-Hey, did they win third place?

-Why? They did very well.

-They are supposed to have the highest rankings...

-The impact they caused in the public was not a joke.

When we placed third, the team members around us began to murmur.

Thank you, but in fact, this situation was foreseen from the moment the audience was told that they could vote for two teams.

"They put us all under control."

Although we were able to like the audience a lot, it seems that most of them are solo stans, so they voted for the teams their favorite member was in.

And then, they would have voted for some other good team that has low ranked members. They would never vote for a team like ours as we had so many fans that if they did it would obviously ruin their hopes of supporting their favorite contestants for a chance to win.

Although, thinking of it that way, we were also quite lucky to come in third place.

Although we didn't get support from those solo stans, we were able to get to 3rd place thanks to the votes of our fans and all the viewers who only attended out of curiosity and loved our performance.

However, it seems that the team members were quite shaken.

-...Thank you very much!

Ryu CheongWoo, who replied a bit late, vigorously bowed his thanks for the achievement we got.

My colleagues followed him and enthusiastically thanked, but it was clearly visible that the calm expression on their faces wasn't real.

-Thank you.

I also bowed my head.

The announcement of 1st and 2nd place was also postponed due to the rankings announcement ceremony. Among them, there was a team that was "similar to the first team" chosen by Choi WonGil.

-So, dear shareholders of "Idol Corporation - Reincorporated"! We'll meet you at the rankings ceremony with news of the first place in this team battle!

After hearing the MC's final comments, Choi WonGil seems to have looked at us with a triumphant look on his face.

"That idiot..."

It seems that he is still like that. Is it because he hasn't experienced the power of the show's editing yet?

Anyway, my team was so shocked to realize that. Ryu CheongWoo patted the shoulders of the guys who were clapping depressed.

-Well done guys. We must have done our best and been great. We don't have to worry too much.

-Yes...

-Yes. We did a good job!

Well, as Cha YooJin said, I was sure that we put on a very good performance. So, I won't be offended if I get votes of sympathy for this situation through my actions.

Nobody in this team is likely to be eliminated at the next qualifying ceremony, so I think we got a good result.

The problem is that the edit will look very simple, unless another edit is done that saves Ryu CheongWoo and kills everyone else, because our performance went well.

All the boys already have fandoms, so any bad news will be blown away in public opinion battles.

An example of this was Kim RaeBin. After the broadcast of the fight he had with another member of his first team, his fans defended him through persistent public opinion fights and made his name appear on the top of searches on all sites. .

Oh, speaking of the King of Rome...

-Hmm... Park Moon Dae hyung.

-Uh, yeah?

RaeBin tilted her head at me to thank me.

-Thank you very much for everything you did. Can we exchange our contact numbers?

-Sure.

Without hesitation, I gave him my number.

He was a participant with whom I had no problem. I was very grateful to him for his songwriting skills, he totally arranged the song from scratch.

Also, considering his personality, unlike Keun SeJin who contacted me all the time, it seemed like he would contact me whenever he needed to and quickly finish all matters over the phone and not in person.

After receiving my number, Kim RaeBin bowed his head again.

-I will greet you from time to time.

-...Good.

I don't know if I'm talking to an aspiring idol or my successor anymore.

"Oh, now that I think about it..."

Is this an opportunity to change the so-called "group of united participants"?

Since we were successful in this team battle, there is a chance that the fandom will rearrange itself if some eyewitness accounts are leaked in time before the next episode airs.

"Park MoonDae" and the united boys of the 1st team had many risk factors, from drugs to the final ranking in the future. Besides...

"Isn't it better to be attached to someone who will have the highest rankings at the end of the show?"

I couldn't ignore the possibility that if I joined Kim RaeBin, my reputation in the fandom that supported Cha YooJin would become less hostile.

"That would be great."

I am very surprised that I'm coldly calculating all of this, but who would if he was threatened with sudden death?

-Thanks for your good work~

-Thanks for all your effort!

As I was getting ready to leave and packing my things, someone tapped me on the back.

-H-hello.

-Hmm?

When I turned around, Seon AhHyun was looking at me with a gloomy expression on his face.

The boy who has been busy for the past week suddenly came to talk to me with a determined face.

"Is he coming to tell me some bad news?"

AhHyun looked around and after checking that no one was watching us, he whispered to me.

-Y-you know how C-Choi WonGil is.

-...? Oh, what about him?

Why did he come to tell me about Choi WonGil?

"Did he come here to curse him out because he might have appropriated parts of the song from him?"

Surprisingly, half of my wild idea was true.

-H-he's so bad...!

AhHyun was already almost snorting in annoyance.

-...

I can't believe it. What kind of personality should he have to make this usually shy and pushover guy so angry?

-Why? Did he do something?

-Uh, yeah!!

Seon AhHyun nodded his head vigorously and began to carefully explain what happened in the last team battle.

-A-at first he... a-asked for my parts.

Oh, my prediction was totally right.

-A-and he keeps talking a-about you! He speaks in a sar-sarcastic way...

To summarize the explanation for Choi WonGil's actions, it went something like this:

-I didn't make much of the cameras for the first team battle, so I need to make more of it this time. Shouldn't you be thankful that I made this team?

-Why don't they give me their parts, like Park MoonDae was allowed? The main vocal is supposed to be me, but I think they are discriminating me because I am not their friend.

He said the last thing while crying in one of the interviews that the film crew does.

"It seems that after the first team battle he learned that the one who hits first almost always wins."

From what I understood, when the boys were attacked and didn't know what to say to him, Keun SeJin carefully spoke for them, calmed down WonGil and cleared up the situation.

"Considering the power of editing and broadcasting the episode, SeJin made a good decision."

However, the anger of the team members that they had to contain for so many days did not seem to have disappeared.

Seon AhHyun's cautious demeanor turned completely indignant at the end of his explanation. He was so angry that he no longer seemed to stutter, but rather rap.

-You-you have to be very careful with him...! I-I think he'll say very strange things about you... t-that's why I wanted to tell you.

Seon AhHyun seemed to be worried about all the mess he made, but he was also worried about me.

Perhaps... That was his main point.

That's a bit funny, but in case it's true, then...

"I feel a little grateful to him."

In this survival show, where he should only care about himself, he's caring about me, not as if I'm a social connection to use, but as a true friend.

Now I feel like an idiot for having ranked the boys according to whether or not they would be useful to me to survive in the program.

"More than half of the participants must also not think or act in the same way as that high school boy."

Since the first team battle, I used the knowledge I had about the future (now past) to make my team surpass the others, but by doing so, I destroyed the future I had thought of. I wonder if I'm getting paranoid.

I replied with a smile.

-Oh yeah. Thank you very much.

-N-no...

AhHyun was surprised and went back to his usual shy appearance of his, waving her hands hurriedly to tell me that I didn't need to thank her.

Suddenly Keun SeJin appeared, who stepped between the two of us and hugged us. He really does seem to have an uncanny ability to appear wherever there is a conversation.

-Hello~ What are you doing, friends?

-Th-that... I was t-telling him.

-What? Oh... about "him".

Keun SeJin shrugged.

It seems that Choi WonGil has reached the point of being identified as a troll, so much so that he is now called by a pronoun instead of his name.

-Next time, you don't have to be in the same team as him~ Don't stress too much, look, even if we are very busy, we have to see the good things that the world brings us.

-U-uh?

SeJin naturally changed the subject, as she immediately looked up something on his phone and held it up for AhHyun to see.

It was a social media post that had photos of billboards in a subway station.

Ah, the time had come.

Placing idol-related advertisements on public facilities is one of the fans' shows of support for idols. I remember seeing some billboards that had the pictures that I had taken in my past life.

"Although those photos were listed under the name of the account or fansite that bought my material."

Anyway, I was wondering if he was trying to show that he had a billboard, but that wasn't the only thing.

-Ta~da! Did you see that there are photos of the three of us?

-Huh?

Looking at it closely, it is clearly a photograph of three billboards together in the vicinity of the train station. I was able to read the description of the photo.

------

At Hongdae station there are three billboards with Aktober 31 guys who are the same age ㅠㅠ I've written post-its for them too!

-----

Keun SeJin smiled and said.

-Hey guys, isn't that amazing? How did they put so many ads? Did you ever mention it to your fans?

-...

No.

Chances are, if I had brought it up, the fandoms would have scrambled to hog the billboards...

When I think of the amount of money and time he must have spent trying to rent a large billboard at a popular train station, I feel sorry for whoever did it.

"Well... thank you for investing and increasing the chances of me continuing on this survival show."

But I have a new concern. Even if I manage to debut and avoid sudden death, I'll probably get a new condition where I have to fulfill everything the contract says, otherwise I'll end up in hell or something.

While I was confused by my new doubt, SeJin mentioned something.

-How about going to see those billboards together? Fans have also pasted their messages, so it would be great if we go check it out~

-...

No, can't we each go our own way?

However, Seon AhHyun's eyes lit up and seemed to have the word "Okay" written on their pupils.

-I-it's alright!

-Brilliant, brilliant. MoonDae, you're going too, right? What day would you like to go?

This guy cheated on me the same way he got me to attend the group meeting to watch the third episode. But... Just like SeJin said, it would be better to go check out the billboards. People will probably recognize me, it will be easier to deal with that problem with them than being alone.

I looked at them alternately for a moment and then just nodded.

-If I go, we'd better do it one day this week.

-The sooner the better!

-Y-yes!

I finished packing my luggage back while the two of them set the date feeling happy.

As for me, I didn't feel bad either.

* * *

Two days later, I put on the cotton face mask I bought at the store to meet the boys again.

My destination is Hongdae station.

After each competition we were given days off where we didn't have to film. I was confined to my room, so it felt like a long time had passed since I left.

I got a message from Seon AhHyun in the group chat we have with SeJin.

"His messages are always very long."

After reviewing Keun SeJin's emoji-filled reply, I walked out and got on the bus. Since I lived in a cheap room away from the train stations, it would take more than 20 minutes if I went on foot.

"But I can easily get to Hongdae Station after getting off at the nearest bus stop."

...My thinking was wrong.

-Ahh.

-Isn't he Park MoonDae?

-Oh... E-excuse me...!

It happened as soon as I got off the bus and crossed the crosswalk.

I hadn't even reached the rally point and people were already gathering around me.

Only a few people recognized me right away, but since it was a busy street, the comments caught the attention of onlookers who started crowding around to see who it was.

-Who is he?

-Is he a celebrity? An idol?

"I can not take this."

I thought for a few seconds about what to do, I leaned towards the people and ran.

I would have liked to answer them in a better way, but the atmosphere was unusual. At this point, the ripple effect of the most popular survival show was surprising.

Every time you check the news in the Entertainment section, you will always find news related to Icorpo. Apparently, this program appears in the most wanted news rankings.

"Since this has happened, I will quickly see my fence and leave."

As I ran through the subway station, my phone vibrated, but I wouldn't see it unless I got rid of the crowd following me...

And... I realized the situation as soon as I arrived at the location of the three billboards.

This happened because two people had already reached the billboards and were surrounded by more people taking photos of them with their phones.

"Since they arrived earlier, I guess they wanted to contact me."

But these idiots had come out without a mask.

Meanwhile, the people who saw me began to clap and shout with excitement.

-It's MoonDae!

-MoonDae is here!

There was one thing I was sure of.

This is very embarrassing, but I was grateful.