The Genius Idol is a Joseon Scholar - Chapter 8: Integrity and loyalty
Three girls, with faces as red as carrots, were staring at Gunja.
Who could they be? He had never seen them before.
They seemed to have something to say, but they weren’t speaking up. Instead, they were nudging each other’s arms, laughing so hard they were nearly out of breath, creating quite a commotion.
From the way they were laughing, it didn’t seem like they were hurt.
Should I speak first?
In the end, Gunja spoke up first.
“Who are you?”
“Kyaaah!”
“Whoa—”
Suddenly, they burst out laughing. Gunja almost screamed as well. Their mood swings were quite drastic.
In the midst of it all, one of the girls, pushed forward by the others, finally spoke up.
“That, that’s you, right?”
“What are you talking about?”
“Kyaahahaha!”
“No, why do you keep…?”
“Your way of speaking is so funny!”
From the moment he came to this era, people often laughed at the way Gunja spoke. But even when he tried to change it, it didn’t go well. He had spoken this way his entire life; how could he change it so easily?
“If you have no business with me, I will be on my way.”
“No, wait a minute.”
“Then why…”
“You’re the one who rode the horse at that event, right?”
“!”
Gunja’s eyes widened at the girl’s words. How on earth did she know about that?
“Did you see me that day?”
“No, I saw it on SNS!”
“Aesuaenaesu? What is that?”
“Puhaha, this guy’s concept is hilarious.”
“Hey, just tell him!”
The girl kindly took out her smartphone and explained what SNS was to him.
Honestly, I didn’t fully understand everything, but I got the general idea. SNS is like a marketplace where many people gather to talk.
On the screen of the smartphone the girl held out, there was indeed a picture of Gunja riding a horse.
“See, this is you, right?”
Gunja shyly nodded. To become a topic of conversation over something like this was truly embarrassing.
As Gunja blushed, the girls clapped their hands and cheered again. They were indeed a lively bunch.
“You’re handsome!”
“You look even better in person!”
“Will you appear on that show again?”
“Will you ride the horse again?”
Once the girls started talking, they bombarded Gunja with questions. It was overwhelming.
However, despite the chaos, Gunja answered each question sincerely. After all, these were the kind girls who had taught him what SNS was. To him, they were like teachers.
When the barrage of questions ended, the girls suddenly handed their smartphone to Gunja.
“Oppa, take a picture for us!”
Gunja flashed a triumphant smile. He might not know about SNS, but he had already learned how to take pictures from his mother.
“I know how to take a picture.”
“Kyaaha, what is he saying!”
“Hurry up and take it for us.”
Hmm, they don’t seem very impressed. I worked hard to learn this skill.
Gunja’s expression turned a bit sullen as he accepted the camera.
What should I take a picture of? Just then, a small bamboo grove caught his eye in the distance.
Click-
“Oppa?”
“What are you doing…?”
“Bamboo symbolizes integrity and loyalty.”
“Excuse me?”
“It’s good to look at it whenever your mind wavers.”
“Kyaaha, no, Oppa! You need to take a picture with us!”
“Ah…”
Hearing the girls’ request, Gunja rubbed his forehead. Ah, I misunderstood them again.
After leading them to the bamboo grove, Gunja lifted the camera once more.
“Okay, I’m taking the picture now.”
“Uh, Oppa?”
“One, two, three.”
“Excuse me?”
Click-
This time, he properly placed the girls in front of the bamboo grove and took the picture.
“Here you go.”
“???”
“Well then, I wish you a good day.”
“?????”
Wanting to take a picture with the bamboo, a symbol of integrity and loyalty, showed a truly scholarly mindset.
Feeling proud of himself for having done a good deed, Gunja turned to leave with a contented heart.
That evening, a post with a photo was uploaded to a popular online community.
—
[Met the scholarly guy from the horse-riding event today, lolol (Proof included)]
[Lolol this scholarly dude is hilarious lolol]
[His face is god-tier handsome, but his way of talking is totally crazy lolol]
[I was too stunned by how handsome he was to even speak, just stared at him]
[“Who are you?” lolll]
[His concept is seriously out of this world lmfao]
[Photo] [Photo]
[This is the photo the scholarly guy took for us]
[At first, he just took a picture of the bamboo, so we asked him to take one with us]
[Then he made us stand in front of the bamboo and took a picture of just us lolol]
[He even took the picture of the bamboo like my mom would lolol omg]
Sightings of the ‘scholarly guy from the who rode a horse to the idol event’ —it was a witness post with only 2 photos attached to it. Although the post was short, it already had many comments.
[Come on;; who would believe this as proof lolol]
[If it’s a proof shot, you should have taken it together]
[Idk lolol what do you want us to do with a picture like this?]
[But if this is real, it’s freaking hilarious hahahaha]
[He took a picture of bamboo lolol this concept is seriously crazy lolol]
[Is he actually from the Joseon Dynasty or something? lmaooo]
[They say he even rode a horse to the audition for the event;;]
[Did you see that video? His riding posture is seriously perfect lol]
[Oh, I haven’t seen it, can someone upload it?]
The initial sighting post gained credibility as other citizens shared their own reports.
[I passed by that place today too, and I think I saw this ehehe]
[Lol, really?]
[Yeah, I was going through the underpass, and there was this insanely handsome guy taking pictures of girls in front of a bamboo grove lmaooo]
[Lol, I wondered what he was doing]
[LOL what the heck ]
[Why is he doing that lololololol]
[There must be some reason for it lol]
[But still, he managed to keep his face safe lmfaoooo]
[Is he going to be on the show? I’m so interested now.]
[He rode a horse to the audition, so of course, the producer will pick him.]
[Didn’t you know the producer collects quirky people? Lolol]
[Ah, the wait for the broadcast is too long ??]
[But seriously, he’s so handsome.]
[Since he joined the audition, he must be appearing as an individual trainee.]
[I saw the horse-riding clip lolol it’s crazy lololol]
[LOL the sound of the horse’s hooves clattering away]
—
As the “scholarly guy from the horse-riding event” trended again, the audition day video was also reshared.
The video showed Gunja, dressed in traditional robes and wearing a gat, galloping on a white horse. 1 the traditional korean hat is called a gat
Even though the video was only 40 seconds long, fans of the event captured side profiles and tried to guess Gunja’s face.
—
[His side profile is ridiculously good-looking ?? what a jawline]
[His nose is insane lolol his visuals are perfect]
[But then again, who knows lolol we need a close-up shot to be sure]
[Just think about those people who catfish with their Instagram photos.]
[Hey, who wants to go with me to steal the speed camera in Paju? I need to get a proper look at the scholarly guy’s face;;]
[LOL you’re nuts lololol]
—
Kim Seok-hoon, the head producer of *Idol Training Simulation*, was watching all this viral buzz with a satisfied smile.
“This is just perfect.”
In an idol survival program, generating buzz is the most important thing, even more than viewership ratings.
High buzz leads to higher ad rates, spin-off programs doing well, and ultimately, the star power of the group that will debut increases.
Usually, the initial buzz is driven by contestants with previous debut experience or those who are former actors. However, never before had a general contestant created such a sensation in such an unexpected way.
And this, even before the broadcast or the contestants’ boot camp had started!
“Yu Gunja, this lovely guy.”
He was itching to edit and upload the video of Gunja singing during the general audition. But doing so would undoubtedly spark accusations of preferential treatment.
Fortunately, the curiosity surrounding Gunja was growing steadily even without additional bait. At this rate, the general auditions would be a complete success. Who would’ve thought they’d pull such an excellent early card?
Of course, he didn’t expect Gunja to survive until the end. The other trainers felt the same way.
Though he mastered the oriental-style spear and performed folk songs beautifully, it didn’t align with the idol style. His dance skills were also unproven, and he had no experience as an idol trainee. Plus, with such a quirky gimmick, it seemed unlikely he would blend well with the other trainees.
He was a contestant destined to be eliminated once the main missions began.
So, they had to squeeze as much out of him as possible in the early stages.
Just like Jung Moon-bok, who created a massive initial buzz as the “Hip President” in another idol survival show.
“Haha, so does that make Gunja the ‘Spear President’?”
Kim Seok-hoon chuckled at his own terrible dad joke.
The head producer decides the direction of program editing. Depending on his decision, some contestants get more screen time and some contestants get cut out entirely.
Gunja had caught the eye of this powerful producer.
“Let’s make the most of your time before you get eliminated, Gunja. Got it?”
* * *
While Kim Seok-hoon was amusing himself with his corny jokes, Gunja was exploring this thing called SNS that the girls had shown him.
On SNS “Twitty,” the bamboo photo Gunja had taken was being actively shared.
“Ooh, they have posted the bamboo photo!”
Instead of keeping the photo to themselves, they’ve put it in a place where many can see it. Such a righteous mindset. But if they do that, their own photo albums will be completely empty.
“These girls are really generous.”
Gunja still hadn’t grasped the concept of duplicating photos digitally.
As he continued exploring SNS, he stumbled upon a post that seemed to be written by the girls.
—
[Final Compilation of the Scholar Guy Sighting from the Horse-Riding Event]
[Anyway, today was super interesting.]
[Believe it or not, lol.]
[His scholar concept was a bit unique, but first off, he’s super handsome.]
[His proportions are insane, and he’s ridiculously kind lol.]
[Honestly, at first, we just approached him because we were curious about this scholar guy.]
[But as we talked, his charm totally exploded lol.]
[I’m going to print the bamboo photo and hang it in my house.]
[I’m going to be even more obsessed when the show airs lol.]
“Hm, what on earth does this mean…”
Is this Korean, or some alien language? While most of it was incomprehensible, Gunja could understand the last few sentences.
[We’re total fans of the scholar guy now.]
[We taught the scholar oppa how to use SNS lol.]
[If you’re reading this, we want you to know:]
[Oppa, we love you lololol.]
—
“…Fan…”
Gunja was familiar with the word “fan.”
It refers to those who support and love someone. He had heard that for idols, there is no one who gives them as much strength and security as fans.
He once thought that if he ever became an idol, he might have fans someday, but he never imagined he’d have them so soon.
His heart felt warm and tingly, a bit different from the feeling he got when praised by the trainers.
“Fan… A fan.”
He hoped to meet them again someday.
Next time, he would make sure to take photos of not only bamboo but also plum, orchid, and chrysanthemum, for them.
As he made this resolution, a smile spread across his face.
[Special Achievement Unlocked.]
“Hmm?”
[You have unlocked ‘First Fan’.]
[A reward will be granted.]
Unexpectedly, a status window suddenly popped up and started spinning.
T/N: Hi, its been almost a year now. Earlier I couldn’t decide if I should continue this project or not but now that I do have some free time, I’ve decided to continue working on this. I hope ya’ll enjoy it!
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