Translator: MarcTempest
Editor: NicoleTempest
Chapter 194 His Way (1)
I swallowed the saliva that filled my mouth and immediately looked at the explanation that filled the screen behind the stage.
[From Today On, We]
[Dream HOT]
[Next]
[Endlessly]
[First Love]
[You and I, Who I Cherish]
[D.I.Y]
Was this the cover song list? They were all hit songs released within the last three years.
[Each song will have two teams, A and B, competing in a cover battle. Out of the total 12 teams, only 6 will be the winners! The losers will receive a minus score in the upcoming first re-evaluation.]
[The team composition will be done on a first-come, first-served basis, and as soon as itâs done, the thrilling snack war will follow, so letâs quickly get into the formation!]
âWow, chicken!â
If it was their usual tension, they would have widened their eyes to snatch the song they wanted.
But they were not in their right mind because of the chicken in front of them. The chicken thrown in front of the hungry 1020 boys was like a delicacy sold at a street stall in front of the station.
âCome on, decide quickly, donât waste time!â
They all held their stomachs that made rumbling noises and looked at the flag boxes that the production staff had set up.
[There are up to 14 flags in each box. Please pick the flag of the song you want in the order of arrival, and then gather in the A group if the decoration at the bottom of the flag is blue, or the B group if it is red.]
They didnât seem to listen to the explanation. Just let us pick the flags and eat the chicken quickly! They looked like they had written that on their faces with a pen.
[Well then, Iâll count to three, and when you hear the whistle sound, please come up to the stage and pick a flag!]
They all got ready to jump onto the stage as soon as possible.
âTheyâre not possessed by hungry ghosts or anythingâŠâ
Sunwoo couldnât even get into the top ranks among them.
While they were distracted by the food, I thought about which songs among the seven would show off my dance skills.
âAmong those, the dance songs are Dream HOT, Next, and D.I.Y, I guess.â
Hwijin would probably go for a song that would highlight his vocals. Yu-geon was well-balanced in vocals, rap, and dance, so he wouldnât make a bad choice anywhere.
âI donât want to be in the same group as Yu-geon if possible.â
I didnât want to be his competitor, even though he was hated by the production staff. His skills hadnât gone anywhere.
If I was going to perform anyway. I might as well win.
I didnât want to go back to the days when we were used to losing, thinking that we deserved this kind of treatment, like when we had just reached the climax.
Competing was fun by default. Winning was also indispensable.
âI canât see where heâs looking from this far away.â
I wanted to ask him casually, but the distance between A and F grades was too big to give him a hint.
[Well then, Iâll count to three!]
While I was choosing a song, the MC picked up the whistle and stood in the center, as the flag box preparation was all done.
[One, two, three! Whoo-!]
And at the same time, I saw it.
People⊠could fly without wings.
ââŠ?â
Like a slow motion, the trainees who were far away broke through the crowd and jumped to help, climbing up the stage that almost reached chest height without stepping on the stairs.
[Please come up the stairs, everyone, itâs dangerous⊠Eek!]
The MC shouted almost pleadingly to tidy up the venue, but no one paid attention.
Iâll be pushed back by the vocals if Iâm late. I hurriedly pushed through the trainees and jumped onto the stage, where I saw the trainees who had already pulled out the flags.
âLetâs see⊠Next is already full, and the only ones left are Dream Hot and DIY?â
Dream Hot had a sexy impression of point choreography with both arms raised and hips bouncing, which was quite difficult, and DIY had a group tap dance included in the choreography.
âSexy or tap dance, I have to choose one of themâŠâ
But before I could think about it, Yu-geon reached out for Dream Hot first.
âThen I automatically go for DIY.â
Iâm going to lose DIY too. I quickly headed for the barrel with four flags left.
[Now, if youâve pulled out a flag, please gather by group!]
Before I knew it, the floor below the podium was marked so that we could sit by group according to the song.
The flag I pulled out was⊠DIY red. For convenience, it was group B.
As I stood in front of the panel that said DIY B, I saw the faces, names, and grades of the other five.
[B]
[Lee Wonsang]
[C]
[Kim Junwoong]
[B]
[Seo Taeryun]
[F]
[Kim Jaewan]
[D]
[Hong Seokho]
There could be up to seven people in a group, but there were not even 90 trainees left, so there were quite a few empty seats.
Of course, the songs that looked easy to cover were full without dividing into A and B.
There were also groups that had only five or six people besides us.
âSix people⊠Thatâs just right.â
Seven is too many, and four is too few. I had done the stage with five people several times, so I thought it wouldnât be bad to try it with six people for experience.
âWow, thereâs an A!â
As soon as we checked each otherâs faces, the most excited-looking guy exclaimed.
âHey, donât say that so loud.â
The guy next to me, who looked flustered and timid, apologized to me hastily.
âIâm sorry. Heâs not good at filtering his wordsâŠâ
âWhat did I do!â
They both looked like they were from the same unknown agency, judging by their D and F grades.
âIsnât it good to have an A grade? I didnât say anything bad. Did you feel bad?â
Jaewan, the F grade who looked amazed at me, smiled playfully.
I didnât want to ruin the mood, so I nodded cheerfully.
âNo, itâs okay.â
They looked like kids who had just entered high school. They were either the same age as Naru or slightly younger.
I calmly scanned the trainees who were grouped with me, and then I saw Yu-geonâs group at the end.
âWow⊠How did they end up in such a groupâŠâ
I couldnât see their names clearly, but there were two A-rank, three B-rank, one C-rank, and one F-rank.
The C-rank was actually ranked 33rd, so he was one of the top trainees in his rank.
âMost of them are in the top 20, except for Kang Yu-geon.â
The production team must have failed to adjust this, because the expressions of Dream Hot B group, who had to compete with Yu-geonâs group, Dream Hot A, were gloomy as hell.
âYu-geon⊠Did he rise to A-rank from here?â
I couldnât remember how he became an A-rank, because I didnât watch the show properly after the beginning.
I only remembered that he became a star from hell, who got cursed by the devilâs editing and appealed to his charisma.
I had no choice but to watch quietly for now.
âIt would be nice to introduce ourselves brieflyâŠâ
A B-rank trainee, who couldnât stand the awkward atmosphere, opened his mouth cautiously.
But unfortunately, we didnât have time to get to know each other calmly, as he wanted.
âChicken time!â
âChicken!â
âPlease start the mini game quickly!â
The zombie horde started to protest, saying that they wanted to eat chicken first, since they had finished grouping.
âOh, I want chicken too!â
Jaewanâs eyes sparkled and he shouted along with them, heading for the stage. Seokho, who was stuck next to him, shook his head with a dry smile.
âGeez, you call him a friend.â
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I didnât know what their relationship was. But judging by their attitudes, they seemed to know each other before the shooting started.
âLetâs focus on the mini game first, and introduce ourselves later.â
I smiled politely and looked up at the stage.
Three hours later. After finishing the chicken party and the first group meeting, everyone was exhausted.
âYou have 30 minutes to rest and then move to the group practice room!â
We were already worn out from the games that required a lot of effort.
âWow⊠You were really surprising, hyung.â
As I lay down on the floor in my training suit, barely able to move a finger, Jaewan exclaimed as if he had taken some drugs.
âWhat do you mean?â
I asked, opening my eyes slightly with fatigue.
âYour arm strength was no joke.â
Well, of course. Unlike those guys who only cared about dieting for their body management, I had trained my muscles by carrying dozens of kilograms of food ingredients for the restaurant.
There were two games that involved side dishes.
Arm wrestling and thigh wrestling.
âWhy do we have to do thisâŠâ
Do the viewers like this kind of thing� The trainees were running around like a pack of dogs, trying to get one more dish for themselves, and biting each other.
Why did they make such a fuss over food, as if it was something funny or worth fighting for? It looked so pathetic to me. I couldnât understand their taste at all.
But since they had no intention of sharing the side dishes, I had no choice but to do my best.
In the end, I managed to hold my own in the arm wrestling and got some fried shrimp and potato wedges.
In the thigh wrestling, a B-grade member went out and almost got injured, but sadly slipped and fell.
But at least we got something extra. After being treated like heroes by the guys who never even properly introduced themselves, we finished our snacks and it was time to talk about the mission.
âThe atmosphere isnât badâŠâ
There was one A-grade and one B-grade member, but overall our team wasnât very skilled.
Maybe it was lucky that the other team wasnât a top-grade lineup like Dream Hot A team. freeweÉnĂžvel.com
This was a competition where I had a decent chance of winning if I could just lead the D-grade and F-grade members well.
âWhat about the other teams⊠Howâs the mood?â
I looked around and saw Hwijin surrounded by D-to-F grades.
âWellâŠâ
It was unfortunate, but there was nothing I could do. At least he would debut eventually, which was a relief.
As I was trying to focus on our team and forget about the others, I heard a squabbling noise from somewhere.
âWhy do we have to decide the center by majority vote?â
It was none other than the direction where Kang Yu-geonâs Dream Hot A team was.
âYou seem to be the only one whoâs against it. This is not a solo stage, itâs a group stage. You should follow the opinions of your teammates, right?â
âNo. I think I can do better⊠Itâs better to raise the stage quality and get more attention than to leave it to the center who was chosen by politics and make it vague, right?â
âWhat are you talking about?â
âSo, to summarize your words, youâre saying that youâre unhappy that Iâm the center when youâre worse than me, right?â
From the side, I could hear a fierce battle going on.
âLetâs think more objectively, shall we?â
A guy with a sneering expression poured oil on the fire.
âWhat the hell is he doing?â
They were supposed to cooperate, but they were setting off a nuclear bomb.
With an expression that showed no sign of the first dayâs discouragement, Kang Yu-geon was at the center of the conflict.