LIGHTNOVELONLINE Chapter 51
Chapter 51
Just thinking about it made me feel terribly upset.
I just hoped that True wouldn’t debut them while I was still in the game.
Honestly, if they start to rise to stardom as new rookies of a major agency, I might die from stress-induced illness.
If that happens, I’ll gather testimonies and evidence before logging out and write a thorough expose on their personalities.
After all, I can return to my reality, so there’s nothing to be afraid of.
Anyway, extracting only the objective facts from that abusive rant that might help me right now:
‘On Raon’ can’t speak Korean.
So, it’s likely he wasn’t skilled in Korean rap making.
It’s my prejudice, but with such a gentle and innocent face, it doesn’t seem like he would have done hip-hop.
Besides, what he prepared for the mentor evaluation wasn’t a rap but a vocal song.
Therefore, what’s left is either composing or creating choreography.
If I had to choose one, considering he graduated from Han Gong Arts’ Practical Dance department, it would probably be the latter.
I know it’s a reasoning with many flaws and logical gaps.
What can I do? There’s no information.
It’s not like I never thought of contacting True, where I spent three years, to find out about the past.
But perhaps due to the discomfort from the experiences ‘On Raon’ had there, I couldn’t bring myself to do it.
I slightly regretted it.
On Raon is On Raon, and I’m On Hae-jae.
Lately, I often forgot that fact, which was a problem.
Although it felt like a lot of random, lengthy thoughts, in reality, all these thoughts happened within three seconds, and I answered nonchalantly.
“I do performance. But I’m not great at it, just able to do it, that’s all.”
From the system notification about my acting stat increasing, I could tell no one found anything odd about what I said.
It seemed everyone had cleanly forgotten the dance I performed during the mentor evaluation.
[“That unusual dance, it was really created by Hyung! Jing Xiao favorability +1, current favorability +51”]
Sure… think whatever you want.
“Aha. Okay. What about you, Gyeol Hyung?”
In response to Jing Xiao’s question, Seo Moon-gyeol, who seemed to be hesitating as if looking at my reaction, soon answered briefly.
“All three.”
Wow, there’s multiple responses. Didn’t expect that.
“…….”
As everyone seemed shocked by Seo Moon-gyeol’s capabilities, which appeared to be in a league of their own, silence filled the room.
I alone clapped and admired.
“Really, that’s so cool. You’re the best, Hyung.”
My own insight is also cool and the best.
It seemed I had boarded the right bus.
[Seo Moon-gyeol feels relieved by your reaction. Seo Moon-gyeol favorability +1, current favorability +52]
What? Was Hyung just watching my reaction?
Was he worried I might get jealous? Or that I might feel intimidated?
Either way, I would never feel that way.
To those who don’t know well, Seo Moon-gyeol might seem to have it all, but honestly, Hyung’s balance is more than matched by his transcendent sage mentality.
“Wow.”
The other team members, who had been awkwardly standing by, belatedly responded enthusiastically.
“Then, there’s no position restriction in terms of producing.”
“Right!”
Day, a Thai trainee with an equally lively personality as Jing Xiao, nodded vigorously.
“What’s your position then?”
“I’m dance.”
“I’m vocal.”
Judging from everyone’s opinions, it seemed as long as it wasn’t rap, it was fine.
I asked Seo Moon-gyeol, who is a rapper by position but excels at everything.
“Hyung, are you okay with not rapping?”
“Yeah.”
“Hyung….”
I couldn’t continue my words and covered my mouth with both hands.
‘Even though I knew he’d be okay with it, he didn’t have to be this willing….’
…I wanted to shake Seo Moon-gyeol while saying that.
Of course, I didn’t actually do it.
Instead, I pretended to be moved and lightly tapped Seo Moon-gyeol’s shoulder with my head, actually pushing harder than that, enough to feel a dull impact.
To be more specific, like a swallow hitting its head against a bell.
If it weren’t during filming, I wouldn’t have been able to hold back my frustration and would have pounded my chest with my fists. Better to die than suffer.
Other trainees also said a few words, moved by Seo Moon-gyeol’s sacrifice.
Seo Moon-gyeol, who answered that it was fine, pushed my forehead with his palm.
“Don’t. Your head hurts.”
“Yeah….”
Usually, when shoulder bones and skulls collide, the latter hurts more.
But normally, in a situation where someone bumps their head quite hard against your shoulder, you’d protect your shoulder.
You wouldn’t worry about the other person’s head.
Not to mention an average person, even the kind icon Kang Ji-woo would have said it hurts and protected his shoulder, although his words might have been gentle.
But Seo Moon-gyeol isn’t just a good person; he’s simply foolish.
Seeing this kind of behavior in survival situations was shocking, even though I had seen it before in flashbacks and experienced it while living together.
No matter how much I think about it, it doesn’t seem normal. No joke, seriously.
At that moment, Day, who had been thinking deeply, spoke.
“Then shall we do a performance that both of you can do together?”
My mind returned to reality.
“Shaoy, is that okay?”
“Oh… it’s okay. Challenge.”
Jing Xiao, the weakest in dance, smiled with enlightenment.
Then I asked Nagase Ritsu, and he gave an okay sign.
“Then a performance song it is, , , … … is that correct?”
“Correct.”
With the limited money I had to buy season-appropriate clothes, I had subscribed to music streaming services and tried my best to get familiar with the game’s music industry.
There were still many songs unfamiliar to me.
Looking at the artist names listed together, it seemed all the designated performance songs were pop songs.
Damn. I had painstakingly memorized the names of idols from the first generation around 2000, when Chronicle debuted, to the third generation that debuted just last month, like a family tree.
But I hadn’t looked into overseas ones yet!
“Hyungs, do any of these songs give you a strong feeling?”
Jing Xiao asked, looking at Seo Moon-gyeol and me.
I put on a faint smile.
“To be honest.”
“What?”
“Out of the three songs, I don’t know any of them. [Ritsu Hyung, I don’t know any of these songs.]”
“What?”
Before I could even finish speaking, Kyle looked at me with eyes questioning how that could be possible.
Day also made a fuss, interrogating me.
“You don’t know those legendary songs?”
Anticipating this reaction, I calmly rebutted.
“Of course, they’re famous and legendary songs, so I must have heard them somewhere, but if nothing comes to mind when I see the titles, doesn’t that mean I don’t know them?”
“You’re not thinking that just because your tone is calm, your argument makes sense too, are you?”
“That’s exactly what I’m thinking.”
“That’s nonsense! How could you not know? Are you a spy?”
“I think your Korean proficiency is truly nonsensical.”
Jing Xiao clapped and laughed.
Is this guy really Korean?
Let’s make him an honorary Korean.
“In that sense, Gyeol Hyung, which one of these three do you think is good?”
In response to my blatant redirection of the conversation, Seo Moon-gyeol unusually pondered for a long time.
It’s not that Seo Moon-gyeol is an empty vessel like me; he’s just so outstanding that he’s probably struggling to think of something suitable for our level.
“Out of the three, I think .”
“Oh.”
Just as Seo Moon-gyeol finally made his decision, PD Jo In-soo came over to us.
The cameraman, who had been filming us, lowered the camera and seemed ready to take a break.
“Hello!”
Surprised, the team members were about to stand up and greet him, but PD Jo In-soo gestured for them to stay seated as he looked down at us.
“Is the discussion going well?”
“Yes.”
“There are two trainees here who can produce, right? Raon and Moon-gyeol.”
“It’s Gyeol, PD-nim.”
When I gently corrected him, PD Jo In-soo looked surprised.
“Oh, really? His last name is Seo Moon?”
This revealed that even the main producer of the program didn’t know the contestants’ names properly.
“Yes. I mentioned it during the pre-interview.”
At least he did mention it. That’s a relief.
I thought he had just decided to live as Moon-gyeol.
‘I hate that I’m now considering this a relief….’
PD Jo In-soo spoke as if it was no big deal.
“Well, that can happen. Fortunately, you haven’t had much screen time, so it wouldn’t have been noticeable. I’ll make sure to correct it in the upcoming scripts.”
“Yes.”
…Did he really just say that?
As always, Seo Moon-gyeol responded calmly, but the other trainees were stiff with anxiety due to PD Jo In-soo’s excessive bluntness.
For a moment, I almost let out a reckless comment, like I used to do to the jerks including my former boss.
“Five minutes left!”
Hearing a staff member shout through a megaphone helped me regain my composure.
Hold on. If I act out now, both Seo Moon-gyeol and this team are finished.
I put on the kindest smile I could muster.
I needed to hear his business and send him away quickly.
“What brings you here, PD-nim?”
“Oh, right. I’d like this team to take on a multi-position task. Is that possible?”
“A multi-position task?”
Do you think it’s appropriate to bring this up with less than five minutes left to discuss?
“Yes. Since there are two trainees here who can produce, you should have the capability to handle it.”
“…….”
“It seems like everyone’s avoiding the multi-position task. If a less skilled team ends up with it, it’ll be troublesome for both us and you, won’t it? In terms of screen time and all, right?”
We’re already in a difficult position without Seo Moon-gyeol, and you’re making it even harder for us now.
“Yes, understood.”
I gently extended my middle finger from under my seat and, representing the team, responded with a sweet smile.
“Good. I like that you’re quick to understand. Then, I’ll leave it to you to choose the song shortly, okay?”
PD Jo In-soo left after dropping a huge bombshell.
“…….”
It was obvious that if position assignments were left solely to the trainees, at least half would end in disastrous failure.
Then, people would criticize the production team for not properly assessing the trainees’ skills.
Especially since there had already been numerous skill controversies in the previous season.
So, I thought they’d handle it by having someone help or even do it for us while calling it self-producing.
But they’re dumping 120% of the burden on the trainees like this?
Blatantly mentioning screen time?
While I was explaining the situation, toned down a bit, to Nagase Ritsu, who didn’t quite understand, the other team members were frozen in silence.
They probably hadn’t expected such blatant abuse of power from the broadcast station.
There’s a reason I resolved early on not to step into the entertainment industry.
Living in a world where this kind of treatment can happen naturally, unable to breathe or relax, I’d rather comfortably roll around at home.