The S-Rank Paparazzi Reincarnates as an Idol - Chapter 69

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

Chapter 69
“…I’ll sit this one out.”
As Park Soo-gyeok withdrew after gauging the mood, Rua—finding the situation amusing—added his own comment with a smile.
“Me too.”
Once again, every eye in the room turned toward me.
“What about you, Si-woo?”
“I’d like to take center. To be honest, I’m confident about it.”
“Ha, ha!”
“So we have three people vying for center on our team now.”
Under normal circumstances, I would have recommended Kim Sun-yu for center.
‘Logically speaking, Kim Sun-yu with his well-rounded stats—nearly a perfect hexagon—would be the ideal choice for center from the team’s overall perspective.’
But if I took center at the Final Stage, I’d inevitably receive more votes.
With such a rare opportunity, I was determined to secure center for the sake of debut and my Quest.
“So how should we decide on center?”
“What if we each perform the center part and then vote on it?”
In other words, prove it through skill.
The team members quickly nodded at the most reasonable proposal.
“Sounds good.”
“Then let’s have each person go in turn, starting in 20 minutes.”
“Got it.”
We were given a brief window to memorize the highlight choreography and lyrics.
Twenty minutes was short, but the fortunate part was that I already knew the highlight section of this song.
‘Never thought my paparazzi days would come in handy.’
I’d once taken on a job tracking one of the Hera members.
‘Thanks to that, I ended up watching this performance countless times without meaning to.’
I’d chased after Hera for nearly a month to get evidence photos.
That period happened to be right after “Red Shadow” came out, so I’d been forced to watch numerous performances—memories that now came flooding back.
“Wow, 20 minutes already?”
“So shall we officially decide on center?”
“Yes.”
While everyone was gauging who should go first, it was Kim Sun-yu who took the initiative.
“Would it be okay if I went first?”
Kim Sun-yu stood up with confident composure.
“Of course.”
“Good! Sun-yu’s got this!”
“Ha ha. I’ll start right away.”
The intro to “Red Shadow” began playing through the phone speaker, filling the room with palpable tension.
The highlight section was intense choreography paired with powerful vocals—a genuinely addictive part of the song.
Red shadow, the burning fire within me
Touch me closer, a destiny I cannot stop
‘As expected, someone with experience really knows how to perform.’
Though I had to lower the key because it was a girl group song, my tone remained clean, as if this had been my song from the very beginning.
I match my lips to your wavering gaze
Seeping into your heart
My dancing was equally smooth from start to finish, and I captured attention by effectively highlighting the intense sections.
“Amazing!”
“You did well.”
After the team members’ heartfelt cheers, Hong Ryu-han’s center appeal followed as the second performance.
‘Hmm… it’s decent, but it doesn’t feel particularly skilled.’
Having just watched Kim Sun-yu’s dance, this one felt somewhat bland in comparison.
“Finally, Si-woo, go ahead and start.”
“Yes!”
The familiar highlight note echoed in my ears.
Red shadow, the burning fire within me
Touch me closer, an unstoppable fate
I sang in the original key without lowering it.
“…!”
Watching my teammates’ eyes widen, I twisted my waist and brought my fingertips to my lips.
I match my lips to your wavering gaze
Seeping into your heart
I finished the highlight section with just one corner of my mouth slightly raised.
‘Was that okay?’
I’d watched it many times, but today’s brief practice session was my only chance to actually dance it.
I’d shown quite a desperate struggle to surpass the experienced Kim Sun-yu.
“Wow…!”
“Si-woo, what was that facial expression?”
“This is actually pretty difficult to choose, isn’t it?”
Seeing my teammates’ genuinely surprised expressions, it seemed I’d done better than expected.
“We’ll now proceed with the center vote.”
The teammates nodded and quickly began tearing paper and writing names.
‘There was no rule saying I couldn’t vote for myself, so I should write my own name.’
To win, a certain amount of shamelessness is always necessary.
Finally, the teammates placed their papers with names written on the table’s center.
“Since everyone has submitted, I’ll begin counting the votes.”
“Yes!”
I picked up the first crudely folded paper.
When I unfolded the first paper, the name written was [Kim Sun-yu].
“Sun-yu, that’s one vote for you.”
I drew a single tally mark next to Kim Sun-yu’s name on the whiteboard.
When I unfolded the second paper, [Kim Sun-yu] was written on this one as well.
‘Damn it. Is the center position slipping away from me?’
With two out of five votes going to Kim Sun-yu for center, my chances of securing the position had become overwhelmingly slim.
I reached for the third ballot with trembling fingers.
‘…!’
“That’s one vote for me.”
The moment I saw the first tally mark appear next to [Cha Si-woo], my lips curved upward involuntarily.
The fourth ballot was mercifully mine as well.
‘Phew~’
“So far, Kim Sun-yu and I are tied at two votes each.”
I steadied my racing heart and unfolded the final ballot.
Three crudely written characters appeared on the white paper.
“The center of the Pizza Team is…”
I held the paper with the name written on it up toward my teammates.
“Me!”
‘I did it!’
A surge of overwhelming and exhilarating emotion flooded through me all at once.
I quickly bowed ninety degrees toward my teammates.
“Thank you so much for choosing me as center! I promise to work incredibly hard.”
“Congratulations!”
“Si-woo. Congratulations!”
It was Rua and Kim Sun-yu, both genuinely delighted.
‘So those two must be the ones who voted for me?’
Judging by the way Park Soo-gyeok and Hong Ryu-han avoided my gaze, it seemed Kim Sun-yu and Rua were indeed the ones who chose me.
‘…Why?’
“Kim Sun-yu, did you vote for me?”
“Yeah.”
Kim Sun-yu answered with a gentle expression.
“Why? You wanted to be center too.”
“From my perspective, you seemed like the best fit for center on this stage.”
Kim Sun-yu truly had exceptional qualities.
‘This guy has the makings of a real leader.’
It seemed I’d been fortunate enough to join an exceptional team this time.
“Agreed. This song definitely suits Si-woo’s vibe the best.”
“Really? Thank you so much.”
‘I suppose Kim Sun-yu has such a righteous and virtuous image.’
His appearance was far too wholesome to pull off sexy and dark pop.
Considering the overall atmosphere, I was the better fit for center.
“Si-woo, since I voted for you this time, you’re going to forget about being upset that I didn’t pick you for the team before, right?”
Kim Sun-yu made his proposal with a gentle smile.
“I was never upset about that.”
“No. I did! Since I picked your younger sibling, you have to erase my memory too!”
“Hyungs, I’m telling you, I was never actually upset?”
The two of them were spouting nonsense, but somehow the mood wasn’t bad at all.
☆☆☆
Since there were no major villains among the team members, the practice process went quite smoothly.
Park Soo-gyeok followed without complaint whenever I gave instructions, and while Hong Ryu-han lacked skill, he showed genuine effort.
Rua and Kim Sun-yu, being the same age, surprisingly had great chemistry together.
Overflowing with enthusiasm, they rushed through practice sessions relentlessly.
‘Good. If we keep this up, the Final Stage will definitely succeed.’
I was concentrating solely on practice in this smooth process and satisfying environment.
Contrary to my hopes, the peaceful days didn’t last long.
Crash!
The practice room door swung open boldly, and cold air seeped into the space.
The sound of staff members’ footsteps poured through the gap.
“What is this?”
‘Are they filming another live broadcast?’
The atmosphere seemed far too serious for that.
A staff member with sweat beading on their forehead rushed over and stopped right in front of me.
“Cha Si-woo, trainee!”
“Yes?”
Ding.
Suddenly an opaque red window appeared, blinking rapidly before my eyes.
[Warning: The 3rd penalty is being applied as interest on the loan.]
‘…What?’
My breath caught in my throat, and an inexplicable dread wrapped around my entire body.
“Check your phone right now!”
The phone the staff member handed me displayed a familiar name.
‘Minhan General Hospital.’
There were a staggering 10 missed calls recorded.
‘The hospital has never called me 10 times before in my entire life?’
My heart suddenly began pounding wildly.
‘Everything was fine when I went to the ICU during my vacation?’
I tried to breathe in, but the air scraped harshly through my lungs.
‘Ugh…!’
My hands trembled noticeably as I gripped the phone.
Buzz. Buzz.
Another incoming call caused “Minhan General Hospital” to appear prominently on the screen.
‘Get yourself together.’
I pressed the answer button on the screen, and a cold voice flowed through the speaker.
[Hello. Is this the guardian’s phone for Cha Si-hyun?]
“Yes, that’s correct.”
[Why didn’t you answer your phone!]
“I apologize. During filming, we have to submit our phones, so I just saw it now.”
A deep sigh came through the phone.
[You need to come to the hospital right now.]
“What… what happened to Si-hyun?”
My voice trembled uncontrollably without my realizing it.
[Well… we tried to suppress it as much as we could, but I don’t know how to explain this over the phone. Can you come to the hospital first and hear the explanation in person?]
“Yes, understood. I’m heading there right now.”
[Okay. When you arrive at the hospital, please come directly to the ICU.]
After confirming the call had ended, the Staff Member handed me a tablet PC.
‘I’m dying to leave, so why?’
“I really need to get to the hospital.”
“I know. But please look at this before you go.”
“…?”
“We tried to contain it, but it’s already spread all over the Internet and we can’t control it.”
‘What?’
On the tablet PC screen I took with trembling hands was an article.
The main image showed Cha Si-hyun lying in the ICU, and me holding his hand.
“…!”
If you zoomed in on the photo even slightly, the text on the patient gown and blanket already revealed exactly which hospital it was.
‘…Damn it.’
The worst-case scenario I’d hoped would never happen had come to pass.
‘Is this karma coming back to haunt me?’
I thought I’d maintained some standards and conducted my paparazzi work responsibly.
The feeling of being victimized by the very tool I’d used to make money was simply unbearable.
[(EXCLUSIVE!) Only the older brother survived the family tragedy…! The eldest son, now guardian of his vegetative younger sibling, participates in TX Net idol auditions.]
‘They deliberately crafted the headline to bait people.’
Seeing the reporter’s intention to boost views with sensational material, I felt nausea rising in my throat.
The article contained detailed information about my story.

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