Chapter 82

“I mean, when I did the interview, I was so out of it mentally... I just said whatever the writer led me into saying, and if they splice those bits and pieces together, I think it could make me look like I meant something bad....”

The one standing in front of me with a face that looked like he was beside himself with worry was Kim Eumyul.

“You know survival shows are full of malicious editing, right...? I’d be really upset if you misunderstood me because of it.”

...Hmm.

I was choosing my response in my head when another voice suddenly cut in from beside us.

“What did you say?”

Gowon had appeared before I knew it, standing there with his body angled crookedly.

“H-huh?”

“I’m wondering what you said that has you so scared of malicious editing.”

“Back then... like you know, I was completely out of it because I was thinking about arrangement ideas, so I don’t even remember very well.... That’s why I’m even more worried....”

“Ah, really? Then I guess we can find out when it airs.”

What the hell had gotten into him all of a sudden?

With the three of us standing in the corner radiating a chilly atmosphere, the other team members, who had been celebrating excitedly, gradually began glancing our way.

More importantly, two big guys cornering the comparatively small Kim Eumyul wasn’t exactly a pleasant sight.

This bastard got burned in Singapore and still didn’t learn his—right. That hasn’t happened yet.

I lightly tapped Gowon on the arm.

“Go on. I think this is something the two of us need to talk about.”

“.......”

Gowon clearly wasn’t happy about it, but he did step away.

That left me facing Kim Eumyul.

From what I had seen while performing on the same team, his skills weren’t bad. Depending on how hard he worked, he might grow into a perfectly good idol.

So why was he driving himself down the wrong path?

“Excuse me.”

“Y-yeah?”

“.......”

Several thoughts crossed my mind.

In the end, my meddlesome streak and my shitty temper fought to a draw.

And so, instead of trainee Baek Hanje, I stood before him as Hanzel of Young Ace.

“...Everything that happens in this world has a reason behind it. People know that, too, which is why society keeps functioning with most things being understood and let go without anyone having to explain them.”

This is my last piece of advice as the Squirrel Class homeroom teacher who knows your future, you little bastard.

“So becoming someone who constantly has to explain his reasons...”

“.......”

“...is probably something you should avoid.”

Especially on television.

Kim Eumyul said nothing for a moment. But the corners of his smiling lips trembled.

“...Is it because you’re so mature, Hanje? Even the things you say are way too hard to understand.”

His voice carried a faint tremor as he answered, then turned away.

Whether he got the message or not, my obligation to him ended there.

The team members gathered around a small monitor to watch the other teams perform.

“Wow, everyone’s so good! They’re seriously amazing!”

Kim Eumyul, cheerfully filling the audio with his voice, sat as far away from me as possible.

Because of our conversation, I had only caught half of Team Eight’s performance, and now there was just one stage left.

“I heard this team has someone who’s really good at arranging music too. Apparently the track came out incredible.”

Oh?

I leaned a little closer toward the monitor.

The faces of the team that had volunteered to perform last were tense, but confident.

—Black Card Team, begin!

A powerful beat launched into the intro and verse. At the same time, choreography designed to emphasize sex appeal came charging out right from the opening.

After hearing that much, I let out a dry laugh behind the hand covering my mouth.

Would you look at that?

The final performance ended, and we were given a brief break while the audience filed out.

“The Black Team’s song was seriously insane! ...O-of course, our team was better!”

“...Yeah. The song was good.”

“Even you think the arrangement was good, Hanje?”

“.......”

I merely smiled without answering.

A little while later, the production crew called all the trainees back onto the stage.

—We will now announce the team rankings for the first competition.

Preparations and rehearsals that had dragged on since morning, a stage packed with nerves, and the endless waiting afterward.

What an excellent moment to completely wreck the already exhausted trainees’ mental states.

Several teams that had made mistakes onstage or received lukewarm audience reactions already looked gloomy.

—For this first mission, the evaluation consists of ten percent judges’ scores, ten percent Creative Index, and eighty percent live audience votes. The trainees on the team that places first overall will receive a very special benefit. Once the competition episode airs and the nationwide vote begins, every member will receive an additional fifty thousand votes!

The MC’s voice rose as the trainees erupted into murmurs.

—And surely that alone would be disappointing. In the next mission, the winning team will also receive the right to claim the teammates they want first!

“Wow...!”

“Whoa, wow....”

—Then, starting now, we will announce the rankings for the first competition.

With tension rippling through the crowd, the veteran MC began from ninth place.

—Ninth place, Yellow Thunder Team.

Ah....

Among the hundred trainees, some looked relieved while others sank into despair.

The rankings continued to be announced, dragged out for maximum suspense.

—Third place, Red Energy Team!

For the record, I did not come up with that team name.

We had finished third out of nine teams.

First place overall went to the Black Team, who had performed last.

—But we’re not finished yet!

The MC drew the trainees’ attention back to him.

—Surely the team that placed first in live voting—in other words, the team chosen by the greatest number of Chart Makers—deserves a fantastic reward as well, don’t you think?

After sweeping his gaze across the trainees, the MC shouted.

—And that reward is... guaranteed survival for every member, regardless of individual ranking!

Everyone’s eyes widened.

At that moment, another column appeared beside the rankings on the giant screen.

Live Audience Vote Count

The order of the overall rankings was overturned.

At the same time, the corners of my mouth rose.

Sure, even though I had tried to incorporate as many elements as possible, the Christmas-carol concept inevitably meant the choreography was relatively easy.

The professional judges would have noticed that immediately, so it made sense for us to receive a somewhat weaker score than other teams.

But which stage would remain most vividly in the memories of an audience full of nonprofessionals?

Debut Chart! 100

[Proof Added] Debut Chart Audience Review

Looks like it probably won’t flop. Producer Dong, I admit you’ve got a damn good eye, you lunatic. Looks like you scraped every handsome kid you could find from every last corner of the country. Blue and Black are worth watching at least. If I had to pick one more, Red was cute and fresh. That’s it.

Comments

Producer, did you hire people to post this?

↳ Everyone already knows agencies are holding their trainees back because audition shows have been milked dry lol

Nah, the independent trainee pool carried hard. The GAL and MEP alumni were pretty good too

↳ You’re really trying

↳↳ I posted proof of my audience wristband, assholes

Gloom Punk¹) Is it actually true his position is main vocalist?

↳ Yeah, I think people need to dig up his past. There’s no way an independent trainee is that skilled. (P)

Debut Chart! 100

Posting Who I Voted For on the Way Home

For me: Black, Blue, Red.

Comments

Red 2. Green 3. White↳ Your taste is transparent as fuck

↳↳ If someone stabbed one of my veins, pastel-colored blood would probably gush out..

Yellow, Blue, Red.

Orange, Red, and I just threw in whatever for the rest lol

↳ What the hell, everyone has Red in there. Now I’m really fucking curious

All the other stages were like BAM CRASH LOOK AT US WE’RE HIP-HOP BADASSES, so when Red came out it felt like getting a piece of fruit after eating a bunch of greasy meat

For the first competition, each audience member could vote for three teams.

On their way home, they stood in front of the ballot boxes and thought back over the performances they had seen that day.

The moment they left the packed auditorium and stepped into the chilly hallway, one particular stage that had transplanted winter itself into the venue naturally came to mind.

Nobody’s absolute favorite.

But everyone’s second favorite.

And the three votes each audience member cast were all counted equally as a single vote, regardless of how strongly they felt about each choice.

“First place in the live audience vote goes to Red Energy Team!”

The expressions on the overall first-place Black Team and our Squirrel Class split cleanly between joy and despair.

With this, I’ve done my share as your homeroom teacher, you little bastards....

“Hu-huwaaah....”

One of them suddenly collapsed right where he stood.

“Guys!”

“Ugh.”

My Newton junior suddenly threw his arms around me and everyone nearby.

Then the others came rushing in too. Maybe they got swept up in the mood, because another one joined, then another.

Ugh, why are a bunch of grown men acting this disgusting?

“...Hanje, th-thank you. I should’ve done better as the older one....”

My Newton junior sniffled as he spouted that ridiculous nonsense.

Meanwhile, Gowon was standing several steps away, simply staring at the whole spectacle. He looked a little dazed, if anything.

You little bastard, aren’t you afraid of the cameras? Get over here and become part of the heartwarming group shot already.

I beckoned to him with that intention.

He jolted, then whipped his head away.

No, this bastard...?

“Gowon.”

“......!”

“Don’t be shy. Come over here.”

This was a field where even one badly managed glance could be edited into a villain narrative. How dare he exclude himself from a group activity?

At my words, Gowon approached stiffly, wearing an expression of pure horror.

I grabbed him hard by the shoulder and yanked him straight into the Squirrel Class pile.

Plausibility has increased.

Current Plausibility: 40% (▲13)

Now that the first competition was over.

The Plausibility of Gowon winning... forty percent.

This is exhausting. Seriously exhausting.

***

After the first competition ended, the trainees finally escaped the dormitory and returned to their respective homes.

A few days later, Episodes 1 and 2 of <Debut Chart! 100> aired.

But at that same time, I was watching something else.

It was footage of the previous competition stage that I had gotten through Yunjin.

As I listened again to the song that had bothered me at the time, I let out the same dry laugh I had in the waiting room.

“Yeah. I said the song was good. The song.”

The Black Team had placed first overall and received a perfect Creative Index score.

He tried pretty hard to suppress his own style, but it’s still obviously him.

The name and face of a certain professional mixing engineer overlapped with the track in my mind.

For starters, he wasn’t remotely young enough to be dreaming of debuting as an idol.

And his name wasn’t “Jeong Garam,” either.

But the trainee introduced here as the arranger was Jeong Garam.

I’d thought his name seemed vaguely familiar. He was one of the guys who had kept bouncing around near the top of the PR-video list.

“Good grief.”

While kids were desperately throwing their lives into this, adults were slithering around behind the scenes doing dirty shit.

I searched for <Debut Chart> on my phone.

The Revival of Audition Programs: Rnet’s <Debut Chart! 100>

Cable Ratings Record Broken Again Following the Drama <History of Infidelity>....

Was it originally this popular?

Even accounting for how obviously they had paid to push the articles, the amount of attention was substantial.

“...Hmm....”

Baek Hanje Debut Chart │

Five Judges Shower Him with Praise! S-Grade Voice Baek Hanje

“Hanje, You Need to Sing, Not Rap...” Why the Judges Tried So Hard to Stop Him

The Unexpected Vocal Ability of a Seventeen-Year-Old High School Student

Apparently, Yunjin’s sudden behavior and the scene where I received an S grade had made for fairly entertaining television.

Then next....

Gowon Debut Chart │

<Debut Chart! 100> C-Grade “Not Home” Gowon, “Hello” Shin Minjae, ...

Hmm. There weren’t that many articles about Gowon.

But when I scrolled a little farther down, community posts began catching my eye.

Debut Chart! 100

His Proportions Are Fucking Insane, Why’d They Only Show Him for One Verse?

Gowon << Give Him a Little Camera Magic and He’ll Be a Winning Lottery Ticket, Calling It Now

DC100: Investing in Go One Is a Blue-Chip Buy vs. A One-Way Ticket to Losing Your Mind

Among them, one title had an especially overwhelming presence.

Debut Chart! 100

I Think I Saw Gowon Working Part-Time at a Convenience Store

Footnote

Short for “gloomy punk.” It became a community nickname for Baek Hanje.