Internet Opinions Flip in Seconds

They say internet opinion changes dozens of times a day. That's a lie. Internet opinion flips dozens of times every 10 minutes. Someone who's "god-tier OO" just three seconds ago becomes "fucking OO trash OO" three seconds later. It happens all the time on a second-by-second basis—what about minute-by-minute?

From the start of Mystica's performance to the end of Group Sound's set, nearly 15 minutes passed. The live audience thought Mystica's show was insane and reacted wildly, while they were simply too overwhelmed by Group Sound to even respond... But the people at home, idly scrolling the internet, interpreted the two performances completely differently.

From people who hated them from the start, to fans wanting their faves to drop out, to trolls just trying to stir up drama for fun. In just minutes, countless screenshots circulated, and evaluations poured in.

Until a raw, unedited performance video—clearly recorded from the audience seats—surfaced.

Even so, the hazy, dreamy vocals: "The ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠dawn light shimmers over the sea like heat haze..." And the shout that boils your blood: "Rise up, you poor souls!"

Above all, Ha Suyeon's playing skill—shattering doubts like "Must be edited, right? No way it's ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠that perfect"—a blistering guitar solo straight out of classic progressive rock fury.

All it took to flip the mood was the video's runtime.

The clip got taken down quick due to production monitoring for leaks, but not before some folks downloaded it, clipped it, and posted reactions.

The result? Most who watched posted stuff like:

Even the light trolls had eyes and ears, so they posted apologies like "Sorry for the trolling" and peaced out.

A few diehards still pushed their biased takes, trying to derail, but they got ratioed hard and vanished repeatedly.

It didn't take long for internet opinion to crown Group Sound—not Mystica—as this round's winner.

This is a headache.

None of this was what Yoon Dong-wook intended.

He hated situations spiraling out of his control. No matter what it was, he preferred everything under his thumb.

He'd anticipated Mystica picking Group Sound this round... or vice versa. Even a fierce showdown between them.

What he hadn't foreseen was both delivering such insanely high quality.

Right when he needed to build hype for the finale, this matchup exploded. Problem.

His planned winner? The band from [C:RSKY]-affiliated agency: WEKIDS. Solid skills, no rigging backlash, good fanbase, favorable edits—no vote tampering needed.

(Who knows what the band themselves thought, not being in on it.)

So when Mystica picked Group Sound, Dong-wook was thrilled. No risk of them targeting WEKIDS and knocking them out—they'd thin each other. Perfect.

But what followed...

"PD Yoon, what do we do about this?"

In an off-the-record meeting excluding Kim Jiwon PD (Mtown's watchdog on Dong-wook), it was Choi PD—handler of all the dirty work—who spoke.

"Hmm."

Dong-wook crossed his arms. Music, broadcast, survival communities were all ablaze with the Mystica vs. Group Sound clash. Straight cams circulating—no bad-editing their quality down without sparking blatant rigging claims.

Ratings would spike—good for him—but with WEKIDS pre-selected? Disaster.

Skip it, though, and later matchups get buried. WEKIDS had a strong closer too, good mentor/judge feedback. But opinion? Crickets. "What even are those guys?" at best.

Leave it like this, and it's just a coronation ceremony.

He'd expected quality, even thought Mystica had it after theirs. But Group Sound flipped the script.

Both insane—who'd care about whoever followed? "School play?" reactions incoming. No interest in semis or finals. Votes flood to the clash winner, Group Sound takes gold uncontested.

"Air it as-is."

"Order?"

"Same. No extra edits—make it look as plain as possible."

"Later acts won't have impact then."

Dong-wook scratched his head furiously. True. But what could he do?

"Push the boy band hard as hell. For the first two, toss in 'full ver. on site' and cut 'em short. No bad-edit room."

"Got it."

How'd it come to this? Dong-wook wondered. Supposed to be a smooth ratings-sucker. Shoulda said no when Director Park asked as a favor? Too late now.

Myeongjeon opened a few Insta DMs and emails in sequence. Mostly casting offers. Collab requests, work-related stuff.

All post-round 4 performance.

She'd sensed Group Sound and "Ha Suyeon" gaining traction since the audition start. Album sales up big, articles popping. But it never felt real. Just "Oh, sales are good, huh."

Now? Different.

Someone's round 4 straight cam. Post-broadcast clips—obviously polished. Best one's at 10M+ views. Reaction vids to full perf hitting realtime trending.

Jackpot.

Another sign: general communities.

Content sucked, but Myeongjeon noted it hitting mainstream communities. Before round 4, Group Sound posts stuck to music/survival boards. Now? TikTok, Insta, general spots.

Good sign.

Invasion from Seoul 2024 had buzz and viewers, but no breakout star. This ep made them the stars. Mention the show? "Oh, the kids with that song?" Instant.

Huge win. Even if eliminated.

But we won't be.

Myeongjeon eyed her round 4 notes.

Post-results, staff explained next round: top 3 of 6 advance via tribute covers—but "not your main genre."

No pop for WEKIDS, no prog for Group Sound.

No issue for them. She wasn't prog-only.

Mystica's intel on others: "Their shows? No way we win, might as well go out with grace." This round seemed a breeze.

Round 5... semis went smooth as Myeongjeon predicted.

They dug up Grateful Dead's "New Minglewood Blues"—not prog—and jammed it with their signature ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠improv. Judges, mentors, audience, viewers: clean #1, as expected.

Even #2 WEKIDS looked crushed.

Victory lane clear... except what blocked Group Sound wasn't in-show.