Chapter 171

Chapter 171

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

Episode 171: Ditch The Poisoned Chalice And Keep The Poison

I sat in the TwoBear conference room, leisurely drinking honey tea, and said to the broadcast PD, Seon Yujung, who was anxiously tapping her feet.

“Please tell me. Why do you want to use Yeoreum on the show?”

The PD, Seon Yujung, who had expressed interest in bringing Yeoreum on board, tilted her head and asked,

“Didn’t I already mention that in the synopsis? Yeoreum will be the main participant in our program.”

“Let’s skip the obvious talk. You already know what I’m asking, don’t you? I’m asking why you’re trying to bring in a controversial figure like Jin Yeoreum, who has a huge anti-fandom, into a normal broadcast.”

“Hmm… Can I say ‘no comment’?”

I spoke firmly to Seon Yujung, who was being evasive.

“If you’re not willing to say it, then TwoBear will reject your request for Yeoreum’s participation.”

“Oh, that’s troublesome. But what if I give you a false reason? Wouldn’t it be easy to just make up a good story and let it slide?”

“Don’t worry. I can spot that much. If I couldn’t, I shouldn’t be in this business.”

Seon Yujung erased her slightly dazed expression, smiled mischievously, and then spoke.

“I think we can have a good conversation. Rising as a hot commodity in the broadcasting world starting from being a manager wasn’t just a fluke, was it? Surely, such a character setting, and versatility can’t be achieved without preparation and planning. Alright, I admit that.”

…It was a fluke, though.

“Let me be honest. As you probably expected, I want to do some noise marketing with Yeoreum. After all, there hasn’t been a widely successful program focused on dance in this country, has there?”

“I remember the program ‘Dancing and Stars’ getting quite a good reaction back in the day.”

“That was when this country was obsessed with survival programs. Even though that program had a lot of celebrities and even introduced text voting, it still wasn’t a success. It even lost to a diving program in terms of buzz ratings.”

But wasn’t that diving program quite impressive?

“Anyway, the reason I want to bring Yeoreum on board is simple. Our program needs buzz. We need to create some kind of pre-broadcast controversy to make people watch the first episode.”

“If the broadcast is good enough, creating buzz shouldn’t be that hard.”

“No, maybe for other programs, but in our program, we’re focusing not on famous celebrities but on real dancers who are well-known in the underground scene. That’s why it’s hard to expect such a rebound.”

No, the program Seon Yujung was trying to create would have exponential impact and buzz because it was focused on real dancers from the underground scene.

Of course, she didn’t need to know that the buzz would naturally come from focusing on underground dancers, not just Yeoreum.

“What is the structure you’re thinking about?”

“Structure? Of course, it’s a free competition format between participants with a survival element.”

“Don’t pretend you don’t know. There’s a certain structure or role you’re aiming for by bringing Yeoreum in, right? For example, as the target?”

“Haha, I can’t hide it anymore. There’s a rumor that you were the one who led the explosion of Girl 100, Team Leader Seon. Seeing you in person, it seems more believable. What do you think of this rumor?”

“That’s a bit of an exaggeration. How could one person cause a show to explode? It just blew up because it was bound to.”

Seon Yujung looked at me with a strange gaze and then spoke.

“Well, fine. Team Leader Seon, you’re right. I’m thinking of the main concept of the show as a contrast between the underground and mainstream. Instead of pretending to be friendly with a hollow competition, we’ll have an aggressive, raw show mixed with disses.”

The picture of the broadcast that I saw in the future felt different.

I’m not sure what kind of changes happened as I regressed, but it seemed like they had affected Seon Yujung as well.

“But if you just tackle that conflict head-on, the underground side will be at a huge disadvantage. The mainstream has a solid fanbase supporting them. Also, the mainstream has a lot to lose, so they’re likely to go on the defensive.”

“So, you’re planning to make Yeoreum the target to drive the atmosphere, right?”

This was, perhaps, inevitable.

This wasn’t something that would only happen in this show—any show Yeoreum appeared on, she would likely become the target.

What Seon Yujung was aiming for was to weave that into the storytelling, making it a key element to generate interest in the broadcast.

“Perfect. It’s almost like you’ve stolen my words, so now I’m at a loss for what to say.”

I shook my head in front of Seon Yujung, who was grinning, and spoke.

“No need for sweet talk. Let’s get to the point. Since you’ve prepared for that risk, you must have also prepared a return that will allure us, right?”

“What if I don’t?”

“Why ask such an obvious question? Then, of course, this conversation ends here, and I’ll get up.”

“Oh, how scary, well, luckily, I do have a return.”

Seon Yujung turned her laptop around and showed me a screen.

On the screen was a simple summary related to the broadcast’s runtime and structure.

Everything else was pretty much what I expected, but there was one thing that caught my eye.

“Behind the intro? Why are you spending so much time on this?”

“That’s Yeoreum’s solo segment. We’ll make a pretty picture out of things like past experiences, negative comments she’s faced, and the effort she’s put in.”

“Are you saying you’ll use 20 minutes of a two-hour broadcast to show someone’s personal story? And in the very first episode?”

“Yes, it won’t just be limited to that. There will be a regular distribution of screen time afterward. In fact, for the sake of buzz, she’ll likely get more screen time than the other participants… to the point where it might spark favoritism controversy.”

“…”

“This is the return I’ve prepared. What do you think?”

Seon Yujung smiled and said,

“How about we do some image cleaning together?”

Seon Yujung’s proposal was close to being a poisoned chalice.

First, the idea of broadcasting on mainstream media and gaining buzz to rise to stardom could have a stronger impact than the documentary we planned for Yeoreum in the future, showing her story more powerfully.

There was no doubt that it would be the strongest PR for improving her image.

However, the risks were immense.

From what I inferred in the previous conversation, Seon Yujung would move to protect Yeoreum on the show, but the other participants would be encouraged to attack her.

The emotional footage focusing on Yeoreum, the aggressive comments from trolls that seem to metaphorically represent her, and those making those comments to her face.

The structure is good. However, you cannot overlook the fact that those criticizing her also have a solid fanbase.

It seemed like Seon Yujung didn’t think this way, but the fanbase of the underground participants is much stronger than expected, and their power is also immense. The confrontation with them might not lead to portraying Yeoreum as a tragic heroine but rather as a bourgeois who should be discarded.

No, if there are no variables, it was likely to end up like that. After all, Yeoreum is almost seen as a public enemy right now.

However, if the direction of public opinion about Yeoreum could be guided in a slightly positive way, or if the fans of Yeoreum and Girl Revolution could create a ‘basis’ to support her, the ‘Ready to Dance’ show that Seon Yujung was requesting to bring Yeoreum into could serve as the turning point to reverse the public opinion surrounding her.

[‘Information-related reward option’ will be used. The reward ‘Deep-rooted transaction history’ will be provided as a selection reward.]

The ‘Deep-rooted transaction history’ used to find the person who leaked Yeoreum’s information, hiding under the alias Sunny, is considered one of the best rewards in the information reward category.

This reward, which lists the information of a specific person over a set period, is simple but of much higher quality than rewards like ‘Personal Listening Device’ or ‘CCTV Just for You’.

However, this ‘Deep-rooted transaction history’ also has its drawbacks.

If the person’s transaction history becomes too broad, beyond a certain limit, it becomes unusable.

Naturally, when I obtained this deep-rooted transaction history, I planned to use it for Yeoreum. For example, I thought about using it on the doctor who administered drugs to her.

However, the message I saw made me clearly feel the drawbacks of this.

[The amount of transactions held by the subject is too vast. It is unusable.]

It meant that even the deep-rooted transaction history, which could be used for a celebrity reporter, was impossible to use because the amount of transactions held by a single doctor was too vast.

Given that such a message usually appears from influential politicians, it was a rather significant piece of information.

However, there was no special solution to the system not working.

I reluctantly decided to use the ‘Deep-rooted transaction history’ on the reporter and forget about the doctor, but after seeing the rewards I obtained last time, I changed my mind.

[Non-slip Reinforced Hammer target is selected.]

[Deep-rooted transaction history is selected.]

There’s a reward that strengthens other rewards, the ‘Non-slip Reinforced Hammer’, and I figured that if I used this, I could bypass the restrictions mentioned by the system and obtain the information needed to defend Yeoreum.

[Would you like to use the ‘Non-slip Reinforced Hammer’?]

“…”

Gulp.

Seeing the message, I felt a sense of tension that made my fingertips tremble.

Because this damn reward, despite its “non-slip” modifier, still carried a risk of destruction.

When I saw the message “The reward was destroyed” for the first time in the past, I cursed the system for its dirty wordplay as I slammed my head against a pillar.

‘Please, for once, make the name worth something, system.’

Having used it five times in the past and succeeded once, I estimated the success rate to be around 20%.

It could be less, or more, but there was no way to know, so I decided to think of it as 20% for peace of mind.

I also wondered if it would be wiser not to use the Reinforced Hammer, but remembering that the reward marked as (Special) gave three times the effectiveness when it succeeded made me reluctant to give up.

20% is worth a shot, right? In games, you can succeed with even a 0.02% chance, so please let this work!

I clasped my hands together and said reverently,

“Use it.”

[The Reinforced Hammer is swung.]

Please!

After gathering all the gods I knew in my mind and finishing my prayer, I carefully opened my eyes.

The message appeared.

[Congratulations! You broke through the legendary odds, and the reinforcement was a great success!]

[Unbelievable deep-rooted transaction history (Legendary)]

“…”

What is this?