The Trashy PD Has To Survive as an Idol - Chapter 87

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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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87

Ding!

[Quest Arrived!]

I regained consciousness to find a blue System Window floating in the air before me. Blinking my eyes, I jolted upright.
The System Window had returned.

“How is this…”

No, how it returned wasn’t what mattered. What mattered was that things had returned to normal after the Min Ji-heon situation.

“Why did you disappear in the first place?”

But there was no answer. The System Window clearly wasn’t going to respond.
I stared at the screen floating in midair and let out a sigh.

“Check Quest.”

Ding!

[Quest Arrived:
‘Let’s Make a Fan Song Together!’
Groups are best with group activities rather than individual ones, after all!
Let’s create a surprise fan song for Noeul.
Success: 5,000 Points Awarded
Failure: If you fail to produce the fan song within 2 weeks, Dance Stat will significantly decrease (B+ ➝ D+)]

I stared intently at the Quest window.
Under normal circumstances, I wouldn’t have questioned this Quest, but something felt oddly off about it.
First of all,

‘Group activities rather than individual ones.’

On the surface, it was a considerably legitimate Quest compared to the ones I’d typically been given.
‘Solo activities’—in other words, acting. The System was trying to divert my attention away from it. I also thought group activities would be more fitting for this timing, but….

‘Why?’

If it wanted to discourage me from acting, it should have blocked me when the proposal first came in.
That is, when the CEO asked if I was thinking of acting, a Quest like this should have arrived then. Or at the very least, when Sung Ji-won asked if I was going to act and I stubbornly refused, it should have come then.
But now?
Moreover, if it wanted to prevent acting activities, why not just give me a Quest forbidding me from appearing in dramas?

‘It’s not that it won’t—it can’t?’

For whatever reason, it meant the System Window had its own constraints. So it seemed to be probing, sending me a Quest with such a tight deadline to try and block my acting.
In other words,

“It’s scared.”

It was telling me to avoid Min Ji-heon.
The System Window continued to glow dimly. But I already didn’t need an answer. I’d gotten my answer from that silence.
I shot up and headed to the living room. The members who’d been chatting animatedly about something immediately stood when they saw me.

“Oh, uh….”

I would’ve preferred if they’d forgotten about me and just kept having fun, but these good-hearted members couldn’t manage that.
Where in the world does a group become listless just because one member is listless?

“Did someone die?”

I clicked my tongue and flopped onto the empty spot on the sofa. Only then did the members hesitantly follow suit and sit down.

“Ho-yoon….”

Sung Ji-won started to speak but closed his mouth. His expression seemed excited, but he also looked like he was reading the room. Kim Sung-hyun quickly caught the tail end of what he was about to say.

“The Manager came by earlier. Since you were sleeping, he told us to just leave you alone.”
“Yeah.”
“You passed the first round of auditions. …Now you just need to go for the second round.”

Normally, the members would be thrilled and eager to do anything for me. Even though this was certainly good news, they were choosing their words carefully and reading the mood—probably because of what happened earlier.
I snatched the drink Jung Da-jun was holding and gulped it down, my throat parched. Jung Da-jun’s eyes widened in surprise.

“Hyung, that was mine…”
“Jung Da-jun.”
“Yes?”

I wiped my mouth with the back of my hand.

“Why are you reading the mood?”
“…Yes, huh?”
“Didn’t I tell you not to read the mood unless you’ve actually done something wrong? Why aren’t you putting it into practice yet, huh?”
“…?”

Jung Da-jun’s words seemed to take a moment to process, and his mouth fell slightly open.

“He’s back, the rude one…”
“No, his manners just disappeared again.”
“Ah, that’s right.”

The other members murmured among themselves. Jung Da-jun stammered for a moment before suddenly grabbing me and pouring out his words in a rush.

“Hyung, that… forget what I said earlier, please. I wasn’t saying I hoped you’d pass the audition so you could see Min Ji-heon sunbae. Of course, there was some fan sentiment toward screenwriter Kim Sook-hee involved, but… I’m not sure what it is, but if you don’t like it, I don’t like it either!”
“Really?”

This innocent kid. Looking at Jung Da-jun, who was quite satisfying to tease, I chuckled and asked.

“Our maknae, choose between Min Ji-heon and me.”
“Huh?”
“Choose.”

After about three seconds of rolling his eyes, Jung Da-jun stammered out his answer.

“…Obviously it’s you, hyung??”
“…”
“What kind of strange thing is this…”

…Satisfying, though even I had to admit it was pathetic. I sighed and reached over to ruffle the bewildered maknae Jung Da-jun’s hair. He looked somewhat wronged, but I ignored it.

“So, I just need to go to the second audition, right?”
“Yeah. It’s something to celebrate, but since you didn’t want to do it, Ho-yoon, we’ll respect whatever you decide.”
“Yeah, that works out.”
“But if you’re even slightly reconsidering… huh?”

Sung Ji-won trailed off mid-sentence, then asked in surprise.

“That works out?”
“Yeah.”

I picked up my phone and sent a positive message to my Manager.

“I’m going to do it.”
“…Huh?”
“Acting. I’m doing it.”

Everyone’s eyes narrowed.
Just a few hours ago, the atmosphere suggested I absolutely wouldn’t do it, so they all looked at me with questioning eyes, but I had no intention of explaining. I’d already made my decision to play Lee Jung-hoon.
The System Window was hiding something and extremely averse to Min Ji-heon. Min Ji-heon knew something and could even temporarily eliminate the System Window.

Then the answer was clear.
If I couldn’t get answers from the Screenwriter or the System Window, I’d use Min Ji-heon to extract them myself.

‘How should I go about this….’

While searching for information about Min Ji-heon online, I suddenly looked up and glanced at the members. Kang Yi-chae averted his gaze somewhat unnaturally, but….
Let’s move past that for now. I had more pressing matters.

“Oh, and let’s make a fan song for us.”
“…?”

At those words, everyone’s expressions filled with even more question marks.

***

[The Dun’s Seo Ho-yoon Confirmed for Role of Young Genius PD in ‘Please Camera’]
[Seo Ho-yoon Transforms from ‘Idol’ to ‘Actor’… Synergy with Min Ji-heon in Same Production]

Seo Ho-yoon naturally delivered a flawless performance as the PD across the second and third rounds of auditions, earning unanimous approval.
Moreover, to accommodate the 23-year-old Seo Ho-yoon, Screenwriter Kim Sook-hee added every conceivable “early” title to the character, even lowering PD Lee Jung-hoon’s age to 29.
The casting news leaked from somewhere and spread instantly across media outlets.
Lee Ji-hyun, who had practically become The Dun’s dedicated consultant, fluttered upon seeing the article, but reasoning that if criticism was inevitable, it was better to face it sooner, she quickly released additional press materials.

Seo Ho-yoon’s personal fans, who had detected no hint of this beforehand, experienced a shock upon seeing the sudden news, but quickly posted on social media regardless.

[Ho-yoon confirmed as genius PD in Please Camera!! So perfect and can’t wait♡ Rooting for your first acting challenge! (press release link)]

And that post went viral with retweets. But… the quote-retweets vastly outnumbered the simple retweets by dozens of times.
It varied depending on the situation, but this time it worked in a very negative way.

[Hahahaha]
[What happened to Lee Kang-seok’s appearance??????]
“Wow, Dae Pa-sung’s working hard lolol Pushing Min Ji-heon into the deal lolol”
[It’s hilarious how they’re desperately trying to squeeze Seo Ho-yoon in as a supporting character, even modifying the character settings and age. Are you guys having fun with this forced casting?]

If it had merely been an acting challenge, it wouldn’t have ignited such fury,
but the role had been widely rumored—almost officially announced—to feature rising star Lee Kang-seok. With news coverage confirming it and the character fitting him perfectly, the backlash was severe when an idol suddenly swooped in instead.
In this industry, actors being replaced right before casting wasn’t unusual, but when articles reported that the character’s age was adjusted after casting specifically to accommodate Seo Ho-yoon, and Lee Kang-seok’s management subsequently released a comment expressing regret at not landing the role, the criticism intensified.
The fan who posted the original tweet scrolled through the replies—a chaotic mix of Noeul fans, drama enthusiasts, and people who came just for the drama—then switched to a private account and left a comment.

[Sigh]

There was only one thing to say.

Got it, guys.
I’m sorry for being thoughtless/insensitive.
Still, they diligently posted things like “Wow, Seo Ho-yoon acting? This is going to be amazing,” “I’ll get to see Seo Ho-yoon’s face regularly for two months, gotta save those screencaps.” Of course, behind the scenes, they were crying, saying “Please just stop, I’m scared.”
The Noeul fans couldn’t even complain openly and were only sobbing on their private accounts.

Still, she eagerly posted comments like “Wow, Seo Ho-yoon is acting? That’s so exciting,” and “I’ll get to see Seo Ho-yoon’s face regularly for two months, gotta save those new screenshots,” but behind the scenes, she shed tears muttering, “Please just stop, I’m scared.”
The members of Noeul couldn’t openly complain anywhere and could only cry out through anonymous accounts.

[Ugh… I’m cursing up a storm. We all know this is pushing it too far…
└I’ve been muttering curses all day at work. I’ve gone insane]
[What’s with Seo Ho-yoon’s sudden acting? Dae Pa-sung couldn’t let go of their ambitions~~~]
[I can see it coming… the Idol being shoved down our throats. The backlash, all the hate comments, the trolls picking fights… it’s all written in the stars…
But you know what?
We’re Seo Ho-yoon fans who don’t back down
Winter is coming. Let’s fight, you bastards]

As if to prove their words, sparks were already beginning to ignite across the Community.

[Title: Seo Ho-yoon is being shoved in with Min Ji-heon this time, right?

This time it’s so blatantly obvious that it’s annoying lol
Even changing their age.. Crazy

└Seo Ho-yoon? Has this person ever acted before??
└└No
Oh my god… haha…
└So ㅠㅠ I had high expectations because it was written by Suki Kim, but putting idols on top of cooked rice]

“Just say you want to be an actress lol. I knew you always had a blank face and it was obvious you didn’t want to be an idol, but I didn’t expect you to show your true colors this quickly? You’re going to get antis soon. Hey, don’t cause trouble for the other members—just quit.”
“└ Would someone who hates being an Idol even upload PopPop? lol She’s famous for communicating super hard with fans, so you should focus on doing well yourself.”

[Honestly, with acting activities you’ll be missing a lot of schedules… and you don’t care about the members at all? Why debut as a group then?]

[Isn’t it too transparent to not think about group activities..?ㅠㅠ Just leave the group ㅜㅜ #SeekingNoeul #Noeul_TweetSo
└Shut up]

While fans felt dizzy as the anti-fans appeared one by one, smelling blood, and busily fought with each other… what was Seo Ho-yoon doing?

“….”
“Oh, you’re here….”
“Cough, cough!”
“…Hey, everyone out first.”

I was inside Lim Hyun-sung’s poorly ventilated Raccoon Den Studio.

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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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