Chapter 149
Ryu Bo-ra’s Dating Rumor? Let’s Clear Things Up Completely_★Star Patch★
Midnight on a weekend.
The time when everyone becomes the hungriest hyena.
An article popped up.
It was from Star Patch, a media outlet that gets the most hate but also the most attention.
OMG, Star Patch just dropped a dating rumor about Ryu Bo-ra.
LOL, I have to check this out.
It’s an article from a media source everyone despises yet finds most intriguing.
They decided to cover the hottest topic these days: Ryu Bo-ra’s dating rumor.
As soon as the article was published, it boasted an incredible number of views.
Everyone.
Do you know the new entertainment company, ‘Wow Hot’ Entertainment?
This company only has one male idol group called ‘TerraByte.’ At first glance, it might seem new, but in fact?
It’s not new; it’s an old company that just changed its name.
So, what was the original name of this company?
That’s right.
‘Midbless.’
Does the name sound familiar? Have you heard it somewhere before?
Yes, you all have heard this name before.
Where?
On the 9 o’clock news!
Basic corruption through reverse viral marketing.
Assault, embezzlement, fraud, bribery—‘Wow Hot’ Entertainment has it all.
From now on, Star Patch will reveal everything about this suspicious entertainment company.
First,
The ‘Steel Blue’ Ryu Bo-ra dating rumor you are all so curious about.
Or perhaps.
A national fraud.
Shall we start with that?
(1) Dating rumor? Or reverse viral marketing? Or is it just a publicity stunt?
*
Wow, this is insane.
It was just a national fraud. LOL
Ryu Bo-ra must have been so unfairly treated.
What the heck is Midbless anyway..? They’re seriously evil.
They frame a successful girl group member with a dating rumor to gain attention and ruin Ryu Bo-ra’s career. If that’s not evil, what is..?
No wonder the evidence was so flimsy… It kept coming up, but…
Not just the fake dating rumor, but what about the assault?
Public opinion shifted in an instant.
If they had simply denied the dating rumor, people wouldn’t have paid any attention.
They would have said Colors used their power to cover it up with money.
So, we didn’t focus on the dating rumor.
We focused on the perpetrator, ‘Midbless.’
If their hobby was to muddle the issue and roll in the mud, we’d muddle the issue just the same.
Uncovering Midbless’s corruption wasn’t difficult.
It was already a famous entertainment company, and all these corruptions had been exposed in my past life too.
Of course, I received ‘a bit’ of help with the detailed information and evidence.
[“<Detective Mode> purchase complete!”]
[Current Points: 900 Points]
[Using <Detective Mode> on ‘ Midbless (Entertainment)’!]
It was a 900-point item.
I managed to buy it by pouring in all the points I had diligently collected.
But it was totally worth it.
Thanks to it, I knew where to find Midbless’s corruption.
The <Detective Mode> item provided me with a list of former employees who had been pushed out due to power struggles and companies that had temporarily cleaned up their mess.
The issue was how I would use that list.
I couldn’t personally sell their corruptions.
No matter how long I had survived in the entertainment industry, I was still fundamentally an idol.
…I didn’t know how to investigate others.
But I did know who was good at that.
“Are you saying we should cooperate with Star Patch?”
CEO Hong looked genuinely surprised at my words.
“You do know that the editor there is related to Kim Mokyung, right?”
“Precisely because of that, it might actually make things easier.”
Currently, Kim Mokyung was on trial for all the crimes he had committed.
We hadn’t known, but apparently, what he did to us wasn’t the full extent.
He had even incited violence against those who worked with him.
Probably things got that bad because they couldn’t agree on costs while plotting together.
I wasn’t interested in what the villains did to each other.
“Star Patch is desperately trying to dissociate itself from Kim Mokyung. Have you seen the articles they’ve been publishing lately?”
“…I haven’t.”
As CEO Hong squinted her eyes, her secretary handed over a prepared list of articles to her.
I printed those out myself.
“As you can see, all the articles criticize Kim Mokyung. The editor has stepped back from hands-on duties. Of course, we can’t say he’s completely out… but it’s clearly a case of cutting off the tail.”
“So, to renew their image, they’ll grant our request?”
“That, and… our request will actually be a welcome opportunity for them. Because.”
I handed over the list provided by the <Detective Mode> item to CEO Hong.
“This article will surely become a massive sensation.”
This was the kind of source Star Patch was desperately craving right now.
After checking the list and listening to my explanation, CEO Hong looked at me with a peculiar expression.
“Where do you keep getting these things?”
“…A journalist I know provided it. You know sources are supposed to remain confidential, right?”
“Wow… should I say you have some incredible connections….”
CEO Hong looked at me with a doubtful gaze.
“Perhaps you have a journalist relative you’re not telling us about?”
“No comment.”
I’d appreciate it if she kept misunderstanding it that way.
I pretended not to know and just looked at the documents.
“So, what do you think?”
“Since we’re uncovering corruption in society, it will help renew our image. And revealing something difficult to uncover will prove our capability.”
“In fact, we’d be doing them a favor.”
CEO Hong nodded.
“You’re right. There’s no need to send it under our name. Just submitting it anonymously will make them jump at it.”
“I agree, it’s better to submit it anonymously.”
“Great. This will be resolved faster than I expected.”
There’s no need to get deeply involved with them.
I do need a knife to stab Midbless, but that doesn’t mean I have to hold it myself.
*
Just like that.
The dating rumor, which I thought would heat up, quickly died down.
The members of TerraByte released statements explaining they had posted on social media following their agency’s orders, but had no idea it would be used as evidence for a dating rumor.
It didn’t stop there.
Revelations continued to emerge, detailing assaults during their debut process, unfair contract clauses, and more.
While not explicitly mentioned, the end of their statements hinted at contract termination.
I’m skeptical that Midbless would easily comply with the members’ wishes.
Even Dahin couldn’t terminate her contract and was only released after fulfilling the entire contract period.
I hope TerraByte, who are more like victims, will find a way out.
Well, that’s their situation.
We also need to properly wrap things up on our end.
I wasn’t planning to end it here.
Since it involved our members, I wanted to cut it off completely at the root.
“Then, shall we move on to the next thing?”
Ding!
Real-time updates on the Steel Blue Diary
January and February Diaries are also coming up, LOL.
Days uploaded so far:
1.01: Seo Baek-young made rice cake soup; Ryu Bo-ra burned the egg garnish, so Yoon Cheong made it again.
1.13: Members spontaneously decided to see the sea at dawn (Yoon Cheong drove).
But Yoon Cheong has poor night vision, so they barely made it to the closest West Sea beach.
Yeon Juhong: “Isn’t this mudflat, not the sea?!”
Ryu Bo-ra: (Looking around, wanting to do fireworks)
Kim Geum: “I can’t see the water.”
Seo Baek-young: (Laughing, just seems happy)
Yoon Cheong: “Just enjoy it, you unlicensed brats.”
Wow, that egg dish was for the rice cake soup the members made.
Yeah, the outfits are the same too.
Seriously, the West Sea, LOL. Did they go there together?ㅠㅠ
└ Those jerks who turned our babies’ bonding time into a dating rumor will face divine punishment.
I had told the members before.
To capture everything in photos and videos.
Of course, it was to boost our SNS uploads and enrich the content for this album….
I didn’t know it would be used as evidence like this.
If we had evidence in our hands, why not use it?
Give the fans some juicy tidbits.
Use it well as evidence.
Two birds with one stone.
It was seriously infuriating, but the kids were so cute.
Phew…
I was so relieved we had everything recorded on videoㅠㅠ
Anyway, Steel Blue had great foresight.
They kept everything on video, LOL.
(Additional) The Steel Blue Diary keeps getting updated.
1.22: The day Yeon Coral went for a photoshoot, the members packed lunch (crab mayo sandwiches).
But Kim Geum put wasabi in one sandwich, and Yeon Juhong got upset.
2.02: The day they all volunteered to build houses for national veterans.
2.14: The members decided to make chocolates for each other, and all the chocolates were different.
Seo Baek-young: Strawberry bark chocolate
Yoon Cheong: Marshmallow cocoa bombs
Kim Geum: Mint chocolate
Ryu Bo-ra: Matcha ganache chocolate (that wanted to be)
Yeon Juhong: Almond chocolate bar (that wanted to be a chunk)
The content is overflowing.
Honestly, they’re so busy having fun with each other, how could they possibly date?
For real, LOL. They’re too busy building friendships~!~!~!~!
It only makes sense if the dating rumors were among the members, LOL.
They said they’ll keep posting even after the album release.
└ Really?
└└ Yeah, the members said they want to keep posting.
But there’s something important.
If we’ve cut off the root of the dating rumor, dug up the ground, and burned the seed.
We need to erase the fact that the dating rumor ever existed.
Now, the focus should be.
On the next album, [Paper Doll].
“Let’s use their reverse viral marketing against them.”
At my words, the members all smiled slyly.
“You mean, let’s release everything while the attention is on us?”
Kim Geum understood well.
“Yeah. Let’s turn that attention into love.”
It was time to show what the ‘real’ Steel Blue was like, not the ‘fake’ Steel Blue created with malice.