The Idol Who Returned from Hell Chapter 4

“No matter how I look at it, this feels like bluffing…”

“His looks are definitely top tier, but I don’t know about his skills.”

“Well…”

The other judges continued muttering until the music started.

Min Si-hyeon didn’t get swept up in that atmosphere and calmly put earphones in her ears while gripping her pen.

She was a world-class idol who had reigned supreme in the Korean music industry for over 10 years. Her stage experience in this field and the number of people she had formed connections with were at levels others couldn’t easily match.

Min Si-hyeon’s intuition was telling her, however faintly.

‘Somehow he feels familiar.’

That attitude of nodding to the staff with a very comfortable expression, saying it was okay to start the music.

Until the major agency trainees appeared, most participants couldn’t even readily start the songs they were supposed to sing.

However, this independent trainee showed no signs of nervousness whatsoever.

As if all situations, including the stage he was currently standing on, were familiar to him.

Ryu Si-hwan grabbed the microphone and waited briefly for the accompaniment to come out.

Soon, melodies began flowing through the speakers.

“Huh?”

“I feel like I’ve heard this song a lot somewhere?”

An intro that started with gentle beats and then dropped EDM bass along with the introduction.

Several judges in charge of dance seemed to recognize what song it was.

Min Si-hyeon, who had been staring at the stage while still holding her pen, experienced the moment when her feeling about Ryu Si-hwan turned into certainty.

“I could tell from our first meeting, oh

The moment our eyes met, yeah

Your movements hidden in the lighting, your gestures

Everything drives me crazy”

〈Spotlights,〉 a track from the second full album by FL4ME, a male idol group that could be called a representative of first-generation idols.

FL4ME’s agency, TVX Entertainment, began introducing songs of a style that no one had attempted at that time into the mainstream.

If idol songs had previously focused on hooks that repeated based on the same melody, TVX Entertainment actively introduced melody transitions within songs.

For example, putting reverse cymbals near the chorus in explosive EDM sounds, then changing back to EDM at the climax but changing the vocal range or key.

This was the kind of entertainment that helped lay the groundwork for recent K-pop. And FL4ME was that agency’s representative idol.

There was a separate reason why this track was familiar despite the existence of the title song 〈Mirror〉 that had swept Korea at the time.

It was because this was a song that any trainee from a decent entertainment agency had to perform at least once during monthly evaluations.

Not simply because it belonged to an album that announced the beginning of an era. If that were the case, 〈Mirror〉 would have been adopted more often.

〈Spotlights〉 was such a rare song that very few actual stage videos remained.

That was understandable enough. Because to decide to perform this song live, you really had to be completely determined.

High-intensity choreography that required bouncing around the entire stage for 3 minutes and 30 seconds straight, combined with relentless rapping and high notes.

In short, it was the perfect song to imprint on newly entered trainees what “hell” was like. That’s why many agencies frequently used 〈Spotlights.〉

A song like a textbook for trainees.

Since it could build fundamentals and clearly show what an idol should do, its lineage continued to this day.

Min Si-hyeon watched Ryu Si-hwan’s sharp choreography with an indescribable feeling.

“Spotlights spread out splendidly

The highlights you and I created

Don’t think about anything else right now

Just look only at me”

A chorus that stretched to considerably high notes for an idol song.

This was a note commonly found in second-octave ballads. Such songs had to go up to the third octave to be recognized as the highest notes.

But idol group songs weren’t simply sung standing still—they required choreography from start to finish. Breathing management was more important than in any other field, and when the chorus repeated at least three times going up to second-octave La, it was truly hell itself.

But right now, Ryu Si-hwan’s refreshing voice was—

“Hey, what’s that guy’s identity?”

“Why does he go up so easily?”

“His dance lines are alive too. There’s not a single unnecessary movement.”

“Si-hyeon. That guy’s breathing isn’t shaky at all right now, is it?”

Min Si-hyeon, questioned by the veteran choreographer sitting next to her, wrote down several notes while quietly answering.

“Yes, honestly it’s not an incredibly high note, but you have to consider the choreography he’s doing right now too. Just in terms of lung capacity, he’s top-tier among the participants we’ve seen today.”

“To think such a kid is an independent trainee, heh…”

Min Si-hyeon, who had received worldwide recognition not only as an idol but also as a solo artist.

Her ears had never been wrong.

To her ears, the rich voice of someone who seemed to have sung on stage for decades resonated.

A clean voice that couldn’t easily be found in today’s idol main vocals.

A vocal technique that could sufficiently appeal with charm without deliberately adding embellishments.

Moreover, he had no unnecessary habits and didn’t break the flow by breathing in strange places.

Such subtle differences couldn’t be heard by ordinary people’s ears. Only someone who had specialized in vocals for a long time could notice such details.

To Min Si-hyeon, who as a vocalist liked to check even such minor things, this was by far the best stage she had seen so far.

There was another noteworthy point here.

FL4ME was a five-member group in total. So even for such high-difficulty songs, they could reduce the physical burden by distributing parts among themselves.

But Ryu Si-hwan was naturally alone.

Having participated in 〈Idol Stove League Season 2〉 as an independent trainee, he had no agency colleagues to appear with.

Yet even under such extremely harsh conditions, he was perfectly handling his part.

“That’s why they call us like this

It doesn’t matter if it seems impossible

They say there’s no need to think about fate either

So I’ll just cherish this moment

Just the two of us”

He smoothly handled the rap section added at the end of the first verse.

Idol rap could become cringeworthy if consumed with excessive emotion and pronounced with affected pronunciation.

However, Ryu Si-hwan’s tone and vocal color flowed almost identically to when he hit high notes in the chorus part.

He sang exactly according to the textbook without deliberately changing his natural voice or overexerting himself.

When Min Si-hyeon glanced sideways, the judge in charge of rap training was even nodding and getting into the rhythm.

To think he could revive even someone who had been openly yawning and looking bored just a few minutes ago.

‘He definitely has talent. No, it’s not just at the level of having it.’

Just as she was wondering if the other judges were thinking the same as her, Ryu Si-hwan’s stage ended.

“…Thank you.”

Ryu Si-hwan, who stood up straight and took a deep breath, bowed toward the judges’ seats.

Even while sending natural applause, Min Si-hyeon’s eyes remained fixed on the participant’s face.

Strange—normally after such intense dancing and singing, he should at least be panting.

Why does he look so fine?

“May I speak first?”

“Yes, yes.”

Lee Jin-hak, sitting in the center, picked up the microphone with a very interested expression.

“I was really impressed by your stage. Actually, this is one of the very difficult abilities. To perform live while dancing without making the listeners uncomfortable. Usually people either can’t avoid the phenomenon of their vocal power dropping because they focus on dancing, or they’re too out of breath to properly project their voice. But Ryu Si-hwan, you didn’t have any of that, so it was really good.”

“Thank you so much for your kind words.”

Following Lee Jin-hak, the judge in charge of dance training gave his review.

“As everyone knows, I don’t know much about singing. So I focused on watching only the dancing, expecting other judges to comment on that part.”

Min Si-hyeon was most curious about what he would say.

This judge, who had also appeared on 〈ISL 1,〉 had worked as a K-pop choreographer but was originally a professional dancer.

So he had clearly higher judging standards than others and was famous for mercilessly spitting out harsh criticism.

What evaluation would the dance that looked fine to idol-born Min Si-hyeon’s eyes receive?

“Putting everything else aside, first of all, your fundamentals are good. I got a strong feeling that you’ve danced for a long time, and most of your movements have no unnecessary parts, so the lines themselves are pretty.”

“Thank you.”

“But naturally there were disappointing points too. Um, how should I put it. Since I confirmed that your fundamentals are solid, my personal desire to see the stage a bit longer? I said this because it seemed to end quite quickly since I was so immersed in watching. And as you know, FL4ME’s songs are somewhat old songs, right? So I’m curious whether you can dance choreography suitable for current trends, and whether you can avoid showing that slightly old-fashioned feeling that unknowingly comes through in your movements on your next stage.”

It was a review that mixed praise and disappointing points.

Min Si-hyeon nodded at the dance trainer’s words while thinking to herself.

‘What kind of feeling is the old-fashioned feeling? Am I not perceiving it because I’m an old person?’

“Then we should also look more deeply into the vocal aspects besides dancing. Si-hyeon, would you like to speak?”

“Ah, yes!”

Min Si-hyeon, who grabbed the microphone, wondered how much she should say.

If she only praised from the beginning, it might look a bit strange. But it was absolutely impossible to deliberately tear down a stage she had been deeply impressed by.

“As Senior Lee Jin-hak mentioned earlier, I also really liked the breathing-related aspects. I could feel your good lung capacity from the beginning. I don’t know where you learned vocalization, but it was vocalization that considered how to use your excellent lung capacity well, so it was comfortable to listen to. I prefer clean vocal tones, and this also came out as clean sound without unnecessary embellishments, so I listened really well.”

“Thank you.”

“Ah, and one disappointing point.”

After listening to the dance trainer’s words, this was something she could relate to.

Min Si-hyeon said with a slight smile.

“I also felt the stage was short, probably because I listened so favorably. So next time, I felt like I wanted to see a proper vocal stage. I’m curious whether your strengths will be displayed even when performing other songs.”

“I’ll show you my continued improvement. Thank you.”

With that, all the reviews ended, and only determining Ryu Si-hwan’s grade and ranking remained.

The judges huddled together and exchanged opinions with each other.

“How did you see it?”

“Overall it was naturally good. As I said earlier, his fundamentals are too solid. If he really came this far through his own power, he’s a genius itself.”

“I also liked everything, but I felt it was somewhat too safe.”

“I had that thought too. Should I say he arranged a somewhat hexagonal stage to show what kind of person he is and what he’s capable of?”

“But there’s nothing to criticize about his skill level, right? I really liked it.”

“It was good, but it felt safe, that’s what I’m saying.”

It was a bit complex, but a conclusion was reached.

Lee Jin-hak personally announced the grade and ranking.

“Participant Ryu Si-hwan receives vocal grade A, dance grade A, for a final ranking of 4th place. We’ll look forward to an even more wonderful stage next time.”

“Thank you! I’ll work hard!”

Since he received a slightly lower ranking than he had expected, Min Si-hyeon had to swallow her disappointment.

It seemed the details she had seen with her own eyes hadn’t perfectly reached other people’s eyes.

But she thought of it this way instead.

‘If he proves himself once more during the next survival stage. Then everyone will notice, right?’

She became curious.

Just how far could this participant draw out his abilities?