The Reincarnated Idol Hard Carries an Indie Band - Chapter 84

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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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A Former Idol Carries a Band of Unknowns
Chapter 84
Who’s The Real was now recording the highest viewership ratings in its time slot.
Articles about the broadcast were pouring out every single day.
The songs released after the semifinals had already claimed top positions on the charts.
Compared to mainstream genres like hip-hop auditions and idol audition programs, it was not falling short in any respect.
The waiting line outside the Studio at the K-Net Broadcasting Station.
Countless people selected as audience members were building anticipation.
The venue was tightly controlled by fences and security teams, maintaining perfect order.
“Wow, the finals are finally here.”
“Who do you think will win? Maruru?”
“Hmm, doesn’t Oktop have more fans?”
“But wouldn’t Maruru have more hardcore fans willing to vote by text?”
“Ah, true. Oktop seems to have mostly casual fans.”
All manner of speculation was swirling around.
Then music began flowing from inside the building.
A Sound Check was in progress, and the people who heard it erupted in cheers.
“Wow!!! It’s Maruru!”
“Hyun-ah’s voice!”
The music leaking through the walls of the building only heightened the crowd’s anticipation further.
And on the 4th Floor lobby of that building, Lee Jong Myung, the PD, looking down at the throngs of people below.
His heart was racing even more than the audience’s.
Even before launching Who’s The Real, Lee Jong Myung already had a good reputation within the company.
He had a tendency toward rather ruthless editing, but he consistently delivered the viewership numbers—Lee Jong Myung was that kind of PD.
And with this broadcast, his standing had become even more solid.
It seemed like it wouldn’t take long before he landed a Chief Producer position.
As long as today’s live broadcast went well.
“Excuse me, PD.”
“Hmm?”
“Well… Oktop keeps getting the lyrics wrong.”
Just then, the youngest member of the production team came rushing over with news about Oktop’s rehearsal.
“So?”
“Ah, um… I thought maybe we should take some measures. They were fighting earlier.”
Unlike the worried junior staff member, Lee Jong Myung didn’t seem concerned at all.
“Am I supposed to carve the lyrics directly into Seo Ha’s head? What do you expect me to do?”
“Ah, well, but Oktop is popular right now, so they should do well till the end……”
“Look, how am I supposed to make someone memorize lyrics? They just have to do their best on their own.”
“Ah, yes. Of course. I was just worried for nothing.”
Lee Jong Myung dismissed the junior staff member’s unnecessary concerns as the anxieties of someone fresh out of college.
“And even if Oktop loses, so what? The broadcast is already done. We got everything we needed.”
Whoever won the championship didn’t really matter to Lee Jong Myung.
If there had been a sponsor who set winning as a condition, it would have been different, but there was no such proposal this time.
“In fact, it’s better if Oktop loses. Isn’t that more dramatic? A young band that’s been doing well up till now, then bombing the finale… YouTube views will shoot up after the broadcast ends.”
“Ah, I see! That makes sense.”
“Right, learn from this too. You don’t need to worry about all the contestants.”
“Yes, I’ll remember that!”
With that, the junior staff member bowed and left.
“Putting personal interests into broadcasting for no reason……”
Lee Jong Myung, always coldly calculating, thought that junior staff member wouldn’t last long in this industry.
“Anyway, if Oktop bombs on something like a lyric mistake, that’ll be entertaining in its own way. Or if they win, that’ll be pretty dramatic too, won’t it?”
No matter what happened to Oktop, it was good for the broadcast.
Lee Jong Myung merely smiled with satisfaction at this beautifully orchestrated reality.
* * *
There had been a brief commotion during rehearsal.
Because I kept messing up the lyrics, Heo Jun Sung couldn’t hold back and snapped at me, leading to a small argument.
Of course, all of that was pre-arranged between us.
“Hey! Cha Seo Ha! What are you doing?”
The moment we returned to the Waiting Room, where cameras hadn’t been set up yet, Kang Min started teasing Kim Ji Hu.
“When did I do something like that?”
Kim Ji Hu was stifling laughter beside him, and Lee Do Young was laughing from across the room.
Heo Jun Sung’s acting really wasn’t very convincing.
The production team bought it completely, but we who knew the truth found it hard not to laugh.
We needed to catch the entire production team off guard.
It was a kind of setup.
While the others were all focused on teasing Heo Jun Sung, I slipped out of the Waiting Room for a moment.
* * *
Knock, knock, knock—
“Yes, come in.”
The person who entered after knocking on the PD Office door was Cha Seo Ha.
“Oh, Seo Ha.”
“Hello, PD.”
“Are you all set?”
“Yes, everyone has been very helpful.”
Though it was an unexpected visit, Lee Jong Myung greeted Cha Seo Ha warmly.
To him, Oktop’s existence was nothing short of a blessing.
There were less than three hours until the live broadcast.
It was a relatively relaxed moment.
“Sit down for a minute. Coffee?”
“That’s okay.”
Cha Seo Ha sat in the seat Lee Jong Myung indicated.
“So, what brings you here? I hear the lyric memorization isn’t going so well.”
“You heard about that. Since it’s a live broadcast, I think we’re all a bit tense.”
“It’s natural to be ambitious. This is the end, after all.”
Lee Jong Myung patted Cha Seo Ha on the shoulder as he spoke.
“Take it easy. We’re almost there. We’re all working hard on our end too. You’ve seen the good footage we’ve gotten, haven’t you?”
During rehearsal, the footage used for the live broadcast was also used, and Oktop naturally had access to it.
The footage Lee Jong Myung mentioned referred to those videos as well as the viewership ratings and buzz.
It was a cruel product created by whitewashing someone’s death and a bereaved family’s grief with money.
Cha Seo Ha looked up at Lee Jong Myung’s words.
Lee Jong Myung met Cha Seo Ha’s eyes.
Cha Seo Ha’s pupils were deep and still.
The hesitation typical of a high school student that had been visible just moments before was nowhere to be found.
“Yes, as you say, PD… it looks like quite a remarkable picture will emerge. We’ve staked everything on today.”
Cha Seo Ha rose from his seat.
Lee Jong Myung remained seated.
Cha Seo Ha began to slowly look around the PD Office.
“Nice room. I can see your excellent editing skills earned you a good position quickly.”
Lee Jong Myung sensed something subtly off in Cha Seo Ha’s tone.
For just a moment, their eyes met again.
It was not the gaze of a high school student.
As if he understood everything, a gaze like an unfathomable abyss.
Lee Jong Myung felt an inexplicable unease creeping over him.
“PD.”
“Hmm?”
“This program’s title is Who’s The Real, right?”
“That’s right.”
“After today’s broadcast ends, everyone will know. What the real truth is.”
“Truth?”
Lee Jong Myung asked, sensing something acrid in Cha Seo Ha’s smile.
“Ah, I mean a genuine stage.”
Lee Jong Myung couldn’t have missed Cha Seo Ha’s jest.
He sensed a certain malice in him.
“Listen, Seo Ha.”
Cha Seo Ha simply looked Lee Jong Myung directly in the eye.
“I’m just saying out of caution—you know what happens if you sabotage a live broadcast, right?”
If someone intentionally ruined a broadcast with malicious intent, they had to pay a penalty.
That was information Cha Seo Ha naturally understood well.
“Sabotage? I just want to win the championship.”
Cha Seo Ha returned to the expression of an innocent high school student.
Lee Jong Myung couldn’t fathom what he was truly thinking, so he couldn’t ask directly.
“Listen, Seo Ha. Let’s focus and do well till the very end. Don’t worry about anything else. The prize money is one hundred million won.”
“I’m well aware.”
“And if you win here, do you think I can’t get you on a broadcast or two? Let’s set you up for real success. Right?”
Lee Jong Myung was subtly proposing a deal.
He couldn’t be certain, but if there was even a chance he was harboring some misguided idea, he wanted it stopped immediately.
And Cha Seo Ha answered.
“Yes, don’t worry.”
“Good, I’ll trust you.”
Cha Seo Ha was about to leave the PD Office when he turned back to Lee Jong Myung.
“Oh, that’s right, PD.”
“Yes.”
“Thank you for setting up such a nice stage. We’ll use it well.”
With that, Cha Seo Ha slipped out of the PD Office.
Lee Jong Myung had hoped to have a good conversation with Cha Seo Ha, who had sought him out as the end approached, about the future.
But the cryptic exchange left him with mounting unease.
* * *
Oktop was planning to detonate a bomb during the live broadcast.
Both the audience in the venue and viewers watching the live broadcast across the country would see it.
And in another place.
“Hey everyone! It’s Dampa! Long time no see, right?”
After taking a break following his elimination, Dampa had posted an announcement not long ago and turned on his broadcast for the first time in a while.
“So, as I mentioned before, today we’re doing a live watch-along of Who’s The Real’s broadcast. After it ends, I’ll share some behind-the-scenes stories!”
-He’s back, Dampa!
-Bro, I really watched your broadcast, watched it again too
-Wow, this cocky guy Dampa is awkward now, does the broadcast really have that much power?
-That’s weird, why aren’t you holding a Guitar?
-Bro please drop the gaming streams and do music broadcasts from now on please ㅠㅠ
-Dampa bro the broadcast had so much content I’ve been watching from way back and I was really proud
“Man, thank you all so much for the welcome.”
Dampa’s YouTube channel subscribers had surged dramatically after the broadcast.
Current subscriber count: 350,000.
Before appearing on the broadcast, it had been 60,000.
It was a phenomenal leap.
And the current live stream already had over 10,000 viewers.
Before, 200 viewers used to be a huge success.
“Wow…… I feel so strange about this. Did one broadcast appearance really increase subscribers and live viewers this much?”
Dampa was struck by emotions seeing viewer numbers incomparable to just a few months ago.
He was already grateful to have made the final Top 6, but now his personal channel was getting attention too—he was grateful to the whole world.
“Thank you all so much. I’ll work hard on music and broadcasting going forward!”
Dampa stood up and offered a ninety-degree bow toward the camera.
-That’s some real emotion there haha
-Lol lol just do it normally what’s with the bow lol
-Now that you’re just starting to blow up, just don’t cause any scandals
-Wait, is the chat normally like this here? Why does everyone roast people lol
-Lol what’s with the bow among our people just be normal it’s weird
-Alright, good bow
-What are you doing? Sit down and stream
-Lol that guy drowned in broadcast attention and now he’s eating spicy chat again, will he adapt?
-First time here and the chat’s hot and there’s no one being nice
“Man, same as always here. Yeah, this is it, this is the real thing!”
Dampa shared recent updates with these spicy-spirited viewers he was meeting again for the first time in a while.
About an hour remained until the live broadcast.
And so, countless people across the nation waited for the finals of Who’s The Real in their own various ways.

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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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