Chapter 15 - 15

Chapter 15

As the first round rules were fully revealed, the trainees stood on tiptoe, trying to look at the panel.

Since the contest songs had not been introduced yet, everyone's attention was drawn.

"Then, I will reveal the songs from the first round that everyone has been waiting for."

Choi Sia removed the stickers on the far left.

Familiar group names and songs appeared.

"Omg."

"I see the seniors!"

"Isn't that a really famous song?"

BoLu, a group also called the leader of the 4th generation male idols.

The title song of their first full-length album, , which can be seen as the song that best represents their identity, is a song that any idol trainee would have danced to at least once.

While some trainees were happy to hear a song they were familiar with, there were also some who tilted their heads slightly.

I wasn't too happy about it either.

'It's a song with high recognition and familiar choreography, but the original singer's color is too strong.'

In short, if you can't preserve the original flavor, you could be on the train to hell.

As the song becomes more famous, the audience's interest increases, and expectations also rise.

The moment you fail to meet that standard, you will certainly be evaluated more harshly than others.

But it's a good song, so let's put it on hold for now.

The songs that appeared next were in a similar vein.

Perhaps the production team didn't put in a plot twist because it was probably the first team battle.

I was actually glad that the songs I remembered came out just as they were.

The program was successful in the early stages, so I thought it might be possible to take a risk, unlike before. But I guess it was decided that it was not yet time to take risks.

That means it's safe to proceed as originally planned.

"Karis, is there a song you want to sing?"

Kang Si-yoon, who had been looking at the eight songs, asked me for my opinion.

'I can just state my opinion here, but....'

First of all, I thought it would be interesting to hear my roommates' thoughts.

I shrugged and asked the question back.

"There's no song that really catches my eye yet. I'd like to ask Siyoon or Yubin what they think."

"uh...."

Heo Yu-bin opened his mouth wide as he was caught in buffering.

I expected it because he gets a shocked reaction every time a song is released.

"I, I, I'll follow the songs you guys want! So, honestly, I think they're all good songs...."

"Well, that's what Yubin is like. To be honest.... In terms of popularity, is the best, but I personally practiced a lot for the other song separately. So I think I'll be able to learn the dance quickly."

"What song?"

Kang Si-yoon scratched his head and laughed.

"It's a little embarrassing to say this myself, but I've heard a lot that I resemble one of the senior members of the Perish Boyz. So I was looking for videos of them, and I found a song called 'Lock Down' that I really liked, so I practiced it a lot by myself."

"Does Siyoon mean it's better to go to ?"

"I am proud to say that I can follow the choreography and the flow at an incredible speed, Karis."

by Perish Boyz.

I tried my best to keep the corners of my mouth from rising, and I cheered inwardly.

If it were like this, it would be much more comfortable.

"We will now begin song selection and team formation. We will proceed in order, starting from Cell 1, so please all take a seat and wait."

The boring waiting time has come again.

The early races are an unavoidable phenomenon, as 96 people are still together.

Moreover, our cell was number 31, the second from the end, so we had to wait even longer.

Heo Yu-bin was on the verge of dozing off.

"Yubin. If you fall asleep here, you'll be in big trouble."

"Huh, gasp! Sorry!"

"Here, I'll give you some tissues, so wipe the drool from your mouth first."

When it is their turn, each cell moves out of the auditorium and heads to the waiting room, where the song they want is written.

If the color you chose there is full, you either push a cell away or you are kicked out.

As the number of people in the auditorium decreased, I calculated the probability.

'Our average rating is 1.3, which is very high. If the number of people for the song we picked is full, the probability of being kicked out is relatively low. The other cells will definitely know that.'

That is, it means that there is a high possibility that you will move strategically rather than just looking at the song and acting.

If you have a mediocre average rating, you will seek safety over adventure.

If you have a cell with a lot of free time like ours, we'll go with a song with high competitiveness.

"Cell 30 will depart."

Finally, it's our turn next.

Kang Si-yoon, who had been watching the whole situation with his head held high, asked.

"Karis, are you okay with too?"

"Siyoon, I was going to recommend even without you saying so."

"Are you serious and not joking?"

"Isn't the overall image of Ferris Boyz seniors similar to our image? You yourself said that you resembled one of the members. I also judged that your physicality is very suitable for fully conceptual songs rather than feminine songs."

Kang Si-yoon's expression was so funny that I wanted to take a picture of it.

"Yes, but why is it so weird when you say the word conceptual?"

"Is that so? I thought it wouldn't feel awkward since it's an English word."

"From the beginning, it was strange that an Estonian person could explain K-pop seniors' songs in such depth in fluent Korean."

Whether it felt uncomfortable or not, I continued what I was saying.

"Anyway, it's a good enough choice strategically. The dance might be a bit difficult, but since Siyoon is here, we don't have to worry. The vocal range itself isn't that high, so it'll be easy for Yubin. Also, it's not a very new song, and it's a song by a group that's relatively younger than BoLu seniors, whose fandom core is beyond imagination."

"Are you saying that the probability of being blindly compared is low?"

"That's exactly what it means."

As I was speaking my mind, a system window popped up in front of me.

[The skill, 'Genius of Words (C)' is activated. The probability of the listener being persuaded slightly increases.]

My last passive skill that wasn't activated on stage.

As the name suggests, this is a skill that makes my speech more advantageous in a discussion.

In the current situation, Kang Si-yoon is already leaning towards .

But since he hadn't decided for sure that we wanted to do this song, I ended up using my rhetoric to give it the final push.

"I also thought I spoke too hastily, but after hearing what Karis said, it seems like it might actually be okay."

"I'm okay, hyungs. I'm not very confident about dancing… but I'll try my best!"

"Then it's decided, right?"

Both roommates nodded.

The fact that our ranks were high and there was no risk of being kicked out must have also given them confidence.

When the staff finally called Cell 31, we walked with a firm stride toward the waiting room where the picket was erected.

Just before opening the door, Heo Yu-bin crouched down and put his ear to it.

"... Hyungs, I can't hear anything from inside."

"Of course. It's obvious that everyone will pretend they don't exist."

"Sometimes, when I see Siyoon, he's so realistic."

I tapped Heo Yu-bin's thin shoulder.

"We need to hurry and check who's inside."

"Ka, Karis hyung nim! I'm so nervous, what should I do?"

"If you're really that nervous, why don't you come in behind me?"

Even though I say it calmly, I still feel a little nervous.

Even though I remember the overall development of .

No one knows what variables will occur this time.

'If I remember correctly, the trainees ranked 1st to 3rd went to the BoLu side... Surely if I opened the door, Song Hyeong-bin wouldn't be there?'

Even if I have SSS-level looks, it is a huge risk to face Song Hyeong-bin in our first team match.

If we meet as opponents, there will be an inevitable difference in skill level.

If we were on the same side, our cellmates could be buried under his presence.

I opened the door, praying that I would find some decent opponents.

"...."

"... ?"

"No one is there?"

There were numerous cameras installed inside the waiting room.

It seemed like there was an intention to immediately capture the trainees' reactions.

The situation has come to the point where we don't have to pretend to be surprised just to get the amount of footage.

Because there was literally no one in the waiting room.

I looked behind the door and opened the curtains wide to see if there was any hidden camera footage.

There was no sign of human presence, only dust blowing.

"Is this real? Is there no one here?"

Kang Si-yoon, who always maintained a cool tempo, also asked the filming crew with a blank expression.

Heo Yu-bin, needless to say, had both of his eyes wandering far into space.

Even at this moment, I was weighing the current situation in my head.

' is a very attractive song. Why didn't anyone choose it?'

... Rather, did everyone think the opposite of me?

Since it is a song with a clear concept, they may have decided that their own cell members' image did not fit with .

The Ferris Boyz themselves are a very tall group with dynamic dancing, so if they don't meet this requirement, they could easily be passed over.

'But if this happens.... There's only one cell left. In the end, that means the cells that broke away from other places will come here.'

In short, cells with relatively low ranks can team up with us.

"First of all, what color do you want?"

"Shall we go with Red?"

"I like red!"

We sat side by side in the red team seats, holding our breath and waiting to see what would happen.

I thought we'd have to wait quite a long time this time too.

But the next member of came much faster than expected.

"Oh, I knew they'd be here! See, am I right?"

"Hyung, this is awesome, really."

"That's amazing!"

Following us in cell 31, cell 32 also chose .

And the one who was looking at me with sparkling eyes was none other than Park Se-han.

It's the same at the level test site.

Even during the cell practice session, he would talk to me and even choose the same song.

'...Why do I feel like I'm being stalked?'

Park Se-han took his roommates and sat down in the red team seats right away.

Looking at his smiling face, he seems to be really happy.

"Has no one come here yet? Hey, no one has eyes to see, no one has any."

"We were surprised when we first came here. There was no one here."

"Hahaha, that really is true! Oh, since we're on the same team, should we introduce ourselves first?"

Park Se-han, who was in charge of the quick progress, gestured to his roommates.

Then, a trainee with impressive red-dyed hair bowed his head and greeted me.

"Hello, I'm Oh Tae-young, a Tier 2 trainee. My main position is rapping, and I'm 19 years old. Please take care of me!"

"Oh, hello."

Following Oh Tae-young, a trainee wearing round glasses stood up and did a belly bow.

Judging from the way he speaks and the name tag attached to his chest, he seems to be one of the few foreign trainees in .

"My name is Ken Hashimoto from Japan! Please call me Ken. I'm 19 years old, Eto [That]. My position is main dancer!"

As expected, he is a trainee from Japan.

The name seemed familiar, so I slowly tried to recall my memories....

'Hmm. I don't remember clearly, but I'm sure it was the guy who went to the finals with me.'

We didn't meet at all because we weren't assigned to the same group during the final stage, but I remember hearing his name quite a bit at the ranking announcement ceremony.

First of all, it was fortunate that both of them seemed to be good players.

"I'm Park Se-han, a trainee under Awake. I'm 20 years old, and my main position is vocal. Please take good care of me! Let's do our best."

That guy was the problem.

Well, he was not lacking in skills or the kind of person who would do trolling.

I wanted to stay away from him for a while because I thought he would soon become the subject of news articles.

As I shook his hand, I recalled the hidden benefit twist from round one.

'I definitely need to get him off before going to the second round.'

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