Genius Idol’s Strategy to Conquer the Entertainment Industry

Chapter 67

The next day.

The first thing I saw when I woke up was our group chat, which was in complete chaos.

I already knew our performance had gone well from watching the live broadcast yesterday.

Did the higher-ups get chewed out for the monotonous and insincere editing that only focused on repetitive conflicts and breakdowns?

The broadcast was surprisingly favorable, to the point where I couldn’t believe it.

Anyway, it seemed like we had hit it big, but I was curious to what extent.

The reason we had initially decided not to check the internet reactions during the filming of Pick Heart was to avoid being unconsciously influenced by negative comments.

But since things had gone so well, it seemed like it wouldn’t hurt to check the reactions online at least once.

So I decided to take a look.

When I searched for Pick Heart, I entered the top trending post on the first page but quickly clicked back upon seeing a post telling certain people to die.

“This isn’t the place.”

I looked for a more moderate community, skimming through the titles without reading the content.

“[Playing ‘Eolssu Eolssu’ at school, everyone asking who the three with black hair are] +10”

“[Trustworthy Seo siblings if you’re on the same team, no worries about the stage (Subjects: Seo Moon-gyeol, Seo Chan-bin)] +6”

“[Watched ‘Eolssu’ so many times that I can now follow the ad-libs and rap;;;] +4”

“[On Raon pushing Seo Moon-gyeol as the center is hilarious, he’s so serious about the stage] +8”

“[Eolssu must take first place in position rankings for a full-cam. If blocked, it’s a disaster] +7”

Then, one post caught my eye.

“[Choosing ‘Vocal × Performance × Rap’ instead of ‘Performance × Rap’ for Eolssu was a stroke of genius] +5”

It wasn’t exactly a stroke of genius, but there was a reason why I chose ‘Vocal × Performance × Rap’ against Seo Moon-gyeol’s judgment back then.

The remaining positions at the time were either ‘Performance × Rap’ or ‘Vocal × Performance × Rap’, excluding the single position we couldn’t choose because of PD Jo In-soo.

If we had chosen ‘Performance × Rap’, everyone in our group would have had to rap.

By choosing ‘Vocal × Performance × Rap’, we could have some members avoid rapping and focus only on singing.

Though Jing Xiao and I weren’t great at it, Nagase Ritsu, Day, and Kyle’s rapping was really hard to listen to.

If they had rapped, even if Seo Moon-gyeol had dragged them along by force, the overall vibe would have fallen apart, and we wouldn’t have achieved the level of completion our stage had now.

Performing three positions at once might seem difficult, but considering that all three elements are usually included in a stage, it wasn’t that burdensome.

Above all, we had the great Seo Moon-gyeol with us.

No matter how I thought about it, I made a great choice.

I hoped we could be on the same team for the next competition as well.

“[If you’ve thought that far, then even a trick can be considered wisdom. Wisdom +5]”

Though it felt a bit uneasy, I decided to take it as a compliment since there were rewards.

* * *

Combining the legendary stage with Pick Heart’s existing reputation had a tremendous impact.

“‘Pick Your Heart Season 3’ captures both self-producing and global attention.”

“‘Pick Heart 3’ shines without malicious editing… A rediscovery of foreign trainees.”

“‘Encore-worthy Eolssu Eolssu’ ♬Court Music + Fly High (remix) #PositionProducingEvaluation #PickHeart3.”

The stage clip videos uploaded on both YouTube and Neighbor surpassed 1.5 million views.

The solo fancams of On Raon and Seo Moon-gyeol, released later, received positive feedback and exceeded 500,000 views within a day.

Jing Xiao had the next highest views, and the other three trainees were also among the higher ranks overall.

Especially, On Raon, who wasn’t the center but still led our group to first place, earned new nicknames like ‘On Boomb Boom’, ‘On Bam Bam’, ‘Exciting Raon’, and ‘Explosive Death’.

Of course, not all the feedback was positive.

As our popularity grew to a level that threatened the existing top ranks, the scrutiny from fans of other trainees naturally intensified.

– “How is On Raon first instead of Seo Moon-gyeol? Are the representatives at the scene blind?”

┗ “What do you even know, sitting at home…”

– “Summary of Seo Moon-gyeol’s facial expression controversy: He’s always making a cold face without saying anything, ruining the group’s mood. Can’t you see he’s sensitive and rude even without much screen time? Be grateful In-soo didn’t edit it maliciously and cut it all out~ (photo)”

┗ “His skills and looks are insanely rude though.”

┗ “If you talk a lot, you’re kind, but if you’re quiet, your personality is trash? Stop whining and go look at the hot pack meme from Sangam (photo).”

– “Delighted that the rant board is open. Representatives who don’t want to go crazy, evacuate now.”

– “Seeing my kid get bashed in broad daylight… I’m moved to tears, f*ck…”

* * *

“[On Raon seems indifferent to survival (+Ban Yo-han, Seo Moon-gyeol)]”

“He’s good at performing, but unlike other trainees, he doesn’t seem desperate. It doesn’t seem like he cares if he doesn’t debut here.”

“It’s clear they aren’t eager to debut. You can’t feel any desperation from them. It’s hard to gather a core fan base, and that’s why his ranking is low.”

“Still, if you want a stress-free fan experience, I recommend supporting them.”

– “Don’t talk nonsense. If I could fangirl stress-free, my life wouldn’t be a mess right now.”

– “This post is illogical and full of crap. It’s just that he doesn’t get much screen time, so his rank isn’t high, you moron.”

Despite their skills and hard work, they had no screen time. Couldn’t they see that Onp and the farmers were getting more and more frantic and that their core power was rising? If they had enough screen time to become popular with the general public, their rankings would be higher from the start. This is obvious to everyone but the general public.

– The Sid kids had a combined screen time of 3 minutes and 7 seconds out of 786 minutes from episodes 1 to 6, including the stage time (one minute of which was Jo In-soo’s repentance from yesterday). It’s remarkable that they even got that rank.

– Are you crazy? What kind of nonsense is this? Every time they appear on the show, the kids and I are withering away together.

– You’re right, though? It’s not that these three are slacking off; they’re working hard, but it doesn’t feel like they’re wearing themselves out. I felt the same.

┗ What do you mean by “wearing themselves out”?ㅋㅋㅋㅋ Is it a crime for the kids to have healthy minds and bodies? It’s the other trainees who are strange and pitiful.

┗ Really, do you think it’s normal for kids in their 20s to have their mental health shattered and be cursed at to the point where it wouldn’t be strange if someone died? Jo In-soo and you guys are no different.ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

┗ Sudden outburstㅋㅋ

– As a farmer, I think this post is crap, but it’s not entirely wrong.

Although On’s personality is like that, it’s hard to say anything because nothing has come out about Yo-han or Moon-gyeol’s personalities. Still, just looking at their faces, they seem like kids on a camping trip.

But that’s not a bad thing, and at least I like them for that reason. While it’s true that we’re frustrated by their lack of screen time, that’s our problem. The kids seem fine, and that’s what matters.

┗ Mental STC. Agree, representative farmer.

┗ Surprisingly, there are a lot of farmers like this. There aren’t many farmers who would grab farming tools and start a farmers’ movement at the Music Box headquarters. Most of them are peaceful, so joining Sid is good for stress-free fangirling.^^~

┗ Everyone knows it’s hard to farm these days, and you’re selling this crap fertilizer?

Anyway, these heated reactions also indicated a shift in the atmosphere compared to before.

At that moment, in the Music Box headquarters.

Jo In-soo PD, who was becoming a wreck from overnight editing, checked the reactions and burst out laughing.

“It’s a hit!”

* * *

A few days later, I got a call from Ban Yo-han.

– Ritsu said the PD came to you guys and forced you to take on complex positions.

“Yes, he did.”

– But was there really a need to do so well? Even knowing that it would just make the tyrant fatter.

It seemed like he knew I had planned the stage with “self-producing” and “global” in mind, and that thanks to that stage, the buzz around Pick Heart had skyrocketed.

That was true.

The second performance stage was designed, calculating that the PD might deliberately promote us if it benefited the program’s publicity.

In fact, I was half skeptical, wondering if it would work out.

What’s life about anyway? Just give it a shot.

Fortunately, seeing the articles and reactions now, it seemed to have worked out so well that it felt almost too easy.

Even Jo In-soo PD, who used to put on all sorts of airs in front of us, must have been nervous behind the scenes.

– This might be the only time he treats you well. You might just be being used.

His tone sounded like he was pretending to be concerned for me, subtly discontented, as if he wasn’t happy with our team’s success. Just like someone who wanted me to be eliminated.

“Still, that was the best we could do.”

– …….

“I don’t have any great connections to take down that guy and retaliate. If we refuse, we’re the only ones who get hurt. Even if we don’t like it, we have to do it.”

– Ummm….

“So, if we’re going to do it anyway, we might as well do it so well that we prove him wrong! We need to show that even with his interference, we can achieve this level of success! That’s how I win.”

– What kind of logic is that?

Ban Yo-han sounded dumbfounded, and I felt good.

“I don’t know. If I feel good, I win. This is all about pride.”

A moment later, Ban Yo-han responded.

– Seong-ha says he’s really envious of your mental strength.

Was he having this sensitive conversation on speakerphone?

Ban Yo-han wasn’t a thoughtless guy like the trainees who talked about rigging in the waiting room before, so he must have judged it was okay, but it was still ridiculous.

“Why doesn’t he say it himself?”

– He’s dead tired. By the way, it’s just us here… Oh, now Sae-bom hyung is here.

“Then that’s fine.”

I responded, pretending to understand, and prepared to hang up.

I could hear someone calling out from the other side, telling him to hurry up.

It was probably Sae-bom Jung, who had just arrived.

These days, Sid trainees seemed to be going through much harder and more intense schedules than when they were with me.

Back then, except for the designated lesson times, most of it was self-practice, so it didn’t seem that tough. But now, the company seemed to be much stricter.

Thanks to Seo Moon-gyeol’s popularity on Pick Heart, Kang Ji-woo and Gyun Seong-ha’s debuts also seemed to be getting closer to reality.

If Sid had abandoned the ambition to fill the group with ace-level members from the start, they would have debuted long ago….

Anyway, it was a good thing.

Even Ban Yo-han, who was joking around with me, seemed to be participating diligently in the company’s training.

Not only training but also dieting seriously, he looked much thinner than when I first saw him.

Ban Yo-han had a naturally slender frame, so standing next to other trainees, he didn’t look like an outsider. But now he was dieting even more.

“Is your body okay?”

No matter how popular Ban Yo-han was on Pick Heart and how talented he was as an idol, he was just a temporary replacement for Kang Ji-woo.

From what I gathered when I peeked into his memory, he himself thought his chances of debuting were slim unless Sid and Music Box reconciled dramatically.

After this program ended, he would return to his normal life.

“Hyung, are you going to be an idol?”

I was curious why he was going so far, so I asked indirectly.

– The image of appearing on a broadcast stays forever in some form.

He replied nonchalantly, in a way that was typical of him.

– Don’t you hate the idea of people you don’t even know seeing your inadequate side and thinking that’s all you are?

“You were slacking off when we practiced for Heart Attack.”

– Ah, back then, I thought I’d be eliminated soon. But….

So he did slack off.

“But what?”

– Um, never mind.

There are two ways to piss someone off the most: one is stopping mid-sentence.

“Why stop talking halfway? You’re making me curious.”

– Why do you think?

This sly fox?

My temples were throbbing, but I could hear his annoyingly clear laughter over the phone.

– Haha. Anyway, if we’re going to do it, let’s do it right.

He seemed to be avoiding something, but his answer was sufficient.

In short, it was a matter of pride, or as they say, “ga-o.”

Even so, there wouldn’t be many people in the world who would go that far.

“Is this diligence or stubbornness?”

In any case, his thorough self-discipline and determination were admirable.

Someone like him would score perfectly on the college entrance exam and get into Seoul National University as the top student.

– Hey, I’m hanging up now. See you tomorrow.

With that, Ban Yo-han informed me and hung up without waiting for my reply.

“This…”

What an impersonal guy!