The S-Rank Paparazzi Reincarnates as an Idol - Chapter 55

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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 55
“Wow! It’s Heart Ping oppa!”
Children dressed in princess-style dresses rushed toward the Heart Ping Bread booth all at once.
“Shouldn’t it be uncle, not oppa?”
“No way. My older sister said anyone handsome is oppa.”
‘That sister knows what she’s talking about.’
I may have gotten older, but I still wasn’t used to being called uncle.
The booth I’d secured at the Flea Market was decorated with Heart Ping characters.
Whether it was because I’d drawn attention effectively or because of the character appeal, children were flocking to me, making my booth explosively popular.
‘At least that’s something.’
“Welcome, my little princesses.”
I flashed a professional smile and waved both hands.
“Hello!”
“You’re all so polite! How many Heart Ping breads should I give you?”
“One each!”
“Yeah. That’s all the allowance we have!”
From their tiny hands, they pulled out two crumpled 1,000-won bills from a character wallet.
‘Heart Ping bread costs 1,500 won each.’
When I saw “1,500 won” written crudely on A4 paper, my heart sank.
When I looked at the children in bewilderment, I met their bright, innocent eyes head-on.
“Oppa… is our money not enough?”
‘Ugh. My heart aches.’
“No, I’ll give you two breads right away.”
If I saw those pure eyes and didn’t give them bread, I’d be garbage.
“Yay!”
‘That’s right. As long as you’re happy.’
When I accepted the children’s dirty money, my sales profit showed –1,000 won.
That’s right.
I was the most popular, but I was unintentionally running a deficit.
‘I can’t refuse when these kids offer me their allowance while wanting to eat.’
“Thank you, Heart Ping oppa!”
“Enjoy it. Grow up big and strong.”
“Okay!”
While the sales numbers made my heart heavy, seeing the children smile brightly felt healing.
As the situation repeated several times, I sold through my entire stock, and the Heart Ping bread sold out early.
Being the first to finish selling, I could only despair when the Staff Member handed me the sales report.
“Really… is this amount correct?”
The number written was lower than I’d expected.
“Yes! Cha Si-woo’s Heart Ping bread total sales revenue is 300,000 won.”
‘I’m ruined.’
It was a number that predicted an overwhelmingly last-place finish.
☆☆☆
“Trainees, did you sell a lot of snacks?”
After the Flea Market ended, we gathered back in the Auditorium.
“Yes!”
Among the bright responses from the trainees, there were a few muted answers like mine.
“That’s fortunate. Actually, the sales revenue each of you earned from this mini-game will be used as the budget for staging the next mission.”
“…!”
‘What? I only made 300,000 won?’
The trainees began whispering at the unexpected announcement.
Putting on a stage performance required far more expenditure than one might think.
‘At minimum, I’d need costumes and props, and at maximum, stage equipment and effects.’
Especially the costs for special effects like fireworks, pyrotechnics, fog, lasers, and wire rigs were astronomical, so substantial expenses were anticipated.
“The trainee who generated the most sales revenue will be able to add more devices to their stage, allowing them to create a much more spectacular performance, right?”
“Woooow!”
“Ah….”
‘With 300,000 won, should I give up on special effects entirely?’
I needed to think about staging a performance with good value for money.
“And I’ll tell you about the benefits for the snack sales champion that you’re all curious about.”
The restless trainees fell silent in an instant.
With all eyes fixed on Park Chae-young, she opened her mouth.
“The snack sales champion benefit is… choosing your team members!”
‘Again?’
“By the way, once you form a team, the team members combine the money they each earned to stage the performance together. You’ll need team members with good skills, of course, but having team members with more money would also be advantageous for creating an outstanding stage, right?”
‘This damn capitalism.’
“Yes!”
“Please reveal the final sales revenue of all the trainees right now!”
On the screen, photos and names of thirty trainees appeared all at once.
Below them were the amounts of money earned from the mini-game.
“The screen is arranged in order of highest sales revenue. The five trainees selected as snack sales champions, please come up on stage right now!”
Many of the top-ranked trainees who had drawn expensive snacks in the lottery were selected as sales champions.
The problem was that I, who had drawn fifth in the lottery, was in last place with sales revenue of 300,000 won.
‘I’m done for?’
If they picked me as a team member, I would become such a burden that I’d need to bow in apology.
Five trainees with familiar faces, including Yoo Ho-seung, Kim Sun-yu, and Rua, took the stage.
‘Setting aside the others, why did Yoo Ho-seung, who drew chocolate, end up here…?’
Apparently thinking the same thing, Park Chae-young handed the microphone to Yoo Ho-seung from the start.
“First, Trainee Yoo Ho-seung, who came in first place with an overwhelming amount, please share your secret.”
Yoo Ho-seung’s sales revenue from the snack sales, where he placed first, was a whopping 3 million won!
‘A tenfold difference. How on earth did he manage to sell chocolate and earn 3 million won?’
It was an ironic situation where a pure intention had defeated all the materialists and claimed first place.
“Thanks to the delicious chocolate, I was able to become the snack sales champion. I’ll use this precious money wisely and deliver the best performance on stage. Thank you!”
“Yoo Ho-seung, you captured people’s hearts with sweet chocolate and achieved successful results!”
‘How on earth did he manage that?’
I’d have to ask him about it later.
As the top-ranked snack sales champions each shared brief comments in order, the moment finally arrived to select team members.
“The snack sales champions who received benefits will each select their desired team member in order from the highest rank. First, Yoo Ho-seung, please tell us who you’d like to choose.”
“I’ll choose Kang Chan!”
Yoo Ho-seung picked up the microphone and spoke without a moment’s hesitation.
“Wow!”
Checking the screen, I could see that Kang Chan had achieved the sixth-highest sales revenue at 2 million won.
‘Tch. Dirty capitalism.’
With only 300,000 won in earnings, I was clearly at a disadvantage.
“Second, please call Kim Sun-yu!”
“I will….”
Kim Sun-yu’s eyes met mine, and he flashed a gentle smile.
‘…Could it be?’
A certainty that I might be called next spread through my entire body.
‘Right. I took photos for him, and we even promised to debut together as a team in the end.’
An irrepressible smile spread across my face.
I was hurriedly preparing to go up when—
“I’ll choose Lee Ji-hoon.”
“…!”
Lee Ji-hoon was the trainee who had achieved 1.5 million won in sales revenue and placed third in the previous rankings announcement.
‘Why…? Weren’t we good together?’
Kim Sun-yu laughed awkwardly and gave a thumbs up.
‘Fine, whatever.’
Well, it was a choice I could understand logically.
Honestly, if I were in his position, I would have chosen Lee Ji-hoon too, thinking about winning odds.
Yu Hae-in picked up the microphone after confirming that Lee Ji-hoon had taken his place behind Kim Sun-yu.
“Third, please choose Rua!”
“I will….”
‘Can’t be helped. I’ll team up with you this time too.’
I was adjusting my clothes and preparing to go up when—
“I’ll choose Seo Ha-yul.”
‘…You too.’
As I stared at Rua in disappointment, he flashed a bright smile.
Of course, if I were in Rua’s position, I would have chosen Seo Ha-yul as well.
‘I understand, but why does this feel so bitter?’
It was a dirty feeling I’d never experienced before in my life.
I could only watch as the Entertainment Company trainee called out names, my expression carefully composed.
The turn came full circle, and the microphone was placed back into Yoo Ho-seung’s hands.
“Yoo Ho-seung, Sales King, please call out the second trainee you’ll be selling with!”
‘I’ll probably be called last anyway.’
I was standing there with half-resigned eyes when it happened.
“I’ll choose Cha Si-woo!”
“…Me?”
I pointed at my own face with my finger, and Yoo Ho-seung nodded as if delivering a final confirmation.
‘Really? Why?’
“Congratulations! Cha Si-woo, please stand behind Yoo Ho-seung, our Sales King!”
‘Yes!’
The fact that my team had two high-ranking trainees was quite welcome.
More than anything, these two had sales figures large enough to carry 300,000 won.
‘I’m not sure why, but thanks, Yoo Ho-seung.’
Today, Yoo Ho-seung looked even more handsome.
As I moved to stand behind Kang Chan, I made sure to shoot a glance at Rua and Kim Sun-yu.
‘You materialistic bastards. Let’s see how well you do.’
As I stopped behind Kang Chan, Yoo Ho-seung turned his head.
“Si-woo, welcome.”
‘Was he always this radiant?’
There seemed to be a light emanating from Yoo Ho-seung’s face as he flashed a bright smile.
“Ho-seung! Thank you so much for picking me!”
“Haha. I’m just happy you’re so pleased!”
‘With just you and Kang Chan, how much money is that?’
“Of course I’m pleased! But why did you pick me? Honestly, 300,000 won is a significant hit, isn’t it?”
Yoo Ho-seung’s cheeks flushed shyly as he covered them with one hand.
“Well… actually, I wanted to try being on the same team as you once.”
“Really? Thanks! I’ll do my absolute best. I love our team so much!”
‘You materialistic fools, purity really is the best!’
As I was feeling satisfied, the trainees continued to be called out one by one.
“Oh right. Ho-seung, I’m curious about something.”
“What is it?”
“How did you make so much money with chocolate?”
Kang Chan seemed curious too, as his ears twitched slightly.
“Ah. The chocolate I chose had toys inside them.”
“Really?”
“Yes. So the unit price was higher than expected, and even when I raised the price, people bought them wanting to get rare toys.”
‘This guy is smarter than I thought?’
“Wow, you’ve got good strategy.”
“Thank you. Actually, I like chocolate too, and I collect those rare toys myself, so I understood the psychology well and chose them.”
“That’s impressive.”
By the time the casual conversation wound down, it was Yoo Ho-seung’s turn again.
‘He’ll probably pick well on his own.’
The sharp-minded guy methodically called out names one by one, carefully considering position and sales revenue.
Finally, the selection of all team members was complete.
“With that, we’ve finished selecting all the team members for the mission!”
“Woooow!”
“I hope you’ll pool your funds with these teammates and create a successful stage performance.”
“Yes!”
“Now, let me explain in detail the mission you’ll be undertaking.”
Tense, dramatic music flowed through the speakers.
“This Survival Competition is a concept evaluation mission!”
“…!”
“You’ll select a concept and prepare a performance to match it. Since you must design the stage within a limited budget, creativity is equally important.”
With a sales revenue difference of two million won between the first-place and fifth-place teams, this was shaping up to be a competition where the rich would get richer and the poor would fall further behind.
‘That’s why even servants should work in a nobleman’s house.’
Looking at Yoo Ho-seung and Kang Chan, my shoulders naturally rose with confidence.

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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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