As soon as Jun heard that they can sit even in those 21 seats, he stopped his tracks and turned his head towards them.
Due to being them special seats, of course, just like others, naturally, he wants to sit there. The cameras are also focused majorly on them but just like everyone else, he was afraid to take the first step and so, he hesitated.
Right then, an 18-year-old rookie steps forward with courage and slowly started to walk towards those chairs…
"Woah." Everyone cheered in the background.
Jun saw his face. 'This guy…' As he went into the past week's memories, Jun wasn't able to find anything special about him. He didn't even remember this person.
Jun shrugged his shoulders and continued to watch to see whether he will sit on the number 1 seat.
Meanwhile, the young rookie reached the top of the stairs and stared at the seat for a while before sitting in the below row at number 3.
One by one, rookies stepped forward and begin to take the seats.
The girls are too shy to go forward and sit alongside the boys in front of everyone. At least, some of them are pretending to be shy…
The seats are filling up. Just as Jun also wanted to join the fun, Daniel asked him, "Hyung, why don't go…"
A few of former trainees around Jun glanced at him.
He sighed inwardly and walked towards the common section behind the mentors' panel and took one of the seats. He was a little bit embarrassed to take the spotlight, yet.
Eventually, all the seats are filled up.
The cameras started to roll.
The thirty mentors started to arrive at the set. They are producers, choreographers, singers, directors, etc… from the three companies that signed up for this program.
Jun saw the three of them who took his preliminary test and failed him. He frowned as soon as he saw the lady.
Even YG was impressed by his performance. So, who is she to disqualify him… he understands that they disqualified him telling that for his own sake but when he looked at other similar age or above age trainees who were not nearly as talented as him and yet, joined the program, Jun felt his blood boil in anger.
Looking at the smile on her face, Jun thought, 'soon, I'll wipe off that smile on your face. I'll let you know that your judgment is wrong. I'll prove myself in this program that I'm ready to debut at any time…'
Taking a deep breath, Jun kept practicing the song in his head.
*Whooo…* Suddenly, cheers erupted across the set. "What?" His practice was disrupted and saw everyone is standing. He stood up along with them.
*Nudge* "Hyung. Look… Who is here…"
Daniel whispered in excitement as he pointed the figure.
Along with the three familiar judges, two more joined. Both are extremely familiar to Jun from his other world. Everyone bowed. They also returned greetings with a bow.
Jun can see many of them are lovestruck especially looking at the smile on the former nation's little sister. This 24-year-old has over 9 years of singing experience.
As for the other guy who's only around 170cm, he was almost a legendary figure for idols who was about to enlist into the military. Dubbed the greatest Kpop rapper, his achievements in music were enough for the government to extend his enlistment age by a year.
Usually, only athletes representing the country will get such benefits.
The five of them walked towards their seats while admiring the set, especially the center of attraction, the 21 special seats.
Once again, Jongsu acted as the host, reading the lines from a memorized script.
"Welcome to Treasure Campus."
*Clap*Clap*
Everyone clapped, following the instructions given by the staff.
After introducing the mentors as well as the rookies, he introduced the three judges. "This week, two special judges joined us. Let's give it up for IU, G-dragon…"
The two of them stood up and everyone cheered then with continuous claps for a while before settling down.
"Hello, I'm IU." The lady introduced herself with a smile.
"Hello, this is G-dragon…" The fashionable looking guy also introduced himself earning cheers from everyone.
JYP and YG laughed to themselves, watching the difference in treatment between them and their idols…
Jongsu then started explaining the rules while looking at the cue cards in his hands, "as you can see there are 21 special seats up there, which is, of course, filled up by the contestants. Let me tell you about those special seats, first.
The top 5 are chosen based on the scores by the judges, and mentors. The remaining seats can be claimed by the challenges.
Now, let me tell you what kind of advantage the possessor of the special seat will get.
All of them will be given a card that lets them shop in our Genesis clothing stores, free gym membership, cosmetics at our stores, etc…
You'll also get personal lessons from the main and special judges. The higher the rank, the greater the benefits and limits."
Everyone's face glow at the moment, listening to the benefits just one would get along with the spotlight from camera recording.
Jongsu continued, "Since the seats were taken now, first, these 21 young men will come down and perform. After that, those who are willing to challenge their position can come up here and perform.
You should note that until next week's evaluations, the positions won't be changed and those who take the seats cannot challenge to go up, by the way.
As for how the scores are calculated. Each mentor can give a score from 1 to 10 based on their own judgment; meanwhile, the five judges can give a score up to 25."
Then, JYP picked up the mic, "adding to that, there's a personality score, which is calculated based on your attitude and behavior during the training week. They can go from minus 100 to plus 100.
So, one shouldn't forget that for an idol just performing on camera isn't enough.
There are three things that are very important for an idol.
First is Sincerity: Sincerity is fighting with yourself. To do what should be done every day whether it is singing, dancing, learning something new, etc…
Second is Modesty: Modesty has to be in your heart, not in actions or words. Seeing strength in others is modesty.
And third is Honesty: Honesty is being a person who has nothing to hide. In front of the camera, there are things that can't be done. But that doesn't mean you should do it off-camera. It isn't about "be careful" but it is about you don't need to be careful.
Sincerity, Modesty, and Honesty are the most important for an idol to become a star that makes a positive impact on the world."
Everyone nodded in silence. While a few people who are going through a rebellious phase didn't about his words much, others took his advice seriously. It includes even Jun.
Jongsu waited until the JYP put his mic down. It wasn't actually in the script, so, he was a little bit surprised. Thankfully for him, the cameras didn't focus on him, so, he's good…
"Okay, now, without wasting any time, let's start the first performance."
*Clap*Clap*
As everyone clapped, the young man who sat at the number one position left his seat to climb down the stairs and get on to the stage.
"Cut…"
The director stopped the recording.
The program producer then said, "Anyone who is performing, please make preparations with the song and submit it to the staff in advance before you come up to the stage to save time.
Please understand that we are tight on time with so many performances. Okay?"
*Ding! You received an emergency quest.
Suddenly, a notification bell rang in Jun's head. He opened the notification. A holographic screen appeared before him.
Description: Claim one of the special seats until the end of the week.
Rewards: 0.3 free attribute increase. 1 luck point.