//TN: 'Idol Incorporation' is now 'Idol Corporation'.

As Park Moondae expected, everyone from the audience to the live viewers fell into confusion because of the results of this new concept of an 'average number of 6.47 members'. Some of the audience members even picked up their smartphones and posted on their social media.

However, after the chaos passed, the response was not unexpectedly blindly negative.

It was because they felt that the production team put in a lot of effort, so they started to think more clearly.

People managed to accept the situation. Of course, there were still plenty of people crying out that the number of people was too small.

And at that moment, a new VCR began to appear as a right timing.

It was a video of participants wearing pastel linen costumes waving and smiling at the camera. They were walking through the dark structures. Light gleamed through the structures.

In an instant, the atmosphere on the internet sites subsided.

The participants took turns holding the camera and one word at a time shared their feelings about the last broadcast, and then ran somewhere.

Since it looked like a typical moving VCR, viewers showed a formal reaction. The audience who was watching the VCR also cheered whenever a participant they rooted for appeared.

And by some chance, the last participant left was Park Moondae.

Park Moondae awkwardly looked at the camera and smiled.

It was a straighforward and clear statement. After leaving a short remark, Park Moondae also ran out of the camera screen and disappeared.

Naturally, comments flooded in the community with many Park Moon-dae's fans.

//TN: They used the word '패드립' 'paedrip' which is an internet slang kinda used as an insult when demeaning superiors, parents or ancestors. At least according to my research. I changed it to 'lousy family history' for it to make more sense.

In order to attract even one more vote, the fans endured their anger at every reaction mentioning Moondae's family history and continued the business.

In the meantime, all the participants disappeared from the screen, and on the empty black screen, the acoustic version of faintly grew in the background.

Viewers were caught in a strange lingering imagery.

//TN: lol me at the end of pd101 s2

And then the angle of the video reversed. It was the direction in which the participants ran. Following the rotating camera, participants were seen climbing up from the left.

All of a sudden, the broadcast screen converted into the concert hall. Participants were seen coming up to the stage. What looked like a pre-recorded video was actually a real-time transmission.

Then the participants picked up the microphone and started singing the acoustic version of

The participants sincerely sang in each part while softly smiling. However, even before the first verse was over, a number of participants began to sniffle. Of course, Park Moondae calmly sang his part well. The ad-lib in the second half of the second verse was nice to listen to and it seemed to intertwine with the listener's ears.

Although there were a few exceptions, the performance made even the audience tear up because of the sad arrangement sung by the participants.

The ending song ended with a close-up of Lee Sejin's pale face in tears.

The participants, who came down from the stage, struggled to escape from the lingering emotions that came from the performance.

When the stylist, who were fixing the makeup of the sniffling contestants were slowly getting annoyed, the sound of MC introducing a new VCR could be heard from above.

'Ah, is it that?'

Park Moondae guessed the contents of the video without much excitement. It is a family content, where participants had gotten a message from their family members that cannot be missed in the last episode of the audition show. Obviously, since Park Moondae didn't have a family he just idled away and moved on.

'They must have put a lot of crying in the cuts.'

He recalled for a moment how Kim Raebin watched his grandmother's video letter and cried so much that his eyes were all swollen to the point you couldn't almost see them.

In fact, most of the participants cried, so it must have been easy for the production team to pick footages for the cuts. Only a few scenes of Park Moondae were captured in which he was seen calmly patting the other participants' back. He didn't even dream that it actually made people care.

"...It's all ending now."

"...?"

An unexpected person spoke to Park Moondae.

'What?'

It was Lee Sejin, the former child actor.

"Well...the program is going to be over soon."

"You will debut, so it wouldn't be over for you, right?"

'Why is he picking a fight all of a sudden?'

Since he had a lot of thoughts going on in his head at that moment, Park Moondae simply ignored what he said without replying.

"...It must be nice."

Lee Sejin just mumbled, then gloomily went to the corner.

"..."

Park Moon-dae decided not to react. If there was anyone who would care about others right before the final ranking announcement, they would be a pushover.

Participants, who encouraged each other at the beginning of the live broadcast, became extremely nervous as the emotions of the last stage faded. It was just at that time that the staff called them again.

"Go to area B! Please move!"

The participants moved with firm expressions on their faces.

A long, long final ranking ceremony awaited them.

* * *

My shoulders ached from fatigue.

'If it wasn't for the fatigue reducing ability, I would have felt like dying.'

It was hard to turn my head around or change my posture. It was quite a lot of pressure that thousands of people were staring down at me.

'It's closer than when we're on stage.'

The audience was closer than during the team match stage, which was the closest at the time. Even if I rolled my eyes a little, it was enough to make eye contact with the audience below the stage. A slogan was swaying just below.

It looked solemn, since it was written in a gungseo cursive style font.

'I think I should wave my hand at least.'

But I couldn't do that in this tense atmosphere.

"Who will be the contestant who takes the glory of sixth place....?"

This was because the MC has been blocking the progress of the announcement for fifteen minutes with several lines like the one just now.

It was amazing that twenty minutes had passed since we came up on stage, but not one person has been announced.

'Seeing the number of votes, it's understandable.'

I heard that the number of text message votes exceeded 1 million, so it is not strange that they were still being counted.

The MC didn't get the production crew's sign until about three more minutes later.

", the final stock ranking combining the internet and live text investments... The 6th place! Will be announced now!"

I could feel the participants' bodies hardening around me.

"He is a contestant who has been noticed for his overflowing leadership and outstanding skills."

The faces of the corresponding participants were disorderedly shown on the big electronic display.

'...But why am I there?'

I understood Ryu Chungwoo and Keun Sejin.

I tried not to show a ridiculous expression.

However, unlike the other two, it could be seen that there was no expectation in my eyes since I didn't really fit the description, and when the expression on my face was caught, several people below laughed even in this atmosphere.

"Congratulations, Lee Sejin...B!"

Keun Sejin had his eyes wide open, and when he saw the B attached at the end of his name, he burst out laughing and bent down.

Keun Sejin got poured by countless requests for handshakes and congratulations from the fellow participants. I gave him a light high-five as he received congratulations from everyone.

"Ah...Thank you, thank you so so much. I was trying to let go of my expectations."

Keun Sejin expressed his feelings about joining the debut group with a heated face, showed something similar to aegyo to his fans, and then went up to the podium.

'You really made your debut.'

It was likely because he was on the rise.

'It's much better than someone I don't know very well.'

I eagerly awaited for the announcement of the next ranking.

...And after a long wait of over 15 minutes, the next ranking was announced.

"The 5th place is...! ...Ryu Chungwoo!"

That was completely expected.

On the contrary, I thought the ranking had fallen a little, but Ryu Chungwoo showed tears for the first time in the program as if he had not really expected this.

'A normal person is good.'

I sincerely applauded this time too.

And next, the 4th place.

"Participant Kim Raebin! Congratulations!"

Kim Rae-bin staggered to the podium without receiving proper congratulations because he was nervous.

And he talked about his feelings clearly articulating his words. Although, to be frank, it sounded more like a presentation than a speech. This was because he was reciting things he is good at and what he is trying to improve on.

"... So, the competency I'm developing recently is vocal. I will pay more attention to communication skills in the future so that I can perform my role as a member of the group in any situation with a more complete image."

The last two sentences were the only things that felt like a feeling.

"...Once again, I thank my shareholders for investing in me. And grandma and grandpa, I love you."

And he bravely removed the microphone from his mouth.

'... Aren't we supposed to tell our fans that we love them too?'

Only after returning the microphone, Kim Raebin looked at the MC with an expression that seemed like he had just realized it, but the ship had already sailed.

'...Still, he's a useful guy.'

I was reasonably convinced.

The next announcement is the 3rd place.

Isn't it time for me to be called, I have hoped, but...that did not happen.

"The third place is... Seon Ahyun! Congratulations!"

Seon Ahyun's face appeared on the electronic display board that dragged for a long time between Cha Yujin and Seon Ahyun.

Seon Ahyun's tired looking pale face quickly heated up.

"Tha-thank you..."

Seon Ahyun unexpectedly received the congratulations without crying. Thanks to that, I didn't mean to hug him, but followed as the other did.

"I- I'm a very lacking person. Th-the shareholders who believed in me and supported me... And to my friends, really...th-thank you. Mo-more and more...I will become a person you can be proud of. Thank...thank you."

Seon Ahyun returned the microphone and cried profusely as he went up. It felt strange to see a guy who couldn't make his debut in the original future, eventually get in.

Well...I think it's more of a good thing.

'Because Seon Ahyun is a good guy.'

So now all that's left is...

"'s final ranking announcement ceremony is getting more and more heated! Now, the long-awaited 1st place announcement is just around the corner!"

'In the end, this is how it turns out.'

I held my breath.

//TN: In case someone is confused about the narrative, it seems that the narrative is in third person when the chapter talks about the audience's and the viewer's reactions and first person when it's purely from Park Moondae's pov.