The Idol Who Returned from Hell Chapter 83

The air that had become heated due to the news of my and Seong-hwi’s confirmed debut slowly turned cold.

The lights that had turned red returned to their original colors.

But the expressions of the trainees illuminated by the spotlights were paler than ever.

“Who do you think will come last?”

“Doesn’t it not matter who comes?”

I could hear Kang Seon-woo and Seong-hwi’s voices from downstairs.

I clenched my fists tightly as I looked at the 15 remaining participants on the platform.

Originally, I had hoped that all the kids from the 3rd round could debut together.

How great would it have been if the 〈Winning Shot〉 team members, who had the best chemistry and no conflicts, could have gone to debut together.

But unfortunately, only one spot remained.

And there were two people left from the 〈Winning Shot〉 team that I was most familiar with.

In other words, no matter who came up, one person would have to say goodbye here.

“Who will the final 6th place go to? We’ll now reveal the four candidates.”

Of course, the 1st place announcement was also extremely important, but the final debut member announcement, where you couldn’t let your guard down until the very last moment, felt different.

If my earlier competition with Seong-hwi had more of a festival atmosphere, then the 6th place announcement was truly a crossroads between life and death.

Viewers who had followed 〈Idol Stove League Season 2〉 from beginning to end would have no choice but to break out in a cold sweat.

I gently bit my lower lip as I looked at the electronic display.

‘They have to make it into the top four. If their faces doesn’t even appear, there’s no hope.’

Yu Ha-woon and Ha Sang-hun’s faces looked drained of blood.

And the tall trainee standing next to them had a completely broken expression.

That guy had definitely taken 4th place in the 3rd ranking ceremony.

Somehow, he had fallen from not even 4th place to praying for even the 6th place spot.

‘Well, he got lucky in the 3rd round by getting leader and center roles, which rapidly built his recognition. In today’s one-time voting, having a solid fanbase is most important.’

Unlike the previous ‘All-Star Voting’ where vote counts accumulated over a week, today’s finale required fast and tight unity within 2 hours.

So it wouldn’t be wrong to say that trainees who had built solid fandoms throughout all episodes of 〈ISL 2〉 held somewhat advantageous positions.

That’s why I decided to hold onto a faint hope.

“Please reveal the four faces!”

Following MC Go Hyeon-ju’s instructions, the faces of the 6th place candidates appeared one by one on the large screen divided into four sections.

“Ha-woon and Sang-hun are both there! Amazing!”

“Oh, could this really happen?”

“Hey, Si-hwan! Are you watching?”

“I’m watching, I’m watching.”

I nodded to Kang Seon-woo, whose excitement had risen again.

At least we’d made it over the ninth hill.

“Thank you to all the trainees who ran hard until today…”

And once again, hell descended.

The trainees who had already frozen like loyal wives waiting for their husbands had eyes that looked like they would burst into tears if time dragged on even a little.

KNet, aiming for a final ratings sprint, delayed the announcement for over 10 minutes here.

“Final 20th place.”

Not only did they announce all trainee rankings from 20th to 10th place.

They even smoothly included commercial breaks that interrupted the flow, completely draining the trainees’ blood.

By this point, I was actually thinking something else.

‘Their legs must really hurt.’

The five of us, including myself, could barely endure by sitting down with difficulty.

I was worried about the remaining trainees who hadn’t been able to take proper rest since filming started.

Cries of “Please announce it quickly” started coming from the audience seats.

Go Hyeon-ju also seemed to be mindful of this, as she appeared to be sending signals with her eyes to the production staff below the stage.

And finally, it seemed the final OK was given.

“Then among the four candidates, we’ll announce the trainee who unfortunately placed 9th first.”

One by one, they began to fall away.

As soon as they gave consoling words to the trainee who remained in 9th place.

“8th place is… trainee Ha Sang-hun. You worked so hard.”

“Ah…”

“Brother Sang-hun…”

Ha Sang-hun, who had run alongside us for quite some time, recorded a final ranking of 8th place, and his dream of debut was regrettably shattered.

It was disappointing, but I thought there were still many positive aspects.

Ha Sang-hun had climbed up a whopping 13 steps from his previous ranking of 21st place.

That was proof that more people had come to view him favorably, and it meant there was a high possibility of meeting him on other stages in the future.

So two trainees remained.

“Trainee Yu Ha-woon. How are you feeling right now?”

“Um… I feel like I don’t deserve to be up here in this final spot. Honestly, I had almost no expectations because I received a low ranking at the previous ranking ceremony. But… but just being in the final two makes me so happy and grateful! And, and since I made it this far, I definitely want to debut!”

I held my breath and waited for the results.

At some point, the other members downstairs had also become quiet.

Ma Si-hyeok was gripping his hands so tightly that I could see his white knuckles from up here.

As if to celebrate the grand finale, the jib camera was flying around above the two at almost acrobatic levels.

The lights moved dizzyingly along with those movements.

The BGM building tension also rushed toward its climax.

Finally.

“The trainee who will finally enjoy the glory of debut is! Trainee Yu Ha-woon! Congratulations!”

With Yu Ha-woon’s final joining, all six thrones had found their owners.

“Ha-woon!”

“Ah, I need to go down quickly to congratulate him! When will he come here!”

“Our youngest worked so hard!”

The other members seemed ready to immediately cross the stage to welcome the youngest, but they had to wait because Yu Ha-woon had collapsed to his knees and was sobbing for a while.

Yu Ha-woon, who finally managed to get up and reach the side stage where the debut members were, delivered his thoughts while completely soaked in tears.

“Th-thank you! Thank you so much, everyone!”

His pronunciation was very slurred due to the collaboration of tears and snot, but Yu Ha-woon still stubbornly conveyed everything he wanted to say.

“Ha-woon.”

“Brother Ha-ru!”

While receiving welcome from Chae Ha-ru, who was sitting right next to him, Yu Ha-woon completed his seating, and the lights on the electronic display began to change.

“〈Idol Stove League Season 2〉. The six trainees personally selected by the national managers are now sitting in front of us. All that remains now is the group name announcement. We’ll reveal it right now on screen!”

The group name was arguably the most important item in the process of an idol group’s launch.

Especially for survival programs like 〈ISL 2〉 that the majority of the nation watched, the importance was emphasized even more.

Since the KNet production staff had considerable experience, I wasn’t too worried.

‘As long as it’s not too terrible.’

Brilliant silver waves filled the screen.

Special effects passed by as if water was gradually flowing outward.

The remaining silver fragments took shape as three letters.

“The boy group created by the national managers, CENTIX!”

A total of 100 trainees who participated in 〈Idol Stove League Season 2〉.

Six trainees who finally debuted after breaking through that tremendous competition.

Subtitles were generated explaining that the group name combined Century, meaning 100, and Six, meaning 6.

“It’s good! These audition programs always have to add meaning to the group name, so I was expecting something like this.”

“I actually thought something related to baseball terms would come out, so this is surprising.”

Kang Seon-woo and Seong-hwi kept reading CENTIX repeatedly, getting their tongues used to the pronunciation.

I also quietly recited our group name and talked to myself.

“You could also explain it as a group that might come out once in 100 years.”

“Oh, that’s good too, Si-hwan! You really are a genius, aren’t you? You’re just so lovely I could die!”

“Why are you already clinging like this?”

“You’ll have to get used to it now, since we’ll be doing this every day from now on.”

I felt mentally exhausted by Kang Seon-woo’s one-sided affectionate offensive, but I didn’t want to throw harsh words on a good day like today.

So I just let Kang Seon-woo pinch my cheeks.

‘Just for today.’

“CENTIX, please come to the center of the stage and greet the national managers!”

We went down the stairs and joined Yu Ha-woon, Chae Ha-ru, and Ma Si-hyeok who were waiting below.

The moment Yu Ha-woon saw my face, he rushed at me with almost a body tackle level of force.

“Brother! We did it! I debuted!”

“Yeah, yeah. It really worked out great. I’m really glad.”

“I’m really debuting with you guys! It feels like a dream!”

I gave a gentle smile to Yu Ha-woon, who couldn’t calm his excitement.

“There will be many more dream-like things ahead, so slowly get used to it.”

“Hey, Ryu Si-hwan! Why are you sneakily stealing my lines? You said something to me about that, but now you’re using it so coolly yourself. This is pure highway robbery!”

“Lines should be used appropriately according to the situation.”

“Come on, come on. Old men, stop chattering and let’s go forward.”

Chae Ha-ru, who couldn’t stand watching my conversation with Kang Seon-woo, vigorously pushed our backs.

Standing in the center of the stage as a complete group of six, we looked at the fans sending intense cheers.

Even when I saw this shining wave from above, it was tremendously moving.

The cheers we received after everything was finished were so sweet.

“Should we greet them?”

“Yes!”

“Brother Si-hwan, please call out the cheer!”

The members answered with energy matching that of the audience.

I took a deep breath and counted to three.

“One, two, three.”

Sincere greetings stretched out from both sides in upright tones.

“Thank you so much everyone!”

“Thank you! We’ll work hard in our activities!”

“Everyone, we love you!”

“Please continue to look kindly upon us!”

“Thank you so much. Thank you!”

And I also joined in with them.

“…Thank you to everyone who helped us get this far.”

The judge who had given me the chance of reincarnation.

Cerberus, who had followed me into reality on his own whim.

The various relationships naturally intertwined within these stories.

And even these five who I would have to live with annoyingly from now on.

I bowed my head while wearing the bright smile I had forgotten to live with for a while.

My precious second chance.

No matter what happens, I will never let it go to waste.

Flower petals fluttered throughout the stage along with MC Go Hyeon-ju’s final shout.

“CENTIX, congratulations on your debut!”