The Idol Who Returned from Hell Chapter 22

“Hah, hah.”

I gasped for breath while looking at the audience members wildly waving their hands.

Originally, I should have been pretending to be out of breath.

Since I had far superior stamina compared to other participants, acting was essential to avoid drawing strange glances.

However, at this moment after finishing the stage, such trivial acting wasn’t necessary.

“Waaaah—!”

Because I had poured out every ounce of my strength to create that kind of enthusiastic cheering.

I had confidence, but it was still just a prediction after all.

No matter how well it went up when I practiced alone, actual performances have many variables.

Like suddenly getting tangled up in steps and the tempo going wrong.

Or failing at breath management and not being able to sustain the high notes for 6 seconds.

But I did it in the end.

Without mistakes, I fully unleashed all the skills I had practiced up until now.

‘…Satisfying.’

I kept my gaze fixed on the audience members.

To taste this thrilling moment again.

To see them going wild over the stage I created—that’s what I endured those difficult times for.

When I voluntarily entered hell, and when I spent 50 years inside hell.

I lived thinking about the cheers from my debut stage that I could hear, even if only briefly.

I could hear labored breathing from both sides of me too.

Chae Ha-ru, who had displayed overwhelming presence from the center, was wiping the sweat that had formed under his headband.

Yu Ha-woon, who had recovered his confidence that had fallen to the floor to some degree, was appealing to the national managers with a playful smile.

“Thank you!”

“Thank you so much!”

When the signal came that we could leave the stage, we bowed repeatedly to the audience like folding phones.

Everyone had satisfied faces without exception.

Park Chang-jung also seemed somewhat relieved.

When all the Team 〈Crash〉 members gathered backstage, I smiled and said.

“Everyone really worked hard.”

“Brother…!”

“Brother Si-hwan!”

The C-grade participant who always called me brother had tears welling up in his eyes.

Yu Ha-woon, who buried his face in my chest, was… needless to say, already sobbing like a storm.

“I hope we can do the next team battle together too. Thank you all so much.”

“Ha-ru, why are you getting emotional too!”

I let the team members hug each other and cry while moving my steps toward backstage.

Because there was something I needed to check.

“This is today’s final battle round. Let me introduce the two teams that will compete over the song 〈Evolution.〉 First, Team 10!”

Team 10 members, led by Seong-hwi, took the stage one by one.

They were all tall guys, so they passed visually at least.

Among them, Ma Si-hyeok at 185cm standing on the far right displayed overwhelming presence.

I frowned slightly looking at Ma Si-hyeok’s starting position.

‘They’re placing Si-hyeok in a corner from the start? Then who’s going to be center.’

No matter how lacking Ma Si-hyeok’s vocals might be, he was definitely an acknowledged A-grade when it came to dancing ability.

His physique too, and his face styled to match Evolution.

There was definitely no better center than Ma Si-hyeok.

‘Don’t tell me that bastard Seong-hwi…’

I had an ominous feeling.

The contrasting personalities of Seong-hwi and Ma Si-hyeok flashed through my mind.

And so Team 10’s stage began.

“……”

I maintained the same expression from start to finish.

How did the stage flow exactly as I expected?

The performance itself was flawless in terms of completion. There were no minor mistakes, the movement was perfect, and the audience response was good.

However, when you dug into the big picture, there were quite a few uncomfortable aspects.

‘Main vocal and center are all Seong-hwi. His parts are also more than the other guys compared to them.’

Right, up to here you could say it’s understandable.

Naturally Seong-hwi was A-grade and a trainee who ranked 2nd in the preliminary rankings.

But then did Ma Si-hyeok, who was the same high grade, have many parts?

That wasn’t the case either.

I bit my lips while looking at Ma Si-hyeok positioned at the very edge even during the final ending pose.

‘The amount itself isn’t noticeably small or anything, but he only got parts that are far below that guy’s capabilities.’

This was a sense of dissonance that only someone who knew the internal situation well could feel.

To me, who understood both Seong-hwi’s cunning power games and Ma Si-hyeok’s timid personality, it was as clear as morning sunlight.

‘So he’s already starting to check people from the first round.’

Seong-hwi probably made his plan based on this kind of goal.

Since they became the only team among the 16 teams with two A-grade participants, they were already halfway to winning.

Therefore, create a stage where ‘I myself’ can shine as much as possible to bring forward votes, while simultaneously and subtly consuming Ma Si-hyeok’s screen time, who could become a potential competitor.

Considering it’s an individual survival, it’s a sufficiently reasonable strategy.

It just feels despicable to someone who knows his personality.

Also, I don’t know what happened during the past week, but if he secured his share that way, there’s also the risk of aggressive editing.

Yet Seong-hwi carried out such a strategy.

‘Very much like a crazy narcissist.’

I shook my head once and calmly organized my thoughts.

For some reason, Ma Si-hyeok’s unconfident face that I’d seen from the beginning kept flickering before my eyes.

‘…Did I unintentionally end up taking care of that timid guy too much?’

* * *

“With this, we conclude the first round Group Battle Matches. Thank you to all the national managers who joined us. Thank you!”

When MC Go Hyeon-ju bowed her head, the audience members filling the filming location sent enthusiastic applause.

“Oh, and as you all know, you checked the confidentiality clause, right? We earnestly ask that you refrain as much as possible from disclosing information about the rounds you saw today to the outside.”

“Yes~”

Like other audition programs, 〈ISL 2〉 also earnestly requested people who enjoyed the stages live to maintain confidentiality.

Since it’s a program with a match prediction system, they seemed to manage such aspects even more thoroughly.

Of course, they couldn’t prevent spoilers 100%, but when I looked up articles from Season 1, they said they tracked down even IPs with their eyes on fire.

That’s why they don’t reveal voting results for battle rounds like this in front of the audience, but gather all the participants again after all schedules are finished for re-filming.

I clicked my tongue internally looking at the trainees entering the empty filming location again.

‘They could give us some time to catch our breath before filming. At this rate, some kids might collapse from hyperventilation due to nervousness.’

Like all people of young age, the 〈ISL 2〉 participants showed everything in their expressions.

The teams that sensed defeat after finishing their stages and the teams confident of victory were even more starkly divided.

It would probably be worse during the first ranking announcement.

The tension permeating the filming location seemed to amplify when MC Go Hyeon-ju appeared.

“〈Idol Stove League Season 2〉 participants, you all really worked hard on the first round.”

Still, they had to give reactions, so all 100 trainees sent vigorous encouraging applause.

“Today, the results of the Group Battle Matches that featured fierce competition over 8 songs will be announced. But there’s one thing you need to know.”

Why are you making us anxious?

What more is there to drain these kids’ blood?

“Earlier I mentioned there would be separate benefits going to individuals within winning teams, right?”

“Yes—!”

“Individual benefit results will be tallied not today, but together with the first ranking announcement. You’ll have to be patient even if you’re curious.”

Really, KNet’s extraordinary plot twisting exceeds imagination.

This isn’t simply a device to avoid revealing major content early.

The first ranking announcement is, in a word, the day to separate trainees who get eliminated based on votes accumulated so far from those who survive.

If they delay individual benefit results until this announcement where every single vote matters importantly, sudden ranking changes could occur right there.

Victory team benefits would naturally mean receiving rewards of at least 3,000 votes or more.

It means participants’ life or death could be determined by how many benefit votes they receive.

To create such stimulating and dramatic situations, KNet endlessly gnaws away at the trainees’ mentals.

“Depending on whether you receive benefits or not, you could be eliminated…”

Sure enough, Yu Ha-woon next to me said in a voice that grew smaller while hanging his head low.

Just when I had barely revived that kid’s confidence while preparing the 〈Volt〉 stage.

I patted Yu Ha-woon’s fluffy poodle-like head once.

“It’s okay, we’ll win and take the benefits.”

“If that happens, it would be so great!”

On the LED screen behind MC Go Hyeon-ju, the 8 songs and 16 team names were created in order.

“Then let’s reveal starting with the first battle song, 〈Fury.〉 Please reveal the final vote count.”

With a total of 200 votes, the joy and sorrow of over 10 participants diverged.

“W-w-we won! Guys, we won!”

“Ah…”

Some teams had really wide gaps, while some teams had to taste the bitter defeat by just a difference of three or four votes.

Trainees who intuited that was their future became increasingly discouraged.

Trainees confident of victory gazed at the screen with eyes full of anticipation.

“Brother.”

“What, Ha-ru.”

Chae Ha-ru, with his chin resting on Yu Ha-woon’s head, said weakly with dead fish eyes.

“I think I’m going crazy from nervousness.”

“For someone on the verge of going crazy from nervousness, you’re pretty calm?”

“My expression is like this, but my insides are completely turned upside down right now.”

For even the usually cool guy to say such things.

I roughly guessed what part Chae Ha-ru felt burdened about.

“Standing as center creates a lot of pressure, right?”

“…Right.”

“It can’t be helped. It’s true that it’s a position where you have to hold the team’s center of gravity. If you couldn’t feel the burden, that wouldn’t be human.”

I continued in a low voice while watching the results being revealed one by one.

“But if you break through that burden and really prove you deserve to stand in that position.”

The letters for 〈Volt〉 finally appeared on the LED screen.

With the appearance of Teams 4 and 9, I could hear all my team members holding their breath at once.

“If I can prove it…?”

“Then that burden will turn into confidence.”

Go Hyeon-ju looked at the cue card containing the results and smiled slightly.

“The final vote count for the Volt battle, please show it.”

After a few seconds passed.

Large font reading [Team 9 WIN!] appeared on screen.

The vote count was… an incredible 179:21.

“Amazing results. Team 9 took 179 votes out of 200, setting the record for most votes in this battle round. Congratulations!”

Everyone froze at the overwhelmingly decisive result.

I was also speechless for a moment.

Though I thought we’d win, I hadn’t expected such a large vote gap.

Yu Ha-woon became a stone statue with both eyes wide as full moons.

Chae Ha-ru covered his mouth while blankly staring at the screen.

“…Congratulations, man!”

What broke that silence was none other than Kang Seon-woo.

Despite losing, seeing him pat my shoulder with a bright smile made me momentarily think he was quite admirable.

‘Building friendship with me from the beginning wasn’t purely image-making after all.’

I responded with a faint smile.

“Thanks.”

“If you’re thankful, we absolutely have to be together next team battle! You promised me then.”

“If the lottery separates us, there’s nothing I can do about it.”

“Fate exists to be defied!”

Our back-and-forth gradually relaxed the temporarily calmed atmosphere.

“Wooow! Guys, you really worked so hard!”

“You worked so hard! I feel so good!”

“…Everyone worked hard.”

Team 9 was in chaos, hugging each other.

One C-grade participant was even shedding tears of emotion.

Park Chang-jung, who had trolled with his own greed, wore an awkward smile with an expression of finally being somewhat relieved.

“It’s okay, everyone did well! We did our best so there’s no regret, right? It’s okay, it’s okay!”

The defeated Team 4 nodded and swallowed their disappointment under the encouragement of Kang Seon-woo, who displayed active leadership.

Following our battle song, the results for the final Evolution were announced lightning-fast.

Without surprises, Team 10 with Seong-hwi and Ma Si-hyeok secured victory with a score of 142:58.

“You all worked hard! We definitely did well~”

“Th-thank you for your hard work.”

I stealthily looked at Ma Si-hyeok’s face, which still seemed gloomy.

I’d have to check what exactly happened through the main broadcast.

“Oh, there’s one final matter to announce before you all return to the dorms.”

MC Go Hyeon-ju glanced at her wristwatch once.

“What day is today?”

“Thursday!”

“Tomorrow is Friday, meaning the day the long-awaited first episode of Idol Stove League Season 2 airs. Just like last season, the first episode should be watched by all 100 participants together to get the full flavor.”

Oh no.

I was planning to watch the first episode comfortably alone in my dorm.

As soon as Go Hyeon-ju’s words fell, both my arms were sealed by strong grips.

“Brother, don’t you think it’ll be so fun? I’m totally looking forward to episode 1!”

“It might be hard to react to everything. But since it’ll be fun to watch together, I’m claiming the seat next to you, brother.”

I looked at Yu Ha-woon and Chae Ha-ru’s faces and let out a sigh that had become habit.

‘Rest in peace to my eardrums in advance.’