Chapter 149: 78%
149. 78%
Truth be told, Kang Hajin had some degree of confidence in his bold statement.
'At least the regression alert didn't go off this time.'
During Yu-geon's incident, sudden missions had popped up long before the elimination crisis, accompanied by regression probability warnings.
But this time, considerable time had passed since his statement with no system warnings, leading him to speculate that perhaps this situation wouldn't escalate enough to threaten his position.
[System Notification: So you were just being recklessly bold.]
[System Notification: (ʘ言ʘ╬)]
"......"
Hajin averted his gaze from Sipsam's sharp glare, feigning ignorance.
Yet the persistent system administrator kept enlarging that damn blue system window, shoving angry emoticons in his face until Hajin was backed into the corner of the sofa, forced to stammer out excuses.
"Look, I can't take back words already spoken... And it's not like I can control how fans react. What was I supposed to do? Seeing how even that damn precursor bastard is staying quiet, maybe it's not as serious as Round 3..."
[System Notification: (ʘ言ʘ╬)]
"Then what! What else! Was I supposed to not say anything!? Did I say anything wrong? I could've said much worse but I phrased it as carefully as possible—"
[System Notification: (ʘ言ʘ╬╬)]
"In the end, things worked out fine, didn't they? It's turning out well, so be thankful!"
Hajin clung to the sofa armrest like a lifeline while desperately defending himself. At least they were in the unconscious space where he could shout without consequences.
As the identity of the main "villain" who spearheaded the guerrilla concert incident was revealed, the situation rapidly shifted again.
With the perpetrator's account exposed, people showed no hesitation in meting out punishment.
A new wave of cyberbullying began under the guise of "justice." Though the original poster eventually took down the video, people had already captured and circulated it, identifying and condemning those involved.
In the process, even unrelated individuals became collateral damage in the witch hunt.
[This is kinda funny now lol]
Like those five were the only ones there? Everyone was shouting "fail" together for fun but now they're pinning it all on them while pretending innocence lololol y'all did the same thing stop backpedaling
— Doubt there are many real DESTYs left here...? Just people who want to complain
As the situation grew excessively heated, the public grew weary and DESTYs became exhausted.
If this continued, even after debut, individual fandoms would be irreparably divided by mutual resentment. Worst case scenario, new and casual fans might abandon ship entirely, repelled by the toxic atmosphere.
This would inevitably halve the fandom's momentum, leaving only toxic fans entrenched as veterans while all-round fans disappeared—a fatal outcome for a rookie group about to debut.
At this critical moment when something was desperately needed to shift the atmosphere, Hajin's statement was reevaluated.
<HOT! ‖ MiroMaze's Kang Hajin statement receiving reevaluation.jpg (1,748)>
(Full video of Hajin's speech)
(Full transcript of Hajin's speech)
They accused him of dissing fans but turns out
The main group harassing other trainees at guerrilla concert
Were revealed to be Hajin's fans all along
So wasn't he actually warning his own fans?
Reinterpretation happening rn ㄷㄷ
Yet even after being told this they didn't wake up
Kept causing trouble for Loving You team
Still calling it "fan dissing" lololol
— He's lucky he didn't outright swear at them?
— Wow...imagining seeing your own fans holding your slogan while insulting your friends...he must've been devastated but still held backㅠ
— He said this yet they're still pulling each other's hair fighting among themselves
— I wouldn't be proud either lololololololololol
— Hope this shakes off all the fake fans with ulterior motives too many people just lightly stanning for clout
└ 222 All you fake fans crying "fan dissing" please just leave~~~~ You weren't even real stans to begin withㅠ
When monitoring fan reactions later, Hajin's statement had transformed from "fighting with fans" to "a principled, polite warning to toxic fans."
Such shifts in public perception weren't unusual, not just in idol culture but everywhere. Hajin was more concerned about where this endless game of Russian roulette would point next—likely targeting his own fans.
[Fan real-name systems are exhausting]
Not all KangPFs are like that, just those specific idiots were KangPFs but now everyone's lumping all KangPFs together lololololol
As expected, all arrows soon rained down on his fandom. Hajin just wished this whole mess would end somehow.
What frustrated and angered him most was the helplessness—being unable to do or change anything about the situation. All he could do was wait for another incident to bury this one or hope it resolved without innocent fans getting hurt.
<HOT! ‖ Kang Hajin fandom releases official statement (2,001)>
However, Hajin's fans proved far more resilient than he'd worried.
"...How did they organize a self-purification movement on their own?"
The joint statement from Hajin's fan cafes, communities, and Bluebird influencers was more readable and logically coherent than most agency press releases. The main organizer was apparently a lawyer?
People praised how eloquent they were—"must've learned from their bias"—as soon as the statement dropped.
It had three main components:
Just extracting personal apologies could've partially resolved the controversy, but Hajin's fandom went further, spearheading the #ProudFanMovement with life-or-death determination for internal reform.
...Of course, we cannot agree with the baseless assumption that all malice surrounding MiroMaze originated from specific trainee fandoms.
However, our fandom was undeniably at the center of this incident, resulting in our supported trainee having to directly address the situation. We deeply feel responsibility for this.
Therefore, the Kang Hajin Fandom Alliance will conduct a two-part campaign from today until finals: internal self-purification and the "MiroMaze Trainee Support Campaign."
Specific details are outlined in the table below...
...
They voted for affected trainees and posted proof, hunted down toxic accounts to report or warn, actively left positive comments on MiroMaze clips, and led encouragement posts.
Beyond MiroMaze content, they launched campaigns under #BeSomethingProud, verifying donations and volunteer work.
Previously, Hajin's fandom lacked a strong core—mostly casual stans consuming content without deep investment, evident in poor paid voting results despite high clip views and community mentions.
[Kang Hajin's fandom is amazing?]
They personally tracked down problematic accounts for handwritten apologies
While also warning against excessive harassment of those accounts
Voting for other trainees is risky since it affects Hajin's debut chances but what better apology could there be
Honestly seems like all the fake fans got filtered out hope this helps stabilize the fandom properly I'm just a casual fan but rooting for them nowㅠ
— The main organizer being a lawyer though....
└ 22222 lololololololololol that's the coolest part
└ 33 So satisfying seeing all those mindless haters shut up and the statement is legendary
— This statement made me interested in Hajin both him and his fans have such strong principles so cool
— Rare to see a fandom move in such unity...good they're establishing norms while small
Ironically, this was only possible because of their previously weak structure.
"...Having fewer core fans makes unifying positions easier. Being widely known means gaining majority support is simpler if intentions are good."
Hajin sprawled on the sofa, experiencing something new yet again.
Once the dam broke, other fandoms gradually joined the self-purification movement. The first to express support was Yu-geon's fandom—who likely shuddered most at such incidents.
@2uuu_gunn2
#BeSomethingProud
Sometimes pens over swords
Formless words over blades
I've seen majority malice
Trample singular goodwill
For far too long
May this vicious cycle end at last
(Donation receipt under Yu-geon's name)
Starting with Yu-geon's fandom, the flames spread to others.
Home masters shared free footage of non-biased trainees, multiple fanpages united for hashtag campaigns and comment purification. Support cafes and ads appeared while systematically collecting evidence against antis.
Miro Entertainment sustained this positive flow by continuously releasing unreleased content and behind-the-scenes—group photos, birthday celebrations, practice session clips.
All this took just three days.
A mere three days.
Still sprawled on the sofa, Hajin curved his pretty lips into a smile.
"...Hey, this is why people stan idols."
Have you ever seen such proud, amazing fans before?
For the first time, Hajin smiled with genuine ease.