Ten minutes before 2 p.m., Jun and the others gathered at the central block as they were told.
It looked quite similar to the set at KBS studio where the earlier evaluation rounds took place.
A large stage. Before that, the judges' table. On their left and right, there are the mentors' sections. Behind them lies the contestants' section.
The contestants' section was also divided into two. One is behind both of the mentors' sections, left for the females and right for the males where 31 of them will sit and mostly go unnoticed during the recording. The remaining eleven sit in the center at elevated platforms, behind the judges' panel.
The first row had six seats with each on either side, leaving the center for the steps. The second row had four seats, with two on either side. And the most attractive position at the top is the seat that looks like a throne. It is where Jun is supposed to sit.
However, this is where the twist came in. The contest wasn't taking place at the central block at all.
Despite how they said that all the contestants will spend the final stage in isolation, they were still taken outside of the Cube.
Everyone along with Jun couldn't help but raise their heads to look at the sky and also enjoy the sunlight, which they were experiencing for the first time in three days.
Although the sun is on the top of their heads, some contestants female and male still shivered a little bit, due to the low temperature outside. Inwardly, they cursed the management for not warning them beforehand. If they had, they would have worn overcoats or sweaters over their clothes.
Thankfully, they didn't get to stay for too long. Not far away from the CUBE, there are several houses and buildings, a train track, a mini airport, and an amusement park around. It led Jun to believe that they were probably staying at a film studio. Nevertheless, they were indeed isolated as the whole place is also empty. Except for the people who are involved with Treasure Campus, no outsider is present.
The staff members and a couple of mentors took them to one of the buildings.
Everyone entered the place. It looked simply like a dance studio, albeit a bigger size and no wall mirror. There was a music system at a corner but it wouldn't matter because it isn't needed for the contest. There's also a screen installed.
Meanwhile, some of the staff members are still busy with the seating arrangement.
Once they were done, 42 of them sit with 21 on either side taking their seats. Two separate seats were placed in the middle of the room. Jun wondered whether there will be two hosts.
Then, they were given a remote device with a red button, and non-participants were told to sit in the back row. The seats were also rearranged according to the number. In the end, a total of 24 were seen participating.
"Okay, everyone, we're about to start the recording. As soon as I said action, everyone must talk to each other like murmuring. Then, our host will enter. And you will stop and act as if you were surprised.
Another important thing. Han SungJun-ssi, you will be the last one to volunteer. Im So-eun-ssi will be second to last. Choi Jongho-ssi, you will be third to last. Min-Jeong-ssi, you will be fourth to last. Jung-Jinwoo-ssi will go fifth to last. Everyone else can volunteer at any point." The director passed the instructions beforehand.
It might seem that he was giving large importance to those four but it is his job to make sure the show gets high ratings. As Jun was the best vocalist, there was no doubt in his view that he might even become the winner. So, he needed to be last no matter what.
The contestants could only follow what they were told and started to act as if they were talking between themselves when the recording started.
Soon, the new host, Lee Seung-gi arrived alone. Everyone immediately greeted him. Meanwhile, a few female contestants couldn't help but murmur among themselves and giggle while staring at this popular celebrity.
"Welcome to the first themed contest." Lee Seung-gi bowed towards the camera, "I'm your host, Lee Seung-gi."
He then looked at left and right, "Hello, contestants. It's great to see future talents of our idol world gather here in one place. So, anyway, I bet many of you might have been surprised by the sudden announcement of the contest."
As everyone nodded in agreement, Seung-gi continued, "About the contest, let me explain briefly about the rules. As we have mentioned before, the contestants must sing without music and you will be judged by the fellow contestants.
All of you were given voting devices. If you like the performance, click the red button and vote. If you don't like it, then, stay silent. The one with the highest votes will be declared as the winner and will receive 50 bonus points. The runner-up will receive 20 bonus points and the third-place winner will receive 10 bonus points.
And if there was a tie, then, there will be a revote between those two. Lastly, if there are Korean words in the song, then, that performance will be disqualified. The votes wouldn't matter then.
Now, who will be the first one to challenge?"
The cameras were now zooming on to the contestants. Everyone is just looking at each other, hesitating to step forward. As Jun was supposed to go last, he stayed silent.
After like ten to fifteen seconds of silence, a girl finally stepped forward.
"Ohhh"
The other girls cheered as the fourteen-year-old stepped forward. She ranked 11th among the female contestants.
"Give it up for Lee Ae-ra." As Seung-Gi encouraged, the teenager contestant, the girl let out a cheer for herself, "whoo…"
After giving an introduction, she started to sing.
"You're the light, you're the night
You're the color of my blood
You're the cure, you're the pain
You're the only thing that I wanna touch"
****
As there was no music in the background, her performance didn't appear as good as she usually sings. Adding on top of it, her voice doesn't seem like it is in a peak state. More than a couple of times, her voice cracked when hitting the high notes.
However, despite that, she received as many as 25 votes out of 41. As she went first, none of the spectators had anything to compare it to something.
But, now, her performance became the base to judge the following contestants.
One after another, the contestants participated. Jun was waiting for his turn.
While observing, a surprise hit Jun upon finding that every performance turned out to be in English. There was one in Spanish. It is the ever-popular Despacito, sung by a contestant named Kim Jae-Sun. It got 32 votes, although not the highest.
He wondered whether he was the only one that chose Japanese. Only seven contestants left.
It was Daniel's turn. Jun knew what he was going to sing long ago too. He wasn't interested at first.
"You gotta go and get angry at all of my honesty
You know I try,
But I don't do too well with apologies."
***
But then, like Daniel in a bit husky tone, even Jun was surprised for a moment and paid his attention. Even without music, Daniel sang very well and it sounded pleasing to the ears.
If even Jun thought like that, how would others think? Naturally, they were pressing the red buttons one after another.
Despite getting the feeling that his top spot might be threatened, Jun still pressed the button as this dear dongsaeng of his deserved it.
"Sorry, Yeah, I know that I let you down
Is it too later to say I'm sorry now?"
"Thank you." He bowed as everyone clapped for him, including Jun.
A couple of moments later, a number displayed on the screen, earning gasps from a few contestants.
Seung-gi announced with a smile, "37! wow, congratulations."
Daniel let out a big smile as he replaced Yuju from the central seat beside the host.
"Now, who will challenge this score?" Seung-gi stared at the contestants, left and right.
Jinwoo raised his hand.
He stepped forward and gave the introduction of him and proceeded to sing the song.
"All I know is
Ooh-ooh-ooh
We could go anywhere, we could do
Anything, girl, whatever the mood we're in
All I know is
Ooh-ooh-ooh."
****
Jun was taken aback as soon as he heard the first verse, "Paris in the rain? Damn, he chose a good one." The pressure on him increased.
Jun didn't even concentrate on the performance and just practiced his performance in his mind.
Once it was ended, Jung Jinwoo replaced Daniel with 38 votes. He maintained the position successfully for three more performances.
"Aah, just one vote short. Im So-eun-ssi couldn't replace the top spot. Now, who's left to challenge?" Seung-gi spoke, glancing towards the boys' section from the corner of his eyes.
"Hyung, it's your turn." Daniel nudged Jun, to which the latter smiled as he stepped forward. A sudden cheer erupted from the boys and surprisingly, from the female section too, followed by claps.
He stood in the center of the stage and took the mic. Everyone stared at him.
Just as he was about to sing, Jun put down the mic, "excuse me…"
He asked the staff for water due to his nervousness but earned a few laughs from the spectators and thumbs up from the director.
"Okay, are you ready?"
"Yeah." Jun nodded and picked up the mic again. He took a deep breath and started to sing.
"Habata itara modoranai to itte
Mezashita no wa aoi aoi ano sora…"
"Ehh?" Half of them stood up as if they got a jolt and took the seat upon realization, some of them rubbed their arms, feeling goosebumps, displaying a clear surprised expression and smiles on their faces.
Meanwhile, Seung-gi mumbled to himself, "As YG-nim said, this guy is on a whole another level compared to the rest."