-Are you going through a difficult time?

I deliberately asked as if I didn't know why. I hope he understands and answers me appropriately.

But YooJin only managed to bite into his chocolate bar and began to cry more sadly.

It can't be...

I don't know if it's because everyone is sensitive because we're into the entertainment industry or if it's because survival on this show is brutally difficult, but I seem to see a lot of people crying these days.

-We all fight... b-but I'm scared to speak... kujung.

-Hmm.

Cha YooJin was completely despondent. I couldn't even see the glow in his red hair that he had dazzled before.

His team was destroyed in a single day?

"His team room is named after my nickname, 'Dog'."

If the members of that team continue like this, then the nickname "Dog" will be ridiculed by the public, and if it is shown that I got involved with YooJin because of his problem, my future and image on the show will worsen.

It would be very funny and controversial if I gave YooJin some advice.

No matter what he says, the public will see it as a serious mistake. I will be bombarded by posts confronting me and saying I am "The Big Buster" and definitely the support I get will fluctuate quite a bit.

I'll have to let him go when he calms down. The only thing he could do was talk seriously about anything other than the problem.

-Do you want more chocolate bars?

-...

YooJin silently nodded, so I took out another handful of chocolate bars from my bag and handed them to him.

"...I'm glad I brought a lot."

It was a relief that I still had another large package filled with various chocolate bars. This might seem like he was just messing around with me, but it was better to tag along and give him a source of energy than his self-esteem to break even more.

In this way, I was by his side in silence while we heard only the noise of the bites that he gave to the chocolate bars and the water falling from the shower in the background.

Not long after, Cha YooJin got up from his seat with a chocolate bar in her hands and bowed her head.

-Thank you very much.

He seemed to have calmed down a bit and he was thinking of going back. I don't think he deserves his thanks because I couldn't comfort him in a better way or help him solve his problem.

I don't like it, but I can only say things appropriate to the situation.

-Will you leave before seeing RaeBin?

-Yes... I'll be fine.

-Okay.

YooJin seemed to be a bit more energetic than before, he stopped crying and seemed to have regained his senses a bit.

"I needed to raise his blood sugar."

I was afraid that he would wander around crying again when his sugar level dropped, but it was a priority that I send him back to his room.

I watched YooJin trudge down the hall for a while and then closed the door.

I breathed a sigh of relief.

"Looks like I'll be very busy from now on. There are land mines everywhere."

Now that we're in the second half of the show, we have to be more careful not to get caught up in an issue that negatively affects us on stream, because if we do, we'll go down and there may not be time to recover.

Unfortunately, no matter how careful he was, it was something I couldn't easily control.

"I'll try not to draw too much attention... Only then can I make it to the end of the show."

I sighed once more and lay down on my bed, instantly falling asleep.

It was the next morning that I realized that I had slept without taking a shower.

* * *

While the contestants were agonizing over planning and rehearsing their performance for the new tag team battle, the general public was able to watch the eighth episode of "Idol Corporation - Reincorporated!"

Oh my God

Why did they do that?

Awesome lol

??

As the rankings progressed and the unexpected placements of the top performers became known, the reaction from the real-time audience was amazing, but it was most intense when the reward for the winning team of the second team battle was announced.

The public was furious that they avoided the brutal voting method that reflected "how much they hated them".

Haha this is bullshit

I was a fool to spend money on a program like this.

There's a contestant on the winning team that the editors rejected lol And they're still going to allow him to continue on the show?

The irony is that this anger was directed at the participants of the winning team and not at the production team that created the system and organized the winning reward.

As the biggest beneficiary of this bounty, Choi WonGil, who was originally going to be eliminated from the show, came under the scrutiny of the public who wanted to put him to dust.

But the anger of the spectators did not end there.

Public opinion of the winning team's participants, who had greatly improved their rankings, temporarily deteriorated significantly.

Seon AhHyun pushed Cha YooJin and took 2nd place from him...

Is he crying? I'm sick of him.

I don't want to lose my shares. He has made my child fall and yet he is smiling and stuttering on cameras. I don't want to see him anymore because he's killing me ㅠㅠ

Ugh. Seon AhHyun can't even speak properly and is in 2nd place lol. Wake up you idiots who give sympathy votes to disabled people who can't even talk about how they feel about their debut lol

L Your comment is already too crazy; Shouldn't you be a little more respectful?

L Hahahaha his stutter comes and goes

L he is much more serious than you imagine, don't be unpleasant

L You can't contradict me, that's why you curse me hahaha Y-y-you don't think he legitimately got 2nd place, do you? Hahaha

Critical comments could be seen that became seriously disrespectful, although they were aware that it looked immoral. At this, there were many people who were shocked or put off and did not want to comment further, but the aggressive public opinion was meant to highlight a good time.

On the other hand, there was also another type of reaction that emerged and was highlighted in various publications. Favorable public opinion was formed for the contestants who showed their determination to keep going despite their rankings dropping due to negative votes and compensation for the winning team.

You guys did a great job ㅠㅠ

Where there is light, there is shadow. Don't worry too much about the losers who sell their shares~ I'm supporting them ^^

They must have felt bad, still, thank you very much for being brave

Thanks to this kind of feedback, Park MoonDae, who had a higher ranking before the stock sell-off correction, was lucky to avoid a lot of criticism even after he raised his ranking.

And there was also a slight change in his fanbase.

As the people who liked MoonDae's team in the first team battle were weakened by public criticism, the fans who preferred MoonDae's appearance in his second team stood out much more.

Congratulations on your 4th place, MoonDae. You did a great job TT TT (Link to congratulations video given to you by your second team members)

"What are you doing, hyung?" The expression that MoonDae gives in these three shots is hilarious hahahahaha "Why does a cat do this to a puppy?" (3-screenshot gif of Cha YooJin approaching MoonDae and his reaction) (Funny photo of dog and cat together)

It's funny that MoonDae couldn't win against the kids this time, so he was kind of forced to become their caretaker hahahaha

If you look in the corner of this video, you'll see him handing out snacks to the kids ㅠㅠ Oh my God... He's an angel... (Link to a short video)

Fans of the other two contestants, who hadn't had a strong relationship with any other contestants before, were excited and jumped on the new trend.

They were the fans of Cha YooJin and Kim RaeBin.

Moon Puppy, Kim Rabbit and Cha Kitty. They are a puppy, bunny and kitten. Don't you think they are a touching combination? Come on, think about it (Photo)

Our boys are so cute. I feel like if I meet them on the street one day, I won't be able to ignore them because they're too beautiful ㅠㅠ (Link to a short video recorded from the broadcast)

Animal heroes, here we come! (fan art)

Even posts where fans linked them as well with Ryu CheongWoo flooded social media.

The atmosphere grew more heated as the second tag team battle stage had a mix of people who had just watched the show and those who had watched it from the start pouring anger and control over the contestants.

Due to this immersion of fans showing pleasant warmth as if they were in a well-heated room and also irritating burning as if they were burning in hellfire, the internet was a real mess.

It was even worse because the show, while controversial, was on its way to becoming a box office hit.

Beyond the pages and forums that talk about entertainment news, Icorpo news could be found anywhere on the Internet.

And everywhere you could see people fighting sick people.

------

(Photo) There is a contestant named Cha YooJin. Do women like this kind of guy? I am speechless...

------

The light from his eyes... I feel like it stings me... it gives me a bad impression

It's so ugly haha

What? He is a handsome young man ^^ My daughter says that she likes him.

This show is popular among little kids~ There is a boy who is very good at singing, that's why my friend asked me to vote for him to make it to the finals~

L That's Park MoonDae haha although he seems a bit bland to me. Isn't everyone who wants to be a singer supposed to sing well? hahaha

Are you old and that's why your eyesight fails you? Cha YooJin is a nice boy who is a bit mischievous. The young man who used to do archery is also very good. I support those two guys.

L You are the only old woman who has gone crazy

Both in social networks and on internet web pages, there were always bad comments that caused fights at any time of the day. Interestingly, there were people who took screenshots of these fights and reposted them for people to find out and have fun.

-----

(Screenshot) Hahaha a crazy collaboration to scold a grandmother hahaha

-----

Hahahaha Cha YooJin is a super star. All my friends have saved the photos of our giant baby kitten who is 1.80 tall

Although it's not mentioned here, it's ridiculous that Seon AhHyun is 2nd place...

L This post is not even about that topic, why are you talking about it?;

L Haha, if you criticize Seon AhHyun, her fans will insult you, so you shouldn't mention it. O__O

L What you're saying now isn't even good criticism. What did Seon AhHyun do wrong?

L Look at this, it's turning on again hahahaha

And at that moment, the participants were able to access the internet to see the tumultuous opinions in real time.

* * *

To be honest, the first thing I thought of was the following:

"I survived."

Thankfully, I avoided a lot of criticism and wasn't being praised too much to cause a backlash, so I was in a good state, even though I'm currently secretly attached to the contestants who got precisely the best grades, the same guys who the public was criticizing horribly.

But there was nothing else that was gratifying, he could only feel a little relief.

I rubbed the screen of my phone with my finger and slid the bar that let me see the content of the page, seeing many comments full of profanity.

"This is... very bitter."

None of the contestants (except Choi WonGil), who were the targets of harsh criticism, were bad people. They were guys who tried really hard, so why did they have to be attacked like this?

I know that they have nothing to do with me, in fact, if they failed or messed up, it would be convenient for me, but... that doesn't feel good at all.

"Besides, this isn't the best time to see this..."

-We will give you your phones so you can broaden your information searches for your productions~

Since this team battle has the theme of self-production, the staff gave us our phones back for a while to look for inspirational material or further information for our concepts.

Usually it was forbidden to have our cell phones on set so that the participants could isolate themselves from public opinion, but in this stage of the team battle that rule was broken.

Since the program is so successful, it is impossible not to see articles related to it when we connect to the internet, so I was checking some posts that appeared to me.

-...

I was in the dorm room with my teammates, everyone looking at their phones without saying a word. The same thing is probably happening in the other rooms.

And apparently my team has a participant who is being heavily attacked all over the internet. It was Seon Ahhyun.

"Is he crying?"

I think I should pay attention to him, who is this time in the lower bed of the bunk we share.

I had an ominous feeling.

"If this causes him to have a mental breakdown, will it deactivate his property?"

If his skill "Bravery" is deactivated again, his status anomaly called "Lack of Self-Esteem" will revive.

So, will AhHyun be able to properly perform his introduction after facing the status abnormality penalty from him, where his overall abilities drop by two levels?

If that were the case, it wouldn't be strange for both our presentation and editing of our teamwork to be ruined.

I exhaled a small sigh.

"...Somehow, the members of this team are very lucky."

There is not a single day where team battles go smoothly and comfortably.

"I'll have to check on him first."

-Seon AhHyun.

I leaned out of my bed a bit to look at him. AhHyun, who was sitting on his bed, raised his head to see me too.

-Y-yes?!

-...?

Why does he seem to be okay?