Chapter 354

Eungwang Player Master High School’s Year Two Class Zero student, Jung Haeon.

Better known as “Miro’s Fansite” she didn’t really have a big motivation to study to become a player.

Jung Haeon has been interested in idols ever since she was in middle school.

As soon as she entered middle school, Jung Haeon went beyond fan signing events, public broadcasts, and pre-recordings, and led various voting and streaming parties for idols, making her name quite known in the fandom world.

Jung Haeon’s parents had a relatively open mind about what their child wanted to do, but they couldn’t wait around and witness their child’s life being all about celebrities, especially in her teenage years.

— Students are supposed to study, so you should prioritize that.

— It would be nice if you pay more attention to your future.

— You’re not going to tell us that you won’t go to high school, would you?

— Haeon, you’re a player. Why don’t you prepare to enter a school specialized for players?

Jung Haeon doesn’t really want to waste her precious time on studying, but her parents’ words made sense.

Being a fan is not free, and so she needed the support of her parents.

However, she can’t rely on her parents forever.

And so Jung Haeon thought about it.

‘I could earn money if I enter a player-specialized high school. Alright, I’ll go. I should earn money to spend for my own interests anyway.’

Jung Haeon made such promises to herself and declared to study like crazy and build up her skills as a player.

When she declared on the official fan cafe that she’d be inactive for a while to prepare for the entrance exam, her fellow fans said things like “She’ll come back soon.” or “I think she’ll be back tomorrow after changing her username.”

Despite that, Jung Haeon kept her resolve strong.

Jung Haeon kept showing up at school, gave up all fan activities, and worked hard to successfully pass Eungwang High.

She was put in Class Zero because of her unique interests and her great passion for it (which she didn’t shy away from talking about in the interview), but it’s commendable that she entered Korea’s most prestigious high school with excellent grades.

And on the joyous day when she learned that she passed the entrance screening, an incident broke out.

— A famous idol, A, has been held without detention by the police on suspicions of drunk driving. According to the police, A-ssi was caught in a drunk driving crackdown last week…

— At that time, A’s blood alcohol concentration was 0.25%, which was well over the 0.08% level where one’s license could be suspended.

Jung Haeon was shocked.

In the past, celebrities who were caught drunk driving were still able to continue their career so it was possible for idols to come back to their activities after being punished by the law.

At first, as a fan, she wanted to defend the artist, but the blood alcohol level was way too high and so the public opinion wasn’t very good.

Jung Haeon investigated the incident so she could somehow defend him, but her liking for the artist just dissipated after learning how terrible the harm of drunk driving was.

On top of that, the incident wasn’t simply a case of drunk driving.

— Another member of the group that artist A belongs to was also held without detention for violating the Road Traffic Act a few days ago and was arrested on suspicion of hit-and-run.

— At that time, it was belatedly discovered that A-ssi helped the other member cover up the hit-and-run incident. The police said they will conduct a strict investigation into all the members of the idol group.

The whole country was overwhelmed by the news.

The first group that Jung Haeon liked fell to the ground and was expelled from the entertainment industry and justice was brought to their victims.

At a time when she should be celebrating her passing the entrance exam, Jung Haeon fell to anger instead.

That anger began to subside somehow by the time the entrance ceremony came, but as it disappeared, her motivation to study came with it.

And so she stopped going to school.

That was the end of her life as a fan, and even her goal of entering Eungwang High was over.

At first, she didn’t really pay attention to her academics, but with the enthusiastic persuasion of her homeroom teacher and their class president, she finally was able to pick herself up.

‘If it weren’t for Jegal ssaem and Geumchan, I would’ve just dropped out.’

Jung Haeon lived a quite lethargic life as an Eungwang High student, but she managed to consistently study.

And then, one day, a video ignited Jung Haeon’s fan self again.

The busking video of Dokgo Miro.

From then on, Jung Haeon became Dokgo Miro’s fan, and she regained her motivation to live.

She even resumed her career as a player only for the purpose of having money to spend on fan activities, especially to afford a good camera to capture Dokgo Miro’s appearance.

While transitioning back to her fan activities, Jung Haeon suddenly became anxious.

‘…What if it happens again?’

Jung Haeon was afraid that the person she became a fan of would turn out to be a bad person.

Perhaps knowing this sentiment of hers, her classmates began to do something.

— I’ll get to know Miro more! I like Miro too, so I’ll look into her past as a fan of hers!

Geum Chansol said he would investigate Dokgo Miro’s past for Jung Haeon.

However, that investigation has rarely progressed.

— I think there are a lot of things redacted about Miro? The middle school she went to, the teachers there, and her classmates were involved in some strange incident…

That was the result of Hwangmyeong Group’s intervention, but Jung Haeon or Geum Chansol wouldn’t know that.

Whenever Geum Chansol looked at Dokgo Miro, he seemed to have a strange feeling.

— Something keeps bothering me… What is it…?

— Whenever I see this recent photo, I feel like I’ve seen her somewhere else.

It was the picture taken from when Dokgo Miro sang the national anthem in the Korean Series.

Dokgo Miro hit a foul ball that flew toward the audience seats and sent it far away.

The scene was filmed very clearly by the baseball game’s broadcasting team, and after watching it from Jung Haeon’s camera, Geum Chansol’s feelings seemed to have grown even more.

And then one day, he eventually found a person related to Dokgo Miro’s past.

— A group photo from Miro’s middle school! It was on the homepage of the middle school she went to. I think it’s from a field trip.

A young Dokgo Miro mixed with kids from her class.

The picture showed her next to a girl with short hair, and they looked very close.

Geum Chansol explained further.

— She’s our Class Zero hoobaenim, Hani! They must’ve attended the same school.

When they saw Hani in the picture with Dokgo Miro, they began to investigate the Eungwang Light Nursery and found out that Dokgo Miro frequented the nursery and played with the kids there since she was a kid.

Jung Haeon was finally relieved that Dokgo Miro wasn’t secretly a bad person and so she became even more dedicated as a fan.

Still, something still didn’t feel quite right.

‘She always seemed to know where I am when I’m taking her picture. Is it an intuition skill?’

On the day of the final round of Playlist.

Someone talked to Jung Haeon who was trying to film Dokgo Miro practicing from afar.

“You shouldn’t disturb Miro too much when she’s practicing. Let’s have you take her pictures later.”

It was another contestant, Yeo Raehun.

Jung Haeon was Dokgo Miro’s sunbae in school, so she met and was introduced to Yeo Raehun before by Dokgo Miro.

“…Is it disturbing even if I’m this far?”

“Yep.”

Yeo Raehun softly affirmed it.

With that, Jung Haeon’s suspicions arose.

‘I knew that she’s quite awkward with cameras, but this much would cause a disturbance to her? Why? If she has an intuition skill, shouldn’t she be used to it to some extent?’n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

What she learned when digging into Dokgo Miro’s past was that she had very few photos.

‘If she hated being photographed, I don’t think she would’ve wanted to be an idol though.’

Something was strange.

‘Does that person know why?’

Just in time, among the audiences today would be Dokgo Miro’s childhood friend, Hani.

Yeo Raehun, who also seemed to be paying attention to something, approached them too.

***

Yeo Raehun looked around and greeted us.

“Hi there. Oh, I didn’t see those guys at the baseball stadium last time.”

“The Class Zero sunbaenims came with us today… Wow, you remember us?”

“Yeah, I’m good with people’s names and faces.”

“I’ve seen you as the Saing of Naejang Mountain on TV before! There was a scene where you memorized the names of the gods, and you remembered the faces of people you’ve only seen once.”

Saeum of April’s testimony made the other kids cheer in awe.

Yeo Raehun really remembered all the kids he saw at the baseball stadium.

He’s been in the entertainment industry for a while now so he must’ve met so many people already.

I can’t believe he even remembered the kids he passed by for just a few seconds.

‘I knew he had a good memory, but it’s amazing seeing it in person.’

It’s only to be expected since he’s my playable character.

Yeo Raehun was introduced to the seniors in Class Zero, who were quite wary since he’s Dokgo Miro’s competition.

However, his friendly and kind appearance was very much like a playable character of mine.

‘He wasn’t introduced to Dokgo Miro’s fansite? Do they already know each other?’

As I predicted, Dokgo Miro’s fansite and Yeo Raehun seemed to know each other.

I was watching them interact to decipher what type of relationship they had when…

‘Is she looking at Hani?’

I could feel that Dokgo Miro’s fansite was particularly paying attention to Hani.

Is it because she knows that Hani is Dokgo Miro’s childhood friend?

Before my thoughts could go further, Yeo Raehun addressed Dokgo Miro’s fansite.

“It looks like Miro’s sunbaes are here to cheer her on. Are you in the same class as them, Haeon?”

At Yeo Raehun’s words, the duo suddenly looked at Jung Haeon with sharp vigilance.

“Jung Haeon-ssi, have you forgotten your duty as Miro’s fansite.”

“Why are you close to her enemy?”

“What do you mean enemy? Stop saying rude things! I’m sorry…”

“I’m not giving you the pictures I took today!”

Following Jegal’s reprimand, Jung Haeon spoke with a straight face which made the duo bow politely and apologize.

“The costume team is looking for Miro and Raehun! The outfits must be ready now!”

When Kim Yuri’s interview was over and everyone finally greeted each other, a staff’s urgent voice resonated our way.

The two left and asked us to enjoy the broadcast well.

With that, it feels like the time for the live broadcast is finally close.

Shortly after the kids who went to get some drinks returned, one of the staff talked to us.

“You’re the students from Eungwang High, right? Please come this way.”

When we entered the studio with the staff’s guidance, I saw some people in suits who entered before us.

They were wearing nametags for the audience, and I suddenly felt like a cold chill went over the room.

“The Saint of Naejang Mountain said he had peers coming to cheer on him, so I don’t think those are his friends. Maybe they came for the third candidate…”

“They’re all wearing suits. I heard that the third candidate was an office worker. He must be working at an association or a public company.”

“I don’t think most state-run companies are ordered to dress up in formal attire these days. Did they dress like that for the show?”

“Those cold-looking guys must’ve been interviewed outside.”

Since there are three candidates, it might look a little boring to film the interviews in one place.

While Kwon Lena glanced at the office workers, she suddenly muttered something with a shocked face.

“…Yeoreum unnie?”