Spin, Spin, the Roulette

Spin, spin, the roulette.

I wasn't the only one who'd figured out what those sandwiches from PPL really meant. Before long, a whole crowd of contestants were staring at their own sandwiches with wide, startled eyes.

And then…

"Uh, unni. What's your sandwich?"

"Y-you, what sandwich did you pick?"

People started hunting for anyone who'd chosen the same one as them.

Up on the stage platform, Han Siwoo watched the whole scene with a pleased look on his face, then lifted his mic.

"Looks like some of you have already caught on. Yes, that's right. For the first team competition, your teams will be made up of the people who picked the same sandwich as you."

"……!!!"

So the people with matching sandwiches really were a team?

In that case…

"Uh, unni! We…!"

"Yes, Yerin! Yujeong! We…!"

Before I could even turn my head, Park Yujeong and Lee Hyejeong came rushing over and grabbed both my hands.

"Waaaah—!!! Mackerel sandwich forever—!!!"

Then they started screaming loud enough to blow the set apart.

"The mackerel sandwich is a god—!!"

Park Yujeong in particular looked twice as sunny as usual, clearly thrilled beyond measure that she was on the same team as me and Lee Hyejeong.

"Y-you two, calm down first…"

I tried to settle them down because they were being way too loud, but the truth was I felt just as ready to float away myself.

Lee Hyejeong and Park Yujeong.

Both of them had solid stats, and I already had a good rapport with them.

That meant we could get the all-important first team competition off to a strong start.

Pretty lucky, aren't we?

We spun around in a little victory circle like kids playing ring-around-the-rosy, then set out to figure out who else was on our team.

Naturally, the first sandwich we checked was Yu Seol's.

Her spot was already packed with people trying to see what she'd gotten, so we had no choice but to peek at her sandwich from a distance.

"Seol-ah, what's your sandwich?"

"Mm, mine is…"

I locked hawk eyes on the wrapping of Yu Seol's sandwich.

And hers was…

"A veggie sandwich."

…a veggie sandwich made of nothing but vegetables.

This self-discipline maniac…

How does someone even pick a sandwich with only vegetables in it…?

Once I'd confirmed Yu Seol's sandwich was different from mine, I let out a sigh that was half relief and half regret.

If we'd been on the same team… the relationship might have been awkward, but the stage itself would have been a success.

It's a shame, but… well, it's fine.

I pushed the regret aside and headed off with Lee Hyejeong and Park Yujeong to find the rest of our teammates.

"Anyone who picked the mackerel sandwich, come over heeere—!"

Thanks to Park Yujeong's powerful lungs, we found our teammates in no time.

"Oh? I got the mackerel sandwich!"

"M-me too—!"

"Waaah—! Me too!"

Two C Ranks and one D Rank.

Not bad acquisitions at all.

"So is that everyone for our team, then?"

The mackerel sandwich was pretty hit-or-miss, so we ended up with fewer members than the other groups.

Six people total.

But that was still far better than being stuck with ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠a pile of low-rank contestants for no good reason.

One A Rank, two B Ranks, two C Ranks, and one D Rank…

The lineup was almost too good for us.

On top of that, the three new members who'd just joined us weren't close friends of ours, but they were all kind, gentle types.

They also seemed pretty happy to be on the same team as me — an A Rank who'd already made waves in episode one.

"Looks like the six of us really are the whole team! Wow—! Looking forward to working with all of you!"

Good-natured Park Yujeong took the lead and got the conversation going, and the atmosphere warmed up right away.

A good start.

I found myself thinking we could wrap up the first team competition successfully with teammates like these.

Until she showed up.

Tap, tap.

Someone started tapping us on the shoulder while we stood in a circle, fully convinced our team of six was complete.

"Hm…? Huh…?"

I turned my head and found a girl scowling like something had already offended her.

"…Yujin-nim? Why…"

It was Seo Yujin from SAV.

For the record, even though we were both A Rank and had met before, I'd never managed to drop the formal speech with her.

Getting close to someone who glared at me and treated me like a rival at every possible opportunity was never going to be easy.

But what's she doing here…? …No way?

Praying it wasn't true, I looked at the sandwich wrapping in Seo Yujin's hand.

…It was a mackerel sandwich.

"…I'm on this team too."

"……."

"I ate the mackerel sandwich too, you know."

Her mackerel sandwich wrapper was completely clean — ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠not a single smear of sauce on it. She must have actually liked it.

Sighing out loud right now would be rude…

The members had been great so far, and now a single crooked stick had suddenly jammed itself into the bunch.

I felt a sigh coming on, but I forced on a face that said everything was fine and tried to welcome Seo Yujin.

Except…

"…Yujin-nim. Welcome…"

Glare.

"……."

True to form, the second Seo Yujin laid eyes on me, she shot me a look that said she already hated everything about this.

They say one loach can muddy an entire pond.

Grrrr—, snarl, snarl.

With one Chihuahua joining the pack, the temperature of our team plummeted in an instant.

"Ham and egg sandwich! Over here!"

"Tuna mayo, this way—!"

It didn't take long for every team to take shape.

Our mackerel sandwich team didn't pick up anyone else after Seo Yujin, either.

Seven people total.

Two A Ranks, two B Ranks, two C Ranks, and one D Rank.

Yeah. This is better than average.

Seo Yujin's arrival was jarring, but it didn't change the fact that the mackerel sandwich team had a strong roster.

No — if you looked at rank alone, our team was overwhelmingly good.

She might have tanked the mood, but Seo Yujin was still an A Rank from SAV, and she was solid at both dancing and singing.

We're definitely better off than that bunch over there.

I thought that while looking at the ham-and-egg sandwich team, which was giving off pure end-of-the-world vibes.

One C Rank, three D Ranks, two E Ranks, and three F Ranks.

That was the ham-and-egg sandwich team's entire lineup.

A total catastrophe born from deciding teams at random.

They seemed to understand their fate too — every face in the group looked grim.

None of the other teams looked particularly threatening either.

Yu Seol's team… aside from Yu Seol herself, there wasn't anyone who really stood out.

I think ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠we might actually have the best composition here…

That was what I was thinking when Han Siwoo picked up the proceedings again.

"It looks like all the teams are complete now. How about it, everyone? Are you happy with your teams?"

"……."

"Yeees—!!"

The only people who shouted that they were happy were our mackerel sandwich team.

Han Siwoo glanced at Park Yujeong — who'd yelled the loudest of all — cracked a smile, and continued.

"I'm glad to hear it. Some of you don't seem quite as thrilled with your teams… but you'll still have to give it everything you've got. Through this first team competition… a lot of contestants are going to be eliminated."

"……!"

The moment elimination came up, every contestant snapped their heads up, nerves on edge.

Doo-doo-doong—.

A heavy BGM rolled in as Han Siwoo went on in a grave voice.

"If your team lands in the bottom six by total team votes, every member of that team will be eliminated — except for the top three individuals by personal vote count."

"……!"

The second Han Siwoo finished speaking, I ran the numbers on what would happen if our team fell into the bottom six.

Seo Yujin and I were both A Rank, so our personal vote counts wouldn't be low enough for us to get cut.

But…

B Rank Lee Hyejeong and Park Yujeong.

In the worst case, one of them could end up eliminated.

I really don't want that…

We were going to have to give it everything we had to stay out of the bottom six.

A restless murmur spread through the room as contestants realized just how many people might get cut in the first team competition.

But the next second, Han Siwoo spoke again, and the place went dead silent.

"All right, then. From this point on, we'll begin song selection."

In a team competition, song selection was the next most important thing after member selection.

And how exactly that song selection was going to work…

"I told you earlier, didn't I? Everything about this first team competition is decided by luck."

"……."

"This is no different. Take a look at the screen."

Fwaaat—!

At Han Siwoo's words, a massive electronic display lit up, and at the same time…

Whirrrrr—.

A spinning wheel appeared on the screen.

"This cyber roulette is loaded with every idol hit from the past five years. You'll be selecting your songs through this. Shall I give you a demonstration?"

Scramble.

The moment Han Siwoo finished his line, the production staff rushed onto the stage and installed a switch of some kind.

It was a big red button that looked exactly like the five-hundred-million-year button from an old comic.

The second the staff gave him the all-clear that installation was complete, Han Siwoo pressed it.

And then…

Whirrrrr—.

The cyber roulette started spinning, then came to a stop on one section.

The first thing that came up was a company name.

"Hmm… ha ha, my old company, YW, came up. Anyway — the first press of the button gives you a company like this. And if you press it one more time…"

Click.

Whirrrrr—.

The display spun again and this time stopped on a song.

"And that's how you get your song. Each team will have to perform whatever song they draw, no exceptions."

Right… so you draw the company first, then one of that company's hits comes up. I understood the system immediately.

But…

"…Why did that song come up?"

"…Wider is a boy group."

Wider was definitely a male idol group. So why was their song even in the pool?

Han Siwoo must have overheard the contestants murmuring, because he smiled and explained.

"Ah — and as you just saw, the roulette also includes songs by male idols."

"……."

"All right, then. Shall we actually draw some songs? One representative from each team, please come up!"

Whoever went up as the representative was guaranteed extra camera cuts.

"Who… wants to go?"

Our team started talking it over in an awkward little huddle.

Of course I wanted to go as the rep.

But ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠if I just raised my hand and volunteered right away, it would feel a little… greedy…

"Me! I want to go!"

…Seo Yujin, apparently, did not care about any of that.

She shot her hand up immediately and announced she was going.

"Um… then…"

Side-eye.

Once Seo Yujin had spoken up first, the rest of the team started glancing at me.

It felt like they were waiting for my permission.

I thought it over for a second, then…

"Okay. Then Yujin-nim, you go."

I just nodded.

Going up once wasn't going to get anyone a massive amount of screen time anyway.

And Seo Yujin wasn't exactly lacking in name recognition. Having her go wouldn't be a big problem.

"Ah, then Seo Yujin-nim will go as our representative…"

That was the moment my decision was about to lock Seo Yujin in as the one going up.

"Just a moment."

Someone overturned the whole decision.

And that someone was…

"Sorry to jump in all of a sudden, but I think it would be better if contestant Ha Yerin went up."

…a staff member standing offstage.

She'd been listening to our decision from outside the stage area, and the second it looked like Seo Yujin was going, she stepped in and pointed at me.

"…Excuse me?"

We couldn't help being thrown off.

"What are you talking about?! I was already going to go…!"

Seo Yujin in particular shouted like she'd been robbed, but…

"I'm sorry, but Yerin going up just makes for a prettier picture. Please understand — it's for the show~"

The staff member beamed and steamrolled right over Seo Yujin's opinion.

Once production put it that way, there wasn't much Seo Yujin could do. She stopped arguing.

Instead…

Glare.

…she stared daggers at me.

Hey… this isn't even my fault…

Come to think of it, she only ever acted like this toward me and Yu Seol.

"…Okay. Then I'll go."

I couldn't refuse a production request any more than she could.

Under the heat of Seo Yujin's stare, I walked out onto the stage.

From the other teams, high-profile contestants including Yu Seol had also come forward.

Han Siwoo looked over the faces of everyone who'd come up, then took the mic again.

"All right, then. From among these…"

"……."

"We'll go in alphabetical order and have the 'Mackerel Sandwich' team draw first. Yerin, please step forward."

"……Excuse me?"

…What kind of sudden targeted attack was this.

Alphabetical order…?

I shot him a look of pure betrayal, and Han Siwoo just gave me a mischievous little smile.

I had no power to defy production, and I had no power to defy Han Siwoo either.

So I nodded and stepped forward.

"…Yes. Understood."

As I came up, Han Siwoo smiled and asked me,

"Yerin, is there a song you're hoping for?"

"Nothing in particular… I'll just give it my all no matter what comes up."

"Great! Then go ahead and draw!"

That was what I said out loud, but inside I was praying.

If some weird song came up here, we'd be in real trouble.

Han Siwoo had said the roulette only held idol hits from the past five years, but there was no way I was going to take that at face value.

There were plenty of experimental hits out there that were a nightmare to stage.

Hoo… please, just something normal.

I offered one last prayer to the god of broadcasting, and then…

Click.

Whirrrrr—.

…I pressed the button.

First came the company.

The cyber roulette spun for a long time before it finally stopped.

And the name written where it landed was…

JJ — one of the Big Three agencies.

"Oh, first up, the company is JJ Entertainment. All right, go ahead and press the button one more time."

"Yes…!"

JJ Entertainment… At least the company wasn't a bad draw.

I ran through which JJ idols had been active over the past five years as I pressed the button.

Click.

Whirrrrr—.

And then…

Clack.

…the result came up almost immediately.

"……Huh?"

I stared at the song the display was pointing to, eyes gone wide.