The Idol Who Returned from Hell Chapter 12

“Why am I getting more thrilled?”

“Right? We’re not the ones who sang it.”

“How many times are you going to replay this?”

I threw some pointless nagging at the two who wouldn’t budge from in front of the dorm TV.

Since Kang Seon-woo and Ma Si-hyeok kept playing only the part where my high notes appeared throughout, there was a slight embarrassing feeling I couldn’t deny.

“Wow, but you followed the camera really well. Si-hwan, how did you do this?”

“Very simple.”

“Ooh, is master instructor Ryu Si-hwan making another appearance?”

I answered with a cheerful voice toward Kang Seon-woo, who was radiating sparkling eyes.

“See, the camera has a red light on, right?”

“Yes!”

“Then you should follow it, right?”

“That’s right!”

“Yes, so just follow all the cameras with red lights like that.”

“Wait, is this actually a tip?”

“Brother Si-hwan, that’s something we all already know. Tell us how to predict which camera will have the red light on!”

“Unfortunately, anything beyond this requires tuition fees.”

Lightly ignoring the complaints full of resentment, I watched the brief preview that came after the 〈HIT〉 stage ended.

Of course, since I had already watched the main broadcast, I knew all the content.

But today was the day the first round would officially begin, so I thought I’d watch it again to get some motivation at least.

[Do you remember those hot cheers that heated up the summer sky three years ago.]

A single spotlight turned on the dark stage, and MC Go Hyeon-ju appeared in a suit within it.

[For the national managers who experienced passion and excitement with many trainees back then, our Front side worked hard to create an even better league. And at the end of that.]

You could really see them cleverly mixing in baseball terminology, befitting a program produced and invested in by a mega-corporation that operates a baseball team.

Normally they would use words like producer or voter as affectionate names for viewers, but here they call them managers.

But thinking about it again, it could also remind you of managers, the profession that handles idol management, so it seemed like a pretty good choice.

When Go Hyeon-ju spread both arms, the lights of the set where 〈ISL 2〉’s theme song 〈HIT〉 was filmed came on one by one.

[Next week, the blood-spilling confrontations of participants filled with venom and desire will begin.]

With that final comment, the screen went dark again.

Then heavy breathing sounds could be heard in the background.

[…If not now, there’s no opportunity.]

[We really have to do this with life-or-death determination.]

[I’ll do it until my body breaks.]

Words of determination taken from individual trainee interviews played one after another.

Amid the parade of all similar content, suddenly 3 seconds of silence flowed.

[Well. Just the first thought I had was, um. It’ll be interesting?]

Seong-hwi’s interview flashed by like lightning, shrugging his shoulders leisurely while making a crazy expression.

‘That’s exactly the kind of editing that suits KNet’s taste.’

I drank water while recalling KNet’s editing flow that I had read about in hell.

Alchemists who transform even scenes without buzz potential into provocative content through so-called splicing.

If they want to make things just a little spicy, KNet production staff’s specialty is cutting dialogue from completely different scenes and combining them to create plausible new scenes.

And knowing they were a production team specialized in deliberately manufacturing controversy even when there was no actual confrontation on site, I had been even more careful in my actions.

‘…Of course, I don’t know what will happen because of that crazy guy.’

After Seong-hwi’s interview, our level test scenes that were really quickly spliced together appeared.

[Tsk, this really isn’t right.]

[Is this all you have to show?]

[I’ll be honest. I’m not sitting here to see this kind of mess.]

[I’m asking because I’m curious.]

The peak of consecutive KO punches from the judges’ harsh reviews was Shin Jae-hoon’s evaluation that rang louder than ever.

[Did you really come here because you want to become an idol?]

After that, naturally scenes of several trainees hanging their heads and even wiping away tears quickly passed by.

To viewers, it was an incredibly smooth flow.

“Wow, watching it again, it really is vicious.”

“That scene was from when we were wiping sweat from our faces during self-practice.”

“And that kid was using artificial tears to do that.”

The three of us watching the screen clicked our tongues at KNet’s shameless splicing.

While some reactions from trainees who got crushed to bits were included, the other scenes were created through ridiculous editing. They took a scene of peaceful practice and attached it like that, or made a kid putting in eye drops because their eyes were dry look like they were sobbing.

[Finally starting to get exciting.]

[It was so cool. Is this what class means?]

[This is what I was hoping for!]

[You know I don’t say this kind of thing often. But it was so cool.]

[So interesting!]

I guess you could call it a textbook example of giving disease then medicine.

After the evaluations of poor trainees, they immediately showed completely opposite reactions, blatantly advertising ‘these kinds of kids appear on our program too!’

Even though they were scenes that flashed by in an instant, the judges’ lines from Kang Seon-woo’s and my evaluations stuck in my ears.

And at the end of the preview.

[You did fucking amazingly well.]

They even brought forward my final grade evaluation to tantalizingly amplify viewers’ anticipation.

Of course, Ryu Si-hwan’s face didn’t appear, but still watching it on TV felt strange.

“Only my evaluation didn’t come out.”

“From what I see, your grade evaluation is going to cause chaos, right? You knelt down and sobbed.”

“Should I consider that fortunate?”

When Kang Seon-woo was giving Ma Si-hyeok some considerable words of comfort, large letters were stamped onto the screen.

[Support your idol now! First broadcast ON AIR June 17th]

I looked at the TV where the preview had ended and reflected on the situation so far.

To put it bluntly, I had mobilized considerable buzz through the 〈HIT〉 pre-release stage video.

Since all elements had performed in the right place at the right time, it was a deserved result.

I received the final A grade and performed 〈HIT〉 on the highest stage.

I even secured screen time by obtaining the opportunity for a camera one-shot.

The solo verse part I was responsible for was even the high note part in the latter half of the second verse.

Most importantly, I had perfectly followed the camera movements.

This is one of the basic skills that idol trainees naturally learn, but I was able to pay even more special attention by reviving my experiences from hell.

For instance, constantly turning my gaze to manage monsters like harpies flying through the sky.

Or closely watching the movements of Cerberus who was sneakily loosening his leash and trying to escape in the open field.

Based on countless experiences like these, I enthusiastically followed the cameras’ red lights.

Because such simple eye contact is a much more natural means of instantly stealing viewers’ attention.

{Oh, Master! Did you just call me?}

‘I was thinking about you, but I didn’t call you, so keep sleeping.’

{Aw, disappointing!}

‘You have the most sleepy face right now, what’s disappointing about it.’

{As expected, Master knows me too well!}

Cerberus, maintaining transparency, smiled brightly then fell fast asleep using my pillow.

I shook my head while doing some SNS web surfing.

Since checking the public’s primary level of interest is essential.

—Does anyone know who the kid singing high notes at [02:45] is? T_T T_T

└I also looked for this kid because I was so curious but couldn’t find out, but he’s so freaking handsome for real

└You can find out by looking at the participant list on the 〈ISL 2〉 website, his name is Ryu Si-hwan

—Wow looking at his profile he’s an independent trainee?? I thought all the independent trainees who could appear in 〈ISL 1〉 had already come out, where the heck did this one pop out from

└Crazy. Then that means he was living real life with that face… What do I do, I’m suddenly getting excited

There was this kind of content among the comments on the 〈HIT〉 video uploaded to YouTube.

[〈HIT〉 Center Stage Participants Profile Summary Post.txt +6453]

Just like last season, generally the kids on center stage would have received A grades, so I briefly summarized only the ones I saw!! I wrote this while comparing faces and profiles uploaded to the website one by one, so please recommend

Early center: Seong-hwi (X2 alumni)

Early second row: Ryu Si-hwan (main vocal material independent trainee), Kang Seon-woo (BK alumni), …….

Posts analyzing 〈HIT〉 while looking at the brief profiles of 100 participants updated on the official website had also been uploaded.

Here too, Ryu Si-hwan was mentioned quite frequently and enjoyed considerable popularity.

—But what’s everyone’s reason for falling for RSH? I agree he’s handsome but when it comes to faces, isn’t SH the overwhelming winner

└Face is face but first of all his singing is beyond comparison, I’ve never seen a kid who can handle parts going up to 3rd octave in this kind of group theme song

└First of all no matter how you look at it, he’s the type KNet guys would like lol. Everyone knows they really push skilled people with stories

└If I were them, if there was a kid radiating that kind of presence among major agency alumni, I’d want to give him some screen time too lol. The venom in his eyes when singing Hit was no joke

└And faces are subjective taste but I think Si-hwan is more handsome hehe… he’s like a proper first prince style and Hwi is like a playful youngest prince style who might fool around

Not only in posts but also in comment sections where netizens were chatting, my name had definitely secured its share.

Everything was good, but seeing comparisons with top-tier trainees like Seong-hwi already made me worry about how episodes 1-2 would be edited.

Well, what can I change by worrying about it here.

For now, I need to focus on the first round that’s about to hit me.

Based on 〈Idol Stove League Season 1〉, the gateway waiting for us would be hell overflowing with tremendous trolling and selfishness.

It would be group battle matches.

* * *

That afternoon.

Go Hyeon-ju, who had taken on hosting 〈Idol Stove League Season 2〉, smiled awkwardly while watching trainees quickly entering the auditorium.

‘I feel kind of sorry somehow.’

As the MC, she was only following KNet’s direction. She held no real power whatsoever.

But since she was the person giving all the orders to the trainees, this kind of sorry feeling coexisted on one hand.

Because she felt the content in the cue cards she was holding would be too harsh for these young participants.

“〈Idol Stove League Season 2〉 participants, did you all rest well?”

“Yes~”

The trainees, who had a short rest period of about a week after the final grade evaluation ended, answered with voices full of energy.

“Now that each of your final grades has been determined, we can really start the main league. So today I’ll announce the first round mission here.”

As soon as her words fell, the atmosphere in the hall instantly changed.

The trainees who had been making bright expressions while playing jokes on each other all swallowed and looked at Go Hyeon-ju.

“To become the best idols, they say you need this more than anything else. That’s ‘teamwork.’ I’m curious how well you can lead harmony together with unfamiliar teammates. So the first round we’ve prepared is ‘Group Battle Matches.'”

The curtain that had been hanging behind Go Hyeon-ju opened wide, revealing 16 placards behind it.

The participants murmured while looking at the placards with famous male idol song titles written on them.

All songs that could be said to have made a mark in K-pop history without exaggeration.

The kind of songs that anyone who dreamed of being an idol would have covered at least once.

“You will form a total of 16 teams and battle against rival teams with one song each. Very simple, right?”

“How will team formation and song selection proceed?”

“Good question.”

At one participant’s question, Go Hyeon-ju equipped a meaningful smile.

“Since it’s team battles, it would be comfortable to work with familiar people, right?”

“Yes!”

“But the world doesn’t flow easily according to our will. Sometimes luck, sometimes misfortune strikes. So this team formation will be determined entirely by luck.”

A staff member who had been waiting on one side of the auditorium brought over a large machine.

Go Hyeon-ju spoke in a very fresh tone while looking at the confused participants.

“Sometimes classic methods are better than complicated ones. How about it, everyone. Are you ready to draw lots with me?”