Suddenly, I Became Crazy Handsome, and the World Became Easy
Chapter 75: Review (3)

So good-looking it’ll knock you flat? The veteran singer Park Hyun-jung narrowed her brows and snorted through her nose.

“Tone it down, oppa. You know you're exaggerating."

“Exaggerating? Let’s see, whether I'm Exaggerating it or whether you'll fall flat on your back."

Song Min-geun was confident. Because the lyricist was that ‘No. 1’. No, it was Kang Rojun. On the other hand, Park Hyun-jung was certain Song Min-geun’s condition had flared up again. Exaggerating was his signature trait. Besides, Park Hyun-jung had been in the business for over 20 years and had long held her place as a top singer. To put it bluntly, how many super handsome men had she seen over the years?

It was clear that very few could surpass her standards. Especially if he wasn’t even a celebrity.

‘Well, he must be decent-looking for a lyricist, if oppa is acting like this.’

Satisfied, Park Hyun-jung brushed back her permed hair and shrugged her shoulders.

“Okay okay, got it- I’m looking forward to it. Anyway, I really like both the lyrics and the composition this time.”

“Of course you do. I made the song.”

“Sure.”

The track played again.

-♬♪

After listening for a moment, as soon as the melody ended, Park Hyun-jung walked into the recording booth where the microphone was set up. As she put on her headphones, Song Min-geun spoke to her from outside the booth.

“Let’s just feel out the tone for now. Try singing the first line.”

“Okay. Got it.”

Then, only the melody played through Park Hyun-jung’s headphones. Immersed in the intro, she parted her lips to the microphone.

[The moment you turned around]

[The world I saw turned to black and white]

A voice full of emotional appeal. The lyrics written by Rojun flowed from Park Hyun-jung’s mouth. After listening for a brief moment, Song Min-geun, who had grown quite serious, stopped the track and gave directions.

“That was good, but it needs to be rougher. More husky.”

The recording continued. After about an hour of repeated directing and recording, Park Hyun-jung came out of the booth for a short break.

"Ah, I guess I'll need to work on it for a few more days. The emotion is there, but I can't control the tone as I want."

"You did well. Why, aren't you Park Hyun-jung? If you work at it today and tomorrow, you'll catch it quickly."

“Yeah.”

“Anyway, we’ve got a title for the song. ‘Black and White Sound’.”

“‘Black and White Sound’- I like it. This whole track is totally my style. Especially the lyrics. They’re just... brilliant?”

“That’s why I used his lyrics even though he’s a unknown.”

“......Huh? A unknown?”

Song Min-geun chuckled and nodded.

“With that level of quality, how could I not use them?”

“Wow- Song Min-geun used lyrics by an unknown lyricist?? That’s insane.”

Then, recalling the lyrics of what would become her song, 'Black and White Sound', Park Hyun-jung added,

“I was sure it was written by a professional. Can’t believe he’s unknown. That’s actually shocking.”

Meanwhile.

Having left the set of 'Rental Lover', Kang Rojun was in a van heading back to the campus. He was checking the 'AI Simulation' app. Including the reward he got when filming for 'Rental Lover' wrapped up.

-[You have completed the Hidden Mission ‘Wrap-up of the Side Job Actor’s First Shoot!’ You have received 15 Coins as a reward.]

After finishing the coin calculation, he spent 20 coins on Stats enhancement. Then Rojun opened a search engine. The buzz around 'Produce That 100!' was still going strong. The snowball effect after the 4th round audience screening was massive, and today was episode 10’s broadcast, the moment to confirm all the spoilers.

《[Issue Pick] Countless spoilers and hints, to be confirmed in today’s episode 10 of ‘Produce That 100!’》

With articles continuing to pour out, the fire that had moved to the surface was causing a stir across platforms like YouTube. Above all, No. 1 was hot. Keywords related to lyrics and rap were trending, and topics about 'Rental Lover' and people in the entertainment industry were getting a lot of mention too.

At that moment.

-Bzzzz, Bzzzzz.

A long vibration came from Rojun’s phone. It was a call. The caller was PD Woo Han-suk. Without much thought, Kang Rojun brought the phone to his ear.

“Yes, PD-nim.”

Through the phone, PD Woo Han-suk’s voice came, full of drowsiness.

“Oh- No. 1. The guide recording date for ‘Survival 100’ has been set. Song Min-geun gave feedback sooner than expected.”

“Yes. When is it?”

“It’s this Sunday, two days from now. That okay? He said even right now would be fine.”

“That works for me.”

“Okay, I’ll lock in Sunday. You’re heading back to campus now?”

“Yes, I’ll be there in about 20 minutes.”

“Alright. Enjoy watching episode 10 today.”

With that, the call ended. Kang Rojun arrived at the 'Produce That 100!' campus around late afternoon. In Room 105, he met No. 58, who shared an interesting piece of news.

“In a bit, at 9, all the contestants are gathering in the hall to watch episode 10. Like, really? Watching it? With chicken and beer.”

Chicken and beer? Kang Rojun was instantly salivating.

“I like fried chicken.”

A few hours later.

It was 8:30 p.m. All 24 contestants of 'Produce That 100!' including Kang Rojun gathered in the hall where the stage was set. They sat where the audience had been during the 4th evaluation. The 'Produce That 100!' broadcast would be shown on the large monitor installed on stage.

A few staff members who had been preparing the chicken-and-beer party called out to the contestants.

“Sit wherever you’d like! There’s no filming, so eat comfortably!!”

A chicken-and-beer party without cameras? Faces of the contestants immediately lit up. At the same time, nerves kicked in. In just 30 minutes, their 4th evaluation would be revealed to the world. Thousands had already seen it as audience members, but having it broadcast nationwide was an entirely different story. That would directly lead to votes that determined survival. They wanted to enjoy it, but it was hard to relax.

Still, the contestants.

“Woohoo- how long’s it been since I had chicken and beer?”

“Isn’t this everyone’s first time since we entered the campus?”

“I literally dreamed about eating chicken!”

“Me too, me too.”

“Phew, dear Chicken God. That smell is insane.”

They tried to enjoy the moment as much as they could. Staff members started setting up the chicken and beer with small foldable tables. Rojun quickly scanned the chicken options.

‘So it’s fried and spicy. No half-and-half. Where’s the fried?’

Soon, he sat near the fried chicken. No. 58 and No. 37 sat to his left and right. Additionally.

“I’m on Team Fried too.”

Muttering lifelessly, No. 26 joined them, along with Puppy-Faced No. 71, who was in the same group as No. 58. The five of them toasted with canned beers even before the episode started. Then they tore into the chicken like starving beasts.

No. 58 was genuinely amazed.

“......Super delicious.”

No. 26 agreed bluntly.

"Why is it melting in my mouth?"

All 24 contestants ignored their image and devoured the food without hesitation. Around then.

“‘Produce That 100!’ is starting!”

A staff member shouted, and the large monitor on stage lit up. It was already 9 p.m. The familiar 'Produce That 100!' title appeared on screen.

-'Produce That 100!'

Episode 10 began.

A dozen or so staff members in the back watched audience reactions in real time on laptops.

“Wow- the number of people in the open chat today is insane.”

Not that Rojun or the other contestants paid attention. With chicken in their mouths, they fixed their eyes on the monitor. The first scene of episode 10 began with the final line from episode 9, a line from PD Woo Han-suk.

-[“For the fourth evaluation, the 2-on-2 team battle task is ‘Rap’.”]

Next came the faces of the anxious contestants. Some of them, mid-sip of beer, spat it out.

“Ugh- what’s with that dumb face, seriously.”

More lines from PD Woo Han-suk on screen.

-[“Now we’ll be forming teams for the 2-on-2 team battle.”]

Teams were formed. Group 1, Group 2, and then Teams A through F were finalized.

-No. 1 and No. 26 are a team?? Surprisingly good combo

-From the spoilers I saw, everyone apparently crushed the rap performance

-Info: No. 1 and No. 58 went head-to-head

-Ahh!!! I didn’t know that!! No spoilers, please!!

-That’s seriously so annoying

Viewers in the real-time open chat were going wild. Some seemed to already know what was coming, while others reacted like they were seeing it for the first time. Around this point, teams that would be competing against each other, including Kang Rojun and No. 58, appeared on screen. Brief interview cuts of the contestants played.

Then the screen switched to show No. 26, expressionless, Rojun’s teammate.

-[“Group 2, Team A will skip rap training.”]

PD Woo Han-suk’s face looked dumbfounded.

-ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ No. 26 caught the villain bug from No. 1, right?

-No, that'sㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋso funny

-No. 26… run!! Don’t turn into a villain!!

No. 26, mid-sip of his beer, looked at Rojun and muttered flatly.

“That line was good. Right?”

“Well, kinda.”

As Rojun shrugged, the large monitor showed contestants gathered in the hall for a meeting. Then the scene suddenly shifted. A group of people was shown gathered in a meeting room, with PD Woo Han-suk standing at the head.

-[“Thank you for coming. I’ll start by checking in with the companies who arrived.”]

The entertainment company reps during the meeting appeared. Since it was the first time contestants had seen this scene, their attention heightened significantly.

What flipped the room upside down was a powerful line from PD Woo Han-suk.

-[“The companies here are not the ones choosing. You must be chosen by the ‘Produce That 100!’ contestants.”]

The contestants’ eyes widened. So did Rojun’s, and the viewers' reactions were similar.

-Whaaaatttt I totally thought the contestants were going to be the ones getting chosen!!

-This is insane ㅋㅋㅋㅋ why do the company reps expressions look like that ㅋㅋㅋㅋ

-So wait? The winning contestant gets to choose which company to sign with later??

-But since 'Produce That 100!' is insanely popular right now, the companies are probably scrambling to get in

Scenes with the entertainment companies continued for a few more minutes before suddenly transitioning to articles about 'Rental Lover'. The articles mentioned how they’d be appearing at the 4th evaluation site. Then a few spoiler-filled headlines showed up, followed by footage of the 24 contestants practicing like crazy. As the tension rose, viewer chat comments sped up wildly. The screen soon showed the main stage used during the 4th evaluation, including the protruding stage segment.

The stage introduction lasted about dozens of seconds.

Soon, the monitor showed the early morning of the 4th evaluation day. Hundreds of people were already gathering from an extremely early hour.

-Whoa… so many people

-ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ I was actually in that crowd ㅋㅋㅋㅋ

-I went but got turned away at the entrance…ㅠㅜㅠ

The chaos of the audience admission process was shown.

Intense sound effects played as the scene transitioned to the audience area, the standing zone, and thousands of seats completely packed. Then, close-ups of Choi Rina, PD Jung Soo-ryeong, and other 'Rental Lover' team members and entertainment reps appeared. Finally, the screen panned to the 24 contestants gathered in the waiting room, starting with Kang Rojun.

At that moment, the entire hall went dark, and Jang Dae-han’s voice boomed.

-[“‘Produce That 100!’- we will now begin the 4th evaluation!”]

Thousands of audience members went wild. Then came the introduction of the first team for the 4th evaluation, Group 1, Team A: No. 58 and No. 71.

-[“Group 1 Team A will be performing an original rap! The title is ‘Witch’!!”]

Soon, information about the rap piece 'Witch' filled the screen.

[Title: Witch (Original Rap)]

[Composed by: No. 58 / Lyrics by: No. 1]

The moment when the existence of 'Lyrics by: No. 1' was revealed nationwide.

-Wow… so it was true???

-So he writes lyrics too??

-No. 1 seriously can do everything, how does someone like that even exist

-He’s still got that writer buff on him!!!

-But No. 1 writing lyrics for No. 58? That’s badass ㅋㅋㅋㅋ feels like he’s saying, “Even if it’s for a rival, it’s no big deal”

Hundreds of thousands of viewers went wild.

Around the same time, at the JTVM Variety Department.

It was nighttime, but the lights were on brightly at the variety department, and in one meeting room were some familiar faces. Dark-circled PD Woo Han-suk and Kim Se-hee, along with a mix of writers. All of them were half-spaced out, watching episode 10 of 'Produce That 100!' on the TV mounted on the wall.

“......”

“......”

Aside from the sound of the TV, it was quiet. PD Woo Han-suk and the writers had pulled countless all-nighters just to make that episode 10. At that moment, writer Kim Se-hee, who was yawning, spoke while keeping her eyes on the TV.

"Viewership rating... we can achieve 30%, right?"

The other writers responded.

“It’ll be tough, but we’ve done everything we could.”

“Yeah. Now we just leave it to fate. Ah, that’s such a cliche line. My brain’s not working.”

“The fact that we’re even alive right now is a miracle.”

“Let’s pour that miracle into the ratings instead of ourselves.”

“Agreed.”

Everyone was half-dead, and PD Woo Han-suk, who was in a similar state, let out a long sigh and chimed in.

“You know... I’ve been thinking. What if we shake things up a bit?”

The writers, confused, exchanged puzzled looks.

“Sorry? Shake things up how?”

“Like bring in a change. One of the big elements we set aside during the early planning stages of ‘Produce That 100!’”

“......What kind of element??”

At that moment, on the TV screen, the 24 contestants were being shown, three or four at a time, just before the 4th evaluation. Of course, No. 1 was included. Watching them, PD Woo Han-suk answered.

“I’m thinking... what if we reveal their names now?”