Chapter 395

Chapter 395

The LeTi survival show included interesting, provocative elements and backstories. It even featured an influx of unique new contestants, which was not something people expected from a single-agency survival show. The performances were distinctive in a way that automatically made people think of LeTi.

It was not as cruel and random as Idol Inc. had been, but the show was still famously fun. The viewers of Wise had the following attitude toward the show as they went into the finals.

- Why did they take viewer votes in the first place? They never used them

- Did the production team forget about them? LOL

They were making guesses about the viewer votes, any mention of which had suddenly disappeared altogether.

- It would be pretty funny if they didn’t use the votes even in the finals

- I think the president gives the scores, and the votes are sort of an afterthought or a slight correction haha

- Let the president see the votes and grow a little afraid to push his own agenda. We need Cha Eugene to survive

Their questions were answered right before the finals, in episode nine. At first, everyone expected the episode to show simple behind-the-scenes stories and the trainees practicing for their final stage. It was a peaceful filler episode, the calm before the storm.

- Chaeyul brought Gunwoo blankets and a pillow? T_T How can he be such an angel?

- A male idol who plays jacks during breaks… How did the president manage to find people with these personalities and looks?

- Wow, Ryu Chungwoo doesn’t even sleep. He is so burning with eagerness right now. He’s still got the national athlete inside him

- More photos from Shin Jaehyeon’s glasses photo shoot just dropped. Did the broadcast station finally recognize the demand? It’s about time

The episode showed how close the trainees were to each other, the trial and error they’d gone through, what they did when they were on break, and so on. These were all questions that the viewers had been asking, and the footage had been mixed together and cut in such a way that made things fun to watch.

Naturally, this episode lacked the tension that one might expect from a survival show, but quite a few people liked the change of pace and attributed it to a thorough knowledge of the viewers.

- A special episode? Can’t be helped, given the time. I’m fine with it since it’s well-made haha

- They seem to be preparing for the finals at length. I’m looking forward to seeing it.

The production team had a hidden card to play, and they only did so at the end. There were all kinds of behind-the-scenes footage that made people laugh, and clips of the contestants sweating as they prepared for the coming finals in their practice rooms.

The camera proceeded to move to the stage.

-?

In the top right corner was the word “Live.”

- What?

- Is this live?

- I thought the final episode was episode ten? Isn’t the live part supposed to come next week?

The viewers had gotten used to the laid-back nature of this particular episode, and were taken aback by the sudden live footage.

[“Contestants, we have an urgent announcement to make prior to the finals.”]

Kim Taein sat in the judge’s seat holding a microphone. The camera showed the contestants who were confused but tense, as the president continued speaking.

[“The results of the viewer votes are in!”]

[“Evaluation from the public is an unavoidable part of your career that you will continue to encounter in the future. Anyone who is found not suitable according to the public’s eye…”]

The president purposefully took a deep breath, then said what everyone had been expecting.

[“Will be disqualified.”]

The contestants on the stage could be seen trembling or with their gazes fixed on the stage below, and the audience was aghast.

- This is so sudden!

- Oh T_T

- I had no idea the votes would be used like this. Oh no

- It hurts so much to see the looks on their faces…

At the same time, the sudden tension and curiosity about how the viewer votes would finally come into play caused the viewers to concentrate even more. Such was the power of the survival show.

The president, who could not see the live chat with its crying face emojis and exclamations, slowly announced the results.

[“First of all, here are the contestants who are mostly safe.”]

He read out four names—Kim Raebin, Oh Yunshin, Jung Woodan, Han Gyungmo.

All kinds of reactions exploded online—some people said that the fans weren’t desperate enough, since the president had personally picked these people; others said that these contestants were less talented than expected; and some said that the orchestra had been in the episode right before this one, which had caused a net negative effect; and so on.

Various reactions and evaluations emerged, but everyone seemed relieved to hear that these people would not be disqualified for now. But they grew confused as soon as they saw the remaining eight.

- Wait, so the rest are supposed to be not as good?

- I have no idea what is going on

- Am I the only one who thinks there are six more people who shouldn’t be disqualified under any circumstances?

There were only twelve contestants left on the show, and viewer votes had never once been revealed thus far. It was hard to guess how they had been divided.

[“I will now announce the contestants who have received the least votes.”]

An intense background track began to play as the president continued.

[“Park Namho.”]

- Oh no

- You had a good run, Namho! T_T

- No

This list began with the contestants who hadn’t been able to distinguish themselves—in other words, people that viewers had been expecting to not do so well. However, the list grew more and more surprising.

- T_T Oh no

- Just let all twelve debut, you lunatic!

The fans were sad and concerned, but they accepted what they were hearing to some extent. This was not the case when the final name was called.

[“And… Ryu Chungwoo.”]

The contestant calmly stepped forward, but the comments were anything but chill.

- What?

- No way

-??

- Is this a joke?

The former national athlete, the symbol of luck, and the new face who had shown incredible growth in a very short period of time had apparently drawn the short straw. There were a few seconds of explosive denials, but people soon realized what was going on. It was because he was new that he’d lost the vote.

- Is it because he joined late?

- The votes must be aggregated. He showed up several weeks late, you know

- Wait, doesn’t that basically mean that anyone on the supplementary team will be disqualified anyway? What a joke

The confused viewers continued to type, but they did not expect, of course, that the president would disqualify everyone who had been named so far.

- He named four people. They can all be disqualified. My guess is that a couple of contestants who failed to make the cut by the president’s standards will be thrown out

- Please… Please… T_T

- If Kim Taein sends Ryu Chungwoo away, he really has no idea what he’s doing

As people had expected, the president spoke again.

[“The bottom four, according to your votes, were originally meant to be disqualified immediately.”]

This meant they were no longer going to be cut right away.

[“But in order for an idol group to be complete, it is not just the fans that have a say.”]

[“The idols themselves are involved.”]

- What obvious nonsense is this? He’s so stupid

- If an idol group is an idol group, then it will have idols in it, of course…

Despite the complaints, the president continued seriously, a self-important look in his eyes.

[“Therefore, we have a listen to their opinions.”]

The contestants were shown raising their heads in confusion.

[“The contestants will be voting for two of the four contestants whom they wish to remain on the show.”]

The safe contestants glanced at each other with shock and the president looked over them with a grave look on his face. As everyone was from the same agency, the tight relationships that had formed between the various trainees was one of the attractive elements of the show. This was the final provocative twist that took advantage of that.

[“We will count your votes and the two individuals who receive the most will survive until the finals.”]

[“The results will be revealed… next week, prior to the Wise finals.”]

The camera zoomed out, showing the entire stage filled with tense contestants. The image faded to black. A colorful ad began to play, but the viewers were still talking.

- Wow

- The production team is so evil

- So the votes depend on what the contestants say? You should just decide for them, you f*cker

The very first season of Idol Inc. was yet to exist in this timeline. This was an unprecedented and shocking twist—Wise was making sure to gather as much attention as it could prior to the finals.

***

As I left the stage, I thought about how the production team were actually doing their jobs. Frankly, the show would not have been as interesting if they’d simply shown some behind-the-scenes footage and moved on. They had chosen to spice things up.

The word selection was also pretty good. They weren’t asking us to vote for who would be disqualified, but for two people to save. This wasn’t as bad as it could be—they’d held onto their humanity, at least.

There would be problems if someone who survived thanks to the votes from their companions caused controversy after debut, but that wasn’t my circus to worry about. I just needed to create a group that would be as efficient as possible in the shortest amount of time.

The problem is that Chungwoo’s position is a little dicey now. The existing trainees had already formed connections of their own, so there was a limit to how many votes he could receive.

I will have to deal with that. As soon as I took off my microphone, I went to the guy who had refused to tell me until today’s live filming who he intended to get rid of—Cheongryeo, of course.

“You said you were going to let it happen naturally. Is this it?” I asked.

He smiled, apparently not at all confused by my question. “Of course. It’s so simple. Why not use this twist to my advantage? The final results are just around the corner, and even the slightest shock can be enough to shake things around. It’s very simple at this stage to push people one way or another.”

He was talking about preventing the trainees from voting for certain people.

It’s a reasonable call. I frowned.

“And the reason you didn’t tell me?”

“If I told you in advance, I got the feeling that we’d end up working against each other, since you would also try your hand at manipulating things. You’re not exactly the sort of person to sit and wait patiently,” he said.

F*ck. I have nothing to say to that.

“You can understand, right? Let’s do it like this from now on. I will remove those who need to be removed. You add in those you want to add in.” He was talking about Chungwoo. He added as if he was doing me a kindness, “And if you feel you can’t manage it, just let me know. I’ll help you out.”

I gave him a confused look. “What do you mean, you’ll help me? Of course, we need to include Chungwoo. There is no one in the bottom four better than him.”

I had no idea what he was talking about. Weren’t we aiming for the same goal?

He grinned. “Yeah? All right. If you can’t do it, then I will. Better?”

I grinned. “Yes, but let me try first.”

Are you trying to piss me off? I’m not going to get finicky about the means, as long as we get where we need to. I would take full advantage of what he could offer me right now.

“Good,” he said with a smile, turning and walking down the corridor. He seemed to be headed off to search out the other trainees.

A pop-up appeared as I watched him.

[So… does this mean you have to convince the other trainees as well?]

There was something I had to do first. I pulled up the pop-up window that had appeared while we were on stage earlier.

[Quest: Collect Reputation 2/?]

ㅣ■■■■■----->ㅣ

- 50% complete!

Reward: You receive a package…

When I had reached 500,000 aggregate reputation points, this had popped up as an interim reward. I had used all the points so far, except about 100,000 of them, to draw companions.

This feature was in 127 Section, as well. I had seen it during playtesting.

“There are plenty of choices, and varied endings. The main quest is inclusive and long in order to take that into account.”

“Oh… okay.”

They had told me that there were rewards partway through the quest so that players would be incentivized to continue playing.

I guess the rewards themselves are random. I checked my inbox, where there was an image of a package that said, “Progress Reward.”

[A package full of possibilities!]

- An encouragement from the stars.

In other words, this had the potential to contain something very good, but with my luck, it would probably be gold and nothing else.

I must have at least four thousand gold by now. Thinking about how the gold had no practical use, I opened the box with an indifferent expression.

[Package contains: Invitation]

[A companion (★★★★) is coming…]

Oh? Would you look at that? Starlight exploded from the package. It seemed that the reward was a companion, instead of gold. Not that I needed any more, of course.

Four stars… I considered the last four-star companion that I had seen before successfully drawing Big Sejin.

[★★★★ Jang Sohyeon / Lead dancer]

It was a member of Marshmallow. I’d been going through the other companions and had been quite shocked. I hadn’t taken her as a companion, just in case it had awakened her memories, but she was still in my inventory.

In any case, judging from my past experiences, it seemed that people who knew me were included in the pool of companions with three stars or more. I had never seen any such names on one-star or two-star companions, but starting with three stars, I would sometimes see names I recognized.

[Oh, the description did say something about relevant companions. Maybe that has something to do with it.]

I had assumed as much.

Does that mean the same will be true this time? The light quickly disappeared, and an explanation appeared. It was actually a name that I was familiar with.

[★★★★ Jung Woodan / Lead vocalist]

“…?”

It was a VTIC member.

[Judan?]

Yes, him. What the hell? I decided to just put him in my inventory, but strangely enough, there was no decline button.

[Confirm]

There was only one option.

Don’t tell me this means I have to automatically accept him?

[I guess…?]

It didn’t matter, of course. I could just take him and remove him from my companion list afterward. I pushed the button for now. Particles flew from the button again.

“…?”

[Lucky Fortune]

A strange message engraved in copper appeared out of nowhere, and the word spun on some vintage-looking pipes.

Wait… This was a lucky event from the game. Eventually, the pipes stopped spinning, locking into place like gears and forming a single word.

[Additional effect - awakening!]

Three seconds later, another message showed.

[Companion Jung Woodan successfully awakened!]

“What…”

What just happened?

***

This f*cking system had given me a bonus in the worst way imaginable. I raced down the corridor as soon as I realized what had happened, searching through the practice rooms.

I need to find him. There was a very real chance that things could turn nasty. My head was spinning as I threw open the doors of three or four different practice rooms, which were separated in order of priority. In the end, I discovered him in the choreography practice room, his head resting against the wall.

Jung Woodan. VTIC’s Judan. He said nothing, and he did not remove his head from where it was pressed to the wall. I approached him slowly, trying not to draw any attention to myself.

I need to be careful. My brain was churning. Eugene, who had been stretching in the corner, raised a hand in my direction.

Wait a second. Cha Eugene—

“Moondae!”

Of course.

“Moondae…?” said Judan, flinching and looking up. “Park Moondae?”

Damn it. He looked around him, seemingly confused. He paled when he saw Cha Eugene, as well as Kim Raebin behind him.

“TeSTAR? Wait…”

“Excuse me,” I said.

“Wait, so this…” he muttered.

His otherwise expressionless face was drenched in sweat. He seemed to be muttering something to himself, trying to talk himself down, it seemed.

I’m going to have to get him out of here first. I was grateful that there were no cameras running yet.

Before I could gesture to Eugene that we should each take one of his arms and get him out of here, Judan spoke in a much calmer tone than before.

“Where is the production team?” he asked.

“Why do you—”

“I’m leaving the show.”

I was stunned speechless.