The Trashy PD Has To Survive as an Idol - Chapter 45

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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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45

“Thank you for your hard work!”
“Thank you!”

We hurried offstage, leaving the thunderous roar of applause behind us. I stripped off the traditional robe and wiped the sweat from my hair with the back of my hand.

“We did well, right?”
“Yeah. Really well.”

We performed far, far better than during rehearsal without the robe. Sure enough, the Camera Director passed by and gave us a thumbs up.

“Wow, that was absolutely fantastic. The intensity in your members’ eyes was really….”
“Thank you!”
“Who decided to add the dance break?”
“Oh, that was… me.”
“The choreography was excellent. I haven’t seen this level of quality in ages. You performed even better than rehearsal.”
“Th-thank you so much!”

Kim Sung-hyun, his ears flushed crimson, bowed deeply in gratitude. We watched the Camera Director walk away with a chuckle, scratched our heads, and turned toward the Waiting Room. In the corridor, Mars was heading up toward the Stage.

“We’ll cheer you on.”
“…Yes, thank you.”

Unlike last time, their gaze held recognition and admiration—but most notably, wariness.

‘We did well. …Kim Sung-hyun especially.’

It was the highest compliment for a rookie suddenly rising to prominence. All the effort in showcasing Kim Sung-hyun as the focal point had paid off.
Everyone seemed to share the same thought, entering the Waiting Room with satisfied expressions.

“Alright! Let’s go wait!”
“Yes, thank you for your hard work.”

The moment we entered the Waiting Room, Mars took the Stage.

“Their vocal is definitely skilled.”

I should have checked the stat window when I passed by earlier.
Well, even if their vocal was good, they still seemed to fall short of Sung Ji-won or Joo Woo-sung.

‘Ecosystem destroyers….’

True to his diligent nature, Sung Ji-won was focused intently on the monitoring TV, as if he didn’t want to miss a single moment of Mars’s performance. Only after the song ended did he take a breath and gulp down water greedily.

[Next stage is Today!]

“Our senior group Today.”

Kang Yi-chae made a blatant jab.

I scanned their outfits first as Today took the stage. The styling was sharp and angular.

‘Second Chance.’

“They didn’t have a choice.”
“Right, with only two songs available, and we already used Glow.”

We scrutinized Today’s performance more seriously than anyone else. The stage was lavish, and they were draped in designer clothing from head to toe, but anxiety they couldn’t quite hide was evident on Today’s faces. I smirked slightly.

‘They’re nervous.’

The anxiety that emerged after seeing our performance. In that moment, a familiar beat sounded.

[Let me say it again, we are the beginning
I will come back everytime]

“The concept isn’t different.”
“Yeah, they seem to have adopted it as is.”

In this competition stage, we and Today chose completely different approaches.
While we rearranged Make Love with only the melodic framework and central lyrics intact, creating a concept entirely different from the original, Today simply kept Second Chance’s concept as is and only slightly altered the beat.

‘Today’s strategy of overwhelming through skill, so that’s what the plan was….’

I gave my honest assessment.

“Can’t do it.”
“…!!”
“Hey, hyung!”

Sung Ji-won inhaled sharply. Jung Da-jun flinched and spoke up.

“The cameras are rolling, you know.”
“Want me to say it prettier?”

Should I call up a dialogue box from the system and make it say ‘totally sucks♡’ instead?
While I was worrying about this pointless nonsense, the members (naturally excluding Kang Yi-chae) were staring at me with anxious faces, so I kindly explained.

“We’re already getting edited badly anyway.”

I didn’t think Kim Hee-young would include this far.
At those words, everyone’s eyes widened before they nodded in agreement.

“Now that you mention it, that’s true…?”

Jung Da-jun accepted this and immediately refocused on the Today stage. He stared at the part that had originally been mine and tilted his head in confusion.

“Do you think they really understood the concept? When Ho-yoon hyung did it, it looked so cool, but why does it look so awkward when he does it?”

That’s because I did it well.
Whether it was boldness or sharp instincts, Kang Yi-chae—who never paid attention to the cameras anyway—was crunching on candy when the Today member flubbed the rap so badly he completely skipped an entire line, and he burst out laughing.

“What is this, it’s hilarious~. Is this a comedy program?”

Classic Kang Yi-chae. A walking disaster.

[I’ll find the way-!]

“Waaaah!”

The Main Vocal even hit a sour note. With a sharp ‘screech↗’, he hurriedly tried to play it off as intentional, but everyone watching clenched their fists in secondhand embarrassment.

“Ah….”
“I can’t even look….”

Jung Da-jun’s empathy meter had apparently maxed out, and he let out a shriek. I chuckled and sucked down the red ginseng drink in long gulps.

“That pitch crack was seriously embarrassing….”
“Our vocal range is pretty high, though.”
“But still, we’re idols….”
=Not being able to do that is overkill….

That’s what he meant.
It was brutally honest. Now that everyone had vented what they’d been holding back, they all wore the relieved expressions of people who’d just dumped a bucket of water over themselves at a bathhouse.
The casual chatter continued for quite a while even after the Today stage ended.

“Ugh, what would you have done if you’d kept all that in?”
“Hyung, you were the worst.”

I put on an innocent expression and tossed the red ginseng drink wrapper into the trash.

“The Dun, it’s time to head up!”
“Yes!”

At the staff member’s words, everyone got up from their seats.
As we left the room and headed toward the stage, I locked eyes with the Nightmare group.

“S-Seo Ho-yoon sunbae!”
“…?”

As if on cue, Lee Han-sung, the maknae of Nightmare, spoke up.

“I’m not a sunbae. I’ve only been debuted for a month.”
“Oh? Really? Then Seo Ho-yoon? Or hyung?”
“….”
“You were so cool just now!”

What is this now.
Lee Han-sung clenched both fists, said what he needed to say, then walked away with an excited expression. The other Nightmare members patted his back with oddly pleased looks on their faces.

“…What?”

I muttered awkwardly. Kang Yi-chae sidled up and whispered to me.

“You’re popular, hyung~.”
“Why would I be?”
“You could’ve picked Nightmare, Mars, and Refined last time, but you deliberately went after the biggest of the big names instead. Everyone thinks you did a good deed out of the kindness of your heart.”
“What?”

I let out a hollow laugh.
I swear that wasn’t my intention at all.

“The kids are really thoughtful. They only think the best of you.”
“Why? You’re cool, hyung.”

Kang Yi-chae grinned and walked away. I slightly frowned, then shrugged my shoulders and shook off the distracting thoughts.

‘Focus.’

As I stepped onto the stage, a massive roar filled the hall.

“Well then, shall we get to the announcement we’ve all been waiting for?”

Yoo Ji-a smiled brightly. I thought to myself that she certainly had her hands full.

“First, we’ll announce the fourth place. They captured the judges’ hearts with a refreshing concept different from their usual style.”

The preamble was long. It was a typical survival program tactic—deliberately dragging things out to heighten the tension. Meanwhile, the cameras were trained on us, capturing every moment.
Jung Da-jun looked visibly tense, his anxiety written all over his face.

“Fourth place! Refined!”

Oh my.
The Refined members looked slightly disappointed but quickly composed themselves. Their leader then smiled brightly and waved to the fans.

‘They weren’t bad. It seems the live voting had a significant impact.’

This round had turned into a complete rivalry.
Until the first round, our fans had been overwhelmingly dominant—perhaps because of the egg incident and all the noise marketing we’d generated.
But after I performed The Dun, public opinion shifted completely. Today’s already massive fanbase came flooding in for this competition stage, eyeing The Dun like they wanted to devour them.

‘This is going exactly how I wanted it to.’

A small smile escaped me. This wasn’t supposed to happen.
Yoo Ji-a announced the third-place ranking in order.

“Third place goes to Nightmare!”
“Woooow!”

The youngest member of Nightmare, who had greeted me earlier, jumped up in surprise. They’d been fifth place before—third was a remarkable leap forward. Considering they had the least experience among all the program participants, it meant even more.
Nightmare bowed repeatedly in gratitude.
The remaining rankings were first, second, and fifth place. Just as I was about to announce fifth place, Jung Da-jun grabbed my collar.

‘…Oh no.’

Jung Da-jun’s hand trembled slightly as his head hung low. Tension, anxiety, and worry all mingled together.
Maybe it was because he was a minor, but he looked particularly young. I called out to him.

“Jung Da-jun.”
“Y-yes, yes.”
“Lift your head.”

You haven’t done anything wrong.
Yoo Ji-a looked over at us and offered a sympathetic smile. Then she opened her mouth.

“Fifth place, earning 1,500 points, goes to The Dun!”
“…!”

Kim Sung-hyun’s face went pale. I gave him a light tap. And grinned at him.
Kim Sung-hyun kept his mouth firmly shut without responding. His face screamed ‘I’m so sorry.’ He must have been thinking he’d ruined everything with that school violence controversy.

“Thank you.”

I bowed to Yoo Ji-a and the fans. The judges’ expressions were starkly divided—’shameful,’ ‘pitiful,’ ‘sorry.’
The apologetic faces were definitely our fans. I waved my hand and smiled brightly.

“First place goes to Today! Congratulations to Mars as well, in second place!”
“Yay!”
“Thank you!”

Today waved brightly at the camera and fans. I didn’t particularly want to watch anymore.
I hurriedly exchanged greetings and came down, removing my outfit.

“You all did great!”
“Yes~.”

The Manager wore a bright expression, trying to lift the mood. But it didn’t reach Kim Sung-hyun at all. Kim Sung-hyun pressed his brow furiously and let out a small sigh.

“You guys, sor….”
“Want to grab some tteokbokki on the way home?”
“Huh?”
“Tteokbokki! And sundae!”
“Oh, then can I order some fish cakes too?”
“Sure. There’s a street food stall on the way.”
“Manager, can we pick up tteokbokki on the way?!”

The moment Kim Sung-hyun tried to apologize, all the members pretended not to hear. Just as he was stammering and about to speak again.

“You guys, that fifth place… it’s all my fault….”
“Kim Sung-hyun.”

I draped my arm around Kim Sung-hyun’s shoulder. His expression darkened sharply.

“Hyun-sung, what does that make me then? I’m the biggest contributor to this mess.”
“What? That can’t be….”
“If it can’t be for me, it can’t be for you either.”
“Hyung, why are you being so pathetic? It doesn’t suit you.”

Kang Yi-chae clung to Kim Sung-hyun, whose eyes were wavering in confusion, poking him playfully.
Kim Sung-hyun was just too soft-hearted.

“Hyun-sung, do you know what’s most important in a Competition Program?”
“….”
“Narrative.”

It had been a long time since everything aligned so perfectly according to my design.
Everything was in the palm of my hand.

“Think about it—we placed fifth here, and now we’re taking first. How does that feel, Kang Yi-chae?”
“That’s insane, hyung.”

Kang Yi-chae grinned mischievously beside me. I patted his back warmly with satisfaction.

“Right, it’s absolutely insane.”

Kang Yi-chae excitedly rattled off all sorts of memes.

‘The underdog awakens and climbs to first place.’
‘Hidden strength from a wallflower.’
‘A talented idol group unfairly suppressed.’

I liked them all. Every single narrative worked.

“Let’s see how far this goes.”

In a South Korea that had grown accustomed to spicy flavors, how well would this resonate?

***

[Title: Today’s Rankings

YouTube’s already up so you probably know
1st TDY 2nd MZ 3rd NTM 4th RFD 5th TDN

Hahaha, but does it even make sense to process initial consonants?
Hahahahaha
└Wait????????The Dun is fifth????
└Weren’t they first last time? What happened?
└This competition was so good;;;;felt like a year-end stage
└└Don’t exaggerate
└└Go watch the preview..]

[Title: So much talk about manipulation

The Dun proves it wasn’t rigged by placing fifth

└ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ Really, the biggest victim of the program
Lol verified through evil editing, that’s insanely creative
└The production crew should compensate them
What compensation? Anyway, the fandom got huge this time around lol
└Honestly, whenever I think about this, people were pulling their hair out everywhere saying The Dun was rigged, but now they’re suddenly quiet??]

[Title: Today’s Epic Fail

It’s already become a meme and is going around lolololololololololololol oh lololololol

└But they got first place
└The Dun set up the stage and they burned it down
└└The Dun: ???
└└Seo Ho-yoon: Wait, you’re saying I can’t just eat this up…? (bewildered)
└Today’s fans must be so embarrassed
└Today: I’ll find the way, so ↗↘evil↗
Hahahahahahaha ah voice support hahahaha

The community was ablaze.

[Exclusive Preview/Shining Star Round 2 The Dun Make Love
└So cool (3241 likes)
└Honestly, this should be first place… I wonder if everyone at the venue had their eyes checked (10453 likes)
Lol, half of them are Today fans… they probably know too… that Today doesn’t have what it takes to be #1.
└Kim Sung-hyun’s character is questionable but don’t criticize his skills (241 likes)
Please leave a comment.
└└No, Kim Sung-hyun school violence Kim Sung-hyun school violence Kim Sung-hyun school violence
└What’s the original song? Lowering the original key is boring, I can’t listen anymore (3152 likes)]

YouTube was ablaze too.

[Let me start over, click clack… Let me start over, click clack… Let me start over, click clack… Let me start over, click clack…]
[Seo Ho-yoon is a godly genius bunny idol, and I only accept rebuttals in the form of the most expensive Seo Ho-yoon photocard]
[Sung Ji-won Love: There are not two suns in this world (image of aiming a gun at the sun)]
[Kang Yi-chae Noona: Mom, why is my friend’s name Kang Yi-chae?
That’s because his mom loves Kang Yi-chae
Then what about my name?
That’s a good question, Shining Star Round 2 Competition Make Love Kang Yi-chae]

SNS was ablaze.
Every meme imaginable had attached itself to the scandal.
Yet one place remained silent.
Kim Sung-hyun’s fan accounts.
Most of them had switched to private after the school violence scandal broke, quietly lamenting in the shadows.

[ㅠㅠㅠㅠHonestlyㅠㅠㅠㅠThis time, Kim Seong-hyun tore it upㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠSeonghyun said he was the centerㅠㅠㅠ But why can’t I shake my head because I’m too busy watching… I’m torn…]
[I tear up every time I think of Hyun-sung]
[Graduation photo verification? There are tons of people who buy that stuff and fabricate it lol If that’s how you verify being classmates, then I’m best friends with Yoo Ji-a and sworn siblings with Joo Woo-sung, huh??? They’re beating him everywhere over one graduation photo verification, seriously… it’s so pathetic and infuriating]
[When he placed 5th, you could literally see it written all over his face that he was sorry. Hyun-sung performed so well, so why… He performed so well, so why did he have to make that apologetic expression?]
[I printed out the hate comments as a PDF and submitted them to the Agency today too. I hope Hyun-sung doesn’t suffer today either..]

As the final third round live competition loomed, all manner of fuel for the fire gathered.
Manipulation controversies, school violence allegations, all sorts of insubordination, malicious editing, and a brand new stage.
With unprecedented bold moves, Shining Star’s viewership ratings soared so high they seemed ready to pierce through the very heavens themselves.
I waited and waited.
After Shining Star’s fourth episode aired,
and recorded an unprecedented 5.7% viewership rating for a cable competition program, I finally picked up the phone.

“Yes, Kim Jae-yeon.”

In other words, to put it differently.

“Did you find the evidence photos?”

It was time for some satisfying justice.

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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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