The Trashy PD Has To Survive as an Idol - Chapter 225

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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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225

I deliberately exaggerated my reaction to that suspicious gaze.

“My condition is perfect. I could practice for ten hours straight without a break.”
“Okay, I’ll pass that along to Ji-won.”
“I’m joking.”

I should have surrendered immediately to his comeback, but
Kang Yi-chae’s eyes widened as he confirmed that I still had the spirit to crack jokes, and he laughed playfully.

“Geez, Ho-yoon really knows how to worry people. You never learn~.”
“Hahaha~.”

Crazy guy.
I cursed inwardly, but since the health-obsessed rapper’s tense atmosphere seemed to have eased slightly, I was about to separate from the youngest member and have a private conversation with him when
Jung Da-jun immediately clung to Kang Yi-chae and asked.

“Pretty zombie hyung, you’ve already started filming, right?”
“Yeah, episodes one and two are already in the can.”

Filming?
I kept my mouth shut, trying to piece together the situation since something wasn’t adding up, and as we moved to the practice room, Kang Yi-chae spoke.

“The trainees there seem to have a weird vibe. How are they doing these days?”
“About the same. And with so many survival programs out there lately, the contestants all seem to have pretty similar skill levels~.”
“What about our agency’s trainees?”
“…They’re trying…I guess?”
“You don’t care at all!!”

Oh right, now that I think about it, didn’t Kang Yi-chae say he was participating as a mentor on a survival program?

“Still, our trainees have decent character. I think you should tell them that escaping this place as quickly and efficiently as possible is the best path for their futures.”

As I watched Kang Yi-chae murmur to himself with a contemplative expression, a strange sense of dissonance made me tilt my head—and then, slowly, the memory surfaced.
‘Rising Rookies’ was a new idol survival program spearheaded by tvK.
The only notable distinction was that it had less popularity than Shining Star.

Kang Yi-chae had raised a fuss about how a second-year idol had no business being a mentor, but apparently he’d been persuaded by the argument that as a currently trending idol, composer, lyricist, and survivor of a competition program himself, he’d be invaluable to the trainees.

It seemed they’d divided the mentors into two teams—one featuring a current idol excelling in creative work, and another with a veteran idol distinguished across various fields—effectively positioning them as mentors in title but appearing more as assistants.

[Eng Kang Ichae?? Haha Qㅠㅠ Fucking unreasonable numbers ㅠㅠ]
“What does it matter? Most people with more seniority than her are trash at what they do anyway lol. Kang Yi-chae would do way better. Last time he was featured on Kang Yeon-hu’s variety show and it was insane.”
[Even if they assigned younger mentors separately, isn’t he still the youngest?? Kang Yi-chae’s gonna have it rough]

I’d even checked the internet reactions questioning whether Kang Yi-chae seemed out of place given how well the other mentors’ lineup had been assembled.

‘But why had I forgotten about this?’

I scratched the back of my head and looked at Kang Yi-chae.
I expected his reputation would naturally flip once the program aired.
Regardless of what he said, he wasn’t the type to half-ass his work.

“Stop worrying about the juniors and take care of yourself.”
“Of course. I’m swamped enough with year-end performances and comeback preparations.”

I felt a touch of emotion wondering if he’d developed interest in The Dun’s success, when Kang Yi-chae stretched languidly and whined.

“Ugh~. I really have so much to do. I wish I could borrow Da-jun’s legs.”
“My legs? Would it be okay if you borrowed mine, hyung? Want me to lend them to you??”

For the next album, we were working to strengthen The Dun’s identity while increasing mainstream appeal, planning a comeback around mid-next year at the earliest.

‘In that sense, it’s good for us to build recognition through variety shows together.’

While I still appeared on variety shows frequently, the other members were reaching the point where they needed to build individual recognition.
Kang Yi-chae would get his exposure as a survival program mentor, and if Jung Da-jun made an impact on ‘Take Care of Me’, that would be perfect.

“Be careful around the cameras.”
“Oh~, are you worried about me?”

Why does he talk like that?
Despite the nagging stuck to his lips, Kang Yi-chae laughed cheerfully and winked at me.

“Don’t forget to come cheer me on when I perform at the mentor stage~.”

He chuckled and headed into the practice room with the other members. Inside, Sung Ji-won and Kim Sung-hyun were already there, practicing while drenched in sweat.
Sung Ji-won, whose eyes met mine, jumped up from his spot.

“Oh! Ho-yoon, why are you here?”
“Hey.”
“I told you to rest. You were really sick yesterday.”
“I’m fine. Let’s practice.”

I tossed the sports bag I’d brought into the corner and started stretching.
Honestly, my condition lately had been swinging between extremes.
At night I felt like I was dying, but when I opened my eyes in the morning, I felt manageable enough.

“Hyung, you remind me of that meme. You know, the one that goes ‘I’m a bit nauseous and a bit dizzy and I’m vomiting but I’m fine. I can manage.’ That one!”
“Be quiet.”

Jung Da-jun stuck out his face and teased me.
Sung Ji-won, who’d been staring at him, let out a deep sigh and took his position next to me.
As my roommate, he knew my current condition better than anyone, so he seemed a bit displeased with my stubbornness.

“Seven, eight!”
“One! Boom, lalala….”

About thirty minutes into practice, even standing was starting to feel heavy.
The choreography was brutally difficult, and my head throbbed endlessly.
I pressed my temples with my fingers, and suddenly my vision spun,

“Whoa!”

I collided with Jung Da-jun, who was moving through his position.
With his sharp yelp, our feet tangled together and we fell straight down.

“Ugh!”
“Oh no, hyung, I’m sorry!!”

Jung Da-jun tumbled over me, his nose striking my chest squarely, and even as he cradled the bridge of his nose with both hands, he jerked his upper body upright.
I said nothing, merely tapped Jung Da-jun’s shoulder in a gesture to get up, breathing heavily through my nose.

“…Since we’re down anyway, damn it, let’s just rest. It’s comfortable here.”
“Please, just rest normally. No one’s going to say anything.”

Ignoring them, I sprawled out flat on my back, staring at the ceiling, while the members gathered around me in a huddle and fanned me.

“The choreography is pretty difficult, isn’t it?”
“It feels like the formation changes every five seconds or so.”
“Can’t they just make it easier?”

Sure, idol choreography gets more intense every year, but why can’t we perform dances that everyone can follow easily?
Kim Sung-hyun said he’d consider it, but that was just a polite way of saying no.
The members were enjoying a brief respite, and Kang Yi-chae, who’d been halfheartedly fanning me, suddenly spoke up.

“By the way, I discovered something shocking while mentoring. Ho-yoon hyung isn’t actually a klutz.”
“Huh?”
“Hey, Sung Ji-won. Did you just repeat what I said?”

When I glared at him, Sung Ji-won smiled brazenly.
This guy seemed to be resorting to smiling whenever he had nothing to say lately.

“I was convinced hyung was a total klutz, but now that I think about it, if hyung had appeared on this program, you’d probably be in the top tier for dancing.”
“Want to die?”
“If you’d been with hyung Ji-won, I would’ve already run away crying.”
“Aha, it’s not quite that bad….”

When Sung Ji-won laughed loudly at the joke, the other members suddenly turned serious.

“Hyung, that’s actually accurate.”
“Sung Ji-won, that’s accurate.”
“Want to practice more?”
“—Hyung Ji-won is the most handsome person in the world and has the voice of an angel!!”
“Wow~.”

Sung Ji-won responded with a benevolent expression as Jung Da-jun immediately prostrated himself.
From what I’d gathered, it seemed Kang Yi-chae was quite flustered seeing trainees who couldn’t even manage half of The Dun’s usual practice volume.
Honestly, it wasn’t just The Dun—the ones helping out were Joo Woo-sung and Chae Jung-woo. The rival group designated in the survival show was High Five.
Of course, when you’re used to looking up at the top and then see babies who’ve barely started taking their first steps, they’re bound to seem lacking.
On top of that, Kang Yi-chae’s stats were so high from the start that it was hard to even call him a rookie.

“So how are the kids doing?”
“…Obviously.”

Kang Yi-chae’s eyebrows shot up, then settled back down.

“I’m nurturing them with love.”

Then he smiled like a sunflower.

“That’s a lie!! I heard you already made some trainees cry!!”
“Cry? No way. Something just got in their eyes. There’s a lot of dust there.”
“He made them cry, he definitely did….”

Since they already cried, I’d bet my bank account on it.
Well, these kids don’t have much social experience—how could they handle someone cunning like Kang Yi-chae?
Even I find him scary when he gets serious.

‘Anyway, I want to check out Kang Yi-chae’s stats.’

Lying on my back, I tapped the floor with my index finger, and the System Window appeared conveniently.
It had been such a long time.

[Kang Yi-chae
The Standard of Genius!]

[Vocals: S-
Dance: A+
Variety: A0
Acting: B-
Charm: S-
???: ???]

“…!”

Until recently, he would at least respond when called, but for the past few days there had been no response whatsoever—and now he finally appeared.
Startled as I was reading through the stats, I was once again amazed by how Kang Yi-chae’s abilities had climbed steadily even while neglected.

“I’m stepping out for a moment.”
“Mmkay~.”

I gave the members a vague heads-up—their conversation had already shifted to dinner and dishwashing duty—and slipped out of the practice room.
That Kang Yi-chae, practically living in the studio, had accumulated all those hours of effort into stats, it seemed.

“Hey, show me mine too.”

The moment the words left my mouth, my stats appeared.

[Seo Ho-yoon
Official Troublemaker]

[Singing: A+
Dancing: B+
Entertainment: A+
Acting: A-
Charm: A0
???: ???]

‘…Surprisingly, my stats have climbed quite a bit.’

Staring at the System Window studded with evenly distributed A-grades, I felt bewilderment rather than pride.
Entertainment and Acting had each gone up a notch.

‘I thought they’d be lower than this.’

I didn’t have an S-rank yet, or an EX-rank like Joo Woo-sung, but this was respectable enough to count as top-tier, wasn’t it?

“Why did Acting even go up?”

Stage expression acting?
I haven’t touched acting since ‘Please Camera’—not even the first letter of it. If it was going to rise, shouldn’t it have been then?
The answer to that question came from the System Window itself.

Ding!

[I’ve climbed up bit by bit through my usual antics!!]

“….”

I found myself convinced in an instant by an argument that was difficult to refute.
While I’d been steadily devising plans to elevate The Dun without pause, it seemed I’d inadvertently knocked a few people over in the process.
I crossed my arms and patted my own shoulders.

“I’ve lived diligently, haven’t I?”

[Wow, how can you be so shameless?]

I was contemplating which areas to target next, deciding there was no point dwelling further on the matter, when suddenly the windows before my eyes crackled with noise.

[Seo■◎yoon??
Public■ ■∂▽]

[Noeul: A+
■: B◎◎+
Variety: A▽
Acting▽◎: A-
◎Power: ■0
??Degree: ?∂?%]

[ERROR!]
[ERROR!]
[ERROR!]

The characters distorted and scattered, and soon an alarm blared alongside the ERROR message loud enough to make my ears ring.
Then, watching the System Window shut down with a sharp click, I was left utterly dumbfounded.

“…What?”

At the same time, I recalled the stat window I’d been scanning moments before and furrowed my brow.

‘…Degree?’

The final stat that had been obscured flickered into view for an instant.
But seeing the System Window appear again, my racing thoughts came to an abrupt halt.

[Seo Ho-yoon!!]
☞The Real Troublemaker Baby Rabbit
☞I say Ho~~↗Yoon↘
☞You say Ho-yoon↗Ho-yoon↗Ho-yoon↗!!]

[Troublemaking: EX+
Shamelessness: S+
Wickedness: A-
Deception: S-]

“….”

Watching the clearly hastily assembled display, my eyebrows trembled with indignation.

[Ack, a commemorative first EX-rank stat~☆]

“Sometimes I wish you were real. Just one punch.”

I waved away the System Window, which was annoyingly insisting that constantly monitoring one’s own stats was the same as mirror addiction or narcissism, and brushed my bangs back.

[The system has been unstable lately, but it should stabilize soon. Finish the variety show well and get plenty of rest! >_<]

It spouted its piece and vanished in an instant. Though honestly, even if I'd dragged it out, it probably would've run away anyway.
I turned the situation over in my mind.

An error message that appeared suddenly.
Stats marked with question marks.
An unstable system.

"…Hmm."

Why did it specifically tell me to finish the variety show well?
Inferring the meaning, I tilted my head side to side with the corners of my mouth raised.
Honestly, appearing on a variety show with Min Ji-heon was exhausting, but it wasn't difficult.
And for good reason.

"Idiot, you worry about pointless things."

Variety shows are what I do best.

***

[Take Care of Me finally airs today!!]

The Noeul fans were brimming with anticipation, yet harbored a subtle undercurrent of worry.
Seo Ho-yoon's condition had appeared to be deteriorating recently.

[Seo Ho-yoon seems to be in a lot of pain these days. Are you okay?]
[The baby's condition doesn't look good lately..]

Of course, as his popularity soared, cynical comments inevitably followed in equal measure.

Seo Ho-yoon always looks reluctant, so I didn't even know he was sick lol. If he doesn't want to do it, he should just say so instead of forcing himself—does he really want to show off how close he is with Min Ji-heon lol?
[Basoons, they just don't want to do it, so they cry over something with a fucked up face. Does it hurt? I think so ㅜㅜ.. < ㅇㅈㄹ]

The Noeul fans expertly blocked and reported the hateful comments.

[Are you also a little sick of the hateful comments? I think so ㅜㅜ..]
[What… are you even?]
[How do all those people talk exactly the same way? Zero originality.
Hey, while you're doing this, Ho-yoon is out here living his absolute best life~!]
[Hahaha guys, live your actual lives for a bit…]

In the meantime, everyone gathered dutifully in front of their televisions.
The anxiety was short-lived.
The moment Take Care of Me aired for the first time, all concerns about Seo Ho-yoon's poor condition evaporated in an instant.

[Hahahahaha;;;????]
Hey Seo Ho-yoon, you're such a loser lol

On screen, Seo Ho-yoon was delivering a spectacular performance with an utterly composed expression.

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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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