WETRIED TRANSLATIONS

[ Translation - Aren ]

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

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Chapter 74

My head started to hurt.

Was I already being established as an incompetent leader?

[Passionate Iho]

[Iho taking the lead from the beginning]

A short interview with Iho appeared.

[Q. Are you preparing a self-choreographed routine?]

[Iho : Ah, yes. I enjoy creating choreography. I thought it would be great to do it together for this position battle. It’s an honor.]

[The dignity of the overall 1st ranked~]

This was getting ridiculous.

They were painting him as an extremely passionate character.

Not only that, but they were framing it as if he was graciously sharing his intellectual property by offering his choreography for the team’s performance.

It was clear that the production team was determined to keep Iho in first place at all costs.

[Chanyoung : Since he’s ranked first, I felt really reassured. We just had to follow him……]

[Saemi : He already had a clear vision saying stuff like ‘Let’s do it like this’. It just made me feel like ‘Ah, this team is going to do really well’!]

The other members also gave positive interviews.

[Practice proceeding smoothly]

[Iho: Kiwoong, your angles are completely off. And everyone’s putting in too much force.]

[Iho strictly leading the team]

At this point, it was undeniable that the production team had officially chosen Iho.

At that time, Iho was definitely leading the practice, but to be honest, the atmosphere didn’t feel that positive to me.

It was more like everyone was a little intimidated under the pressure.

Wait, if they were showing the practice footage…

[Yuyoung : …… Then Kiwoong won’t be visible.]

That meant they were also going to show my conflict with Iho.

[Yuyoung suddenly raising doubts]

[Is he dissatisfied?]

[Saemi : Honestly, I was surprised. The mood suddenly got heavy……]

Saemi’s interview was shown again before cutting back to the practice room scene.

[Yuyoung: But if we do it your way, Kiwoong will only get to stand in the center once.]

[Iho: Sorry, but this routine wasn’t designed to be a center battle or something.]

[The atmosphere is growing more serious]

[Kiwoong : To be honest, I was fine with it…… But I was also grateful that Yuyoung-hyung mentioned me…… But really, I was okay. It was kind of overwhelming……]

Kiwoong’s interview segment appeared

Yeah, he wasn’t on my side.

I get it. He probably felt awkward picking a side in that situation.

[Iho : ……Are you saying our current part distribution is unfair then?]

“Ah~ These fuckers.”

I couldn't hold back. A curse slipped out of my mouth.

Only my frustrated voice echoed through the empty bathroom.

But this was seriously annoying.

They completely edited out my perfectly logical argument about ‘part distribution’.

I knew they were ruthless, but getting screwed over again still made me just as furious as before.

I glared at my phone, my expression twisting.

[Yuyoung : I never said it was unfair. I meant we should be more mindful of it.]

[Iho in deep thoughts]

[Changyoung: Yuyoung-hyung has a point, but Iho-hyung also has a point…… so I wasn’t sure what to think.]

Changyoung’s interview started playing again.

Looking at it now, these guys were experts at playing neutral.

At first they acted like they were siding with Iho but the moment I stepped in, they subtly shifted to the middle.

By hiding behind vague excuses like ‘I don’t really know’.

Was this the survival strategy that had kept them alive as failed idols all this time?

In that case, WEEKANIZ must have seriously failed at this, which was why we kept getting into controversies.

I realized all over again how full of hypocrisy broadcasting really was, and how exhausting it was.

[Iho : Hyung, do you want to take the center position?]

[The atmosphere turns cold]

[Yuyoung stays silent]

“Urgh.”

I let out a pained groan and clutched my chest.

It felt like something was squeezing my solar plexus.

So this time, the hate comments were going to attack my guts?

Still hunched over, I minimized the video and opened DukDukForest forum.

I had timed it perfectly seeing that there were already tons of comments about me..

└ Why is YY acting like that LOL Does he have an inferiority complex about LH or something?

└ Frfr…… Slipper’s power struggle today was legendary

“……Slipper?”

What was this about?

From context, I was pretty sure that ‘YY’ referred to me ‘Yuyoung’, but I had no idea where ‘Slipper’ had come from.

Why was I being called slipper?

└ I second that, The highlight of today’s episode was definitely Slipper

└ Honestly, I thought he was acting arrogant ever since he came to the studio looking like ‘that’......

“…… Ah, for fuck’s sake.”

I couldn’t help but curse.

My confusion had only lasted for a moment. the ‘looking like that’ in the most recent comment gave me all the hints I needed.

It was from that morning's wake-up mission.

The one where both Baekgyeom and Ire had been late.

I had barely managed to avoid being late by dragging myself to the studio in slippers.

It was shown in the broadcast, but the production team hadn’t explicitly put in a caption like ‘Yuyoung appeared in slippers’.

However, I did remember that I was basically the only one who had shown up in slippers.

These guys might have been failed idols, but they were savvy enough to know the basics of broadcasting.

Even if they hadn’t washed their faces properly, they at least knew to wear sneakers.

I shouldn’t have underestimated them just because they were fellow ‘failed idols’.

They had turned things like their messy hair into cute, spontaneous moments, clearly showing they understood the basics of being an idol.

In contrast, I had appeared like someone so obsessed with winning that I threw away all sense, manners or respect by coming in with slippers.

Damn it, and now I had already been stamped with a nickname.

Once a nickname stuck, one couldn’t shake it off so easily.

It was really hopeless.

└ If YY at least had something to back up his attitude, it’d make sense lol. But he’s got nothing. He’s just a Slipper.

└ Honestly, when every single member points out the same flaw about him, that just means there’s an actual issue. Instead of trying to start dominance fights with people, maybe he should sit his ass down and actually reflect on himself.

└ And what does he say when we finally sit him down? That he’s quitting because there’s no revenue

└ Lmao, hopeless case

└ Dude has the self-esteem of a wet paper towel…… Anyone stanning this guy is on a one-way ticket to mental breakdown city.

└ Agreed ‘If a kid’s hopeless, the mom is no different’ << proven science lmao

The sheer volume of hate comments was affecting me in real time.

My chest felt like it was being squeezed, to the point where it was actually getting hard to breathe.

[Notoriety : 90

Notoriety Keywords : Incompetent, Hopeless Case]

Hopeless case is a bit too much!

└ YY that bastard lmao he’s obviously dying to be center but pretends like he’s just looking out for KW

└ KW literally said in his interview that he has no ambition to be center. I feel bad for him TT

└ Why is YY so desperate to use the people around him? Can't he handle things on his own?

Honestly, I was still human as well. I felt indignation at this unfairness rise up my throat like bile.

But more than anything, my body just hurt so much.

Every time a hate comment came in, the pain hit me all over again…… It felt like invisible shackles were tightening around my body.

└ But isn’t the editing a bit……? The conversation feels super choppy, like they frankenstein’d it together or something

└ Well, of course they did

└ Even if the editing was heavy handed, it’s not like the production team just made stuff up lol YY actually dragged his ass into the studio wearing slippers

└ (Serious) But the original commenter wasn’t talking about the slipper incident tho??

└ (Sharp) Exactly…… The slippers thing is whatever, but the way LH and YY’s conversation was edited is seriously weird. Like, why did LH suddenly ask out of nowhere if YY wanted to be center? It felt sooo forced ;;

Finally a rational commenter appeared.

That single comment felt like my personal messiah descending down on this wretched land to save me.

└ Why so serious? This ain’t supposed to be a docu or smt but something meant to be fun…… Just enjoy it lol

└ No one said it was a docu tho

└ Yeh~ just saying how it feels to me

└ Lmao, if you try to defend YY here, you’re basically asking for a public execution lol

“What a mess.”

I immediately gave up on it.

Right on cue, the next team came on screen, and the mob instantly shifted their focus, firing their shots against them.

For once, I was grateful that the audience had the attention span of goldfish and were addicted to drama.

[Yeeun’s Vocal Team]

This was the team Haram was in.

Since I barely saw him lately, I had no idea what was happening with that team. So I decided to pay close attention.

Of course, there was still a chance that this team’s footage would be just as distorted as ours.

[Haram : Since everyone in this team is a vocalist, I was definitely nervous at first. But thankfully, they trusted me……]

After a brief interview with Haram, the scene shifted to their meeting.

[Yeeun: I think this song needs a soft and warm vocal tone……]

[Munsu : Hmm……What do you think, Haram? This song really matches your style, right?]

[Haram chosen as the center of Yeeun’s vocal team]

“Oh, he’s doing well.”

Haram left a pretty agreeable and moderate impression and ended up getting a favorable position after someone recommending him.

This was honestly impressive.

I was a bit worried since he was stuck in Yeeun’s team.

But it seemed even Yeeun had some basic level of maturity, at least enough to not torment Haram just because he disliked me, like an elementary school student would.

[Q. Why do you think your ranking is low?]

[Haram: Oh…… I think it’s just because of my own skill level, haha. Yeah, honestly, my rank is pretty low. That’s why I really want to give this performance everything I’ve got.]

Haram’s determination came through loud and clear.

[Meanwhile, in Yuyoung’s dance team practice room]

[Kiwoong : Hyung, where are you going?]

[Yuyoung : Bathroom.]

[Yuyoung leaves the room]

[But despite saying he was going to the bathroom he still hasn’t come back after 20 minutes]

[Iho : ……Hasn’t Yuyoung-hyung been gone for a while now?]

[Saemi : Yeah, it’s been like 20 minutes, right?]

[Kiwoong : Maybe he…… had a serious bathroom emergency? Haha.]

[The team continues practicing without Yuyoung]

[But the gap left by a missing member is too big]

[Where did Yuyoung go?]

‘Ah, right……’

That was when my buff was about to expire, so I rushed off to play hopscotch……

Suddenly, my phone started blowing up.

└ YY has no manners and no motivation

└ Look at LH’s face ;; 

└ Honestly, having no drive and showing it like that is just straight-up annoying…;; I didn’t expect him to be this kind of character

“Urgh, HEY!!!!”

I finally snapped and shouted into the void.

“……Have you ever, huff, considered, gasp, letting me, huff, huff, breathe?!!!”

But cruelly enough, my status window refused to appear.

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