Chapter 60

Over the dark silhouettes of the participants on stage,  the audience caught a glimpse of some features of modern combat uniforms.

It was the outline of a bulletproof vest or harness.

'Gasp.'

The moment excited audiences screamed inside, a sudden electronic sound rang in the concert hall again.

It was a modulated, androgynous voice.

[Looking for a match…]

[Successful navigation.]

[Checking the location.]

[Thirteenth round. We're going in…]

All kinds of classical game buttons made up a new melody to match the voice.

BBi BBi- Ding dong! BBibibibibiBBi, BBi, BBi——–!

Participants on the stage moved their bodies to match the sound.

The unnatural popping movement reminded them of some kind of doll or robot.

And it froze in an instant.

Thump.

When the comfort stopped at the end of the short motion, the lights turned on.

– Hold it in your hand, VICTORY

I am the one who makes it come true

A clean human voice broke through the modulated accompaniment.

Seon Ahyeon, who made a typical shot pose under the light, smiled at the end of the verse.

"Aagh!!"

In an instant, a burst of cheers filled the concert hall.

The participants began to move brilliantly as if they were responding to the shouts.

– Stages are always thrilling

I feel like my heart will explode

Kwon Heeseung sang after receiving a verse from Keun Sejin who appeared sweeping the floor.

– My WEAPON in my hand

I never miss it, you know

Every time the vocalist hit the center, complex movements were added in between, and the rigid movements similar to classical game characters disappeared.

Due to the synergy with the costume, it felt like choosing a character to play in the character window of the recent games.

– Full of adrenaline

The soaring POWER flew away

Last SHOT!

– Drink in your excitement

I shuddered and lost my senses

Last ROUND!

The voice of Kim Raebin, who was rarely in charge of vocals, jumped over the microphone.

The choreography, in which the dancers shoot in a slightly unique way by pulling their arms in formation, was structured as if they were made to follow the dance.

And the chorus.

Park Moondae took the high note on a rising scale.

– Shoot and blow Last Match-!

I'm the one who laughs at the highlights

The VICTORY you held!

I gave it to you. You'll like it, too

And the beat, which had risen like crazy after the chorus, was temporarily dropped.

Boom!

The theme melody flowed again in the heavy-sounding bass.

On stage, they began to stamp their feet in a triangular formation.

– Hold it in your hand, VICTORY

I am the one who makes it come true

CHALLENGER that you can choose

I'm right here, it's me

The choreography that matched the heavy beat was laid out on the stage by powerfully moving the bodies.

The strength and weakness were distinguished enough to feel strange pressure in each movement of the body.

Every time they shook their heads and set angles, the audience watched the stage with their mouths open.

It was the same for viewers.

The comment window stopped for a while when the stage began and eventually was plastered with short words such as 'crazy' 'ㅓㅓ' and 'wow'.

Despite the horrible camera work, the quality of the stage was palpable.

And as they entered the second verse, a new formation appeared.

– Yes the expectations are always so blissful

My heart is about to stop

The figures on the stage moved to their own parts first, forming a formation each on their own and moving as if they were leading other team members.

It was brutally difficult to do it live, but it looked fantastic.

In the bridge, after Kim Raebin exchanged short but elaborate raps with Lee Sejin's vocals, the chorus appeared again.

Bang!

Here again, the iconic shooting choreography appeared to prevent possible fatigue.

And again, the drop that brought out the demo version of the melody and tone that viewers had heard every time on the show.

– Hold it in your hand, VICTORY

I am the one who makes it come true

– CHALLENGER you can choose

I'm right here, it's me

This time, Seon Ahyeon came forward and danced the choreography. Flashy footwork went back and forth on the heavy beat.

Overall, this carefully composed stage increased concentration by pleasing the ears and the eyes.

Thanks to this, when the stage was over, the viewers were plastered with question marks, saying that it was over so quickly.

[Take this crown.]

[You're welcome!]

The end of the stage. With a narration similar to the electronic sound at the beginning, the participants who stretched and bent their necks walked toward the backstage waving their hands.

The eight-beat melody sounded as if it would break.

BBi- BBi- BBibibibibiBBi, BBi——-!

Lights burst out from behind the stage, and their silhouettes slowly faded away.

Usually, choreography ended with a pose. This composition was similar to having an adventure.

But thanks to this unusual ending, they were like characters who had fun playing a game and then disappeared on stage.

"Uaaaah!"

The viewers were very excited.

After a little bit of time had passed, it wasn't until the end of the inserted mid-advertisement that coherent comments began to appear.

– These cruel guys, this is the first time I've heard of this

– They hit me in the opening like this?

– It reminded me of when I watched the Rabbit, but it was postponed in the broadcast

– No kidding, it's going to be hard to beat

– Wow, that was really fuc*ing cool, my jaw almost dropped

– My gums are all dry from splitting my mouth open

– It was a game concept  Park Moondae and Seon Ahyeon are smart

– Honestly, don't you think it was the best idol Inc. performance ever?

– I'm tearing up. Seon Ahyeon is already an idol, there is no objection to this. Don't be late, everyone, buy the stocks

└Go to the fan site~

└It's the last time, so just let's watch it. Seon Ahyeon will debut anyway

– First of all, I think four members of this team will debut; what about the next team…

And as viewers expected, the stage of the next team was flat.

The main portion of this team, which was composed of relatively low ranks, was about competing in good faith and strengthening teamwork.

And like the previous team, this team also tried to take advantage of the keyword 'Final'.

However, the lyrics and choreography, which focused on effort, passion, and urgency, lacked sophistication and became burdensome.

This comparison was more prominent because the previous team mixed humor and fantasy to form the stage.

– You're working hard

– They catch my eyes

– Boring

– I think everyone is cute and nice~

The stage of the second team ended with a rather dull response.

And in this loose atmosphere, the stage of the last team was revealed.

The preparation process was equally mediocre, but it added a bit more to Ryu Chungwoo's overcoming his slump.

In reality, it wasn't known whether he had overcome his slump. However, in the broadcast, he received the role of leader that he had been refusing to do in the middle, and it came out as if he performed excellently.

– Hn, I understand, you want to take a video of Ryu Chungwoo?

– Yeah, I don't want to miss the military exemption

– Ryu Chungwoo is okay, but it's a bit bad

– Muggles' votes will be swept away~

The reaction from the hardcore viewers was rather lukewarm. Because it wasn't just a couple of days that Ryu Chungwoo got good portions.

Park Moondae didn't know what kind of swearing Ryu Chungwoo would have gotten if he wasn't a former national athlete, but in any case, nothing that crossed the line happened.

And the stage.

– Cha Eugene is going crazy.

– He can't be stopped!

– The master of the stage! Its incarnation!

– Only ad-lib comes out

– The bastard is good

– Hm, is he going to win first place

Cha Eugene tore up the stage again.

In fact, since he was the type of person who didn't care much about the combination with others, it happened not because his presence made other people's part look good.

The stage just looked great because Cha Eugene was shining.

It could be seen as a talent optimized for solo or competition programs.

The viewers chatted happily.

– Ah, it was fun.

– It was fun because the first and the last performance were good

– What's left now?

Youngrin, who was in charge of hosting again, had an important announcement left.

"How was the <Final > team match prepared by the participants? Yes. It seems you enjoyed watching it. …Now, then, it's time for the big announcement."

Youngrin pointed to the screen with her hand.

"Right away, we're announcing the number of the debut members!"

* * *

After finishing the stage, the participants came downstairs to prepare for the final stage.

A pop-up of successful stages came up for the first time in a long time, but of course, I wasn't in a situation to look into it.

Because you never know when your face will be broadcast live.

In case there was any announcement on stage, there were cameras following each team participant to capture their reaction.

And just in time, they were announcing the number of people from above.

"How many is it do you think?"

"You?"

"I… ten people?"

Keun Sejin shrugged. The answer seemed to be slightly mixed with hope. Kim Raebin, who had just finished getting his makeup fixed next to him, intervened seriously.

"I think it will be an odd number. Usually, considering the formation of an idol group, people tend to prefer odd numbers."

"It makes sense."

That… It wasn't like that.

I clicked my tongue inwardly and turned my head. Seon Ayeon, who had just finished praying, met my gaze.

"How many do you think there are?"

"W-Well… M-Maybe… 7 people?"

"Seven?"

"Isn't that too little?"

People around me apparently overheard it, so they interrupted and scolded him. It seemed they did that because they were nervous, although they pretended they weren't.

Seon Ahyeon shrank but didn't withdraw his opinion.

'His personality has changed.'

I shrugged my shoulders.

"I think 7 people are the most likely. I wish there are more people."

"Y-Yes!"

Seon Ahyeon nodded.

As I heard Cha Eugene muttering something like 'I like even numbers' next to me, the screams of the audience above echoed all the way down.

"What's going on?"

It sounded almost like a vibration.

While the participants were confused, Youngrin's voice on the microphone was heard loudly down here.

"This time, <Re-listed! Idol Inc.> The average number of people to debut selected by the shareholders. is… There are 6.47 people!"

The participants turned stiff.

"As a result of correcting the number through rounding… The final number of debut members is 6!"

And again, the place above became noisy with screams and curses.

"What did she just say?"

"6.4…, what?"

Behind the bewildered voices of the participants, I sighed.

'This is the last episode's aggro.'

The number of debuting members selected by people had been completely averaged and discarded.

The number of members who would debut could only be voted once and could not be modified.

Thanks to this, at the beginning of the program's success, people voted for 'the number of ideal idol group members in the mind' without thinking.

By a narrow margin, five people were the most chosen.

However, the series was a huge success, and this was the result of the production team's cheap tearful show to increase the number of people.

In the Internet community where the scale was large but aggressive tendencies were gathered, even the case of terrorizing one person as a joke was included in the sample,

-If you're going to do it in an idiotic way like this, you should have said it a long time ago

– 6.47 so 6 people? 6 people? You guys are crazy

I shook my head, recalling the predictable response on the Internet.

'Let's prepare our hearts.'

Now that the final stage was over, it was the final ranking announcement ceremony.