Chapter 75

Chapter 75

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

Episode 75: Apparently There Are At Least Two Geniuses At TwoBear.

All the performances have ended.

The six judges had to watch 37 performances by a total of 100 trainees.

There were countless talents and personalities. Among them were kids with talents and skills that could be called top-notch, even among active performers.

Yet, what remained most prominent in Lee Eunji’s mind was Han Gyeoul from TwoBear Entertainment, who performed third.

“The kid who came out third still sticks in my mind… She was truly amazing.”

Seo Woobaek agreed with her opinion.

“You’re talking about the kid who did ‘Dress Up,’ right? I also think she was amazing. It’s hard to believe she’s only been practicing for about a year.”

“Right? Actually, TripleX’s ‘Dress Up’ has won many awards and is a monumental song in KPOP history, but it’s a highly experimental song that people either love or hate. But that kid…”

“She was perfect.”

Kanola, a second-generation idol who was about to stand up, joined their conversation.

“I’m not saying this just because it’s from my generation, but ‘Dress Up’ is truly an amazing song. It’s like a musical in a single song, incorporating high-teen pop, funk, R&B, and electronic dance. I never imagined a kid from a later generation could perform it perfectly.”

Kanola spoke with a slightly happy face, reminiscing about her past as an idol rather than her current career as a mature solo vocalist.

“Nowadays, KPOP doesn’t pursue performances of such grueling difficulty that eat away at trainees like back then.”

“Right. The combination of such complex tracks makes the song incredibly difficult, but she really brought it to life.”

“You both are right. Especially when the third variation started after the R&B rhythm ended, even I, as a judge, couldn’t help but drop my jaw as a spectator.”

Enji, who had been watching for a chance to join the conversation, spoke up at the right moment.

“It was amazing, that performance by Han Gyeoul… But I also got a strange feeling.”

“…A strange feeling?”

Seo Woobaek raised his eyebrows and asked,

“What do you mean?”

All the judges’ gazes turned to her.

In the midst of those gazes, Enji propped her chin and tilted her head before speaking.

“At the time, I didn’t feel it properly, but looking back, I think it felt excessively striking. Like the entire stage was bursting, numbing the ears? Oh, that’s too aggressive of an expression.”

Groaning in thought, Enji clarified.

“…Hmm, even I think that’s a vague expression. It’s probably because Han Gyeoul’s talent is outstanding that I got such an impression.”

At that moment, James Oh, who seemed uninterested in their conversation and was organizing something on his tablet, interrupted.

“That was intentional.”

Enji, flustered, asked,

“What do you mean, intentional?”

“To be precise, it’s the arranger’s intention.”

“Arrangement? Was that an arranged version?”

As Enji tilted her head again, Lee Eunji nodded as if she realized something and said,

“Oh, so it was arranged. No wonder it felt different.”

Continuously admiring, Lee Eunji suddenly looked at James Oh and said,

“…Wait, now that I think about it, isn’t that arranger a bit crazy?”

James Oh, seeming pleased with her reaction, asked with a satisfied smile,

“Why do you think so?”

“Well, it’s not just any song, it’s ‘Dress Up’ made by the prestigious SS. What producer would arrange that?”

Seo Woobaek asked back, seemingly puzzled,

“Well, can’t it be arranged? It’s not a song that caused a social controversy.”

“On the contrary, it’s a highly acclaimed song socially. But the problem is that the evaluations are extremely polarized.”

“What do you mean by that…?”

“As you know, the representative keywords for the song ‘Dress Up’ are ‘mixing more than four genres, musical-like composition.’ It’s a giant song using four tracks that a typical song would use only one or two of. That’s why those who underrate ‘Dress Up’ describe it as ‘patching up a tree with rags.’”

As a top vocal trainer, Lee Eunji had considerable knowledge in composition and arrangement. To her, this was truly absurd.

“It was the multinational composer team, Revolution, who forcibly patched up this rag. They had dozens of people, each in charge of a different part, track, sector, or genre. It was an unprecedented scale of collaboration even back then.”

James Oh nodded in agreement.

“It was impressive. Collaboration of that scale in composition is still extremely rare.”

“That’s right. It’s a song where all those people put in their utmost effort to connect each genre. Yet, it’s still called a rag. What producer in the world would think of arranging such a song? Even a slight mistake would cause the forcibly assembled tracks to fall apart.”

James Oh chuckled softly at her lamentation and said,

“Producers would know that, so anyone who attempts it must be crazy. Making the forcibly connected genres stand out more? Is that an arrangement done in the right mind? But succeeding at it makes them even crazier.”

The judges’ gazes turned to James Oh at his unusually harsh words.

He calmly put his tablet into his bag and stood up, as if the gazes didn’t matter.

“And among the people I know, there’s no crazy person who would attempt such a gamble. There are plenty of attractive original songs without performing such difficult acrobatics. It can’t be a veteran.”

Kanola, unable to hide her bewilderment, asked,

“…Then, who exactly did the arrangement?”

“Since it’s not a veteran, it’s probably a fearless rookie from Han Gyeoul’s agency, which I don’t know despite having connections throughout the industry.”

James Oh gave a small smile as he faced the judges, who were staring at him in amazement.

He wanted to give them a little more hint.

It was too interesting to keep this fact to himself.

“She said Han Gyeoul’s agency is TwoBear Entertainment, right?”

“Yes, that’s right. She definitely said TwoBear Entertainment.”

Feeling a subtle and deep thrill from his long-dormant creative desire, he said,

“It seems there are at least two geniuses at that TwoBear Entertainment.”

The broadcast was screwed.

This was no exaggeration.

In the first recording, which was supposed to select 11 people and showcase the competition of talented trainees, 31 trainees were evaluated as F-class, and only 3 were evaluated as A-class. It was a disaster.

PD Kim Seon-ye screamed at the shocking result.

“I told these people to just pick 11! Even after saying that, they completely ignore me? Ahhh! How am I supposed to handle this aftermath?!”

“…Please calm down, PD Kim!”

This was not the picture PD Kim Seon-ye had hoped for at all.

The format Kim Seon-ye had envisioned was talented girls with excellent abilities, charm, and beauty, buried in the mud due to bad timing, lack of promotion, or not yet debuting, being discovered through Girl 100.

But the initial picture was ruined by the current disastrous result.

Because viewers who agree with the harsh evaluation criteria would see most of the Girl 100 trainees as kids with reasons for failure.

Instead of picking the best gem among jewels, it became finding a usable antique among defective items.

It was completely different from the original plan, where one character for entertainment shows a foolish side to bring laughter and saves the rest of the trainees.

Now, there were 31 characters for entertainment.

Among them, there were two members she had intended to debut.

This was a disaster. A very tragic one.

Surprisingly, in the previous round without Han Gyeoul, exactly 11 trainees received A-class evaluations during Girl 100’s first impression test. If PD Kim Seon-ye knew this, she would have grabbed Gyeoul by the collar, but the only person who knew the truth was Seon Taeyang. It was a lucky break for Taeyang.

Still, Kim Seon-ye thought of Seon Taeyang. She couldn’t blame the authoritative judges.

“That kid was definitely for entertainment, right? Why is she showing such a performance?”

The fundamental problem was that the judges ignored the broadcast guidelines and applied excessively harsh evaluation criteria, but the starting point was Han Gyeoul’s unexpected overwhelming skill. Kim Seon-ye felt that the judges’ perspective on the stage completely changed after that performance.

“…Right. Even in our pre-meeting, we recruited her, fearing the atmosphere would be too serious. When I saw that video, I thought we’d get at least one funny scene… Well, we did get a scene that burst, but it was our mental state, not the trainee.”

“Ahhh! Is this the time for jokes? Do you know what I did to raise the viewership of this broadcast? Do you know what I went through with agency presidents to get some support and investment? And now, because of that girl, the precious viewership is about to get ruined!”

AD Jeon Dongbaek thought to himself, ‘If we air Han Gyeoul’s performance, the viewership might spike…’ but he bowed his head before Kim Seon-ye’s fiery anger.

It didn’t seem like a situation to joke around as usual.

“Then, what should we do?”

“What do you mean, what should we do?”

Kim Seon-ye said, chewing on her artificial nails.

“Call Han Gyeoul’s manager.”