Chapter 52
===================
Translated by Sylph
Read it only at Novelbyu.com & Utoon.net
===================
After the eliminated participants packed their bags and left, the remaining participants changed into their training uniforms at the dormitory and gathered again.
Despite the tearful farewells just a while ago, everyone now seemed filled with a strange sense of elitism.
‘It couldn’t be helped.’
Having reached the finals with the support of an unspecified majority, it was understandable for their egos to inflate. Unless someone had an exceptionally strong mentality, it was easy to get swept up in the atmosphere. They were young, too.
The MC was nowhere to be seen, perhaps having gone home. Instead, Young-rin proceeded with the filming.
“The 20 participants who will complete the final stage of , congratulations. Shall we give ourselves a round of applause?”
“Yes!”
Clap, clap, clap. The sound of applause rang out. However, what mattered now wasn’t these formalities.
‘Why is there nothing here?’
It was definitely the timing to divide into the final teams. But there was nothing at the filming site. Not a single prop waiting in standby could be seen. All that was there was the electronic display. What were they planning?
“First, we will reveal the songs you will perform for the final stage.”
[Hello! We are Egler.]
“Gasp.”
The composer team appeared on the display and greeted them. They were a well-known team that had worked on several titles for famous idols. As a few cuts from familiar music videos passed by, the participants grew excited.
[We… will now reveal the song we are giving to the participants!]
‘It’s a new song.’
Only after reaching the finals did they give a song that could be included in the debut team’s album. One could guess the budget scale before the season started.
[Lalu~ La Li~]
Anyway, the song was good. It was catchy and wasn’t the kind of song that would momentarily enter the music charts thanks to the program’s popularity and then vanish instantly. The problem was that I couldn’t understand what the guide vocal was saying.
‘This sounds like they’re just singing whatever comes to mind.’
Wait, could it be?
“The title of this song is . And the lyrics… do not exist!”
“Pardon?”
“There are no lyrics?”
Reactions poured out from the participants at Young-rin’s words. Soon, one of the composers on the screen awkwardly struck a ‘fighting’ pose while reading the script.
[Please use your creativity to complete the demo version of ! Fighting!]
Young-rin spoke as if taking over the sound from the video.
“That is correct. is an unfinished song.”
“…!”
“The participants must write the lyrics themselves, complete the choreography, and give it a subtitle that suits the song. Also, rearrangement is possible.”
I knew it would be like this.
‘Is there some ghost of self-production haunting this place?’
No matter how popular self-producing idols were, I didn’t expect them to go this far in the finals. Didn’t they see that everyone except the team practically messed up the production part in the third team match? The team’s first place was thanks to Cha Yujin. Even there, the song alone wasn’t that great.
‘Even though the final is a live broadcast, what are they planning to do?’
With a sour expression, I finished listening to the final stage song flowing from the display. What was certain was that I had to be on the same team as Kim Raebin. Lyrics and arrangement? No need to look further; I had to grab this guy first.
‘So, how exactly do we form the teams?’
As if responding to that thought, Young-rin announced.
“And the team composition to create the stage together… is completely free.”
“…!!”
“Regardless of who forms which team, the production staff will not interfere at all. You just need to form a team within a maximum of 7 people and proceed with practice.”
Oh boy.
‘It’s going to be a mess.’
If anyone handled this poorly, they would become a controversy generator at the last minute. As far as I knew, they had laid plenty of landmines for the live broadcast on the day of the finals. I didn’t expect it to be a minefield even in the preparation part for the final stage.
“And the winning benefit for the final stage… is 10 million won.”
“Heh!”
Strange noises erupted from here and there. Everyone seemed flustered by the sudden prize money.
“For fair competition, the production staff has decided to leave the final debut of the participants entirely in the hands of the shareholders.”
Forget these insincere words; with 10 million won… after taxes, I would probably get around 7.8 million won.
‘Whatever happens, I want to take that.’
As a side note, I still hadn’t received the refrigerator I won in the talent show. I hoped these guys wouldn’t delay the prize money and then act like they never promised it. While calculating, I listened to Young-rin’s remaining words.
“Then, the team formation to create the final stage together, start… now!”
As soon as those words were uttered, the participants started moving in a flurry.
“Moondae-ya.”
“Hyung.”
They spoke to me from both sides immediately. It was the 7th ranked Keun Sejin and the 5th ranked Kim Raebin. Keun Sejin looked at Kim Raebin and smiled brightly. I guess there were no overlapping positions.
“Shall the three of us go together for now?”
“That sounds good.”
“Sure.”
The agreement ended in an instant. In the meantime, Seon Ahyun, who had been standing in the 2nd place spot over there, approached hesitantly. Well, since Seon Ahyun was someone who wouldn’t be a loss to include, it was fine.
“Shall we do it together?”
“Ye-yes!”
Seon Ahyun’s face brightened. The other team members nodded without much objection. That made four. I furrowed my brows. 2nd, 5th, 6th, and 7th.
‘Is this a bit much?’
If we weren’t careful, people might criticize us as a ‘privileged’ high-ranking team that only worked with each other through friendship. It seemed like it was time to include a participant who was reasonably skilled but had a relatively low rank and no personal connection.
“Hyung. Cha Yujin is…”
“Hmm.”
Kim Raebin started to speak. I checked Cha Yujin and Ryu Chungwoo, who were already talking over there. 1st and 4th. Ah, that wouldn’t work.
“How about we just stop here?”
“Pardon?”
‘Anyway, if I refuse this and suggest bringing in someone I’m not close to with a low rank, it won’t go through.’
I cleanly gave up on additional recruitment. Keun Sejin immediately provided support. This guy must have already grasped the situation too.
“We have to think about our screen time on stage too~ Since it’s the last one, wouldn’t it be good to show a lot? Our current positions are just right!”
“…….”
They wouldn’t be able to deny it. If Cha Yujin came in, there might be some distortion in the editing or screen time. Kim Raebin remained silent for a moment with a contemplating face, then soon nodded peacefully.
“You are right.”
It was a wise decision.
‘It’s not like votes are on the line, just prize money.’
I didn’t know the voting method yet, but even if it was individual voting and disadvantageous for winning, it didn’t matter. Ultimately, the stage screen time was more important. Four people were enough. At the settled situation, Keun Sejin turned around energetically.
“Then we’ll report it like this—”
“Excuse me. Hyung-nims!”
At that moment, someone interrupted Keun Sejin and came in. It was Gold 2.
“Ah, could we… join you?”
Surprisingly, Gold 2 approached us along with the 11th ranked Lee Sejin.
‘How did he lure him?’
Gold 2 was trying his best not to show how anxious and nervous he was, but honestly, it was obvious.
“…….”
How should I refuse this without getting cursed at? I glanced at Keun Sejin. He was wearing a pitying smile. He was clearly squeezing out a refusal message. He must be thinking it was annoying since we had already set up a decent small elite team.
However, Gold 2 was spirited. I mean that in a somewhat sad sense.
“I’m really! Confident I can work hard! I can do any part given to me without complaining!”
This was making the picture look strange. It would have been better if Cha Yujin had come and asked to join; I could have refused by mixing in some humor and splitting it with a rival gimmick. But an 18th-ranked high school junior was doing this, and I would reject him? Even more, more than half of this team was in the same group as him in the first team match.
‘This is going to give them editing material.’
I suppressed a sigh. I should have ended it quickly with words like ‘Sorry, the four of us decided to do it together’ as soon as he spoke. However, no one would have wanted to take the lead in that.
In this case, it was better to just accept them, but I had just rejected Cha Yujin using screen time as an excuse. It would be strange for me or Keun Sejin, who had made the remarks, to say we should accept them.
“C-can’t we do it together…?”
Fortunately, the softest-hearted guy here surrendered first. Seon Ahyun spoke up while tentatively gauging the mood.
‘Well done.’
Now the key was persuading Kim Raebin…
“I think it will be fine.”
Huh?
‘He accepted it easily?’
Kim Raebin had unexpectedly nodded readily. I didn’t know if he was reacting sensitively because he had experienced the spicy taste of editing once, or if there was another reason.
“Mmm, what does Moondae think?”
“It’s fine.”
“Right. Then shall we do it together?”
“Whoa! Thank you!”
Gold 2 raised both hands in a ‘hurray’ pose. Behind him, Lee Sejin lowered his head with a stiff expression and then straightened up. It was truly surprising that he could still act so stiff.
“Thank you for what? Let’s do well.”
Keun Sejin quickly settled the situation and headed toward Young-rin. After exchanging a few words, letters soon appeared on the display.
[Group 1 Confirmed!]
[Seon Ahyun (2), Kim Raebin (5), Park Moondae (6), Lee Sejin B (7), Lee Sejin A (11), Kwon Heeseung (18)]
It was confirmed. I felt a bit sour because it seemed to have been made more haphazardly than expected. I didn’t want to include a problematic bomb like Lee Sejin either. But it was better than being labeled as an eyesore for acting like we only wanted to work among ourselves.
At that moment, Cha Yujin’s voice, filled with regret, rang out from behind.
“Ah, I missed it!”
“…….”
Apparently, that team had been discussing ‘Park Moondae’ as the main vocal. Group 1 had been formed so quickly that the timing hadn’t even come.
“Hyung! Let’s work together next time!”
“That would be nice.”
I thought as I replied to Cha Yujin, who was waving his hands vigorously among the participants.
‘This is the last one; where is there a next time?’
Cha Yujin was the possessor of a cheerful brain until the very end.
* * *
“Wow, since we formed our team quickly, our practice time has increased significantly!”
Keun Sejin smiled broadly and led the conversation. Since it was already the fourth stage, it was good that there was no time-wasting ‘getting to know each other’ process.
“First, let’s pick a leader and proceed immediately!”
“Oh~”
People continued to look at Keun Sejin with exclamations. Since he had been the leader in all previous team matches, they seemed to think he would do it this time too. Keun Sejin smiled and shook his head.
“Ah, I won’t be applying for the leader position!”
“…!?”
“Why, why?”
To the team members who were swept by shock, Keun Sejin blinked his eyes in an exaggeratedly embarrassed manner.
I want to poke those eyeballs out.
“I… want to be the main dancer!”
“…….”
The two positions weren’t mutually exclusive, and I didn’t know why he was talking nonsense now.
‘You did both in the second match.’
Was he planning to use that statement when aiming for the main dancer? Along with some cheesy line like ‘I even gave up being the leader!’ Lee Sejin, the former actor, threw out a comment.
“You can do both.”
“Ah~ Right. But this time, I want to challenge myself with more soul.”
Keun Sejin smiled and gathered his hands.
“Besides, there’s a lot to plan this time, so, mmm, I also thought about this in the third match. How about having someone with creative talent be the leader?”
At those words, I turned my eyes to Kim Raebin. Kim Raebin looked blankly at Keun Sejin, and then, noticing my gaze, opened his mouth with an ‘Ah’ exclamation.
“I would like to recommend Park Moondae hyung.”
“…….”
That’s not it.