Chapter 26
Chapter 26
[This next participant is someone who has garnered significant attention for his outstanding dancing skills.]
‘Moon-dae isn’t even 7th!’
She clenched her fists tight, screaming internally in a thousand different ways.
The effort she’d put into relentlessly posting videos and messages on social media, begging people to vote—no, to "buy his stocks"—felt like it was finally paying off in a massive wave of relief.
Then, 6th place passed. Now, 5th.
[This participant… caught everyone’s eye with his refreshing ideas and unique talents, didn’t he?]
Finally, the MC called out Park Moon-dae’s name.
[In 5th place, it’s participant Park Moon-dae!]
The camera caught Park Moon-dae as he bolted upright from his seat.
‘Crazy, crazy, this is insane…!’
Unable to contain her internal shrieking, she began typing furiously on social media.
=========================
[This is insane, Moon-dae is 5th! Oh, Moon-dae-ya ㅠㅠ I knew you’d do well because our Moon-dae is a genius ㅠㅠㅠ Thank you so much for becoming an idol, seriously ㅠㅠ]
=========================
Then, she deleted it without posting.
The thin thread of her remaining sanity stopped her, knowing that since her account had become a "named" one, it shouldn't provide any fodder for people to nitpick.
Park Moon-dae walked up to the podium. He gave a deep bow, his golden-brown hair swaying, before he began to speak.
[I feel this rank is more than I deserve. I will continue to show you my growth so that I don’t fall short of the expectations of the shareholders who purchased my stocks. I look forward to your continued support.]
He bowed deeply once more.
It was a textbook acceptance speech, but perhaps because of his word choice, it felt more like a corporate expo than an idol audition.
Just as comments like "Is CEO Moon-deng-deng in the house? lol" were flooding social media, the MC asked a pre-prepared question.
[You received a lot of attention for your chicken feet PR video. If you get to debut, what kind of Mukbang would you like to do next?]
[Um… Steam-Seared Daechang?]
The MC burst out laughing at the unusually specific product name.
[Is there a reason for that?]
[Out of everything I sampled, it was the most delicious after the chicken feet.]
Laughter erupted from all sides at Park Moon-dae’s calm response.
The MC wrapped it up with a humorous touch.
[Ah, another PPL-related product! He’s a participant who truly keeps the interests of Idol Inc. at heart~ That was our 5th place, Park Moon-dae!]
[Thank you.]
Park Moon-dae gave a faint smile and bowed again. Then, he climbed up to the seat corresponding to his rank.
It was a well-edited segment—witty enough, without leaving any room for unnecessary controversy.
Watching the broadcast, she let out a sigh of relief.
She had been worried because the editing had frequently been slipping in subtle hints that framed Park Moon-dae’s attitude in a strange light.
‘I guess they found a different participant to target.’
Sure enough, Kim Rae-bin, who was announced in 4th place, received some uncomfortable editing.
The conflict he’d had with the 7th-place participant during the team match was highlighted; this seemed to be the aftermath of that.
Regardless, she watched the rest of the announcements with a much lighter heart.
To be blunt, she didn't really care who else made it.
‘I guess I hope Seon A-hyun holds his ground? Oh, and I hope Cha Yu-jin flops a bit.’
Cha Yu-jin’s toxic fans had been posting so much garbage on social media, calling Moon-dae derogatory nicknames, that she was angry enough to want to sue them.
However, since Idol Inc. preferred participants who appeared without an agency, it was traditionally difficult to suppress public opinion through agency-led lawsuits.
‘And Moon-dae is just a regular civilian….’
She only worried that he might have been hurt if he’d happened to search for himself online.
‘Once he debuts, I’m going to collect every single PDF of those comments and send them to his agency.’
With that firm resolve, she continued watching the broadcast out of habit.
Seon A-hyun took 3rd place.
“T-th… thank you. Hic.”
Seon A-hyun sobbed as he gave his thanks.
The camera captured reaction shots of several October 31 teammates with reddened eyes, accompanied by touching background music.
“I d-didn’t th-think… I c-could do it. It’s a-all… thanks to my teammates. A-and, th-thank you so much for v-v-voting for me.”
The MC mouthed the words, ‘Not voting, stocks!’
However, the cross-cut edit of Seon A-hyun, who was too overwhelmed to notice, provided a small laugh amidst the touching moment.
Seon A-hyun sniffled his way to his seat, and in the process, the heartwarming interactions between the October 31 members, including Park Moon-dae, were briefly highlighted.
It was proof that the production crew was conscious of the explosive reactions online.
Afterward, as everyone expected, Cha Yu-jin and Ryu Cheong-woo were the candidates for 1st and 2nd. After a close race, it ended with Cha Yu-jin being announced as 1st.
“I’m so happy!”
‘I’d rather it have been Ryu Cheong-woo!’
Seeing Cha Yu-jin give his acceptance speech with such bright, innocent excitement felt somewhat irritating.
But she wasn't foolish enough to leave malicious comments, so she decided to simply be happy about Park Moon-dae’s 5th place.
The ranking ceremony ended rather anticlimactically with a participant who hadn't received much attention being announced in 49th place.
Park Moon-dae’s screen time ended with a final heartwarming scene of the October 31 members gathered together, laughing and teasing Seon A-hyun.
‘What a shame.’
From a fan's perspective, the supply was lacking. She wanted to see more.
Hoping that she could go take photos of him on his way to work next time, she prayed for Park Moon-dae’s continued success.
The filming for the next team match likely continued right after that ranking ceremony ended.
‘I wonder if either Keun Se-jin or Seon A-hyun will be on his team again?’
She made various guesses, wishing from the bottom of her heart.
‘Whoever it is, I just hope Moon-dae can feel comfortable and put on a great stage!’
My head feels like it’s going to explode.
What kind of situation is this now?
“Ah! He has chosen participant Park Moon-dae!”
The MC’s excited voice and the participants’ surprised exclamations echoed from all directions.
“Whoa!”
“Moon-dae hyung?”
Even though the numbers had dwindled from 77 to 49, the noise was still deafening.
Are you surprised? I’m surprised too.
Why did this guy pick me?
“And so, participant Park Moon-dae… joins participant Kim Rae-bin’s team.”
I had expected that we would film the second team match immediately after the ranking ceremony.
—This time, the teams will be… decided by drawing lots!
—The seven participants I draw will become leaders, and they will pick their teammates by winning a quiz!
I figured a rule like this would pop up at least once.
But I didn't expect him to pick me.
Kim Rae-bin.
A participant from the same agency as Cha Yu-jin, currently ranked 4th. From what I know, he makes it all the way to 2nd place in the finale.
For the record, I’ve never even said hello to him.
“Then, participant Park Moon-dae, please move to your team!”
“…….”
I trudged over and stood next to Kim Rae-bin.
‘I can’t exactly ask him why he picked me out of the blue.’
If I did that, who knows how they’d edit it. For now, let’s just exchange a nod like we’re business associates meeting for the first time.
“I look forward to working with you.”
“Yes. I look forward to working with you as well.”
Fortunately, despite his fierce impression, he’s good at bowing.
‘I guess he didn't have any ill intentions.’
He has the kind of handsome, "delinquent" look that teenagers these days seem to love, and with his sanpaku eyes, I think I let my prejudices get the better of me.
‘Then does that mean he chose me because he thought Park Moon-dae was useful?’
Since Kim Rae-bin was a rapper, it made sense that he wouldn't feel the need to keep the main vocal position in check.
In the first place, if a lower-ranked participant had picked me, I would have just assumed they were picking a main vocal.
But I’m certain… in Kim Rae-bin’s previous team, there was a participant who was originally supposed to debut in the main vocal position.
And yet he went out of his way to pass on him?
‘Ah, so he found his previous teammates uncomfortable.’
Thinking about it, it made sense that he’d avoid them.
Kim Rae-bin’s previous team was the one where the atmosphere was completely destroyed because of the individual 1st place reward.
Mm. I remember the last broadcast.
—Did you give me this part on purpose?
—No. It was so that everyone could perform the part that suits them best and show their maximum potential on stage…
—So you’re saying you thought this was all I could handle.
It wasn't shown on air, but I heard that after the individual rewards were announced, someone even grabbed another guy by the collar.
‘The broadcast captured that hostility perfectly.’
Thanks to that, the only one who survived the editing in a positive light was Cha Yu-jin.
The main vocal of that team didn't get much screen time, but it wouldn't be strange if they decided to cut ties because things were awkward.
And if he was going to pick from the remaining vocals, it made sense to choose Park Moon-dae, who was the most proven.
‘Still, picking me first is a bit strange.’
It’s not something I need to worry about right now, so I’ll let it go.
I quickly organized my thoughts and assessed the situation.
“Next quiz! Five words starting with ‘Bak’!”
“Bak-mul-gwan (Museum), Bak-su (Applause), Bak-jwi (Bat), Bak-hyeok-geose, Bak-go-ji (Dried gourd).”
Kim Rae-bin raised his hand immediately and rattled off the answers. His aura was solemn.
“Wow! Participant Kim Rae-bin gets another one right!”
“Aaaaah!”
“Isn’t this too advantageous for a rapper?”
Amidst the rich reactions of the participants who had figured out the broadcast ecosystem, Kim Rae-bin immediately pointed to the next participant.
“I choose… participant Cha Yu-jin.”
Even if the previous team was a mess, he’s still making sure to grab the 1st place winner. I would have done the same.
He was surprisingly wise.
Based only on the previous team match, he looked like he had even fewer social skills than Lee Se-jin, but I guess that was just the power of rumors and editing.
However, I wasn't sure how it would affect me if the team continued to be formed this way.
‘This is going to be completely different from the first round.’
“Good pick!”
“Yeah.”
As soon as he was called, Cha Yu-jin ran over and greeted Kim Rae-bin. Then, he gave me a thumbs up.
“We’re together!”
“Yes… it seems so.”
“Because you’re good on stage!”
“Right. I look forward to it.”
I don’t know how much longer I have to keep talking like this. It’s awkward.
The funny thing is, I seem to be the only one who feels awkward. Cha Yu-jin is nodding to himself as if he’s understood some context all on his own.
I can already roughly predict what our future communication will be like.
Meanwhile, Kim Rae-bin was ruthlessly picking teammates. His success rate was high, so the team filled up quickly.
“Participant Ryu Cheong-woo.”
“Participant Min Jung-hoon.”
And I was starting to get an uneasy feeling.
The lineup was excessively good. By "good," I mean their ranks were high.
Every single teammate was in the top 15. Just imagining what kind of editing might come out of this was already making me dizzy.
‘With a team like this, there’s no way out unless we perform at a god-tier level.’
To make matters worse, the picture had become a bit strange for me alone.
This was because Choi Won-gil was among the first seven people chosen to pick their teammates.
“A-hyun hyung!”
“Keun Se-jin, ah, Lee Se-jin hyung!”
Starting with Seon A-hyun, Choi Won-gil had reconstructed almost the entire team from the first team match.
Except for me, of course. Since Kim Rae-bin had picked me first, there was no choice.
‘Well, even if there had been a choice, I don’t think he would have picked me.’
However, there was one more person from October 31 whom Kim Rae-bin had snatched up first.
“Lee Se-jin, the former child actor, participant Lee Se-jin A! He joins participant Kim Rae-bin’s team~”
Lee Se-jin walked toward us with a rather grim expression.
This meant that the unexploded bomb—which hadn't gone off in the first round thanks to the insane social skills of Keun Se-jin and Gold 1 and 2—had now joined Kim Rae-bin’s team.
“…….”
Why did he pick Lee Se-jin too?
Did he just pick him because he had the highest rank among those left?
I looked at the remaining people who hadn't been chosen yet, then turned my head to see Choi Won-gil’s team.
“Moon-dae~”
When our eyes met, Keun Se-jin and Gold 1 and 2 reached out their hands with sorrowful expressions, as if they were performing a comedy skit.
And a flustered Seon A-hyun waved his hand anxiously.
“…….”
What is this ominous feeling that I’ve backed the wrong horse?
A chill ran down my spine. It seemed like a moment where I needed some supernatural help.
‘Status Window.’