Chapter 72

Chapter 72

Raise Three Idols Well And They’ll Launch a Confession Attack.

Episode 72: Hidden Powerhouse.

The four of them stood quietly in front of the giant black door leading to the studio, surrounded by unmanned cameras and without any staff, waiting for the door to open.

Finding the short wait tedious, Kim Yujin started giving dance advice to Gyeoul.

“Gyeoul, dance is basically a series of movements showing how flexible your body is. While aspects like rhythm or powerful moves might be prioritized differently by people, the most important thing is that. In that sense, when training…”

“Hey, Kim Yujin, be quiet, something’s starting!”

“What? What?”

The place Garnet pointed to was the hallway they had already passed.

The hallway, which had seemed like a black wall, began to glow with purple and pink hues through the gaps, creating a romantic scene as if a giant machine had started operating.

“Wow.”

The light, starting from the end of the hallway, gradually advanced forward, reaching the black door where they were standing.

As the wave of light touched the door, it emitted a mysterious glow of purple and pink, and the number 100 appeared.

“MNet’s got style.”

“Kim Yujin, stop acting like you’re some big shot.”

“Hey, genuine reactions like this actually work. Other girls might just say fake stuff like, ‘Wow.’ ‘Amazing!’ ‘Feels like we’re at Disneyland!’ Which one do you think viewers will prefer? Which reaction do you think will be aired among 100?”

“…Listening to you, I oddly find myself convinced.”

“Right?”

Just as Kim Yujin, emboldened by Garnet’s reaction, was about to say something, a line of light cut through the center of the glowing number 100 on the door, and it began to split open.

“…So it’s an automatic door.”

“Right, Yujin. It looked heavy, but I’m glad we don’t have to push it.”

“Han Sora, you’re amazing for putting up with comments like that.”

While they bickered, Gyeoul, who kept looking straight ahead, spoke.

“…It looks like a stage and audience seats.”

“It’s too dark to see anything.”

“I’ve lived almost like a hikikomori, always with the lights off, relying only on my monitor’s light. So my night vision is pretty good.”

“…This girl has a strong character too.”

As Gyeoul struggled to figure out how to respond to Yujin’s remark about using the three ppang-syeoteul,1 Han Sora started walking into the darkness.

“Gyeoul, you said it’s a stage? Then where do we go to reach it?”

Gyeoul followed her and said,

“The stage is here.”

“Here?”

Then Gyeoul pointed to the floor they were standing on, outside the door.

“Right where we’re standing.”

As soon as she finished speaking, purple and pink lights started to spread widely from the spot where the four girls were standing.

The wave of light from the door illuminated the studio brightly, revealing that the place where they were standing was the stage for the first impression test.

“This isn’t just decent. They’ve really thrown money into this.”

Even Garnet, who had been wary of Kim Yujin’s raw reaction, was purely impressed this time.

“Right, it’s no joke.”

As they felt, the scene so far was already considered spectacular, but the wave of light did not stop at just illuminating the stage.

In front of them was a giant pyramid, a stepped audience seating area where the participating trainees could watch other trainees’ stages.

The lights, starting from the stage, climbed up the pyramid-shaped audience seats, illuminating the entire area and displaying alphabets on each level.

“…A, B, C, D, E, F. Are these the letters we have on our chests? Then we should sit at the top A.”

“That could be, or maybe we have to sit according to the grade we received.”

“Wow, starting infinite competition right from the start? MNet is harsh.”

Han Sora said to Kim Yujin, who was clicking her tongue.

“We all knew this already. Only 11 of us will survive and debut as a project group.”

“It’s practically impossible for all of us to be in the top 11. From now on, we’re competitors too.”

The two couldn’t hide their nervousness, realizing the actual broadcast had started.

Kim Yujin looked at them, chuckled, and said,

“Geez, scaredy-cats.”

Then she grabbed Gyeoul’s hand and said,

“Hey, don’t worry. I’ll take care of you!”

“…Uh, thanks, but where are we going?”

“To the top A-class seats in that awesome pyramid.”

“What?”

Kim Yujin dragged her toward the top of the pyramid-shaped audience seats.

“Ahhhh…”

“This… these steps… are ridiculously high. No consideration for the ten million short people nationwide?”

“…I think… Yujin unnie… you’re not short.”

“Flattery… Ugh. Thanks!”

“Not… Ugh, not flattery…”

After finally dragging Gyeoul to the top of the pyramid audience seats, Kim Yujin sat in the center of the A-rank seats and patted the seat next to her.

“Sit down, Gyeoul.”

Gyeoul looked around the seats and said,

“…Uh, isn’t this the A-class seat? I should go to E.”

“It’s fine! We haven’t even been evaluated yet. You should sit here for now.”

“But I think we should sit according to the letter we wrote.”

Garnet, who came up leisurely, said,

“Come on. How many gutsy girls would start with an A on their chest? There’ll be plenty of empty seats. So it’s okay; sit here. If you’re alone, you won’t get any screen time. You need to chat and banter to be on the broadcast.”

“Right, Gyeoul. There aren’t many girls with as much vigor as us.”

“It’s almost a problem; we’re so vigorous… I wonder where our agency finds these feisty girls?”

“…Anyway, sit next to us and chat. Not many people will come up here.”

Gyeoul tilted her head.

“Really?”

“Yes, that’s right. Unless they’re as confident as us, most will hold back.”

No, it wasn’t.

“Excuse me, can you move? I want to sit here.”

“Hmm, do I look easy? You picked me out of all these people?”

“I just picked someone nearby. It doesn’t matter who.”

“Haha… anyone? I’m definitely not ‘anyone.’”

“Then, how about a freestyle dance battle? 30 seconds each to a random song.”

“Sure.”

Even though no MC or judges had arrived, the two girls with an “A” on their chests came down to the stage and started dancing against each other.

Gyeoul couldn’t last even five minutes in the battlefield of those prideful geniuses and had to come down.

Actually, saying she lasted was an exaggeration. As soon as another trainee spoke to her, she quickly bowed and rolled down to the E-class seat like a voluntary drop.

Sitting quietly in the corner of the E-class, Gyeoul heard Oh Yoori, who was sitting next to her, speak.

“Those unnies are really cool. Gyeoul unnie!”

“Yeah, they’re so cool.”

“Please speak comfortably! It’s too sad if the only person I can rely on, Gyeoul unnie, speaks formally to me.”

Oh Yoo-ri made a gesture as if she were about to cry and looked at Gyeoul.

Gyeoul, smiling at the cute hamster-like Yoori, answered,

“Okay, Yoori, let’s do well together!”

“Yes!”

While they were bonding, the giant monitor on the stage started flashing and began playing a video.

Amid the video, the MC appeared, saying the catchphrase, ‘Choose Your Girl. Girl 100!’ skillfully capturing the attention of the 100 girls and began introducing the judges.

Accordingly, two legendary second-generation girl group members were introduced as K-pop masters, and two dance experts and two vocal experts were introduced as masters.

They were all top experts in the industry.

“I will judge strictly and thoroughly, not to be embarrassed by the title of Vocal Master.”

“…Wow, that bespectacled person looks like a scary judge.”

Oh Yoori trembled as she looked at the vocal expert introduced as ‘James Oh.’

Indeed, he looked very meticulous, just as his impression suggested.

As the judges’ introduction ended and the stage was being prepared, writer Ye Han-na called Gyeoul.

“Gyeoul, you’re up early, so you need to go backstage now.”

“Oh, yes! I’ll go now!”

“Gyeoul unnie, fighting!”

Following Ye Han-na’s guidance to the backstage, she saw familiar faces.

“Hey! Gyeoul, we meet again?”

“Oh, it’s Counter members! Nice to see you!”

Accepting her greeting, Garnet, Yujin, and Sora, who had finished their combat-like stretches, confidently stepped out the door.

“Unnies will rock the stage!”

“Let’s go!”

“Let’s tear it up!”

“…Sora, you’re no different from us.”

The girls who confidently rocked the stage were all evaluated as B-class.

“Why are we B?”

Sitting in the B-class seats, Kim Yujin expressed her opinion without holding back, as if forgetting they were being filmed.

Garnet, who usually would have stopped her from saying something that could be maliciously edited, agreed this time.

“Right, shouldn’t they have given at least one of us an A? We didn’t make any mistakes.”

“Maybe because we were the first, the judges scored more strictly.”

“…It’s not like we wanted to be first.”

“Hey, be quiet; Gyeoul is coming out! Gyeoul, fighting!”

Gyeoul, who couldn’t hide her nervousness, started dancing to the flowing music.

Watching the stage with a dumbfounded expression, Kim Yujin said,

“…Was I acting all high and mighty in front of someone like her?”

Garnet, also watching Gyeoul with a dumbfounded expression, said,

“You should probably get on your knees later.”

ED/N: In South Korean school culture, “빵셔틀” (bread shuttle) refers to a person who is bullied into running errands, such as buying snacks or bread, for others, typically their classmates. It’s used metaphorically to describe someone who is exploited or used by others to do menial tasks, often under some form of coercion or bullying. ↩️