Debut or Die

Chapter 25

Seon Ahyun accepted the balls from Park Moondae with a frozen face.

His interview was inserted shortly after.

[Seon Ahyun: A-Actually, I-I’m not good with instant food… I can’t eat it.]

And like a flashback, a video taken with a fixed camera was briefly broadcasted.

The figure of Seon Ahyun, who had his head down on the bed because he was not feeling well, was faintly seen in the light of the thin bathroom.

[Park Moondae: Are you okay?]

[Seon Ahyun: I-I am okay…]

[Park Moondae: Wait a minute.]

Park Moondae went out of the dorm.

And after a while.

[Participant Park Moondae brought digestive medicine.]

He reappeared with subtitles.

In fact, this happened during the early evaluation.

At that time, Park Moondae was actively using the characteristic ‘Sleeping is dying’ so he wasn’t sleepy at night and had relatively enough time.

Thanks to this, he could afford to respond to the voice of conscience in return for the chocolate that Seon Ahyun gave him.

For reference, Park Moondae had completely forgotten about this when preparing for the PR broadcast.

Seon Ahyun, who wasn’t aware of that, said in an interview with an apologetic and grateful expression.

[Seon Ahyun: H-He might have been afraid that I wouldn’t be able to eat them… so he changed it.]

[Seon Ahyun: T-Thank you, Moondae-ya.]

[Park Moondae: (Nodding his head)]

Of course, Park Moondae’s cut was from an interview that had nothing to do with it.

But on the outside, it looked quite heartwarming.

– I never imagined this development

– What’s this, chicken feet is actually good

– Is he actually shy?

– I’m starting to warm up to Moondae ??

The general audience was like this, so the fans added.

– Moondae is easy to misunderstand because he doesn’t do any tricks, but in fact, he’s the type to take care of those around him

– Our puppy… He’s a real puppy

– Moondae, aigoo, you pushover?? you picked chicken feet well but why did you have to give him all of yours??

– The flower crown was picked by Moondae

– Moon Puppy is so sweet

Park Moondae’s home master was naturally happy with the favorable editing and response, but she was also a little anxious.

‘What if they’re selling out his personality?’

The personality appeal was perfect for a backlash.

This was especially the case towards the second half of the program.

They had to drag a participant down to make room for other participants.

Personality appeal could be destroyed just by a minor report of immoral behavior in school days.

And there were quite a few other participants who had already uploaded their graduation photos.

‘Come to think of it, there’s nothing known about Moondae.’

Is it because he’s such a quiet student?

She imagined Park Moondae sitting on the pavilion on the top of a rice field, wearing a straw hat with an indifferent expression.

‘It suits him…!’

It was originally common in the early days of becoming a fan to have symptoms where it felt like that person would make a good picture wherever you put them.

In the meantime, various participants were shown preparing for a PR live in the broadcast.

From Kim Raebin, who picked an electronic piano and made a theme song for Idol Inc., to Keun Sejin, who promoted a sneaker by performing an idol random play dance.

There were a lot of funny scenes.

Focusing on some of the top participants, it also briefly shed light on the situation of the participants who failed to bring a ball.

[If you don’t have a collaboration item, then our program! Please promote <Idol Inc.>!]

Of course, most of them did not make it to the top 33 and barely managed to continue the broadcast for 10 minutes.

There was no way it would be fun to have a dozen people running the same boring content at the same time.

And it briefly shed light on the participants who promoted unusual collaboration items, and Park Moondae, of course, came out here.

The scene where Park Moondae set down the chicken feet and sat down was even perfectly subtitled.

[Park Moondae (Chicken feet lover) A.K.A Mukbang’s New Star]

[Cha Yujin: It was really incredible.]

The reaction of Cha Eugene, who watched with his mouth wide open, passed briefly.

Her timeline was once again plastered with the word ‘cute’. It also included her own writings.

– Mundae is so cute, breaking the chicken feet ??

The preparation process for the PR broadcast ended moderately warmly as if the live had ended well.

It passed as if the fact that some participants accidentally revealed other participants’ secrets or talked about sensitive problems that occurred during filming never happened.

Even though two people voluntarily dropped out after being harassed on the Internet.

As long as the program was on the track for popularity, there was no need to unnecessarily reproduce the controversy of the participants on the main broadcast.

Because they had already guessed this would be the case, the majority of viewers were sarcastic and criticized it once or twice before focusing on what happened next.

It was the long-awaited announcement ceremony for each team’s individual competition.

[Everyone! Do you remember the reward for the participant who won first place in the individual voting of the first team match?]

[Ah…]

[1st ranking announcement ceremony, these people passed!]

On the screen, several participants murmured, ‘I wish it was me’ could be seen.

And after the MC added unnecessary words with his flamboyant skill, he called the winner of each team.

Of course, the majority of participants tried to pretend to celebrate.

[Wow]

[Congratulations!]

In particular, Ryu Chungwoo’s team members, who were controversial, tried not to look offended when Ryu Chungwoo was announced as number 1.

However, in the broadcast, it was aired in a strange atmosphere again.

[…]

[…Oh.]

[Congratulations!]

[Yes, thank you. You’ve been through a lot… Sorry.]

[…No. What.]

‘It’s such a shame that it’s like that.’

Familiar with this pattern, she was rather antipathetic to the editing.

Perhaps regular viewers of survival show felt similar emotions.

Of course, the winner of first place in Park Moondae’s team ‘Oktober 31’ was also announced.

[October 31’s No.1 is… Congratulations! Participant Seon Ahyun!]

[…!]

The team members of October 31 who surrounded Seon Ahhyun were surprised.

[Oooh!!]

[I knew Ahyun could do it~]

[Congratulations!]

[Great job.]

[T-t-thank you…]

It was an appropriately harmonious show.

‘Thank God!’

She was relieved but also felt a little sad.

‘I thought Moondae could have won it.’

She knew that there was no real merit in receiving that, and she knew that it could get him attacked for no reason, but it was still disappointing.

A similar outlook came out of her SNS timeline.

– Congratulations, Ahyun~

– It’s a bit disappointing, but I like Moondae’s heartwarming response

– Blonde Moondae appeared for a long time! Ahh?? I’m so happy

– Everyone did well, so it’s not weird no matter who won it??

– Moon Puppy, you did a great job?

Maybe if she did a more blatant search… She could find this reaction quickly, too.

– The arrangement and the mental care were done by Moondae, but Seon Ahyun just ate them raw ?? Ah, my love for humanity is shattered~

(TL note: eat raw = produce results without effort.)

Of course, there were some malicious individual fans.

Fortunately, thanks to Moondae’s new visual as he gave congratulatory remarks on the screen, the topic quickly shifted.

She quickly captured and uploaded a close-up shot of Moondae.

– I don’t know who did it but thank you so much for Moondae’s blond hair… (Capture photo)

On the broadcast, the MC was saying something meaningful again.

[By the way, what would happen if a participant who was originally rejected passed?]

[Oh…!]

[Ah, no way]

[Everyone, the participant with the lowest score will be eliminated!]

For reference, she wasn’t interested at all while watching.

‘Please don’t call Moondae quickly…!’

She was just nervous, hoping that Park Moondae would be called in the second half.

[Let me announce the 47th-place contestant.]

She was thinking of making a sales video for WeTube while the bottom ranks were passing by, but she couldn’t get her mouse to work properly.

‘Why am I so nervous…!’

When she finally couldn’t stand it and brought her soda and sat down, the announcement finally entered the top 30.

After that, it cut up again in the middle and proceeded with the boring drink PPL content.

‘Not even a single cut of Moondae came out…!’

This was because he hadn’t touched the drink since he almost spit it out, but that was something that viewers couldn’t have known.

It was only around the time of the announcement for the 31st place that an interesting scene finally came out.

[31st place is Kwon Heeseung!]

He was a participant on October 31 alongside Moondae who was referred to as Gold 2.

Among the people who came out to the podium to greet him, Park Moondae was one of them.

[Congratulations.]

It was very cute that he gave an awkward high-five with a serious expression.

Meanwhile, the MC made a joke that didn’t even make sense.

[You’re the first member of the October 31 team to advance to the next broadcast! Is that why the number is 31?]

[I think so!]

Starting with Kwon Heeseung, members of October 31 began to be called to the podium from time to time.

After Choi Wongil and Ha Iljun (Gold 1) were announced in the mid-20s, they weren’t called for a while.

Then came 13th place.

[Congratulations. 13th place is… Participant Lee Sejin! Oh, there are two of them!]

Lee Sejin and Lee Sejin reflexively raised their heads, one smiled shyly and the other returned it with a firm expression.

[Among the two of them… It’s Lee Sejin (B)! Also called Keun Sejin! He was the leader of October 31.]

[Ahaha!]

Keun Sejin smiled excitedly and gave a handshake to Lee Sejin who received it reluctantly.

After that, Keun Sejin went up on the podium with cheers from the participants who pretended to know him.

[Wow! 13! It’s exactly like our team. It must be fate.]

Keun Sejin made a joke according to the situation.

He climbed up after neatly expressing words of encouragement and sincere gratitude.

Moondae is in the top 12!

She swallowed and waited for the next announcement.

Since Park Moondae didn’t have a known presence before the first episode aired, this alone was a tremendous achievement.

[The participant ranked 11th… It’s Seo Hyuncheol!]

And Moondae’s name was not called until the 11th place.

It finally reached the number that could be counted with fingers.

10th, 9th…….

[The participant in 8th place…Oh, it’s the participant who performed MallangDalkom’s song in the first team match.]

‘Done…!’

She relaxed her shoulders and exhaled her breath.

He probably would call Moondae. She thought of it almost like it was a foregone conclusion.

First of all, child actor Lee Sejin had overwhelming recognition in the beginning, and Seon Ahyun had a very good index thanks to his last stage.

She thought those two would be called after Moondae.

[This participant showed unexpected charms…]

After taking turns illuminating the three remaining October 31 participants for quite some time, the MC continued.

[It’s participant Lee Sejin!]

[…!]

Lee Sejin stood up with a stiff face.

Seon Ahyun and Park Moondae, who were still in their seats, gave congratulation as if out of habit.

[Congratulations.]

[C-Congratulations…]

[Thanks.]

Lee Sejin smiled faintly and gave an awkward greeting on the broadcast.

And she shouted with her voice.

“Ooooh!”

The responses on related communities were also exploding.

– What?

– Omg Lee Sejin

– I thought he would be in the top 5

– 8th place?

– Although there was a rumor about his personality, I thought he would maintain the rank by coming out as a hard worker

– It’s pretty close, how interesting;;

– It seems the other participants are pushed out of the rankings?

Lee Se-jin bowed his head and left the podium with a short and bold remark, ‘Thank you, I will do my best.’

She grabbed her mouse.

“Then what is Moondae’s rank?”