Chapter 37

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Translated by Sylph

Read it only at Novelbyu.com & Utoon.net

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The next participant to enter the room after me was Seon Ahyun.
“…Ah!”
Seon Ahyun peeked into the room with a nervous face, and as soon as his eyes met mine, his expression brightened and he quickly ran inside.
Then he smiled broadly.
“I-It’s good that we’re t-together this time.”
“Yeah, I’m counting on you.”
“Nn, I-I’ll work hard…”
It was at that point that Seon Ahyun, who was excitedly opening his mouth, met the eyes of Kim Raebin, who was staring blankly at him.
“…!!”
Only then did Seon Ahyun seem to realize Kim Raebin’s presence, as he was startled and froze.
‘Come to think of it, these two have no point of contact.’
They had different grades and had never met in a team match.
Seon Ahyun hurriedly looked back and forth between me and Kim Raebin, swallowed hard, and greeted Kim Raebin.
“I-I-I look forward to working with you…”
He was incredibly solemn.
“Yes. I also look forward to working with you.”
“A-A-No, I’m the one who…”
Kim Raebin also bowed his head deeply with a serious expression. Then Seon Ahyun also quickly drove his head toward the floor.
It was a bizarre sight that looked like something I’d seen in an internet meme.
‘If I leave these two alone, the conversation won’t proceed.’
As I watched the greeting battle between Kim Raebin and Seon Ahyun, which seemed like it would last forever, the fourth teammate opened the door vigorously and entered.
“Who’s the rabbit?!”
It was Lee Sejin. Shaking a rabbit-shaped badge in one hand, he seemed completely immersed in the room’s concept for some reason.
Lee Sejin quickly checked Seon Ahyun and Kim Raebin. Then he looked at me and burst into laughter.
What now.
“What, why is Moondae here?”
“…?”
When I looked at him with an expression asking what nonsense he was talking about, Lee Sejin continued his words slyly.
“No, I thought you’d definitely be in the room, so I thought we couldn’t be together this time?”
“…….”
Was the Tibetan fox interview not enough?
The puppy image was something I intended to take for the sake of the composition, but the reality was a separate issue, and I wanted to punch this guy once.
Lee Sejin quickly sensed the mood and changed the subject as he moved closer to the people.
“Anyway, isn’t it good that we’re together~ Our teammates are good this time too! Let’s do well! Is there one person left?”
There were a total of 6 rooms with nameplates. Considering that 30 participants were currently surviving, there was a very high probability that 5 people would be assigned per room.
‘Then, since 4 people have come so far, it’s correct that one person is left.’
But I didn’t know who would come.
‘First of all, the rankings and positions are all set like this.’
Teammates were evenly caught without overlapping images, and their rankings were high, and their skills were all decent.
Kim Raebin would do the arrangement, and the leader role would likely be snatched up by Lee Sejin anyway, so that was also fine. Having Seon Ahyun, an all-rounder, made the stage composition easy.
In fact, it meant it wouldn’t matter even if the four of us did it.
‘As long as a troller doesn’t come.’
I could think of a few candidates to avoid, including Choi Wongil. As long as it wasn’t them, it didn’t really matter who came.
The problem was that the teammates had never been formed smoothly until now.
I weighed the situation.
‘Here… I can cover up to Lee Sejin.’
He was uncooperative, but he wasn’t the type to pass a bomb to others for his own benefit, so I just had to coax him gently.
Still, since there was a possibility that his mental state had collapsed during this ranking announcement, it was better not to be with him if possible.
Then, if I were to think of a hopeful scenario for the last member… Well, alphabetically, after excluding those already taken, only one remained.
‘Gold 1 would be the most comfortable.’
Just as I was thinking of the participant with the highest probability, Lee Sejin smiled and made a proposal.
“How about we hide behind the door? Since it’s the last one, it would be nice to welcome them with all our heart and soul.”
It was a predictable idea, but it was also a prank that would show up well on broadcast if the last teammate’s reaction was good.
The problem was the thought that the atmosphere might become strange if Choi Wongil came in, but since the other three had already lined up behind the door, I just gave up.
Trying to stop them here would only make me look strange on camera.
As I let the sound of my teammates whispering small talk behind the door go in one ear and out the other, Lee Sejin, who was leaning against the wall, shouted softly.
“They’re here!”
Then he raised his index finger to his lips and made a fuss. Since I was keeping my mouth shut anyway, I continued to do so.
Soon the door opened along with the sound of footsteps.
“Excuse m… Huh?”
“Ta-da!”
Heads popped out from behind the door with a time delay.
“Gy-aaaak!!”
The participant who opened the door and peeked inside jumped into the air and did a body gag. He was more faint-hearted than expected.
‘Congratulations on your screen time.’
The last teammate who tumbled down with a strange scream was a familiar face.
“Oh dear, I’m sorry. Hyung!”
Gold 1, who was in my expectation, joined.
‘…Not bad.’
For the first time, I gave a positive evaluation after seeing the team composition.
* * *
“Rabbit group, I look forward to working with you~”
“Waaaah!!”
Clap clap clap. The discussion began with sensible reactions without anyone having a sulky expression.
Including college life, the atmosphere was more harmonious than any team project I had ever experienced.
Since the camera was pointed at us, there was no swearing and no one was slacking off.
‘It really is like a kindergarten.’
Of course, not all teams were a hopeful scenario for a group project like the .
For example, two or three teams where only the lower-ranked trainees were grouped because the rank ranges were concentrated already had an atmosphere of half-giving up.
“Ah…”
“Um, let’s do our best…”
“…It ended up like this.”
However, unexpectedly, the despair scenario came from another team where the top trainees were gathered.
Choi Wongil and Lee Sejin had entered Ryu Chungwoo and Cha Yujin’s team. Moreover, even the troller who had grabbed Kim Raebin by the collar was in that team.
A few participants whispered.
“Is it possible to be grouped like that?”
“The combination is fascinating.”
I could hear the sound of Ryu Chungwoo’s stomach melting from here.
‘It’s unfortunate, but it’s better for me.’
Because it would be comfortable if they drew all the editing aggro.
Around the time I was reaching a short conclusion, Lee Sejin was proceeding with the discussion.
“Now, now, let’s talk about the song first! Does anyone have a song they want to do?”
A majority of the teammates raised their hands with their eyes shining. Even Seon Ahyun raised his hand slightly; everyone seemed quite excited.
It was understandable. Finally, the first ‘free song selection team match’ had come.
I recalled the MC’s announcement I had just heard.
‘Everyone can create a stage by choosing all the details as you wish, including the song, choreography, and concept that suits each of your teams! It’s called !’
It meant the production team was going to slack off again.
‘In the last season, I think they let you take something through a mini-game at least.’
It meant that the production team had prepared about ten patterns of concepts, including costumes and stage devices, in advance. It was a structure where the participants chose what they wanted from among them.
But in this season, they were just telling us to figure it out ourselves.
Perhaps at the time of planning this season, it was not manageable to plan in advance due to a lack of budget.
Fortunately, as the program became popular and they secured a lot of additional budget, one advantage was that there were almost no budget constraints for this content now.
‘That’s why these guys are all excited.’
I listened to each of the other teammates’ opinions.
The order of speaking was set clockwise, and Seon Ahyun, who got the right to speak first, shouted softly.
“Ho-How about …!”
. Its features were high notes and choreography with a musical-like composition.
Its refreshing and sophisticated teen sentiment had properly hit the target audience.
As a song by a 9-member boy idol group released 5 years ago, it had given that group the honor of their first 1st place.
Looking back at his past actions, it was a song that Seon Ahyun would openly like.
“Oh, a masterpiece from the first candidate. Good.”
“That’s right. None of us have shown that kind of youth! Refreshing! concept before.”
I also added a word.
“It’s not bad.”
“Y-Yes!!”
Seon Ahyun nodded his head vigorously with a look of joy. Even if it wasn’t selected, he looked like he was dying of happiness just from the positive reaction.
‘How do you live with that face and still be like that?’
It was somewhat pitifully absurd.
“Next is Raebin!”
“Considering the member composition, I think VTIC sunbaenims’ is the most effective choice.”
Lines poured out as if they had been prepared.
“Because it uses many oriental sound samples, the concept is characteristic, and the vocal range is appropriate. Since the choreography has a high level of difficulty, it’s easy to show performance elements, and it’s easy to insert dance break interludes. I can also bring a draft for the arrangement within a day!”
“Nn…”
‘He really wants to do it.’
I wasn’t the only one who thought so, as the other teammates responded a beat slower with dazed expressions.
Kim Raebin seemed to realize it and then hesitantly added words while sensing the mood.
“Of, of course… if there are other good opinions, that’s also fine.”
“Okey-dokey, the song Raebin chose was also good, but let’s listen to other opinions slowly first~”
Lee Sejin brushed it off.
‘But it would be better to listen to the opinion of the guy who will do the arrangement in more detail.’
Perhaps Lee Sejin himself had a song he wanted to push, as he didn’t seem to intend to accept Kim Raebin’s words any further.
‘Should I take care of him a bit?’
I opened my mouth.
“Which element of what you said did you like the most?”
“Pardon? …Ah, that, rather than liking a specific element, I considered the points that were most suitable for the task in various ways.”
It meant he focused on the overall stage completeness. I nodded.
“It’s a perspective we should continue to refer to.”
“That’s right. I was surprised.”
“Raebin has a plan for everything!”
“…Thank you.”
As the teammates added praise, Kim Raebin muttered while bowing his head deeply.
After a brief atmosphere of watching the awkward Kim Raebin warmly was created, Lee Sejin finally gave his opinion.
“The time has come.”
“…?”
“We’ve come this far, it’s time to do a sexy concept…!”
“Se-Se-Sexy…”
“Argh!”
“Uuuh…”
Reactions of cringing followed. Lee Sejin laughed out loud.
“Hahaha! Honestly, you can’t deny it, right? Can you?”
“…….”
It was annoying because he said it so brazenly, but…….
‘…He has a point.’
I couldn’t deny that it was a good idea.
‘As long as it’s handled properly, there’s no concept stronger than this.’
If we could look cool while maintaining the level of intensity at a sophisticated level, the sexy concept was a traditionally proven route to success.
I crossed my arms and asked Lee Sejin.
“What song do you want to do?”
“Huh? As expected, Moondae has an eye for things. Actually, I don’t want to push one specific song, but I want to compare several songs and decide on the song that will show this… sexy concept most successfully through discussion. What do you think?”
“…….”
It was fine.
But the other two’s opinions were also fine.
I turned my head and looked at Gold 1, who hadn’t spoken yet.
Gold 1 looked like he had been burned white.
“I… don’t know. I was just going to say let’s try to bring the rabbit to life…. But everyone… has such a clear vision… don’t you?”
It seemed he had lost his will to fight because the other opinions were too firm. It was understandable. I shrugged my shoulders.
“M-Moondae… uh, what do you want to do?”
“Me? I don’t have anything special decided.”
When I answered Seon Ahyun’s question immediately, Lee Sejin’s eyes shone.
“Oh, then I want to hear Moondae’s choice! Which of our opinions do you like the most?”
“…!”
The gazes of the rest of the teammates were fixed on Lee Sejin’s words.
…It was very burdensome. But it was a situation I couldn’t ignore.
‘Which one is the best’, huh.
I was lost in thought.