Chapter 21

Chapter 21

The first donation comment was straight to the point.

# Why did you choose chicken feet, of all things? LOL

The chat buzzed in response, praising the choice of question. Moondae considered for a moment, and then decided he would just be honest. “Uh, actually, when it came time to choose a product to promote, the keyword I was given was ‘frozen food.’”

- Wow, that is really dumb

- Chicken feet sounds lovely in comparison

- Those idiot producers, what are they thinking, trying to promote frozen food on an idol show?

- They have T1 Sparkling Water and stuff like that. Why include frozen food at all? LOL

Moondae, who couldn’t see the comments, continued calmly. “The chicken feet were the tastiest out of the samples I was given. That’s why I went with chicken feet.”

- !!

- He tried all of the samples?

- He's the real deal, guys

- Okay, you gotta give him some credit for how seriously he’s taking this

“It’s an advertisement, so… I couldn’t bring myself to lie if it didn’t taste good,” Moondae answered, picking up another chicken foot. More donations exploded onto the screen.

# What are your favorite foods, other than chicken feet?

# Which contestants are you friends with?

# Why the triangle kimbap, then? LOL

“I like most kinds of food, actually. As for the contestants I’m close to… Uh, I think this might be a spoiler. I’ll have to say no comment for now.”

- He’s so meticulous, LOL

- You do actually have friends, right, Moondae? I’m your biggest fan, Moondae! *^^*

- Wait, another contestant just said you’re close with Seon Ahyeon ROFL

- Okay LOL so Moondae is friends with Ahyeon, then?

He’d avoided naming anyone since it could easily go sour for him. However, the comments found even this to be a source of entertainment. While Moondae carefully explained why he’d brought the triangle kimbap along, a series of donations burst on screen again. “The tuna and mayonnaise are really complimentary to the chicken feet sauce— Oh.”

# Moondae, please sing something for us, even if it’s just a single verse T_T

# Tell us more about yourself. All you’ve been doing is eating LOL

# Is there a secret to singing so well?

“Hmm, A song?” Moondae put down the last chicken foot, which he’d just been about to eat.

- Finally

- Is your idol persona finally back?

- What’s the point? There’s only one chicken foot left…

- Moondae’s singing rocks. I was there at the team battle T_T

- He sang well on the show, but I wonder what it’s like to hear him live?

As the comments poured in, Moondae began to sing.

I’m standing on stage, and though you don’t know it yet...

He was singing “Shining Star,” the show’s theme song. Moondae had simply chosen to sing the song that had earned him praise from one of the vocal trainers, but from the viewers’ point of view, the song choice served to establish his slowly solidifying eccentric character even more.

- Park Moondae is such a pro

- He obviously takes his singing very seriously

- LOL he’s so unpredictable, I’ve never seen anyone like him before

- This is hilarious LMAO

The comments were full of amused comments, but that wasn’t all the viewers had to say.

- He’s really good

- Why does this sound so lovely, even though I can see a chicken foot in the shot?

- This is nice, even without a backing track

- You sing so well, Moondae! Please sing something else for us T_T

Because the equipment was expensive and all seventy-seven contestants were streaming simultaneously, the audio setup that the producers chose was cheap. That didn’t matter for Moondae, though, as his voice carried clearly.

He sang without a hint of hesitation, not faltering or wavering at any point in the song. It was a lovely voice, pleasing to the ears, and every note clear and loud. The comments slowed a little as if the viewers were concentrating on listening to his voice. A few exclamations of delight were mixed in amongst the comments. Just about to begin the chorus, having finished the pre-chorus, he was suddenly interrupted.

I’m standing on stage…

The stopwatch sitting on the desk screamed loudly, signifying that he had only thirty seconds remaining. His extra five minutes were nearly up, so he immediately stopped singing.

“Oh, looks like we’re out of time,” he said. He had no intention of trying to steal more time on stream than was allotted and playing with the possibility that it might ignite some sort of controversy. The problem was that he’d stopped singing so abruptly.

- Wait, you can’t stop there

- Just before the chorus, too! LOL

- Oh god, this is driving me nuts! I should just sing the rest myself! The one to shine on stage today... I’ll be! Augh!

- Can’t you see the bigger picture, guys? He wants us to watch the second episode. Our Moondae takes this show very seriously

- He could have sung one more verse if he’d eaten one less chicken foot, I’ll bet

- He could fit in one more line right now T_T Oh, Moondae!

A delayed donation appeared on the screen.

# Love your voice!

The message was gentle, in contrast to the fired-up comment section, which only worked the chat up more.

“Thank you. I’ll do my best. Uh, as for the remaining donation questions…” Moondae quickly glanced at the unanswered questions asking him to introduce himself and talk about the secret to his singing ability. It’s a good thing I ran out of time, he thought to himself.

In truth, he’d been putting off answering those questions on purpose, since he didn’t want to answer them. In the case of giving a self-introduction, he didn’t really have anything to say since he was currently occupying someone else’s body.

He hadn’t been able to figure out much about Park Moondae’s background. And what little he’d been able to figure out was rather grim. As for the secret to his singing abilities, that was an even more difficult question to answer. What could I possibly say, that I have the help of a stat window? Everyone will think I’ve lost my marbles.

Taking stock of the situation, Moondae opened his mouth to speak, “Let me tell you a little about myself, then.”

The screen suddenly went black.

[The stream has ended.]

His allotted streaming time had run out.

- ??

- What the?

- Looks like it’s over

- The production team shut down all the streams

The viewers were confused at first, but then the chat exploded with laughter as they realized what had just happened.

- ROFL

- So in the end we didn’t get to hear him say anything about himself at all…

- I feel like I just watched a really long ad

- That was good fun, though

- Park Moondae is hilarious. I didn’t expect him to be so funny

A lot of the viewers left a few parting words in the live comment section before exiting the chat. Quite a few of them, however, continued to chat—those that had developed a fondness for Moondae. They compared the guy they’d seen in the first episode and what he’d been like during the stream, excitedly chattering away.

- You know, Moondae is just so darn cute… He looks really apathetic, but he’s a good eater and sings like an angel T_T He’s not the sneaky type, either, which just adds to his charm

- He’s handsome in a really on-trend kind of way, which is just the cherry on top. He’ll be seriously handsome once he starts putting some more effort into his looks

- Right. Time to make a fan account

- Where can I vote for him?

- Go to the stock purchasing page on the Idol Incorporated website. You get one vote per day, but you get extra votes if you purchase a collab bundle

- Ha! Those greedy bastards

- I’m voting for him since he’s so cute

The comments descended into scathing criticism of the money-hungry voting system for a while but soon returned to gushing about Park Moondae’s live stream.

- He looked like he was really enjoying those chicken feet, though T_T I ended up buying some through the link

- I just ordered some too. Thanks, Moondae. Chicken feet at this time of night? I’m not losing weight anytime soon.

Then an unexpected comment appeared.

- Why do I get the feeling I’ve seen someone eat like Moondae before?

- Really?

- Was he in some ad as a kid? (PLEASE LET THAT BE TRUE)

- LOL I thought Moondae was a streaming amateur

- Found it. Here. Looks just like him (link)

The link led to a chicken feet mukbang video. Just like in the earlier stream, someone was chomping away at some chicken feet, but the someone doing the eating wasn’t, in fact, a person.

[Countryside pup chicken feet mukbang!]

A large mixed-breed dog was eating raw chicken feet in the video. The name of the channel was “Foodie Adventures of a Countryside Mutt.” The dog, with its perky ears and black fur, looked a little sullen thanks to the way its fur fell into its eyes. However, the pup wagged its tail eagerly as it ate the chicken feet offered one by one. It strongly reminded viewers of Moondae’s apathetic but eager mukbang.

- Oh my gosh

Park Moondae’s first nickname was born at that moment.

***

❇ ❇ ❇ ❇ ❇

Take a look, they’re completely identical LOL. Park Moondae is Moon Puppy from now on, and I won’t be hearing any objections at this time.

(Screenshot of puppy mukbang) (Screenshot of Park Moondae’s live stream)

❇ ❇ ❇ ❇ ❇

The social media post, which had been shared over four thousand times, showed me shoving a boneless chicken foot in my mouth next to a photo of a large dog caught in basically the same pose. I felt a little upset. I’d definitely succeeded in making myself more approachable, counteracting any negative opinions about my personality, but this…

“Moon Puppy?”

Who would have guessed I’d end up with such an embarrassing nickname at 29 years of age? I’d been told I was a good eater a couple of times in the past. Probably because I’m not picky with food and eat everything I’m given… But that was only because I’d been in no position to be picky after my parents had passed away. I hadn’t expected people to react with such fervor just because I’d eaten some chicken feet.

“I’m in fourth place?”

Videos of the streams were uploaded not long after they ended and my video was currently nearly at the top in views. And the count was still rising. It looked like there was a very real chance I would overtake the child actor Lee Sejin, who was currently in third place.

I decided to just accept things as they were unfolding. Embarrassing though it might be, this is a good thing. Beggars couldn’t be choosers. I had to save myself from dying a premature death and I was more intrigued than I was embarrassed—in addition to feeling quite grateful.

This means I’m a little less likely to end up dead, I guess. Sending a mental thank you to whoever uploaded the post comparing my eating to a puppy’s and everyone who had shared it, I moved on to the next thing that needed my attention.

My pressing problem now was this: how would the editors choose to portray me in the second episode? I was especially worried about it since I’d been given platinum in the grade evaluation. If the editing is even slightly off, people might say that someone else deserved to be platinum more than me. Feeling tense, I watched the show on my phone. At least we didn’t have to record any inane reaction shots while watching the second episode. It meant I could drink a can of beer while I watched.

[※Relisted! Idol Incorporated!※]

I took a long gulp as I listened to Youngrin’s voiceover during the show’s opening. I focused my attention on the screen. By the time the second episode was nearly over, there were two empty beer cans discarded next to me.

As I knocked back the last sip of beer, I thought, That wasn’t bad. The production team had been meticulous when editing together my grade evaluation. I was shown to be perfectly capable of pulling off the choreography and my singing was pitch-perfect—they even reinforced this using soundbites from the judges.

They didn’t even make a huge spectacle of it when I received my platinum grade, leaving the audience to believe that it was only natural I was placed in that grade. They had completely ignored the possible controversy they could have chosen to stir over the matter.

“What are they thinking?”

Since I’d been drinking, I felt myself becoming more and more suspicious of their intentions. I mulled over the way the production team was directing the edit. Is there anything in particular that’s bothering me? Yes, there is.

They had completely skipped any footage showing that I had practiced nonstop for an entire week without sleep. That wouldn’t have been so surprising, since there were seventy-seven contestants and an episode could only go on for so long, but it was odd that they’d included a scene where I could be heard asking Seon Ahyeon about the choreography. It was also concerning that they’d made it seem like I could just absorb any choreography on the spot.

Come to think of it, they inserted a confessional that made it look like I was pretty unmoved by my grade. A picture of what they were trying to do formed in my mind. The production team was reinforcing the persona that had formed in the first episode—that of a talented, eccentric, and tactless amateur.

Luckily, I had already earned a reputation as the “chicken foot puppy” identity on the internet, thanks to the live stream. I have a feeling the Internet won’t have a problem with this episode.

I rushed to check social media and confirm for myself. As expected, the posts getting the most attention were those that treated episode 2’s Park Moondae as an intelligent puppy. I was relieved but knew I couldn’t let my guard down just yet. There would be no winning against a malicious edit.

I wonder if I should go all in with this puppy concept? As I contemplated this my phone vibrated. It was a text from Big Sejin. I sensed he had some sort of ulterior motive since he’d sent the message via text rather than through the messaging app we usually used.

[Lee Sejin (Big): Moondae, we’re going to watch episode 3 together as a team when it airs. You in?]

Is that really necessary? I began to type out a reply straight away. Sorry, but I’ll probably be busy… I was trying to think of an excuse when another text arrived.

[Lee Sejin Big): Don’t tell me you’re thinking of skipping out on us, Moondae? T_T Lee Sejin said he would come, too!]

So everyone has already agreed to it? I knew he was the type who wouldn’t hesitate to tell the production team that we’d watched the episode together and even provide them with photo evidence. What with the suspicious direction the edit was going in already, I had no idea what might happen if I decided to pass.

I reluctantly deleted my reply and rewrote it.

[Me: Uh, okay. I’ll be there.]

His reply came instantly.

[Lee Sejin (Big): Haha I knew you’d want to come, too! See you then!]

For some strange reason, I almost felt like I’d lost a game I didn’t know I was playing.