The Idol Who Returned from Hell Chapter 71

“〈Idol Stove League Season 2〉, the ranking ceremony broadcasted to our national managers has now been completely wrapped up. The next ranking ceremony will be held live in front of everyone. Until then……”

While MC Go Hyeon-ju was giving her closing remarks, Ha Sang-hun had collapsed into the 20th place chair.

The cameras were still rolling, so he seemed to be trying his best not to show it, but his shoulders trembling slightly were visible even from here.

The worst possible scenario had occurred.

Up until now, 〈ISL 2〉 had been sailing relatively smoothly for a survival audition program, contrary to its title.

Compared to Season 1, there had been less extreme devil’s editing that shattered the trainees’ and viewers’ mental states, and they hadn’t created many scenes that could become controversial.

But right before the final round and the last live broadcast, a nuclear bomb had exploded magnificently.

‘Ha Sang-hun must have been shocked that his original ranking was in the elimination zone, and the people who will watch this ceremony on broadcast will think that trainee who was unfairly pushed out is too pitiful.’

No matter how much it was revealed that the group benefit was survival confirmation rights, everyone probably didn’t expect that an innocent participant would actually fall because of this benefit.

Especially since our team, which created that incredible stage, had taken that benefit.

Naturally, people would have assumed that the seven members of 〈Winning Shot〉 had advanced to the final round without the benefit’s influence.

This had become a structure where we’d inevitably get criticized even if we made it up.

I caught sight of Yu Ha-woon, sitting in the 18th place chair, reaching out to comfort Ha Sang-hun.

‘What did that guy do wrong.’

If I tried to find Ha Sang-hun’s fault…… the only crime was working hard to survive.

He had practiced with us without sleep, trying somehow to advance to the live broadcast stage.

All he did was proudly claim the team 1st place position and earn the survival confirmation benefit.

Who would be crazy enough to throw stones at such a person……

‘But if the situation is portrayed this way, the arrows will be aimed at Ha Sang-hun, who survived by pushing out the 20th place.’

I hope he doesn’t feel unnecessary burden and guilt in this situation.

Still, seeing him nod and respond to Yu Ha-woon’s words from beside him, it seemed he was somehow holding onto his composure.

“……Before the 3rd ranking ceremony concludes, there’s one last announcement we need to deliver.”

So it’s that time now.

What answer had the production team come up with for the currently boiling public opinion?

“After internal meetings regarding the feedback our national managers have given us over the past few days, we concluded that we shouldn’t create major differences from Season 1, the predecessor of 〈Idol Stove League Season 2〉. Therefore, identical to Season 1’s benefit, the 〈Winning Shot〉 team that took 1st place in this 3rd round 〈Showcase〉 competition will be provided with the opportunity to appear on Music K Showdown, KNet’s pride music program.”

The production team seemed to have decided they couldn’t ignore the current public opinion that had gained tremendous momentum with countless people flocking to it.

The points the fans had raised were all logical rather than groundless claims.

If they had ignored this and moved on, they probably judged there was a high possibility that 〈ISL 2〉’s popularity, which was rising significantly, would be broken.

“Are we finally going on a music broadcast? This feels really strange.”

I heard Seong-hwi’s voice from the step below me.

I had worried that this guy might also feel anxiety about his own ranking falling step by step, but when the news that Music K Showdown appearance was confirmed came out, he was just grinning.

Rather, I think having this crazy personality might be better in aspects like this.

“We have more to practice.”

I also heard Kang Seon-woo’s muttering.

The news that we’d be going on Music K Showdown meant we needed to thoroughly prepare 〈Winning Shot〉 once more.

Considering that final round preparation would start immediately after today’s ranking ceremony ended.

We had to forge two different stages in a short period.

‘……I’m doomed for sleeping from now on.’

If I had known this would happen, I should have slept a little more at home.

While I was thinking pessimistically about my sleep time, the slate was clapped, signaling that official filming had ended.

“Thank you for your hard work!”

“Thank you, you all worked so hard!”

After the formal greetings to the staff…… the inevitable tears party began.

The trainees who made it into the top 20 hugged each other while giving tearful farewells to colleagues who had to part at the threshold of the final gateway.

While all farewells have major aftereffects, today felt like it would be particularly severe.

I also exchanged handshakes with several trainees I had gotten to know, trading words of encouragement.

During this, I witnessed an interesting scene at the edge of my vision.

Park Chang-jung hesitating and unable to approach easily, and Yu Ha-woon chatting with other trainees, pretending not to see him.

What on earth was he trying to say that he was being so wishy-washy about?

As I took steps to get closer and observe the situation, Park Chang-jung’s voice reached my ears.

“Th-there.”

At the sound calling him, Yu Ha-woon turned around.

And when he confirmed the person was Park Chang-jung, his expression changed subtly, really subtly.

A feeling like he was taking slight caution.

“Oh, Brother. Hello!”

“Ah, hello. I just wanted to tell you congratulations. Make sure you debut.”

“I don’t know if things will go well, but I’ll try my best. Thank you for cheering me on.”

When Yu Ha-woon bowed his head in greeting, Park Chang-jung extended his hand with a somehow urgent atmosphere.

“A-and!”

“Yes?”

“Th-that. I wanted to apologize for acting like a jerk…… Looking back, I think I was being too frustrating. I think I caused you a lot of trouble too…… I should have apologized earlier, but I’m sorry.”

After hearing Park Chang-jung’s apology, Yu Ha-woon blinked for a moment.

As if he wasn’t sure whether this was sincere or not.

But when Park Chang-jung kept his head down, he smiled faintly and patted his shoulder lightly.

“I hope things work out well for you later too, Brother. Let’s debut and see each other on stage.”

“……Thank you.”

Like that, Park Chang-jung turned around without being able to properly lift his head until the end.

“Whew……”

“Feeling strange?”

“Ahaha, that’s right. It’s kind of a feeling I’m experiencing for the first time.”

When I stood beside him, Yu Ha-woon let out a deep sigh and smiled awkwardly.

“That Brother did do bad things during the team battle, and I know we can’t just lightly pass over that. But thinking about how there were circumstances for everyone in this pressure-filled program and how he must have lived under burden too…… I just feel a bit strange, Brother.”

“You don’t need to think deeply about it. It’s up to him, his own fate. Like you said, if we can see each other on stage, that’s proof he acknowledged his mistakes and improved. If not, it means he didn’t change.”

“Still, receiving encouragement to definitely debut does give me strength!”

His gaze was directed toward the 18th place chair where he had been sitting until just now.

The chair placed at almost the same height as the stage.

“……I won’t give up. No matter how much my ranking dropped, the important thing is that I survived to the end.”

“That’s right, now we’re all starting from the same starting point.”

“Everyone has a chance! I’ll work even harder with a firm heart. We have to perform 〈Winning Shot〉 once more, hehe.”

I looked at Yu Ha-woon’s honest eyes and gave him a short nod.

The 3rd ranking ceremony ended with everyone carrying different emotions.

* * *

Almost no rest time was given.

That evening, we who had to handle a tight schedule immediately gathered in the auditorium to receive the final round’s theme.

“It’s noticeably desolate now.”

“I remember when we drew balls from the lottery machine here and despaired like it was yesterday. That’s already become such an old memory.”

Chae Ha-ru and Kang Seon-woo spoke while looking around the auditorium where a whopping 80 out of the initial 100 had disappeared.

The trainees standing in triangular formation with me, the 1st place, as the focal point seemed wrapped in anxiety rather than the elation of survival.

There was no longer a chance for recovery.

Only the 4th final round, everything would be decided in a single match.

They couldn’t harbor hopes like ‘I’ll do better next time’ or ‘I’ll get 1st place next time.’

Cutting through the electric atmosphere, MC Go Hyeon-ju walked toward us.

“Hello, trainees.”

“Hello!”

I noticed the huge panel following behind Go Hyeon-ju.

It was the largest among all the panels used for round concept announcements so far.

“You’re all curious about what content is inside this panel behind me, right?”

“Yes!”

At the voices mixed with anxiety and anticipation, MC Go Hyeon-ju showed a meaningful smile.

“〈Idol Stove League Season 2〉. Only the final round remains at the end of this long journey. Congratulations to all 20 trainees who have risen to the final round, 〈Debut Evaluation〉.”

Loud applause spread for a moment.

“I’ll now reveal what mission you’ll have to handle in the 〈Debut Evaluation〉.”

The sticker covering the panel was removed.

We stared slack-jawed at the chart-shaped panel split into two sides.

“In 12 days, the final round mission song that will be broadcast live to our national managers is 〈Royal Road〉. Literally translated, it means ‘the ideal path to success,’ and applied to sports, it means entering the path of victory immediately after debut. Since you’ve risen to the path of becoming Korea’s best idols in name and reality, you can consider it a final mission song with that meaning.”

Go Hyeon-ju continued her explanation while pointing to the panel divided into two camps.

“The interesting point of the final round is that two different concepts exist within one song. 〈Royal Road〉, a song created in collaboration by the producers who participated in the 〈Showcase〉 round. The section until the first chorus flows with a deep house genre atmosphere, and until the second chorus comes out is future EDM genre. And from the second verse chorus to the song’s conclusion ends with mainstream pop.”

“Don’t tell me……”

“Yes, that’s right. The current number of people is 20. You’ll be divided 10-10 to handle different concepts within the same song. It’s a battle-not-battle format.”

I briefly pondered while looking at the future EDM painted in black and deep house painted in white.

If given a choice, which genre would be better for me?

‘……I think I need to hear the song first to know.’

As if reading my mind, the melody of 〈Royal Road〉 began playing through the speakers.

The deep house genre until the first chorus had a sophisticated yet wistful feeling. It felt somewhat reminiscent of 〈Back in the Time〉 that I did in the 2nd round.

In contrast, I could see why future EDM was painted in black.

With the powerful bass sound completely different from the first verse, the trainees were naturally swaying their shoulders to the excitement.

This exuded intense appeal like 〈Winning Shot〉 again.

‘Either one shouldn’t matter much to me.’

Fortunately, both were genres familiar to me.

If it had been a concept I’d never tried, my head would have hurt a bit.

Since it was the final round and people would be watching from the scene, the production team seemed to have chosen genres familiar to both the performing trainees and the listening national managers.

But as I listened, there was something strange.

“There are no lyrics at all, it’s all humming?”

It was exactly as Seong-hwi behind me said.

Only humming sounds following the melody could be heard, without a single clear lyric.

I momentarily felt Go Hyeon-ju’s gaze directed this way.

“Several of you seem to have noticed. The 〈Royal Road〉 you just heard is the version without lyrics. Simply put, there are lyrics pre-written by the producers, but they haven’t been revealed to you. The reason is right here.”

At her gesture, a staff member came out with a small roulette.

Looking at the options written on the board.

“Choreography, lyrics, choreography, lyrics…… Don’t tell me they’re making us do one of the two?”

“I have a feeling that’s what it is.”

I swallowed and agreed with Kang Seon-woo’s words.

And I had a feeling that the person making that choice would be me.

Sure enough.

“Through this roulette, you’ll decide what you must directly create within 〈Royal Road〉. And the protagonist who will spin this roulette. How about having trainee Ryu Si-hwan, who got 1st place in the last ranking ceremony, spin it?”

Such premonitions are never wrong.

I let out an internal sigh and trudged forward.