On the screen, the mechanics for the first round was displayed.
Yeon Miwol explained, "For this round, five groups will be formed. Four groups will consist of 7 members, while one will be composed of only 6 members."
The display switched to a list of songs.
["Undead" by Redberries
"We Will Conquer" by King
"Keep The Beat Alive" by Hannari
"Resurrect Me" by Soulrise
"Hula hoop Girl" by Win Stephanie]
"These five songs will be assigned to the groups to perform."
[Round 1: Concept Battle]
"Reinterpret these songs into your own versions!"
Looking at the list of the songs and the theme, Rayen was out of ideas. None of the songs are K-pop, and most were considered timeless classics.
'I thought this was an idol show?'
How would they even interpret a masterpiece? It's considered a masterpiece because it was already perfect! They could even ruin it if not done properly.
"Now, let's proceed with forming the five groups," Yeon Miwol said. "May I call on the top 5 participants?"
As their eyes turned to the top 5 participants, Rayen noticed that none of them were flustered. They seemed to have known all along that they would be called. Each of them stood up from their seats and quickly went down toward the stage, joining Yeon Miwol.
"Being the top five participants, they were given the privilege to choose their own group members!" Yeon Miwol looked at the five participants. "Are you ready?"
They all nodded at the same time.
"We will do a roll call, and each of you will select one participant to join your team. But before that..." Yeon Miwol briefly paused. "We should decide whose group will consist of 6 members!"
Yeo Haru, being a camera hogger, immediately spoke. "How do we do it?"
"You can decide for yourselves!"
Yeo Haru touched his chin, seemingly thinking to himself. Just then, Ara suggested something.
"I know a simple game we can do."
With his eyes twinkling, Yeo Haru asked, "What is it?"
"In my hometown, we always do this to determine who's 'it'. If You're Odd, You're It."
Rayen also knew this game from his childhood, and he became certain that Ara came from the same place as him.
In this game, the players would gather in a circle. And at the center, they would place one hand on top of the others, with the back of their hands facing up. The group will then chant, "If you're odd, you're it."
As they chanted, everyone would break away from the initial formation and decide whether to flip their hands (so that the palm would be facing up), or keep their hands as is (with the back of the hand facing up).
Ara explained further the variation they will use.
"The side with the lesser numbers will be out of the game. They will have a 7-member group. The game will continue until there's only one odd hand left. The last odd one will be considered the 'it' and whose group will consist of 6 members."
"Okay, let's do that!" Yeo Haru said, deciding for everyone without waiting for them.
Without complaining, the top 5 participants gathered in a circle. A flying drone hovered above them to show their hands on the screen.
They started chanting.
"If you're odd, you're it!"
There were two hands with its back facing up, and three palms facing up.
Being the side with lesser number, Ara and Ryeon withdrew from the group. They will be the ones to have 7-member groups.
The final battle was between Jiji vs. Iris vs. Yeo Haru.
"If you're odd, you're it!"
All of their palms were facing up.
"If you're odd, you're it!"
This time, only Yeo Haru's hands had its palm facing up.
"I'm it!" Yeo Haru swayed his body playfully with his hands up.
The results were: Jiji, Iris, Ara, and Ryeon will have 7 members in their group. And Yeo Haru would only have 6 members.
"Now then, we'll start the roll call. The higher your ranks is, the earlier you can choose. Let's start with Xu Jiji."
Yeon Miwol handed the microphone to Jiji with a smile.
"Uh... Can't I choose Sis Iris?"
"That's obvious," replied Yeon Miwol.
Jiji scratched the back of his head and scanned the participants.
"Then I will choose Brother Zbigniew. He's kind."
"Why do you think he's kind?" Wanting to drag out any possible content, Yeon Miwol asked.
"He helped me during the audition..."
Yeon Miwol nodded and called for Mr. Big News to come down.
"What are your thoughts on Jiji's words?" She asked Mr. Big News who was towering over the 6 people on the stage.
"I, uh... Thank you."
He didn't say much, seemingly shy before the cameras. He was completely different from the audition episode where he exuded an aura of confidence with his song and dance performance.
After Jiji had picked his first member, Iris was then called to choose hers. Iris chose a participant that Rayen wasn't familiar with—a woman who seemed happy to be picked by the second-ranked participant.
"I will work hard!"
The woman only said a few words of gratitude before Yeon Miwol called for Ara.
"Ara, please choose yours."
Without any delay, Ara made her decision. She pointed towards the area where Rayen and Adrian was sitting.
"That guy with glasses," Ara said.
Realizing that he was the one being pointed at, Adrian also pointed at himself.
"Me?"
"Yes, you."
With bafflement written on his face, Adrian headed down to the stage below. Rayen sighed, praying inwardly.
'I don't want to get teamed up with Adrian...'
He was already getting fed up with Adrian's antics—even more so than with Plotter. If he could possibly get away from him, he would be glad.
When Adrian arrived, Yeon Miwol also called for the fourth-ranked participant.
"Ryeon?"
Ryeon nodded stiffly while glancing around the crowd for a long while. Rayen thought it would be good to be teamed up with this guy since he looked the most normal out of the five.
"10," Ryeon said.
The participant with that number immediately went down and high-fived with Ryeon. It seemed that the man was Ryeon's roommate.
'But why did he take so long to decide?'
"It's my turn!"
Before Yeon Miwol even had the chance to call for the 5th ranked participant's name, Yeo Haru went ahead of her. She closed her mouth and smiled at him.
Seemingly not noticing the emcee's look, Yeo Haru's eyes scanned the participants. It had gazed around for over a minute before resting on someone.
Rayen immediately wanted to hide out of this person's sight, but he couldn't. Yeo Haru's index finger openly pointed at him.
"I choose him! He's a good singer. I'm sure we'll win."