Chapter 24
Chapter 24
It was about time.
I closed the comment section of the October 31 performance video I had been watching.
To summarize the overall situation...
‘The popularity has skyrocketed to a terrifying degree...’
Honestly, there was no other way to describe it.
From view counts to article comments, the numbers were five or six times higher than those of the other teams that aired in Episode 3.
Ryu Cheong-woo’s team had seen an increase in buzz for different reasons, and it seemed I had benefited a bit from the spillover effect.
At any rate, as long as I didn't mess up from here, passing the second round seemed like it would be smooth sailing.
That made the next filming even more important. Now that I’d felt the power of editing firsthand, I had to be even more careful.
Now, let’s look for things that might help with the next shoot.
I typed a new search term into the search bar.
[Park Moon-dae Individual Fancam]
The official video, uploaded "1 day ago," appeared at the top of the results.
I had avoided watching it for a day to ensure I could review the feedback objectively.
And the result? The numbers were beyond my expectations.
[Views: 320,000]
Considering I wasn't a participant whose strength was dancing, this was higher than I had hoped for.
I looked at the other participants in the related videos below.
“30,000, 120,000, 7,000, 20,000, 60,000... Hmm.”
Very few had higher numbers than me. In fact, about half of the participants hadn't even broken 50,000 views.
Based on view counts alone, I would likely easily rank within the top 12.
It was an even more impressive feat considering the full stage had already been revealed.
‘But substance is more important.’
I sorted the video comments by "Top Comments" and skimmed through them.
That last comment... seemed like a bit of a misunderstanding, but since they meant well, I’ll take it as a compliment.
Most of the other posts were praise as well.
When I sorted by "Newest," I occasionally saw hateful comments, but even those were quickly swept away by a wave of late-coming English comments.
Next, I searched my name on social media. ‘Park Moon-dae’ and ‘Moon-dae.’
The screen was immediately filled with posts containing videos and images.
There was such an overflow of opinions on every little thing that it was almost bewildering.
My face, my voice, my expressions, my shoulders, the way I ate... There were even posts liking my habits that I hadn't even realized I had, calling them cute.
I rubbed the back of my neck.
It was a bit embarrassing... but it didn't feel bad. I felt grateful, and strangely, this surge of motivation felt quite good.
Of course, this wouldn't be the entirety of internet opinion.
I fell into deep thought.
Let’s see, if they modified ‘Moon-dae’ to avoid the search filters...
“Hmm.”
Without much hesitation, I typed in the search term.
[Gom-meo]
It was a simple variation where ‘Moon’ (문) was flipped to look like ‘Gom’ (곰) and ‘Dae’ (대) was replaced with the visually similar ‘Meo’ (머).
This was practically the standard back when I was selling data, so it should be about right.
As expected, the results came pouring in.
The hate comments were relentless, with not a single one missing the mark.
Oh, even though I’d prepared myself, it was quite a shock.
There was something a bit weird in the middle there... but they probably used the coded name to avoid being flagged for sexual harassment.
What was interesting was that a significant number of the accounts posting malicious content had Cha Yu-jin’s photo as their profile picture.
I suspected they were using it as a cover while trying to keep a rival in check since he was the most popular participant, but some of them were likely real fans.
And that seemed to be creating a strange tension.
A trend where people liked participants who performed together in the first team match as a group and attacked participants from other teams.
Well, this was a flow traditionally observed in these types of audition programs, so it wasn't particularly surprising.
It was also something I had experienced firsthand back when I was selling data.
People would buy data for the participant they were rooting for and data for the participant they were wary of, just so they could delete the latter.
And as it stood, Cha Yu-jin and Park Moon-dae seemed to have ended up in opposite camps.
‘I suppose you could call it a side effect of skyrocketing in popularity because the team match went exceptionally well.’
Anyway, it was something I could endure, so I moved on.
More importantly, I had to see if there was anything useful I could extract from the hate comments.
‘First, the comments about my singing are unnecessary.’
Since I had objective stats for that, it would inevitably be proven as the show progressed.
The next most common topic was... my character.
Mostly comments saying I was artificial or annoying, or reactions mocking Park Moon-dae’s appearance like, ‘With that face, he’s going for that concept? ㅋㅋ’
I mean, does not having a top-tier face mean I’m not allowed to have a character...?
I’d never even liked the direction of the editing, so it felt a bit bitter.
But I soon realized that was a useless emotion.
‘I can just fix my face.’
The next filming was the ranking announcement.
Compared to Episode 4, which was about to air, there was about a month’s gap in the actual filming timeline.
It meant that even if my appearance changed a bit, people would just accept it.
“Status Window.”
I poured my points into the Appearance stat without hesitation.
Then, after a moment of thought, I pulled out my smartphone, opened the group chat, and posted a message.
[Does anyone know a good hair salon?]
If I was going to do this, I might as well do it right.
*
A few days before Episode 5—the ranking announcement—aired, all sorts of rumors claiming to be ranking spoilers were circulating on various internet communities.
=========================
[Aju-sa Ranking Spoiler]
: I’m a staff member (Unclear photo of the filming set)
1st: Cha Yu-jin
2nd: Ryu Cheong-woo
5th: Kim Rae-bin
6th: Seon A-hyun
Child actor Lee Se-jin’s rank plummeted, out of the top 10. He was bawling during filming.
=========================
In this manner, fabrications were frequently exposed, and posts were eventually deleted.
The production team did their absolute best to block spoilers, and their efforts succeeded, partly thanks to luck.
As a result, just before Episode 5 began, viewers were sitting in front of their screens in a state of high anxiety.
The woman sitting in front of her desktop felt the same way.
She was praying with her hands clasped.
‘Please, let Moon-dae’s rank explode...’
In a minimized tab on her desktop, a fancam of Park Moon-dae she had taken at the press conference was being uploaded.
That’s right. She was the owner of the "cannon camera" who had been captivated by Park Moon-dae while watching the first team match as an audience member.
Through the PR broadcasts and the main show, she had completely "transferred" her loyalty to him.
She had even settled in as a fansite master, posting the photos she took.
And today was the long-awaited ranking announcement. She thought anxiously.
‘There’s no way Moon-dae got eliminated. But he needs to get a high rank here to firmly establish himself as a top-tier contender.’
In reality, latecomers were always the ones getting hit, and it was always hard to break through an already solidified "concrete" fanbase.
‘That’s why the first ranking announcement is so important.’
Thinking that, she used one hand to write a post on her account via her smartphone.
=========================
FullMoon Baby
: Uploaded Park Moon-dae’s press conference fancam. (WeTube Link)
#ParkMoonDae #ParkMoonDaeStockPurchase #AjuSaParkMoonDae #MoonDengDeng #Moondae
=========================
It was a post with the press conference fancam she had just finished uploading.
The moment it was posted, the share count began to climb rapidly.
‘Great.’
She watched the phenomenon with pride and immediately added a promotional message.
After posting, the final commercial was finally passing.
The broadcast would start in five seconds.
She tapped her feet as she stared at the logo on the screen.
[Re-listing! Idol Inc.]
Soon the screen transitioned, and a brief preview was aired to build anticipation.
[The 30th participant, the 20th participant... Who is the 49th participant who grabbed the last ticket to move forward?]
Images of various participants hanging their heads, biting their lips, and bursting into tears flashed by.
It was a provocative edit clearly designed to create tension, but she wasn't in the right mind to care about that.
Just now, a cut of Park Moon-dae had been caught...
A new hairstyle with soft perms, his hair was...
“B-Blonde.”
She muttered blankly, and then, realizing the meaning again, she covered her mouth with her hands.
‘Moon-dae is blonde!!’
In reality, it was closer to a golden brown, a less drastic color, but that didn't matter.
It looked incredibly good on him and was so cute!
Having hair that takes dye well is also a virtue of an idol, so why did Park Moon-dae have that too?
It was clear that God had nudged him with this and that, telling him he absolutely had to be an idol.
When she refreshed her social media timeline with hands trembling from emotion, sure enough, similar exclamations were pouring out.
Park Moon-dae’s fans were incessantly pouring out posts of adoration.
In truth, Park Moon-dae’s bold investment in his Appearance stat played a huge role in these impressions.
However, because everyone firmly believed that the change in hairstyle had brought about a glow-up in his looks, it passed naturally.
Because that one cut came out so well, their frenzy continued for quite a while.
[PR Broadcast Production Diary]
After all the minor behind-the-scenes production stories ended, it was the exact moment the PR broadcast preparation filming began, right before the ranking announcement.
On the screen, the participants were shocked by the MC’s announcement.
[For the next 15 minutes! You just need to find the treasure balls!]
[What?!]
‘I was curious about this.’
She snapped out of it and focused back on the broadcast.
Hoping they would shed at least a little light on how Moon-dae ended up choosing chicken feet.
[Hah!]
[Yes! Gold!]
However, for a long while, the screen only showed the participants running around in groups, finding and stealing balls.
‘What? There’s no footage of Moon-dae.’
Park Moon-dae’s fans grumbled that the production team had no sense.
Even among regular viewers, similar comments were popping up quite a bit.
However, these reactions changed in an instant.
It was because Park Moon-dae suddenly appeared stealthily in the quiet, empty dormitory cafeteria.
After entering the cafeteria, Park Moon-dae gestured behind him.
Then, a head peeked out from behind the door.
[Lee Se-jin B: No one’s here, right?]
[Park Moon-dae: Yeah. Let’s go, now.]
[Ha Il-jun: Okay!]
The viewers fell into further confusion.
Even the captions added to the confusion.
[How are these people here...?]
The screen briefly showed the three participants searching the cafeteria with speed and precision.
Then, the scene rewound with a whir.
[◄◄◄]
And then, a click.
[AM 09:30 Treasure Hunt Begins]
The screen started again from the moment the participants ran out to find the treasure balls.
But this time, it highlighted Park Moon-dae’s movements.
[Going to the back door?]
Keun Se-jin and Gold 1 had followed him unilaterally, but from the camera captured at a distance, it looked very natural.
And the three of them instantly began finding balls in the back area where there were no other participants.
The three of them were so well-coordinated that as soon as they heard the sound of other participants approaching, they quickly finished up and moved to another location.
The viewers were impressed, and Park Moon-dae’s fans loved it even more.
‘I know, right?’
Park Moon-dae’s fansite master clicked the heart on the latest post and quickly focused back on the broadcast.
And then, she saw the scene.
The scene where Park Moon-dae, who had so coolly swept up all those balls, received just one bronze ball from Seon A-hyun and handed over all of his own balls.