Debut or Die

There was nothing special at the broadcasting station I visited after almost being dragged there by the writer. It was because I only had a casual interview in front of the camera.

They didn’t ask me to dance, which should have been a formality. Of course, I didn’t get any advice on going to a dance academy either.

It was also proof that the role I was supposed to play was clear.

Well, it doesn’t matter. The important thing is that I got my name on the participant list.

However, there were some unexpected elements.

The first recording date was much closer than I expected.

“…In ten days?”

“That’s right. Park Moondae-gun was the last one to join. We don’t usually get a position like this, but you got really lucky~ Moondae-gun, you got this position because you’re really good.” (t/n: 군 (gun) means an honorific for an unmarried younger man)

She’s certainly good at putting it nicely into words.

Even though I was perplexed, I thought indifferently.

It doesn’t cost anything to trim the words a bit, so it was worth it to do whatever it takes.

Of course, if they discover nothing special in me after waiting and watching, they will change abruptly.

As much as this neighborhood, there will also be very few fields where people loss cut quickly.

Besides, it is an unrealistic request to prepare the filming and evaluation song in 10 days without giving any advice to the ordinary person.

They said it casually as if it were nothing, but if they had been a participant with an entertainment company, the company might have complained.

Whether it’s a re-arrangement or Nabal, they’re telling us to just use the instrumental and get cursed at. It will be edited out if it isn’t enough to get criticized. (Nabal (나발) is a long, straight brass horn used in Korean traditional music.)

But I expected this much.

“…Yes. Thank you.”

I nodded as if I hadn’t noticed anything, but I was still nervous about the filming date that was right in front of me.

The writer’s face lit up with satisfaction.

“We are the ones who are grateful~ Then I will contact you for more details.”

It was like asking me to leave. I left the broadcasting station without regret and made plans for the next 10 days.

Since the preparation time was short, it seemed that I’d have to use a more extreme method than I had planned.

* * *

The first day of filming came after 10 busy days had passed.

Although it is a natural structure of the survival program, it begins with evaluating each participant.

The 1st round of evaluation.

Anyone who has seen an idol survival program at least once will roughly guess, but it is not rare for the bad impression to last until the end of the program.

So, if the participant doesn’t have anything that stands out, the worst thing to do is to give an average performance.

Instead, if it’s completely ruined and becomes a joke, they may add a story in the future, depending on the editing direction. However, it can’t be helped if it’s edited out without revealing any particular characteristics here.

Of course, I’m not saying that I aim to be criticized by the viewers.

“Do you remember your number? You’re called by the number. Please enter this corridor after you receive instructions~”

The filming began by taking a picture of the participants walking through the hall of the set one by one.

It must have been created for the purpose of putting it in the teaser, but the filming time used for that 40-second video has already been over 2 hours.

Probably because there were only 77 participants.

‘They’re just innocent kids.’

After I glanced around at each and everyone who was sitting scattered in the empty space of the set, which is embarrassing even to call it a waiting room, I lost a bit of motivation.

Even though it’s a status window and a regression, I realized that it’s now embarrassing to try to become an idol among these children.

“Excuse me, hello.”

One of the kids who keeps coming over to talk here and there was also talking to me.

I don’t know if this guy is excited or just trying to break the ice in this situation.

What matters is that he seemed to be a middle school student.

So, at this age, I’m introducing myself to middle school students in order to create social connections—.

“Did you apply by yourself?”

“Yes.”

“Wow, me too. Oh, by any chance, how old are you…?”

“…Twenty.”

When I tried to cheat my age by 9 years, my mouth became itchy, but I felt good.

“Do you have an agency?”

“No. I don’t have one.”

“Ah, that’s right! Usually, in IJC, there are some cases when the agency comes out and appears. What company were you originally from—”

“I haven’t had one since the beginning.”

“Oh… I see.”

Immediately, the middle school brat suddenly lost his sincerity. Then, after roughly finishing his words, he left to speak to another person.

He’s a person who already knows a lot about society and wants to succeed. Of course, he has to hide what’s going through his head in front of the camera, but that’s all up to him.

Anyway, I can’t believe a middle school student could be that vicious.

This time, I wondered if I had made a foolish decision because I was caught up in an unrealistic situation. But the water had already been spilled.

“Let’s move the set!”

This is because filming for the main broadcast has finally begun.

I followed the middle and high school students moving in groups like meerkats.

They called me around the early middle of the session.

* * *

“Participant Lee Sejin B…in 15th place! Please take a seat.”

“Thank you!”

One of the participants who was being evaluated nodded in response to the MC’s words.

He was one of four participants that were grouped and evaluated together since they were from the same agency, and he was someone who was worthy of being saved, but the production team wasn’t comfortable.

‘It’s extreme.’

Writer Ryu Seorin, who was spinning her pen, frowned.

Season 3 has received fewer investors than the previous season. It was very natural. Because season 2 was ruined, and the season barely started again. With a funny title such as ‘Re-listed,’ the production team was determined to get rid of the shadow of season 2.

However, even if they tried to hide it through personal connections and plans, there were some parts that were visible.

One of them was the talent pool.

Many candidates with a moderate level of training were exposed to other audition programs.

They filled the apparently pretty decent ones to fit 77 participants, and the proportion of ‘good for nothing’ participants increased.

And there was a limit to how much fun they could have with editing if there were too many useless guys.

It was almost impossible to send a talentless person to a Korean audition program. Even after wrapping up a person who doesn’t have talent by any means, even if it got wrenched just a little bit, they would pour out all kinds of talks.

It’s not about someone being hated, but the keywords ‘boring’ and ‘fraud’ will be at its center.

Fortunately, they filled the number of first-team participants that they had chosen with debut tickets, but it was not difficult to run the program without a dark horse up to that point.

‘The same goes for the one coming out now.’

This time, the participant to be evaluated was a beginner who joined with only 10 days till the first filming.

One of the participants drove under the influence of alcohol at the last minute, and he was recruited in a hurry, so there were no expectations for him.

‘His name… What is it? Well, he will say his name when being evaluated.’

That participant’s voice was moderately good, his appearance was not bad either, and he had a story to tell in case of emergency.

Thanks to this, she jumped over her limit, which had been lowered by urgency.

However, even if she combined all of the skills, he would still be better than the average person filling a vacancy.

‘Well… He could be used for comparison.’

The judges were also chatting with an unimpressed look after flipping through documents that had nothing special other than family history.

So she felt the same way.

‘Yeah, just be really bad. And attract people’s attention.’

If someone who roughly fits the standard continues to appear, they will become sick of it, but if a few people are really bad, they’ll add to the richness of the program. Like a famous quote, being mocked is also a sort of attention.

Anyway, because the ordinary person only had 10 days to prepare it, there was a high possibility that it wasn’t funny enough.

She glanced at the stage with weak expectations.

“Next participant, please enter the stage!”

The ordinary participant then comes up to the stage.

Fortunately, he looked more handsome than before, as if he had properly visited a fine salon.

The problem was that the atmosphere was dull, gloomy, and mysterious.

She thought it was because of the family history the last time, but is he going to act like that again in front of all these cameras?

In fact, it was because he had seen the camera flash numerous times before, but the writer, who had no way of knowing, was perplexed.

‘…Is he the type that doesn’t show that he’s nervous?’

Anyway, it didn’t matter. Then he can get the image of being arrogant when he’s not good at it. The writer uses her brain with enthusiasm.

Meanwhile, Park Moondae, who came up to the stage, listened to the MC.

“Yes. Participant. Please introduce yourself.”

“…My name is Park Moondae. Please take good care of me.”

Then he bowed his head. Then, there is a small laugh and snort from the judge’s seat.

“No, is that all?”

A male judge holding the microphone asked in a voice mixed with laughter.

It was a tone with a serious negative tone. It must have meant that he wasn’t speaking properly, but Park Moondae nodded seriously.

“Yes. I have no experience to introduce.”

Then, laughter broke out in the judges’ seats.

“Phew, what a unique friend!”

“He’s fun~.”

A few of them whispered. Of course, the microphone captured their voices well.

“Ah, there really is nothing in the application form here.”

“That’s right.”

It’s time to make remarks like, ‘Then why did you participate?’ to suddenly appear. However, the judges all moderately hid their laughter as they thought it would be more impressive to do it after the stage.

And the writers thought, There could be some useful cuts.

“Then let’s take a look at your performance.”

“Yes.”

Despite their vicious interest, the participant accepted the microphone handed to him by the staff.

The interlude soon began to flow.

And everyone was bewildered.

Why did this song come out here?