Chapter 62
Chapter 62
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: penny
Chapter: 62
Chapter Title: For My Precious Fan
-----------------------------------------------------------------
I gave a polite bow and turned around. As I stepped out of the waiting room, the manager was pacing anxiously behind the door.
"Been waiting long?"
"Yeah, you're out? What the hell? Why'd Kim Dongseop call you in there?"
"Oh, it was nothing. Just an autograph. His daughter's a fan of mine."
"That poor kid with the illness? Man. She's still so young. Hope she gets better soon."
"Yeah. Hope she shakes off that sickness and lives well."
What's the point of having a precious, cherished fan if she's suffering?
I quickly crossed the hallway.
'Will Cheat work?'
It could even cause diarrhea, so curing her should be possible too, right?
'Let's try it.'
Using Cheat once for a precious fan was never a waste.
The moment I got back to the waiting room, I pulled out my smartphone.
[cheat mode 1/3]
[Complete elimination of cancer cells in Kim Dongseop's daughter's body]
[Impossible with current physical condition.]
'Why won't this work?'
I set the price properly.
This thing still did whatever it wanted.
'Maybe this one?'
I tried the Cheat I'd always used.
[Recover condition of Kim Dongseop's daughter]
[Impossible with current physical condition.]
'This won't work either.'
Probably because she's in surgery for cancer right now.
I took a deep breath. For some reason, I felt strangely anxious. I didn't know why, but it felt like I needed to change something fast.
'If direct methods don't work, maybe indirect ones?'
[Recover condition of medical staff performing surgery on Kim Dongseop's daughter]
A white bar appeared in the Cheat window. I stared at my smartphone anxiously.
[Changed.]
[Side effect: Back will burn for 20 minutes starting in 10 seconds.]
[cheat mode 2/3]
'Good.'
I let out a sigh of relief.
There really wasn't much I could do.
'All I can do is hope the doctors, now in top condition, perform the surgery well...'
I pocketed my smartphone and shook my head. Soon, the side effect I'd forgotten about hit me. My back burned like crazy.
'For helping one person succeed, this side effect is a bargain.'
I hurriedly changed clothes when a knock sounded, and the waiting room door opened. We jumped to our feet. The two senior artists from Immortal Songs had come all the way to our junior waiting room.
The manager rushed out in a fluster.
"Oh man! We should've gone to you!"
I smiled and bowed my head. The middle-aged diva, always so passionate on stage, suddenly hugged me.
"Once Again—congratulations."
"Thank you. Ah..."
Her touch was gentle, but my burning back made me flinch involuntarily. The senior quickly pulled away and apologized.
"Oh dear! Sorry! Does that hurt?"
I lied without batting an eye.
"Oh, it was fine before, but maybe because of that earlier thing."
"Oh my! Are those kids even human? Hershey didn't set that up, did they?"
I gave an awkward smile. Deep down, I wanted to curse them out. But the role I was playing right now was the rookie junior who couldn't badmouth a senior.
"They definitely did it on purpose."
Of course they did.
"Don't worry. Even if I don't speak up for you, I'll trash them behind their backs properly."
Bingo.
I beamed at the middle-aged diva. This was exactly what I'd been aiming for.
'She's got great side dish skills and is famous for her wide connections.'
She lived for inviting people over every week. Please, senior. I'm begging you. Spread the word about Hershey to your circle.
'It's not much, but it's powerful.'
Who in the industry doesn't know connections matter?
My heart was set on it, but I shook my head first.
"Nah, don't do that."
"Aigoo! Such a good kid! We'll be off then!"
"Yes. Take care."
We bowed deeply to the departing seniors. The manager saw them off all the way to the door.
Yoo Hajin stretched his shoulders and said,
"We should've gone first..."
"Yeah. But it feels like they came on purpose, right?"
"Wonder why."
Why ask the obvious?
"They're here to see if we're getting cocky after winning."
Yoo Hajin let out a deep sigh. Yeah. I get it, Leader Bro. The world's tough.
"Eh, don't sweat it. The road ahead is 90,000 miles long. Pretending to be humble is easy."
Yoo Hajin glanced at me and sighed even deeper.
"Pretending to be humble? Is that all you do, pretend?"
What's the problem?
I grinned, and Yoo Hajin clutched his forehead. Then he muttered to himself and turned away.
"Being leader is hard, being leader is hard."
Aw.
I felt a little sorry for some reason.
***
Acting genius, face genius Cha Dowon's fan club 'Dowonhyang' member Lee Jinah was seething with rage today. When reviews from fans who'd jumped into the fray on Immortal Songs went up, she declared war. She couldn't let this slide.
"I'm gonna kill those Hershey bastards."
Lee Jinah kept muttering the Chinese greeting "Have you eaten?" she'd just learned at her agency. Her trainee friend tried to stop her, but the deep, intense anger blazed fiercely inside her.
-> Dowonhyang everyone! This is war! #Dowon_I_Love_You_For_Real
-> What right does Hershey have to make our Dowon cry like that! #Hershey_Disband
-> It's war! Let's trend it! #Hershey_Apologize #Hershey_Atrocities
-> Argh, driving me crazy. I had cancer surgery, you know? First thing I see waking up is news about my oppa, and it's Hershey smacking Dowon oppa's back. Damn. Tweeting with my IV hand right now!
->-> Whoa, you had cancer surgery?! Leave the war to us and rest.
->->-> I'm okay. Surgery went well. Just need recovery. Can move my hand.
Lee Jinah couldn't hold back her fury and yelled,
"Why are they so desperate to devour our oppa!"
The trainee next to her said,
"Oppa?"
"Isn't Zenith's Cha Dowon in third year middle school right now?"
"Yeah. Same age as you, Jinah?"
Lee Jinah tweeted while saying,
"If he's cool, he's oppa!"
"Ah, yes. Of course."
The trainees shook their heads.
"This is a holy war! We've bulked up now! Eat this, Hershey! I'll push search terms too!"
Things were getting worse. She's really fired up. She'll cool off eventually. Her friends thought that and nodded.
***
We'd finally wrapped up the schedule. I climbed into the van and looked out the window. It had been daytime when we arrived, but now it was pitch black outside.
I sat down and immediately started the live broadcast. On the small screen, Immortal Songs was just beginning.
Lee Seungjun next to me asked,
"Watching Immortal Songs?"
I nodded and handed him one earbud. Lee Seungjun scooted closer to watch the screen.
The show was similar to other episodes, but a bit different too.
Huh.
"Our interview's almost fully aired?"
Lee Seungjun nodded and replied,
"Weird. They even kept that annoying interview."
There were comments under the video too. It had gone up fast, but most were cursing the waiting room MCs.
'Immortal Songs is an aggro show now?'
They said the MCs changed, and now they're going this route?
Soon the stages began. Excellent performances that pleased the ears passed by.
Hershey's interview started.
Huh.
"They didn't edit Hershey either?"
Hershey's ambitious interview aired in full. I recalled Kim Dongseop's words.
-Shall I spread it around?
He meant it?
'Even MCs can't control editing—that's the broadcaster's call, right?'
How'd he pull that off?
Whatever I thought, the video kept playing. After Hershey's interview, the stages finally started.
"Whoa..."
Even rewatching it was insane. No, the edited version made it even grosser. Seeing Hershey act cute in that white bear costume made my stomach churn.
Lee Seungjun panted as he said,
"Tons of hate comments."
The video comments were flooding in wildly. Shocked emojis and "can't watch" posts.
Yoo Hajin from the back seat said,
"It was pretty bad."
I glanced back slightly. Yoo Hajin had earbuds in and was watching his phone too.
"You're watching too, Hyung?"
"Curious."
Kang Minje from the front seat turned and whispered,
"I'm watching too."
Of course you are. So the only one not watching Immortal Songs is Ki Jaeyun?
Yoo Hajin chuckled and said,
"Jaeyun's asleep."
Ah, classic Ki Jaeyun. At least he's sleeping during schedule.
The manager yelled while driving,
"If the van was fancy, it'd have a TV! Sorry!"
I looked around the van. The beat-up one used by many seniors was decently spacious.
'This is fine.'
As long as it didn't smell and ran well, anything was good.
"We'll upgrade when we make bank!"
I smirked.
'Money, huh...'
Come to think of it, how's our settlement? Are we earning enough to cover album costs?
'CFs are the best for making money.'
No schedules for that yet.
'Lack of recognition? Image? Nothing catchy enough?'
While I pondered, our stage started. I monitored seriously.
'Didn't notice at the time...'
I moved well. Lee Seungjun too, but that Ki Jaeyun bastard was slightly off-beat, too fast.
'Gotta say something about that.'
The one who should watch the screen most was asleep.
'Well, aside from that, worthy of winning.'
Kang Minje really was a genius. Turning acoustic into grand isn't easy, even if I don't know music.
'And he did it casually.'
After our stage, my face appeared. Not bad, but not perfect.
'When the camera's there, tilt my face a bit more.'
To catch that in real-time, maybe level up Insight?
After the stage, we looked thrilled. Laughing, hugging shoulders.
Lee Seungjun whispered beside me,
"We killed it."
"Great arrangement. Choreo was solid too."
Kang Minje smiled and said,
"Thanks for the praise. But no matter how good my arrangements, without you guys pulling off the stage, it'd be tough."
"Nah, you had it hardest, Minje."
"No. Hyung made the track great."
The mood warmed up with Yoo Hajin and Lee Seungjun's responses. I smiled and clenched my fist.
'Damn. Total disaster.'
Having to praise Kang Minje and that bastard praising us—what a nauseating collab.
Whatever my feelings, Immortal Songs moved to the next stage. After a well-performed but lackluster one ended, our win was confirmed.
'They edited out Hershey hitting my back, right?'
No way they'd air that.
Yoo Hajin groaned first.
"Huh?"
I rubbed my eyes quietly.
"They didn't edit it?"
Hershey hitting my back was shown crystal clear.
"Crazy?"
Did the editing director lose it?
I quickly looked at Yoo Hajin. Zenith's leader swept back his hair in disbelief.
"What the hell is going on?"
"No idea."
I narrowed my eyes.
-Editing's the issue. They can probably handle that much.
Kim Dongseop didn't issue a blank check.
'Scary guy. Not just a nice MC.'
I chuckled. The raw editing continued straight to Kim Dongseop criticizing Hershey.
'This'll blow up.'
Fan club already had pics of Hershey hitting my back trending. Heard my fans were going wild for me.
'Grateful.'
But it was a teacup storm. Couldn't go mainstream...
'But now it's different.'
I laughed involuntarily. Hershey's done for this time. Completely.