Save a Failed Idol’s Life

Translator: MarcTempest

Editor: NicoleTempest

Chapter 255 One Thing Leads to Another

I started working on some tasks in the cafeteria, pretending to be working remotely by logging into the web server. After about an hour, I got a flood of pop-up notifications for the keywords I had set up, such as Climax, Cheon Ise, and Offbeat.

‘Did Cheon Ise cause another trouble?’

He seemed to be lying on the bed all this time. What kind of trouble did he get into? Or was it something related to Climax or Offbeat?

I quickly checked the notifications and the linked posts. I wasn’t sure if I should be relieved, but the data on the web server was quiet.

It was a problem related to Cheon Ise, but not an idol-related incident.

‘Ah… I knew I should have done the final inspection. The incident finally broke out.’

￣￣￣￣￣

[Title] I got food poisoning from C Company’s funding salad.

[Content]

Hello. I am a normal 20-something office worker who was struggling with dieting. First of all, I apologize for posting something that doesn’t match the category. I posted it here because this place has the most firepower.

This post is not for the purpose of defamation, but for the public interest of consumers.

￣￣￣￣￣

As I scrolled down the introduction that seemed to be stamped out of a mold, the main point was this.

￣￣￣￣￣

I thought the leafy vegetables inside were not very fresh, but since it was a product that I had received only a day ago, I didn’t doubt it much and started eating it with dressing.

And when I emptied about half of the contents, a lump of mold came out.

(Warning)

I have no appetite since that day and I can’t eat anything. I couldn’t even eat properly and when I contacted the funding company, they said they didn’t participate in the manufacturing process and it might take a while to confirm, so if I wanted a quick response, I should contact Cheon Soo Group’s customer inquiry window directly.

I have been so stressed out by this problem that I haven’t been able to go to work for a week.

When I close my eyes, I keep thinking that I ate the mold mixed with the dressing and I can’t live because of vomiting.

￣￣￣￣￣

I should have checked the final manufacturing process. Even though it was a manufacturer managed by Cheon Soo Group, I regretted that I should have somehow intervened and checked it.

The moment I saw the picture that the poster presented as evidence, I felt my blood run cold.

‘This. This is not our product.’

First of all, the particle size of the ingredients in the dressing was different. We used roughly ground black pepper, so we didn’t have finely ground pepper like that.

The ingredients were the same. It seemed like he had picked them out somehow. The product that the writer claimed to have bought did not contain red cabbage. But in the picture of the lettuce, there was a faint trace of purple color that had been dyed.

‘Where did he rip off someone else’s product and make it look similar and manipulate it?’

The salad sauce was already determined by the recipe and the amount of supply that was more than necessary before entering the production, so it couldn’t have changed.

The dyed lettuce also proved that this was not our product.

But the netizens who were already hooked on the idea of ‘making fun of the retired celebrity who eats this’ started indiscriminate bombing.

[- Well, that makes sense. The guy who got the representative disease was doing this well.]

[- Isn’t that almost what the fans bought him? He throws mold at his fans and he’s probably eating hotel fine dining.]

[- Oh, I’m really nauseous. The diet effect is perfectㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ]

[- Cheon Ise’s fans kept saying that he didn’t have the representative disease, he had a lot of talent and he was using it for various things, but he finally exploded. Why did he do this when he couldn’t even do his idol activities properly?]

[- When he started, you guys were making a fuss that you wanted to eat it too, and then you said you tried it and now you’re telling the fans to eat moldㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ The backstabbing is so cold.]

Cheon Ise’s salad was on every indicator that could check the most frequently mentioned keywords, including real-time trends.

‘I’m going crazy…’

What do I do with this? There were more than one or two things that were suspicious, but if I posted a rebuttal now, it would only look like a paid worker from the company.

When I compared it with other review products, it looked like it was not made by the same manufacturer, and if someone with authority said that, it might become a hot topic.

Then I remembered a familiar face.

‘Ah.’

There was. A veteran who worked as an expert in the food industry and had appeared in various media and interviews as a food expert.

I quickly called Kang, the executive director.

After a brief connection sound, Kang picked up the phone somewhat irritably.

“What’s up?”

What was he making a fuss about this time? I could roughly guess the reason. The shareholders’ meeting was coming up soon, but his half-brother was still not coming back from abroad.

“Are you very busy? I just want to ask you a favor.”

He sounded busy, as I heard the noise of his employees working frantically, pulling their hair out.

I felt a bit sorry for the timing. But I was going to write the post myself, and he just had to lend me his name. It wouldn’t take too long.

“I’m busy, but. I’ll listen to anything from a living person, but I can’t do anything for a dead person’s favor.”

I quickly spoke up before Kang Jeonmu’s sigh could linger.

“Just post one thing on the forum of the link I’m sending you. And take a picture of your ID card for verification.”

Kang Jeonmu asked me right away, not understanding my request.

“Why do you want me to post something on the internet?”

“You’ll see when you look at it.”

It was faster to send him the link and the summary of the situation than to explain it verbally.

“I’ll send it to you right now on messenger. Check it and call me back.”

I hung up the phone as if I wouldn’t take any more complaints. It might seem absurd, but I thought I could push him a little, considering I had changed his life.

Pay me back this way! I tried to calm my anxious feelings while waiting for Kang Jeonmu to contact me. The entertainment talk board was on fire with Cheon Ise’s salad story.

There were also viral posts asking for and offering recommendations of reliable salad companies.

‘This… It looks like a competitor made up a fake post to go viral.’

And on top of that, there were viral posts about taking pills and dieting easily while eating whatever you want, related to unlicensed supplements.

Ugh… It was a mess.

Our product’s catchphrase was ‘Eat deliciously and be healthy’. It was true that we had promoted it in contrast to the products that had unknown ingredients or that severely restricted the amount of food, ruining people’s health.

When the first trial sale was launched, there were tons of reviews saying that it was so delicious that they wanted to snack on it. Now that the third batch of sales had started, which was almost like an official launch, it seemed like they wanted to strike first before the public opinion supported us again.

Grind. I was grinding my teeth when Kang Jeonmu called me.

“I checked what you sent me. The sauce viscosity is completely different from the product. Here, it looks like they chopped some pickles and put them in the sauce, but that’s not in the recipe you told me, right?”

“Yeah. I adjusted the acidity with something else. There’s no need to add pickle dice and increase the calories.”

“Okay, then I’ll include that in the post. I think I can post it in about 20 minutes. It’s crazy here too.”

Phew, I was relieved that it looked clearly different from our product to a third party.

“Thanks. Sorry for asking you so suddenly. And please take care of the rest of the work.”

As I was about to end the call, sweeping my chest, Kang Jeonmu suddenly asked me.

“But isn’t this the product that the son of Cheon Soo Group made? Why is he doing business with your recipe?”

Damn. I didn’t explain the relationship with Cheon Ise because it was too complicated. It wasn’t something that could be easily believed anyway.

“I told him to use it. It’s complicated to explain, so I’ll tell you later.”

I doubted that I would have a chance, but I just asked him to understand that for now. As I finished the call, I felt sweat running down my back again.

“Is there nothing I can do but wait?”

About 30 minutes later, the post that Kang Jeonmu posted came up on the real-time hot issue.

The people who had received and enjoyed the product in the first and second trial sales also felt something was off and were waiting for someone to post a rebuttal.

￣￣￣￣￣

[Title] Evidence of manipulation in C company’s salad controversy

[Body]

Hello, I am a food manufacturing expert working as an executive at a food company.

I have summarized some points that I found suspicious regarding the recent salad controversy.

The company has not yet announced the results of the collection and investigation, but based on the materials that have been made public, my personal opinion is that it is not the same product as before.

￣￣￣￣￣

As the data that detailed everything from the contamination of the lettuce to the difference in the concentration and ingredients of the sauce was posted, the comments quickly turned around.

<Top 1>

[- It was a hoax from the beginning. The purchase confirmation shows that he was a third batch buyer, but the third batch hasn’t even started shipping yet, right? The invoice registration doesn’t show up, how did he get it?]

[ㄴ I know, right? I’m also a third batch buyer and the shipping date is next weekㅋㅋㅋㅋ The first and second batches were really small sales and they already shipped last week, where did he get that from? Salad goes bad if you leave it for a week, he’s not a fool.]

<Top 2>

[- The original poster either left it for a week and made a fuss about the spoiled salad or manipulated it with a similar product from another company.]

[ㄴ It looks like a product from another company in the body. I was a second batch buyer and there was nothing like that finely chopped pickle in the sauce.]

<Top 3>

[- The fact that the original poster said he threw away the remaining product in the trash can and it was already disposed of so he couldn’t check it was already outㅋㅋㅋㅋ… He was going to send an entertainer away and the Floss anti, the climax anti, and all the antis were making a fuss.]

[ㄴ (Picture) This is a problem that can’t be buried, and the reason why the splashing commenter can’t reveal the comments is obvious, right?]

[ㄴ (Picture) Wow, I also captured it and the words are the same but it’s creepy that it’s a different person.]

[ㄴ (Picture) It looks like they’re in a group chat or something and they’re coordinating their activities. The number of likes is the same.]

Ugh. I was only relieved for a moment. Unless Cheon Ise himself responded, there was no guarantee that this problem wouldn’t happen again.

‘I’m going crazy.’

It’s been three days since I lived in this body. There were only four days left, but Cheon Ise was still on hiatus.