smiling broadly and raising a finger heart appeared on SNS.

In the background, there was a TV screen showing ‘Park Moondae’ singing a trot song.

[Participant Park Moondae of <Idol Inc.> who beautifully sang my song! I’m rooting for you^^ I hope you debut! #IdolInc #Let’sDuet #TrotCoolGuy]

“…”

Well… it was good that the original singer was satisfied. The fans seemed to be having fun, too.

With that in mind, it was time to turn the page. Another post by the trot singer flashed across the screen. This time, I posted a bigger picture.

‘Wait.’

It was a picture that I had taken.

When I checked again, it was indeed the photo that I took from an event a few years ago.

It wasn’t sold, so I released it on a fan site out of my conscience. The natural light was good that day and the quality of the photo was good, so I wanted to post it on SNS.

But I felt a bit uncomfortable. As I turned off my smartphone, I realized why.

‘Am I not here right now?’

Certainly, as soon as I entered Park Moondae’s body, I tracked my original body’s whereabouts. But information about my original body didn’t exist.

And yet the picture I took is still there?

‘That’s weird.’

I went straight to WeTube and clicked the search bar. And I searched for the most famous fancam I’d ever taken.

[Youngrin’s legendary fancam]

It was a fancam of judge Youngrin who passionately completed the stage in heavy rain at the time when she was still unknown. This stage laid the foundation for Youngrin’s fame.

Then a familiar thumbnail appeared at the top of WeTube.

‘There it is.’

The video was there.

Of course, it wasn’t my original account.

The account I used to post unsold data was deleted when I started taking the civil exam. So… It was around last year at this time.

The uploader’s comment was pinned at the top of the video comment window.

– The original has been deleted and uploaded. If they sign up, I will erase it.

“…”

It was almost certain.

‘I don’t exist, but the data I took is still there.’

It was kind of creepy. The fact that I would die if I didn’t become an idol within a short period of time made it even creepier.

‘Is it my karma for selling data?’

I half-jokingly thought so, but it didn’t seem like a joke now.

‘What the hell are you?’

I turned on the status window and asked, but there was no answer. I felt stupid.

What the hell is the purpose of this bastard?

“Hey, what are you doing?”

“Wait, I am thinking.”

First of all, I quickly got out of my mind. Although I unexpectedly found a contradiction, right now, the filming was right in front of me.

‘So once I’m done, I’ll find out more.’

I immediately finished thinking and returned my smartphone.

If I uselessly got distracted by something else, I would only become prey to poor attitude scandal. I had to clear my head.

Fortunately, no effort was required.As soon as filming started, the MC took the situation out of the way.

“<Re-listed! Idol Inc.> Welcome to the long-awaited 3rd ranking announcement ceremony~“

After participants applauded, now became an expert at it after several months of filming, we went straight to the point.

“But before we get to your ranking, one thing! There is one thing we need to find out first. It’s your sincerity.”

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

‘They will see how serious we are about this audition. With <Casting Call>.’

Yes. At this point in time, <Idol Inc.> series traditionally added another stimulating content.

It was called ‘Casting Call’.

In short, it was a content where Tnet and a moderately reputable agency came to cast the participants.

However, if you chose an agency, you had to get off the program.

Therefore, participants who had done noticeably well in the program so far would rarely deviate.

Participants were not stupid, they could debut as a group with guaranteed recognition right here so there was no reason to go to an ambiguous agency.

In the end, it was just an event that added tension to the program, because there was no escape for people who deserved to debut here.

‘But I can take advantage of that tension.’

So, I would encourage conversation as much as possible and appeal to the program just how serious ‘Park Moondae’ was.

…Of course, there was a higher chance of getting cut off in the editing.

“…Gulp.”

I heard a gulping sound from next to me. Most of them seemed to have guessed <Casting Call> from the timing and MC’s words.

And if they were in the middle or lower ranks at the last ranking announcement ceremony, it was a moment that could be conflicting enough.

Since the probability of debuting here was low, they would want to grab another rope.

It was an image of measuring how to escape, they would be able to cover it to a certain extent by saying ‘I want to start a new challenge because the agency recommended to me has been my Wannabe for a long time. I’ll show you better growth in the future.’

‘In fact, there have been a consistent steady number of breakaways from the lower ranks.’

Last season, there were about five people who were openly carried away. Considering that the broadcast ended early shortly after, it was a very wise loss. Only their debut ranking went down the drain.

MC paused until the participants were out of breath, then opened his mouth.

“Right away~”

The large screen at the front lit up.

‘Is there a list of agencies?’

By the time there were murmurs about the ‘Casting Call’, the MC spread his arms wide and continued.

“Personality test!”

“?!?”

“Through the personality type test we have prepared in advance, we will match the KPOP concept that is perfect for you~”

Participants relaxed around me and the words ‘Wow… .’ rang out.

“…”

I bitterly cooled down.

‘Is it just entertainment content?’

Or they could decide on the next team match based on that data.

Anyway, one thing was for sure… I was tricked.

‘Damn it.’

Participants followed the staff’s lead and moved to a small room with ten people each.

It was good that I didn’t have to wait because the order was based on names, but the reality check left a bad aftertaste.

‘I count the chicken for nothing.’

The room I entered was a renovated one-person practice booth, with a camera installed in the middle of a small desk for two people.

It was a space for a typical one-angle cut.

Suppressing a sigh, I went to the opposite side and sat down at the desk. A question-and-answer table was displayed on a tablet that was set in advance.

The popular SNS sensible design already lowered its credibility.

‘It looks like a form that floats around on the Internet.’

Guessing that maybe it was outsourced in a hurry, I chose a multiple-choice question.