Chapter 60

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Translated by Sylph

Read it only at Novelbyu.com & Utoon.net

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Amid the dark silhouettes of the participants on stage, the audience caught glimpses of several features of modern combat uniforms. They were the outlines of bulletproof vests or harnesses.

‘Whoa.’

The moment the excited audience let out internal screams, a sudden electronic sound echoed through the concert hall again. It was a modulated neutral human voice.

[Searching for a matching opponent……]
[Successful search.]
[Confirming location.]
[Thirteenth round. Entering…….]

To that voice, various classic game button sounds formed a new melody.
BBi BBi- Ding dong! BBibibibibi
BBi, BBi, BBi—-!

The participants on stage moved their bodies to the sound. The movements, which had unnaturally included popping, reminded one of some kind of dolls or robots. And then, a sudden freeze.

Thud.

After finishing the short movement and stopping, lights came on over them.

– The VICTORY in your hand
I’m the one who makes it real

A clean human voice pierced through the modulated accompaniment. Seon Ahyun, who was in a typical shot pose under the lights, grinned at the end of the line.

“Argh!!”

In an instant, a burst of cheers filled the concert hall. As if responding to the cheers, the participants began to move dazzlingly.

– The stage is always thrilling
My heart feels like it’s going to burst

Kwon Heeseung followed the line of Keun Sejin, who appeared while sweeping the floor, and sang.

– My WEAPON in my hand
I’ll never let go, you know

Whenever the vocalists pushed forward to the center, complex movements were added in between, and the stiff movements like classic game characters soon vanished. Combined with the costumes, it felt like selecting a character to play on a recent game’s character screen.

– Overflowing adrenaline
Soaring POWER sent
The final SHOT!

– Drink in your excitement
Shuddering with what sense left
The final ROUND!

The voice of Kim Raebin, who rarely took on vocals, jumped over the microphone. The choreography, involving taking formation and pulling the arms in a unique shooting motion, was designed for people to follow along.

And then the chorus. Riding the rising scale, Park Moondae hit the high notes.

– Shoot and fly, the final Match-!
Since I’m the one smiling at the highlight
That VICTORY in your hand-!
I gave it to you, you’ll like it too

And then, the beat that had risen insanely after the chorus dropped temporarily.

Boom!

Amid the heavily echoing bass, the theme melody flowed out again. Those on stage took a triangular formation and began to stomp their feet.

– The VICTORY in your hand
I’m the one who makes it real
– The CHALLENGER you pick and choose
Is right here, it’s me

Moving their bodies with power, choreography suitable for the heavy beat was laid out on the stage. With each popping movement, the intensity was distinguished enough to feel a strange sense of intimidation. During the movements of shaking their heads and striking a pose, the audience watched the stage with their mouths agape.

It was the same for the viewers. The comment window stopped for a moment as the stage began, and then it was flooded with short words like ‘Crazy’, ‘Whoa’, ‘Wow’. Even with terrible camera work, the quality of the stage was felt.

And moving into the second verse, a new formation appeared.

– Your expectation is always ecstatic
My heart feels like it’s going to stop

The figures on stage moved in their parts first, moving as if they were leading other team members while matching the formation alone. It was cruelly difficult to do simultaneously with live singing, but it looked incredibly cool.

After Kim Raebin exchanged short but elaborate raps with Lee Sejin’s vocals at the bridge, the chorus appeared again.

Bang!

Here, the iconic shooting choreography appeared again to prevent any potential fatigue. And again, a drop that brought out the melody and nuance of the demo version that viewers would have heard every time on the broadcast.

– The VICTORY in your hand
I’m the one who makes it real
– The CHALLENGER you pick and choose
Is right here, it’s me

This time, Seon Ahyun came forward and took charge of the choreography. Dazzling footwork went back and forth over the heavy beat. Overall, this meticulously composed stage captured both the pleasure of seeing and hearing, increasing the level of concentration. Thanks to that, viewers flooded the screen with question marks, saying the stage ended in an instant.

[Take this crown.]
[You’re welcome!]

The end of the stage. While a narration similar to the early electronic sound was laid out, the participants, who stretched and cracked their necks, waved their hands and walked behind the stage, disappearing. The 8-bit melody rang out as if it were about to cut off.

BBi- BBi- BBibibibibi
BBi, BBi—-!

As lights burst from behind the stage, their silhouettes slowly faded. Usually, choreography ending with a pose was the standard. This was a composition close to a gamble. However, thanks to choosing such a unique ending, they were like characters who enjoyed a game and then disappeared.

“Waaaaah!!”

The viewers were extremely excited. After a period where only words were rampant, comments capable of communication began to appear around the time the inserted middle advertisement ended.

– lololol
– These cruel guys, they chose the first slot for this
– You hit with this in the opening?
– It reminds me of the rabbit mask time, but back then they at least delayed it on the broadcast lol
– No joke, it’ll be hard to beat this
– Wow, but f*ck, it’s really cool. My jaw almost dropped
– My gums are all dry from grinning
– It was a game concept lol. Park Moondae and Seon Ahyun are smart
– Honestly, was this the best Ajusa stage so far? Agreed?
– Tears are flowing. Seon Ahyun is already an idol and I won’t accept any refutation to this. Everyone, buy the stocks before it’s too late
└ Go to the fan site~
└ It’s the end, so let’s let it slide. It seems Seon Ahyun will debut anyway lol
– It seems four from this team will debut; what about the next team… oh dear..

And as the viewers expected, the next team’s stage was bland. This team, composed of relatively low-ranking members, was given screen time showing them competing in good faith for main positions and strengthening teamwork. And like the previous team, this team also tried to bring out the keyword . However, the lyrics and choreography focusing on effort, passion, and desperation lacked sophistication and instead became burdensome. Because the previous team had composed the stage by mixing humor and fantasy, this comparison was more prominent.

– They’re working hard
– That guy caught my eye. I should buy him a share
– Boring
– Everyone seems cute and kind~

Amid somewhat dry reactions, the second team’s stage ended. And in this loose atmosphere, the last team’s stage was revealed. The preparation process was equally unremarkable, but they added a bit more screen time to Ryu Chungwoo overcoming his slump. Whether he actually overcame his slump was unknown. However, on the broadcast, it appeared as if he had taken the leader role, which he had been declining, in the middle and performed it excellently.

– Yeah, I got it. You want me to vote for Ryu Chungwoo?
– Right, he doesn’t want to miss the military exemption lol
– Ryu Chungwoo is fine, but it’s a bit annoying
– He’ll probably sweep the muggle (non-fan) votes~

The reactions of the hardcore viewers were somewhat lukewarm. Ryu Chungwoo’s good screen time wasn’t something that started yesterday or today. If Ryu Chungwoo hadn’t been a former national representative, I don’t know what kind of insults he would have received, but anyway, nothing that crossed the line happened.

And the stage.

– Cha Yujin-nim is going crazy.
– He’s completely unstoppable!
– Ruler of the stage! Incarnation!
– lol only drips are coming out
– He’s really good though
– Hmm, will he get first place

Cha Yujin tore up the stage again. In fact, due to his personality of not caring much about the harmony with others, his presence didn’t make other people’s parts look good. It was just that the stage looked cool because Cha Yujin was shining. He could be seen as a talent optimized for solo or competition programs.

The viewers chattered happily.

– Ah, that was fun.
– It’s fun because the first and last slots were good
– What’s left now?

Important announcement by Young-rin, who was hosting again, remained.

“How was the team stage prepared by the participants? Yes, you seem to have enjoyed watching it. …Then now, the time for the important announcement has arrived.”

Young-rin pointed at the screen with her hand.

“That is, the announcement of the number of debut members!”

* * *

The participants, who had finished all the stages, had come down below the stage to prepare for the last stage. A popup about a successful stage or whatever appeared after a long time, but I wasn’t in a situation where I could look into it. Because I didn’t know when my face would be broadcast live.

A camera was following each participant team to capture reactions in case any announcement was made on stage. And just then, the number was being announced above.

“How many do you think?”
“You?”
“Me… ten people?”

Keun Sejin shrugged. It seemed like an answer mixed with a bit of a wish. Kim Raebin, who had just finished receiving a makeup touch-up next to him, seriously joined in.

“In my opinion, it will be an odd number. Since they often prefer an odd number considering the formation of idol groups.”
“That makes sense.”

That… wasn’t how it worked, though. I clicked my tongue inwardly and turned my head. My eyes met Seon Ahyun’s, who had just finished praying.

“How many people do you think it will be?”
“W-well…… p-probably… 7 people?”
“7 people?”
“Isn’t that too few?”

Whether they had overheard from the surroundings, this guy and that guy joined in and gave a rebuke. Everyone was pretending otherwise, but it seemed to be because they were extremely nervous. Seon Ahyun shrank back, but he didn’t withdraw his opinion.

‘As expected, did his personality change?’

I shrugged.

“I think the most people would have picked 7 people too. Although it’d be better if more people picked more than that.”
“Ye-yes!”

Seon Ahyun nodded. As I was listening to Cha Yujin muttering something like ‘I like even numbers’ next to me, the sound of the audience screaming above echoed down to the bottom.

“What is it?”

It was a vibration-like echo. While the participants were flustered, Young-rin’s voice over the microphone was heard clearly down to the bottom.

“The average number of debut members desired by the shareholders of this was… 6.47 people!”

All the participants froze.

“As a result of correcting the number to a natural number through rounding… the final number of debut members is, 6!”

And the top became noisy again with screams and insults.

“What did she just say?”
“6.4…, what?”

Behind the participants’ bewildered voices, I let out a sigh.

‘This is the last episode’s attention-grabber.’

They had averaged the number of debut members people chose. The number of debut members could only be voted once and could not be revised. Thanks to that, the ‘ideal number of members for an idol group’ people had voted for without much thought in the early stages of popularity was included just like that.

By a narrow margin, the most people chose 5 people. However, the series was a huge hit, and this was the result of the production staff’s tearful trickery to increase the number. Although it ended with only one more person added because trolled votes for 1 person in internet communities where aggressive tendencies were gathered also went into the sample.

– If you were going to do it in such a stupid way, you should have said so in advance, you bastards lololol
– 6.47 so 6 people? 6 people? Are you out of your minds lol

Already imagining the predictable internet reactions, I shook my head.

‘Let’s just prepare our hearts.’

Once the last stage was over, it would be the final ranking announcement ceremony.