Round Three (Part 1)
Thump, thump, thump—.
The vibration of a massive subwoofer forced every heartbeat into sync with it. The heat pouring off the crowd turned the air thick and humid, clinging to the skin. Overhead, a blaze of lights and a wall of cheers left the mind spinning.
“How’s that, Jiyoung? Insane, right?”
Onstage, the hottest rookie boy group of the moment was tearing through razor-sharp choreography.
…Incredible.
The idols’ performance was flawless. And yet the longer she watched their glittering spectacle, the stranger the unsatisfied thirst that settled in a corner of her chest.
They’re cool. But… that isn’t what I want.
No dazzling machinery to scatter the gazes of a hundred thousand people. Just her voice—one voice—freezing the entire stadium solid. That was the hunger.
Kim Taesung… is this what you meant?
The road she had to walk. She could dance for a moment if she had to, but in the end she would always return to song.
Then every light in the arena died.
A brief hush. And then a roar erupted, so vast it made everything that came before sound small.
“Velvet Night! Velvet Night!”
Five silhouettes rose onto the stage. At the center stood Ria, without question.
The instant the intro hit, the light in Ria’s eyes changed. On the giant screens her face shone, slick with sweat yet radiant.
…She looks happy.
Ria knew. She knew she was loved, and she knew how to take that love and pour it back to the crowd through music.
“Jiyoung, your eyes just changed.”
Kang Soyoung tapped her shoulder and murmured close to her ear. Jiyoung never looked away from the stage as she asked,
“Do you have a goal as a musician, unnie?”
“A goal as a musician?”
Kang Soyoung repeated the question as if she hadn’t expected it.
“Hmm. I’ve already gotten everything I wanted. Daesangs, the whole deal. These days watching the juniors grow is more fun than living off my own glory.”
“I’m only just starting, but I don’t want to stop at Korea. I want to go global.”
At the declaration, Kang Soyoung pouted and fixed her with a long stare.
“Look at this one. Hasn’t even held her first solo concert yet and she’s already dreaming big. Well, dreams are supposed to be big.”
She propped her chin on her hand and nodded, satisfied. Then her tone turned practical.
“You’ll manage it, I’m sure. But Jiyoung—going global alone is hard. This world doesn’t run on talent alone. You need a ship that can carry your voice across the ocean.”
Jiyoung nodded quietly. Kang Soyoung was right. She had learned that truth the hard way in her previous life. Without a system, a musician became disposable. She couldn’t meddle in management or strategy beyond her reach. Music was the only thing she did best and the only thing she wanted to do.
Unbidden, the face of Kim Taesung—who had handed her this ticket—floated up.
Maybe… it wouldn’t hurt to lean on someone.
A fleeting thought, for later.
“First I have to finish this audition properly.”
She murmured it under her breath and clenched her fist. The roar and heat filling the stadium wrapped around her whole body, sharpening the thirst to dominate every last inch of it with nothing but her voice.
For the next several days she locked herself in the studio and composed.
In her previous life every song she had written had been stolen out from under her through betrayal. In this world those songs simply did not exist. The day she decided to quit music five years ago, she had buried them deep in her heart as well.
But now…
She could make them better than the versions she had written back then. She had grown up with every resource and every ounce of support imaginable.
Time slipped past, and the recording day for Voice of Legend arrived.
“Unnie! Over here!”
Naeun waved wildly from a distance and came running. Han Doyun walked behind her.
“You both look like you’re in good shape.”
Staff led them to the dressing rooms where they fitted their mics.
“What do you think the theme for Round Three is?”
Naeun asked while clipping the pack to her waistband.
“Hard to say. Round Two was such a huge ‘reinterpretation of the era’ free-for-all that they’ll probably go individual this time.”
Han Doyun nodded while straightening his in-ear cable.
“Yeah, that makes sense. The numbers are smaller now too.”
“Individual?! Unnie, I’m really not confident standing on stage alone…”
Naeun clung to her sleeve, face crumpling. Han Doyun added with a bitter smile,
“Same here.”
Smack! Smack!
“Ow! Unnie!”
“Guh…!”
Both of them yelped and spun around after taking clean hits across the back.
“Both of you, grow some confidence.”
Before either could answer, a staff member called them.
“All right, time to enter!”
Through the cascading lights the fourteen survivors walked out.
“Congratulations to the fourteen Legend candidates who clawed their way through the hellish death match of Round Two!”
The MC raised the mic.
“Before we announce the theme for Round Three, there’s one thing we need to make absolutely clear.”
His gaze swept over their team and the members of the other teams standing beside them.
“The groups that bound you so tightly together in Round Two no longer exist.”
So it is individual after all.
Jiyoung stared straight ahead, expression blank.
“But we decided fourteen is a lonely number when you’re trying to find a Legend. So we prepared something.”
The MC pointed at the sealed giant doors behind him.
“Please welcome the six contestants who fought through a brutal wildcard round and clawed their way back from hell!”
BOOM—!
A massive bass drop shook the stage as the doors behind them split open. Red light poured through the thick smoke that blanketed the floor.
Shocked murmurs erupted among the fourteen waiting contestants.
Six silhouettes stepped slowly through the smoke. They were the powerhouses who had dominated Round Two with raw skill only to be cut down by the merciless death-match bracket.
And at their head stood a familiar face.
Yoo Sia.
“Whoa… Sia’s back.”
Naeun breathed a soft exclamation beside her.
“That brings our final twenty for Round Three together.”
The MC raised his voice as he looked over all twenty contestants.
“Now, let’s reveal the battle format for Round Three.”
On the giant screen the words appeared in huge letters: Nomination 1-vs-1 Match.
“Nomination…?”
“Oh my god, another death match?”
Sighs broke out all around.
“Victory will be decided by the four judges’ votes. In the event of a 2–2 tie, the judges will deliberate thoroughly and select only one winner. The loser immediately becomes a candidate for elimination.”
The MC pointed to a list beside the screen.
“Nomination rights go first to the top ten contestants with the highest individual scores from the judges. The higher-ranked contestant chooses their opponent directly.”
The top ten list lit up on the screen.
First place was, of course, her.
“The theme for Round Three is free. Original songs, covers of classics—anything goes. All that matters is defeating your opponent with pure skill.”
The studio buzzed again at the MC’s additional explanation.
“You have ten minutes to decide. After that, nominations begin.”
Jiyoung crossed her arms and scanned the top-ten list on the screen.
Neither Naeun’s nor Han Doyun’s names were anywhere on it. Even though their team had taken first in the Round Two mission, the judges’ individual evaluations had been ruthlessly cold.
“So now we just wait to get picked.”
Naeun grabbed her sleeve in a small voice.
“There’s nothing I can do about that.”
“No! You’re first, so of course you should have the nomination right. Oppa and I will figure out how to survive from here.”
Just as she was about to sink into the problem of who to choose, Yoo Sia called her name.
“Han Jiyoung.”
Every nearby contestant’s eyes snapped toward them at the sound of Sia’s voice.
“What?”
“You’re first in nomination rights, right? Decided who you’re picking?”
“I was just about to start thinking.”
“Pick me. Do it with me.”
The studio erupted in whispers.
“Why Han Jiyoung of all people?”
“She came back from the wildcard round with poison in her veins.”
Jiyoung simply looked at her. The eyes that used to glare had grown calm; the tone had softened.
“Why do you want to go against me?”
“Because I want to be recognized by you.”
After a short pause Sia added,
“—yo?”
The honorific sounded completely unnatural on her tongue.
Then, suddenly, the words Jiyoung had thrown at her in the waiting room right after the Round Two performance came flooding back.
You’ve got personality issues.
She had spat it out without thinking because Sia had been so ridiculously rude at the time.
Don’t tell me… she’s still holding on to that?
As if she had read the doubt in Jiyoung’s eyes, Sia cleared her throat once and dropped her gaze a little.
“I’m sorry for acting like a complete brat last time.”
“……”
“I do have personality issues. You’re right.”
The blunt self-assessment left Jiyoung speechless. She wondered what on earth the CEO of Aura Entertainment had said to turn this girl into such a meek lamb. Of course, it was true.
“Why do you want recognition from me specifically?”
Sia’s lips moved for a moment. She seemed to struggle, then finally shook her head.
“I don’t really know either. I just… want it. I kept thinking about the look in your eyes on that stage earlier and I couldn’t sleep.”
She lifted her head again and stared straight at Jiyoung.
“So please. Do it with me. You’re first in nomination rights.”
…Making it hard to say no.
Jiyoung huffed a quiet laugh.
“Fine. It’s not like it’s hard.”
She gave a light nod.
The buzzer signaling the end of the ten-minute deliberation rang through the studio, and the MC took the mic again.
“All right! You’ve waited long enough. The long-awaited first nomination! Contestant number one, Han Jiyoung! Who do you choose?”
Without a second of hesitation Jiyoung stretched out her hand and pointed at Yoo Sia.