Chapter 39

If you can't debut, you'll get a disease that will kill you 039th Chapter

“Is something bothering you?”

I deliberately asked in a vague way. I hoped the listener would give a moderate response.

However, Cha Yujin, with a chocolate bar in her mouth, began to shed even more tears.

She’s going to be fine…

Everyone in the arts and physical education field seems to be highly sensitive, or maybe it’s because the survival competition is so intense, but I’ve been seeing too many people cry lately.

“Everyone is fighting… If I say something, I’m scared, huh, sniff.”

“…Hmm.”

Cha Yujin looks completely demoralized. There’s no trace of the cheerful chatterbox she was a while ago.

It seems like their team really turned into a mess in just one day?

‘They called it the “Puppy Room,” but it’s living up to its name.’

If they keep this up, they’ll be mocked for the room’s name when it airs.

It would be funny if I, “Park Munda,” tried to give Cha Yujin any advice.

Whatever I say, if I slip even a little, I’ll face a barrage of posts like “Is Park Munda only bullying me?” and a plummet in online public opinion. After all, they’re from a different team.

‘I should calm her down and send her back.’

I just said something serious.

“Do you want another chocolate bar?”

“…”

Cha Yujin nodded. I took another chocolate bar from my bag and handed it to her.

‘…I’m glad I brought a lot.’

Fortunately, I still had a big bag left. If it looked like I was regretting it, it would be a disaster.

In the bathroom, with the sound of running water in the background, I spent some time in silence with Cha Yujin, who was munching on the chocolate bar.

After a while, Cha Yujin, holding chocolate bars in both hands, bowed her head and stood up.

“Thank you.”

It seems she’s calmed down and is thinking about going back. I’m grateful she didn’t go into detail about the situation.

Although I don’t really want to, I’ll say something appropriate for the situation.

“Is it okay to leave without seeing Rabin?”

“Yes… It’s okay.”

“Alright.”

Cha Yujin, who had stopped crying and seemed a bit more composed, looked a little more spirited than before.

‘Is this a sugar high?’

I’m suspicious that she might start wandering around crying again when the sugar wears off, but I need to send this bomb away first.

I watched Cha Yujin trudge down the hallway for a moment before closing the door.

And I let out a sigh of relief.

‘I’m already busy as hell, and now there are landmines everywhere.’

Now that we’re in the second half, I need to be more careful to avoid any issues on air. If I fall once, there might not be time to recover.

The problem is that even if I’m careful, I can’t control every situation.

‘Just, don’t stand out… If we keep going like this, we’ll make it to the end.’

I reaffirmed this and lay down on the bed. I fell asleep instantly.

I realized I had slept without even washing up the next morning.

* * *

As the participants struggled with the planning and creation of their performances, often hitting the ground running.

Outside the filming site, Episode 8 of "Re-Debut! Idol Corporation" aired.

-What the hell

-Why is he here?

-OMG

-??

As the rankings became more unexpected towards the top, the real-time viewer reactions were mixed with shock, but the most intense reaction was to the previous team battle’s winning reward.

[Invalid Negative Votes]

The cruel voting system, which reflects "how much they are hated," allowing only some to avoid it, enraged people.

-LOL, what a move

-I was a fool for spending money on this show

-There’s definitely a push from the production team for the winning team, 100% LOL, they’re protecting them?

Ironically, this anger was directed more at the participants than at the production team that created the system and planned the winning reward.

As the biggest beneficiary of this reward, Choi Won-gil, who was originally slated to be eliminated, faced a barrage of public criticism.

However, the viewers’ anger didn’t stop there.

The public opinion of the participants in the winning team whose rankings significantly improved also temporarily worsened.

-OMG, Sun Ah-hyun pushed Cha Yujin to second place…

-Is she crying again? She’s so tiring

-She must be happy her votes weren’t cut. My favorite is losing and still smiling, but this stuttering guy’s sudden rise is more annoying :(

-Ugh. Sun Ah-hyun, who can’t even speak properly, is second LOL. Give your sympathy votes to a disabled person who can’t even express their debut feelings. Wake up, people!

└Are you crazy;; Don’t you have any principles?

└LOL, stuttering fangirls, come on

└You guys are worse than I imagined, disgusting.

└Can’t you argue back? Are you seriously thinking he deserves second place? LOL

Even the most basic moral criticisms that had been suppressed until now appeared in the comments.

While many people tried to calm things down, when the numbers were similar, the aggressive public opinion often gained momentum.

However, in reaction, a friendly public opinion formed around the participants who, despite being pushed down by the negative votes and the winning team’s reward, remained composed.

-You guys worked hard :(

-There’s always a shadow where there’s light. Don’t worry too much about the strange losers who cut votes. I support you!

-It must have been disappointing, but I’m grateful for your composed demeanor

Thanks to this, Park Munda, whose pre-adjusted ranking was higher, managed to rise in the rankings and avoided the massive backlash.

Instead, there was a slight change in the fan base.

People who had liked Park Munda’s team from the first team battle were intimidated by the backlash, while fans who preferred Park Munda’s performance in the second team battle became the majority.

-Park Munda, congratulations on 4th place, you worked hard :(

-‘What are you doing, bro?’ Park Munda’s expression with three consecutive lines, LOL, ‘Why is the cat doing this to the dog…?’ (Video clip of Cha Yujin and Park Munda) (Cat and dog humor image)

-Park Munda, who couldn’t stand up to the kids and became a forced insider, is hilarious, LOL

-If you look in the corner, Park Munda is sharing snacks, AHH, he’s an angel… an angel Munda… (Short video)

Fans of the other two participants, who had lacked a strong relational group, also joined in the trend.

They were fans of Cha Yujin and Kim Rabin.

-Park Munda, Kim Rabin, and Cha Gyoung, the dog, rabbit, and cat combo is so heart-pounding. Just once, grab them, chwai chwai (Image)

-My favorites look like they would ignore me if I talked to them on the street, but they’re so cute and cuddly, it’s adorable :(

-Animal Heroes, go! (Fan art)

Sometimes, combinations including Ryu Cheong-woo also flooded social media.

With the second team battle airing, new people became hooked on the show, and those who poured anger and criticism onto the participants made the atmosphere even more heated.

The extreme immersion, swinging between a burning hell and a warm room, made the internet a veritable battlefield.

It was even worse because the show was a huge hit.

Beyond entertainment-related communities, now any online community you looked at had posts about "Aju-sa."

And each post had a flurry of people arguing and fighting.

=========================

[Popular Survival Show Participant]

: (Image) This participant is named Cha Yujin. Are young women these days into such parasitic boys? Tsk… The end times.

=========================

-He has a cold, cat-like gaze… Unfortunate… impression…

-He’s so cool, LOL

-Why? He’s a handsome young man, ^^. My daughter loves him.

-This show is popular among young people these days. I have a friend who sings really well, and he asked me to vote for him in the finals.

└You mean Park Munda, right? He doesn’t seem like a good guy, but shouldn’t a singer be good at singing, LOL?

-Get a grip, if you don’t have good taste when you’re old, what will you do? Cha Yujin is very talented, and the archery boy is also great. I support these two.

└Ladies, get a grip. Being obsessed with idols is so embarrassing.

When the comments caught fire, someone would capture them and post them on social media, leading to more arguments.

=========================

[Aju-sa Latte Community Reaction.jpg]

: (Capture) LOL, the old man getting roasted and the old-timer yelling, a perfect collaboration, LOL.

=========================

-LOL, Cha Yujin is so cool, all my peers have saved the picture of the 180cm giant baby Gyoung.

-It’s unbelievable that Sun Ah-hyun, who wasn’t even mentioned here, is in second place…

└This isn’t even a representative post, why are you thinking like this?

└LOL, Sun Ah-hyun’s fans will call anyone who criticizes him a bastard, so it’s better not to mention him, yes.

└What you’re doing isn’t criticism, it’s condemnation. What did Sun Ah-hyun do wrong?

└Look at this, another sudden surge, LOL.

And just at this moment, the participants could access the tumultuous online public opinion in real-time.

* * *

Honestly, the first thought that came to mind was this.

‘I’m alive.’

I managed to avoid the major backlash and wasn’t being overly hyped up, which was a good state to be in.

Even more, I was subtly grouped with the top participants who were considering switching teams.

However, I didn’t feel a sense of accomplishment beyond the relief.

I swiped the screen with my thumb. A scroll bar appeared on the side, and all kinds of hate comments scrolled up.

‘For some reason, it feels… bitter.’

To be honest, among the participants who are getting flamed, except for Choi Won-gil, none of them have such terrible personalities.

Most of them are just hardworking young people. Do they really have to be beaten down like this?

It’s not my problem, and honestly, if other participants fall, I’ll benefit indirectly, but it still leaves a bad taste.

‘And it just had to be at this timing…’

-We’ll distribute devices for research~

Since this team battle is self-produced, they temporarily gave us smartphones to search for specific concept materials.

Originally, smartphones were prohibited during filming.

This allowed the participants to be isolated from outside public opinion, but that rule was