Chapter 156

Chapter 156

Raise Three Idols Well And They’ll Launch a Confession Attack.

Episode 156: The One Who’s Meant To Be Will Succeed At Anything

The enraged stalker, unable to control his anger, started rambling.

“You bastard, get your filthy hands off my Gyeoul! Why?! Why do you keep ignoring me?!”

But that face looked familiar.

“Park Yeji?”

To my surprise, the face was Park Yeji, one of the crew members who had been filming with us today.

“Damn, you’re the main cameraman for ‘First-Person Intervenor.’ What the hell are you doing here?”

“Were you the stalker?”

“Stalker? No, I’m a fan. A very passionate fan.”

“The world doesn’t call a madman who tries to hit an idol manager in the head with a wooden club a ‘fan.’”

“Damn it, I told you to stop! I didn’t want to go this far. If only you hadn’t tarnished Gyeoul…!”

The way he was pointing at me while shaking his hands violently, it was clear he was mentally unhinged.

By the way, is there something cursed about the name Yeji? Why does everyone with that name act like this?

I glanced behind me.

Assistant Writer Ina Bi was urgently making a call, while the secondary camerawoman, Shin Eun-gyeong, was filming.

It seemed that they were taking care of the reporting and evidence collection.

It seemed like I just had to stall until the police arrived.

Thinking this, I felt a sense of relief. I realized the situation wasn’t all that bad.

The reason stalking is such a difficult crime to deal with is because it’s hard to identify the suspect, and it’s not easy to classify it as a crime and begin an investigation.

Of course, there are laws related to it, but if a criminal is clever enough and decides to go all the way, it becomes quite tricky.

The money for security keeps piling up, and the cycle of not being able to properly schedule things starts.

That’s why, because of his job as a cameraman for the station, it was easy to confirm the stalker’s identity, and with the clear evidence of assault and threats, I had already set up a way to cleanly wrap up the situation.

“Let’s calm down for now. If you stop here, I won’t escalate this further. You don’t want this situation to get bigger, do you, Park Yeji? If this gets worse, you won’t just lose your job. You could end up serving jail time.”

“Haha, you think losing my job or going to jail will stop my love for Gyeoul? No! I’ll be her fan no matter what!”

“Then, cherish that heart and be a healthy fan. Why are you escalating this situation like this?”

“I know Gyeoul cares for all her fans. But I can’t be treated the same as those low-class people! My heart is pure and noble, and it’s not right that I’m being treated like those vile fans!”

This is bullshit.

As I’ve felt since my past life, the mindset of stalkers is disgusting no matter how many times I hear it.

They don’t understand the basic fact that expressing it might negatively affect the artist they follow, and they’re obsessed with expressing it.

They claim to be different from regular fans, and in order to show their superiority, they’d do anything, and that’s what stalkers do.

Swinging a wooden club in the first place is a very hypocritical act.

If he swung it when I was alone, I might have some understanding, but swinging it at me while I’m carrying Gyeoul? How crazy do you have to be to do that?

Is that something a self-proclaimed fan would do? Does he not care if Gyeoul gets hurt?

Or is that bastard’s club blessed so it doesn’t harm Gyeoul?

No matter which question I asked, he would just continue with his disgusting reasoning and mentally deranged statements to justify himself.

Based on his actions up to this point, I was convinced. Park Yeji was not the type of person with whom meaningful conversation could take place.

Honestly, I just wanted to shout at him to get lost and never see his face again. The thought of exchanging words with such a disgusting person felt utterly unpleasant.

But I couldn’t just let the criminal go, so I started stalling by talking, planning to hold him off until the police arrived.

“Yeji, let’s think rationally. If we consider the timeline of Gyeoul’s activities, you must’ve been a fan since ‘Girl 100,’ right? That’s around six months. Isn’t it a bit tragic to stake your entire life on a fan obsession developed in such a short time? Think about the time and effort you’ve put in to become a cameraman at a major broadcast station. You’ve worked hard, just like everyone else.”

I spoke in hopes of calming him down, but my words seemed to have triggered something in Yeji. However, it didn’t seem like a positive reaction. It was clear that he was very heated right now.

His face turned bright red, and with a twisted expression, he gritted his teeth and shouted.

“Six months? Shut up! I’m not like those idiots who came in through ‘Girl 100!’ I’m the first! I was Gyeoul’s first fan!”

…Wait, first?

“…”

Rational thoughts told me not to provoke him.

But my stubborn pride couldn’t help but be scratched raw by Yeji’s words.

“…I’m Gyeoul’s first fan.”

I can’t give this up. Damn it! I’m Gyeoul’s first fan.

“You’re talking nonsense. Do you know when I became a fan?”

“When did you become a fan?”

Yeji gave a faint grin and then spoke to Gyeoul.

“Gyeoul, do you remember me?”

“…”

Flustered, Gyeoul couldn’t respond and turned her head away from me. The stalker, Park Yeji, shouted loudly.

“Do you remember the day you performed as a guest at Yoo Gaeul’s busking event before ‘Girl 100’? That day when there were barely three people watching because no one showed up! I was just a passerby, thinking someone with time to spare would be doing busking. But when you sang ‘A Song I Want to Share With You,’ and after the song, you smiled at me, and said ‘Thank you,’ that moment changed my life! In a life that felt like a tiresome cycle, you, a star, rose up! That’s when I became your fan! I’m your first fan!”

It was indeed shortly after Gyeoul joined TwoBear, when she participated in Gaeul’s busking event.

“Well, it was still later than mine, wasn’t it?”

“Damn, when did you become a fan then?”

I turned to Gyeoul, instead of looking at the disgusting Park Yeji, and spoke.

“Since the day she came to Seoul for the first time and missed the audition.”

“When was that?”

“It’s been about a year and a half.”

Looking back, I realized how much time I had spent with Gyeoul.

“…”

Yeji remained silent at my words.

If he didn’t know Gyeoul from Jeonnam, then there was no way he could have known her for as long as I have, so he had nothing to say.

Anyway, I had successfully defended my title as Gyeoul’s first fan.

I felt a bit ashamed for caring about my pride in a situation like this, but it felt slightly better that I hadn’t lost to that idiot.

Yeji looked at me with hateful eyes and then spoke.

“Then, if I get rid of you, I’ll be the first.”

Then, he took out a sharply honed knife from his pocket.

“Is that a knife?”

“Yeah, it’s a knife. It’s enough of a weapon to kill you.”

“…”

Without speaking, I opened the status window and used the reward I had received at the end of ‘Girl 100.’

[‘Buff Reward Selection Confirmed’ is being used. Please choose the reward you wish to use.]

[Selection is complete. ‘Sword Saint’s Sense’ is now in effect.]

“You’re done for, bastard.”

With the cheating reward, Sword Saint’s Sense, activated, the knife Yeji was holding was nothing more than a crude toy, comparable to a child’s carrot knife.

Thanks to that, it was easy to subdue him. Since I had already used the reward, I made sure to give him just the right amount of pain so that it wouldn’t be too noticeable as I inflicted it.

Soon after, the police arrived, and the situation was quickly brought to an end.

After the incident, we officially expressed our regret to CBS, the broadcasting station of ‘First-Person Intervenor,’ under the name of TwoBear.

It was only natural, as the broadcasting station staff had suffered a tragic farce of having a stalker among them.

If it had been another fledgling agency, the station might have just casually said, “It’s unfortunate,” and moved on. But because of Cheon Aram’s connections and reputation, they were very polite in their apology and promised compensation.

Naturally, since the footage from ‘First-Person Intervenor’ couldn’t be used as is, they proposed having Gyeoul participate as a member in another program.

The program in question, named ‘Star Challenge,’ already had a decent fanbase in Korea but had an even larger following overseas. It was a variety show that Hollywood actors often used to promote their films.

Offering to cast Gyeoul as a member of ‘Star Challenge’ was a huge decision for CBS.

For me, this was the best outcome, as all the turmoil was compensated and more.

“By the way, Team Leader Seon, are your injuries okay? Wouldn’t it be a good idea to take some time off?”

“Injured? I’m fine. Right now, I actually feel like working more.”

“Getting hit by a stalker, having a broken arm, and then going back to work the next day? No one else but Team Leader Seon would do that.”

It wasn’t entirely true. There were more people like me than I thought.

While I was handling some work and chatting with Seok Hyun-woo, the door suddenly opened, and Park Miso entered.

“Oh, Miso. What brings you here?”

“Team Leader Seon! Your video has been uploaded on AllTube!”

“What video?”

We looked at the tablet screen that she handed over.

[Real Video – ‘Man with Knife vs Bare-Handed Manager’, Knife Attack in the Middle of the Street / MTS]

[Views – 1.21 million]

…What is this?