Suddenly, I Became Crazy Handsome, and the World Became Easy

As Monday faded and Tuesday dawned, nothing changed. Especially with the voting deadline being Tuesday at midnight, things were even hotter. In the meantime, the production team of ‘Produce That 100!’ uploaded a flood of edited clips related to Episode 3.

There were many videos, but the ones attracting the most attention were the vocal team’s stage performances.

Among them.

-♨Hot Clip♨ Thought he was a villain, but he dropped a nuclear bomb on stage! No. 1’s 'brake'｜Produce That 100!

It was Kang Rojun’s 'brake' performance.

That’s how hot it was, the official 'brake' music video on YouTube began to climb back up the charts, and even cover videos of the dance by other idols were being churned out.

When Tuesday midnight passed and Wednesday morning arrived, the first voting round of 'Produce That 100!' had come to an end.

PD Woo Han-suk and the writing team, who had practically pulled several all-nighters over the past few days.

“PD-nim, the voting results have been compiled.”

“Haa- that was really long. Starting with the vote page crashing, we had all kinds of mishaps... I thought I was going to die.”

“More than that, the number of votes was insane. It went over three times our initial expectations.”

They drafted the results table.

Then PD Woo Han-suk, after thanking the writers for their hard work, laid out the next steps.

“Tomorrow, Thursday, we announce the voting results and shoot the revival round, so get a few hours of sleep and let’s head to campus around lunchtime.”

Of course, those few hours of sleep felt like just five seconds.

Wednesday lunchtime, near the Paju campus.

Though several days had passed since Episode 3 aired, the atmosphere among the dozens of 'Produce That 100!' campus participants was still a mix of excitement and anxiety. The 20 participants from the 'Dance Team' who took part in this round of voting were especially on edge.

After all, the decision on whether they’d stay or leave the campus was imminent.

Because of that, the 'Dance Team' participants became noticeably less talkative. No. 10, with his bright red hair, even skipped lunch. The only one still full of energy was Kang Rojun. Seeing him like that only intensified the other participants’ envy and jealousy.

“No. 1 is the only one who looks totally carefree.”

“If I were him, I’d be the same. He killed it on stage, and the PD gave him a solid cut at the end. I hear there are quite a few complaints from other ‘Dance Team’ contestants.”

“...Even though No. 1 barely had any screen time in Episode 3, the momentum just doesn’t shift.”

“When you drop a bomb like that at the end, it doesn’t matter how much screen time you get.”

“Seriously, how is it even fair for someone to have that insane visual, vocals, and dance?? Ha- I’m so jealous.”

“Even when he pulls villain moves, he keeps getting results, so his popularity only grows. How do you beat that monster?”

Regardless of the talk, Rojun, carrying his laptop under his arm, was walking down the hallway, completely absorbed in looking himself up online.

'Oh, there are so many videos of me on Youtube now??'

Bit by bit, his impact was growing massive.

Meanwhile, in the lounge area, maybe because it was just after lunch, a lot of participants had gathered. Easily more than twenty. Most of those who still had relaxed expressions were from the upcoming broadcast’s ‘Vocal Team’ and ‘Rap Team’.

Among them sat No. 58, with baby-permed hair and from the same Room 105 as Kang Rojun.

“......”

Silently, giving off a slightly ominous vibe, he was writing something in a notebook. Turned out No. 58 was squeezing in some time to study Japanese. At that moment, a few participants at nearby tables looked at him and whispered or smirked. Then, a contestant with short hair and a face with a bit of a rough edge approached No. 58.

He spoke in slightly awkward Korean.

“No. 58, studying Japanese again?”

There was a simple reason his Korean sounded strange. He was a contestant from Japan. His number was 66. For reference, the two had faced off in the second evaluation ‘Vocal Team’, where 66 lost. That same 66 now casually grabbed 58’s notebook as if snatching it.

No. 58 was caught off guard.

“Ah-”

In contrast, 66 glanced through the notebook full of diligent notes and chuckled. Then he spoke again in awkward Korean.

“You’ve been working really hard. Want me to help out?”

He smoothly switched to his native Japanese.

“Instead of doing it like this, you’ll learn faster if you actually speak and practice. Try responding. I’ll assess your level.”

“......”

No. 58, clearly flustered and unsure what to do, eventually managed to respond in Japanese with difficulty. Of course, he was lacking confidence.

“...I’m still not very good. I’m not at a level to be evaluated.”

“Haha, not bad though?”

“......”

All eyes in the lounge were now on them. No. 58 couldn’t speak and lowered his gaze. No. 66 gave a faint smile. Since the conversation was in Japanese, the other nearby participants didn’t quite understand what was being said. After returning the notebook he had taken, No. 66 once again asked No. 58 in Japanese.

“But No. 58, have you always been this gloomy? Watching you gives off a bit of a shut-in vibe.”

Once again, baby-permed No. 58 didn’t answer.

“......”

He simply pulled his notebook back toward himself. No. 66 shrugged his shoulders.

“You have to answer. If you’re that lacking in confidence, your language skills won’t improve.”

At that moment, a low-toned voice speaking in Japanese rang out from the entrance of the lounge.

“Whether he’s gloomy or shut-in. That’s none of your business, is it?”

It was remarkably fluent. Startled, not only No. 58 and No. 66 but all the dozens of participants in the lounge turned their heads. It was only natural, suddenly hearing near-native level Japanese.

At the entrance stood Kang Rojun, with a radiant face and a laptop tucked under one arm.

-Swish.

He walked up to No. 66 and calmly murmured in Japanese.

"You should win with skill, not by mocking people behind their backs."

"Ah, no, I was just-”

"If you're upset about losing, you should practice more. Didn't you come to Korea because you wanted to be an idol?"

“...No. 1, I think there’s a bit of misunderstanding here.”

“Misunderstanding? Is calling someone gloomy and a shut-in a misunderstanding? Then-”

Switching from Japanese, Rojun suddenly spoke in Korean.

"How's your Korean? I’ve seen you a few times and it seems a bit awkward. Try it. I’ll assess your level.”

“......”

As the atmosphere grew tense, the other participants’ expressions hardened. No. 58 looked extremely uneasy. On the other hand, the composed Kang Rojun stared calmly at the silent No. 66 and spoke again. This time, it was back in Japanese.

"If your skills aren't good enough, at least work on your looks so you can dominate with your face. What is this sneaky behavior from behind? It’s pathetic.”

In that moment, No. 66 flinched. He felt disgusted and upset, but unfortunately, the one standing in front of him was No. 1, a monster in both visuals and skills.

‘Damn it, why did this guy suddenly show up?? And why the hell is he so good at Japanese??!’

It was hard to counterattack in any way. As No. 66 stood speechless, Rojun leaned in slightly and spoke, still in Japanese.

“You have to answer. If you’re that lacking in confidence, your looks won’t improve either.”

*****

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