Every corner of the internet that was connected to a signal was crazily mentioning 'No. 1' or Kang Rojun. It was possible because he had already become the flagship star of 'Produce That 100!' After spending several dozen minutes searching busily, Rojun even got goosebumps.
‘This is kind of scary.’
Deciding that he should first meet PD Woo Han-suk, Rojun turned off what he was reading and opened the ‘AI Simulation’ app. His familiar Kang Rojun character appeared. Something about it calmed him down.
To pass the time, he decided to enhance his stats.
‘Now that I think about it, I had an item too, didn’t I?’
It was the item he had received during the surprise performance. With everything going on, he had temporarily forgotten about it.
-“Stat +8 Enhancement Coupon”
Using the coupon still left in his inventory, Kang Rojun enhanced his Singing Ability. Additionally, he spent 20 coins on enhancing his Rap. A brief tingling sensation radiated from his wrist. As a result, quite a bit of stat increase appeared before him.
Some of the stats clearly stood out.
‘Singing and Dance have surpassed 20 now. I should shift enhancement to Rap. I’ll have to test all three soon. Acting went up quite a bit too, and I didn’t even touch it. Maybe because I was filming?’
‘Lyrics Writing’ had climbed to nearly 70 points.
At that point, Kang Rojun organized two thoughts in his mind.
‘I should definitely keep writing lyrics whenever I have time. If possible, work on helping No. 58, and if that’s tough, I can just search the internet for inspiration or something.’
Next was about Writer Kang Chul-soo.
‘Let’s write something new. Whether it’s a film or a drama.’
About an hour later, at the 'Produce That 100!' campus.
When Kang Rojun arrived at the campus, PD Woo Han-suk wasn’t there. It seemed he had gone to the broadcasting station. Understandably so. Regardless of Rojun turning the country upside down, 'Produce That 100!' was in the middle of its voting period. On top of that, the upcoming shooting schedules for Teams 2 and 3 had to be prepared.
In any case, Kang Rojun walked toward Room 105.
As expected, he could feel the gazes of the participants he passed by.
Sneaky glances, sideways looks.
Their faces screamed curiosity, but they couldn’t bring themselves to speak. The peers in Room 105 were the same. Since Rojun didn’t particularly mind, he simply ignored it all, and that noisy Sunday came to a close.
Back again was the weekday, Monday morning, August 31, the last day of the month.
Had the buzz surrounding Kang Rojun died down after just one day?
If anything, it burned twice as hot as Sunday. Journalists were throwing logs onto the fire like maniacs, and it was clear the public’s fingers weren’t resting either. Even so, whether because he had somewhat adapted or was just forcing himself to ignore it, Kang Rojun was.
Out running with a calm expression. Today, other than his Room 105 peers, no one followed him. After that, Rojun even completed strength training and fulfilled his Daily Mission. From a distance, one man was watching Kang Rojun alone.
It was PD Woo Han-suk, letting out a huge yawn.
He looked like someone who had pulled an all-nighter and come straight over.
Soon, PD Woo Han-suk made eye contact with Rojun, who had just finished his mission, and waved his hands enthusiastically.
“The hottest man in Korea right now, No. 1-nim! Strong morning, huh?”
Kang Rojun, approaching, gave a respectful bow.
"Phew- it's crazy with all these articles, isn't it?"
Your face looks crazy, PD-nim? When Kang Rojun looked at PD Woo Han-suk, who was drenched in exhaustion, the latter yawned again and lowered his voice.
"According to PD Jung's and my plan, we've dropped the first bomb. Now, we need to decide the timing for your official statement. When do you think would be good?”
“I’m fine with making the announcement right now.”
“No, no, that’s too soon. We need to let the snowball roll for at least a few days. You’re going to acknowledge that you’re the writer of ‘Rental Lover', right?”
“Then let’s see. Just tossing out a bland one-liner in an article would be half-hearted. The buzz could die down uneventfully. We need to do it in a more entertaining way-”
With his arms crossed, PD Woo Han-suk looked thoughtful. Kang Rojun spoke up.
‘Might as well talk about the idea I had.’
He proposed something he had already thought about.
“What if I make the announcement that I’m the writer of ‘Rental Lover’ during the next broadcast, episode 8, of ‘Produce That 100!’?”
A smile spread across PD Woo Han-suk’s face as he rubbed his chin.
“No. 1 making a No. 1-worthy official statement through ‘Produce That 100!’ If we do it interview-style, it’ll shock the viewers and make for a great scene, I think.”
Calling it a good idea, PD Woo Han-suk patted Rojun on the shoulder.
“Okay, let’s go with that plan. I’ve got some other things to discuss too, so should we move somewhere else?”
Just as he was about to move, PD Woo Han-suk called out to someone from quite a distance away, No. 58, who was catching his breath after a run and recovering from the exertion.
“No. 58! Can we talk for a sec!!”
No. 58 blinked a few times and then ran over, and Rojun tilted his head inwardly.
‘Huh? Why’s he calling No. 58?’
The three of them arrived at a meeting room inside the production staff’s lodging.
“Why are you so late-”
There was already a chubby man inside the meeting room. It was Song Min-geun, one of the judges of 'Produce That 100!' and a producer of many hit songs. After receiving greetings from Rojun and No. 58, Song Min-geun gestured for them to sit beside him, and the two took their seats next to each other.
PD Woo Han-suk handed out canned coffee to everyone and stood across from the three before speaking.
His expression had suddenly turned very serious.
“How would the two of you feel about creating the theme song for ‘Produce That 100!’ together?”
No. 58 was frozen for a moment, then blurted out loudly.
Equally surprised, Rojun looked at No. 58 and then turned his gaze back to PD Woo Han-suk.
‘Me and No. 58 creating the theme song for 'Produce That 100!'?’