Chapter 156
The excited stalker seemed unable to hold back his anger as he rambled on.
“Damn it, get your filthy hands off my Gyeoul! Why! Why are you ignoring me like this?”
But that face looked familiar.
“Park Yeji?”
To my surprise, the face belonged to one of the production team members I had been filming with all day, Park Yeji.
Damn it, aren’t you the main cameraman of ‘First-Person Observer’? What are you doing here?
“Were you the stalker?”
“Stalker? No way. I’m a fan. A very passionate one.”
“The world doesn’t call someone who wants to smash an idol manager’s head with a stick a fan.”
“So, damn it, I told you to stop! …I wasn’t going to go this far either. …If you hadn’t sullied Gyeoul!”
The way he pointed at me with trembling hands made him look completely unhinged.
By the way, is there some kind of curse on the name Yeji? Why is everyone I meet so off their rocker?
I glanced back. The assistant writer, Ina Bi, was in a rush on her phone, while the secondary camerawoman, Shin Eun-kyung, was filming.
It seemed they were collecting evidence and filing a report on my behalf.
Just buying some time until the police arrived seemed like the best course of action.
Thinking that made me feel lighter. I realized the situation wasn’t too bad after all.
The reason stalking is such a tough crime to tackle is that it’s hard to identify the suspect, and it’s also not easy to recognize it as a crime and initiate an investigation.
Of course, there are relevant laws, but if a criminal is clever and skirts the line, it becomes quite troublesome.
The expenses for security add up, and setting a proper schedule becomes impossible, leading to a vicious cycle.
However, given that I could clearly identify the stalker due to him being a cameraman at the broadcasting station and I had clear evidence of assault and threats, I had managed to set things up quite nicely for a clean resolution.
“First, let’s calm down. If you stop here, I won’t publicize this any further. Park Yeji camerawoman, it’s not like you want this to escalate, right? If this blows up, losing your job won’t be the end of it; you could even end up doing jail time.”
“Haha, losing my job? Going to jail? You think a little thing like that can stop my love as a fan? No way! I’ll be Gyeoul’s fan no matter what!”
“Then cherish that feeling and engage as a fan in a healthy way. Why are you escalating the situation like this?”
“I know Gyeoul cares for all her fans. But it’s ridiculous to think my pure and noble feelings are the same as those lowly scum! How can I be treated the same as those trash when my heart is so pure and elevated?!”
“I know you care about everyone. But you can’t think that my feelings are the same as those low-quality losers, right? I have such a pure and noble heart, and it doesn’t make sense that I would be treated the same as those scummy people!”
“You’re just being ridiculous.”
“I’ve felt it since the last episode, but the mindset of the sasaengs is disgustingly vile no matter how many times I hear it. They don’t even understand that their way of expressing this can negatively affect the artists they follow, and they’re just obsessed with expressing it.”
“These sasaengs believe they’re different from ordinary fans, but to show off that specialness, they’ll do anything.”
“Swinging a wooden stick in the first place is a very hypocritical act. If it was just me swinging it alone, I might have some understanding. But to swing it while carrying Gyeoul—how far gone in the head do you have to be to even think that’s acceptable?”
“Is that the kind of behavior a self-proclaimed fan should have? Don’t they worry about Gyeoul getting hurt?”
“Or does that damn stick have some sort of magical blessing that protects only Gyeoul?”
“Whatever question I throw at them, it’s obvious they’ll just cling to their filthy rationalizations and insane comments.”
“Just looking at the behaviors up to this point, I was sure of it. Park Yeji is not the type of person who can have a proper conversation.”
“So honestly, I just wanted to shout for her to go away and never see her again. Just talking to that disgusting person feels incredibly unpleasant to me.”
“But since I couldn’t just let this criminal go, I decided to stall for time, intending to keep her busy until the police arrived.”
“‘Yeji, let’s think rationally. Considering the timeline, you must have become a fan since Girl 100, right? So, it’s been only about six months. Isn’t it a pity to bet your whole life on a fan’s heart that formed in that time? Think about the effort and time you’ve spent to become a cameraman at a broadcasting station. You’ve lived your life just as hard as everyone else.’”
“I hoped that my words would calm her down a little, but it seemed to provoke something in Park Yeji’s heart. However, it wasn’t a positive feeling. It was clear that she was furious.”
“Her face flushed red and she twisted it in anger, gnashing her teeth as she shouted.”
“Six months? Shut up! I’m not like those idiots who just hopped on the bandwagon with Girl 100! I’m the first! I was Gyeoul’s first fan!”
IOA
Wait, am I the first?
“….”
Rational thoughts in my head were reminding me not to provoke the opponent.
But my pride couldn’t handle the sting from Park Yeji’s words.
“…Gyeoul’s first fan is me, you know?”
This I absolutely cannot concede.
Damn it! Gyeoul’s first fan is me!
“You’re talking nonsense. Do you even know since when I’ve been a fan?”
“Since when?”
Park Yeji smirked and looked at Gyeoul.
“Gyeoul, remember me?”
“….”
Gyeoul, flustered, turned her head away from me, and the stalker Park Yeji shouted.
“Do you remember the day you were a guest at Yoo Gaeul’s busking before Girl 100? You know, when there were barely three people watching because hardly anyone showed up that day! I was just a random passerby thinking to myself that someone was busking because they had time to kill. But then you sang ‘A Song I Want to Share With You,’ and after the song ended, I clapped without thinking and you laughed at me and said ‘Thank you!’ and that moment changed my life! A star named you rose in my mundane life that felt like a treadwheel! Yes, from that day on, I became your fan! I am your first fan!”
If it was the day Gyeoul participated in Gaeul’s busking, it must have been shortly after I joined TwoBear.
“Still, I got to you faster than you did!”
“Damn it, when did you start?!”
Instead of looking at the annoying Park Yeji, I turned to Gyeoul.
“This kid became a fan of yours from the day she arrived in Seoul and missed her audition.”
“When was that?”
“About a year and a half ago, I think.”
Looking back, it’s hard to believe how much time I’ve spent with Gyeoul.
“….”
Park Yeji fell silent at my words.
If she hadn’t known Gyeoul since Jeonnam, she wouldn’t have had more time than I did, so she had nothing to say.
Anyway, I successfully defended my title as the first fan.
I felt a bit dumb for taking pride in this kind of thing, but honestly, it felt good not to lose to that idiot.
Park Yeji looked at me with eyes full of hatred and said,
“Then if I get rid of you, I’ll be the first.”
And she pulled out a knife with a sharp blade from her inner pocket.
“…That’s a knife?”
“Yeah, it’s a knife. Enough of a weapon to take you out.”
“A weapon.”
“…”
I quietly opened the status window and used the reward I received at the end of Girl 100.
[“Buff Reward Confirmation Selection will be used. Please select the reward you wish to use.”]
[Selection completed. ‘Swordmaster’s Sense’ has been activated.]
You messed up. You little bastard.
*
In front of me, who had activated the overpowered reward Swordmaster’s Sense, Park Yeji’s knife was nothing more than a shabby toy compared to a child’s carrot knife.
Thanks to that, I easily subdued him, and taking advantage of the reward, I gave him just enough pain so it wouldn’t leave a mark.
Soon after, the police arrived and the situation wrapped up quickly.
After the incident, we officially conveyed our regrets to CBS, the broadcasting station known for ‘First-Person Observer,’ in the name of TwoBear.
Given that one of their employees had a not-so-funny encounter with a stalker, this was to be expected.
If it had been another rookie agency, they might have brushed it off with a “Oh, that’s unfortunate,” but perhaps due to Cheon Aram’s connections and reputation, they promised a very polite apology and compensation.
Naturally, they couldn’t just use the footage from ‘First-Person Observer’ as is, so they suggested that Gyeoul join another program as a cast member.
The program in question, called ‘Star Challenge,’ had a decent domestic following, but it boasted an even bigger fanbase overseas, frequently featuring Hollywood actors promoting their movies.
For CBS, proposing to cast Gyeoul in ‘Star Challenge’ was quite a significant gesture.
To me, this was the best outcome that more than compensated for all the commotion.
“By the way, Team Leader Seon, are you okay where you got hurt? Maybe you should take some leave?”
“Hurt? I’m perfectly fine. I actually want to work more right now.”
“…No one else would get a hairline fracture from a stalker and show up for work the next day but you, Team Leader Seon.”
Not that it’s rare; it turns out there are more people like me than I thought.
While I was chatting and handling work with Seok Hyun-woo, the door suddenly opened, and Park Miso appeared.
“Oh, Miso! What brings you here…?”
“Team Leader Seon! A video of you just got uploaded on AllTube!”
“…What video?”
We looked at the screen of the tablet that Park Miso handed over.
[Actual Footage – ‘Armed Man vs Bare-Handed Manager’, Street Knife Rampage / MTS]
[Views – 1.21 million]
…What the heck is this?
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