The Idol Who Returned from Hell Chapter 52

On the filming day scheduled for the 2nd ranking announcement ceremony, I could go with a somewhat lighter heart.

Until the day before, I had been observing the national managers’ reactions, and the public opinion that had formed was better than I had imagined.

Even just looking at the stage itself, it was quite something.

Looking at it from outside the stage, it was also pretty good.

First, this time too, the 2nd team battle individual fancams had been released as a surprise.

It’s embarrassing to say this with my own mouth, but I was once again running in 1st place for total view count.

The number was rising several times faster than during the 1st round.

That was proof that the attention for 〈Idol Stove League Season 2〉 had exploded over the past few weeks.

It was both scary and somehow thrilling.

Let me roughly recall some of the comments I had looked at.

—We are the proud citizens of the nation that owns Ryu Si-hwan

└Is it normal that I’m already sad? When Si-hwan debuts and goes overseas, we’ll keep losing our ownership title T_T Please protect him forever

—Ryu Si-hwan doesn’t even use conditioner when washing his hair…… His very existence is already a prince☆

—Si-hwan, you’re like Berlin to me, Germany’s deadly capital

—Ryu Si-hwan, this might be a sensitive question but I’m too curious so I’m asking. Were you exiled from heaven, did you come down voluntarily, or was it a crash accident?

—War broke out because of Si-hwan. Beautiful (war), cute (war), lovely (war)

└People here are really serious about their fan comments LMAO. I feel like going out for lunch

└I thought I was pretty good at fan comments too, but I’m learning from you folks here

—[01:04] I really had my hand covering my mouth for a while after seeing this part. How can a person look like that? Who on earth thought of untying that tie and putting it over his eyes?

└If you watch episode 7, you’ll see that our puppy Si-hyeok came up with the idea of using the tie!

└Wow I just watched it on VOD and Ma Si-hyeok’s physique is no joke either. No, this whole team is just not human. Are they really the same species as me??

—[02:17] I know everyone’s lost their minds over Hwan-father’s visuals, but our baby is perfect at singing too T_T T_T T_T. These days it’s so hard to find the confident main vocal who can do face, dance, and singing all T_T

└Originally during early ISL 2, Ryu Si-hwan hit big with his singing, but after individual fancams started being released, his face has been getting more spotlight lmao. As someone who got into fandom, I’m proud but I also hope more people recognize how excellent his singing skills are like you said

└I’m just a passing muggle, but I saw HIT through NeoTube recommended videos. Was the friend who hit those high notes there him?

└Yes yes yes yes! That’s right! The endangered species called face genius main vocal T_T

└Endangered species is so accurate lol. They say to find kids like that, you have to search in hell. Where were you hiding and only coming out now, Si-hwan?

As expected, the effectiveness of individual fancams was certain.

A camera focused entirely on Ryu Si-hwan let people catch all the small details and expressions that were hard to notice in the full stage.

I lost track of time reading all the amazing fan comments, but occasionally there were comments that made me flinch.

How did they know I really came from hell and write things like that?

If there was one more point I had to pay attention to, it was the great unification between fans.

Until episode 6’s broadcast, Seong-hwi’s and my individual fans had been busy tearing each other down, not missing even the smallest disputes.

But the chemistry between the two of us shown in episode 7 seemed to have melted away the bad feelings.

The ‘reckless my-way character’ frame that had been placed on Seong-hwi disappeared to some degree through cooperation and trust with our team.

The troublemakers who had been throwing baseless ‘pretending to be good, artificial guy’ frames at me also seemed to have nothing to say after seeing how I handled things after Seong-hwi’s injury.

—Personally, I’m grateful to Ryu Si-hwan too…… Somehow if it wasn’t for Ryu Si-hwan, Hwi wouldn’t have opened up his heart like that

└He’d been suffering among trolls since the 1st team battle, so he wouldn’t have been able to trust others T_T But Si-hwan was a team member that Hwi personally brought, so I think that made him feel more inclined

└When he speaks gently, it somehow automatically seeps in lol

└Now you understand…… This is Hwan-father, embracing everyone with a warm heart

└Hwanmen!

└Hwanmen

└I don’t know who said it first, but I totally love this nickname lol. Hwan-father!!

So I could go to the 2nd ranking announcement ceremony filming location with a much more relieved mindset.

During the 1st ranking announcement ceremony, the air had felt cold enough to give you chills.

This time, maybe because the number of people had decreased, it felt even more chilling.

“I’m going crazy from nervousness.”

The first to arrive at the filming location was Chae Ha-ru.

Recently, there had been many times to eat delicious food, and since I’d been frequently hanging out with friends who had become close, I had forgotten Chae Ha-ru’s usual expression.

But on days like today, his characteristic dead eyes were inevitably settled bleakly in place.

“It’s okay, it’s okay. You’ve already experienced it once, so you don’t need to be too nervous.”

“What if my ranking went down?”

“Rankings can go down for me too, and for you too, and even Seong-hwi who was 1st place can go down. There’s still plenty of time left until the finale, so even if the numbers dropped, let’s find meaning in having survived.”

“……I really want to survive.”

Chae Ha-ru closed his eyes slightly and exhaled a deep breath.

As if hypnotizing himself.

“I really want to not get eliminated and advance to the next round to stand on the same team as Brother again.”

“Hey, you can’t monopolize Ryu Si-hwan just because of that, you know?”

Among the crowd that came pouring into the filming location was Kang Seon-woo.

He roughly put his arm around Chae Ha-ru’s shoulder and winked with his tail-end eyes raised high.

“I’m the one who wants to be with him in the 3rd round. I haven’t been on the same team as that beautiful main vocal yet. What kind of cruel fate is this?”

“I’d like Brother Seon-woo to be on the same team too. No, I just wish we could all go together.”

“Right, Ha-ru, just fill your head with those kinds of fantasies. Don’t think strange thoughts about getting eliminated. Okay?”

“……Yes!”

Even though he always plays around with me, Kang Seon-woo was also a guy who was skilled at comforting younger brothers.

‘Definitely, if I end up on the same team as Kang Seon-woo, there would be many comfortable aspects. First, he can compose and his basic skills are outstanding too.’

……And though I didn’t want to admit this.

Honestly, I’d gotten comfortable with receiving Kang Seon-woo’s weird jokes by now.

Had I somehow gotten absorbed too? I was shaking my head when the lights on the filming location stage suddenly turned on.

“Hello, participants. Did you all rest well after the 2nd team battle?”

“Yes—!”

“We rested well!”

MC Go Hyeon-ju appeared amid the trainees’ enthusiastic cheers.

First, the amount of cue cards in her hands seemed unusual.

‘It looks like twice as much as usual.’

That meant there were many things to reveal and many things to drag out time with.

Just what kind of twist would happen at the 2nd ranking announcement ceremony?

“To the participants who safely finished the intense 2nd team battle, 〈Fan’s Favorite〉 round, I want to once again say you worked hard.”

At least the start was going warmly.

The 60 trainees sent each other big applause while forcing smiles.

Even in the tense situation, their facial muscles were working hard.

“However, the world of survival must be cold. 〈Idol Stove League Season 2〉, the long-awaited 2nd ranking announcement ceremony day. The trainees who will survive to the end on this stage today are only 35 people.”

When the number of survivors was revealed, sighs poured out from here and there.

It was probably because the number was smaller than everyone expected.

Since about half would disappear.

Additional pressure was added to the boys who were already feeling strong pressure.

“The ‘All-Star Vote’ that the national managers personally voted for during the past period. And the final numbers compiled through the renewed ‘Sponsorship Function’ and others will announce a total of 35 survivors. And there was one more thing to pay attention to.”

When MC Go Hyeon-ju swept her hand back, the 8 teams and their song selections appeared in a row on the large screen.

The already buzzing atmosphere in the filming location became even more serious.

“The voting results from the national managers who participated as audience members during the 2nd team battle main stage still remain. The notice asking you to pick the two teams you thought did best among the 8 teams and the one trainee you thought did best within the 8 teams. Do you all remember?”

One group vote and one individual vote.

This was no different from the 1st team battle format, but somehow this time felt different.

With the participants’ desperation now much more amplified.

If this was KNet that everyone knew, the possibility of using cruel tricks here was very high.

“What kind of benefit do you think they’ll give?”

“Well, whatever it is, I have a feeling it won’t just end with simply giving a few thousand votes.”

“Me too.”

Kang Seon-woo frowned while continuing to look at MC Go Hyeon-ju.

“The two teams that received the most votes from a total of 500 national managers will receive this benefit.”

“Please, please.”

“Just give us a group benefit once.”

When the traditional stalling comment came out, prayers could be heard from here and there.

I also waited for the result announcement while harboring just a little bit of expectation.

Honestly, if we were the only ones who got encore group singing, wouldn’t this level of greed be worth having?

“Right…… Each team member will receive 3,000 benefit votes uniformly. This is not a concept of sharing, but 3,000 votes will be applied directly per person!”

This was also quite groundbreaking.

If during the 1st team battle, teams shared benefit votes according to team rankings, this time everyone would get 3,000 votes equally.

But I only sent calm applause, not making such a shocked expression.

Because I definitely thought the individual benefit would come out stronger than that.

“And today’s biggest point of interest and the individual benefit that could change the landscape of the 2nd ranking announcement ceremony is…… this!”

A suspicious shadow appeared from behind the stage.

It was something round and familiar-looking.

Just when I couldn’t quite figure out what it was.

“That, that thing is appearing again? Why is it that thing again!”

“……?”

Kang Seon-woo started trembling all over as if seized by PTSD.

‘Kang Seon-woo…… Something he would call a bad memory…… There weren’t many such moments during 〈ISL 2〉 filming—.’

Ah, I remembered.

The only moment when that cheerful Kang Seon-woo had shed tears of anger and lamentation at me.

It was during the filming where his self-PR video topic was randomly decided through a roulette.

“The participant who ranked 1st in group individual voting will get the chance to spin this ‘Lucky Benefit Roulette.’ And if you look closely at this roulette, you can see there are some really significant things on it.”

The cloth covering the roulette was smoothly removed.

The items written on the densely woven board came into view.

“What’s that?”

“I can’t see well? Uh, uh? El, el—”

“Elimination immunity and 50,000 benefit votes?”

“Crazy.”

I let out a gasp while looking at the roulette lined with rewards that exceeded imagination.

Something really big had come.