Chapter 32
Chapter 32
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 32
Chapter Title: An Unexpected Live Stream
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The ranking ceremony proceeded quickly.
Perhaps I felt that way because I was somehow certain I wouldn't be eliminated this time.
‘Our performance was just that good. If I were eliminated after a stage like that, it would just mean that was the limit of my abilities.’
In the end, a total of 10 contestants were eliminated.
Two from Grade A, three from Grade F, and five from the remaining grades.
From Team 'Boss', the one that had copied us, Park Ji-ham, Choi Jeong-woon, and Choi Young-jun all survived.
It was because their fans, after watching the broadcast, felt a sense of crisis and fiercely encouraged others to vote.
[Proof of voting for Park Ji-ham gets you an ice cream gift coupon! I'm begging you! If you vote using your mom's, dad's, or younger brother's accounts and show proof, you'll get a chicken gift coupon.]
[Proof of voting for Choi Young-jun gets you a coffee gift coupon.]
[Vote for Choi Jeong-woon and show proof for a cake! It's from a famous bakery.]
Offering gifts for proof of voting was just the beginning.
[This is the time we all need to grit our teeth so our boy doesn't get eliminated. Please, everyone, get a grip. Last time, it was just one elimination, so they could make a drama out of it, but not next time.]
↳Seriously... If you're going to be eliminated, it's better to be the first or the last. The middle is just... nothing.
↳lol I agree with the 'nothing' part. The guy who was eliminated first went viral everywhere and is super popular now.
↳He'll probably debut soon.
↳Everyone, let's really get our heads in the game. I'm using all my family's accounts to vote. If you're a true fan, this is the least you can do.
↳Right. I begged all my friends to vote too. This is what true love is. When you love someone, you should want them to be happy. That's how it should be.
There were more than a few who had scraped together votes by roping in not just family and friends, but even distant relatives.
‘When this airs, it's going to be noisy for a while.’
Fights would surely break out over the fact that contestants with attitude problems had made it to the next stage.
In fact, this was a good thing for me.
Not only were the arrows of resentment aimed at me diminishing, but public sympathy was also forming.
[I feel so bad for the guys in Team 'Villain'. Did you all see them in the waiting room, freaking out after seeing the outfits and the stage? The cameras were on, so they couldn't really say anything, just wandering around with pale faces looking for a spot without a camera. You could really see their desperation and anxiety, it broke my heart. How could people be like that...]
↳Seriously. This isn't right. What happened to professional courtesy? I was so shocked my head was spinning. This isn't some drama. To think something like this would happen in real life, during a broadcast...
↳Has anything like this ever happened before?
↳Yeah. There have been times when people had power struggles, stormed out of meetings, and stuff, but this is the first time someone's pulled such a sly move. Honestly, whatever you do gets broadcast, right? Even if I were that kind of person, I couldn't do it.
↳The PD must be thrilled. Isn't he probably grinning from ear to ear right now? How happy must he be. They're doing the perfect villain act all on their own.
↳But wasn't it so cool how they turned a crisis into an opportunity? They changed their props and outfits and even tailored the choreography to match in such a short time. They're geniuses. I was genuinely moved watching it.
↳From the interviews, it seemed like Seo Yoon-seul and Kang Ju-hyeok led the whole thing. A couple of incredible geniuses have appeared. If those two end up in the same group, their year-end stages would be legendary.
[Kang Ju-hyeok and Seo Yoon-seul have surprisingly good chemistry. I hope they end up in the same group. It gives me this strange confidence that they could solve any problem that comes their way.]
↳Me too.
↳I'm cautiously shipping this. They work well together.
↳lololol If they were in the same group, all their group projects would go so smoothly.
The number of people pairing Kang Ju-hyeok and me in a group had grown quite a bit.
Perhaps because we had overcome the crisis together, the reaction from Kang Ju-hyeok's fandom was also quite favorable.
Thanks to the last episode, the situation had improved a lot.
And now, perhaps to create content until the live broadcast day, we were sitting in a circle in the gym, waiting for the production team's instructions.
Kang Ju-hyeok and Lee Ho-jun were sitting next to me.
“What are they going to have us do today?”
“I wonder.”
I had no idea what the production team had prepared.
If it were about forming teams, they probably wouldn't have had us sit in a circle.
Were they planning some kind of recreation?
Nothing came to mind except for the towel-drop game I'd seen on variety shows.
“Everyone. Thank you for waiting.”
Wi Yeo-jun appeared with his familiar line.
Since Wi Yeo-jun had never appeared outside of the ranking ceremonies and performances, and we'd never been positioned this close to him, the cheers seemed several times louder than usual.
“You're all welcoming me so enthusiastically, I don't know what to do with myself. Thank you.”
Seeing Wi Yeo-jun here, it seemed this wasn't going to be a simple recreation.
“You're all curious why I'm here, aren't you?”
“Yes.”
“Today is none other than RED CUBE's team-building day! It's called... Guess the Cube!”
A placard that looked like it belonged at a company picnic dropped down.
A team-building day.
It seemed today was going to be a variety show day.
My prediction was spot on.
We were divided into a White Team and a Blue Team and even changed our clothes.
Wi Yeo-jun was wearing a T-shirt that was blue on the right and white on the left.
It seemed to signify his neutrality as the MC.
In that state, we proceeded with all sorts of games.
Tug-of-war, dance battles, guess the song from the intro, and so on.
The format was an appropriate mix of a sports day and a variety show.
Even after a simple lunch, the team-building event continued.
It looked like they planned to fill the entire day with this.
Once again, my intuition was correct.
The program concluded with an evening dinner party.
The menu for the dinner was barbecue.
People in chef uniforms came out, grilled the meat, and served it to our tables.
It was the first time in my life I'd ever been treated so lavishly.
“Eating this meat makes me crave just one can of beer.”
“Me too.”
Jung Eun-woo and Lee Ho-jun yearned for beer while drinking zero-calorie sodas.
“Yearning for something you can't possibly get just makes you miss it more.”
Kang Ju-hyeok approached, speaking playfully.
“Did you finish eating, hyung?”
Kang Ju-hyeok's hands were empty.
“Sadly, I gain weight easily, so I have to control myself.”
Haru, who was next to him, patted his back as if he understood completely.
“Hyung, you're so skinny, why are you consoling me? This is deceitful.”
“I used to be chubby. So my friends called me 'buta'.”
“'Buta'?”
“Yeah. It's Japanese. It means 'pig'.”
Hearing that, all of us stared at Haru in disbelief.
Haru seemed thin, but if you looked closely, he had a lean, muscular build and looked like someone who had never gained a pound in his life.
For him to say something like that was nothing short of surprising.
“I lost about 30 kg at once to become an idol.”
We were all shocked.
“Yoon-seul.”
A writer suddenly approached me and spoke cautiously.
“Yes?”
It wasn't time for a personal interview, so I was just puzzled.
‘Why are they calling for me all of a sudden?’
“I think you should know about this, Yoon-seul. Could you follow me for a moment?”
Seeing the writer's expression, it didn't seem like an ordinary matter.
My heart felt like it was going to drop.
‘What on earth is going on?’
“I'll be right back.”
“Okay.”
I followed the writer.
Perhaps because of my anxiety, my palms grew damp, even though I don't usually sweat much.
The place we arrived at was a small room used for personal interviews.
“Please, go in.”
The writer opened the door and went inside first, and I followed.
Inside the interview room, a PD was watching something with a serious expression.
“Oh? You're here.”
Then he noticed me and the writer and gestured with his head for me to come over.
I walked over slowly.
“This isn't necessarily going to be a problem, but I thought you should be aware of it so you can prepare a response if needed.”
[First Broadcast of Park Su-hyeol, former leader of GANGSTER-M]
I could barely hear what the PD was saying.
The person speaking on the screen was undoubtedly Park Su-hyeol, my former leader.
‘How could he do this?’
[You want me to talk about my GANGSTER-M days? What about them?]
Park Su-hyeol was speaking with a bright expression, as if nothing had ever happened.
[Why is a school violence perpetrator on here? If you don't want to watch, then don't. The victim forgave me, so why do I have to hear this stuff? I reached a settlement with the person involved. Are you guys judges or something? If the victim forgave me, it's over. Why are you all so noisy about it? It's annoying.]
Meanwhile, the Park Su-hyeol in the video kept talking.
He was completely different from the person I used to know.
He was someone who had always maintained a neat appearance as a leader, but the Park Su-hyeol on screen was leaning back in his chair with his legs crossed, his mouth moving wide as if he were chewing gum.
[Have you guys never made a mistake in your lives? Huh? Why are you making such a big deal out of one mistake I made when I was young? And what am I supposed to do for a living now? Huh? My life is ruined too. I could have succeeded as an idol, but it's all over. That's enough of a price to pay.]
‘Is this really the same person I knew?’
“What is all this?”
“Do you know about Paprika TV?”
The writer answered my question.
I'd vaguely heard of it as a platform for internet broadcasting.
But as for why Park Su-hyeol was on there now, my thoughts seemed to have frozen.
‘This never happened before.’
Even when I was active as the second generation of GANGSTER-M, Park Su-hyeol had never once revealed his current life to the media.
There was so little news about him that I wondered if he had ever really existed.
It had gotten to the point where even reporters who tried to write articles about him could only report that they couldn't find him.
There were occasional people who asked me about Park Su-hyeol's whereabouts, but our contact was completely cut off after that day, so I couldn't give them the answer they wanted.
“He's live streaming right now.”
‘Could this also be a side effect of me changing the future by deciding to join RED CUBE?’
“He hasn't said anything controversial yet, but he might later, so we thought it would be a good idea for you to prepare a statement in advance.”