Episode 134: The Crazy Bastard of This Area Is Me (5)
Just how much aggro does Ryu Je-hoon want to pull?
The lottery-like machine disappeared, and in its place stood a woman on a podium, dressed in a neat tuxedo.
“I am Auctioneer Kwon Se-hee, in charge of conducting today’s member recruitment. Nice to meet you all. Then, let’s begin the member recruitment.”
It was a face I’d never seen before, but that one self-introduction was enough to understand her role.
Auctioneer—in Korean, roughly “auctioneer.”
As a guest invited for today’s filming, she was the perfect choice.
‘They’re going all-in for real.’
At this point, it almost felt like they were deliberately trying to scratch at the nerves of those who would cry “human commodification” just by stubbornly refusing to use the word “auction.”
‘Well, whatever.’
Since Starlight participated and things turned out this way, it was clear that even in the previous timeline, this auctioneer had presided over the event.
If the controversy had grown big enough to damage the program, even if I hadn’t had time to pay attention to Project Trinity back then, I would have heard about it—so it must have stayed at the level of a moderate fireworks show for attention.
In that case, the only thing I need to focus on right now is the auction unfolding before my eyes.
Unfortunately, there’s no room to leave any openings for a potential fire that may or may not break out.
Operation Name: “The Crazy Bastard of This Area Is Me” — when judged purely by its ceiling, it’s one of the strategies I devised that rivals the very best.
But even I hadn’t run many simulations on this plan; I had only roughly outlined it.
The reason was simple:
‘The conditions are just that strict.’
And yet those conditions had actually come true.
My head was a mess, so I mentally shortened it to “Crazy Bastard” Operation—this insane plan’s clearest and most defining condition was that the S-Class trainees from the three major agencies would be clustered at the very beginning of the order.
‘I had assumed up to the 5th spot would be those three.’
Even that would have been an extremely slim probability when calculated.
I didn’t study math properly, but I know it would be something like that.
‘But right now…’
I subtly shifted my gaze and took in the auction order written on the monitor again.
[1. Song A-rin (Overwhelm Ent)]
[2. Sato Kanon (JWY Ent)]
[3. Moon Esther (Sunshine Ent)]
.
.
.
[17. Seol Nari (MyWay Ent)]
.
[19. Kim Soo-jin (Starlight Ent)]
Holy crap.
Just this much is already a simple probability of 1/25 × 1/24 × 1/23.
‘Who knows—probably four or five zeros after the decimal point.’
On top of that, the additional condition that Nari should preferably be toward the back, and the “would be really nice if this happened too” bonus condition that Airi’s turn should come after Nari’s.
Every single one of those conditions had been perfectly met. This was lottery first-prize-level perfection displayed right on the screen.
It felt more believable that some external intervention had occurred than that this happened naturally.
But the humorous part—if it could be called humor—was that such intervention was impossible.
The first piece of evidence: the beads of sweat trickling down the foreheads of Sunshine’s fox, Overwhelm’s raccoon, and JWY’s weasel.
In this air-conditioned set where the outside heat was kept firmly at bay, the fact that sweat was dripping meant even they were thrown off by the current situation.
The second piece of evidence: Ryu Je-hoon’s behavior up to this point.
A man who had gone so far as to hire a real auctioneer just for ratings would never rig things by shoving S-Class trainees—especially from the three majors—into the early slots. That wasn’t even worth considering.
Frankly, most viewers’ attention would be on which of those three major-agency trainees went to whom—and if they all clustered at the beginning like this, where would the ratings go?
‘That’s exactly why I never seriously considered this strategy.’
If someone were rigging it to prevent this kind of situation, maybe—but honestly, this is just too absurd to happen for real.
Still, one thing had become certain in reverse.
Project Trinity right now was healthy.
Even if manipulation controversy arose, it would never be proven true and turn into a full-blown scandal.
Well… a few years ago, an idol audition program got caught manipulating the passing members, and the PDs ended up with prison sentences. There’s no way Music On Net would pull something like that again…
“The first member, Song A-rin, will now be introduced. 17 years old, Overwhelm Entertainment, Class: S-Class, Desired Part: Sub Vocal.”
While my thoughts had wandered off track for a moment, Song A-rin’s photo appeared on the screen behind the auctioneer.
Whether because the leadoff hitter was already an S-Class trainee, or because the ones following right after were also S-Class,
A brief silence fell among us producers seated around the table.
“…Well… shall I kick things off? For our A-rin’s skill level, this much should be the starting point. 250 points.”
Overwhelm’s raccoon, M2K, raised his hand and opened the bidding.
Then,
“No way—are you seriously betting a quarter right from the start when we still have five people to pick?”
A whining voice came from Sunshine’s fox, Isabella.
And then,
“Hmm… Then I’ll go with 260 points.”
Before the auctioneer could even start the count, JWY’s weasel, Kim Gun, casually raised the bid.
Watching those three, one emotion suddenly rose up inside me.
‘How much do they look down on people?’
Pure irritation.
Just like I told Zia, this auction format isn’t original to Project Trinity.
There are already countless examples from the original internet broadcast content showing exactly how much investment you should pour into the member who becomes your sure-win plan.
‘Song A-rin at 250? 260? Are you kidding me?’
The way they’re clumsily trying to lowball the price feels downright pathetic.
Well, yeah. To these old-timers, internet broadcasting probably doesn’t feel all that significant.
They clearly didn’t even do basic prep, let alone run simulations for various scenarios.
‘Instead, they must have prepared something else.’
A strong hunch tells me that what they shared wasn’t limited to just the trainees’ parts.
I subtly glanced toward Heo Yul-bok—his eyes were twitching too. Looks like he’s feeling something similar.
“I’ll go 360 points.”
“Aigoo, you’re raising it too much. We still have other kids to pick… 370 points.”
In the meantime, the points had climbed just over 100. Was that the last shred of conscience they had left?
Obviously, even that was laughably insufficient compared to Song A-rin’s actual value.
‘Shall we get started?’
It was irritating enough to make me frown, but the reason I could still maintain a poker face so easily was simple.
If they really had colluded, my plan would only become that much more powerful.
I casually raised my hand.
“Ah, I can’t yield any more. 400 po—”
“600 points.”
I cut Isabella off mid-sentence and shot the bid straight up, shattering the tedious 10-point increments.
The sudden 1.5x jump plunged the room into silence, and I could feel every gaze snap toward me.
I deliberately asked, pretending I had no idea about their little scheme.
“Hm… Is there some problem?”
“Yujin-ssi—no, Producer Han Yujin. Isn’t 600 points a bit too high…?”
I desperately held back the urge to frown at Isabella’s voice, which was dripping with panic.
They’re going to treat me like a kid even in a situation like this?
At this point, I almost wanted to test how long they planned to keep talking down to me.
“Huh? Did I misunderstand something? Didn’t PD-nim clearly say there’s no upper limit to the points you can bid as long as you have them?”
I glanced toward the auctioneer as I spoke. She closed her eyes slightly and nodded.
“But even so, spending that many points…”
“Well… I actually thought even this amount was too low for Song A-rin.”
Isabella turned into a honey-trapped mute.
Not just that fox, but M2K and Kim Gun were probably racking their brains right now too.
They must be wondering how to handle the collusion now, and whether I’d jump in on the next two rounds as well.
There was probably no collusion like this in the original Project Trinity.
‘Back then there were only three S-Class trainees.’
If Heo Yul-bok had gone all-in like a madman, at least one of the other three would’ve had to give up an S-Class trainee. There’s no way those three had enough solidarity to go beyond or even reach May–Dongju-level unity.
But now, with MyWay and Starlight joining, there are two extra S-Class trainees.
Even if things went wrong, the insurance of still securing at least one S-Class trainee might have loosened their bonds just enough to make light collusion possible.
‘I didn’t plan for this, but…’
As a bonus, my strategy completely wrecks that fragile unity.
“Yes, Producer Han Yujin. 600 points.”
The auctioneer, who had been quietly watching the boring rally, repeated my bid. A flustered Kim Gun immediately raised his hand.
Looks like Kim Gun was the one supposed to take Song A-rin.
“6… 610 po—”
“650 points.”
Of course, I had no reason to let him off easy.
I cut him off again and raised the bid sharply—far beyond his pathetic 10-point increments.
Kim Gun looked at me in bewilderment, but I just snapped my fingers indifferently.
‘They probably have no idea.’
That I never had the slightest intention of actually taking Song A-rin.
‘Chae-kyung’s part is Sub Vocal.’
If I took Song A-rin, Chae-kyung would be out due to part duplication, and Nari would be out due to insufficient points.
The only reason I’m bidding on Song A-rin right now is to drain their points as much as possible—nothing more, nothing less.
‘Same goes for Kanon.’
I already know Airi is Rapper, and Nari is Main Dancer.
Moon Esther’s vocal isn’t Main Vocal level even as lip service, so she’ll probably be Lead Dancer. That leaves Sato Kanon as Main Vocal.
Which overlaps with So-young’s part.
‘If things go like this… Moon Esther is starting to look really tempting.’
A world where Moon Esther and Nari can coexist?
That would be pure greed.
Let’s just stick to the original goal: causing total chaos.
“660 points.”
“700 points.”
Kim Gun’s face flushed slightly as I raised the bid sharply once again.
His gaze darted back and forth between Isabella and M2K, but the two deliberately ignored him.
The already loose alliance had completely shattered.
‘Truth be told…’
Even if they had bothered to study internet broadcasts and come prepared, they still wouldn’t have been able to deal with this strategy.
This massive trolling—disrupting the entire auction—is something that simply couldn’t be used in the original competition format that this show was based on.
‘Internet broadcasts have an interval between real time and broadcast.’
Trying to read the opponent’s expression in an auction that moves in seconds, while accepting that kind of delay, would be genuine insanity.
That’s why the absolute zero-condition prerequisite for executing the “Crazy Bastard” operation was that the auction had to be conducted with everyone present together.
‘I wonder if even Ryu Je-hoon thought this far ahead.’
Well… I’m not sure.
I can’t predict what kind of face Ryu Je-hoon is making while watching this situation right now.
Still, he’s probably smiling.
And that smile is about to get a lot wider starting from this moment.
“700 points. Any more bids?”
“Ugh…”
A groan leaked from Kim Gun’s mouth.
His plan had already gone completely off the rails.
‘But from here on, I need to walk the line carefully.’
This strategy has an extremely high ceiling, but the risk is just as massive.
If I accidentally win Song A-rin, I’m done for.
“I’ll start the count.”
“710 points.”
He raised the bid right away at the mention of counting—looks like he still hasn’t given up.
He probably can’t easily abandon a plan he built with the assumption of securing Song A-rin.
“720 points.”
I immediately continued the rally.
The key to this strategy is leaving no room for them to adjust their plans.
On top of that, if they get the impression from my immediate follow-up that I’m absolutely not giving up on Song A-rin, it would be icing on the cake.
“720 points. I’ll start the count.”
“730 points…”
“740 points.”
“Producer Han Yujin at 740 points. Producer Kim Gun?”
“750.”
“760 points.”
“Yes, 760 points from Producer Han Yujin. Producer Kim Gun, will you continue?”
Kim Gun gritted his teeth, trembling.
“Then I’ll start the count. 5, 4, 3…”
“800…!”
My heart sank for a second when the auctioneer began counting at that moment, but right before the count ended, Kim Gun—who had been raising in 10-point increments until now—finally widened the gap for the first time.
‘This is it.’
His face clearly showed he had no intention of going over 800.
“Producer Han Yujin?”
I lightly raised both hands at the auctioneer’s call to signal my intent,
“Then I’ll count. 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. Yes—Producer Kim Gun has successfully recruited Trainee Song A-rin for 800 points.”
At the auctioneer’s declaration, Kim Gun made an aggrieved expression.
‘Don’t feel too wronged.’
The fox and raccoon are next in line for the same treatment.
And shortly after,
“Trainee Sato Kanon has been recruited by Producer Isabella for 850 points.”
Perhaps because of the Main Vocal position, Isabella held out a little longer against my disruption than Kim Gun did—before finally screaming and bleeding out her points in the end.
“Third in order: Moon Esther. 17 years old, Sunshine Entertainment, Class: S-Class, Desired Part: Lead Dancer.”
“790.”
“Producer M2K at 790 points. Any more? I’ll count. 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. Moon Esther will be with Producer M2K.”
Perhaps thinking I was going to dump massive points on major-agency trainees after the first two precedents, M2K voluntarily sank himself.
Among the three, M2K might actually be the winner.
‘A good start.’
The biggest objective has been achieved.
All that’s left is to accomplish the secondary goals.
The “Crazy Bastard of This Area Is Me” operation is far from over.
***************
TL Note:
Want to read ahead?
Chapters 135–164 are available on My Patreon (Premium Tier) together with 5 other novels.
Link: https://www.patreon.com/cw/Vritratls
[This series is in the “Regressed Idol” collection]
If you joined mainly for this novel, a quick message would really help me decide whether to continue translating it.
**************