Chapter 20
"I'm so nervous again, I'm going crazy."
"Please, please, we have to win...."
"What benefits do you think will come out?"
The trainees' chatter permeated the air on set.
Only a cold wind was blowing through the space that had been bustling with spectators just a few hours ago.
The cold felt so good on the skin that everyone gulped dry saliva.
I glanced around at the trainees lined up in groups.
'The groups that sense defeat already have a bad complexion.'
You can't know the results until you try.
You shouldn't easily become frustrated and feel defeated.
These lines are typical of lines that give false hope.
People from a third-party perspective might say that.
However, anyone who is deeply involved in a particular situation will already know better than anyone else.
Because they have clearly seen with their own two eyes competitors who have shown a superior presence than them.
"...."
"Ha."
The trainees on my right who are lowering their heads are a prime example.
It must have felt desperate, to perform the same song on the same stage.
The fact that they cannot turn this situation around with their own abilities.
"To everyone who has successfully completed the first round of
Choi Sia, who went up on stage, began the event with a short bow.
A reflexive applause rang out.
"The 300 national managers who came here today watched your performance and cast their precious votes for the team they thought did better. Let's check out which teams among the 300 votes took the honor of victory and what benefits they will receive right now!"
A huge sign was created on a large screen installed at the back of the set.
A detailed graph of the eight mission song names and the categories of the Red/Blue teams.
"Then let's check the results starting from the first group,
The trainees, at the very end, flinched for a moment.
Even though they were quite a distance away, I could hear their earnest mutterings.
"Please please."
"I just want to get to the second round. Please."
"Just once. Just once."
The votes for the Red/Blue teams were revealed, accompanied by some unnecessarily grandiose sound effects.
The close fight was more intense than I thought, and a surprised sound came out from behind me.
"Wow, how many votes is that difference?"
"It was 143 to 157.... It was only a difference of 14 votes."
"I'm shaking, honestly."
Park Se-han, who always smiled confidently, let out a short sigh, feeling nervous.
As the results were close from the beginning, Ken Hashimoto and Heo Yubin automatically found themselves trembling.
Kang Si-yoon was still smiling brightly, but anyone who saw him could tell that he was trembling inside.
"Don't be nervous, Karis. It's okay. We did better than anyone else, right? Yeah, we did well. It'll be okay. Don't be scared."
"Who the hell are you talking to?"
"I'm just casting a spell by talking to myself, so don't interrupt me."
I shrugged my shoulders at Kang Si-yoon, who continued to talk to himself with a smiling face.
As expected, the pressure of the first round seemed to have landed like a boulder.
The results of other groups were then revealed.
Among the songs placed before
"What a surprising result. Among the two teams that covered BoLu's
The result was such that the opposing team lost their fighting spirit, as they swept away 254 votes out of 300.
I looked closely at the trainees' faces while giving them congratulatory applause.
'Some people are just happy to win, and some people know that it's not all that good.'
The biggest point of the first round was that it was a 'team vote' rather than an 'individual vote'.
In short, it means that if you have just one team member with outstanding recognition, you can win the match.
This is not because the 'team' did well, but because of one 'individual'.
Some people who know Song Hyeong-bin's overwhelming skills and popularity may not be entirely happy about this victory.
'If the original broadcast is edited to focus on Song Hyung-bin, it's obvious that their screen time will disappear as well.'
The narrative is already perfectly woven.
If the production team wanted to push Song Hyeong-bin even further, they could have given him all the credit for this great achievement. Unlike before, the team members have changed this time, so we'll have to wait and see how the production team will react.
The thought of having to compete with such a big shot is already making my head spin.
"Next team. Show us the results of the two teams that did a great cover of The Perish Boyz'
Now it's our turn.
I heard Kang Si-yoon muttering even louder behind me.
"Just let me win. I don't want anything else."
"No! You have to ask them to win by a huge margin!"
Heo Yu-bin, who was trembling, was startled and grabbed Kang Si-yoon's arm.
"It's too simple to just win!"
"Didn't you say you were so nervous you were going crazy just a little while ago?"
"I'm so nervous I'm going crazy, so I'm just pretending to be crazy and hoping for a difference of over 100 votes!"
Taking advantage of the confusion, Ken Hashimoto ran up next to me.
Then he nodded with sparkling eyes.
"We will win no matter what! Don't worry, we will!"
"Yes, you can think of it that way."
"If we win here, I'll give 30 dark chocolates to Karis nim!"
"Thir, thirty?"
"One bag is all chocolate!"
I appreciate the thought, but if I were to eat 30 pieces of rich dark chocolate, my tongue would probably go numb.
I nodded and smiled vaguely as I moved on.
The numbers that had been spinning dazzlingly stopped, and all the trainees' eyes were focused on one place.
The moment we see the numbers written next to the Red Team.
"...Ha."
A small, involuntary exclamation escaped my lips.
No wonder, numbers I had never seen before were greeting me.
[
'It's so different from last time.'
When I first tried
It wasn't a close match, nor was it a huge difference, it was just a loss by an easy margin.
For me, who had such an experience, the fact that we won by 236 votes felt unrealistic.
"Did it come out correctly?"
"...Really?"
"Amazing, Great."
The set, which had been silent for a moment, was soon filled with the noise of surprised trainees.
As soon as the results came out, the first person to recover from our frozen team was Park Se-han.
"Hey, we won. Guys, we won!"
Park Se-han, unable to contain his excitement, turned around and hugged Oh Tae-young, who was standing there with a blank expression.
In response, Ken Hashimoto pulled Heo Yubin's arm with all his might.
"We won! We really won!"
"Ahhhh."
Heo Yu-bin, who couldn't tell if it was a dream or reality, shook around like a paper doll.
Still, he was smiling broadly, showing he was in a good mood.
I turned my head and smiled faintly as I observed, with interest, the chaos our group had become.
"It seems like Siyoon's magic is working a little."
"... That's right. This is really how it is."
Kang Si-yoon also had a dumbfounded expression on his face.
There is a strong sense of unease about how to react.
I silently thrust my fist at him.
"Thank you for your hard work. I was able to come this far thanks to Siyoon."
"Hahaha, don't say lines that you would say in the finals here already."
We lightly bumped our fists.
It was a proper celebration, neither excessive nor passive.
"Thank you for your hard work. Congratulations!"
"Thank you. Thank you for your hard work."
The
Since there are dozens of cameras rolling, every move is being captured.
If you continue to show a mentally exhausted attitude just because your team lost, you are likely to be caught as prey by the evil side.
Everyone made a rational decision.
"Karis hyung nim! If this continues, aren't we really going to get first place in overall votes? It is crazy? This is awesome."
Heo Yu-bin, who had completely released all his tension, laughed and patted my shoulder.
"I don't think so."
"Really? But we got 268 votes?"
Heo Yu-bin pouted as if he didn't understand what I was saying, but then became quiet when the results of
"Is 280 votes a reasonable number?"
"The production team probably didn't manipulate it. That must mean the difference in skill was so great."
"There was that trainee that Sehan hyung mentioned earlier, right?"
Among the trainees receiving congratulations here and there, a boy who was particularly tall was seen.
Ji Yoon-cheol just kept his face blank and bowed his back.
"... Hyung nim. I hope you don't end up on the same team as that trainee."
"That goes for me too. I don't know until later, but if we meet now, I'll get eaten."
"I don't want to see him again in the future!"
The results for all groups are out.
"The winning teams for Round 1 have all been confirmed. As a winner benefit, each trainee on each team will receive an additional 5,000 votes."
"They're giving me 5,000 votes!"
"Please, let's just survive the first round."
Winner's benefits are like basic perks.
Since survival and elimination are determined by a small difference, 5,000 votes are extremely precious.
But there's something else I'm waiting for.
"In addition, there is a special privilege given to the top three teams that received the most votes from the national managers in this round. I will now reveal the three teams that received the most votes."
On the large screen, Ji Yoon-cheol's
"Please come up on stage!"
18 trainees stood behind Choi Sia.
There was something about this view from the highest point on the set that I didn't dislike.
"The top three teams will receive a special privilege. Before I reveal their identity! Everyone, please choose either 'Yes' or 'No' right here and now."
"Yes?"
"Right now?"
"Yes, right now."
Choi Sia smiled faintly.
Everyone looked at me as if they didn't know what was going on when we were asked to choose yes or no without any questions.
"Just to add a little bit, depending on the answer you give now, you could gain a huge advantage in the second round. Discuss it with your team members and choose one option. I'll give you one minute!"
At the instruction to consult with our team members, our group hurriedly gathered in a circular formation.
"No, what is this all of a sudden? How should we choose?"
"That's right. If you ask us to choose without any prior guidance...."
Park Se-han and Oh Tae-young were unable to say anything easily.
Not to mention Heo Yu-bin, who has reverted to timid mode again.
Ken Hashimoto didn't even seem to understand the context of this.
Kang Si-yoon spoke slowly, still in his right mind.
"When I watch programs that are somewhat like variety shows, it seems like it would have been better to choose no in this situation. When given this choice without knowing the question, people usually choose yes. The results were all bad."
"Do you really have to think like that? But what if they knew we would think this way and twisted it the other way around?"
Everyone just opened their mouths as if they were at a loss for words at Park Se-han's words.
Seeing the opportunity, I cleared my throat and raised my hand.
"I agree with what Siyoon said."
"Karis, why?"
"Usually in a psychological battle, you don't just twist the choice once. You anticipate the opponent's thoughts and anticipate them again. This is the basic premise. If so, the production team will want us to say 'yes.'"
Frankly, in a fight with 50-50 odds, these theories are all nonsense.
But I already know the future.
I remember what choices we need to make to create an environment that is favorable to me.
[Skill, 'Genius of Speech' is activated.]
[Persuasive power slightly increases.]
Just then, a message appeared saying that my skill had been activated.
Park Se-han, who had been listening to my argument carefully, nodded slowly.
"So what Karis said is that you have to think about it twice before you can say no again?"
"That's it."
"The odds are 50/50 anyway. Honestly, when we don't know, I learned to go with the first opinion that comes to mind."
Oh Tae-young provided an assist at the right time.
After hearing his words, Park Se-han scratched his head and sighed.
"Well, there's no point in talking like this when we don't even know what the question is. Let's just say no outright."
"Great!"
Done.
Considering the second round and the public opinion thereafter, we absolutely have to eliminate Park Se-han here.
'I'm sorry, but you and I have reached this point. We can't have a race with obstacles.'
When each team leader said that they had all chosen their options, Choi Sia smiled and gestured.
"The decision has been made. Now, let's reveal the question!"
—