Chapter 16

If we can't debut, we'll get a disease that will kill us - Chapter 16

The opposing team wasn't bad. First, Ryu Cheong-woo fit the song well, and objectively, their performance was above average compared to the other teams.

However, in the audience's mind, the team they would compare them to wouldn't be the other teams.

It would be VTIC.

The problem was that they covered the latest hit song by the most popular male idol group, which was currently imprinted in the brains of many people.

Even if there were parts where they performed better than VTIC, it wouldn't be easily recognized. The internet was full of VTIC fans.

In most cases, opinions like "Can't compare to VTIC" would overshadow any other comments.

Of course, even setting all that aside... our side did perform better.

The team members seemed to know this, as their faces were bright when they went back on stage for the pre-vote greeting.

The MC introduced the teams in the order of their performances.

"Ah, our 'October 31' team! It was a spooky and fun performance, just like Halloween! Was that the intended meaning of the team name?"

"Yes! It means 'cute Halloween creatures'! And there's another meaning."

"What is it?"

"Like 31 flavors of ice cream, it means our team members each have diverse charms!"

Daesejin acted as the emcee, looking around at the team members. The other members quickly struck poses as planned.

I... casually placed my fingers on my cheeks.

In reality, my peers would only do such things when drunk and trying to mock someone, but in a survival situation, what's the point of maintaining one's dignity?

"Aaaah!!"

"Cute!"

Fortunately, there was no solemn reaction. It was a good thing that I had set Park Moon-dae's appearance stat high.

With a B-level appearance, he barely crossed the line from "handsome" to "good-looking."

Then, the opposing team's introduction followed.

"Hello, I am..."

It wasn't embarrassing, but the difference in cheers made it clear that the opposing team was nervous.

"Hello, I am Ryu Cheong-woo!"

"Kyaah!!"

The only saving grace was that the cheers for Ryu Cheong-woo were loud, but unfortunately, that alone wouldn't be enough for the team to win.

"Dear shareholders, please express your opinions! First, vote for the team you think performed better! 'October 31' is number 1! 'Mountain Heroes' is number 2!"

People around the venue indicated their team's number with their fingers.

As the audience pressed the remote buttons, the voting ended, and a new voting method was announced.

"Next, please select one participant from each team who impressed you the most!"

The MC emphasized this again.

"Let me repeat, not from both teams combined! One from each team, a total of two!"

This was a seed for conflict.

The production team seemed to want a highly stimulating development, as the reward for the individual vote within the team was better than the team vote reward.

They even announced this right before the stage rehearsal, without prior notice.

- Everyone! The reward for the 'individual' vote in this team battle is... immunity from elimination!

- ...What!?

So, there were a lot of complaints from the other team.

Fortunately, our team didn't have such a source of conflict. Seon Ah-hyun was a pushover, and Gold 1 and 2, though they might have had complaints, didn't have the courage to voice them.

Lee Se-jin was struggling just to handle his part, and Choi Won-gil, once his spirit was broken, didn't make unnecessary comments.

Daesejin, who ended up being the main dancer, had no complaints.

If I list them like this, it seems that the lack of conflict was due to the team's teamwork, but rather because each member was too busy dealing with their own issues to cause any trouble?

That's correct. But it would look like it was due to teamwork on camera, so it doesn't matter.

Anyway, the individual voting, which had a more ambiguous atmosphere than the first vote, also ended.

"Thank you!"

After a brief greeting, the participants left the stage. Of course, I was included.

Strangely, I felt a bit reluctant to leave.

* * *

The filming didn't end until late at night.

"Everyone, thank you for your hard work~"

"We did pretty well, didn't we?"

Everyone quickly composed themselves, despite the disappointment, knowing that the results of the individual vote would be announced at the ranking ceremony.

This was expected, as it happened in the previous season, and the team victory provided some comfort.

That's right. We won the team battle.

- The team battle... is a victory for October 31! The score is a whopping 82 to 401!

- What!?

It was a crazy score of 82 to 401.

For five seconds after the announcement, the venue was a cacophony of shock and screams.

Everyone except Daesejin was almost in tears, so there was nothing more to say.

However, they had to quickly calm down and regain their composure.

- Huh...

- Donggyun.

- You did well. Good job.

A participant from the opposing team was actually crying.

It's not easy for someone to cry when they are less miserable than the one who cries first. It's even harder if it's tears of joy.

Thanks to this, the team members, who were maintaining an awkward state of joy while being aware of the camera and the opposing team, immediately became extremely excited once the filming ended.

"Should we make a group chat? No, after all the hard work we've done together~ We should have a group chat, right!"

"Totally agree!"

"I concur, Leader."

Under Daesejin's lead, a group chat was created.

Surprisingly, the atmosphere was so good that even Lee Se-jin gave his number without any fuss.

"Wow!"

"Hey! Sir!"

"Wow~ We can all chat together as team members!"

"..."

In the end, I naturally exchanged numbers and joined the group chat.

...I should turn off the notifications.

"Park Moon-dae~ Good job!"

"Yeah, you did a great job leading us."

Daesejin spoke to me as I was packing my things. Since everything went well, I politely responded.

"Haha, I was a pretty good leader, right!"

"..."

Does this guy not know humility...

"It was a joke, a joke!"

Daesejin smiled. I wish he would stop, as it didn't seem like a joke.

"Let's see each other often. Keep in touch!"

"Sure."

Daesejin seemed to want to include me in his circle.

'He probably thinks the other participants from the same agency are not up to par and plans to cut ties with them.'

However, I didn't forget that this guy was a potential drug candidate. I wasn't willing to take any risks until all suspicions were cleared.

'I can just say my phone broke later.'

Just as I was thinking this, another voice chimed in from the side.

"Me, me! Ye, ye, let's keep in touch..."

"Keep in touch?"

Seon Ah-hyun nodded vigorously. He seemed better than Daesejin.

I nodded, and Seon Ah-hyun's face lit up. Daesejin smiled and said,

"Should we make a separate group chat for the three of us? It would be nice to have a chat for our age group."

Is he really bringing this up now?

But with Seon Ah-hyun's quick agreement, another group chat was quickly created.

A foreboding feeling swept over me.

I had been too busy finishing the stage to think about it, but it was concerning that in the previous season, the first team battle often led to votes.

Could I really end up being grouped with these guys?

"..."

I don't know. But since we did well in the team battle, we should probably pass the first round.

"Everyone, have a good night~"

"See you next time!"

The participants finished their goodbyes and left the filming site. I walked out and got on the bus.

I should check the team battle reviews as soon as I get back to the temporary apartment.

* * *

Audience members usually sign a non-disclosure agreement not to reveal the content of the stage until it airs.

However, it's rare for such agreements to be strictly followed.

So, on anonymous sites where identities are not revealed, reviews started popping up.

They were roughly like this:

=========================

[Idol Stock Company Audience Review]

: Soft and sweet, really good!

=========================

- What are these guys, always popping up?

└ Are they trolls?

└ No, they were really good?

└ How can you make soft and sweet impressive? Did they do popping with popcorn?

It was surprising.

Even though I thought the team with Cha Yu-jin, who was in first place, would be mentioned more, this team seemed to get more attention.

Of course, about half of the mentions were from people who were just trying to stir up trouble by riding the wave of mocking 'Idol Stock Company.'

But still, it meant that quite a few people were impressed.

I picked a more detailed review to read.

=========================

[First Team Battle, Writing Down What I Remember]

... And the guys from Melong Sweet's debut song really did well. They could debut as they are. Their physical coordination was good, and even though only Lee Se-jin was the main dancer, he almost carried the performance... I'm curious who came up with the idea.

Oh, and the high notes were really good. They could have been the main vocal.

+ I'm attaching a verification photo for the first time (blurry stage setup photo)

=========================

└ So, who else was there besides Lee Se-jin?

└ They did so well, but I can't remember who the members were. Magic, right? Next week's fake news.

└ No, it's not fake. Look at the verification photo.

- Looking at the profiles, I see Seon Ah-hyun was there. He did well. If there was a center position, he would have been the center for sure.

└ But how did they do so well? I'm really curious. The Melong Sweet debut song is so cringy.

└ They made it into an occult theme, which was really scary.

└ ??

└ Or a robot concept?

└ Haha, ignore the trolls. They went with the fairy concept.

└ No, it was a werewolf concept.

└ Or vampires?

└ What's the truth, you crazy people? :(

└ Fairies are correct. Haha.

"The writing is terrible."

Checking other posts, I saw that the same thing happened—people started joking around halfway through.

It seemed that until the show aired, there would be a lot of speculation, but it was actually a good thing. Not knowing the details would make people more curious.

And the production team would definitely monitor online opinions, so the high mention rate would likely increase the team's screen time.

'Now that I've seen the reactions, ...'

I should now look at the next priority to handle.

I brought up the popup that appeared as soon as the stage ended.

[Successful Performance!]

Impressed the majority!

- Audience: 582 (New Record!)

- Impressed Ratio: 81% (New Record!)

: Draw a Rare Trait ☜ Click!

The explanation was longer than before. It seemed that the better the audience and the impressed ratio, the better the trait.

Since both traits I've used so far have been effective, drawing a trait for each performance was a good reward.

Considering that we would die if we didn't debut within a year, this was a fair balance.

'...Hmm, thinking about it this way, I'm suddenly getting angry.'

In addition, I had leveled up one stage by achieving 500 dance practice sessions while preparing for the first team battle.

However, I postponed the stat distribution to invest most efficiently based on the next filming content.

'So, I'll keep this and try the trait draw.'

When I clicked to draw, a slot machine appeared as expected. I was getting used to this.

The slot machine, as always, stopped at a bronze-colored text.

"Ah..."

There were a few silver slots, which seemed to be a higher grade, so getting a bronze one was a bit disappointing.

'You can't always have good luck.'

Moreover, the content was more important than the grade.

I quickly composed myself and checked the effect of the trait I won.

[Trait: 'Look at Me! (D)' Acquired!]

People pay a little more attention to your actions.

"..."

I was speechless.