Debut or Die

Chapter 24

It’s about time.

I turned off the comment window of October 31’s stage video that I had been watching.

First of all, the results after understanding the whole situation…

‘It’s going so well that it’s scary…’

Indeed, there was no other way to express it.

From the number of views to the comments in the article, the numbers easily exceeded five or six times that of other teams aired in the third episode.

Ryu Chungwoo’s team had an increase in buzz in a different way, but it seemed they also gained some benefits from it.

Anyway, if there was no twist here, it seemed I could pass the second round smoothly

Therefore the next shoot was more important. Now that I realized the power of editing, I should be more careful.

Then let’s take a look at the things that will help with the next shoot.

I put a new search word in the search window.

[Park Moondae’s personal fan cam]

When I searched, the official video with the posting date ‘1 day ago’ appeared first.

I waited a day to watch it so that I could objectively look at the feedback.

Then. The number was more than expected.

[View count: 320,000]

Considering that dancing was not my strength but instead just an addition, it was higher than I expected.

I saw other participants in the recommended videos below.

“30,000, 120,000, 7,000, 20,000, 60,000… Hmm.”

Only a few of them had higher numbers than me. No, in the first place, most didn’t even exceed 50,000.

In terms of the number of views, I was probably within the top 12.

Considering that the stage had already been unveiled, it was a great achievement.

‘But substance is more important.’

I sorted the video comments in order of recommendation and went through them.

– Look at Park Moondae’s expression in all his parts, he’s born to be a genius idol ??

– I’m surprised that this kind of concept fits well

– Popcorn, chicken feet, and even horror. Is Park Moondae a god?

– Thank you for the bridge, I’ve lived a good life

– Moondae-ya is a fan of MallangDalkom, so when their song got picked he got excited all alone, that’s so cute!

The last comment is a bit… There seems to be a misunderstanding, but since it’s taken well, let’s just think of it as a compliment.

Other than that, most of them were compliments.

When sorted by the latest order, I could see abusive comments, but even those comments disappeared as if they were being swept away by the late comments.

This time, I searched my name on SNS. ‘Park Moondae’ and ‘Moondae’.

Posts with videos and images immediately filled the screen.

– Moondae is so cute (Personal fancam gif)

– How did you come up with horror there ?? With his skill, talent, personality, and sense, our Moondae is a trinity idol ??

– Park Moondae is good at singing, but I don’t know if he’s that outstanding, though his face is my type. (Photo from the production presentation)

– Moondae Moon Puppy, eat well and please be nice ? (Photo of photoshopped Mukbang puppy)

I was a little embarrassed because it was overflowing with appreciation for all sorts of things.

Face, voice, facial expression, shoulders, eating behavior… There was even an article saying that they liked a cute habit of mine that I didn’t even know about.

I rubbed the back of my neck.

I was a little embarrassed, but… it didn’t feel bad. I was grateful and I felt strangely motivated.

Of course, this wouldn’t be the whole of Internet public opinion.

I was lost in thought.

Let’s see. If you transform ‘Moondae (??)’ in a way it won’t be caught up in the search…

“Hmm.”

I put in a search word without much thought.

[Gommeo (??)]

It was a simple modification by turning ‘Moon (?)’ upside down and changing ‘Dae (?)’ into a similar notation.

Things like this were the standard while I was selling data, so my guess was probably right.

As expected, the results poured out.

– Gommeo is so damn ugly, can’t even dance to Pop Con ?? where is the editing ???, I really hate it, diediedie

(TL note: ?? is Korean slang for swearing.)

– Honestly, there’s no good main vocalist in Idol Inc., so aren’t you just pushing Gommeo with clenched teeth? The sound is too much;; typically fabricated innocence… Whew.

– It’s obvious that Gommeo’s concept is being a fan of MallangSweet?

– I want to see Gommeo’s chest. He should expose it in the next stage.

-That ordinary Gommeo ???? He must have washed dishes while in the trainee camp~ I can bet my account, he’s so fake that I can’t even look at him

There were a lot of malicious comments without filters.

Oh, even though I prepared my heart, it was still shocking.

There was something weird in the middle, but… It looked like sexual harassment, so I guessed they didn’t want it to get caught up on the search.

Interestingly, quite a few of the accounts that posted the malicious comments chose Cha Eugene’s photos as their profiles.

It was probably because he was the most popular participant, so it was set as a check, but some of them were probably real fans.

And it seemed to create a strange tension.

The atmosphere where the participants who performed together in the first team match were attacked by the participants of other teams.

It was not particularly surprising because it was a trend that was always observed in this type of audition program.

It was also something I experienced myself when I sold data.

They buy the data of the participant that they root for and want to discard the data of the participant they want to keep in check.

And speaking of it, it seemed that Cha Eugene and Park Moondae belonged to opposite camps.

“It’s a side effect of the team’s performance that went extremely well.”

Anyway, I put up with it because it was bearable.

Rather, I had to see if there was anything to extract from the malicious comments.

‘For now, there is no need to talk about the song.’

Since there was an objective stat for it, it could be verified as the broadcast progresses.

The next thing that comes up a lot is… My character.

The character concept was mainly meant to be contrived and unlucky, but those who criticized Park Moondae’s appearance had reactions like ‘that sort of concept with that face? ??’.

No, if my face doesn’t work, I shouldn’t have a concept character…

I’d never liked the editing direction, but now I felt a little bitter.

But I soon realized that it was an unnecessary feeling.

‘If it’s just the face. I can construct it.’

The next shooting would be the ranking announcement.

Compared to the upcoming fourth episode, the filming period was about a month away.

This meant that if my appearance changed even if just a little, it would be enough.

“Status window.”

I put my points into my visual stats without hesitation.

And after thinking for a while, I took out my smartphone, opened the group chat, and posted a message.

[Does anyone know a good salon?]

Since we’re doing it, let’s do it properly.

* * *

A few days before the 5th episode, the ranking announcement ceremony aired, there were all kinds of rumors in the related Internet communities claiming to be ranking spoilers.

[Saying a spoiler about the ranking]

: This is from a staff (Unclear photo of the set)

1st place Cha ?gene

2nd place Ryu Chung?

5th place Kim Rae?

6th place, Seon ?hyun

Child actor S?in is out of the top 10 because, during the shooting, he has been dragging his feet and struggling while filming.

– It seems fabricated, but I wish Lee Sejin fall down sooner? how dare a useless child actor crawl into an idol survival show??

?I got the pdf,

?Yes ? just take it ?

– As expected, Cha Eugene is in the first place.

– I’m jealous that Ryu Chungwoo gets to be in 2nd place thanks to editing.

?You bastards, don’t pretend it’s fabricated, it’s disgusting

?There’s a photo proof, isn’t it real?

?It’s an old photo. It’s stolen from another behind-the-scenes picture that was uploaded last year.

?Omg…

In this way, the manipulation was discovered, and eventually, the text was deleted.

The production team tried to block the spoiler with all their might, and with half-luck, the effort was successful.

Thanks to this, right before the 5th episode of the ranking announcement ceremony began, viewers were sitting in front of the screen full of excitement.

Here, a woman sitting in front of her desktop felt the same way.

She prayed with her hands together.

‘Please, Moondae’s stocks…’

On the desktop’s minimized tab, Park Moondae’s fancam, which she took at the production presentation, was being uploaded.

Yes, she was the owner of the cannon camera which was hooked on Park Moondae while watching the first team match as a spectator.

She had completely become a fan of Park Moondae through PR broadcasts and the main program of the broadcasts.

She even settled down as a home master by posting the pictures she took.

(TL note: home master = refers to people carrying cameras and taking pictures and videos while following idols’ schedules. Sometimes shortened as homma.)

And today is the day of the ranking announcement. She thought nervously.

‘There’s no way that Park Moondae would have fallen. However, once he gets a high rank here, his recognition as a top rank will definitely be solidified.’

It was the reality that the latecomers were beaten everywhere since it was difficult to climb through the concrete floor that had already hardened.

‘So the first ranking ceremony is important.’

She thought as she wrote to her account via her smartphone with one hand.

FullMoon Baby

: I uploaded a fan cam of Park Moondae’s production presentation. (WeTube Link)

#ParkMoondae #ParkMoondaeStockPurchase #IdolIncMoondae #MoonPuppy #Moondae

It was a post attached to the production presentation fancam that was uploaded just before.

As soon as it was uploaded, the number of shares increased steadily.

‘Good.’

She looked at the phenomenon with proud eyes and immediately added a promotional phrase.

– Please show a lot of support for Moondae! ? ? (Link to purchase stocks of Idol Inc.)

After posting, the last commercial slowly passed by.

The broadcast would start in five seconds.

She looked at the logo on the screen with her feet shaking.

[Re-listed! Idol Inc.]

Soon the screen changed, and a brief trailer was sent out to raise expectations.

[30th place contestant, 20th place contestant… Who is the 49th contestant who will make it to the last place?]

The images of several participants bowing their heads, biting their lips, and bursting into tears quickly passed by.

It was a stimulating edit that created a lot of tension, but she was not in the right mind to care.

Just now, Park Moondae’s cut was captured…

His hair, a new hairstyle with a soft perm…

“B, Blonde.”

She uttered the word blankly, and once again realized the meaning of the word, she covered her mouth with her hand.

‘Moondae is blonde!’

In reality, the hair color was was less extreme and closer to a golden brown, but it looked really good.

It fits him incredibly well and looks cute!

It was an idol’s virtue to have dyed hair that fit well and Park Moondae had that virtue.

It was clear that God was pushing him to be an idol no matter what.

As she updated her SNS timeline with trembling hands, similar words were pouring out.

– Crazy

– Omg blonde

– Have I gone crazy

– Moon Puppy, you decided to kill me today… That’s for sure…

– The puppy is perfect ????

– In fact, it is an established theory in the academic world that he’d been dying his blonde hair black until now. Anyway

Park Moondae’s fans continued to pour out painful comments.

In fact, Park Moondae’s cheerful investment in his visual stats played a big role in these impressions.

However, as everyone firmly believed that the change in hairstyle also brought about a change in appearance, it passed naturally.

Because that one cut came out so well, the binge-watching went on for quite some time.

[Production of PR shows]

When all the small behind-the-scenes productions were over, the PR broadcast preparation filming started just before the ranking announcement.

On the screen, the participants were shocked by the MC’s announcement.

[For the next 15 minutes! Find the treasure ball!]

[What?!]

‘I was a little curious about this.’

She came to her senses and refocused on the broadcast.

She thought it would be nice if it could shed a little light on how Moondae chose chicken feet.

[Yay!]

[Yeah! Gold!]

However, on the screen, it only showed the participants flocking around for a long time to find the balls.

‘What? There’s not enough footage of Moondae.’

Park Moondae’s fans complained that the production team had no sense.

Even the viewers made unexpectedly similar remarks.

– The story of chicken feet doesn’t come out until the end?

– It’s like he just screwed up and made chicken feet

-???

But these reactions changed quickly.

It was because Park Moondae suddenly appeared in a quiet restaurant where there were no people.

-??

– Why is no one there

– Why is Park Moondae alone?

Park Moondae, who entered the restaurant, gestured behind his back.

Then a few heads crept out from behind the door.

[Lee Sejin (B): There’s no one here, right?]

[Park Moondae: Yes. Let’s go.]

[Ha Iljun: Okay!]

The viewers were more confused.

– What?

– How come they’re the only ones there

– Do they have benefits?

Even the subtitles incited confusion.

[How can these people be here…?]

– No, that’s what we want to ask ??

– Tell me!

The screen captures a brief glimpse of the three participants scouring the restaurant quickly and accurately.

And with a swish, the scene was rewinded.

[???]

And click.

[AM 09:30 Treasure hunt begins]

The screen resumed as the participants ran out to find the treasure balls.

However, this time, it showed Park Moondae’s movement.

[Going to the back door?]

Sejin Keun and Gold 1 unilaterally followed, but with the camera caught it from a distance, it looked very natural.

The three of them immediately started looking for the ball behind the back of the participants.

– ????That’s

– That’s awesome

– Wow. He came up with that in such a short time

– I think the idea is really good

– Park Moondae’s personality is annoying, but let’s admit it. He is talented. That’s why it’s even more annoying

?????Correct

The three worked well together and when they heard the sound of other participants coming, they immediately shook them off and moved to another place.

The viewers were amazed, and Park Moondae’s fans liked it more.

– As expected, our Moon Puppy is smart

– They all moved their body so they made steady progress. As expected of October

– But Moondae found so many balls so why is it frozen food ????

‘That’s it.’

Park Moondae’s home master clicked the heart on the most recent post and quickly concentrated on the broadcast again.

And she confirmed the scene.

The scene where Park Moondae, who smoothly collected the balls, received one bronze ball from Seon Ahyun and handed over all of his balls.

Author's Thoughts

Hello, due to various circumstances, I have taken over. I don't know if I can live up to previous quality translations but be gentle with me please (????)