★ The Second Life Idols Lucky Plan – Chapter 58

Cheon Serim walked back into the waiting room with a bad expression

He sat with a pale face next to his group who learned about the current situation through the internet.

Everyone exchanged worried glances

'Is the agency gonna call him in?'

It was early this morning that the so-called 'runaway' was identified after an idol's mention, and the community started to light on fire. Cheon Serim's agency must have learned about the situation through phone calls from fans.

According to the already set schedule, Cheon Serim has to go to the broadcasting station. If you do not attend the mini-fan meeting, it will only prove you are conscious of the controversy.

"We're going to go to a mini-fan meeting now!"

"Yes!"

"...Okay!"

As such, Cheon Serim seemed to be trying to keep his guard up. However, despite this, his sinking atmosphere could not be hidden.

While moving to the lobby, looking at the back of Cheon Serim's head, I thought about the name that came up in the community.

'Was it Snatches Kim Minho?'

It was written in the initial consonant, but after just one additional search, I immediately knew who the idol who created the controversy by referring to Cheon Serim was.

The 2nd year idol group Snatch from 8 Entertainment. Among them, Kim Minho, who is the leader, is the starting point of this controversy, and I already knew what kind of person he was.

-Ah, you want me to share a waiting room with people I have never heard of... It's like a real zoo in here. Are you even good enough to be here?

-If you see a senior, you should lower your head first. Don't be a prideful b¡tch.

-Why do we have to go into the cramped waiting room? Can't we just kick them out? The hallway is spacious and nice, why don't they prepare over there?

It's because before I returned, when I was a rookie idol who had just started working, I had a history of encountering them once at a local performance.

'It's common in the entertainment world to rank high, but I think they were the most persistent.'

He acted like a brat to the public, staff, and even fellow celebrities.

In the end, everyone aims at the public's attention, and since everything is influenced by the recognition gained through it, people in the same industry have no choice but to be sensitive to popularity.

As such, even if we were the same age and the same amount of practice, we couldn't help but have different attitudes towards each other depending on our popularity, and among them, we were in a lucky position that we would only get looked down upon sometimes.

However, their rank order was persistent but as well as their low quality.

It was because they were kicked out of the waiting room because they couldn't keep attacking others verbally, and because they changed the order of the stage and moved their stage earlier, which was supposed to be later, by the time we performed, Snatch fans were all hooked.

There is a reason why well-known groups are excluded from performances, but in the end, thanks to Snatch, which completely ignored commercial morality, Lightning had no choice but to go last when about two-thirds of the audience disappeared.

-Pitiful b¡tch, you gain popularity with sympathy votes, then you act all confident... Pretending to be at the top with your talent for a subject that gained popularity by sacrificing one guy.

I suddenly remembered what my former Lightning member Kwon Hyukgyu whined.

'Wait, did it begin there?'

At that time, Snatch was an idol group, and their selling point was passion, hard work, and humility which was always thrilled by the love of the fans. He won the love of the fans as he often released 'sweet and salty' anecdotes.

And it seems that Cheon Serim was probably the one who started the 'salty' image.

'By mentioning Cheon Serim, he would have started to take use the "victims image," and from there, he would have started creating a narrative of earnest.'

He must have discovered that compassion and victim cosplays are 'selling'.

If you look at the current volume of buzz, you can find the answer. Perhaps Snatch would continue to mention Cheon Serim in the future, and in the end, Cheon Serim would not be able to endure and would end up stepping out of <Design Your Idol>.

It was evident from the mini-fan meeting that his mentality started to crumble.

"Hello, idol makers! We are team 'The Key To Your Heart'!"

"Wow!"

After arriving at the Anet lobby, we were able to take our seats among the crowd of <Design Your Idol>  fans holding placards and cameras.

With flashes exploding from all directions, we exchanged greetings to the sound of enthusiastic cheering, and all we had to do was answer a few questions according to the MC's words.

"...Then, this time, I would like to ask trainee Cheon Serim, who exuded an overwhelming presence as the center of the 'Key to Your Heart' team. As the center, do you have any thoughts?"

"Ah, I..."

Cheon Serim took the microphone and tried to answer.

"Let's not run away and do our best."

"Do you wanna run away?"

A sound came from a fan in a relatively close seat, but the voices stuck in our ears clearly, even amidst the shouts.

The faces of the other team members, including me, hardened. The situation was even worse for Cheon Serim.

"..."

The guy who was so good at talking froze.

A strange silence passed momentarily, and as if the fans sensed something was wrong, a murmur began to circulate in the hall. The MC, who was sensitive to that sign, quickly tried to wrap up the situation.

"It seems trainee Cheon Serim is nervous! There must have been a lot of pressure as a center, especially since today we performed again in front of the idol makers."

"... Ah yes...sorry... Um, I just... I think I just had that mindset that I had to make the song work well. Because we were such a wonderful team... As a center, I have to do my part, with that mindset..."

Soon, Cheon Serim began to speak with an awkward smile, but his voice was somewhat hesitant and, unlike usual, was completely lifeless.

After that, fortunately, no more giggles were heard, but Cheon Serim showed a strong tendency not to hold on to his mentality properly throughout the mini-fan meeting.

"Are you okay?"

As if he couldn't hold back his worries, when he moved to the waiting room after the mini-fan meeting, Yu Chanhee questioned Cheon Serim.

"..."

Cheon Serim stopped changing clothes and nodded lightly, Yu Chanhee looked disappointed. It was clear Serim was out of it.

" If you can't stand it..."

"Yu Chanhee."

Yu Chanhee shut his mouth at his name

"It's okay. Don't be particularly nervous about trivial things."

Chanhee seemed upset for a while but eventually withdrew without a word.

No one else spoke to Serim. Only silence remained amongst the trainees as they rode the bus to the next schedule.

For a while, I had no choice but to think about the results I had achieved through this mission.

Another 'unknown' reward the system gave me.

『Achievement completed!』

You took 1st place overall and 2nd place in your team in the second competition of <Design Your Idol>, taking you one step closer to a successful debut.

Reward: Stat Selection Up Ticket (1 time), White Hacking: Truth Generator (1 time)

One thing was different from the achievement rewards I received after the first contest. And the newly obtained 'compensation' foreshadowed something unusual would happen again.

'Because the bungbung drink I got last time was also basically perfect for the situation I was in.'

Through BungBung Drink, I was able to overcome my poor physical strength and work part-time, and through it all, I was able to raise my awareness unexpectedly.

And that wasn't all.

'In a way, the improved relationship with Chanhee was also thanks to the bungbung drink.'

Due to the forced penalty, I came to reside in the practice room every day, and because of that, I no longer avoided Chanhee, and I was able to face him directly after hearing his thoughts with the insight I gained through the lucky roulette.

In the long run, there was a high probability that the truth generator obtained this time was also related to the 'destiny' set by the system, as only events that were deeply related to the system's purpose to debut me occurred.

I opened the status window, quietly checking my eyes. Then, click the question mark-shaped icon located right below the stat.

It was then.

"..!"

The bus carrying us stops.

I urgently looked around while Serim looked out the window with a dark face. The team members
quietly examined the situation without blinking an eye.

I've already been through this situation once.

When I first returned, it was the same situation as when Kim Mingi pushed me away and I used the right to confirm my fate to avoid that 'fate'.

'...That means.'

This truth generator must mean an item that can directly change fate. It has a forceful and powerful force that does not allow anyone to interfere.

"..."

Before I knew it, I looked at the system window along with the monitor that appeared in front of me.

『White Hacking: The Truth Generator (Volume 1)』

Once and for all, you can tell everyone the truth you want without limits.

Condition: When the user knows the clear truth.

'... So if I know the truth, everyone can also know the truth...'

Rumors do not matter whether they are true or false. Only advantage matters. Even if the truth spreads after the lie spreads, the image once stigmatized does not disappear.

Moreover, the truth that later spread was often treated as a hastily made-up lie to get out of the situation.

But if you use the power of the system, you won't have to worry about that situation.

Because it was the same in my case.

'Kim Mingi couldn't remember what had happened.'

That day, when Kim Mingi and I changed positions and he fell down the stairs instead of me.

When Kim Mingi, who fell and lost consciousness for a while, came to his senses, he couldn't clearly remember how he had fallen down the stairs.

-... I just remember talking to Yooha, ah...

When I went to the hospital to explain the situation to Director Kwon, Kim Mingi hesitated without explaining the situation clearly.

Exactly, Kim Mingi seemed to remember only 'trying to push me'. He didn't know how the positions swapped and seemed to know only that I had somehow escaped.

As such, if the truth generator was used, this situation would work similarly.

'The truth of the incident with Cheon Serim, and the perception of him as a 'runaway' or 'a nuisance' will disappear.'

If so, Cheon Serim would be able to avoid fate unlike before.

That's what the system wants.