From Thug to Idol: Transmigrating to a Survival Show

“Get out of my head,” June muttered as the tune continued invading his brain.

He glanced at his members and saw all of them with concentrated looks. Even Jangmoon appeared to be in his zone.

However, June was stuck with the atrocious ice cream song he heard yesterday.

To be frank, the tune wasn’t too bad. One could definitely tell it was produced by an amateur. With its miscalculated beats, gritty sound, and resonance overuse, it sounded straight out of a mixtape from an ‘underground rapper’ who claimed his music was ‘fire.’

However, despite its heinousness, it couldn’t escape June’s mind .

Maybe if the song was actually produced by someone good, then it would be a hit song.

June paused when the thought hit him.

Maybe if it was produced by someone knowledgeable, then it could be a good song.

A small smirk appeared on June’s lips; and before he knew it, he started clicking the buttons and combining elements together.

***

“Time’s up,” Ren said, sighing as he felt he didn’t do a good job.

Jangmoon smiled proudly at his creation. He removed his headphones and smiled at his teammates. “I think I actually did a great job?”

“Why don’t we start with you then?” Casper suggested, scooting over to the center and coaxing the others to sit with him.

“Nu-uh,” Jangmoon said, hugging the laptop. “I’m saving the best for last.”

Ren sighed and shook his head, placing his laptop in the middle of the circle they’d formed. “Let’s start with mine, I guess. I’m not too proud of this one anyway.”

Ren pressed the ‘play’ button, and a beat resonated in the room. June recognized it to be a moderate tempo, approximately ranging between 100 to 120 beats per minute. The rhythmic structure was straightforward, following a standard 4/4 time signature, making it easy to groove to. Ren’s choice of instruments included electronic synthesizers and sampled drum sounds.

However, the composition employed a basic chord progression, which led to the perception of it being somewhat generic. This was definitely an improvement compared to Ren’s previous work, though, which made June think that the trainee was slowly gaining his confidence.

“You did great,” June said, causing Ren to beam. “But I don’t think we can use this for our song. It’s not going to stand out.”

Casper nodded. Ren silently agreed, too.

“I can’t say anything about it production-wise,” Daeho said. “In that aspect, I think yours is much better than mine. However, I agree that it sounds pretty…ordinary.”

“Let’s scrap that for now. Why don’t we listen to Daeho’s?” Ren asked.

“Sure,” Daeho said, clearing his throat. “Don’t judge me, alright?”

Daeho’s music took on a slower tempo, which contributed to the “flowery” and somewhat relaxed vibe of the composition. This tempo choice aligned more with pop and ballad genres rather than upbeat dance music.

Considering Daeho’s relative lack of experience, the overall quality of the music was commendable. However, like Ren’s music, it might still lack the unique elements that would make it stand out as something special within the Production Mission.

“Hey, you’ve improved so fast,” Ren complimented.

Daeho scratched the back of his neck. “Thanks. It’s actually pretty enjoyable.”

“I think we went the same route,” Casper said, pulling out his song next. “Why don’t we judge them together?”

Casper played what he had mixed, and indeed, it sounded pretty similar to Daeho’s.

“It’s good,” June said. “But then again, if the two of you thought like this, it might contribute to the audience’s thoughts of our song being predictable.”

“You’re right,” Ren said. “When the mentors first introduced ‘Bubblegum Pop,’ this was the type of music that automatically entered my mind. I think it might be better suited for a girl group, too.”

“Hmm,” Casper hummed. “I get where you’re coming from. Should we listen to the next one then? This might be our best bet if nothing else comes to mind, though.”

“I’ll go next!” Jangmoon exclaimed, harshly placing his laptop in the middle.

June raised his eyebrows in inquiry. “I thought you wanted to go last.”

“I did,” Jangmoon said. “But I respect you so much, big bro! You’re the best, so you’re going last,” he chuckled.

June scoffed and shook his head.

“The Bluetooth device had been successfully paired.”

“What are you doing?” Casper asked.

“Masterpieces like mine need to be listened to at full blast,” Jangmoon boasted, maxing out the volume on the laptop and the speakers.

“Oh goodness,” Daeho massaged his temples.

“Listen to my masterpiece!” Jangmoon proudly said as he clicked ‘play.’

June immediately covered his ears once the first note played. His teammates also grimaced, leaning away from the source of the sound. Jangmoon, on the other hand, remained oblivious to this all and jammed to the atrocious beat.

Jangmoon’s music can be best described as a wild concoction of noise and cat sounds? There were definitely some ‘meows’ in there. However, that was just the tip of the iceberg.

The beat was characterized by dissonant and clashing tones. It was noisy and chaotic, with an unintentional lack of consideration for ‘Bubblegum Pop.’

June had to give him some props, though.

Jangmoon even took the liberty to add in his own lyrics and vocals.

“Meow, Meow, I like pussycats 𝒐𝓋𝐋xt.𝗇𝓔t

But those pussycats, their eyelashes don’t even bat

So, I’ll use a bat instead

To get them to my bed.”

In the other room, where Lin Zhi’s team was staying, a crowd of five trainees leaned on the wall, listening to the song that they had desperately been trying to hear since day one.

“Is that…their song?” Steel asked, still shocked. Lin Zhi tried his best to hide his smirk as he leaned away from the wall, clapping to capture his team’s attention.

“That’s enough,” Lin Zhi said. “Why don’t we go right ahead to our lyrics? We want to impress the judges by tomorrow.”

“Right,” Johnny said. “Thanks to you, we’re writing the lyrics now. You did a really great job producing the song.”

“Yeah,” Steel agreed. “Watching you a while back was fascinating. You’ve placed a couple of beats together, and then it already sounded like a pre-made song.”

Lin Zhi gratefully smiled. “Of course,” he said. “Anything for this team.”

“Alright, time’s up,” Casper said, shutting the laptop close. “We’re not going to be using that.”

Jangmoon looked at him in exasperation. “What? My masterpiece is what we’re looking for! It’s catchy, unique, and I actually have lyrics written already!”

“Well, it’s definitely unique,” June muttered.

Jangmoon snapped his gaze at June. “Oh, it isn’t that bad, big bro. Why don’t we listen to yours, huh? Then, we’ll see who did a better job.”

June smirked and gently placed his laptop in the middle.

“Gladly.”