Chapter 9

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Translated by Sylph

Read it only at Novelbyu.com & Utoon.net

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For the theme song stage, participants were placed in a fan shape around the Platinum grade group. Naturally, the higher the grade, the further forward and closer to the center they were.

Other than that, the only grade privilege was that there were parts that only the Platinum group could dance.

However, since catching a single shot on camera could change the initial ranking, everyone seemed to pay attention to their grade.

Furthermore, the production staff and trainers spoke and moved as if the grade had an incredibly significant meaning, so it was easy for the still young participants to be swept away.

What I mean is, as soon as I attached the Platinum badge, the number of participants talking to me increased fivefold.

I felt a bit of skepticism toward this blatant social hierarchy that I hadn’t even experienced in high school.

To create such an atmosphere, what would these people with such excellent personalities do in the future…….

Fortunately, the wicked production staff also had thoughts about the directing. They placed participants whose dance was A or higher among the Platinum grade further forward in the starting timing and dance break in the formation.

And participants whose dance was relatively weak were cleverly pushed back. Well, naturally I was in this case too.

My formation in the dance break was even slightly behind the Gold grade. I could see Seon Ahyun and Lee Sejin (Gold) standing right next to me.

Come to think of it, Lee Sejin, the child actor, received Silver. Just based on the flow, I wonder if that one is the one who really debuts.

“Isn’t it a bit of a pity?”

So I ended up roughly passing over this kind of friendly act from Lee Sejin (Gold). Because he was slightly out of suspicion, the hurdle unconsciously went down.

“Not really.”

I answered calmly. He must be talking about the fact that the stage position wasn’t very good for a Platinum grade.

“Wow, I think I would have felt quite regretful.”

“You would be like that.”

“Hmm? Why do you think so?”

“Because you’re good at dancing.”

Lee Sejin’s dance was A-. His vocal was C+, and if he hadn’t made a cracked note at a high note, he might have entered the Platinum instead of me.

“Mmm, thanks!”

Anyway, Lee Sejin seemed to feel better and smiled broadly.

At that moment, another voice suddenly cut in.

“You can’t dance?”

It was a participant of the Platinum grade who was standing right in the front center. He had a blank expression and didn’t seem to have any particular ill will.

The problem was that he was the guy who was 1st in the first rank evaluation. And as far as I knew, he was also the final 1st place.

His name was Cha Yujin. He was famous enough that I had seen his face several times even on the TV in the white-rice restaurant at the exam village I used to go to.

But he was a weirder guy than I expected.

The microphone is on and the camera is rolling, and he asks like this?

He managed to get 1st place with such a personality of just throwing words.

Of course, looking at the status window details and all, he was certainly noticeably good in every evaluation.

Still, there was a high probability that the broadcast editing was also favorable. Let’s not get involved with such material.

So I purposely gave a smirk.

“Didn’t you see my evaluation?”

Then he looked taken aback. Is he the type who feels guilty in such a situation?

“We have to prepare our own stage. So we didn’t see it well.”

“Then try to judge while watching next time.”

“I understand.”

Cha Yujin nodded and then turned his gaze forward. Lee Sejin smiled as if he were flabbergasted.

“It must be because he came from abroad, his way of speaking is unique?”

“I guess so.”

Lee Sejin also seemed conscious of the camera, and the conversation didn’t go further.

Instead, I looked at the staff outside the stage. It seemed that part was also organized.

“Rehearsal begins!”

The staff shouted. As expected, the setting seemed to have finished.

I suppressed a sigh.

It was hard to wait while taking care of the equipment on the street, but I never thought I would do this directly.

The current time is 6 AM.

And the main stage recording is 4 PM.

It seemed it would be a march of ordeal.

* * *

And currently, 8 PM.

Even the main filming has been finished.

“Good work, everyone~!”

As I first expected… there was no ordeal like it.

“Heuu…….”

“Ah… I’m dying.”

Participants groaned beside me and fell to the floor in a row. Everyone was soaked in sweat.

I was in no different state, but the participants who fell first were filling the floor, so there was no space to sit.

It was a funny thing.

‘My stamina is bottomed out.’

First, we did rehearsals all morning until we were exhausted. Only after that did we receive a short lunch time as a break.

The meal was just gimbap wrapped in silver foil, as if they hadn’t secured related PPL yet.

After roughly eating, groups related to stylists flocked into the filming set.

-Ah, there’s really nowhere to put anything~

-Bow your head this way!

-I’ll do it quickly.

They were irritated by the poor environment in the open space used as a waiting room, but they mechanically applied makeup and touched up the hair of the participants.

Honestly, there was no dramatic change for anyone, but at least it became enough to be seen on broadcast.

After that, we changed into the broadcast uniforms.

At this time, a camera came toward me.

-Do you like the clothes?

-…Yes.

Is there any guy who would say no here?

-What point do you like?

-Well, as the design encompasses both uniforms and school uniforms, it seems various concepts could be directed.

I’m sorry I can’t say the impression that it’s a bit disgusting since 77 people are wearing the same clothes, making it feel like I’m back in an all-boys high school.

As soon as I finished speaking, other participants around me cut in in droves.

-I like that various accessories can be matched~

-Ah! I like that it goes well with the badge too!

It’ll only be one or two shots passing by from here, but everyone was truly enthusiastic.

And the main filming.

Honestly, from here… I don’t know how the editing will go in.

-Going again~

-Ugh…….

While dancing as a group in a place so hot as if to get a heatstroke about thirty times, I didn’t have the mind to care about such things.

I think I heard some praise, some criticism, and some motivational lines aiming for emotion, but it’s mushy in my head.

Honestly, the memory was faint. I didn’t know which cut the production staff would use among the thirty times.

I tried to get my senses together while listening to the PD’s words.

“Everyone, you really did a great job……,”

The main PD, who appeared only toward the end of the main stage, seemed to make empty compliments, but fortunately, he provided some useful information after a few words.

“……And this stage will be aired on MusicBOMB next Friday. You will start filming again the day after that. Until then, rest well, but you should never forget that this is a tremendous opportunity for you. You should grab this opportunity.”

Looking at him, one would think a participant could grab the opportunity just by trying.

I listened to the words of the PD, who could tailor the opportunity as he wished, and the participants responded enthusiastically.

“Let’s work hard, to the death.”

“Yes!!”

“Then see you next week. Good work~”

“Good job!”

Everyone squeezed out their remaining strength to shout and applaud. I also applauded for now. My hands were shaking.

“…….”

Until the MusicBOMB monitoring next week, I should build up my stamina.

* * *

A week passed in an instant.

My plan to build stamina was half successful. Because as soon as the first filming ended, I suddenly got a fever and was under the covers for three days after taking medicine.

It seemed Park Moondae’s body couldn’t withstand the tight labor of several weeks.

Anyway, after getting up after 3 days, I increased my food intake aggressively. And I’m currently doing both dance practice and muscle exercises.

I can be seen as quite diligent since I’m holding dumbbells even while watching MusicBOMB.

So let’s count it as half successful.

[Mr. Siwon, did you enjoy SoulWe’s stage, which returned with exciting EDM?]

[Of course, Siwon was so excited that his chest felt completely refreshed?]

[Are you making a joke now? Booo~]

[Booo~]

A pair of idols host cheerfully on the screen.

They seem to be reading the teleprompter hard, but they still recited the cringeworthy script quite skillfully.

It seems they are trying hard by splitting their time despite their busy schedule.

[Mr. Siwon! Now, shall we introduce the next stage, which is no joke?]

[Yes. Have you heard that news, Ms. Yunji?]

[What kind of news is it?]

[The news the shareholders have been waiting for so anxiously! It’s right here~ has been relisted!]

[Waaaa!]

It’ll start soon. I put down the dumbbells and picked up the smartphone to turn on the page I had accessed in advance.

It was a viewer comment board made by a huge portal site, the best page to look at general internet reactions.

Coincidentally, as it wasn’t a comeback week for a major singer, the page was full of stories about Idol Inc.

[‘MusicBOMB’ talk talk!]

-RelistingㅋㅋㅋIs this for real?
-There are so many ways to overdo it
-Wow, pretending to not know Season 3!
-ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋNo, it’s not relisting, it’s delisting
-What is this? Why is it suddenly like this here?
└They say they’re making a new season of Ajusaㅋ
└Ah…….
-Is it just me who came to see the comments instead of the boring stage?

Hmm. Reactions as expected are overflowing.

Every time I pressed refresh, colorful mockery poured out in droves. It seemed there were more people who flocked here than the original MusicBOMB viewers.

And to summarize those reactions, it was that Season 3 was an overreach and would surely fail. It seemed the perception that the series itself was a failed program was firmly established because Season 2 blew up so grandly and flashily.

As expected, mockery quoting Season 2 also catches the eye.

-Will it explode between men this time? Is a bigger Korea coming?ㅋ
└I don’t know~ Who knows if premarital pregnancy will break out again and remain as a legendary story of the idol audition world
└X발ㅋㅋㅋㅋ

There is a major reason why Season 2 self-destructed. They received participants by mixing men and women and proceeded as a co-ed idol audition.

It was a bizarre idea no matter how I thought about it again.

I wonder what kind of whim the production staff had.

If they had made Season 2 as a male version according to the standard, no, even if they had proceeded with a female version one more time, that wouldn’t have happened.

What that situation is…

-I don’t know~ Who knows if premarital pregnancy will break out again and remain as a legendary story of the idol audition world
└Eukㅋㅋㅋ Two seasons in a row!
└Now you’re laughing, but X발 it was really about to be a trauma at that time. You crazy bastards, why do you come out to an audition program and piss off innocent viewers
└Heek, sudden acceleration;
└You’re so over-invested in a variety show~
└No, it’s not just a variety show, it’s an audition that eats money~
└Meanwhile, thinking about how Ajusa made a fuss to somehow link them as a romance of the century still makes me grind my teethㅎ

That’s right. Premarital pregnancy broke out…….

In this field where even dating is fatal, premarital pregnancy.

Moreover, it broke out between participants.

The bigger problem was that the two participants who had the premarital pregnancy were popular participants who led Season 2.

The production staff seemed to have thought that since it was a co-ed group anyway, it would be better to use them for buzz and then slip them out rather than immediate expulsion.

So they would have tried their best to edit the remaining broadcast parts of the two into a romance reality style.

But that wasn’t the end.

-A two-timing premarital pregnancy, he was a crazy guy who will never appear again in the idol world.
-Indeed Ajusa is legendary…… No, not Ajusa but Mangjusa (Failed-jusa)ㅎ

The male participant among the participants whose premarital pregnancy scandal broke out was actually dating another female participant as well.

The female participant intended to endure it for her career, but it’s said she saw the pinkish broadcast and went crazy, and reported the messenger history to a news agency.

After that… it was disastrous.

Portal real-time search terms, entertainment news pages, and even SNS were all destroyed.

Just… you only need to remember that Ajusa Season 2 couldn’t go to the final and ended early.

And as long as such a super-sized scandal is still firmly embedded in the minds of the viewers, they won’t be able to avoid mockery no matter what they do in the early stages of the broadcast.

I folded the recollection and focused on the screen again.

Contrastingly with the chaotic comment section, the MusicBOMB MCs were still smiling brightly.

[Full of idol stocks waiting for investment from the shareholders!]
[Shine your star!]

And here comes that famous catchphrase.

[Invest now in the idol who is about to take flight!]

At that moment, the comment generation suddenly tripled.

-Fly, stock…… Fantasy surge…… ↖Fly…… up↗

This is also an internet meme that was popular for a while. It seems it was often used when a participant who was thought to do well failed due to malicious editing.

Between these comments that were coming up almost at the level of spam, a few lamentation posts passed by.

-Wow, they’re using this again.
-Who decided on the phrase, it’s really from another world.
-ㄹㅇ It’s like a retired old man trying to be hip and failing.
-Don’t make Siwon say such lines, you crazy broadcasting station bastardsㅠㅠ

I gave a smirk.

“Still, they are watching.”

They’re watching to curse.

It was hundreds of times better than indifference. This early viewer base will surely contribute to the early word of mouth. Since it is already an experienced fact that Season 3 becomes a great success.

Anyway, it means the majority of them will be crying while holding onto someone’s stock by the final (to put it in Ajusa’s way).

But they wouldn’t be like that from the first stage.

I was looking forward to what kind of reaction would come out again.

A few seconds after the MC finished speaking, the TV screen showed the stage.

Youngrin was standing on the stage. The light pinned down on her engraved dramatic shadows on her face with clear outlines.

Well, originally was a B-class style full of black comedy and memes, being humorous, but since it became a meme and was cursed at like crazy, it seemed they tried to change their image a bit.

Will they go solemnly?

[Shareholders! Do you remember the last delisting?]

“……?”

My prediction was shattered as soon as Youngrin opened her mouth.

[We are truly sorry for making your stocks into pieces of paper!!]

In front of Youngrin, who boasts a loud vocalization, a large subtitle appears.

[※This content is the apology of the production staff. Youngrin is not guilty.※]
[※We are still receiving claims for damages on the homepage.※]

“…….”

Are they insane?