Chapter 15
Chapter 15
Why is Malang Dalkom coming out here all of a sudden...?
The bewildered audience only then realized that this stage wasn't a cover of VTIC, but rather a cover of other idols under LeTi, VTIC’s agency.
Because the MC had openly talked about VTIC earlier, everyone had been momentarily confused.
"What is this...?"
Since the song wasn't even particularly famous, annoyed reactions flickered here and there before dying down.
If it had been a hit like <POP☆CON>, it might have been different, but for their debut song, most people only remembered the chorus.
The same went for the woman who was currently adjusting her camera settings.
‘Should I just settle for getting photos of the public voting appeal?’
As she half-heartedly thought this while hiding her camera from the security guards' eyes, the stage went dark, and the intro began to play.
Wooo— Wooo-ooo-ooo— Wooo—.
A gloomy melody from a modulated synthesizer filled the stage.
This was the part where a pure, 2010s-style girl group orchestral intro, featuring strings and piano, should have played.
"Huh?"
She reflexively looked up. Her eyes fell upon the participants, who were dressed in white stage outfits adorned with dark, sash-like decorations.
The suit-like silhouette was a typical male idol look, so there was nothing new there, but the lyrical atmosphere felt strangely discordant against the electronic-heavy intro.
At that moment, the participants began to move.
— At some point, I realized it
Wandering through this incomplete time
The participant who started the first line was undeniably handsome and moved with practiced ease.
She suddenly remembered his name.
‘Was it Seon A-hyun?’
The choreography even incorporated lyrical and elegant dance movements, but somehow... it felt strange.
— This unstoppable maze of time
Save me, I’m trapped inside
The moment the next part began, she realized why.
‘...Why are they all expressionless?’
Except for the person currently singing, the rest of the participants had no expression at all.
It was common for idols to tone down their facial acting when it wasn't their part, but it was rare to see them this completely blank.
Furthermore...
‘The—the eyes are weird.’
Their gaze wasn't fixed on the camera but on empty space.
Since their expressions and focus only snapped back the moment it was their turn to sing, it seemed intentional.
Unless it was a mistake, idols considered it their duty to hunt down the camera like ghosts, even when it wasn't their part.
...That made the sight even more bizarre.
The contrast with the singing participant, who alone smiled and had sparkling eyes, made it even creepier.
— Slowly withering away
This small space inside
Waiting for the day to bloom again
Please, find me quickly
Crackle. A desperate voice rose over the backing track, which was mixed with eerie noise and pitched down.
The lyrics were clearly soft and sorrowful, but because of the intro and the staging, they sounded like a trap.
If you heard someone crying in an abandoned school, wouldn't you feel fear rather than a desire to help?
The stage was unfolding with that kind of chilling nuance.
— One step, two steps
I hear the sound of you coming
Ringing in my ears
Don't hesitate, reach out your hand
Now, I’m heading into the new world~
The high note singing "Into the New World," the song's title, sent a thrilling shiver down her spine.
Because they had raised the key by a semitone to create dissonance, the sound was clear and sharp, yet somehow felt wrong and wicked.
They were just contestants, but she found herself more immersed in the stage itself than in their singing ability.
— Come to me
Come to me
Dazzling, the Paradise by your side
In the chorus, the same strings from the original song kicked in, clashing with the modulated synth sounds to create something macabre.
Zzzzzzt— Screeeech—
The movements, which drew from ballet but added several aggressive motions, gave off a non-human vibe.
At that moment, she realized.
October 31... October 31st was Halloween. The night when wicked beings emerged into the living world.
— Come to me
Come to me
The Melody of love for you (continues)
This was something non-human singing to seduce a person!
"Gasp!"
Her mind was filled with an explosive realization as she covered her mouth.
Of course, there were idols who used non-human concepts.
But no one would have expected such a risky attempt on an amateur idol debut audition show, especially using a song by female seniors with a completely opposite concept...!
Without even having the luxury to judge them as "gutsy," she was instantly sucked into the performance.
Soon, after a modified and shortened second verse, the song entered the bridge.
And once again, something unexpected popped out.
— Can’t you feel me?
In the bridge, the arrangement suddenly reverted to the original song!
Even the vocal range returned. A clear, boyish voice rang out in the original high key sung by the female singers.
— Your warm touch
Lifts me up, so beautiful
The garden of spring
As the lighting changed color to brighten along with the beautiful orchestral accompaniment, it felt almost holy for a moment.
— Ooh, Ooh...
However, as the lights brightened, something else was revealed clearly: the details of the costumes.
The fabric sashes, which she had thought were simply dark-colored, were actually white cloth—the same as the outfits—stained and mottled with dark red dye.
The marks looked as if they had flowed down from the neck above the sashes.
‘They were vampires...!’
The moment that realization was seared into the audience's minds, the bridge ended, and the chorus returned with the modulated sound.
— Come to me
Come to me
Dazzling, the Paradise by your side
But this time, the dissonance with the orchestra subsided and much of the noise vanished, revealing the sorrow exactly as the lyrics intended.
The artificial blank expressions they wore when it wasn't their part also disappeared, and the feeling became more dreamlike than chilling.
The sound composition also traded its sharpness for a sense of space, like dream pop.
— Come to me
Come to me
The Melody of love for you (continues)
The modulated sounds faded, and the song ended with a violin.
Unlike the original song, which ends with a ballet pose, this version concluded with everyone collapsing as soon as the chorus finished.
The stage ended that way, leaving behind a sense of sorrow rather than horror. As if the non-human narrator of the song had truly fallen in love with a human.
"......Whoaaa!!"
The people, snapping out of it, began to cheer wildly.
From the initial shock to the sorrowful conclusion, it was a stage that stimulated the audience's emotions in every way.
If they had done it poorly, it would have been neither here nor there.
However, the participants of this team had pulled it off perfectly.
‘This is insane, seriously!’
Among the screaming audience members, many caught on to the fact that this was only possible because the participants' skills were above average, and their visuals and styling were top-notch.
Excited voices could be heard from all over as people seemed to have already made up their minds.
The participants, who had stood up, patted each other on the back a few times before bowing and smiling brightly at the audience.
"Thank you!"
"Th-thank you."
It was the same thing every other team had done, but because the gap between the performance and their current selves was so vast, it somehow felt even cuter.
"They're cute..."
The woman, who had been aiming her camera, also muttered warmly. One member in particular, who had handled the high-pitched bridge, caught her eye.
She was certain that she would keep thinking about that twist in the bridge even after she went home.
He had handled those high notes incredibly well despite the poor acoustics, his face was trendily cute, and he didn't let the energy drop even while performing such an intense concept.
‘I’m definitely remembering his name when the voting appeal comes up.’
She made a firm resolution while keeping her eyes on Park Moon-dae as he exited the stage, when she suddenly realized the camera in her hands.
She was horrified.
‘I was so focused on the stage that I completely forgot about the camera...!’
She was dying of regret because she hadn't taken any photos, but at the same time, she felt so grateful that she could watch that with her own eyes without worrying about the camera!
She hadn't felt this way since her previous favorite idol.
A shiver ran through her.
It was the unmistakable sign of over-immersion.
As we came down from the stage, the team members' legs seemed to give out; they either leaned against the wall or slumped to the floor.
I leaned against the wall and thought to myself.
‘That was... more fun than I thought.’
It was strange.
To be honest, I never expected this to be fun.
I only did it because I’d die if I didn't debut.
In my entire life, I had never sung and danced in front of anyone. Especially not while wearing makeup and costumes.
...I was sure that even when I was dancing to Popcorn or singing, I only felt like I was doing it because I had to.
‘I thought I’d just feel embarrassed... so why is this fun?’
Even though I felt like my breath was about to burst out of my throat.
‘This is harder than practice.’
It seemed I had put in more strength because it was the real deal.
And most likely, the guys who went up there with me were probably just as out of breath.
They were all huffing and puffing right now.
But their expressions were bright.
The cheers had been loud enough to tear our eardrums.
"Whoaaa!!"
"Encore! Encore!"
I could even hear a few people in the back shouting for an encore.
‘And there weren't even that many people.’
The results were... better than expected.
It was a level of cheering that even the teams with the 1st and 2nd place members hadn't received.
Could this be why it was fun? Because of the reactions pouring out right in front of me?
"Everyone... you all worked so hard! We did it! Seriously!"
As the camera approached, Keun Se-jin quickly spoke up.
I couldn't say he wasn't conscious of the camera, but he seemed sincere nonetheless.
They say everything gets beautified when the results are good; the team members all started hugging and thanking each other.
"Good job, everyone!"
"Th-thank you..."
I figured I should say at least one thing.
"Thanks to you guys... it was fun. Thank you."
"Moon-dae..."
"Oh my god, Moon-dae actually says things like that."
What are they talking about?
These guys were so moved that they were getting emotional over anything.
Even the blunt Lee Se-jin looked choked up, caught up in the atmosphere.
"...Good work."
"Whoa. Hyung-nim."
"I'm touched."
The team members looked at Lee Se-jin with warm eyes, rarely forgetting to be conscious of the camera.
The atmosphere was like the ending of a shonen manga.
I looked back on the past practice process.
— Hyung! I think we should go strong with the horror! Really push it! So we don't lose to the 'pure' concept!
— Right? I was thinking, how about a murderer!
— Oh~ that’s intense!
— ...Since it might overlap with real-life figures, how about we think more toward fantasy creatures?
— G-ghosts are...
— ...Ghosts?
— Yeah, if we, if we move like this... it’ll look cool, so...
— Hahaha! Lots of good opinions! Let's be democratic and put it to a majority vote!
......
...I only remembered the struggle of politely shooting down the ridiculous and excessive suggestions these chatterboxes kept spouting.
I was grateful for Keun Se-jin at times like those. He was amazing at swaying public opinion.
In the end, the arrangement proceeded mostly according to my and Keun Se-jin's wishes. He had also wanted to push the vampire concept I suggested.
After all, a proven popular element was better than ghosts or murderers.
Ghosts might be one thing, but a murderer? Were they planning on getting roasted while getting tens of thousands of shares on social media?
Anyway, we achieved a good result by appropriately balancing horror and purity, so it was satisfying.
And honestly...
Because it was fun.
I felt like I understood why so many people wanted this job.
As I caught my breath and stood up, the team members pulled me into their group hug.
I shrugged. If I pulled out now, it would ruin the mood.
Since showing off teamwork for the camera was also necessary, I didn't bother escaping.
"Let's definitely make it to the next team match together."
"Ah, let's do it together next time too!"
"Y-y-yes, please."
"Honestly, our teamwork was the best."
The well-wishing continued, and only when they ran out of things to say did we move to another area following the staff's guidance to check out the opposing team's stage.
Shortly after we arrived in the room with the dedicated monitor, the opposing team's performance of <San-gun> began.
"Oh..."
The guys were giving polite exclamations of admiration, but they probably realized it too.
That there was a significant difference in the audience's cheers.