Chapter 21 |
“Please exit through the door at the back of the gymnasium, and we would like to remind you that any leakage of data from today’s performance may result in disadvantages for future audience applications for programs conducted by the broadcasting station. We sincerely thank you for your cooperation as on-site evaluators for the first round of the competition.”
“Forest Groups A and B are the last to perform, so we’ll skip filming the reactions to the group voting results and wait until the stage is cleared. We’ll proceed directly to checking the overall voting results.”
After Yang Hajun’s goodbye speech, the production staff stopped us as we were moving away.
The other groups checked their group vote results as soon as they left the stage, but our group had been skipped.
‘What do you mean skip it just because it’s the last?’
The production team most likely put Forest Group B’s performance as the very last on purpose. After all, the main focus of the first competition was to see who would win the first place between Lee Hwayoung and me. Since Lee Hwayoung’s votes were already shared among the trainees, they probably decided that it would be better to not reveal my votes until the end in order to heighten the tension.
‘Ha, I feel dizzy.’
Broadcast-worthy moment or not, I was starting to feel faint, I felt like grabbing the producers by their pants, demanding my vote count right now, and passing out, but I barely managed to hold it in.
“The fans are leaving. I want them to stay.”
As I waited in the corner as the production staff instructed, everyone left the hall, and the trainees from the waiting room came in.
“Alright, thank you for your hard work on the stage, everyone. This mission must have been a learning experience for some and an opportunity for growth for others. I hope that you will not settle for with the current situation and will continue to strive forward.”
“Thank you for your hard work!”
“Thank you for your hard work!”
The trainees clapped and congratulated each other in response to Yang Hajun’s words.
“We’ll announce the overall voting results right after this.”
As if on cue, the screen on the stage began to display the trainees’ votes.
“Ah! There’s my name. I’m ranked higher than I thought.”
“Looks like the S-Class guys make it into the top seven. I don’t see their names here.”
The positions from 1st to 7th were blank.
‘That’s obvious.’
In other words, Lee Hwayoung, Do Yuda, and I, whose names were not visible right now, were in the top seven.
“As mentioned before the competition began, the winning team of this mission will receive a benefit of their individual vote count multiplied by 1,000. Additionally, trainees who rank from 1st to 7th place will be awarded a benefit of 100,000 votes.”
“What? In the end, it’s the popular kids who are sweeping up all the benefits.”
“The gap will widen even further. Well, I never even dreamed of competing with someone like Lee Hwayoung or Han Seungbeom. Our differences are like between heaven and earth.”
The lower-ranked trainees grumbled at the mention of additional votes being given to the top-ranked trainees.
“I wish Han Seungbeom would give me just 10% of his votes. He’ll still get a debut spot no matter what happens. Haha!”
“Even if he lost 20%, he would still debut, so give me some too!”
That’s impossible. I have to debut in first place, even if I have to die trying. Even as a joke, I couldn’t afford to share my votes.
There’s something that Kang Hyukwoo used to say to me all the time.
“You, I made all of that for you. You should really be grateful to me. If it weren’t for me, you would have lived as a nobody.”
This life served not only as a means of revenge, but also as proof.
Proof that I was born a winner. Proof that even without Kang Hyukwoo’s help, the top position would have rightfully been mine.
‘I’m going to flatten that bastard’s nose. No? I’ll grind his face into the asphalt. I’ll kill him.’
As I suppressed all sorts of curses in my mind, I made eye contact with Yang Hajun. He seemed to be holding back a laugh, his lips twitching as he looked at my face.
‘What the.’
“Ahem! Then, I will announce the 7th place trainee first.”
Yang Hajun, who quickly regained his composure, read from the script slowly.
“The first recipient of the 100,000 vote benefit, the 7th place trainee is … Trainee Baek Kiryang!”
He was the one who became the target of Frick’s tantrum during the grade re-evaluation. As soon as his name was called, Baek Kiryang just stood there, staring blankly.
The staff handed him a microphone to give a short comment, but he was too stunned to realize it.
“Here.”
“Huh!”
When I firmly placed the microphone, which I had received on his behalf, in his hand, Baek Kiryang’s shoulders shook,
‘At your age, you should know better than to be so untidy in front of the camera.’
I tucked his tousled bangs behind his ear. When I patted him on the back, he turned to me with a scared look.
“Wh-who?”
“Don’t be nervous. Speak your thoughts confidently.”
“Ah, the military discipline captain Seungbeom is taking care of him. Are you his parent?”
Yang Hajun’s joking comment caused the trainees to burst out laughing.
“..…Thank you. I will work harder in the future…….”
‘That’s a zero-point speech.’
Still unable to shake off his overly intimidated attitude, Baek Kiryang hunched his shoulders and mumbled. As soon as he finished his speech, he didn’t know where to pass the microphone, so he waved his arms around, looking around in confusion.
“..…Give it to me.”
I calmly took the microphone from him and handed it back to the production staff.
‘I guess I’m more affectionate than I thought I was.’
This ahjussi couldn’t help but worry when he saw kids who are so weak and pitiful.
“Seungbeom, nice!”
The main PD, who had been stamping his feet in frustration over the wasted time, gave me a thumbs up. I responded with an equal thumbs-up and stood up straight.
.
.
.
And the ranking announcement that followed wasn’t all that surprising. Three guys whose names I couldn’t even remember, and Do Yuda at the top.
Seeing that they were rambling on and on pointlessly over a result that wasn’t particularly interesting, it seemed that they needed filler content.
“Alright, from now on! The moment you’ve all been curious about! I will announce the first place winner.”
Yang Hajun, who received a sign from the production team to proceed, nodded and smoothly began reading the script. Finally, the long-awaited first place announcement.
‘Lee Hwayoung might take first place in this competition.’
My performance on stage was objectively better than him. It was only natural. After all, I had been doing this for years—if I couldn’t do better than Lee Hwayoung, I might as well retire.
But there was something I couldn’t overlook.
The voting was done by watching the performances of Groups A and B and selecting the member they thought did the best. Therefore, if you wanted to win the first place in this mission, you had to pull off a “look how great I am” move, just like Lee Hwayoung. If the difference in skill was obvious, it would be easier to get votes.
And instead of focusing on the quality of the performance, Lee Hwayoung directed all the spotlight onto himself.
‘I’d rather quit the program than perform a sh*tty stage like that.’
But I couldn’t allow myself to make such a low-quality performance. My career shouldn’t have a single stain on it.
“The first place trainee is none other than Trainee Lee Hwayoung!”
‘As expected.’
As expected, it was Lee Hwayoung who took first place.
It was clear which side had created the better performance. Yet, despite that, it was strange to think that the victory went to the wrong place.
Did the production team really not anticipate this situation?
In any case, the result was in, and I had no desire to complain.
“Congratulations.”
“Well.”
I smiled gently and extended my hand for a handshake with Lee Hwayoung. But in response, Lee Hwayoung frowned, as if he was not happy with the result.
‘Why do you look so upset after winning?’
“Everyone, are you all satisfied with the results of the on-site evaluation?”
Yang Hajun who had been watching Lee Hwayoung and I congratulate each other, smiled and said meaningfully.
“What? Is there anything more?”
“Are we not done yet?”
At Yang Hajun’s remark, the trainees began to murmur.
“While it’s really important to show the audience a great performance, what is the most important thing when it comes to being an idol?”
“Broadcast!” Do Yuda replied, raising his hand in the air.
“Yes, that’s right. It’s how well you are evaluated by the viewers watching the broadcast. Actually, there’s something I haven’t told you.”
It felt ominous.
“All of the stages that were being filmed were being streamed live, exclusively for those who are subscribed to the JBS Plus service.”
‘….Seriously, these bastards.’
This meant that they basically forced the viewers to buy the broadcasting station’s premium service.
“Each subscriber was given a single vote after all the performances ended. And those votes have just been counted. So, the rankings will likely change as well!”
As Yang Hajun spread out his hands, an impressive visual effect unfolded on the screen, with the numbers climbing upwards. In the meantime, a number of names rapidly ascended the rankings.
“And so, the final rankings are as follows!”
And among them was my name.
“Woah……”
“Whoa. The first place changed.”
Unlike the on-site audience, the Plus subscribers didn’t vote by each song. Instead, they voted for just one trainee after watching all the performances.
“Congratulations to Trainee Han Seungbeom for taking the final first place!”
Hence, they chose the trainee who showed the best skills in the most perfect performance.
“…….”
It was an unexpected victory. And this kind of victory didn’t help me much.
If some trainees moved up in the rankings, there must be others who moved down.
“What … how is this even possible?”
“Then, those who didn’t stay in the top 7 won’t get the benefit?”
I understood that this stunt was pulled to promote the Plus service, but that’s just the broadcasting station’s business. If you gave something to someone and then take it away, they might feel worse than if you never gave it to them in the first place.
And the resentment of unfair treatment was always directed at the ones who got the most from it, not the ones who pulled the strings.
“Aren’t they doing this just to push Han Seungbeom because he’s from a big agency?”
“They’re trying to make Han Seungbeom the first place by any means necessary.”
The grudge would be aimed at the vulnerable beneficiary.
‘I should have known they wouldn’t just leave me alone.’
Just because I’m from a big agency, they’re pushing me? What a load of crap. On the contrary, Do Yuda’s ranking actually dropped.
“Ah, this is a bit……”
“He’s crying because his ranking dropped.”
But the facts didn’t seem to matter to them. An openly hostile atmosphere was forming towards me. In this situation, there was only one action I could take.
Putting a steel plate1 on my face.
‘What do you want me to do?’
I stared straight ahead, unwavering, and smiled. As if I couldn’t see the reactions of the other trainees.
There was almost no possibility that the broadcasting station would edit the evaluation method, which they had added to make extra money, to make it seem unfair. In other words, expressing dissatisfaction like the other trainees would actually be the perfect reaction to be used for evil editing.
“Wow, look at him. Not a single change in his facial expression.”
“He’s really heartless. How can a person be crying and he doesn’t even spare a glance?”
Yang Hajun picked up the microphone, perhaps trying to cut off the negative atmosphere. However, before he could say anything, the production team stopped him with an X gesture.
Even if the situation was going to get worse, the production team wouldn’t step in to stop it. The potential for a juicy broadcast was too tempting for them to intervene.
“The more I watch, the more annoying it gets. I can’t stand it anymore.”
While there were only murmurs and no one was stepping forward to speak up loudly, suddenly someone’s voice rang out.
It was Lee Danbi. The boy walked right up to Lee Hwayoung.
“Nicholas-hyung, do you have a complaint?”
And he asked Nicholas outright.
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Translator’s Corner:
- Steel (/iron) plate (철판): a thick iron (brazen) face, a term for a shameless, ungrateful, and impudent person. It means people who aren’t ashamed of what they’ve done. It can also mean “a person who is not swayed by external pressure, is able to accept change well, and maintains his or her original beliefs”. It can be positive, but mostly it’s used with derogatory intention.
English equivalent would be “to have a thick skin”. ↩︎
I LIED I AM TOO INVESTED TO STOP I’ll do until chapter 30 then I’ll be fair
anyway … thanks god this is fictional, in real life, there would be a full WW III on internet