The S-Rank Paparazzi Reincarnates as an Idol - Chapter 54

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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 54
This cute aegyo song was a viral video of a young child singing for their parents that suddenly exploded on social media, becoming a trending sensation at the time.
Due to its enormous popularity, it became a song frequently performed at kindergarten talent shows afterward.
‘If the National Directors want me to do it, then I should do it.’
The bright and cheerful melody characteristic of an aegyo song flowed out.
I tilted my head slightly and smiled with my eyes.
Hello~ everyone!
I shouted as cutely as I possibly could.
“Kyaaaaa!”
“Pfahahaha!”
Using the laughter of those cracking up as background music, I continued with the aegyo song.
Take my love, please. Woof! Woof!
The key point of this song was making a heart shape with my hands in line with the lyrics and pretending to eat it at the “woof” part.
I eagerly mimed eating the heart I’d made with my hands.
National Directors, I love you. Woof! Woof!
“Ahahaha!”
“Kyaaaaa!”
The original lyrics were “Dad, Mom,” but when I changed it to “National Directors,” a wave of intense laughter erupted from the trainees.
After showing off making and pretending to eat all sorts of heart shapes, the aegyo song music coming through the speaker finally stopped.
“Cha Si-woo, you’re really working hard! Your aegyo is quite impressive!”
I was on the verge of giving Yu Hae-in a flick on the forehead as he laughed and genuinely marveled at my performance.
‘You’re the one who told me to do it, you jerk.’
“Haha. I can do anything for the National Directors! To be honest, this is my first time singing an aegyo song, so thank you for appreciating it.”
“You did really well. Aegyo King Cha Si-woo, please move to the chair marked with the number 5.”
Translation: he’d gotten enough footage, so now I should get out of here.
“Yes. Thank you!”
After bowing at a ninety-degree angle, I began climbing the stairs to head to the chair on the 3rd Floor.
“Si-woo, congratulations on your ranking improvement!”
Seo Ha-yul, genuinely delighted, greeted me first.
“Yeah. Thanks.”
‘You’re getting an extra Heart Ping bread.’
As I climbed one more flight of stairs, Rua was now laughing so hard he was rolling around holding his stomach.
“Si-woo! Show us the aegyo song one more time!”
‘This bastard.’
“…If the opportunity comes up next time.”
Kang Chan, standing next to Rua, was staring at me with burning eyes for some reason.
“…?”
‘If I’m being honest, didn’t Gran Zelle win anyway?’
Though it was strange to even bring it up.
I sat down in the chair marked with the number 5, carefully maintaining my composure.
The chair had excellent cushioning, and I sank into it with a sense of stability that was remarkably comfortable.
‘I shouldn’t get too accustomed to the taste of capitalism like this.’
Finally, the ranking announcement ceremony was approaching its conclusion.
Once again, Kim Sun-yu and Yoo Ho-seung remained as the top candidates for first place.
‘Unless something unexpected happens, those two will definitely debut, won’t they?’
“So, who will claim first place in this second ranking announcement ceremony?!”
Tense music played as Yu Hae-in, after dragging out the moment with various remarks and interviews for about ten minutes, finally announced the results.
“A stunning reversal! Yoo Ho-seung, who placed second in the last ranking announcement, has dethroned Kim Sun-yu and seized the first place position!”
“…!”
“First place goes to Yoo Ho-seung!”
“Waaaah!”
‘This is quite the twist.’
Kim Sun-yu’s supporters had voted with renewed determination to give him the resurrection benefit for eliminated trainees, yet Yoo Ho-seung still won.
How was that possible?
It seemed that fans who had been displeased with Yoo Ho-seung’s second-place finish watched the broadcast’s blatant favoritism and ground their teeth in response.

‘Perhaps it’s only natural—influencers have larger fanbases than failed idols with industry experience?’
I expected Kim Sun-yu’s expression to show disappointment as he spoke his second-place remarks, but instead, he looked rather relieved.
With his gentle demeanor, Kim Sun-yu’s sincere comments revealed that surviving mattered more to him than the ranking itself.
When Yoo Ho-seung finally took the microphone for his remarks, emotion overwhelmed him, and tears streamed down his face.
‘That’s understandable.’
He’d endured all manner of harsh treatment from the judges and even faced unfair editing, yet he’d claimed first place through fan support.
There would always be people criticizing his abilities, but being criticized was simply the fate of anyone in the spotlight.
Since the presence of fans who believed in and supported him mattered far more than those who cursed him, and he’d now received confirmation through the voting results, his joy was entirely justified.
“Sniff… Thank you so much for loving and supporting someone as lacking as me… Sob… I’m grateful. I promise to work even harder and grow into someone worthy of your love and support. Sniff… Thank you!”
“What touching first-place remarks! Yoo Ho-seung, please take a seat in the Throne Chair!”
The cameras persistently captured Yoo Ho-seung, tears streaming down his face, as he sat in the Throne Chair.
Since the cameras lingered on Kim Sun-yu for a while before moving away, it seemed they’d continue editing the two as rivals.
“This concludes our second ranking announcement ceremony! Trainees, we wish you all the best moving forward!”
“Cut!”
Yu Hae-in quickly left his position as the closing music played.
“Alright everyone, the first shoot is complete. Change into your outfits for the next shoot and gather back here right away.”
“Yes!”
Though Yu Hae-in had departed, the real shooting with the trainees was just beginning.
☆☆☆
I moved to the auditorium for the next shoot, dressed in a sports brand training suit with distinctive tricolor stripes.
Given that we were changing into tracksuits, it seemed we’d be doing something physically demanding.
In place of Yu Hae-in, who had another schedule, Park Chae-young took the microphone this time.
“How have you all been doing?”
“Good~”
“I’m genuinely delighted that you’ve all survived until now. I’m sure you’re incredibly curious about what the next survival mission will be, aren’t you?”
On the stage, a massive rectangular object was covered with black cloth.
‘What is that?’
“Yes!”
“Before we reveal the next mission, we’ll start with a mini-game first! For your information, the winners of the game will receive benefits, so please participate actively!”
“Woooow!”
‘Last time, what they called a benefit was practically a minefield.’
Recalling the situation where the rappers had been trapped, I felt dizzy.
‘Can I trust them this time?’
I had no choice but to be suspicious, yet I had no choice in the matter either.
If I half-assed it based on uncertain information, it could spark controversy about my attitude.
‘I’ll just give it my all.’
An trainee who hadn’t even debuted phoning in a broadcast performance was as dangerous as a bomb.
“This mini-game is called the Snack Sales King.”
“…Pardon?”
The utterly random theme drew confused reactions from all around.
That’s when Park Chae-young reached toward the black cloth positioned in the center.
As the cloth finally fell away, what was revealed was a claw machine.
‘…Why did they change into training clothes if they were just going to have us use a claw machine?’
“From now on, you’ll each draw one snack from the claw machine in order of your rankings.”
Chocolate, beef jerky, crackers, bread, cup noodles, macarons—everything was there.
‘Looking closer, they’re all the same affiliate companies.’
Every snack filling the claw machine was a TX Affiliate Companies product.
‘These bastards—now that the broadcast is getting popular, they’re shamelessly pushing their own products.’
It was basically free advertising while we filmed content.
“By the way, the snacks you draw will be sold directly by you at the Flea Market today.”
“…!”
“The top five trainees with the highest sales revenue will receive benefits for your next stage performance. Well then, good luck to all of you!”
Now the Broadcasting Station was even making us do sales.
‘This is going to get some criticism, isn’t it?’
Sure, the criticism would be temporary, but since the advertising was free and they got to profit without paying anything, it was a sweet deal for them.
“Then first, trainee Yoo Ho-seung, please come up on stage and draw a snack!”
Yoo Ho-seung, his expression tense, stopped in front of the claw machine.
‘Drawing an expensive snack would probably be advantageous.’
Since rankings were based on sales revenue rather than net profit, more expensive items had higher win rates.
At least the fact that these were snacks meant the price differences weren’t too extreme, which was fortunate.
Ping-pong. Pong-ping-pong.
A cheerful melody repeated from the machine.
Yoo Ho-seung gripped the claw stick with a tense expression, then finally pressed the button with a determined look.
‘I’d guess he probably draws beef jerky, which has a higher unit price.’
The silver claw descended rapidly and boldly snatched up the prize.
‘The claw’s grip is strong, so they didn’t tamper with this machine.’
“…Huh?”
“Why?”
The snack the claw lifted was a round chocolate decorated in deep brown and gold foil.
As the claw finally dropped the chocolate at the exit, Yoo Ho-seung crouched down with a smile and retrieved it.
“Yoo Ho-seung, you succeeded on your first try. Congratulations.”
“Thank you.”
“By the way, could you tell us why you chose the chocolate? I’m curious.”
Toward Park Chae-young, who wore a puzzled expression, Yoo Ho-seung’s cheeks flushed subtly as he shyly covered his face with one hand.
“I simply like this chocolate.”
“Ah!”
Sighs of admiration rippled through the audience at his innocent answer.
‘Am I really that materialistic?’
“Next, second place goes to Kim Sun-yu. Please come up!”
Notably, Kim Sun-yu, wearing a gentle smile, unhesitatingly grabbed the most expensive beef jerky on his first try.
‘See? I’m not materialistic after all.’
After the third and fourth place trainees sequentially selected expensive snacks through the claw machine, my turn finally arrived.
“Fifth place, Cha Si-woo, please proceed with your selection!”
“Yes!”
Ding-dong. Ding-dong.
The claw machine’s distinctive melody repeated from the device.
The machine still contained numerous snacks, including bread and cookies.
‘Go for the seaweed cracker!’
The seaweed cracker had a high unit price and tasted excellent, making it a profitable item.
It was also the most expensive snack remaining in the machine at that moment.
As I moved the stick with its comfortable grip, the claw finally stopped directly above my target seaweed cracker.
I pressed the button boldly, and the silver claw descended decisively.
“…No!”
The silver claw, which had been descending in a straight line, suddenly bent as it slipped off the seaweed cracker package.
Bent at a ninety-degree angle, the claw grabbed the bread beside the seaweed cracker instead.
‘Damn it.’
As the silver claw gripped the bread tightly and rose upward, the trainees watching began cheering.
“Cha Si-woo, your love for Heart Ping bread is truly remarkable!”
That’s right.
What the claw had grabbed instead of the seaweed cracker was Heart Ping bread.
I secretly hoped the claw would drop the bread, but the unmanipulated claw machine gently carried the Heart Ping bread all the way to the exit.
The Heart Ping bread I retrieved while crouching was the chocolate flavor that Seo Ha-yul often ate.
‘This is bad. Compared to the seaweed cracker, how much profit does this generate….’
Being a character-branded bread, even with high sales volume, it was difficult to expect substantial profit margins compared to other snacks.
This mini-game was shaping up to be quite the challenging ordeal.
“Cha Si-woo, who placed 5th, has selected Heart Ping bread as the snack to sell!”
“Ahahaha!”
“Wahaha!”
As I descended from the stage against the backdrop of the trainees’ laughter, Seo Ha-yul was gazing at the Heart Ping bread with sparkling eyes.
‘No way, you bastard. I need to sell this.’

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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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