WETRIED TRANSLATIONS

[ Translation - Aren ]

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

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Chapter 60

<@ Where’s the Ahn Yu ending gif? Someone hurry up and drop it, plz>

└ There’s a thread on DukForest

└ thx heading there

I also learned that there was a dedicated thread about WEEKANIZ on DukDukForest.

Seemed like <Totter> was getting a really good response overall.

That was a relief.

<@ Yuyoooung TTT_TTT This was TTT_TTT totally insane>

<@ I’ve been stanning for years, and this is the first time I’ve ever seen this much intensity in Yuyoung’s eyes…… wtf is happening?>

<@ Holy crap…… Can I start hoping now?>

<@ Why the hell was this song even premiered on this garbage excuse of a show?>

<@ Is there no Total MV?>

└ Shockingly, “Yes”

└ Why?

└ Because there isn’t one…… Are you picking a fight?

└ No, I’m from another fandom, I was seriously just asking. sry

Even though everyone had different tones and ways of talking, the overall reaction to <Totter> seemed really positive.

I felt like we made the right choice premiering the song on the show.

The production team was probably watching all of this feedback like a hawk right now.

At this rate, if people realize that our new song was basically doing free promo for the show, at the very least, WEEKANIZ should get one ‘Anti-hate-shield’.

<@ That ending was insane, he must’ve practiced in front of the mirror like crazy>

<@ I can’t believe it took me five years to realize my idol is an Ending Fairy>

<@ Haram’s vocals are so refreshing and powerful…… My baby TTTT>

<@ Our Tae Oh’s turn was so elegant TT_TT His white outfit made him look like a swan TTT_TTT the choreo is unreal T_T>

The feedback for the other members was just as positive..

The WEEKANIZ fandom was thriving right now.

Compared to Chenstin, who had just entered their own warring states era, or IONER, who had always been fragmented into countless tiny kingdoms, or Loop7, whose religious-level optimism bordered on fanatics, our fans were taking a relatively normal approach.

With such a strong reception to the first episode, the suffocating tension I had been carrying finally started to ease up.

But there was still one last hurdle left.

[Notoriety : 60

Notoriety Keyword : Deadweight]

And that, of course, meant it was time to recon the legendary ‘Dark Haedun Cult’.

A group I absolutely must study if I want to survive.

Before infiltrating, it was a must for me to switch accounts.

That group was extremely careful, so searching ‘Ahn Yuyoung’ directly would get me nowhere.

Instead, I had to use coded slang to navigate my way through, slowly tracking them down one by one.

Most of them had locked, private accounts out of self-preservation.

The real issue was that this damn system still counted their private conversations and factored it into my Notoriety Score.

Grumbling to myself, I tried different keyword variations.

Posts from just one minute or three minutes ago came flooding in.

<@ Hah…… The quality is so good, which makes this even more infuriating>

So basically, they were mad that Seo Haedun had once again been forced into choreo-slave labor, but no one could complain because the song quality was too damn good?

Was this one of those ‘I don’t want to, but I have to admit it’ situations?

<@ The choreo is soooo good, sobsob…… Our Hwadun better drop a solo guide version…… He totally choreographed the guide too, right?>

……That was actually true.

Might have to ask Haedun about this later.

<@ Did Monday and Tuesday have another fight again?>

└ What happened?

└ DMs incoming lol

What was it now?

I had just witnessed a wild rumor in its inception.

As a reporter, I couldn’t just ignore this.

Should I try requesting an interview?

└ Can you tell me too???

I tried to leave a comment as innocent looking as possible, playing dumb.

I even changed my profile picture to Haedun’s face for that purpose.

<@ Yuyoung looks soo thin TTT_TTT>

<@ Our Gyeom really loves his bed…… Same though. It’s a weirdly relatable vibe>

After leaving my bait, I continued checking reactions.

Yuyoung’s fans were mostly crying or collapsing in emotional distress.

Baekgyeom’s didn’t really react much. They probably were already used to his usual antics.

<@ This show is so creepy. They’re literally eavesdropping on every mic and only picking out the ones they can use…… Meaning the most drama-worthy…… It seriously is like a prison, scary af>

Some fans shared opinions similar to Tae Oh’s.

After scrolling for a while, I unexpectedly hit the jackpot.

A Haedun fan actually DMed me.

Now, it was time for me to put on my best acting performance yet.

<Hey T_T I just got into the fandom recently, so I only have a public account right now……I know you might be suspicious, but I swear I’m legit T_T>

I sent a reply drenched in tragic newbie tears, and after a short pause, they responded.

<Yeah, I understand. But honestly, it’s not that big a deal lol. If you rewatch the performance, you’ll see during the group choreo where Tae Oh does a turn, Ahn Yuyoung straight-up scowls the moment he sees Haedun, like really obviously lolol…… Idk, maybe others didn’t catch it, but I was kinda shook lmao. I mean, if you saw it, you’d just know. If you didn’t, just go watch it again…… lolol>

<……How old are y–>

“……”

Tap, tap.

I quickly erased my draft reply.

“No, but seriously……”

I muttered the sacred three-word phrase that would escape every human being when they felt utterly wronged.

‘No, but seriously’ kept pouring out of my mouth.

What the hell? Were they making up entire fanfic scenarios over that?

Did they have nothing better to do?

And besides that expression I made wasn’t even out of dislike or annoyance!

I was grimacing because I hurt myself!

How the hell was that the same as glaring at someone you didn’t like?

Was this person actually okay? Did they have some kind of perception disorder??

“Haah…… This is just too much.”

I felt a sense of futility.

I was struggling for my life here.

I had been trying to understand why Seo Haedun’s fans hated Ahn Yuyoung and why he actually got so much hate in general in order to somehow live through this.

I had been painstakingly analyzing every possible reason by trying to figure out what Ahn Yuyoung needed to improve, how the team dynamics should change, and how to fix the relationship between Seo Haedun and Ahn Yuyoung.

And these people were seriously trying to crucify me over one freaking expression?

Then what exactly was I supposed to do to avoid getting hate from those guys?

‘……Honestly, nothing.’

Once someone decided they didn’t like you, that was it.

Some people just looked great to you no matter what they did.

And then there were others that just looked hateful no matter what they did.

And to Seo Haedun’s fans, I was probably the latter.

Whatever the initial reason they had for hating me probably already disappeared long ago.

All that remained were lingering emotions of hate, and those were threatened my life.

I couldn’t let this continue.

Honestly.

Up until now, I had been walking on eggshells around Seo Haedun.

That was the biggest difference between how I treated him and how I treated the other members.

With the other members, I had been able to take the lead easily. As long as I made a logical argument, they would eventually listen and follow my lead.

However, Seo Haedun was the type of person to straight-up refuse to do anything he didn’t want to do. And once you pissed him off, that was it. He wouldn’t even look back.

So, I had been bending backwards trying to accommodate him.

And yet these possessed fanatics, no matter what kind of demon possessed them, seemed completely unaware of how much I had been holding back.

I couldn’t keep bowing my head forever.

Not when, even after all the effort I had put into playing nice, I was getting shit on for something so ridiculous.

At this point, continuing to accommodate him was just a bad strategy.

It didn’t make sense logically, I needed to give up on that.

Even if that meant splitting headaches, nosebleeds or another brush with death.

“……Guess things were going too well.”

I muttered quietly in a way no one could hear me.

Then, I flipped my phone face-down.

* * *

After the broadcast monitoring session ended, it was already nighttime.

Instead of heading back to the dorms, we stayed behind in the studio to discuss our mission song.

But since Baekgyeom and Tae Oh were still in the bathroom, we were killing time waiting for them to get back.

Since we were allowed to keep our phones until midnight, everyone was just scrolling.

“Uwah!”

Yoon Sanho suddenly screamed.

“What?”

“Hyung, Totter blew up, Did you check the music charts?!”

“Huh, no. Why?”

“We’re rank 25”

Yoon Sanho literally kept jumping up and down as he cheered.

I was pretty caught off guard by that.

I knew the song dropped at 6 pm, but I had been too focused on monitoring the recording that I had completely forgotten about checking the charts.

“25th place……?”

Not 250th?

Honestly, that number felt way too unrealistic for the failed idol group WEEKANIZ, right?

25th place was completely unheard of in WEEKANIZ’ history.

For reference, the highest we had ever ranked on the charts was 130th.

Yeah. They hadn’t even made it into the ‘Top 100’.

They had always been such nobodies.

Well, most of the groups in this program were nobodies.

Except Chenstin.

I could see Tae Oh and Baekgyeom walking toward us from a distance.

The moment Sanho saw them, he shouted at the top of his lungs.

“Tae Oh-hyung! Gyeom-hyung! Our song hit 25th on the charts!”

“Totter is in 25th place!!!”

“……What?”

“You heard me!!”

Baekgyeom and Tae Oh, looking completely dumbfounded, walked over.

Then, the moment they saw the chart ranking on Sanho’s phone their eyes nearly popped out of their skulls.

“W-wow…… wait, take a screenshot of this.”

Baekgyeom’s hands were shaking as he scrambled to grab is own phone.

“Wow, shouldn’t we throw a party for this?”

“That’s right! Can’t we ask the production staff?”

Tae Oh and Sanho brought up the idea of a party while subtly glancing at me.

Their expectant stares were honestly quite burdensome.

“Hmm…… No. Let’s hold off on this for now. I know this is huge, but right now our biggest priority is preparing for the next mission.”

“Tsk…… Fine. But we're definitely having a party later. We owe it to the song.”

“Okay, let’s do that.”

I smiled softly as I reassured Sanho.

Then, I turned to Baekgyeom and lightly patted his back.

“This is all thanks to you, Baekgyeom.”

“Psh, you came up with the melody though, Hyung.”

“Yeah, but a song doesn’t compose itself from just humming.”

“Hah…… This is so touching.”

Baekgyeom dramatically covered his mouth with both of his hands, acting as if he was on the verge of tears.

“Look, I’m really grateful the song is getting a great response, but we only have four days until the mission. We need to stay focused. For now, let’s prioritize group choreography practice. Vocals and individual dance training can be done in our own time.”

The mood shifted into something more serious.

The members were still visibly excited, but I could tell they were trying their best to refocus.

“……And Baekgyeom.”

“Yessir?”

“You…… know what that means, right?”

“……What? Are you talking about incentives maybe?”

Baekgyeom let out an awkward laugh and avoided eye contact.

By the way, Baekgyeom had this insane habit of always making direct eye contact when joking.

But now he was looking away?

That meant…… He already knew.

He was just desperately pretending not to.

“You’re undergoing special training. Starting now.”

“Hah……”

That’s right.

Starting today, He was going to transform into our main dancer.

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