Chapter 75: What People Want to Believe
Chapter 75 What People Want to Believe
The result was, of course, a landslide victory for Sungwon.
There were 350 people in the audience. That meant he only needed more than 176 votes to win the duel.
[First: 67 votes]
[Second: 283 votes]
The graph on the screen was also covered in blue, the color of the second performer.
“This is crazy… This is the legendary moment of my life. I made it to the live show.”
“Will this be released as a song? If it does, it will definitely top the charts.”
“If they don’t release it, I’m going to set fire to the NBS headquarters.”
“Let’s go together, gather up, gather up.”
As the audience was buzzing, the MC continued his commentary and the first performer, number 28, came out to reveal his face.
I checked that Sungwon had gone back to the waiting room and turned on my phone. I was sitting in the staff section, so there was a risk of being caught on the screen. But… it wasn’t Sungwon’s turn now, so they would be focusing on the other audience members.
I quickly called up the system.
‘System.’
Pposili, as if he had been waiting, barked silently with a woof-!
‘I’ll use the Fate skills ‘Overwhelming Talent’ and ‘You’ll Like Me Too’.’
[Please select the target to apply the skills.]
‘Climax.’
The system window flashed and disappeared. Then I heard someone whispering behind me.
“Wow, the accusation post that was uploaded before the show started, there’s a rebuttal now.”
That was a statement that made my ears perk up. I quickly logged on to the entertainment talk talk board.
The first place that had been occupied by the accusation post until before I collapsed was now replaced by another title.
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[Title] I expose the fake public opinion manipulation to sabotage a group.
[Content]
Hello, this is the first time I’m posting something like this, so please forgive me if it’s not well-organized.
I’m writing this to let you know that the accusation posts that were uploaded this morning and a few hours ago (now deleted) are completely different from the truth.
The content of this post is based on the conversations that took place in a fan chat room of a popular group Phantom that I belonged to.
I won’t reveal the group name specifically, but you can probably guess which group it is from the chat room dialogue. I hope this post doesn’t cause a new fandom war and clears up the misunderstanding between the two fandoms.
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Why is the introduction so long? To find out what they wanted to say, I scrolled down to the summary part.
[3-line summary]
[1. A group fandom felt a crisis of fandom leakage to C group fandom these days.]
[2. In a specific chat room, they were collecting fabricated evidence to bury C group when they got a leak from a staff that ‘a song that was almost used for F group was also offered to C group’.]
[3. They interpreted this content provocatively and spread it as ‘C group stole F group’s song’.]
So that was the reason. I don’t know if this is true, but it probably has a high chance of being true. Then how did they get the staff verification?
There were people who had the same question as me in the comments.
I quickly snapped out of it and checked the best comments.
<Best 1st>
[- Hello, I am the real owner of the ID card that was attached to the accusation post. This picture was the one I shared with my close friends to let them know about my new job. I didn’t think much of it and shared it with them casually. I had no idea it would cause such a big uproar. I sincerely apologize to the C Group staff and the company who were harmed by the plagiarism.]
<Best 2nd>
[- I saw the best comment and it looks like the C Group antis were feeling threatened by their group and tried to spread fake news with fabricated evidence, but they got caught.
How can they be fans of a group that debuted with manipulation?ㅋㅋㅋㅋ]
[ㄴ There is no clear evidence that F Group’s debut was manipulated, so don’t jump on the bandwagon now.]
[ㄴ Everyone except their fandom admits that they debuted with manipulation. Face the realityㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ]
[ㄴ Aren’t you a fan of the manipulation master? How can you be so shameless and come out to shield him without changing your profile picture?]
<Best 3rd>
[- The tempos were so excited and posted screenshots and explanations, but now they are busy deleting them and telling everyone to shut upㅎㅎ]
[ㄴ They deliberately used initials in the original post, but why do you have to mention the fandom name?]
[ㄴ The public opinion post itself was a hoax by the tempos to bash a small group with a weak fandom. Can’t you stand a little criticism?ㅋㅋ]
The comments below were a mess. Floss was very popular, but also had a lot of anti-fans because of the provocative broadcast of the survival program.
Especially, the fans of the participants who made it to the final broadcast but failed to be in the final debut lineup of 9 members were the main source of the public opinion that ‘my kid couldn’t debut because of the manipulation.’
I didn’t know if there was any manipulation or not. Or if it was just a sabotage by the losers.
‘You must know that I’m being cursed as the manipulation master, right?’
Even if he was in a position like Kang Yugeon… It must have been hard to deal with the manipulation controversy.
But he still had a reputation for being an unusual guy who often missed his schedule.
There were 2 or 3 posts related to us in the top ranks of the most viewed posts in real time.
One of them was a SNS post by the producer who helped Ye-jun with his first commercial song.
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[Title] Black Bull’s CEO shoots down the manipulation story
[Content]
[My brother is about to hit big. Why are there so many flies talking nonsense? If Floss had failed, I would have hired him right away. He’s a genius that you can’t recognize. And you’re talking about copying or stealingㅋㅋ Listen and then talk]
(Picture)
The CEO of another company dissed the comeback song that the members worked onㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
I’ve been following Joonie since he kept posting his own songs on the fancafe. I wondered if he would ever produce his own songㅠㅠㅠ
He must have worked really hard for this comeback
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The content was quite harsh, so there might have been some people who picked on his tone…
But the other party was Bulldog, who was famous for biting anyone without mercy.
He was a top producer who was indisputably an expert, as he was the winner of the early season of a famous hip hop competition program.
He didn’t back down from any controversy and kept biting until there were dozens or hundreds of articles.
The picture attached to the back was of Ye-jun sleeping soundly with his head down next to the editing equipment.
When did he take this? Did he call him back at dawn after we left? Judging by the background, it looked like a picture from the day we finished recording.
Thanks to that, the public opinion changed to sympathy for the small group that was harassed by the malicious large fandom.
‘Is this enough… Can I relax now?’
The next ranked post was trying to promote Climax by taking advantage of the sympathetic public opinion.
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[Title] Anyone want to join me in fangirling over a group where the leader opens the door and the members block the exit?
[Body]
You probably guessed who it is, but it’s Climax!
Let’s start by looking at the leader’s godly candid shots that will stay in his life forever.
(Picture)
All the members are model idols over 180 cm tall, and they have flawless faces that suit everyone’s taste. I’m sure you’ll find one of them to your liking.
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[Comments]
<Best 1st>
[- I know everyone else is cool, cute, and awesome, but I’m here to promote Kyunghwa. He’s always called Ryu Airheadㅜ but he’s the only one who can handle the haters. There’s no man like him who can quietly do his job and hold the center as the lead vocal. God Kyunghwa, please notice me]
[ㄴ Awwㅜㅜㅜ I saw his self-cam and he’s so diligent… He doesn’t stand out or cause any trouble, so he seems a bit bland compared to the others… But he’s really versatile and he can do anything twice as well as anyone else. He’s amazing]
[ㄴ I’m taking my husband Mangtaegi and running away. You have to marry a man like this]
[ㄴ Wake up, Kyunghwa. You didn’t work hard and be diligent for this]
<Best 2nd>
[- They’re just cool, touching, moving, heartwarming, cute, and funny. Their story of becoming model idols is hilarious too. The members who left were in the 170s, so they were the shorties of the team, but they all quitㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ]
[ㄴ No wonderㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ There’s no way there would be such tall guys in the underground of WeFle. The average height is too high]
<Best 3rd>
[- Since you’ve seen the promotion post, please check out the members’ real friendship too. They’ve been inactive for too long and they suffered from the member withdrawal, so the remaining ones are super closeㅠ They’re all watching ‘Star Discovery’ together right now and they got caught on the screen]
(Picture)
[ㄴ Huh? But why is Seongwon the only one missing when they’re all there?]
[ㄴ ??? What’s going on??? When did this get posted?? Did they just get caught on the screen?]
Next, there was a post that speculated that the 24th contestant who won the first and second rounds was Seongwon.
As if to prove the effect of ‘overwhelming skill’ and ‘you’ll like me too’, the whole board was filled with friendly stories about Climax.
“What are you doing, pay attention to the stage. If you were a regular audience, it wouldn’t matter, but if you come to the cheering section and use your phone for too long, you’ll get scolded.”
Kyungwha pulled my sleeve and warned me as I was staring at my phone for a long time.
But I didn’t care or feel embarrassed. I felt strange.
Until a few hours ago, the whole board was cursing us to death. But now they’re cheering, supporting, and hoping for a good performance. It was full of nice things.
It’s not that I’m annoyed. It’s just… I couldn’t enjoy this situation.
‘What if I was a normal twenty-four-year-old who couldn’t get help from the system?’
It wouldn’t be strange if I couldn’t get up and collapsed like this.
It’s obvious because I got help from the system… But with a few posts, the public opinion changed like this and I got support…
“Why do you get to do it and I don’t?”
I remembered the ‘real’ Cheon Yise who I met in a place I didn’t even know where. The real Cheon Yise failed, but I succeeded…
Before I could find an answer, Kyunghwa pulled my sleeve again.
“What are you doing, what are you looking at that you can’t focus?”
He looked at me with a disdainful face, and I finally felt a bit of reality.
Yeah, this is how my trashy friends are. I answered with a stupid smile, without realizing it.
“I’m just… happy to see you.”
“What nonsense are you talking about?”
Kyunghwa still looked anxious, not knowing that the public opinion had turned around. He fiddled with his fingertips, showing his nervousness.
“Go check out Celebrity Talk right now.”
Instead of explaining everything, I sent him a link to the chat room.
“Huh, what is it? Isn’t it just a speculation article about Son Seong-won?”
Ye-jun also opened the link I sent him, thinking it was nothing serious. After a brief silence, I heard Kyunghwa gasp in shock.
I looked down at him with a smug expression, as if I was a father who came with a 48-color crayon set in both hands. How about that, am I the only one who can’t take my eyes off my phone?
“Huh?”
I expected him to react more strongly. Why is he so quiet? Is he okay? I wondered, when Ye-jun opened his mouth.
“Kyunghwa hyung fainted, you know?”
I’m going crazy. It was one trouble after another.