Chapter 13 |
We moved to the auditorium to shoot the reaction video for the official theme song and the second episode, after the editing was finished.
‘Why are we filming reactions for the second episode and not for the first?’
I couldn’t understand the production team. The only possible reason was that they skipped the first episode because it was the grade evaluation that everyone had already watched.
We gathered in front of the huge screen set up in the auditorium. We were already informed that the public had already gone crazy over the by the pre-released stage, so we waited for the video with anticipation.
“Hey, you. Did you see the real-time hot keywords? They’re all just filled with Lee Hwayoung and Han Seungbeom.”
“Really? I wonder if people will even notice us.”
The trainees sitting nearby whispered. Then, Do Yuda, who overheard the conversation, quickly took out a tablet.
“You brought that all the way here?”
“It’s not mine, the production staff gave it to me. It has a camera lock app installed, so the risk of leaks is reduced!”
“Wow, it’s true. From 1st to 10th place, it’s all filled with stories about our hyungs. People are already so interested in the program, so there’s no way we’ll fail.”
After operating the tablet a few times, Do Yuda’s eyes lit up.
“Really?”
“Yup. I think you already have a bunch of fan accounts now. You know those people who came to the production presentation with cannon cameras? There are those fans too.”
“Give it to me.”
I had no idea what I had done to earn fans already. When I looked at the tablet that Do Yuda handed me, the real-time trending was full of keywords about us.
[Sanghwa Group Idol]
[SU Entertainment]
[Survive IDOL]
[Survive IDOL CSAT Guy]
[Chaebol Man Light Source Man]1
[Nicholas Hwayoung Lee]
[Athlete Woo Kangwon]
[Han Seungbeom of Troy]2
[3rd Generation Chaebol Idol]
[Born to Be Idol Light Source Man]
‘It’s more popular than I thought. The keywords are still dominating the internet.’
“Oh, it’s true. It’s all about us.”
“See? Hyung is the center, and Nicholas-hyung’s family situation is so shocking!”
I knew it was natural that Lee Hwayoung and I would be the ones to draw attention first, especially since Lee Hwayoung was the third generation of a conglomerate; something that had never happened in idol history.
When I glanced at the back of Lee Hwayoung’s head, that kid, as if he had a sixth sense, turned around. He smiled faintly, and waved his hand.
“Ugh.”
‘That’s scary. How can he be so perceptive?’
He was still creepy. Did all conglomerates have that same insanity?
I quickly averted my eyes and looked at the hot keywords again.
‘What the hell is Light Source Man?’
There was something odd sandwiched between all the keywords I had predicted. Just as I was questioning it, the screen lit up.
Tada!
As the sound echoed through the room, the trainees who had been chit chatting sat up and looked at the screen.
[“A survival idol project where only 7 out of 77 trainees survive, Survive IDOL! The official theme song will be revealed right now!”]
With a dramatic entrance accompanied by sound effects, MC Yang Hajun took the stage to introduce the official theme song. Then, the sound of a slot machine spinning slowly flowed.
[“Put a bet on your idol!”]
[“I’ll win, my shining dream!
Born to be IDOL. That’s me!”]
My voice, with reverb added and no backing track, echoed out immediately. Then, close-ups of me and the other trainees staring straight into the camera appeared.
[“I will devote all my potential Set your worries aside. They’ll only bring fear Born to be IDOL. That’s me!”]
As it was the theme song of the program, there were no more individual voices after that. The singing of all the trainees resonated in my ears like a choir.
‘Of course, there were some voices that stood out from the rest.’
As expected, the song centered around Do Yuda’s fresh and steady voice, mixed with my own, Lee Hwayoung’s, and the other vocally-skilled trainees’ voices.
Do Yuda was already overwhelmed with emotion, tears welling up in his eyes.
“Huhuhuhu. We look so cool.”
“Yeah.”
‘Not bad.’
It felt a bit cheap, but since it was a song clearly made to be addictive, it stuck in my head really well. It was satisfying enough for me.
After the song ended, before we even had a chance to clap, the ending shot began. The trainees appearing in the ending shot were mostly those with striking visuals and those who seemed likely to have a lot of screentime, such as Woo Kangwon, Lee Hwayoung, and Do Yuda.
‘….Did I get excluded from the ending fairy lineup?’
I was getting flustered as my face didn’t appear until several trainees had passed, but just then, a close-up of my face appeared. It seemed like I was last in line.
‘Why do I look so odd?’
Something felt strange.
As I stared at my face intently, I figured out the reason.
While the other trainees were sweating, out of breath, and their chests were rising and falling from exhaustion, I alone appeared as if I were some transcendent being, looking flawless and breathing steadily.
Oh, and of course, Woo Kangwon, with his monstrous stamina, was fine too.
‘The choreography doesn’t make me out of breath, so what can I do?’
I should have forced myself to pant a bit to make it look like I worked hard.
“Heeeeeeeeeeeee!”
“Whoa! So handsome!”
The trainees cheered and clapped when they saw my face.
“Is he the ending fairy?”
“He’s a real fairy…..”
“He’s seriously so handsome. I’m so jealous.”
Not stopping there, but the camera zoomed in on my face, filling the entire screen. Then, as the lights shone directly on my face, I squinted from the brightness before bursting into laughter.
‘Light Source Man was me.’
It really wasn’t anything special. I was just laughing because the light was too bright. If there’s anything unique about it, maybe it’s just that my face was too good-looking. If it had been another trainee, it probably would have been classified as a NG and edited out.
“He looks like an angel…..”
“Do you have to look like that to be a celebrity?”
“That explains why Light Source Man is on the hot topic.”
As soon as the video ended, the auditorium quickly became noisy like a marketplace as the trainees chattered.
“I should visit to the S-Class practice room too. I want to see the real thing.”
“Where is he? Isn’t he still here with us?”
The trainees who had been whispering among themselves lifted their heads like pigeons, trying to find me.
Don’t.
Soon after, the main PD’s voice came through the speaker.
“Yes, we’ve seen the official theme song video, and now we will begin filming the reactions for episode 2 which has not yet aired.”
The screen lit up again and the Lucky Center appeared.
[DKDK, the First Morning at Lucky Center]
With captions, Woo Kangwon who quickly got up to the sound of the alarm, and I, who unable to even open my eyes, appeared in a split screen.
[<military service veteran hyung> <baby></baby></military>]
‘Are they crazy?’
They captioned me as a baby.
While my mouth was open in shock, I suddenly heard a loud crashing sound.
[Crash!]
‘Oh, that’s when Do Yuda rolled off the bed.’
A caption appeared above Do Yuda, who was sprawled with only his lower body on the bed.
[<Baby 2>]
And then there’s a scene of me, still half-asleep, walking over and helping him up.
[<But I’m the older brother, so I have to take care of you.>]
“Oh, hyung, did you take care of me back then? Haha! This is so embarrassing!”
“…….”
Do Yuda scratched the back of his head, looking embarrassed, and then slapped my back. Stay still. I’m in a huge shock right now.
After that, scenes of other classes waking up and funny moments passed by, and then our scene of learning the theme song in the auditorium appeared. I wasn’t interested in the scenes I wasn’t in.
[“You have one day until the midterm check and the grade re-evaluation. All you have to do is finish everything up to the second verse.”]
“Ah, I was so surprised at the time. I never imagined it was real. I should have at least pretended to try harder, even if it was a setup.”
At Jay’s words, the trainees who remembered the nightmare from that day grabbed their heads.
[<Trainees in Crisis>]
[<But there’s someone who’s relaxing all by himself?>]
The scene showed the trainees stumbling and dancing in the practice room, followed by my image, smoothly checking the choreography with my face covered by a black circle and a question mark. Then, the scene shifted to me grabbing Do Yuda and Woo Kangwon, and dragged them away to teach them the choreography
[“Hyung, can’t we rest a little, just a little!”]
My face was revealed along with Do Yuda’s screams.
[<HAN SEUNGBEOM (20) / Honorary Trainer (Specialty: Finished the choreography in 30 minutes)>]
“Eh.”
[“Those three good-looking guys always stick together, so I was a bit annoyed. Please clear the deep-rooted evils of S-Class Room 1.”]
The trainees couldn’t help but burst out laughing at the interview of a B-Class trainee, whose face was so barely pixelated to the point everyone still could recognize him.
I didn’t expect the broadcast to go out like that. It’s not a bad thing, so I decided to just let it slide.
[“Wow, look at that hyung. He already got the choreography done.”]
[“Should I ask him to teach me?”]
Then, the scene continued with younger trainees, who had come to visit the S-Class practice room, gathered together whispering. When I returned after shoving Do Yuda into the vocal practice room, an instructor’s red hat appeared as CGI3 on my head. Chick No. 1, who had swallowed nervously, approached me.
[“Hyung! Let’s practice together.”]
[“Why? Is there something you don’t understand?”]
[“No. I just want to get better, so I want to practice with you, hyung. I’ll do my best.”]
[“It was admirable. He was willing to work hard. So, I made him practice like crazy. I taught him, so I can’t stand the thought of him getting bad review. No, I won’t tolerate it.”]
[<S-So scary>]
A CG of black smoke rising appeared behind me during the interview, and there was a shot of my eyeballs menacingly rolling, accompanied by a sound effect straight out of a horror movie. I was looking forward to a Prince-like character, but it seemed to be going in a strange direction.
‘I don’t approve of this.’
This was the evil editing. I was being used.
“Wow, the production team really understood his character.”
“Seungbeom does have that kind of side to him.”
“Scary! Goblin! Stop scolding me!”
Do Yuda clapped and cheered, while the other trainees nodded, tears in their eyes from too much laughing.
“You have to do more, that thing. You just didn’t get it.”
The camera director filmed the trainees hiding under their chairs and me, who was glaring at the screen alone, and then disappeared. I had no idea what they plan to use this footage for.
Soon after, a scene of me teaching Woo Kangwon and Chick No. 1 followed.
[<Mad Trainer and 2 Victims>]
All the other trainees who had chased after me asking to be taught were edited out, and only Chick No. 1 was featured intensively on the broadcast. It seemed like they were trying to create a narrative for Chick No. 1, who had risen it to the S-Class.
[<And the ensuing Grade Re-evaluation>]
After the time-lapse of all the practice rooms passed, the video transitioned straight to the Grade Re-evaluation day. And seeing that the trainers’ banters came out for quite a long time, it seemed like they were trying to make the most of of having chosen idols as trainers.
I was the first to appear in the evaluation.
[“Please tell us what percentage you’ve completed first.”]
[“.…One hundred percent.”]
Question marks popped up above the trainers’ and my head.
[<people who intentionally gave out impossible assignment> <the person who actually completed the impossible></the></people>]
[]
And with a space background composited and our bodies spun around. It was poorly done CGI.
[“Then let’s get started.”]
The trainer gestured in disbelief, and soon after, scenes of me flawlessly performing the song and choreography followed, while the trainers were left speechless, hands on their necks.
[“I was confident. If I hadn’t done it perfectly, I don’t think I would have been able to forgive myself. I hate a less-than-perfect performance.”]
[<“Were you practicing in your sleep?”>]
[“No. I think it’s fine since I’m not dead yet.”]
Along with the interview, another cut of me smiling fiercely was inserted.
‘Ah, why do they keep using that.’
Next up was Chick No. 1, though it differed from the actual evaluation order, likely rearranged to make it more fun. A scene showed Chick No. 1 looking back anxiously before entering the evaluation room, with me nodding reassuringly.
‘That was my response to Do Yuda.’
Those broadcasting station guys edited in all sorts of random stuff.
Soon after, scenes of me practicing together with him and the evaluation scenes were interwoven, followed by heartwarming shots of the trainers looking satisfied.
Then, with a chirping sound effect, an interview with Chick No. 1 played.
[“I think I was able to do well because Seungbeom hyung helped me a lot. Thank you so much.”]
‘Okay.’
Considering he managed to get to S-Class that way, I’d say it was quite a decent outcome. I nodded in satisfaction, and the camera director took another shot of me.
[<but most of the trainees>]</but>
The evaluation stage, which was almost at a comedy show level of failure, featured trainees messing up and trainers bursting into laughter for quite a long time.
In the midst of that, suddenly, a serious BGM started playing. Then appeared a trembling trainee, shaking like a newborn weasel, alongside Frick.
[“Trainee Baek Kiryang.”]
[“Yes!”] [“Are you not going to greet properly? The viewers will all be watching, you know?”]
The trainee, who had been staring straight into the camera, frozen like a statue, suddenly flinched at the unexpected shout and finally bowed his head.
‘If I’m not wrong, he came in as a vocalist, so he’s relatively weak in dancing. He was so nervous he even forgot to greet properly. His compatibility with Frick is the worst.’
I knew that he was the S-Class trainee who was demoted, but I never imagined he’d be on that state during the evaluation stage.
[“Ah! I’m sorry.”]
The trainee, who was clearly nervous, replied one beat slower in a small voice.
[“Are you going to apologize to the public like that? You have no manners. You’re just not prepared. Just go home.”]
‘The public probably didn’t think anything of it.’
If the editing was done in a cute way, it could have been framed as a gag point, showing a trainee who forgot to greet due to nervousness. It was obvious that he was just offended that he wasn’t greeted properly, but he was trying to make it seem like he was doing it for the sake of the people.
That was not a justified anger. It was a display for the camera, to show just how scary he could be when he got angry, and to demonstrate how he crushed those who dare to disregard his authority.
‘The problem is that there are people who fall for this stupid play. They really put some thought into this.’
It’s easier than you might think to entrust your ego to a trainer, who held an absolute advantage over the trainees facing daily challenges. It was a simple way to feel superior without much emotional investment.
If the fools who agreed with him appear, Frick would have won the battle of public opinion. Most viewers would sympathize with Baek Kiryang, but they wouldn’t completely turn their backs on Frick.
[“I’m sorry…..”]
Baek Kiryang bowed his back while offering a ‘sincere apology’ once again. His face had already turned pale.
‘It seems like him mentality has collapsed. It will be difficult for him to show his true skills.’
As expected, Baek Kiryang delivered a performance far below his grade evaluation, with his body stiff from nervousness.
[“See? I knew this would happen. Someone who can’t even do a basic greeting is terrible at everything else. Get out knowing that your grade will go down. Since you did so well, right?”]
As soon as the scene of Frick mocking him passed, the next scene showed Baek Kiryang unfolding his Grade B paper and moving to a different room in the dorm.
[“I’m lacking a lot … I think Trainer Frick was really angry. I’m really sorry … I made a huge mistake, but I don’t know how to apologize.”]
Baek Kiryang eventually couldn’t hold it in anymore and started crying during the interview. He took off his glasses and wiped his eyes with his sleeve.
[<Meanwhile, which trainee’s grade has risen?!>]
Then, the second episode ended with the dramatic moment when Chick No. 1 opened his grade evaluation result paper, accompanied with the shocked expressions of his fellow trainees.
“…….”
Even after the video ended, there were hardly any trainees who loosened their stiff expressions. Even Lee Hwayoung was showing clear signs of displeasure.
Baek Kiryang, who was originally a soft-hearted person, was shedding tears again in the cold, chilled air. The camera was filming him, but he didn’t seem to pay attention.
‘….Interesting.’
My head went cold.
It finally made sense.
Why the production team wanted to film the reactions of the second episode.
Through the second episode, Frick managed to overshadow the image of being beaten by Jay and me in the first episode, and instantly became the object of fear among the trainees. All the more so because his anger was unjustified.
From now on, all the trainees would be on high alert to avoid upsetting Frick.
It seemed like the production team intentionally showed this to the trainees, who had been feeling somewhat relaxed, in order to put psychological pressure on them.
When I moved my stiff neck, a cracking sound was heard.
‘So-so career, low influence, small fanbase, upper-intermediate skills. Judging by his actions, it seems like he’s not very bright, and he can’t control his anger either. He seems pretty good at getting people riled up, but … he’s been showing off so much from the beginning that there’s nothing left for him to do now.’
There was no value in Frick anymore.
A bastard who continues to act aggressively will just be a nuisance.
If he gets in my way, he should be eliminated.
You can support this translation through Buy Me a Coffee!
Translator’s Corner:
- Chaebol is Korean word for conglomerate. Light source man is 조명남. It can also be translated to “Lighting Man”, but since “lighting” here refers to light sources i just use light source man because so true Han Seungbeom shines like light source. ↩︎
- Han Seungbeom of Troy is not the exat translation. The word used is Han Seungbeom 경국지색. 경국지색 is a four-character idiom that means “a beauty that will tilt the country”. In the past, usually there’s a woman of great beauty that was given the title “경국지색” by the public, since she’s a very beautiful woman for whom the king neglects the nation’s affairs, risking the fate of the country.
In history, it’s women like Cleopatra, Helen of Troy, Jang Noksu, Jang Heebin. Seungbeom name starts with H like Helen, so I think it’s fun to write it as “Han Seungbeom of Troy”. ↩︎
- CGI is short for Computer-Generated Imagery, refers to the creation of still or animated visual content using imaging software. ↩︎
If the broadcast format makes you confused:
[<abcdef></abcdef>] means caption, like when you see a show there will be caption/subtitle on screen right.
[“abcdef”] is spoken during an interview (please note the interview is aligned on center
[<“abcdef”>] is interview question asked by production team
[“abcdef”] aligned on right is dialogue taken from real everday filming.
IDK WHY but this chapter felt so long sjahdhjsd I spent hours doing this somehow when usually it didn’t take this long for a chapter