The Reincarnated Idol Hard Carries an Indie Band - Chapter 76

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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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The Former Idol Does Indie Band
Chapter 76
After “Who’s The Real” Episode 3 ended, Oktatop appeared on the community forum’s fire pit.
-Oktatop is saying they’re not idols, so what’s with all the dancing?
└Dancing is a bit iffy in a band audition though
└From what I can tell, Cha Seo Ha looks like he was a trainee before. Seems like he switched paths from wanting to be an idol?
-But honestly, the dance aside, the ensemble and stage presence were actually really solid, weren’t they?
└No way, Oktatop fan is here lol
└Seo Ha showed up?
└Hey, seriously? So if someone raps really well on Show Me The Money and then suddenly drops a ballad, that’s cool with you?
-They definitely didn’t make it
└No, they advanced to the finals round
└Wait, really? For real?
└That’s just a rumor though
-But you guys don’t know anything. There are plenty of famous international bands where people dance on stage
└They’d have to be at that level for it to be acceptable. This isn’t it
-Are you guys seriously criticizing a stage that’s paying tribute to Michael Jackson? What’s wrong with your heads?
└They’re just using Oktatop as an excuse to hate
└Does it hurt that much to see someone doing well? I don’t get it
└That’s just how trolls are in their corners lmaooo
-Oktatop’s making the community a mess after so long lmaoooo
└Brings back old memories (just a few months ago)
-Honestly I thought they did well. I wonder if Park Chul Hwan was just stirring things up in the last episode and they brought this intentionally
└So the vocalist doesn’t fit with metal, so you just throw in dancing? Is that right?
└I’m not really sure…….
-Seriously lol Why do these Oktatop guys always make drama whenever they do well? lololololol
└This is some next-level attention-seeking
-Why are you all hating? It was actually pretty cool
Today’s broadcast featured many other contestants’ performances as well.
But it was inevitable that focus would be drawn to Oktatop’s unconventional dance stage, positioned in the final time slot.
And naturally, this was the broadcast station’s strategy.
Oktatop’s stage had to be placed at a timing that could draw maximum reaction no matter what.
And the anticipation over what results this controversial stage would bring was fully satisfied.
Because they pushed the results to next week.
Lee Jong Myung, the PD, didn’t stop there.
-Who’s The Real Round 2 One-on-One Battle Compilation.Clip
The moment Episode 3 ended, a compilation of Round 2 stages released so far dropped on YouTube.
A video compilation of 7 teams out of 36 teams that made it to Round 2, now revealed.
Of course, Oktatop drew the most attention in this video.
-14:21 Cha Seo Ha Dance Begins
└Overwhelmingly awesome
└I’ve been stuck here for 89 years and can’t move on…….
-No matter how many times I watch it, Cha Seo Ha definitely looks like he was an idol trainee. The dancing technique doesn’t look like just a day or two of practice
-Seo Ha, just become an idol already. This noona has plenty of money and time, so if you release an album, I’ll buy 378417824 copies. You can buy a house and a car, and take me along too
└lmaooooo that’s hilarious
└Man…. I’m loaded too…. I want to see Cha Seo Ha pull off some really sharp body rolls on stage before I die
└The term “body roll” sounds a bit off, doesn’t it?
-I don’t get why Oktatop is doing a band. If they just gather like that and put them on stage, wouldn’t that be a K-pop boy group?
└Right, why don’t entertainment companies pick them up?
-Heo Jun Sung, I’m sorry, let me change my bias for a moment
└Kim Ji Hu, I’m sorry, let me change my bias for a moment
└Lee Do Young, stay where you are
└Who’s Kang Min?
└You crazy people lmaooooooo
Sure enough, the YouTube comments section was relatively clean.
Of course, there were still comments saying dancing in a band audition wasn’t right.
But compared to the community forum, positive comments dominated in sheer volume.
The key point was that regardless of the direction of the comments, talk about Oktatop overwhelmingly outnumbered discussions of other contestants.
Like Oktatop, Maruru Band also had both visuals and skill, and conversations about them appeared from time to time.
But they were all just supportive comments from existing fans.
Since they were already a strong team, there was no dramatic element to discuss.
Meanwhile, Oktatop had story material—the tension with Park Chul Hwan, the dancing in a band audition, and so on.
The broadcast station leveraged that to put Oktatop front and center.
Oktatop’s result of breaking through Destruction, the elder statesman of the scene, and entering Top 9 was already decided.
And there was plenty of narrative to back that result.
That story had to be conveyed to viewers by any means necessary.
To keep the broadcast alive, Lee Jong Myung was skillfully extracting entertainment value by using Oktatop as a tool.
Just as Cha Seo Ha had planned.
* * *
The broadcast was flowing exactly as planned.
Just like when we first formed and started gaining attention, positive and negative opinions were tangled together.
We’ve reached the midpoint with this.
What matters to us now isn’t the direction of public opinion.
We don’t need to manufacture a lot of negative opinion, nor do we need to be loved to the heavens.
Just having volume is enough.
The negative opinion will eventually flip.
And the positive opinion will make people support us even more.
As long as we safely reach the finals stage.
Scratch, scratch—
A day without filming.
I was alone in my room writing lyrics, thinking these kinds of thoughts.
“Ah, this isn’t easy….”
It was my first time appearing on an audition program, but it turned out to be harder than I’d imagined.
Preparing stages and producing songs both took considerable time, and it was grinding down my mental state pretty heavily.
I was lucky though, since I had more broadcast experience than the other contestants and was more comfortable writing songs.
But I thought the others were really impressive.
And our members too.
Not once so far had they complained.
No, if anything, they were performing far better than my expectations.
Kim Ji Hu and Heo Jun Sung’s bass and guitar pairing shown in the first round was excellent.
Because we’d known each other for so long, their harmony transcended mere technical skill—it had that indescribable quality that stood out.
This was the realm of Harmony that Kang Min kept talking about.
And Kang Min put on an impressive show in the Session Battle.
He didn’t bring home a good team ranking, but he scored first individually.
Well, it would’ve been strange for that combination to get a good team score.
And I did the dancing in Round 2 and created controversy.
Now the next round falls on Lee Do Young’s shoulders.
From here on, I need to put all the narrative focus on Lee Do Young.
“I wonder if that kid is practicing okay.”
Lee Do Young had been getting private lessons from Kim Ji Hu even before appearing on the broadcast.
Since Lee Do Young was a sincere guy.
He’d probably show a good performance in the next round.
* * *
Who’s The Real had aired through Episode 3.
Oktatop’s screentime was substantial, and in the remaining episodes, Oktatop’s narrative was scheduled to be covered quite deeply.
And the episodes loaded with so much of Oktatop finally exploded.
“Wow, writer, it blew up!”
Right after Episode 3 of Who’s The Real aired.
“Uh… huh? What?”
Writer Kim Da Young, who’d been nodding off in her seat, snapped to attention at the junior writer’s words.
“What blew up?”
“The viewership rating!”
The junior writer thrust her phone in front of Kim Da Young’s eyes.
And written there.
-Viewership Rating 2.7%
It was a massive hit.
The fate of a cable audition program could usually be predicted starting from Episode 3.
In Episodes 1 and 2, which were like instruction manuals for the program, viewership ratings didn’t have to be high.
But once Episode 3 rolls around with full-fledged competition, it’s different.
Below 1%, and the station goes into crisis mode.
After that, you’re in the safe zone.
Late 2% range is a blockbuster.
And Who’s The Real hit that blockbuster mark.
“They’re sending pizza around the whole editing room upstairs?”
“Exactly! Man, I hope the bonus comes out nice and thick.”
“I just hope my workload gets cut.”
Writer Kim Da Young pulled herself up from her exhausted slump.
While it was good the broadcast did well, a desire to rest was beginning to bloom.
“Oh, what did the PD say about editing Oktatop? Keep it as is?”
“No, they said there’s too much right now, so trim it down a bit.”
“Trim it? Then what do we put there instead?”
“They said just figure it out ourselves…….”
“I’m losing it.”
The remaining Oktatop footage scheduled for later episodes was absurdly voluminous.
It was still just the rough-cut stage, but in the Session Battle episode alone, more than half was about Oktatop.
Practically speaking, trimming was necessary, but from Kim Da Young’s perspective, this was optimal as is.
“Right now it’s definitely too much of an Oktatop documentary, but what more could we cut….”
Writer Kim Da Young’s dilemma only deepened.
* * *
“Hey, Cha Seo Ha! When’d you learn to dance?”
Summer break ended and the second semester started.
“Hey, you were seriously insane, right? So do you dance well because you work out?”
“Hey, did you seriously train as a trainee on the sly or something?”
“And Lee Do Young and Heo Jun Sung weren’t bad either.”
The moment we got to School, classmates surrounded us and started talking about the broadcast.
“Hey, so did you make it? How did the dancing thing turn out?”
“Hey, they said we can’t talk about that stuff.”
“Oh, really?”
I was dead tired from Stage preparation, and these guys were being too loud from the morning.
Still, I was grateful to feel this youthful energy again.
“Hey, you guys back off. I’m tired to death and you’re being loud from this early….”
Heo Jun Sung pushed through the crowd.
“Let’s go grab some bread.”
“Yeah, okay.”
So I headed to the Snack Bar with Heo Jun Sung.
I thought about bringing Lee Do Young along too, but he seemed busy with something, so I left him.
We headed to the Snack Bar to escape the friends, but that was our mistake.
“Whoa! It’s Heo Jun Sung!”
“Seo Ha! I watched the broadcast!”
There were even more people.
I naturally thanked them for watching.
Heo Jun Sung responded like a hooligan you’d find at any school.
“Hey, Heo Jun Sung, be a little nicer.”
“I’m not a celebrity or something? What kindness? I’m just doing the bare minimum for a friend.”
“Yeah, that’s more like you.”
On the way to the Snack Bar, there were kids asking for autographs or wanting to take pictures.
Since I used to be an idol, I was prepared for any controversy that might arise later, so I agreed to everything.
Heo Jun Sung found it annoying and kept grumbling about why I’d do all that.
“Hey, do we have the Finals song all done?”
“Yeah, now we just need the Bass.”
“You’re working hard. Now we have to keep going to school while preparing.”
Heo Jun Sung’s voice was uncharacteristically calm.
Since I was basically making the next Finals song myself, he probably felt sorry.
“I’ll handle it. What else can I do?”
“Just let me know if there’s anything I can help with.”
“You? You help best by keeping your mouth shut and staying quiet.”
“What, this guy?”
I bickered with him plenty on the way to the Snack Bar.
I spoke harshly to cover my embarrassment, but deep down I felt secure and grateful.

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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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