translation by mourningmoor
“Wow, amazing. As expected of MadJuhee-nim.”
Roa let out an exclamation while watching the video uploaded on Universe.
“Yeah. I saw it too.”
Before being discharged yesterday, I watched the video with Kim Chanyeong.
MadJuhee, the famous NewTuber, who is now twenty-eight years old, has done something truly remarkable.
She pieced together the connection between me and Kim Wooyoung in a highly convincing way, laid out the laptop incident in chronological order, starting with Jung Yoobin tearfully holding a press conference, and even managed to dig up an article about Kim Chanyeong’s fall accident.
She even edited a photo of Kim Wooyoung attending our concert.
The most interesting part was the fan cam from a music show that was edited into the video—because that footage practically said everything.
It was a scene from the final stage where everyone was celebrating our first-place win together.
Somehow, we ended up standing side by side with MuteSeven on stage, and the way MuteSeven’s members were positioned was quite the sight. First of all, we were standing in our official order. On my side was MuteSeven, and Kim Wooyoung, completely oblivious, was sticking right next to me, running his mouth. I don’t remember exactly, but he was probably saying something to mock us.
However, our expressions made us look quite close.
The problem was the rest of MuteSeven’s members.
Next to Kim Wooyoung was Jung Yoobin, and beyond that bastard, all the members were standing far apart, staring at Kim Wooyoung with an incredibly serious look in their eyes.
It was as if they were silently saying, ‘If you keep that up, Jung Yoobin’s going to hit you again.’
Jung Yoobin was smiling sweetly, but the situation in the photo was so intense that his smile no longer looked innocent.
What’s more, in the next photo, Kim Wooyoung’s bruised face was faintly visible under his heavy makeup.
“The reactions are brutal, huh?”
Roa, who had been reading through every single fan reaction, was pleased that things were unfolding just as planned.
“Our fans are really smart. They’re saying the building fall accident and this traffic accident—it’s too much of a coincidence.”
At that, Siu added a comment.
“I also saw that post. ‘Attacking Director Kim Chanyeong is the same as threatening our leader. The LIT fandom won’t just sit still. Do you understand, ○○○-nim?’ That’s what they wrote.”
Everyone was calling him ‘○○○-nim’ or ‘the one whose name must not be spoken,’ but there was no doubt they were referring to HS’s CEO, Jang Myungwoo.
“They’ve already started, actually. I saw a photo of a banner put up in front of Yongsan Police Station. It says, ‘I will protect my idol.’ ‘We demand a thorough investigation into LIT leader Kang Ichan’s traffic accident.’”
Roa held out a picture.
Apparently, several Filament members, who identified themselves as part of the ‘Kang Ichan Supporters,’ had even submitted a petition to Yongsan Police Station.
Things were getting really interesting.
At this rate, HS’s CEO Jang Myungwoo must be sweating bullets.
Just then, the car pulled up in front of the TVH M&E Center.
Kim Chanyeong, who was sitting in the passenger seat, turned around with an awkward expression.
“Enough talking. Get out.”
At that, Roa flashed a bright smile and spoke.
“Director-nim, you don’t have to feel awkward. We’re on your side. Right, hyungnim?”
Siu also smiled brightly and agreed with Roa.
“Yes. That’s right.”
Then, he even clenched his fist and cheered for Kim Chanyeong.
“Director-nim, fighting.”
When Kim Chanyeong’s face turned red and blue in embarrassment, the guys stuck out their tongues playfully and got out of the car.
Watching them, I patted Director Kim Chanyeong’s shoulder before quickly stepping out as well.
Today was the day of the second round of preliminaries.
From nearly a thousand participants in the first round, only ninety-nine had been selected.
Starting from the second round, the competition would be broadcasted, and the five management agencies acting as judges would each choose fourteen contestants.
We were here today as representatives of Blade Entertainment. In other words, we were the judges.
The moment we got out of the car, reporters capturing the morning arrivals pressed their shutters.
Behind them, fans were waiting for us.
As we stood at the photo line, flashes went off, and cheers erupted from all around.
Kim Chanyeong silently stayed by our side.
"Kang Ichan, is your body okay?"
"Yoon Siu is handsome."
"Milky white Park Roa. Roa’s face is insane."
"King Ichan, I love you. Marry me."
We waved our hands with smiling faces at the random cheers from the fans.
At that, another round of loud cheers erupted.
Maybe they thought they had taken enough pictures, because Kim Chanyeong, who was blocking the front, gestured for us to move.
At that moment, a group of fans shouted.
"Kim Chanyeong-nim, get well soon!"
"The bandage on the back of your head looks cool!"
"We support you. Fighting!"
At the fans’ words, Roa and Siu burst into laughter.
It was because they saw Kim Chanyeong's earlobes turning red.
I patted Kim Chanyeong’s back and quickly walked inside.
"Don’t laugh, you punks."
Kim Chanyeong, masking his embarrassment with shamelessness, scolded Roa and Siu.
Then, barely holding back his laughter, Roa spoke.
"At this rate, Director-nim’s popularity might surpass Gyuhyung-hyung’s."
Even Chief Manager Gyuhyung was quite popular among the Filament fans.
With his easygoing, bear-like demeanor, everyone seemed to find him approachable.
And now, those fans are starting to accept Kim Chanyeong as one of their own.
Due to this recent incident, Kim Chanyeong, who had earned the title of "Kang Ichan’s lifesaver," was also being called the "Steadfast Wolf."
Some still viewed him with concern, but most had accepted him as "one of us."
We were on our way to the filming location.
Of all places, we ran into Jung Yoobin in front of the elevator.
"Wow, look who it is."
Kim Chanyeong was the first to acknowledge him.
"HS Prince-nim?"
At that, the manager standing behind Jung Yoobin gave Kim Chanyeong a polite nod.
Kim Chanyeong casually acknowledged the manager’s greeting and then stared straight at Jung Yoobin.
"Don’t tell me the prince is participating too? Why?"
Jung Yoobin, unable to respond to Kim Chanyeong’s provocation, was scrutinized from head to toe.
The first thing I looked at was his left hand.
To check for the presence of the magic circle.
Of course, Jung Yoobin also had a ring on his index finger.
To think they would even grant a magic circle to someone like this… Just what kind of person is that Master bastard?
"Jung Yoobin."
I scoffed and called his name in a chilling voice.
The weasel-looking bastard looked at me with wary eyes.
"Do you know?"
Then, I shifted my gaze to Jung Yoobin’s ring.
The nervous bastard covered the ring with his right hand.
As if he didn’t want to hear anything, he turned his head away.
To that guy who didn’t want to listen, I threw the words he absolutely needed to hear.
"H-NET President Lim Jingyu’s combustion."
Jung Yoobin’s eyes widened in an instant.
"That— that started from that ring."
Watching his face turn pale in real time was quite amusing.
"Someone must have touched that ring."
"To, touched the ring? Who?"
Only then did he show interest.
"Someone with even stronger power?"
For those who possess a magic circle, even mentioning the word "ring" is taboo.
That’s what I heard the last time I visited Lim Jingyu.
Those who receive the "magic circle" along with a set of "powers" must absolutely follow a few rules.
One of them is that they must never speak to others about the existence of the "ring."
They must never remove it from their body, and no one else must ever touch it.
Lim Jingyu said he was punished for breaking that rule. Most who do end up being burned at the stake, but he miraculously survived. That’s why he called me his lifesaver.
Anyway, Jung Yoobin looked seriously uneasy right now.
"So you should be careful too."
He had already broken the absolute rule of silence and discussed the ring with me.
Just then, the elevator arrived.
As I stepped inside, I added one last thing.
"Do well today, alright? Don’t make any mistakes."
In the end, Jung Yoobin couldn’t bring himself to get on the elevator.
* * *
Today, only Roa, Siu, and I were able to attend.
This was because Hanjoon and Jaewon had individual schedules.
Hanjoon had gone to feature on a new song by a solo artist from our company who just debuted, while Jaewon had left early this morning for Gyeongju to appear on a variety show that gathered only idol group maknaes.
Originally, the fixed casting for this program was only me, but thanks to my request, Roa and Siu were able to join as well.
At the standby signal, the Masters, meaning the judges, entered the studio first.
The first to enter were the two representatives from Melody Entertainment.
Seokwoo from DAS17 and hip-hop musician-slash-famous producer, Getty.
The second Master was Yeom Byungwoo, director of The Music Entertainment, as well as a singer-songwriter and producer.
The third Master was Register, a 2nd-generation idol group from HS Entertainment.
The fourth Masters were three members from Mega Entertainment’s T.I.ONE.
And the fifth was us, representing Blade Entertainment.
As we walked to the designated Master seats, we greeted the four other groups of Masters one by one.
Seokwoo, as expected, welcomed us warmly. Even the three members of T.I.ONE enthusiastically greeted us. These guys had completely treated me like a savior ever since the Taei incident last time.
The problem was The Music representative, Yeom Byungwoo, and HS representative, Register.
Yeom Byungwoo treated us like some weird ‘nobodies,’ while Register openly glared at us with hostility.
Oh well.
We still greeted them politely and took our designated seats.
Overall, the atmosphere wasn’t too bad.
From now on, we just had to play the role of producers with short experience but outstanding natural genius.
Besides, since the host was Kim Hyunsoo, we could start filming without much pressure.
Messing with the participants was going to be pretty fun, too.
Then, host Kim Hyunsoo explained the judging process.
“There are a total of ninety-nine participants who passed the first round. They will take the stage in order and perform for thirty seconds.”
Before stepping onto the stage, each participant selects one of the five Masters. The Masters, meanwhile, will decide during the thirty-second performance whether they want to pick the participant or not.
After the stage ends, if the Master the participant chose also selects them, they pass. If not, they fail.
“If multiple Masters, including the participant’s chosen one, select them, the participant gets to decide which team to join.”
The rules were quite complex.
In the end, we just had to secure fourteen members.
If we failed to secure fourteen, we would have to pick from the eliminated participants to fill the final fourteen slots.
Already, sixteen participants had passed by.
Roa spoke in a worried voice.
“Hyungnim. If this keeps up, all the good ones will get taken. Are you really not going to pick anyone?”
“Don’t worry. I’m taking this one.”
“This participant?”
Then, the next participant stepped onto the stage.