Debuting by Riding the Returnee’s Bus Chapter 51

‘What will people say when this airs? Do you want to be branded as unlikable? At a time like this, you should be pretending to be nice no matter what—why on earth are you acting like this?’

 

I knew No. 123 was surprisingly strong-willed. He had coldly rejected a nameless trainee’s plea to be on his team during the first Slave class mission, and he had been openly gnashing his teeth at Kim Haejun during the recent incident.

 

That wasn’t all. He even had a history of glaring at No. 141 when the guy accidentally tripped me. Putting aside the fact that he cried easily, No. 123 was the type who had strong convictions and stubbornly walked his own path.

 

You naturally came to realize that after spending time with him. He barely even seemed conscious of the cameras. Maybe it was because he’d never been a trainee before and had only learned singing at a vocal academy, but he never seemed to consider what consequences his actions might bring.

 

Looking at it positively, you could say he was just that immersed in this survival show; in a negative light, he didn’t even seem to realize he was on a broadcast. Even though I had been trying to guide him, No. 123 often went off on his own like a madman.

 

‘He’s completely lost it right now.’

 

It might be accurate to say he was so focused on his anger toward Kim Haejun that nothing else registered. In this situation, openly taking a shot at Kim Haejun in a situation like this was practically the same as declaring war.

 

Naturally, Kim Haejun looked flustered after being blindsided. His pale, tightly shut lips made him look composed in a way, but the cold sweat on his face made it clear his mental state was far from normal.

 

‘This is the worst…’

 

The problem was that all of this was being captured on camera. I wanted to quickly patch up the wounds in this team, but these broadcast people didn’t even give us time for that.

 

The follow-up mission began immediately.

 

“Trainees, please gather with your teams and sit down for a moment.”

 

“Trainees, as previously announced, we will proceed immediately with the song selection mission. Please gather with your teams and sit in your designated spots!”

 

‘Is this really happening? Is this for real? How can they do it like this…’

 

“Hey! Sit down over there, hurry up!”

 

*‘And who is this guy shouting and using informal speech? There are still people like that around?’

 

I didn’t like it, but it was effective at settling the chaotic atmosphere, given that the room was crawling with energetic young guys. After everyone had gathered with their groups and settled into their designated spots, they all turned their attention toward the screen.

 

Sure enough, a list of selectable songs immediately appeared on the large screen.

 

[1. V.I.P – Big Bang Theory]

[2. ESPERO – Hope]

[3. ELEVEN – Lone Wolf]

[4. 5KIDS – LIMIT: Boundary]

[5. VEX – BOOM]

[6. Boy Revolution – Dyed Red]

[7. TOP9 – Dangerously]

 

‘Overall… a pretty solid lineup?’

 

I had expected Eleven, the beast-idol group featured in the first mission, to be included. Their songs were strong and intense, so I figured they’d fit well with this mission.

 

‘Lone Wolf was one of their bigger hits. Honestly, it felt a bit like a self-copy of their previous track, Punch, but….’

 

It didn’t really matter. In this industry, as long as something was popular and sold well, that was all that counted. Still, there was no particular reason to choose another Eleven song.

 

‘There are so many other great songs… why bother?’

 

The other songs were simply better. I could tell just by looking at the trainees’ eyes. No one was interested in Eleven. Everyone had their eyes on V.I.P.

 

It felt a bit biased, but I understood their feelings. In a survival mission, song selection was in some ways more important than teammates, and it could have a massive impact on future evaluations.

 

V.I.P was a group that truly defined an era and had a powerful influence on the history of Korean popular music. Every trainee here admired them; they grew up practicing their music. Even now, they were still listening to them. If you played any song by that group, more than 40% of the population would say they had heard it at least once. They weren’t just hits; they were mega-hits.

 

The Judge Vex’s song was also a solid choice. Although he was from an older generation, he was still active as a soloist and received good reviews. 5KIDS and Boy Revolution were groups that had recently swept the charts and were rising with terrifying momentum, so it made sense for them to be there, but….

 

‘Why the hell is TOP9 there?’

 

TOP9 was a group that was… well, to be blunt, disappointing to be included in the same tier. Whether their agency had pulled some strings, whether the producers had forced them in for publicity, or whether it was because they were conscious of Kim Haejun… it was a song that had to be avoided at all costs.

 

I glanced at Kim Haejun and cautiously spoke to him, feeling awkward just because that group was on the list.

 

“Haejun hyung. What do you think? If we can choose, it would be best to go with V.I.P or Espero sunbaenims, right?”

 

“Huh? What did you say, Unha?”

 

“Which song appeals to you the most, hyung? If you’re also keeping the arrangement in mind….”

 

“…….”

 

“I think it would be best to choose a song you’re comfortable with. For me….”

 

“Yeah. I think we should think about it a bit.”

 

‘Then share those thoughts with us, Haejun hyung.’

 

Feeling anxious, I looked back and saw the older duo already deep in their own meeting. I could see a dark ambition in their eyes to lead this team as the elders. Since they were in a position where they had to worry about screen time, I understood why they were acting like that, but honestly, it didn’t inspire confidence.

 

Meanwhile, No. 123 was repeating like a parrot, ‘Unha, what do you think is best? Let’s do whatever you want to do’.

 

‘F*ck… are we going to fail?’

 

Just as I was looking at the older duo and deciding to exclude Kim Haejun from the decision for now, subtitles appeared on the screen again.

 

[Song selection will take place on the main stage.]

 

[Teams will be ranked based on how quickly their members reach the Main Stage, and higher-ranked teams will receive priority when choosing songs.]

 

In other words, it was first-come, first-served.

 

‘Why… why the hell are they doing this?’

 

Someone shouted at the top of their lungs.

 

“Run!!!”

 

“Ru… Run!!!!”

 

“Hurry!! Hurry!!!!”

 

“Run!!!”

 

In an instant, everyone began to bolt toward the exit. The camera directors and staff ran with them. I couldn’t fathom what kind of madness this was, suddenly holding a sprinting competition.

 

If it were a mission where you just ran a reasonable distance to claim a song, I wouldn’t be this annoyed. My annoyance was magnified because I remembered the distance between the group practice room and the main stage was quite far.

 

‘Are they short on footage?’

 

Or…

 

‘Surely they’re not doing this just because the theme is Citizen Revolution, are they? They’re not making us do something weird just to create a sense of struggle, right?’

 

I already knew this show was crazy, but it was more baffling than I thought. It wasn’t just because Lee Unha was bad at running that I was complaining.

 

‘Why on earth are they doing this?’

 

“Pant… huff… gasp….”

 

‘Don’t film this. Stop filming me, Director.’

 

“Huff… haa… haa… haa… whew… haa… haa….”

 

‘Seriously.’

 

I didn’t know why the main stage had to be so far away. Honestly, I just wanted to sit down right then and there. But with everyone else running, there was no way I could do that. I didn’t want to be branded as someone who didn’t work hard. In the end, I had no choice but to run with everything I had.

 

‘But seriously, why is everyone so fast…’

 

While I was marveling at the trainees’ stamina, they were pulling further and further away. It was a bit sad, but…

 

‘You guys are slow, too….’

 

I had comrades with me.

 

“Un… Unha… are you… cough! Gasp… are you okay?”

 

It was No. 123, Jung Taehee. I wondered for a second if he was running with me for my sake, but that expression was definitely not acting. He was slightly better off than me, but he looked like he was about to pass out as well.

 

No. 12, Kim Haejun, who was a little farther ahead of us, wasn’t much different. He seemed to have been a trainee for a long time, so why was his stamina so bad? He was only ahead because his legs were longer; his actual running speed was surely similar to ours.

 

‘Don’t we look like a complete group of losers?’

 

As the director followed us closely as if he’d found the shot of a lifetime, a sense of shame welled up. The leading group was already out of sight.

 

‘We’re basically guaranteed to finish dead last, aren’t we…?’

 

If the older duo happened to shine in this endurance test, maybe things would turn out a little differently, but it felt like I had to give up on picking the song I wanted. Praying that we could at least get our second choice, I kept running until the view of the main stage, where people were gathered, came into sight.

 

“We’re almost there… almost… Unha. Let’s push a little more.”

 

‘I think you’re the one who needs encouragement more than I do.’

 

“Haa… huff… haa….”

 

Kim Haejun, who I thought was with us, had already crossed the finish line.

 

‘I had a feeling, but….’

 

“…….”

 

‘We really came in last. This is…’

 

We were exactly last among the remaining Commoner trainees.

 

It wasn’t much of a consolation, but No. 123 was second to last.

 

Kim Haejun did fairly well, coming in at 34th.

 

The older duo, perhaps because they were in their mid-20s—the peak of physical age—were in the top ranks. They were 3rd and 15th.

 

‘W-we might have a choice then?’

 

Since the system awarded more points to those who arrived first, there was a chance. Of course, we wouldn’t be able to pick the V.I.P song… but at least we could avoid the worst. Maybe we could even snag the judge Vex’s solo song, BOOM….

 

Since it was a solo song, people might avoid it out of fear of part distribution issues or the pressure of performing a judge’s track.

 

In fact, our team’s final rank, thanks to the older duo’s performance, was 5th.

 

While the teams ahead of us snatched up the V.I.P song and the currently popular 5KIDS and Boy Revolution tracks, the songs from Eleven and Vex were still available. TOP9 wasn’t even worth considering; that was a definite trap card.

 

‘We should go with Vex’s song, right? Or Eleven as a second choice? It’s a bit weird doing a group we already did, but… with Kim Haejun, we can do the arrangement perfectly. No. Still, Vex is better. We have to do Vex.’

 

But things in life rarely go exactly the way you want.

 

Ridiculously enough…

 

One of the older duo spoke up with eyes full of ambition.

 

“I think we should perform TOP9 sunbaenim’s song… What do you all think?”

 

The other one agreed with him.

 

“I… I think so too.”

 

I could instinctively tell.

 

‘You bastards… you’re doing this because you want to build yourselves a storyline…’