I Will Raise This Family to Greatness - Chapter 446

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com

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Chapter 446
Min-guk and Jung-woo exhaled deeply with relief.
They had passed the preliminaries and made it into the top 16 of the main competition.
But only 8 of them would be allowed to perform on the finals stage.
Min-guk and Jung-woo had been assigned to different mentors, which meant if they both advanced further, they might have to compete against each other.
Just then, Honey Donut, a rapper who had gained considerable fame in the underground scene, casually approached Min-guk.
Honey Donut was even more notorious for his crude language and aggressive behavior. He particularly despised idols.
Min-guk was perfect prey for him.
“Hey, Jeon Min-guk!”
My brow furrowed.
“Ah, yes….”
“Since I’m the same age as Jung-woo, I’ll speak casually with you.”
“Yes, please do.”
Honey Donut was part of the mentor’s team that Jung-woo belonged to.
“So you’re that famous Jeon Sung-guk’s younger brother, huh?”
“Ah, yes….”
Jeon Sung-guk’s younger brother.
It was a label I couldn’t shake off.
“But I’m genuinely curious—why didn’t your brother, working at a major talent agency, sign you? Was it because your looks weren’t good enough? Or was your skill lacking?”
Honey Donut spewed out his provocations without hesitation.
But I wasn’t the type to sit quietly under such provocation.
‘I’ve spent twenty years under a brother who throws nothing but fastballs. You’re not even in my league, kid.’
I shrugged casually.
“I guess my brother wasn’t doing so well back then.”
“Oh, so now he’s helping you out?”
“My brother is extremely strict about separating work and personal matters.”
“You’re defending your brother?”
“I’m just stating facts.”
Of course, the cameras captured this entire exchange as well.
Just then Jung-woo came over and stopped Honey Donut.
“Honey Donut, that’s enough. What are you doing to a younger contestant?”
“You’re defending a fellow puppet?”
“Puppet?”
I bristled at Honey Donut’s words.
Honey Donut found my reaction amusing and provoked me further.
“Do you idols even know how to write lyrics? You all just sing like parrots to lyrics someone else wrote, reading sheet music. Just because your faces are decent, you think you’ll do well in Give Me The Money?”
“Honey Donut, you’ll see my skills on stage. Let’s face off properly next time.”
“You’ll probably be eliminated before we even get the chance.”
“That’s what I should be saying. You forgot your lyrics on the last stage—you can’t afford mistakes like that anymore.”
Honey Donut’s face darkened at my mention of his lyrical slip-up, and all the rappers watching erupted in cheers at my comeback.
* * *
Eminem posted real-time updates to FaceNote while eating yukhoe and live octopus at Gwangjang Market.
Comments began flooding in like crazy.
– Our hyung isn’t afraid of South Korea’s live octopus either, as expected.
– The live octopus sacrificed to Eminem should consider it an honor.
– Look at Eminem’s expression. The live octopus seems to have fainted from that look….
Eminem ate far more yukhoe and live octopus than I expected, then patted his belly.
“I think this is the first time I’ve eaten so many living things in one day.”
“How does it taste, Eminem?”
“I should definitely tell my daughter to try it too. She’s been saving up a ton of allowance to come to Korea to meet Sevens.”
“I’ll be happy to escort her around then.”
At that moment, Eminem grabbed my shoulder firmly.
“Sung-guk, you better not get any ideas about my daughter. Got it?”
“O-of course not.”
My voice trembled completely.
At that moment, Eminem burst into laughter.
“Sung-guk, I’m joking! I’m worried my daughter might get ideas about you! By the way, how’s Min-guk doing with the competition or whatever?”
“So far so good. You’ll probably get to see Min-guk’s skills soon, Eminem.”
“I’m curious about the Korean hip-hop scene too… Oh, Sung-guk. Friends who’ve done concerts in Korea mentioned something. They said they get really moved by this thing called ‘group singing’ when they perform here.”
“Ah yes… Korean fans sing along together with the musicians they love during concerts.”
“Will that work for my rap too?”
Of course it absolutely would.
But I wanted to leave room for Eminem to be pleasantly surprised.
“Well, your rap is so fast… you’ll see at the concert. Oh, and if the audience does sing along, could you just make a heart sign with your hands like this?”
I raised my hands above my head and showed him Korea’s heart gesture.
Eminem awkwardly raised his hands to his head and made the heart shape, then tilted his head.
“If I do this, won’t people think I’m about to split their skulls open? That’s what it looks like….”
One of Eminem’s strengths was that he knew himself very well.
* * *
– Eminem’s Korea concert at Jamsil Sports Complex ends in grand success.
– Eminem responds to group singing with a heart gesture! Korean audience erupts in cheers!
Eminem’s concert ended in grand success just like the articles said.
The audience cheered, and Eminem himself said right after the concert ended that it was an enjoyable performance after a long time.
Min-guk and Jung-woo also seemed to be inspired after watching Eminem’s performance.
And the day after Eminem’s concert, today was when the recording for Give Me The Money was scheduled.
Of course, none of the Give Me The Money cast members knew about it.
I could hear Min-guk preparing from early morning.
And then I heard Min-guk’s scream as well.
“Ahhhhhhh!!!”
Min-guk burst through my door without knocking.
“Brother!!!”
Min-guk stared at me with an expression of genuine emotion.
“Brother, what’s all this? Am I supposed to wear it for the recording?”
“Yeah. I didn’t pick it out myself—I asked Tae-guk’s stylist to get it for you. Wear it during today’s recording.”
“Wow… I’ve been wearing pretty much the same stuff every day anyway, so this is actually nice….”
I’d asked Jeon Tae-guk’s Stylist to pick out some clothes for Min-guk to wear on broadcast.
Even though he was an idol who hadn’t earned proper money yet, it bothered me that he always went out wearing nothing but tracksuits.
“Brother, I’m really grateful. If I win, I’ll repay this kindness. Got it?”
“Got it. Is there recording today too?”
“Yeah. They’re doing a mid-point evaluation of what we’ve learned from the mentors.”
“Do your best out there.”
“Thanks, brother!!!”
Min-guk had no idea that Eminem was visiting the recording site, and he rushed off excitedly toward it.
* * *
The moment Min-guk entered the Waiting Room, Honey Donut grinned and stuck his tongue out at him.
Honey Donut made a genuine habit of getting under Min-guk’s skin.
Since this was a competition program, each day’s condition could determine whether someone would be eliminated or advance.
Seeing this, Jung-woo tried to stop Honey Donut.
“Honey Donut, if you’re going to act like an adult, then act like one!”
“Are you taking sides with your group member? A loner like me is so lonely I can’t even compete.”
Honey Donut never missed an opportunity to mock Min-guk and Jung-woo whenever he opened his mouth.
Now Min-guk tried to stop Jung-woo.
“Brother, let’s just focus on our own path. If we pay attention to him, we’re only hurting ourselves.”
“So you won’t even bother dealing with someone like me, born different from the underground, a failure?”
Despite Honey Donut’s relentless harassment following Min-guk’s words, Min-guk kept his mouth shut.
“Why won’t you even deal with me?”
Suddenly, the door to the Waiting Room opened and PD Lee Sung-gyun entered.
Honey Donut fell silent too.
“Everyone knows today is the mid-point evaluation day, right?”
“Yes!”
“A special judge will be coming later to evaluate you, so keep that in mind. Also, depending on the special judge’s selection, half of you will be eliminated, so be aware of that.”
Half eliminated?
The Waiting Room stirred at PD Lee Sung-gyun’s words.
We’d only been told there would be a mid-point evaluation, not that eliminations would happen.
One of the rappers raised his hand.
“PD, who is this special judge?”
“You’ll see later. For now, everyone practice what you’ve prepared.”
And with that, PD Lee Sung-gyun left the Waiting Room.
* * *
Eminem yawned repeatedly, looking drowsy.
“Yesterday’s performance was so energetic that I completely crashed afterward. South Korean audiences are absolutely the best.”
“Did you see the articles?”
“Of course. I used the heart gesture Sung-guk taught me right away.”
The heart gesture from the South Korean performance would become Eminem’s first and last heart gesture.
“It showed up in today’s articles a ton.”
“Everyone’s been saying they’re going to break their skulls trying to top me, threatening me left and right….”
Eminem spoke cheerfully about yesterday’s heart gesture.
“By the way, Eminem. Just so you know, when you evaluate today’s contestants, you need to eliminate eight rappers who don’t meet the standard.”
“Am I playing the villain again?”
“Aren’t you used to playing the villain?”
“I guess this is an inescapable fate.”
Eminem shrugged his shoulders.
* * *
To ensure fairness, a partition was installed behind the stage of the small theater.
Inside the partition, special judge Eminem would evaluate the contestants without seeing their faces.
Since Min-guk had a past connection with Eminem, the production team had adopted this method with that in mind.
After introducing Eminem to PD Lee Sung-gyun, I quickly returned to the parking lot.
From now on, everything depended on Min-guk’s actual skills.
* * *
PD Lee Sung-gyun didn’t reveal to Kim Seok, who was hosting, that Eminem had come as a special judge.
He only mentioned that a famous rapper would be judging and that since he was American, he would speak English.
And finally, the contestants from each mentor team who had been practicing for Give Me The Money Season 4 entered one by one and took their seats in the dark small theater.
Kim Seok stood on stage under a spotlight, and behind him in the prepared partition sat Eminem alone.
As the recording began, Kim Seok started the proceedings as usual.
“Today, we have a world-renowned rapper here with us. The production team hasn’t even told me who it is, but this person will conduct a mid-term evaluation of your skills. And unfortunately, eight of you will be eliminated in this mid-term evaluation.”
At those words, all the contestants tensed up.
Min-guk and Jung-woo were so nervous their mouths went dry.
“Well then. Shall we decide today’s order?”
Currently there were 16 people.
The 16 contestants came up one by one and drew balls with their order numbers.
Min-guk drew number 16.
They say it’s better to get hit first, but last….
I felt Honey Donut, who drew number 11, glance at Min-guk.
“You scared?”
“….”
Min-guk didn’t respond to any of Honey Donut’s provocations.
Then Honey Donut whispered quietly.
“Jeon Min-guk, I wrote some lyrics for you. Listen carefully.”
“Honey Donut, let’s play fair.”
“Acting all high and mighty.”
And then, at last, the midterm evaluation began.
Min-guk quietly waited for his turn, mentally reciting the lyrics he had prepared.
* * *
Kim Seok’s hosting continued.
“This season of Give Me The Money season 4 has two members from Sevens advancing to the main rounds. Among them, Jung-woo’s rap has received considerable praise. With his metaphorical lyrics and chanting-like delivery, the audience’s favorability is quite high. I’m looking forward to his midterm evaluation stage as well. Now, let’s welcome the main rapper of Sevens, Jung-woo!”
Jung-woo was seventh in the order.
For the six rappers before Jung-woo, the judge rapper behind the partition unleashed scathing criticism like a madman.
Comments telling them to go home and watch their kids were among the milder critiques.
As the stages progressed, the rappers visibly grew more nervous.
Still, Jung-woo delivered quite a stable performance, and the special judge’s reaction wasn’t bad at all.
“You’re not at the ‘go home and watch your kids’ level. How about sweeping up after my stage instead?”
“Since there were quite a few harsh comments today, I’d say this is actually high praise.”
Kim Seok quickly moved on to the next stage.
And finally, Honey Donut took the stage as the eleventh performer.
“Honey Donut, you’ve always caused problems with your sharp lyrics. I’m curious what kind of rap you’ll show us today. Are you ready?”
“I’ll show you through rap. Give me the beat!”
The beat dropped, and Honey Donut began to rap.
The lyrics were aimed at Min-guk.
He criticized him as a soulless puppet merely smiling at the camera, then escalated the intensity further and further.
The camera zoomed in closer and closer on Min-guk watching Honey Donut.
And in that moment, Honey Donut spat out his final lyric like a declaration.
“In this game where everything’s already decided, I’m tired of fighting alone. The champion is already Jeon Min-guk anyway!”

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com

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