‘The Guild Creation Ticket?’
Barely breaking out of his shock, Yoo Sung thought as he watched the MC explaining the Guild Creation Ticket.
‘It has nothing to do with me anyway.’
The trainee seating was arranged in a pyramid shape.
First place sits at the very top, and the lower ranks sit at the bottom.
It was a seating arrangement that displayed one’s skills more intuitively than anything else.
Yoo Sung, who was sitting slightly above the middle section, looked down.
The LMH trainees who received lower rankings than Yoo Sung were glaring at him.
‘What are you looking at.’
Yoo Sung glared back at the trainees once before turning his gaze away.
With his eyes gently closed, Yoo Sung waited for the guild thing or whatever to be over quickly.
He didn’t worry about being forced to join a top 20 trainee’s guild.
Who would possibly want to team up with someone like Yoo Sung, who had made a mess of the stage and dropped a whole 10 ranks after receiving the Worst Teamwork trait?
Besides, Yoo Sung was more comfortable being alone.
‘Damn it…’
The things that had happened from a month before the LMH debut lineup was finalized up until now flashed before his eyes like a kaleidoscope.
Feeling nauseous, he pretended to rest his chin in his hand while actually blocking his mouth.
After subtly wiping away the cold sweat flowing on his forehead so it wouldn’t show, he looked at the MC on the stage.
“Did everyone understand my explanation? If you have any questions, feel free to ask!”
The MC, who finished explaining the Guild Creation Ticket, spoke toward the trainees.
When no trainee asked a question, the MC raised the atmosphere in a high tone of voice and said,
“It seems everyone understood. Then, we will begin the guild creation right away! Trainees among the top 20 who want to create a guild, please come up onto the stage!”
The MC said, pointing to the stage.
However, the trainees only hesitated and glanced at each other; no one stepped forward.
Yoo Sung, whose churned-up stomach had settled down, sat quietly and thought coolly.
‘As if anyone would make a guild.’
The top 20 trainees are basically trainees with outstanding skills.
Unless it was another top 20 trainee, there was no reason for them to form a team with a bottom 80 trainee whose skills and trendiness lagged behind their own.
“Everyone seems to have a lot on their minds. We have plenty of time, so take your time to think! Is there really no one?”
The MC diligently encouraged the trainees.
The main producer, Jang Hyuk-soo, was glaring at the trainees from backstage with his arms crossed.
The MC tried coaxing them, and Jang Hyuksoo gave them pointed looks, but the trainees didn’t budge.
Just as Jang Hyuksoo, unable to hold back any longer, was about to step onto the stage to progress the broadcast.
One trainee stood up from his seat and headed toward the stage.
“Who is it?”
“20th place… that guy who did Look at me now.”
“Ah…”
The trainees murmured.
Yoo Sung looked at the back of the trainee walking up to the stage, Kim Chowol, and thought.
‘Were his vocals and dance both D? He doesn’t even have skills, so what kind of team does he plan on making?’
The MC asked Kim Chowol as he stepped onto the stage.
“The honored protagonist to create the first guild of EX-Class K-POP Idol is Trainee Kim Chowol!”
“Yes.”
Kim Chowol said with a bright smile.
“Do you have a guild name in mind?”
“Ah… not yet. Because I want to decide it together with my guild member.”
Yoo Sung closely examined Kim Cho-wol’s expression.
To see if he was being genuine or just putting on an act.
“Oh, what tremendous consideration. Then, for now, we will call it the Kim Chowol Guild!”
“Yes.”
‘Lame.’
Yoo Sung, who criticized inwardly against his will, frowned and then averted his gaze.
It had nothing to do with him anyway.
“As I explained just now, two trainees are required to create a guild. Have you decided which trainee you will recruit?”
“Yes.”
The MC’s expression brightened.
“Then, please tell us right away which trainee the Kim Chowol Guild will recruit!”
“The trainee I have chosen is…”
Kim Chowol’s hesitation wasn’t long.
Yoo Sung, who had been staring into space with an indifferent expression, felt Kim Chowol looking at him and turned his head.
The moment their eyes met.
Kim Chowol opened his mouth.
“It is Trainee Yoo Sung.”
Startled, Yoo Sung widened his eyes and stared at Kim Chowol.
* * *
What is the most important thing to debut in an idol survival show?
Outstanding dancing and singing skills?
Visuals and charm that capture the public’s eyes?
Those are all important things, but the most important thing is something else entirely.
‘It is becoming the PD’s pick.’
To put it simply, becoming a PD pick means becoming the trainee that the program’s production PD pushes for.
Not only do they receive favorable editing, but they also snag over 20 minutes of solo screen time when some others don’t even get 3 minutes.
Then what is needed to become a PD pick?
Outstanding dancing and singing skills?
Visuals and charm that capture the public’s eyes?
Skills and visuals are merely supplementary elements; the most important thing for becoming a PD pick is something else.
‘You need to have a narrative and a character.’
To be honest, my sob story is worse than having none at all.
There were trainees who had been trainees for longer than me but failed to debut, and there were also trainees from so-called ‘flopped idol groups’ who had debuted but failed.
Adopting the ‘unfortunate trainee’ character with a mere 5 years of training is not a good choice.
Furthermore, if I tried selling a sob story while in a state with disastrous stats like now, I would end up hearing people say, ‘What did you even do for five years?’
So I established my character as the ‘hardworking trainee’ who practices desperately without getting discouraged, even if he lacks skills.
However, while this ‘hardworking trainee’ character is good for earning general likability, it has the disadvantage of lacking initial buzz and making it difficult to form a core fandom.
‘In that case… benefiting a bit from someone else isn’t bad either.’
One of the various ways to secure initial trendiness is none other than showing ‘chemistry’ with another trainee.
Of course, if it’s too excessive, it becomes poison, so just enough to make people look forward to the future chemistry is sufficient.
I scanned the faces of the bottom 80 trainees I could choose from.
First, I excluded the kids who had privacy issues like relationship scandals or school violence.
The remaining trainees were 72.
‘Who should I pick?’
A trainee with good skills?
But most of the trainees with good skills are ranked 20th or higher, so I can’t choose them.
Then a trainee with a good personality?
It would be comfortable to practice together, but I couldn’t give up on the perfection and quality of the performance.
“Is there really no one else?”
I looked over the hesitating trainees.
During the first regression, no trainee stepped forward voluntarily until the very end, so Jang Hyuksoo came up to the stage and persuaded them.
Persuasion… is too mild a word. Jang Hyuksoo’s words were closer to a reprimand and bitter criticism.
‘Kids these days have no spirit, no spirit. If you just step up right here, bam! You grab the attention! Bam! You get the buzz! Didn’t you come here to debut? How are you going to debut like this?’
Jang Hyuksoo was right.
However, whether that attention and buzz would be good or bad for the trainee is an issue that needs to be weighed.
The trainees also knew that, which is why they couldn’t step out rashly.
Having finished my thoughts, I stood up from my seat.
Jang Hyuksoo, who looked like he was about to jump onto the stage at any moment, whipped around to look at me.
‘Aggro? Trendiness? They are exactly what I wanted.’
I headed up to the stage with a smile on my face.
After the formal Q&A with the MC ended, the time to choose arrived.
Since I had decided who to pick the moment I stood up, my hesitation wasn’t long.
“It is Trainee Yoo Sung.”
“The guild member recruited by Trainee Kim Chowol is Trainee Yoo Sung! The first guild of EX-Class K-POP Idol has been created! Congratulations from the bottom of my heart, Trainee Kim Chowol and Trainee Yoo Sung!”
“Wait…!”
“Is there a problem, Trainee Yoo Sung?”
“…No.”
Yoo Sung rose from his seat with a dissatisfied expression, but couldn’t say a word and sat back down.
It’s a pity, but there’s nothing Yoo Sung can do.
Yoo Sung himself must know that too.
Instead, Yoo Sung glared at me as if he wanted to tear me apart when I returned to my seat.
“Now, any other trainees interested in a guild? Are there no more?”
“Me!”
One person sprang up from their seat and went up to the stage.
Once I opened the floodgates, the trainees who gained courage began to create guilds one by one.
There were cases of recruiting trainees from the same agency, but surprisingly, there were many cases of recruiting unknown trainees like I did.
When the guild creations were roughly finished, the MC came up to the stage and announced the next schedule.
“Great job, everyone! With this, the stat evaluation stage has concluded. Trainees, please move to the dorms, change your clothes, and follow the instructions from the announcement! Now then, we will move in order, starting from the 100th-place trainee.”
Yoo Sung kept glaring at me, but unfortunately, our paths didn’t cross.
Because we rode different vehicles.
“1st place through 5th place will go by limousine. 6th place through 20th place can board the premium bus, and 21st place through 60th place can board the regular bus.”
For reference, 61st to 80th could choose between a bicycle or an electric scooter, and the rest had to walk.
Outside the building, the bicycles and electric scooters I used frequently during the early regressions were neatly lined up.
I smiled bitterly, reminiscing about the past.
‘Back then… it was quite fun.’
The jaws of the bottom-ranked trainees dropped upon discovering the bicycles and scooters.
“We’re supposed to ride this?”
“何これ? え… マジ？(What is this? No… is this for real?)”
“Is it better than walking…”
Leaving the shocked trainees behind, I got on the premium bus.
Yoo Sung, who had been glaring at me, went to take the regular bus without being able to say a single word to me.
After traveling by bus for about 10 minutes, the dorm building appeared.
“Rooms have been assigned for four people each, according to the rankings. Name tags are attached to the doors, so check them and… ah, wait a minute.”
A staff member stopped the trainees trying to enter the dorm building.
“Please note that trainees belonging to a guild will share a room with their guild members.”
I felt someone staring at me but ignored it and entered the dorm building.
I found the room assigned to us before Yoo Sung did.
Two name tags were attached to the door of the four-person room.
It was nice that they gave us a four-person room even though there were only two guild members.
[Room 201]
[Kim Chowol, Yoo Sung]
Entering the room first, I checked every corner of the room.
‘As always, one camera in each corner of the ceiling, four in total.’
Still, for the protection of the trainees’ human rights, there was no camera in the bathroom.
Placing my luggage on the bed, I glanced at Yoo Sung, who followed me inside.
Yoo Sung, having entered the room, stood without moving a single step from the entrance, looking at a random spot.
‘Has his anger cooled down?’
About an hour had passed since I recruited Yoo Sung.
Judging that it was enough time for his anger to cool down, I spoke to him in a friendly manner.
“Isn’t this dorm really nice?”
But that was a mistaken thought.
Yoo Sung, who had turned his head toward me, suddenly strode over to my side.
“Ugh!”
Yoo Sung, who dragged me into the bathroom, grabbed me by the collar and shoved me toward the bathroom wall.
“What exactly are you thinking?”
A threatening breath leaked out through Yoo Sung’s gritted teeth.
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