Chapter 61: The Techniques of an Idol Who Never Fails

Before heading to the final mission, the theme of the last, third mission was 'trauma.' The next day, six teams gathered to form units.

At that meeting, the rankings for the second mission were announced. We were lucky to secure second place, just one vote behind third place, and second overall.

Our team did well, but it was also due to the popularity of the hit song and our good fortune. Most importantly, the third place, which narrowly lost to us, was IMX, the former agency of Min Jihoo, making him quite happy. Honestly, I was happy too.

The third mission involved forming six units, with each unit's members returning to their teams with scores based on the number of members and the corresponding ratio.

The audience would vote for the most outstanding member in each unit, and the member with the most votes would receive the same score as the unit's first place. The other rankings would not be disclosed.

Seeing how fiercely they were making us compete, it seemed the shock of the first episode's ratings was indeed significant. The meaningful rebound in ratings during the third performance of the second episode, and the popularity of the three performances uploaded to YouTube, showed the production team of 'The Rising' the potential.

MC Kang Yunseok said, "The units will be divided into two vocal units, a dance unit, and a rap unit."

Our team could only send one member to the rap unit, and given the restrictions on Firstlight's Shin Jiwoon, who follows a conventional idol path, it was realistically impossible to beat IMX, which could even use metaphors about drugs.

I decided to just say everything as it was.

"IMX specializes in hip-hop, so they have more freedom. On the other hand, Jiwoon has more restrictions."

Shin Jiwoon replied, "Yeah. I'll probably only be able to say censored words at concerts."

"That's not... Are you saying you'll do it at concerts? As a teaser?"

"Maybe the Hwatsaris will like it if I say a few words."

Is that so? I'm not sure. It seems the members do tend to let loose in front of the Hwatsaris because they trust me.

Min Jihoo, who had been listening to our conversation, slapped the floor.

"No way. Jiwoon, just curse and win!"

The rivalry is good. It brings out our competitive spirit, hehe.

Anyway, I don't think I'll get another chance to use the broadcast station as a shield against the broadcast station. Unlike when I subtly mentioned it and a VMC employee came to me, there's no contact now, even though it's much noisier than before.

They must think KQS is the root of the problem. Will there be another opportunity like this?

So, I plan to help each other. I'll say what I want, and KQS will be exposed.

Most importantly, I feel a bit freer knowing that my words won't be cut out of the noisy editing.

Since there are two rap units, IMX is definitely at an advantage. They have many rappers and vocalists, and most rappers can keep a beat regardless of quality, which is a plus.

We need to do well as a unit and stand out individually, so the unit needs to be well-structured.

We decided to spread out as much as possible after the meeting. Park Sunjae and Hwang Saegil, who have a high chance of bringing in first place, and Min Jihoo and Han Hyoseok, would split into two units.

And probably, all the composers in each team will end up helping the unit where their members have a chance to win first place. This Chuseok holiday will be a busy one. Hehe...

Thinking the same thing, Park Sunjae said to me with a cheerful smile, "If we split up as planned, I'll have to tear my body into five pieces!"

"…No, why are you saying that so frighteningly?"

"Panda bear mode."

Park Sunjae made a V sign and giggled.

Firstlight is often called cute animals by fans, and Park Sunjae was one of the first to be named. Whether close up, far away, or rolling around, he looks like a teddy bear. The Hwatsaris call him cute and a teddy bear, and sometimes a panda bear when he acts like he hasn't fully grown up.

And bears eat people...

Feeling a chill, I glanced at Woo Hajeong from MII. I usually try to keep my distance and ignore her, but today my gaze went to her.

As expected, Woo Hajeong's expression was dark, and the other members were mostly silent.

When criticism of the editing for Kuk Seonah began, some of it was directed at Woo Hajeong.

Since she used to be the good guy when I was the bad guy, doubts about her being the good guy arose as I began to doubt if I was the bad guy.

I can't read the comments, but Woo Hajeong's expression is similar to when I first saw hate comments about Kuk Seonah.

It's not at all satisfying. Instead, I feel nauseous and turned my head. Woo Hajeong received a spoonful of the hate comments I used to get, and while I was resentful, I didn't want her to be hated as much as I was.

Whenever I'm stressed, I squeeze my tingling hands tightly. I remember not being able to breathe, so I quickly release them when they tingle. It would be a disaster if that happened during a broadcast.

Ah, my mental state is really going to break. It's so difficult to manage.

After each team finished their meeting, MC Lee Heese said, "Please move to the part you want to join."

We headed to the rooms where our specialties were. Three waiting rooms. Hwang Saegil, An Juwon, and Park Sunjae went to the vocal part, while I, Han Hyoseok, and Min Jihoo went to the dance part, and Shin Jiwoon to the rap part.

When I opened the door, I found the juniors already in the dance part.

Newdays, the youngest team with middle school members, had been last in the last two missions.

Five out of eight members were there.

Five out of eight members are dancers. It's an impressive team. Even Han Hyoseok almost debuted there...

"Six dancers with you?"

Min Jihoo said to Han Hyoseok, then looked at me excitedly, "Six dancers would make the performance even better! Right, hyung?"

Yeah, yeah. But the producer might suffer a bit...

No, why am I putting myself in the producer's shoes? Is it the shock of directing 17 people still lingering...

The rest of the teams' dancers came in after that.

18 vocalists, 18 dancers, and 14 rappers.

Wherever I go, there are guys my age. I hope the units are formed quickly. With 18 people gathered, memories of the hard times with INO...

Meanwhile, the game progressed.

Two leaders chose members for the two units.

Newdays, currently the lowest-performing team, really put their lives on the line in every game. They're commendable...

We also tried hard, but we couldn't match Newdays' effort. They were so focused, it seemed they really wanted to form a team.

Newdays members eventually succeeded. One of the Newdays members became the first unit leader, followed by a member from Bad One.

Newdays, who got the first chance to choose members, Kang Jin-young said, "Hyung Haewon."

Since Min Jihoo and Han Hyoseok needed to be split, I didn't care which team I went to, so I went to Kang Jin-young's team. Kang Jin-young greeted me first.

"You're from 2004, right? I'm 19, so feel free to talk casually."

"Ah, okay? Okay."

Then, it was strange when Kang Jin-young called out...

All Newdays members.

Before I knew it, there were six of us, including me and the five Newdays members.

It was possible because the other unit leaders didn't call them, as Newdays hadn't shown much so far and were considered risky.

But...

What is this?

While I was trying to understand the situation, Kang Jin-young said, "That's it."

"…What?"

Six people...? What?

Not just me, but everyone else was murmuring. Then Min Jihoo covered his mouth with both hands and said, "If this unit wins first place, the five Newdays members will get the first-place team score."

Han Hyoseok muttered, "…Ah, right. That hyung is Kang Jin-young."

I was so stunned that I only understood the strategy after hearing that. I said to Kang Jin-young, "We have to win first place for that to happen."

"Yes, that's why I brought hyung."

"That's too much of a gamble."

"Since we were going to be last anyway, we decided to go all out!"

The crazy guy is even cheerful... Isn't that the style we should avoid?

I asked Han Hyoseok, who had trained with Newdays, "…What are they?"

"Ah, Hyung Jin-young? He's a con artist."

I've never seen Han Hyoseok, who is usually respectful to seniors, talk to a hyung like that. He must have been taken advantage of a lot.

Now I remember what An Juwon said. They're not that young. There's one middle schooler, but they're basically the same age as us, just a