WETRIED TRANSLATIONS

[ Translation - Aren ]

I'm a Reporter, Please let me get off the Stage

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Chapter 23

―The results of the first solo mission are in. The eliminated contestant is…… Seo Haedun.

“As expected.”

I was currently on the set of the third episode of <Dance Off>.

I quietly stood under the stage among the writers, watching Haedun's dramatic elimination.

The cameraman zoomed in closely on his face.

These audition programs aiming to emotionally manipulate their viewers always had these disgusting sides.

Haedun remained surprisingly calm.

His thick eyebrows twitched a little, but his lips didn't tremble at all, nor did he turn red.

He probably knew as well that he was just being used as a mere ‘sacrificial pawn’ on this show.

[Name : Seo Haedun (Haedun)

Stamina : 50/150]

His stamina had also taken a significant hit.

―It was an honor to participate in <Dance Off> for the past 3 weeks. I will continue to work hard on my dancing in my own way.

Compared to the other contestants his speech was a lot more concise and composed.

At least I wouldn’t have to worry about any verbal disasters happening during broadcasting with him.

……That meant that there might be some problems with things he left unsaid.

<@ He sure’s good at being an idol>

<@ But it was clear that the show was setting Haedun up to be a negative comment magnet…… poor guy>

<@ Then he shouldn’t have come on the show to begin with>

Surprisingly, the public sentiment wasn’t greatly shaken by this. Since the backlash had already peaked just by his appearance on the show, it seemed like it didn’t change much even when he was being eliminated.

Not that Seo Haedun would care much about that.

Meanwhile, I was busy doing some digital love spreading, sharing and liking comments like <@Headun, I love you>!

As I diligently searched for and shared compliments about Haedun, I quietly followed him into the waiting room.

“Just so you know.”

Wow, that startled me.

Headun, without even turning around to face me, somehow knew I had followed him in and started to speak.

“I’m not going back.”

“Why not?”

“That group has no hope. Just disband.”

“How can you be so sure of that?”

“You would have to be an idiot to not see that.”

Then he turned around to face me. His face was covered in sweat beads.

“I do hope you’ll keep your promise though.”

That ‘shameless’ promise I made him give to return to the group if he didn’t win <Dance Off>.

A tense atmosphere filled the room.

Was I going to get hit? Did this system even have some kind of defensive function?

[Nope ^^;;]

Or so it said.

“Don’t you think that promise was really shameless to begin with?”

Did Seo Headun have the ability to read minds or something? Scary.

“Hey, heyhey, don’t go.”

I blocked the door, standing in front of it to stop him from leaving. I couldn't just let him go like this. Something felt majorly off.

“Tell me clearly why you’re so pissed off.”

When I said that, Haedun, who was standing at eye level with me, stood right in front of me and glared. I also glared back at him, refusing to back down.

“……Are you only happy when you make me a murderer?”

“What?”

Huh?

Wait, what the hell was going on?

This was completely unexpected.

I hurriedly opened the item shop, which I hadn’t checked in a while.

[<Go! Flashback Time> : You can recreate or confirm a specific event within the past month - 50 Points]

It was as expensive as a bookmark, but if the system was recommending it right now, there was no reason for me not to buy it.

It should be somehow related to an event that happened between me and Seo Haedun. Hopefully, it’ll help me understand the cause for these scary words that came out of his mouth.

[Item used]

As soon as that popup appeared, something unbelievable happened.

Haedun froze.

The sound of the mini radiator, which had been emitting some hot air ever since I entered this room, stopped. I couldn’t feel any heat coming from it either.

Time had stopped.

Wow, that shop seriously had everything.

Amidst my bewilderment, a small video screen appeared between me and Seo Haedun.

[November 15th, Evening]

A room appeared.

In it Ahn Yuyoung was standing by a wall.

The camera angle slightly shook. The video seemed to be in first-person perspective, like in some movies.

‘Why do you have to be the only one handling this?’

‘Then what should I do? Do you want to take the blame then?’

‘Ahn Yuyoung.’

‘Take care of your own life. Stop pretending to care about others. It doesn’t suit you.’

‘Hey!’

Ahn Yuyoung, looking furious, stared straight ahead with piercing eyes.

Judging by that voice, it seemed that this was from the perspective of Seo Haedun.

Ahn Yuyoung tried to quickly pass by Haedun, wanting to leave the room.

However Haedun, in a rage, called out to Yuyoung and grabbed him by his arm, pushing him back into the room.

‘Argh!’

That was when it happened.

Ahn Yuyoung lost his balance and hit the wall.

The back of his head collided with the cross hanging on the wall.

He really hit it hard to the point that it made a ‘Thuuud’ sound. Ouch, that must have hurt pretty bad.

If this would have happened in the bathroom or something, this would have definitely caused a concussion.

Ahn Yuyoung, bent over, clutched his head in pain.

‘Hey! You’re bleeding!’

‘……I’m done. I’m leaving.’

Seo Haedun seemed incredibly bewildered.

However, it was different for Ahn Yuyoung.

His previously tired expression grew even more fatigued, showing clear reluctance to deal with Haedun any further.

Resignation, disappointment, finality. That was what it seemed like.

Yuyoung quickly exited the room, putting on his shoes at the entrance before leaving the building.

Headun only let out a muttered ‘Shit……’.

[Item Usage complete]

……So that was what happened.

Based on that video, it seemed like there had been some serious conflict between Haedun and Yuyoung. During the process Yuyoung had gotten a bit frustrated.

Haedun, annoyed by his actions, said something to him, which led to a fight.

When Yuyoung tried to leave, while Haedun tried to stop him…… aaaand~ that was when Yuyoung hit his head.

Two days after this incident in the evening, Yuyoung would make a drastic choice.

Haedun likely felt like it was him who pushed Yuyoung over the edge.

“Hmm……”

Honestly…… That didn’t seem to be the case though.

Would Ahn Yuyoung really do something so extreme just because he had a fight with a member?

Was he really such a weak-willed person?

At that point, I started to get curious.

What was the decisive factor that led Yuyoung to make such a choice?

I felt like only by knowing that could I navigate this whole situation properly.

However, it seemed like the system didn’t have any intentions of giving me any further clues yet.

Welp, I didn’t have any other choice then. Alright, I should go back to reality using this information.

Before I knew it, Haedun was back to moving and glaring at me again.

The radiator had started spreading warm air again.

Haedun kept his mouth shut, saying nothing.

His eyes still contained disbelief.

“It wasn’t because of you, so you don’t need to feel guilty.”

“……Hah, seriously, so damn frustrating.”

Frustrating? I would bet my right arm that I was 100 times more frustrated than this guy.

“Let’s talk about this later. We’re busy. I’ll let you listen to the finished song, and I’ll give you the plan I drafted for the music video. Take a look at it. Oh, and we also landed a TV show appearance.”

Ignoring Haedun’s soft cursing, I quickly listed everything I needed him to hear like an emotionless AI.

“……A TV show?”

Oh, his eyes softened a bit when I said ‘TV show’.

“Yeah. It’s not a debut competition, but an idol group competition. It’s a new format, but I think it’s actually pretty decent. We’ll release our new song and go on that show right away. The first episode airs early next month.”

I handed an earphone to Haedun and let him listen to the new song.

“Baek Gyeom and I made the top line, and we asked a composer we know to handle the MIDI work.”

“……Hmm.”

Haedun listened to the entire 4-minute song without saying a single word.

“I can confidently say that this is objectively a good song. So, here’s the thing.”

I looked straight at Haedun.

He wasn’t glaring at me anymore.

“We need a choreography for this. I want you to be in charge of it. And.”

“……”

“Our group needs you. I won’t get all sentimental and talk about how all of us have been waiting for you or what a shame it would be to end it like that. I’m offering you tangible results here. Let’s aim for the top 10 on the music charts before appearing in the show. After that, you can do whatever you want. If you want to go solo, go solo, If you want to be a dancer exclusively, then do that.”

This was kind of a loophole.

The quest said that I should just gather all the team members, it didn’t say anything about keeping them together.

That meant, once the quest was completed, these guys could go to the moon or go play around in the stars for all I care, right?

Haedun sighed softly, but remained silent for a long time.

Right before I almost burst out with ’Please say something’,

“……Give me the concept plan.”

He held out his hand, with a coooompletely~ enthusiastic expression.

So that meant……

[Main Quest ‘Prevent Disbandment’ Complete! Congratulations! 

Karma Points +2000]

Finally!!

Finally, finally!!

The notification that I had successfully gathered all those clueless youngsters finally popped up.

“……Yeah. It was seriously…… exhausting.”

“Yeah, I get it. Just give it to me already.”

For some reason, I felt like I was about to cry.

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