The Malicious Member is Back! - Chapter 166

Sometimes, these things happen.

Like when someone from an online mom café ^[1] got sued for bashing a restaurant—only to be revealed as a man in his 40s who ran a rival place nearby.

Or when the infamous “I went to Korea U, so I know” user, famous on community boards as “Korea U insider,” turned out to be a five-time college applicant.

The point worth noting is: how did they get caught?

Because their hatred burned too hot. Their obsession too deep.

They couldn’t control the intensity.

Take this one example—an anti-fan who dedicated their entire SNS account to bashing me.

[ㅇㅇ @RETREASH12345

(photo) (photo)

Gasp ㄷㄷ Rex caught leaving the club again tonight ♡ #TrashRex #Rex #ArrowsSupport #ArcherFriendIntro #IdolFanAssemble #Sleddix #Leopold #SummertimeBoys #ChoiGaon]

[⎿Hey f*** off don’t tag our boys with that trash Rex]

[⎿wtf there’s even pics omg]

[ㅇㅇ @RETREASH12345

All the pics I post♡ I took♡ them♡ myself♡]

[⎿You followed him just to insult him? That’s wild…]

[ㅇㅇ @RETREASH12345

(photo) (photo)

Our #Rex oppa apparently stormed out of the studio! I heard♡ he fought♡ with the PD during filming ㅠㅠ So filming stopped♡ altogether♡ other people had to wait, but Rex oppa doesn’t care♡]

[⎿Take this down. Don’t you know about the audience NDA? If you post stuff like this, Arrows will ban all audience attendance going forward.]

[ㅇㅇ @RETREASH12345

ㅇㅅㅇ… There’s barely anyone in the audience anyway♡ And I’m not♡ audience♡ I’m a Rex oppa stan♡]

The owner of that account was eventually tracked down by none other than ShootingRex noona, eyes blazing.

I mean, when you’re the kind of person who takes every photo yourself and tracks my every schedule, it’s bound to happen.

[ShootingRex @Shooting_REX

SNS account @RETREASH12345

Oops, I meant @Si Wooow1223!

You were that akgae^[2] who yanked Si Woo’s bag keyring off at Narita Airport during our Japan schedule, right? Recognized it in the photo—same custom keyring dangling at the bottom lol]

[Even when Si Woo politely asked you to stop, you ignored him and ripped it off. Guess you’re also great at yanking other members’ hair too ㅜㅜ]

Since Si Woo had been involved in the incident too, it was one of those memories that really stuck.

Even though he was a victim himself, he looked so apologetic about it all. And me? I wasn’t exactly innocent either, so I didn’t feel entitled to say much.

Of course, people added useless commentary under ShootingRex’s post like,

[Not sure the mom of a toxic member should be saying anything ㅠㅠ]—

and in the end, it just left more scars.

So the lesson here?

Too much baiting draws too much attention.

If your tail gets too long, someone’s going to step on it.

You have to know how to adjust the intensity.

And if there’s anyone in the world who can adjust that intensity best, it’s probably me.

I’ve witnessed the full 8-year history of SNS baiting, and I was always the one at the center, getting dogpiled.

“Ha….”

Who would’ve thought all the times I got roasted online would end up being useful?

Though, useful might be too generous.

If I’d just done right by my family, my group, and my fans from the start, I wouldn’t have to do things like this now.

Still, having come this far… it had to be done.

Even my [Fortune Cookie] skill this morning said, “A good outcome may follow a bold decision.”

“…Hoo.”

Wiping the sweat off my palms onto my pants, I let out a light sigh.

My phone screen showed the timeline of a dummy SNS account I’d created the day before.

As with all new accounts, it had the default silhouette avatar and a randomly assigned username.

[Half-Chewed Receipt @QORHVMEK

Followers 0 Following 0 Posts 0]

No followers, no following, a blank slate. I began typing—quickly, but carefully.

One post scheduled for two hours later. Another for four hours after that.

[Would you like to schedule this post? Yes / No]

The things I prepared were small sparks.

But if they caught anyone’s eye, they could go up in flames.

Through the wall of the bathroom I was hiding in, I could faintly hear the Diving team rehearsing.

—Dive, dive in

Down below, under the waves

Breath sinking, throat tightening

But just for this moment, So sweet

One more time, Dive

Dive in

Slipping between the dreamy layers of sound was Liu Wei’s voice—cold, as always.

A mix of exhaustion, nerves, and a strange competitive fire clenched my jaw.

…Liu Wei.

Let’s see if you can come back after you dive.

* * *

The audience for Targeting Star’s fourth competition had taken their seats, and the first team’s performance was moments away.

The youngest writer, Lee Ha Joon, was sprinting downstairs with the look of death on his face, having just finished darting around delivering notices to the staff.

“They always give me the crap jobs…!”

“P–PD-nim, I just got word that both Director Shin and President Do from AG are coming to watch today’s performance.”

“…Both of them? Ha. Guess Director Shin wants to make a show of caring since it’s the last stage before the live broadcast. I only invited Do.”

“So… what should we do? If we’re seating them both in the VIP judge section, I’ll need to tell the assistant directors to—”

“Hey. President Do, fine. But Director Shin? That punk’s not a judge. Obviously we’ll have to shift the equipment and make new seats. Ha Joon, get your head on straight, yeah?”

“S–sorry!”

“Forget it. They’ll be arriving in separate cars anyway, so just give them their seats. I’m going out for a smoke.”

“Wait—PD-nim, me? I have to go tell them?”

“What, you want me to go? While you manage the site and I roll out the red carpet for those two clowns?”

“All talk and no walk, that guy… and I’m always stuck with the grunt work!”

He might’ve been cursing Joo PD with his mouth, but Ha Joon’s feet were dutifully climbing the stairs.

‘If I take them up separately, they’re gonna whine—why’s he over there and I’m stuck here? And of course they’d arrive at the same damn time!’

By the time he reached the underground parking lot for Music Days staff, both Director Shin’s black sedan and President Do Jae Chan’s sleek sports car had already pulled in.

T/N:

^[1] ↩

a website ‘cafe’ in korean is basically an SNS page/group/forum. Imagine something similar to a subreddit.

^[2] ↩

an ‘akgae’ is a ‘malicious individual fan’ meaning they only like 1 member in a group and hate on the rest. They only praise their bias.