episode_0110

“After the contest is over, you will be divided into a winner group and a loser group through audience voting.”

“And… , out of the 11 losers’ group, the 8 participants with the lowest individual votes are eliminated.”

“In this way, a total of 14 people, 11 from the winner’s group and 3 from the loser’s group, will advance to the finals, the final gateway to debut.”

final.

As soon as they heard those words, the participants’ eyes seemed to glow.

Naaah, who seemed to have no end in sight, is now reaching the top.

And all the remaining contestants to date… , had the skills to aim for the top.

From now on, I will stop at nothing to get to the top.

“Now, I know what you might be wondering. You probably want to know who will be the winner of the most important contest!”

gulp.

After hearing that they were contestants, the participants became nervous and listened closely to Han Si-woo’s progress.

What was more important than anything else in this contest was who the competitor was.

“Okay, then please come in!”

Soon, Han Si-woo enjoyed the tense expressions of the participants and gestured to the production crew outside the stage.

And what the production crew brought… .

“… … Lottery?”

It was something reminiscent of a lottery machine.

Wow.

When Han Si-woo pressed the power button on the machine, the wind rose and the balls in the transparent container began to fly around.

“There are a total of 22 balls in this bucket right now!”

“… … !”

“If you open the hole here, balls will come out one by one. And the participant whose rank corresponds to the number written on the ball is… .”

“… … .”

“You can nominate a contestant to compete against in this contest. For example, if the number 1 ball comes out, Yerin, who was in first place at the ranking announcement ceremony earlier, nominates an opponent to compete with.”

Startle.

Why did you use me as an example? .

When the contestants realized that they could be nominated by me, they turned their heads to avoid making eye contact with me.

In particular, the participants in the lower ranks became very reflective.

From their perspective, it was obvious that they would lose the contest if they were nominated by a high-ranking contestant like me.

One of the lower-ranked participants became impatient and mustered up the courage to raise his hand and ask a question.

“I… , Producer Han Si-woo… ! If you are nominated, can you refuse?”

“Ah, that’s a good question. refuse… , of course you can!”

“Whew… .”

It was at a time when the faces of the lower-ranked participants were about to brighten when Han Si-woo said that they could refuse.

Instead of “… , there will be a very ‘deadly penalty’ for participants who refuse to be nominated!”

“… … !”

Han Si-woo said out loud that it was fatal and smiled evilly.

Accordingly, we were able to notice that the refusal penalty was unusual.

“Could you please tell me what the penalty is? .”

“I will not disclose what the penalty is. But actually, what… , although I said it was fatal, it may not be a big deal. So feel free to decline.”

As Han Si-woo said, the same thought arose in the participants’ minds.

‘lie.’

It would be better to not refuse as much as possible.

While thinking about that, I tried to think of suitable contestants.

Earlier, during break time, I promised to be on the same team as Lee Hye-jeong and Seo Yu-jin.

… But I don’t think I can keep that promise.

If you choose two people here, it will be a team kill rather than pushing them.

‘Except for close people… , Wouldn’t it be better to have participants with the lowest ranking?

Perhaps all participants think the same.

A participant ranked lower than me.

A participant who is less skilled than me.

If you compete with such participants, your chances of survival will increase.

But did you even get a glimpse into the thoughts of these participants? .

“… All of the participants are probably thinking of choosing a participant with a lower ranking than themselves.”

Han Si-woo erased the expression of the host and spoke with the look of a senior giving advice to a junior.

“But I would like to ask you a question. Is your goal, participants, to survive this contest?”

“That’s right… .”

“No. Your goal is to debut and become an idol loved by the public.”

“… … !”

The participants were shocked by Han Si-woo’s words.

“Even if it gets better, we have already entered the second half of the year. There aren’t many opportunities left for you to appeal to the public.”

“… … .”

“If you have a desire to go to a higher place than you are now… , I would like to recommend that you select contestants who seemed insurmountable in this contest.”

“… … .”

“Only those who take on challenges and overcome limitations will be able to rise to a higher position.”

Sigh.

As Han Si-woo said that, his gaze turned towards me once… . Soon he returned to the host’s face and shouted with a smile.

“Okay, then, I wish all the participants good luck… , From now on, I will try to draw the ball.”

Wow.

When I turned it on, wind came in and the balls started flying around.

It was the beginning of a fateful draw.

**

“Woman, Yeo Hee-su will be the participant.”

“Participant Yeo Hee-su! I was nominated by contestant Minjeong Kim! Would you like to accept it?”

“… I accept it.”

Early part of the draw.

I don’t know if it was a coincidence or something, but until the fourth nomination, only the bottom 20th ranked contestants came out.

And the Howowon participants seemed to have been impressed by Han Si-woo’s words earlier, and pointed out participants with higher rankings than themselves.

Of course, even if that were the case, there were no cases where participants in the top 10 were singled out among the top 20 participants.

It was a time when there was a lull, like the eve of a storm.

“The next number is… , 8! The 8th place participant is Park Yoo-jung!”

When I heard the name Park Yoo-jung, I came to my senses and turned my gaze towards her.

Who will Park Yoo-jung choose?

‘It seems like Yoo-jeong will give it a cool try due to her personality.’

And as I expected, Park Yoo-jung was really looking at the contestants above her.

Even… .

“… … ?”

Park Yoo-jung’s gaze fell on me and did not let go.

‘No way… ?’

Yoojung, why is he looking at me?

I looked at her in confusion and uncertainty.

Then Park Yoo-jung smiled slightly… .

“I will nominate participant Seo Yu-jin.”

“… … !”

He pointed to Seo Yu-jin, who is currently ranked 5th.

Murmur.

Park Yoo-jung, ranked 8th, nominated Seo Yu-jin, ranked 5th.

As the top ranked players clashed for the first time, the stadium became noisy.

And Seo Yu-jin, who receives everyone’s attention… .

“Ah… , that… … .”

He looked like he didn’t know what to do after being singled out by Park Yoo-jung.

She looked like she really didn’t want to compete with Park Yoo-jung.

‘… ‘I’ve been curious about this for a long time, what do you two have?’

Since ancient times, the relationship between Seo Yu-jin and Park Yoo-jung has been mysterious.

‘Ever since the first team competition, Yujin has been kind to Yujeong.’

I said it all because it was obvious at a glance that Seo Yu-jin was scared and having a hard time with Park Yoo-jung.

Anyway, Seo Yu-jin was very anxious and worried after being pointed out by Park Yoo-jung… .

“… I accept it.”

… I soon accepted it.

It seemed like he couldn’t refuse because he was worried about the penalty.

“Yes! Accepted! With this, 5th place contestant Seo Yu-jin and 8th place contestant Park Yu-jeong will continue the contest together!”

“Ohhh!”

When Seo Yu-jin accepted the nomination, the atmosphere heightened.

From the participants’ perspective, the fact that the top ranked participants were competing against each other seemed quite interesting.

And that gaze… .

Sigh.

… Soon it turned towards me.

It seemed like he was curious about who I would be competing against.

From their perspective, they probably want me to compete with other top-ranked contestants.

But unfortunately, I had no intention of meeting their expectations.

Han Si-woo had just urged me to compete with a contestant who was better than him, but I was already in first place.

In addition, they have already secured an overwhelming number of votes, so their debut is almost confirmed and their chances of winning are quite high.

What merit do I have to compete with the top contestants?

For me to compete with other top-ranked contestants would have done more harm than good.

So, I waited for my ball to come out, wondering which of the remaining bottom-ranked contestants to choose.

Wow.

So the machine starts working once more.

Tuk.

“The ball came out. The number written on the ball is… .”

Han Si-woo checked the numbers, grinned, and picked up the microphone.

“2.”

“… … .”

“2.”

Sigh.

When the number came out, everyone’s eyes gathered together.

Yu Seol received the attention of all the cameras and participants in the venue… , stood up with an inexplicably comfortable smile.

And without further ado… .

“I will nominate participant Ha Ye-rin.”

“… … !!!!”

… pointed out me.

Murmur.

“ Wow… !”

“Crazy!!”

“Awesome-!”

The participants were so excited that they got the scene they wanted that they did not hide their reactions.

Jiing-.

The production crew also turned the camera towards me with their excited faces.

“… … .”

Only me… , He just had an expressionless face.

Yu Seol, like me, is a contestant whose debut is almost certain.

So, if she were a rational person, she wouldn’t have taken the gamble of choosing me… .

In fact, deep down I knew she would choose me.

Yu Seol is looking beyond debut to winning.

The way to reduce the overwhelming gap of 260,000 is… , this would have been the only thing Yu Seol had.

Anyway, as expected, Yoo Seol pointed to me… , the only thing left was my choice.

… I was thinking of refusing.

Of course, I’m concerned about what the refusal penalty will be.

but… .

‘No matter how strong the penalty is… , It’s more dangerous to compete with Yu Seol.’

Although I am far ahead in the number of votes, Yu Seol’s overall stats are much higher than mine.

There are a lot more rumors about stage experience… .

To be honest, up until now, I have been ranked first by a fluke, so compared to Yoo Seol, I am far behind in terms of ability.

If I compete alone with Yu Seol, the public will also know this.

‘Then you could really turn things around.’

I finally thought about it rationally once again.

What choices should I make to win Naaa?

… No matter how you think about it, the safest way to win was to reject Yoo Seol’s choice here.

In response, I stiffened my expression and picked up the microphone to convey my refusal.

“… … I am.”

People’s eyes widened when they heard my next answer.

**

“Okay, this concludes the team selection! Participants, please gather in pairs from now on!”

After team selection… , At Han Si-woo’s words, I went next to the contestant who would be my contestant this week.

And asked.

“Sister, why did you choose me?”

“… … .”

Yu Seol answered my question with an expressionless face.

“I’m going to catch you and win.”

“… … .”

Yu Seol, as expected, gave me the answer I expected and asked me back.

“Then why didn’t you reject my nomination?”

“… … .”

Yes.

In the end, I did not reject Yoo Seol’s nomination.

‘… ‘I accept it.’

‘With this, 1st place contestant Ha Ye-rin and 2nd place contestant Yoo Seol will be participating in the contest together!’

‘Waaa-!!!!!?

The reason I didn’t reject Yoo Seol’s nomination was… , it was a sudden thought that occurred to me as soon as I picked up the microphone to refuse.

Why am I trying to win Naaah in the first place?

I decided to appear on Naaa for the first time because of my parents… , I just planned to remain an ordinary participant, as if I were there or not.

But the reason why I work so hard on Naaa is… , The reason why I want to win so much… .

‘Because I can’t forget the first Yu Seol stage.’

It was on a different level from me back then… , I felt a deep sense of defeat after seeing Yu Seol’s overwhelming performance… .

At the same time, I felt a huge sense of victory.

I want to surpass that person someday… Because I felt an incredible urge that I had never felt before in my life.

“I want to catch my sister and win.”

“… … .”

A win without being able to overcome Yoo Seol is meaningless.

In this contest, I will overcome the rumors and confidently win the championship.

I thought so.

“Yes, we had the same thoughts this time.”

“… Do your best, sister.”

“… Well done, damn it. Did I tell you? We are competitors.”

Sigh.

As Yu Seol said that, he looked up at me with eyes full of hostility.

“In this contest… , I will trample you very thoroughly.”

“… … .”

I watched Yoo Seol, who was much shorter than me, getting on my nerves… .

Tuk.

“… !”

He said, putting his hand on her head and stroking it.

“Our thoughts are the same this time too.”

“… … .”

“In this contest… , I will trample you very thoroughly.”

Unlike Yoo Seol, who looks at me with eyes full of hostility… , I was making as cute an expression as possible.

This would be a way to further hurt Yu Seol’s pride.

“Ha.”

In fact, Yu Seol’s eyes were so shocked that she slapped away my hand that was stroking her and her eyes burned even more.

I did not give in to this and raised my eyes and did not avoid her eyes.

Of the 5 Naah competitions, the most memorable one for me… . And to put an end to the competition between Yoo Seol and me… .

The fourth contest began with a war of nerves that did not back down even an inch.