The S-Rank Paparazzi Reincarnates as an Idol Chapter 56

Chapter 56

 

‘’Then, it’s time to decide the concept that will determine the outcome of this battle.”

“Yes!”

“Trainees, would you please look at the screen first?”

On the screen, the names of five different concepts appeared.

“Fresh, Royal, Boy Crush, Wild, and Fairy Tale!”

‘They really included all the good concepts without overlapping with the previous round.’

“You’ll choose one of these five concepts and prepare your stage accordingly!”

“Wooooah!”

Now that the show’s popularity had risen considerably, the concepts clearly reflected the production team’s determination to get the best possible performances out of the 30 trainees.

‘This is practically a cheat code. Among those concepts, as long as it’s not the difficult Royal concept, anything should be fine.’

“Everyone, curious about how the concept selection order will be decided?”

“Yes!”

“The concept battle will be decided through…!”

The low drumbeats gradually sped up.

“A Random Dance Challenge.”

‘Go, Kangchan-mon!’

Come on, guys… we’ve got an A+ Dance stat.

“One representative from each team, please come to the stage.”

Yoo Hoseung and Kang Chan both seemed to be glowing with a halo.

“Through the Random Dance Challenge, the person who demonstrates the best dance skills will earn the right to choose a concept first.”

‘Finally…! I’m getting carried by the bus for once.’

The thought of finally being on the receiving end of a proper carry made my heart race.

“Now, please select the representative for your team!”

The moment Park Chaeyoung finished speaking, everyone looked toward Kang Chan.

Including Yoo Hoseung, the rest of the team naturally turned their gazes toward him as well.

“Ahem!”

Apparently embarrassed by all the attention, Kang Chan awkwardly cleared his throat.

‘Got it, man.’

“How about having Mr. Kang Chan represent our team since he’s clearly the best dancer?”

I threw out a polite compliment.

“That’s right! Kang Chan Hyung is an amazing dancer.”

The surviving team members naturally chimed in.

‘As expected, surviving means being capable.’

At the very least, they all had enough social awareness to read the room.

Looking at his encouraging teammates, Kang Chan slowly spoke.

“Since everyone is insisting so much, I’ll go as the team representative.”

“Wooooah!”

“Kang Chan! Kang Chan!”

Apparently not disliking the cheers, Kang Chan strode confidently toward the center.

Since there were five teams, five trainees stepped onto the stage.

Doom-doom

Without any warning, a fast-tempo song suddenly blasted through the speakers.

The production team’s way of saying, ‘figure it out yourselves and start.’

The first track was a funk song famous among b-boys.

As the booming drum filled the space, Kang Chan lowered his body to the center stage.

He bounced to the rhythm with his toes before fluidly winding his arms and upper body.

In an instant, he threw himself to the floor, linking spins and flares together.

Among all the trainees moving to the beat, Kang Chan was overwhelmingly dominant.

As if responding to the cheers, he launched into a powerful power move.

‘He’s seriously good.’

After completing a rotation that seemed to freeze him in midair, he perfectly balanced on his arms and legs and finished with a freeze.

‘He crushed it.’

True to someone with an A+ stat obsessed with dance, Kang Chan even flawlessly performed b-boy moves.

Cheers and applause erupted as he rose with the final beat of the music.

“Trainee Kang Chan, who demonstrated overwhelming dance skills, earns the first concept selection right!”

“WOOOOOOAH!”

It was an absolute massacre from any perspective.

‘This team’s feeling pretty good, actually.’

It looked like the smoothest group project I’d had so far.

 

☆☆☆

 

I take that back.

I must have been hypnotized by his dancing.

“Our team will choose the Royal concept.”

“…Huh?”

“Ah… Kang Chan, wait a second!”

‘That was the one concept I least wanted!’

Because this idiot had chosen Royal without discussing it with anyone.

“The team containing trainee Kang Chan is officially assigned the Royal concept!”

At Park Chaeyoung’s confirmation, the team atmosphere instantly turned icy.

Looks like this group project wouldn’t be easy either.

The remaining teams continued competing in dance challenges to determine their concepts.

Meanwhile, our team atmosphere was absolutely fantastic.

“…”

The team members forced their lips upward for the cameras, producing reactions that looked completely broken.

‘Anyone can tell they’re unhappy.’

Amid the precarious mood, all teams finally finished selecting their concepts.

“Everyone, are you satisfied with your team’s concept?”

At Park Chaeyoung’s question, the members reluctantly nodded.

“Lastly, let me tell you the benefit awarded to the winning team in this competition.”

At the word ‘benefit’, the trainees’ eyes instantly changed.

Though their lips still wore quiet smiles, their eyes looked like predators spotting prey.

“Every member of the first-place team will receive an additional five million votes!”

“…!”

‘That’s insanely generous.’

With ‘Star Picking 5’ already becoming increasingly popular, individual vote counts were already quite high.

But an extra five million votes essentially meant every member of the winning team would survive and secure high-ranking positions.

‘We absolutely have to get first place.’

“From now on, each team will move to their assigned meeting rooms. Please begin selecting songs and preparing your concept stage within your allocated budget.”

“Yes!”

At the news of the five million vote benefit, the loudest shout yet echoed through the auditorium.

“We look forward to seeing your concept-stage battle in two weeks.”

The familiar ‘Star Picking 5’ ending theme flowed through the speakers.

“…Cut!”

“Trainees, please move immediately.”

“Yes!”

As we headed toward the meeting room alongside the staff, not a single word was exchanged among the stiff-faced team members.

‘This isn’t looking easy from the start.’

Still, there was no choice.

First place was the surest way to survive.

Somehow, I had to make this team work.

While I was lost in thought, we finally arrived at the meeting room.

The heavy brown wooden door slowly opened, revealing a clean conference room.

The walls were painted a warm cream color, complementing the wood-textured table and soft lighting.

Cameras had already been installed throughout the room.

“Royal Team, everyone.”

“Yes!”

Turning toward the staff member’s call, I saw an assistant writer holding out a whiteboard marker.

“Please conduct your discussion freely according to the concept, centered around the leader.”

“Yes.”

“Understood.”

Yoo Hoseung naturally accepted the marker with both hands.

Once the team members saw him stop in front of the whiteboard, they instinctively gathered around him while remaining conscious of the cameras whose recording lights were glowing red.

“Hello, Royal Team. I’m Yoo Hoseung, the team leader.”

“Wooooah!”

“First of all, I’m happy to be on the same team as all of you.”

“Me too!”

“Nice to meet you!”

The trainees delivered lively reactions with the cameras in mind.

‘This atmosphere is completely different from the one in the hallway.’

As expected, those who survived had survived for a reason.

Of course, I also applauded enthusiastically.

“Thank you for the warm welcome. Shall we start discussing our team concept?”

Since we’d spent so much time filming together already, introductions were skipped.

“Sounds good.”

“Yep.”

A single word was written in large blue letters across the whiteboard.

[ROYAL]

“How should we approach the Royal concept? If anyone has any good ideas, feel free to share.”

The air in the meeting room suddenly became tense.

“Hmm.”

“Royal, huh…”

The oldest member leaned back in his chair and spoke.

“There’s actually something I’m curious about, Kang Chan.”

The expressionless Kang Chan tilted his head slightly.

“What are you curious about?”

“Why did you choose Royal specifically?”

‘Honestly, I wanted to know too.’

The gazes of the team members, all dissatisfied and confused by Kang Chan’s unilateral decision, focused on him at once.

“Because it’s cool.”

“…Excuse me?”

‘You really chose it for that reason?’

The team members looked dumbfounded at Kang Chan’s confident answer.

“Didn’t I get eliminated in the second survival stage?”

“That’s true.”

“Since I was eliminated with a cute concept, I wanted to show the coolest side of myself on this stage. That’s why I chose it.”

Kang Chan’s expression was completely serious.

‘No wonder his eyes looked a little crazy during that grand bow acceptance speech.’

Apparently, the shock of being eliminated had hit him pretty hard.

“Being cool is the best thing in the world.”

“Haha…”

“Being cool is nice.”

The team members laughed awkwardly.

‘At this rate, the team atmosphere is going to completely collapse.’

The concept had already been chosen and couldn’t be changed.

That meant there was only one thing I could do.

‘I’d better salvage this before things get even worse.’

“I actually think choosing the Royal concept was the best decision among all five concepts.”

“…What?”

The team members looked at me as if asking why I was suddenly saying that.

I put on my best professional smile.

“Because I just came up with a good idea.”

“What is it?”

Unlike before, the team members now looked interested.

“Since the concept is Royal, how about making the throne our main theme?”

“…!”

“There’s a fierce struggle to claim the throne, but in the end, we’re the ones who take it. That would be the message.”

The team members’ expressions changed instantly.

“And that throne symbolizes debut.”

“Wow…”

“That’s actually pretty good.”

“I like it too!”

‘Good. I managed to salvage things somewhat.’

When a team starts a meeting with morale destroyed by one person’s unilateral decision, efficiency plummets.

That’s why I chose to raise morale as much as possible.

The better the atmosphere, the better the team’s results would be.

Fortunately, the throne concept seemed to work.

The mood changed instantly.

The team members became proactive and started throwing out ideas without hesitation.

As Yoo Hoseung quickly wrote everyone’s opinions down, he suddenly turned around.

“Then how about white outfits with gold decorations… the classic royal look?”

‘This guy really has good instincts.’

“That’s perfect as a symbol of royalty.”

White represented pure bloodlines, while gold symbolized power and honor, making them ideal colors for kings.

Even Kang Chan, who had been quietly nodding, finally spoke up.

“I like it too. The outfits look cool.”

‘You little punk, don’t tell me you just like anything as long as it looks cool.’

I swallowed my doubts.

With unanimous approval from the team, the costumes were quickly finalized.

“We’ve mostly settled the concept. So what about the most important thing… the song?”

For this mission, since the concept was predetermined, song selection was completely free.

“Wouldn’t a royal-feeling song with a grand atmosphere and strong bass work well?”

“A song that instantly makes people think of a throne.”

As Kang Chan silently listened to the discussion, he suddenly raised his right hand.

“I have a song in mind.”

‘And what are you about to suggest this time…?’

The team members’ gazes filled with tension converged on Kang Chan at once.