Chapter 31 |
“The trainees at risk of elimination from the Motorcycle team are the four under the spotlight.”
“Four?”
Woo Kangwon opened his mouth, clearly showing his bewilderment at the shocking announcement.
“Wow, what are they going to do?”
“If there are four people, aren’t they going to lose almost half?”
Whispering voices were heard from below the stage. I didn’t get why they’re making such a fuss, since they would soon be called up here to face the same thing.
‘Well, there probably isn’t any team with as many members at risk of elimination as ours, so I guess it’s to be expected.’
Half. I sighed. The numbers were actually a bit more alarming than I expected.
I roughly calculated the number of first-round eliminations from the previous season, and it seemed like we had more than any other team.
If the number of members had changed too much, it would have been difficult to reference the original artists’ formations, and the members would have a hard time digesting their parts.
There could have been issues with the mental aspect as well. With half of the members gone, there were few who could afford to joke around.
“”Hey, guys…….”
Look, even Woo Kangwon’s face was already pale. The trainees who were marked for elimination had already closed their mouths.
“O.”
I couldn’t figure out what was in Zen’s head.
After calmly assessing the situation, I felt terrible. I stared at the main PD and gave a faint smile.
‘Are you out of your mind?’
The main PD pretended not to see my glare and bowed his head deeply.
What’s the point of being cautious now? Seriously, just go for it.
‘Well, the content of the broadcast was probably planned in advance. They couldn’t have changed it just because of me.’
Survival programs must include an element of reversal, and it’s necessary to constantly impose challenges on the participants to create dramatic situations. No matter how much the public might shout that they wanted to see a good-natured competition, you shouldn’t have naively believed that. If you planned a broadcast based on what the viewers said, that broadcast would bound to fail.
‘Well, no viewer is going to openly say things like they have a trashy taste for shows that are vulgar and provocative. So, go ahead and trample on each other, fight dirty, and beat each other up.’
For Survive IDOL to maintain its current level of popularity, it needed to constantly feature provocative material. Therefore, I had no intention of imposing any restrictions on making the broadcast itself deliberately crude.
‘But this is beyond crude, this is just way too much.’
It was seriously annoying. It felt like they were playing with children’s lives.
Following the script, Yang Hajun spoke to the eliminated trainee closest to him.
“Trainee Kim Yeoyoung, who has been marked as a trainee at risk of elimination, how do you feel right now?”
“Euh, I knew my rank was low, so I had prepared myself to some extent. Uh … I honestly didn’t expect the announcement to come today. I was hoping that I could … make it through to the second mission.” My team member answered Yang Hajun’s question with a halting, forced answer.
If you grabbed someone whose mind was already in turmoil and interviewed them, you could only get such answers. Perhaps the production team actually wanted that kind of response.
“If you were to be eliminated, what would you like to say to the members?”
Yang Hajun, who looked as if he had already reached enlightenment, smiled like a Buddha and asked the scripted question. Then, the member who had a fairly sturdy build, though not as much as Woo Kangwon, suddenly began to breathe heavily.
“Uh … um. Heuk! We prepared so hard together … but I was lacking a lot, eheuk, heuh. I’m sorry.”
‘Are you crying…..’
“Huhuhung, Yeoyoung-ah! Don’t cry!”
“Ugh, huhu……”
As the guy holding the microphone sniffled, the crying spread to the other members. In the middle of it all, I couldn’t cry with them, nor could I laugh. I just stood there like a stone statue.
“We practiced so hard … heuk, and this is how it ends?”
That’s ridiculous. If it ends like this, I will trash the main PD.
‘They’re not the eliminated trainees, they’re the ones at risk of being eliminated.’
There must be a reason why they didn’t call out the eliminated trainees right away. They must have done something audacious related to the eliminated trainee.
“Yes, I’ve heard your thoughts carefully. First, the Motorcycle team, please get off the stage.”
“Huh?”
The members who had already been on the verge of tears suddenly stopped at Yang Hajun’s comment. Their faces showed complete confusion, as if they couldn’t understand why they were being told to get down the stage when they were all ready to cry.
“Should we go down? Us?”
“Yes, you can go down.”
“Yes, go down.”
I dragged the members who didn’t understand the situation off the stage. Even after we got off the stage, the members were still holding each other in a daze, unable to come to their senses.
“Huh?”
“Are we not eliminated yet?”
“Yes, you’re not.”
“Oh……..”
“I see ….. Good…….”
Apparently, the shock was too great for proper thinking to function. Leaving the dumbfounded members on the floor, I calmly looked up at the stage.
“Next, I will announce the trainees at the risk of elimination from the Very Very team.”
The announcement of trainees at risk of elimination would continue from now on.
.
.
.
The trainees at risk of elimination from each team were announced sequentially according to the script prepared by the production team, and eventually, the entire process reached the last team.
“There are more trainees at risk of elimination than I expected.”
“Yeah, it’s not as many as us, but definitely way more than the first-round elimination candidates from last season.”
“Huheuk, so that means not all the trainees at risk of elimination will be eliminated.”
“Yes, so stop crying.”
I was finally able to have a normal conversation with the members who had finally regained their human intelligence.
“Seungbeom is always calm and doesn’t even get flustered. I’m jealous.”
“…….”
As I had expected, the trainees at risk of elimination wouldn’t be eliminated just like this. There would probably be some sort of revival process with certain conditions.
‘The members of this team are too valuable to let go like this.’
They might have been too mild to stand out in a survival program, but if they had debuted as ordinary idols, they seemed like they would have done quite well.
I was willing to take risks if it meant saving these guys.
Since I had been continuously ranking first, if I took first place again too easily, the viewers might get really tired of it.
Since words like ‘The winner is going to be Han Seungbeom anyway’ were already going around, shouldn’t I at least do something as extreme as a somersault off a cliff??
“Now, I’ve announced the number of trainees at risk of elimination for all teams. There’s a reason why I didn’t tell you right away which trainees are confirmed to be eliminated.”
All the trainees went down the stage, and only Yang Hajun remained under the spotlight on the stage. Then, all the other lights went out.
After announcing the trainees who were supposed to be eliminated and creating a dramatic atmosphere, the following developments were predictable.
“Survive IDOL is structured as a competition where viewers bet on you. But what if you were to bet on yourselves?”
“What, there’s something like that?”
At the words that seemed to offer a possibility, a spark of hope began to appear on the faces of the trainees at risk of elimination.
‘Yeah, yeah. You’re talking about the trainee revival system for those at risk of elimination.’
It was as expected. I nodded and waited for Yang Hajun to continue.
“Each team has a member with the highest number of votes, right?”
“Yes!”
“The trainee in question, as a betting player, is given the authority to choose as many of their team’s trainees at risk of elimination as they want, allowing those trainees to continue with the second mission.”
I doubted my ears for a moment.
Why was the member with the highest votes suddenly being mentioned here?
“There is only one condition required for the revival of the trainees at risk of elimination, it’s to achieve the target ranking.”
Following Yang Hajun’s comment, image explanations about the gamble system were quickly displayed on the screen above the stage.
“If you want to revive 4 trainees, the team will have to place 1st in the team competition in the second mission, you have to place 2nd for 3 trainees, place 3rd for 2 trainees, and place 4th for 1 trainee.”
In short, if you want to save a lot of trainees, you need to get a high ranking in the second mission.
And what if you failed?
It was ominous. The trainee with the highest number of votes would decide the revival, so if they failed to achieve the target ranking, it was clear who would bear the cost.
“If a team achieves a ranking lower than the target ranking they bet on, the trainee player who placed the bet will lose 50% of the votes they earned.”
As expected, the cost-bearer was me.
I calmly massaged the stiff back of my neck with my palm as my blood pressure soared.
‘So in the end, you’re saying I have to sacrifice myself to save our team.’
“You have 15 minutes to discuss with your team members. Start!”
There was no need for the kindness of giving time to discuss when there was only one person who would suffer a loss.
Ha.
***
As soon as the time for discussion was given, the gymnasium became a battleground.
“Please, we can do well! Can’t we just take the second place? Please save me!”
The main content of the noise was the trainee at risk of elimination begging the trainee with the most votes.
‘It’s a system that’s perfect for fueling conflict. I had hoped to push through with the performance, but the risk is greater than I anticipated.’
The problem was how many trainees I should save. While I was contemplating about it, the members approached me.
“Seungbeom-ah, are you feeling stressed out? This child.”
“Are you okay?”
I thought they had come to force me into sacrifice like the members of the other team, but they just rubbed the tip of my nose and gently patted my head.
“Huh?”
I got goosebumps from head to toe and stiffened.
“You’re trying to shoulder too much on your own, for such a weak child.”
“We’re older than you. Lean on us!”
“We understand how you feel.”
What is this nonsense?
What is this, a scene from a youth drama?
A guy as green as a newly sprouted leaf, a relief crop1, was touching my head.
Touching my head?
My head that was born as an older brother and lived as a senior?
“What a beautiful story…….”
Even Zen was clinging to my back, tears streaming down his face.
For a moment, I suspected it was a clever trick for reverse psychology. But their eyes were too pure.
I didn’t spend much time with the members. In fact, I should be the one to be blamed for joining the practice halfway through, so I couldn’t understand why they were worrying about me like this.
‘What the hell is wrong with these guys?’
I couldn’t tell if it was simply because these guys’ personalities were too good, or if something had happened while I was collapsed.
“It doesn’t benefit you at all, so I don’t think it’s right for you to bear the loss just because of us.”
“No matter what decision you make, we won’t resent you … we’ll never do that. So don’t bet on it, Seungbeom-ah.”
“If we get eliminated now, it means our abilities were lacking that much.”
“Don’t feel pressured, make the best choice for you! It’s okay. You don’t need to worry about what others think!”
The members, with eyes that were moist and devoid of any ill intentions, looked at me with warm gazes. One of them even gave me a thumbs up and smiled.
The atmosphere was so heartwarming, it felt like it could use a little extra bubble effect.
“…….”
I understood everything in this moment.
Why the screentime of these relief crops was in such a poor state.
Why was the camera director of our team following me around too often.
‘These guys … are f***king pushovers.’
I had already seen how hard they’ve been preparing, even in such a chaotic situation, and what kind of faces they had as they practiced.
‘What do you mean it’s okay, you said you practiced all night.’
And coming from the same kids who were crying about not being able to perform just 15 minutes ago, the credibility of those words was zero.
I gritted my teeth and opened my mouth.
“Who says so?”
Then, the members tilted their heads, looking dumbfounded.
“Who says you’re allowed to get eliminated?”
“Huh?”
“We’re all going to the second mission, without exception. I don’t need the members’ opinions.”
Because that’s what I wanted to do.
Shut up and leech off me, you pushovers
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Translator’s Corner:
- Since MC was seeing them like a new sprout (because they’re young), he saw them as “crops”. Actually the exact word used by him is 구황작물 (relief crops). Relief crops refer to crops that are less affected by climate such as drought or rainy season and can be grown even in relatively poor land, so they can be used as a substitute for staple food when there is a severe famine such as a bad harvest.
(From what I read) MC was calling them “relief crop” because they’re useful but still not experienced and hasn’t reached their potential. You see, normally, relief crops are planted in a hurry to recover from the damage when the failure of staple crops is certain. It makes the cultivation period shorter than that of regular crops, but of course the result is also not as good in quality as the regular crop. (That’s why MC said they would do well if they debuted in regular way, not through survival program).
Hmm in short, these kind of crops are often hardy and can survive in less-than-ideal growing conditions, making them a valuable resource during difficult times. ↩︎
Self-sacrificial MC is really at their own league … especially the meanie one like Yutae T_T I have a bad a hyperfixation on this I am regretting not picking this up sooner