Episode 89
I glanced around casually.
Since it was a secluded waiting room, there was nobody here.
The restroom and exit were also far away, so the foot traffic wasn’t that high, and it was pretty far from the storage area too. So, it was unlikely anyone would wander in here.
Probably, that girl named Oh Yoori spoke up because it was such a place.
Assured that there was no one eavesdropping, I asked back.
“What do you mean by threats?”
Oh Yoori, wearing squirrel pajamas, carefully took off the hood adorned with squirrel eyes, nose, and ears, and while twirling the tip of her pink pigtail, she said.
“…I know a secret of Team Leader Seon.”
I wouldn’t say I only have one or two secrets.
Any of them getting out wouldn’t lead to a pleasant situation.
Anticipating that the ensuing conversation wouldn’t be normal, I quietly turned on the recording pen I had stashed away and asked.
“What secret do you know?”
“That Team Leader Seon made a deal with PD Kim Seon-ye.”
…Well, look at that?
If I panicked here and asked her, “How did you know?” I’d be the fool.
I had never left any concrete evidence regarding this matter.
Kim Seon-ye definitely wouldn’t leak our deal.
So for now, I needed to consider the possibility that her statement was just a mere probe.
…Of course, if she actually knew about the deal, things would get pretty complicated.
Being aware of the recording device running, I spoke as cautiously as possible.
“That’s quite a surprising statement. I find it somewhat unpleasant, too. That remark can be taken as an insult to both PD Kim and me.”
I mustn’t deny it immediately.
First, I need to express my discomfort that could be purely seen as an insult.
After addressing that point, I could move on to clarification.
“However, if I appeared untrustworthy, I’ll just say for defense that I’ll clearly state it’s not true. There’s a significant positional difference between being a manager of a new company and a main PD like Kim Seon-ye. Moreover, she’s a busy person and wouldn’t even meet me.”
Whether I’ve reincarnated or our company is filled with S-class talents, that’s information not disclosed externally. What I am now is just the image of a manager at a new company.
The majority of people would agree that someone like that isn’t on par to strike a deal with a main PD.
“At this point, I’m not sure what rumors you might have heard about that ‘deal,’ but I believe you can understand that it’s not a reasonable possibility.”
“No, the only one who’d make a deal with that person would be Team Leader Seon.”
Oh Yoori said, fidgeting nervously with the hem of her plush squirrel outfit.
“…To be precise, I’m talking about someone who made a subsequent deal without prior arrangement.”
“It’s about people, you know.”
It was a rather significant story.
I was half convinced.
This girl knows something.
But I didn’t reveal my thoughts and asked,
“You keep mentioning the word ‘deal.’ What does that deal refer to?”
The girl, with eyes as bright as a little squirrel, looked at me with determination and said,
“This broadcast is rigged.”
“…Who told you such a thing?”
“I didn’t hear it from anyone. It’s what I concluded.”
“Then could you explain how you came to that conclusion?”
Oh Yoori licked her lips slightly and said,
“The debut group selection system for Girl 100 is done through paid message voting.”
“Right. The catchphrase is that you create the debut group with your own hands.”
“I think this voting is manipulated.”
“…”
I didn’t respond.
Regardless of whether I agreed with that opinion or not, considering that I was recording, I had to refrain from expressing my personal views here.
As I silently looked at her, Oh Yoori seemed to take it as a cue to elaborate further.
“Five rounds of voting have taken place so far, right?”
“That’s right. Since the broadcast has aired five times, there have been votes up to the fifth round. There have also been significant ranking changes within that. But why do you mention that?”
“The vote count difference is strange.”
Oh Yoori looked around and spotted a whiteboard in the waiting room, quickly starting to jot numbers and tallies down with a board marker.
The content looked familiar.
“Is this, by any chance, the voting results up to the fifth round? How did you…?”
“I memorized it.”
Wow, a real talent should be competing in the Olympics, but here she is as an idol.
But couldn’t she just show it on her phone?
“I said I memorized it, but there won’t be any errors. Feel free to check.”
I took out my smartphone to check the chart and said,
“Sure enough, looking at the vote counts, they match exactly. Impressive. …But couldn’t you just show it on your smartphone?”
“I got it confiscated.”
Ah, of course.
Come to think of it, Girl 100 banned the entry of communication devices and electronic equipment to prevent leaks from trainees. The security was tight and the penalties severe, so it was no wonder she didn’t have a smartphone.
…Then she couldn’t record either?
I secretly checked my pen-shaped recorder.
It was functioning perfectly.
Unaware of my behind-the-scenes scheming, Oh Yoori continued by circling some parts of the fifth round’s records.
“I’ll explain simply why the vote counts are strange. Over the five rounds of voting for a total of 100 trainees, there have been 17 occurrences of the same vote count difference. This can’t be dismissed as mere coincidence.”
“There were five rounds of voting, and in that, a difference of 17 votes occurred. This can’t just be a coincidence.”
“With those numbers, can’t we just chalk it up to random chance?”
“No, we can’t.”
“Why not?”
“Because when you divide that vote count, it results in a constant percentage that neatly cuts off at two decimal places—0.05%. I’m talking about the case I circled, which includes all 12 individuals.”
I pointed to Kaori, who was 12th among the kids with circles drawn in the meager votes she received.
“So what about this kid? The vote difference she shows doesn’t match that constant you mentioned.”
“That’s because they rounded off the remaining numbers to make the percentage fit as a whole number. That would be about 0.002 percent.”
And indeed, it was as she said.
At this point, it made sense to assume they allocated the leftover votes from the distributed total to Kaori.
In fact, as later revealed in court battles, that was the truth.
Since I didn’t refute her, Oh Yoori continued writing out the equations on the whiteboard.
“In my opinion, there are trainees whose rankings have coefficients fixed as integers, and if you multiply their received votes by a specific constant, the final vote counts match up. There aren’t enough cases to declare this as certain yet, but I believe this forms an arithmetic sequence. If the voting continues to the final round, which is the 12th, then it will become clear.”
“….”
“This percentage—or the unique constant of the vote counts—whether it’s simply a result of rounding or if there was an error in processing the data, I can’t say for sure. But one thing I can declare with certainty.”
Oh Yoori drew a big underline under the inferred constant with her marker, looked at me, and said.
“This indicates that there was artificial interference in the voting.”
“…Wow.”
I was simply amazed.
The formula for suspicion she just presented was completely identical to the doubts raised by netizens after seeing the voting results. That suspicion post, which was then regarded as just another ridiculous internet comment, later turned into a massive storm, sending a chill through MNet and the entire entertainment industry—a legendary butterfly effect.
But there was a significant difference between that netizen and Oh Yoori.
The netizen presented their doubts after witnessing the results of all 12 rounds of voting, while Oh Yoori reached that conclusion based only on the results up to the fifth round, supplementing the hidden information through her own reasoning.
This was not the kind of insight one would expect from a middle school student.
“And among those 12 people is Older Sister Gyeoul. Strangely, she was not included in the pre-voting prior to the recording during the first round but suddenly became part of the constant values starting from the second round. This suggests that unlike the 11 individuals with whom pre-arrangements had been made, there was subsequent deal-making after the recording began.”
“….”
She took out a red marker and underlined all the vote counts received by Han Gyeoul, waving the tail of her squirrel pajamas playfully as she spoke.
The squirrel in animal pajamas shook its tail and said.
“This is the basis for my judgment that Team Leader Seon has made a deal with PD Kim Seon-ye. And if Team Leader Seon doesn’t comply with my threat, I’m considering publicizing this evidence.”
That kid is amazing. Really amazing. The judgment ability, the action of not stopping at reasoning but executing it, and the courage to boldly threaten me—it’s all incredible.
But there was one thing that kid overlooked.
“Go ahead. Publicize it.”
That’s not evidence, Yoori.
“…What?”
“I’ll publicize it myself the moment I leave this space, even if Oh Yoori doesn’t.”
She couldn’t hide her surprise and asked.
“Then, wouldn’t Team Leader Seon be in trouble?”
“No, it’s Yoori who will be in trouble. Not me.”
The formal accusation Yoori presented might hint at serious suspicions, but it is not solid evidence. Evidence will come to light only later when the prosecution personnel storm in for arrests and searches.
So right now, publicizing it wouldn’t serve as a threat. Instead, it would be like changing the voting method and getting rid of the evidence.
So it wouldn’t matter if I walked out confidently.
Even if I reveal that, it wouldn’t harm me at all.
But it would harm Oh Yoori.
I’ll make sure of that.
“I feel tremendous discomfort at the suspicions you’ve raised, Oh Yoori. You’ve made the sacred competitive stage of Girl 100 sound like a manipulated scam. I won’t let what you said be dismissed as mere rumors. This could create a negative impact that determines the fate of our broadcast.”
I took out a ballpoint-shaped recording device from the front pocket of my suit and shook it.
“And coincidentally, this conversation is being recorded. I plan to share this transcript with PD Kim Seon-ye. It’s too risky to pretend I didn’t see this. Gyeoul could get hurt too.”
Yoori, pulling out a knife should only be done when you’ve got a complete kill shot lined up.
“I don’t really know how this will turn out either? Anyway, you’re not the only one responsible for this. Your company, Flower Entertainment, is included too. …Looks like you’ll be busy from now on?”
Or else, that’s how you end up being the one who dies in reverse.
Looking at me with innocent eyes, Oh Yoori realized and said.
“I’m done for, aren’t I?”
That was an extremely objective self-assessment.
At that moment, as if to commemorate my sharp kill shot judgment, a message window appeared.
[Quest Completed! ‘Genius Dog Boksil’ has been granted as a reward!]
…So why are you giving me Boksil?
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