γQ&Aγ
- What is the Rotten Pineapple Index?
- It’s a figure that comprehensively reviews the drama, including viewer reactions, keyword relevance, etc. π
β» Below 30%: Cancellation
β» Above 90%: Season 2 broadcasting rights acquired
Q2. When does the Rotten Pineapple Index increase?
– When building a story faithful to the keywords
– When viewer reactions are enthusiastic
Having given up on fainting and eventually accepting this goddamn situation, I tried to find out all the information I could to avoid ‘DEATH!!!!!!!’ The status window appeared on its own whenever I wanted to bring it up.
“What’s the Rotten Pineapple Index?”
When I asked what the ‘Rotten Pineapple Index’ in the quest was, since I had absolutely no idea, I got that answer. So in other words…… I had to raise and maintain that in order to acquire Season 2 broadcasting rights and escape from this world.
“What’s the current Rotten Pineapple Index?”
40% (Since it’s pre-broadcast, this is a figure reviewing the viewers’ level of expectation.)
It was a number that was neither particularly stable nor good.
“If it’s pre-broadcast, when does it start?”
The day after tomorrow, Thursday, September 9th, when the new semester at Bluedale High School begins.
So it meant it would start as soon as the new semester began. I guess that’s natural for a high-teen drama…….
When my teacher showed us American dramas during middle school English class, I diligently solved past math problems for the college entrance exam instead. I didn’t have time to watch such things. Still, I remember a kid who was my friend up until middle school liked video content and babbled about this and that. I have good enough memory that I don’t easily forget things I’ve heard once, if I do say so myself.
“So…… quarterback, cheerleader, and nerd, was it?”
The quarterback, a football team position, is the popular male protagonist at school, the cheerleader is that quarterback’s popular girlfriend, and the love triangle involving the nerdy female protagonist getting entangled with them is classic, or so they said.
“Can you tell me about Pizza Saver?”
I’ll connect you to Wikypedia. π
Chwarararak! A sound effect like pages turning rang out, and soon letters appeared in the air.
[Pizza Saver]
A series dramatizing the musical film of the same name, γPizza Saver: Musical Of High Schoolγ. It was planned for Season 2. However, it was criticized for forced and sensational developments such as the death of Joel Gomez, a drama-original character, in a gun terror incident, and Harper Cruz, a main character, exiting after getting pregnant, and ended with only Season 1.
Keywords: High-teen, Romance
Main Characters: Natalia Newton, David Evans, Harper Cruz, Joel Gomez
γReviewsγ
– The worst
– Use the money to make this for charity instead
– The more you watch, the sorrier you feel to yourself and the Earth
Rotten Pineapple Index: 24%
“……”
I was left speechless at the scathing reviews. Unaware of my feelings, the system displayed a new sentence.
Do you want to γSee More…γ?
“I do.”
Spoiler Warning! – Once you learn spoilers, they cannot be undone!!!
Suddenly, a loud siren went bbyong-bbyong! and it changed to red letters like that. It was only unfamiliar and scary at first, but now that I’d gotten used to it, it was just annoying.
“Just open it already.”
π
The nerdy model student Natalia Newton…….
To summarize roughly, it was this.
It was a quadrangular romance involving four people: the model student Natalia Newton, the quarterback David Evans, the cheerleader Harper Cruz, and Joel Gomez. It developed as an ordinary high-teen romance, but the cheerleader Harper Cruz got pregnant as a teenager and exited, and with the death of Joel Gomez in a school shooting by one student, it plunged into a mess, seemed like there might be something but there wasn’t, and then it ended.
“……It really is a terrible work.”
π
“Whatever.”
After snapping at the system, I ruffled my hair wildly. How am I supposed to save this damn trashy high-teen drama?
I thought that if I could prevent the gun terror incident and Joel Gomez’s death, which were the triggers for the drama’s failure, as well as Harper Cruz’s pregnancy and departure, somehow it would work out. And also…….
“Ugh!”
Because of the sharp bangs that kept poking my eyes, it was hard to concentrate on thinking. First, I should go cut this messy hair.
* * *
“Our July has all grown up……!”
I cleanly cut the weird hair and scrubbed off the black nail polish painted on my nails. Except for the tongue piercing that absolutely wouldn’t come out, I removed the piercings stuck in my lips and nose, and Mom had an emotional look on her face.
It made sense. The reason July Baek hadn’t eaten for three whole days and didn’t come out of his room was precisely because the whole family opposed him getting a huge tattoo carved on his back. No matter how much younger than me, he had no sense. No, American age is actual age and since our birthdays are the same, he was the same age as me. Since this is America, I had to count everything by actual age.
“Aren’t you hungry?”
It felt unfamiliar to have Dad, who was always busy with work, hold out delicious-looking porridge toward me. His face looks exactly like my real dad’s but his personality was completely different. Oh, his occupation was different too. Unlike the original world where the whole family were doctors, Mom here was a lawyer and Dad was a prosecutor.
“Should I give you some allowance, hmm?”
“No…… Yes.”
I tried to refuse apologetically. But when I recalled the strange clothes filling the closet, I felt like I should accept. No matter how much of an extra I was, I absolutely couldn’t go to school wearing those clothes.
* * *
<Bluedale High School’s First Semester!>
You’ve entered 12th grade! Just get through this year and you’re completely done with school! Let’s say hello to friends you couldn’t get close to before.
Say hello to 100 Bluedale High School students [0/100]
It was a sentence that appeared as soon as September 9th arrived. It was similar to a game quest. When I was young, I secretly played games and got severely scolded for wasting time on useless things. But something like this ended up happening. I guess there really is nothing useless in the world after all.
“It starts today, right? Pull up the status window.”
<Status Window>
γQuestγ
- Secure the broadcasting rights for Season 2 of ‘Pizza Saver’!
- Say hello to 100 students [0/100]
γRotten Pineappleγ
Current [40]%
β High-teen: 100%
β Romance: 0%
“What’s that?”
I don’t know what the ‘High-teen’ and ‘Romance’ below the Rotten Pineapple are. One is completely full and one is completely empty. When I slightly furrowed my eyebrows, the status window made a sad face again.
π
Tip! The Rotten Pineapple Index increases when building a story faithful to the keywords and when viewer reactions are enthusiastic. My throat hurts if I say things I’ve already said twice! :X
“You don’t even have a voice.”
Is it being subtly annoying? I was dumbfounded. Anyway, it meant that the two keywords of Pizza Saver, ‘High-teen’ and ‘Romance,’ affect the Rotten Pineapple Index, which is why they were displayed.
“Why is High-teen already at 100%?”
High-teen = teens, You = teen. (I didn’t think I’d need to explain this……)
It seems the system has a bad personality.
π
“It’s just annoying even if you smile now.”
π π π π π π π π π π π π π π π π π π π π π
“Ugh.”
Since it seemed like I wouldn’t win even if I fought for no reason, I just packed my bag and came out of the room.
“……Oh my, July. You’re going to school like that?”
Mom, who was about to eat, opened her eyes wide at me.
“Why, is it strange?”
I looked down at myself. It was an ordinary navy sweatshirt with jeans, white sneakers, and a red backpack. I went to the shopping mall and bought things that were as plain as possible while still being my taste, but does it look strange? I tried to look neat…….
“N-no! You’re so pretty……! Our child changed like that after becoming a graduating senior. Time is really cruel…… Honey, give me the one from the entrance day.”
Dad quickly pressed a photo into Mom’s hand. It was the one stuck to the front of the refrigerator. I looked at the photo together with her and was shocked.
“Why is he like this?”
July in the photo was bizarre. The extremely tight black pants were worn with holes torn in places, crosses dangled from his ears as piercings, and he wore a T-shirt with a skull drawn on it. Moreover, his hair was covered in wax or something and stood up spiky like a sea urchin.
His face was very pale, and the panda-like black eyeliner was very bizarre. He hadn’t gotten the lip and nose piercings yet, so fortunately those weren’t there. He was glaring at the camera with dissatisfied eyes, and those pupils were very strange. ……He must have been wearing lenses. I mean those lenses that are larger than actual pupils and pitch black.
“……He went to school like this?”
“He complained so much about how quickly his eyeliner wore out…… He got annoyed that my eyeliner was brown so he couldn’t borrow it, but our son has really grown up.”
“……I’m going to school.”
“Picture, we have to take a picture before you go. Picture!”
I was so embarrassed that someone with a face identical to mine had done such things. I tried to quickly escape the house, but got caught by the scruff of my neck by my parents and took a picture with my older brother. They said it was a commemorative photo for the first day of the graduating semester. ……That was a bit embarrassing too, but it felt a little strange since it was my first family event like this.
“But did you get your car keys?”
“Car keys?”
“Yeah, we bought you a car as soon as you got your license. Did you break it?”
Dad, who was sticking the Polaroid photo we just took on the refrigerator, asked. Oh, right. American high school students drive around. But I, who was an ordinary high school senior, didn’t know the ‘D’ of driving.
“Uh…… I’m going to take a break from driving. I watched a movie with a car accident scene yesterday. Ugh. Scary.”
It would be obvious that they’d think it was strange if a kid who drove fine suddenly said he didn’t know how to drive. After making an unnecessary fuss, I ran outside and ran far from the house. But is this the right direction? It doesn’t seem like there’s a subway here either, so where do I catch the bus? I quickly stopped and asked the system. I got an absurd answer.
IDK!
IDK was the abbreviation for I DON’T KNOW!, and writing the entire text in all caps meant shouting.
I wish the system had a body. So I could beat it up properly.
