LIGHTNOVELONLINE Chapter 76: The Sweet and Bitter Taste of Life
Chapter 76 The Sweet and Bitter Taste of Life
“Get up, snap out of it and stand properly.”
He shook my shoulder lightly and I felt a brief dizziness, as if that was all it was. Kyunghwa lifted his head.
“Wait… I can’t tell if this is real or not right now.”
He seemed to not believe this situation and tried to pinch his own cheek. Then Ye-jun slapped Kyunghwa’s cheek with his fingertip without any hesitation.
“Ow.”
He thought he had controlled his strength, but… He was naturally big and strong, so it felt like no control at all to the one who got hit.
“I didn’t ask you to hit me.”
“I thought you would.”
Ye-jun smirked, his handsome face looking mischievous.
Kyunghwa seemed to regain some of his senses from the stinging pain on his cheek and looked at his phone screen again.
“I can’t believe it… The whole board is flooded with our story.”
If I didn’t know this was the effect of the item, I would have been anxious about when the roller coaster of public opinion would hit me again.
But this was fixed to the conclusion we wanted, so there was no need to worry about it being reversed by manipulation.
I brushed my chest and turned off my phone screen. It would be good to contact the manager, but… If it was a reasonable company, the support team should already be on it.
“I think we should pull ourselves together and work hard when everyone is cheering for us like this.”
I patted Kyunghwa’s back, who was lying on the chair weakly, pretending to be calm, but I was no different.
I felt the same way, wondering if this was also an extension of that strange space.
You thought the system was restored, right? Actually, it was all an illusion! Ta-da! It felt like it could be turned upside down at any time.
Did Seong-won see the board’s opinion change? No, did he know that the board was in chaos with negative comments?
I wanted to call him, who was in the waiting room separately.
But I was worried that I might disturb him, who was focusing on the stage, so I was more concerned about him.
“I want to tell Seong-won hyung too.”
It seemed that everyone had the same thought, as Seon-woo, who was next to Kyunghwa and doing some nursing, muttered.
“Don’t contact him now. He’s in the final now, so don’t distract him.”
Eight contestants were left, and four were eliminated in the first round.
Two more were eliminated in the second round just before.
Now it was the final situation.
On the stage, the final interview was starting to attract the maximum ratings and advertising slots.
[Now only two contestants are left for the best gemstone spot!]
[Who will be the ultimate winner? The 6th episode of Star Discovery, the moment of gemstone birth! We will conduct a brief in-depth interview!]
Under the main MC’s lively progress, two masked contestants walked onto the stage.
[The two glorious contestants, please come forward now!]
The 7th contestant, who wore a mask decorated with blue as the theme, was a woman wearing a floor-length dress.
She looked like a singer or a musical actress, rather than an idol or an actor, as she was slightly plump.
[Thank you for giving me the opportunity to sing in this glorious place today.]
The 7th contestant waved her hand with opera gloves on to the audience and the whole audience cheered.
“When will the final start? I wish they would stop wasting time and hurry up.”
Someone in the audience grumbled loudly. I completely agreed.
[Well, now let’s hear from the 24th contestant who will have a splendid showdown with the 7th contestant!]
Seong-won had changed into a stage outfit in the waiting room, wearing a suit with different decorations than before.
It was so full of lace, ribbons, and all kinds of ornaments that it looked more like…
‘He looks like a groom in a wedding photo shoot.’
The 7th contestant was hiding his face, so I couldn’t guess his exact age, but he had a vibe of a young groom and an older bride couple.
[I will do my best. Thank you.]
Even in this situation, he couldn’t speak for more than 10 seconds, which was surprisingly Seong-won-like.
The audience, mostly female fans, stirred as if they were sure it was him from his curt greeting.
“He must be Son Seong-won. You can tell by his lack of eloquence.”
“He’s an idol, but he can’t talk at all.”
It sounded like they were teasing him, but the next sentence was important.
“But that’s why I like him so much. He’s funny and fresh. And he works hard, so he doesn’t seem like he’s slacking off.”
The impression of Seong-won was generally like that.
He was clumsy and awkward with people, so he was easily misunderstood, but once you got to know him, he was a warm and cute guy.
That was also because his face was handsome and he got a bonus, which didn’t make me feel very good… Anyway, I was glad that the one I was worried about being hated the most was fine.
[Can you two give us a little hint on how you prepared for the final stage?]
The MC turned the microphone to the 7th contestant first, who seemed more articulate.
The 7th contestant took the microphone with a graceful gesture and calmly continued his speech.
[I prepared a stage that can show you my overflowing energy and passion.]
The final stage was usually simple, without complex effects or choreography, or backup dancers, because it was hard to guarantee advancement.
Judging by his words, he probably prepared a stage that would captivate the audience with his explosive singing skills.
‘If he keeps up the atmosphere with high notes and then makes everyone jump around with him, we’ll be at a disadvantage.’
Of course, we didn’t prepare poorly either. Rather, we minimized the cost and focused on the concept, as if we were betting everything on the final.
‘Please, let us go second, please.’
The dice had already been thrown. All we could do was hope that luck would favor us, after we did our best.
[Wow, I’m already looking forward to the hot and fiery atmosphere, aren’t you? What kind of stage did you prepare, 24th contestant?]
The MC handed the microphone to Seong-won this time. Seong-won tapped the microphone with his fingertips to check if the sound was on, and brought it close to his mouth.
“Why is he so cute even when he’s testing the microphone?”
“His face looks like it’s 70% covered by the mask, but it still shows.”
He was hiding his face with a weird mask, and wearing something like a wedding tuxedo, which should have looked strange.
But the reaction was better than expected. He had such good proportions and height that he looked good in anything.
[Um… I prepared a stage that you can all enjoy together.]
As always, his remark was shorter than the other candidates. He was the kind of guy who owed a thousand won for his face and earned it back with his mouth.
It was frustrating, but the atmosphere was still not bad. And what Seong-won said was nothing but the truth.
‘Hopefully, we’ll get the response we want.’
The song Seong-won prepared was a hit or miss. It was so risky that the planning team even tried to dissuade him, saying it was too dangerous.
But Ye-jun and I strongly opposed them. This will definitely work, we said. Even though we might have to give up the votes of some age groups outside our target demographic…
With this song, we could have a chance to win in the live viewer voting that only counts for the final round.
But the planning team, who didn’t have much hope for Seong-won’s advancement to the finals, gave us a hand.
‘Well… it’s a plan that we can only use if we make it to the finals.’
I was annoyed by their attitude of ‘why bother?’ when they invited the band and the guitarist to join us on stage, but it turned out to be a blessing in disguise.
I would be happy if we could win the final round, but it’s okay if we don’t.
We had already secured our popularity and public opinion victory with the buzz from the first and second rounds.
[Well, we’ve heard your thoughts, both of you! Now, we’ll have a simple game to decide who will go first or second! But before that! We have a little gift for our two challengers, one more thing to give you!]
The MC brought a wheel of fortune onto the stage, trying to lighten the mood with his casual voice.
On the giant circular wheel, there were tiny letters indicating the prizes.
That’s when I realized.
Oh, this. We’re not going to win.
[-Judges’ scores x 10]
[-Extension of the national tour for the winner]
[-Live broadcast of the tour special]
…
[You all know that the winner of the 6th episode of ‘Star Discovery’ will receive a prize of 100 million won, a national tour, a special album release, and other benefits, right?]
The audience members who were sitting close to the stage were outraged. What is this nonsense? The ones who were sitting far away couldn’t even read the letters on the wheel because of the poor quality of the screen, and they complained a lot.
The MC also felt the audience’s agitation, and he continued to explain with a forced smile.
[From now on, we’ll give you a chance to write a drama of reversal or upgrade your prize with the wheel, only once for each finalist.]
That chance was nothing but a transparent trick.
‘They’re so greedy for money that they want to milk the tour.’
It was obvious who the organizers wanted to push as the final winner.
They would favor the solo singer over Seong-won, who was in a group and had difficulty doing a long tour because of his group activities.
The judges’ score boost that was sneakily added to the upgrade wheel made it clear.
They were determined to make the other one the winner, even if Seong-won won the viewer or audience votes.
‘These bastards are only smart when it comes to this.’
No, this wasn’t even smart. Anyone would complain if they saw this obvious scam.
[Well, then, let’s start with the 24th contestant, who was the first in the last match, to spin the wheel, shall we?]
The MC reached out his arm to the wheel, as if he was trying to be considerate of Seong-won, who looked young.
Seong-won walked hesitantly to the wheel and pulled the lever.
[The wheel is spinning! What will be the upgrade prize for the 24th contestant?]
The wheel started to turn slowly, along with the MC’s hype.
[We’ll reveal it in 60 seconds!]
And then, as expected, the commercial break came. The staff came up to the stage and covered the wheel, as if they wouldn’t reveal the result until the waiting time was over.
‘This is a blatant manipulation, are they declaring it or something?’
The wheel behind the curtain didn’t seem to care about the viewers’ and audience’s troubled minds. It made a clattering sound as it gradually slowed down.
Finally, the 60 seconds of waiting time was over, and the MC approached the wheel to lift the curtain.
[The upgrade result for the 24th contestant! We’ll reveal it right now!]
As the curtain flew off, sighs erupted from the audience.