The Idol Who Returned from Hell Chapter 20

After the judges’ interim evaluation, the incident where Park Chang-jung coveted my part was quickly settled.

After all, he had taken such a fact-bombing from none other than Min Si-hyeon and Lee Jin-hak.

“……I think it’s right for Si-hwan to do it after all.”

He even voluntarily returned the bridge part to me first.

On one hand, I felt sorry seeing his shattered mentality, but it was still his own doing, so what could be done.

This kind of thing can only be realized by oneself.

No matter how much he wanted to act greedily to resolve the situation favorably, he should have carefully examined his own capabilities and surrounding conditions.

Park Chang-jung probably realized too late.

That every single one of our actions was being thoroughly recorded, and that we weren’t being evaluated based on just this one stage.

Since it’s a program that requires maintaining long-term momentum, he only now realized that he had made his risky move far too early, and now he had become a docile lamb throughout.

Perhaps because I had crushed his spirit once. Surprisingly, Park Chang-jung obediently followed the orders of me, the leader.

Honestly, I had been thinking of countermeasures in case he acted with brazen audacity, claiming I had deliberately created this situation.

But since I didn’t need to use them, it worked out well.

The remaining practice period passed quickly, and no more discord arose within Team 9.

Every night, Yu Ha-woon and Chae Ha-ru had their vocal parts checked by me.

And I was secretly honing my own secret weapon.

“What were you doing alone?”

“Oh, it’s nothing.”

Even when Yu Ha-woon suddenly approached during practice breaks, I tried hard to deflect.

“No matter how I look at it, I feel like you must have prepared something.”

“It’s just your imagination.”

I also played dumb to Chae Ha-ru, who made sharp analyses.

This was a card that had to be revealed on the main stage.

Seeing me constantly changing the subject, Cerberus giggled.

{This is my first time seeing Master like this.}

‘So do you have a complaint about it?’

{No! It’s totally new and thrilling! Show me more!}

‘Are you a pervert?’

Like that, the dates quickly passed on the calendar.

The fateful day of the first round Group Battle Matches had dawned.

* * *

“Line up in a single row for entry~”

Due to the heat attacking since June, the staff already sounded tired.

Even though the group battle round was taking place in a filming location inside the KNet building, a whopping 200 audience members had to enter.

The air conditioning facilities were poor, and with people at 36.5 degrees Celsius crowded together, it was truly no different from a sauna.

But even in such a steamy atmosphere, Song Ji-won’s mood was at its peak.

“I knew you’d survive.”

“I’m always sitting and clicking like crazy, so this much is a piece of cake.”

Song Ji-won’s colleague, who had been holding a mini fan to her face, gave a thumbs up.

Song Ji-won and her friends who had watched 〈ISL 2〉’s theme song stage together had all applied to be audience members for the first round live viewing.

Not only were expectations high for Season 2, but the quality of 〈HIT〉’s stage and the many eye-catching trainees made them expect fierce competition.

“Is this for real? I’m in the 32,000s.”

“That’s nothing, mine’s still a white screen.”

“Damn, I got crushed……”

Most of them couldn’t overcome the fortress of speed-clickers and suffered crushing defeats.

Fortunately, Song Ji-won, who worked in the gaming industry and had clicked mice hundreds of times, and one colleague who was an experienced person who had attended last season’s live audience, survived and preserved their pride.

“How come you didn’t bring a camera today?”

“You don’t know how strict KNet’s inspections are, do you? They even hire professional female guards to thoroughly body search all entrants.”

“Wow, I didn’t know that.”

Song Ji-won had frequently attended concerts and fan meetings whenever she had time.

But she had little experience with this kind of live audience viewing. Her time in the idol fandom was relatively short compared to others.

Song Ji-won’s colleague Kang Eun-young was what’s called a ‘homepage master’ or ‘homma.’ They had graduated from the same Media and Video Studies department, and she said she had become a photographer by utilizing her hobby.

With the additional attribute of being an idol fan, becoming a homma was perhaps a natural path.

She was curious about what level KNet’s security was at to make even such a passionate homma surrender.

“Sorry, but could you lift your skirt a bit?”

As Kang Eun-young said, a female security guard really came out personally and carefully checked even under skirts.

“You might not know, but most hommas hide cameras by dividing them into body parts. I’ve used that method a lot too, but while places with male guards are okay, if there are female guards like that, you might get caught.”

“You guys are amazing, and they’re amazing too.”

This feeling of watching a battle between the world’s strongest.

After passing through the security’s first checkpoint, they now had to go through metal detectors too.

It was a moment that reminded her of departing from an airport.

“At this level, they could catch bomb smugglers too.”

“I think so too. It might seem excessive, but thinking about it from the opposite side, we hommas also have various techniques for hiding cameras, hehe.”

Only after about an hour of inspection could they finally enter the filming location.

Seeing it in person, it was quite large-scale. Of course, it wasn’t a place equipped with a thrust stage like general concerts, but the left and right width was sufficiently wide so movement would be smooth.

“You brought everything I told you to, right?”

“Water, towel, comfortable sneakers, emergency snacks, hand fan.”

“Okay, pass. We’ll probably have to stand here for at least 4 hours, so you prepared well.”

Watching the staff busily prepare the stage, she understood why people came to live viewings.

They could actually see the trainees they’d only seen on screen.

“In one way, it’s disappointing though.”

“What is?”

“Episode 1 of 〈ISL 2〉 hasn’t even aired yet. If I could salvage even a few photos from this first round in advance, the website and Bluebird traffic would explode.”

“That would make sense from a homma’s perspective.”

Looking at her colleague’s deflated face, Song Ji-won desperately tried to think of something comforting to say.

“But unlike when taking photos, you can completely appreciate the kids’ faces. Let’s be satisfied with that today.”

“Right! I really came today to see Hwi’s face. For you it’s Si-hwan, right?”

“Of course, I’m completely devoted.”

Song Ji-won had already firmly resolved.

Major agency trainees were good, and trainees with overwhelming visuals were all good.

But in times like these, to ignore such a precious trainee who could do visuals/dance/singing all in one and pick someone else as her one-pick?

That would be crossing the line.

Song Ji-won’s heart swelled just thinking about seeing Ryu Si-hwan’s fantastic live performance.

The problem was when those KNet bastards would show the stage of the group Ryu Si-hwan belonged to.

‘They’ll probably put it at the very end.’

So far, the only video released from 〈ISL 2〉 was just 〈HIT〉. The participants who generated meaningful buzz through that single video could be counted on one hand.

Naturally, to create dramatic effect, they’d push the protagonists of the topic to the very end. Especially since it was none other than KNet.

The endless wait continued.

There was so much to check—sound conditions, stage floor tile inspection, lighting facility inspection, and more.

Had about another hour passed?

Finally, there seemed to be movement of someone coming up from the side of the stage, and cheers erupted from among the audience members positioned at the back.

“Hello, national managers. I’m Go Hyeon-ju, who will be serving as the general director and MC of 〈Idol Stove League Season 2〉. Please take care of me.”

“Wow, it’s really Go Hyeon-ju!”

“She’s insane in person!”

As expected, an actress is an actress.

Like rain pouring on parched earth during a drought, the wilted audience members immediately revived at Go Hyeon-ju’s appearance.

“I sincerely welcome the managers who came to today’s first round Group Battle Matches. Before the full-scale round, I’ll give you several important announcements.”

It would probably be about the method for selecting winning teams this round and the procedures for national voting and benefit item purchases that would proceed on the 〈ISL 2〉 website from now on.

For Song Ji-won, who had participated more enthusiastically than anyone in 〈ISL 1〉, it was within easily predictable range.

“This battle round will have a total of 16 teams competing in rival battles over 8 songs. After each round ends, the managers present can press the number of the team they think did better using the remote control given to you at entry. But it doesn’t end there.”

Go Hyeon-ju deliberately dragged out the time slightly to create space for editing points.

“After team voting ends, you’ll additionally pick one trainee you think did best within the team you voted for. The benefits given will differ according to this individual participant voting, so please vote carefully.”

The dual voting system that was also used in 〈ISL 1〉.

In the last season, they voted for the trainee they thought did best from the two competing teams, and the team with the most final votes by team won the victory benefit.

This time, it seemed they had refined it a bit more.

“Take this opportunity to think about not just your favorite but also your second favorite.”

“Mm, it’s okay. I don’t have enough time even with just one.”

“You’re really devoted.”

MC Go Hyeon-ju saw the production team’s signal and paused slightly before delivering the final announcement.

“Finally, the most important matter that must be conveyed to the national managers remains. Precisely the distinctive systems that only 〈Idol Stove League Season 2〉 has: ‘All-Star Voting,’ ‘Match Prediction,’ and ‘Sponsorship’ functions will open after the first episode airs.”

“Finally, the time has come to reveal my true skills.”

“Your eyes look scary.”

Song Ji-won didn’t attend a game company for nothing.

Since her school meal days, she had broadened her knowledge by playing countless games. Among the games she’d played, there weren’t just one or two baseball games.

And the charm within baseball games was precisely the match prediction system that predicted game results.

For Song Ji-won, an experienced player, 〈ISL〉’s format was no different from eating cold porridge.

“If you’re a manager who watched last Season 1, these three familiar functions return. ‘All-Star Voting’ where you can vote once a day for your one-pick among national managers. ‘Match Prediction’ where you predict which team will win in upcoming rounds and which participant will take MVP. And ‘Sponsorship’ where you can support your own one-pick using money earned through match prediction. Everyone, you’ve been waiting a lot, haven’t you?”

“Yes―!”

“As mentioned in the preview, in this Season 2, your choices will be more important than ever. So please get good results and gather sufficient money.”

A system where you match trainees’ rankings, obtain corresponding rewards, then send sponsorship to the participants you support.

All survival programs encourage excessive immersion.

Viewers need to completely identify with participants in the program for supporters to increase.

When interest rises, ratings naturally go up.

From that perspective, 〈Idol Stove League〉 cleverly mixed the charm of sports games with the essence of survival programs.

‘It was hard enough matching rankings in Season 1, but this time they said they raised the importance of sponsorship even more, ugh.’

Song Ji-won already felt like she was getting a headache.

The surrounding audience members also sighed as if what had to come had come.

Perhaps feeling that the initial aggro had definitely worked, Go Hyeon-ju smiled brightly and raised the curtain on the first round.

“They say the participants are all ready. Then from now on, let’s officially begin 〈Idol Stove League Season 2〉 first round Group Battle Matches. Play the Stage.”