Chapter 350: Savage Exposer

It all turned out to be a ruse.

The kidnapping, Zixu’s betrayal, and the gun pressed against his waist... It was all a ruse by the House of Idols production staff and their agency.

The agency decided to enlist them in House of Idols—that, they already knew. Zi Xu had informed them of this before they got kidnapped, after all.

House of Idols was produced by one of the big broadcasting companies in the industry, so they had a large audience already looking forward to the show. It was unlike Idol:Revive, which was launched by Flower Garden Agency.

They would be able to stabilize their existence and, at the same time, grow their reach. It was definitely a good opportunity.

"But kidnapping us... wasn’t it a bit too much?" Rayen said, his lips twitching.

Zi Xu coughed and avoided looking into his eyes. The other members behind him also expressed their dissatisfaction on their faces even though, ironically, they each had a party popper in their hands.

"I’m sorry, it was my idea!" One of the House of Idol staff stepped forward.

Rayen eyed her. She was a small woman with rabbit-like front teeth, about Jiji’s height before he took his height supplements.

"Who are you?" Rayen asked.

"Oh, sorry. I forgot to introduce myself. I am Idol House’s creative director, Lee Darin." She extended her hand toward him.

Rayen stared at it, a bit unwilling to grasp it. This was the person who traumatized them. How could he be willing to make peace with her? Even now, Yeo Haru and Jiji were still hiding behind him. They were so worried about the gun threat against Rayen, but it actually turned out to be a toy.

Fortunately, they had a heart of steel to remain calm because of their prior experience of death.

Just then, a voice came from behind and interrupted Rayen’s thoughts.

"So you’re the one who kidnapped us?! What’s with this kind of treatment?"

The voice sounded familiar. When Rayen glanced at the source of the voice, it turned out to be someone they knew.

ATOMIC’s Minjae. Not only him. The other members of the group were by his side. They were the group that entered the building with them.

The anger of the members of ATOMIC was visible on their faces. Even their seemingly calm and reasonable leader, Sigrid, hadn’t stopped Minjae from speaking his mind. He was genuinely angry with the show’s treatment of their group.

But it didn’t bother Lee Darin at all.

She let out a weird laugh. "Keke. I’m sorry. I know you’re upset, but we deeply value your unfiltered reactions; that’s why we didn’t inform you beforehand. We did notify your agency and got their permission, though."

"That’s still not an excuse for you to take us against our will! I’m going to sue you."

For the first time, Rayen felt like agreeing to him.

The staff members of the House of Idols all turned pale except for Lee Darin. She even looked unfazed by the unveiled threats.

"I am willing to accept your decision, but please spare the other staff members from your anger," she said with a smile.

"You even have the guts to request something?"

"If you want to file a case, please only file it against me. Everyone here is innocent."

Rayen shuddered at her lack of fear—no, more accurately, at her almost pleased expression when talking to Minjae.

’Why does she look like she’s having so much fun?’

For a moment, he thought he saw Plotter while looking at her.

Why was it that House of Idols was able to reach season 4? Rayen wasn’t sure, but he read that its participants were mostly unknown idol groups.

So, how did a show for nugu idols who didn’t have a large audience to begin with reach this far in season?

It was because of this rabbit-like woman, Lee Darin.

In the industry, she was known as the Savage Exposer. l Just like she said, what she valued the most was their unfiltered reactions. That made House of Idols successful so far.

But that wasn’t all of it.

It was because she was fearless.

Airing idols’ vulnerabilities was a double-edged sword. It could only end up with the show getting cancelled or them eating well at fandom tea parties. Lee Darin had gotta be fearless, or else she wouldn’t survive.

She would gnaw on what seemed like more than she could chew, yet she was always able to swallow it whole.

And right now, that quality of hers wasn’t backing down even in the face of ATOMIC, which wasn’t the same as the nugu groups House of Idols dealt with before. The staff members were daunted, but not her.

’Right. Why is ATOMIC even here?’ Rayen wondered.

Of course, ATOMIC wouldn’t easily back down.

"Fine. If that’s what you want. We’ll make sure you won’t ever have that smug smile in your face again," Minjae said.

Before the group turned around to leave, they glanced at SEEDZ.

"Let’s go," Sigrid said.

Lee Darin did not do anything to stop them. Not anyone from the House of Idols staff did.

However, someone else blocked their way. The group halted their steps.

A petite woman wearing thick-rimmed glasses stood in front of them, arms spread wide. "ATOMIC, please."

"Manager Rin..." Sigrid called out her name. "Is this what the agency wanted?"

Manager Rin bit her lip and nodded.

The look on Sigrid’s face turned complicated. "Have we really sunk so low in your eyes?"

Ever since Win left for his military duties, their popularity dwindled down. Because of that, the group felt neglected by the agency. They released only two digital singles within a year with no other major activities. As a result from their latest comeback, they lost more than they won in music shows against a rookie group.

That must be why they were sent to compete in this survival show only known for nugus and allowed to be mistreated by the same show’s creative director.

Their group’s pride was utterly shattered. It’s already heartbreaking that they were being seen as Win’s backups, but to be treated like this...

Sigrid sighed. Unexpectedly, he turned back again and walked toward Lee Darin.

Then, she took her hand that was reaching out for Rayen.

"Just one favor," he said. "Please don’t leak any of what Minjae said just now. We also won’t file a case against your forced abduction."

Lee Darin let out her weird laugh again. "Keke. Are you even willing to trust me? The one they call the Savage Exposer?"