The S-Rank Paparazzi Reincarnates as an Idol Chapter 59

Chapter 59

 

“Honestly, I can’t even tell who the center is.”

‘This is bad…!’

The moment those words were spoken, Yoo Hoseung, who was standing in the center, subtly lowered his head, unable to keep his expression under control.

The other members were visibly shaken as well.

“For a royal concept, there should be an overwhelming sense of dignity and charm that captivates people.”

The judge’s voice chilled the atmosphere of the practice room.

“A center who lacks both singing ability and dance skills, and even lacks confidence… that’s honestly the worst.”

“…!”

“To be frank, there’s no impact either. Do you all want to go on stage like this and get eliminated together?”

The judge’s indifferent gaze swept across us.

The moment our eyes met, I flinched. It felt like those eyes could see right through everything.

“By any chance, what was the basis for choosing the center within the team?”

The members looked at one another, unable to answer.

I quickly stepped forward.

“We chose him because we believed he was the person most suited to be the center.”

If I said we picked him because he was handsome, I was guaranteed to get lectured.

“I don’t know about that. In my opinion, the center doesn’t suit the concept at all.”

The evaluation was harsher than ever today.

“It’s not too late. How about changing the center for the sake of the team?”

‘Absolutely not!’

So that’s why this quest seemed too easy.

‘There was a reason the quest had a separate success condition.’

I remembered the system emphasizing that Yoo Hoseung had to be in the center position on the day of the performance.

If we changed the center, the quest would fail, and with my stats dropping, my elimination would be guaranteed.

‘I’ve come this far…!’

Just as I was desperately trying to think of a solution…

I noticed Hoseung’s fingertips trembling violently beside me.

‘I need to deal with this quickly.’

“Our team’s center is Yoo Hoseung, no matter what!”

In my panic, my voice came out much louder than intended.

The judges jumped in surprise as my voice echoed through the room.

“Goodness, that startled me!”

“Don’t be like that. Think it over carefully.”

‘Think it over? Forget that… I need to survive first.’

“I believe in our Hoseung!”

“…!”

I saw Hoseung’s trembling fingers stop.

“I know better than anyone how hard Hoseung has worked and how much effort he’s put into practice. That’s why I’m certain he’ll show an even better performance on the actual stage!”

“Cha Siwoo, you’re incredibly stubborn.”

‘No. This isn’t stubbornness. It’s survival.’

“You can think whatever you want. But when it comes to the royal concept, I genuinely believe there’s no one more suited to be the center than Hoseung! I’ll explain every reason in detail, from one to ten.”

I quickly listed ten reasons why Yoo Hoseung had to be the center.

“First, Hoseung has excellent facial expressions. Second, he’s handsome. Third, this face of his isn’t just an ordinary face, this royal visage–”

By the time I was explaining the tenth reason, one of the judges, looking completely exhausted, hurriedly grabbed the microphone.

“…Okay, we get it! Everything you’re saying is right, and we understand your feelings, so please stop talking.”

‘Phew…’

“Yes, understood.”

The judge lowered his microphone while clutching his hair.

This time, the choreographer judge picked up theirs.

“Putting the center aside, whose idea was the overall choreography?”

“Mine.”

Kang Chan stepped forward.

“Kang Chan. I told you this last time, didn’t I? Not everyone can dance like you.”

“…Yes.”

“The choreography is cool and all, but how should I put it…”

After a brief pause, the choreographer spoke with a stern expression.

“It doesn’t fit the team at all. It feels completely disconnected.”

Since the choreography was difficult, the difference in skill levels must have stood out even more to the judges.

“There’s no harmony despite being on the same team. On stage, Kang Chan stands out way too much.”

‘Well, Kang Chan is the only one with an A+ Dance stat, while the rest of the team is around C to D.’

In a way, it was only natural.

“…Yes.”

Despite the continued criticism, Kang Chan maintained his expressionless poker face.

“Remember that this is a team stage, not a solo stage. Don’t forget that the team as a whole matters more than any individual’s abilities.”

“Yes. I’ll keep that in mind.”

As the harsh evaluations continued, the members’ faces grew noticeably darker.

The oldest trainee in particular got the worst of it, being criticized for lacking both skill and presence.

“Royal Team, honestly, we had high expectations because you have so many aces, but this is disappointing.”

“I hope you don’t make mistakes on the main stage and show us a proper royal concept performance.”

“Yes… We’ll do our best.”

“Good. Royal Team, you may return to your seats.”

The reflected faces of the team members in the mirror were pale.

Among them, Yoo Hoseung’s shoulders were especially slumped, and his expression looked completely drained.

Once we sat back down, Park Chaeyoung picked up the microphone again.

“Next, Wild Concept Team, please come forward!”

“Yes!”

Kim Sunyoo and the other five members quickly took their places in the center of the practice room.

True to the wild concept, their performance was full of bold and powerful energy.

As expected, Kim Sunyoo was absolutely flying.

Yet even that team returned to their seats with dark expressions after receiving harsh criticism.

‘That’s strange. I can understand the others, but why Kim Sunyoo too?’

While I was wondering that, the evaluations continued until the final team.

Every team received criticism, and the mood throughout the practice room became gloomy.

‘They’re doing this on purpose for the broadcast.’

Of course, since the trainees only had one week to prepare, there were bound to be shortcomings.

But they even tore apart trainees from genuinely strong teams.

That made it obvious.

The judges were intentionally nitpicking and intimidating everyone more than usual to create dramatic television moments.

‘Broadcasting companies really are something else.’

The pattern was painfully obvious.

‘They’ll edit this as a team crisis because of the harsh midterm evaluation.’

Then later, they’d show a dramatic stage performance to maximize immersion and ratings.

If that’s what the producers wanted, then I’d play along.

Among the trainees with stiff expressions, I maintained the most serious face I could.

“Trainees, the midterm evaluations are now complete.”

In the gloomy atmosphere, Park Chaeyoung looked around at everyone.

“There’s still about a week left, so please do your best during the remaining time.”

“Yes!”

Satisfied with the determined response, she nodded and raised a cue card handed to her by a staff member.

“Lastly, we’ll now decide the performance order for the competition stage.”

That’s right.

The order of performances for next week’s competition had not yet been decided.

“The order will be determined by…”

Rattle. Rattle.

Everyone turned toward the sound of wheels rolling.

Staff members were bringing a waist-high object into the center, covered by a white cloth.

‘What now? What did they bring this time?’

Considering everything the production team had done so far, I had a bad feeling about this too.

“Behold…!”

Pulling away the white cloth, Park Chaeyoung flashed a bright smile.

“A gacha machine!”

‘They’re really using every trend they can find.’

“There are five capsules inside this machine. The number written inside the capsule will determine your performance order.”

So in the end, it would be decided by a draw.

“Representatives from each team, please come forward!”

Yoo Hoseung stood up with a determined expression.

“I’ll be back.”

His firm voice carried both resolve and nervousness.

“Yeah!”

“Hoseung, fighting!”

“Yes!”

Receiving cheers from his teammates, Yoo Hoseung stepped forward confidently.

As expected, he was the youngest among all the team leaders.

“All of the team leaders are gathered now.”

“Waaaaaaah!”

“Royal Team, fighting!”

The enthusiastic cheers from each team instantly heated the atmosphere.

After enjoying the reactions for a moment, Park Chaeyoung picked up the microphone.

“For the third competition, audience members will only have one chance to vote. That means the performance order will have a significant impact on the outcome, right?”

“Yes!”

In on-site voting without time restrictions, having only one vote meant performing earlier was always advantageous.

Because the later the performance order, the fewer people with voting rights remained.

“Then let’s begin drawing the order through the gacha machine.”

“Waaaaaaah!”

“The order of drawing will follow the ranking standings.”

‘This program really loves ranking people.’

Not that it mattered.

‘After all, the No. 1 trainee is on our team.’

“Yoo Hoseung, the first-place trainee, please spin the gacha machine first!”

“Yes!”

‘Please let it be an early slot!’

With a massive 5 million-vote benefit awarded to the winning team, we absolutely needed an early performance slot to maximize audience votes.

“Yoo Hoseung! Yoo Hoseung!”

Encouraged by the team’s cheers, Hoseung boldly turned the handle.

‘I’m counting on you, Hoseung!’

The gears inside the machine clicked together and began spinning.

The moment a capsule dropped out, a small, cheerful ‘tok‘ sound rang out.

“Yoo Hoseung, please open the capsule now!”

Hoseung nodded and twisted the capsule open with his fingers.

The transparent plastic shell separated with a crisp ‘click‘.

‘I wonder what number it is?’

The moment Hoseung unfolded the roughly folded white slip of paper, his expression instantly froze.

“Royal Team’s performance order is Number 5, the very last performance!”

“…!”

We were doomed.

‘The worst possible position for receiving audience votes.’

The fact that we had drawn the one position I desperately wanted to avoid made my heart sink.

The already dark mood of our team became even darker.

As the trainees’ fortunes rose and fell, the gacha drawing continued.

“Next, Kim Sunyoo, please spin the gacha machine!”

Kim Sunyoo casually smiled and somehow managed to draw Number 1.

‘Come to think of it, Kim Sunyoo is surprisingly lucky, isn’t he?’

As for Rua, he drew Number 3.

‘Lucky. Third place isn’t bad at all.’

Only after every team had finalized its performance order did filming finally come to an end.

 

☆☆☆

 

Because filming ended late at night, the trainees returned to the dormitory instead of the practice room.

Incidentally, our team had been assigned to the same dorm as well, meaning we would be living together until the competition.

As a result, my roommate changed too.

Instead of Seo Hayul, the person occupying the bed above mine was Yoo Hoseung.

“Um, Siwoo hyung.”

Just before entering the room, Hoseung carefully tugged on the edge of my clothes.

“Yeah?”

“Do you have a moment?”

He looked around nervously, his fingertips tense.

“Of course.”

After confirming that all the other trainees had gone inside, Hoseung cautiously opened his mouth.

“Um… don’t you think it would be better for the team if we changed the center position, even now?”

The words hit like a bomb dropping out of nowhere.

“…What?”

It felt as if someone had struck me hard from behind.

My mind went completely blank.

“What’s wrong with you?”