The Weight of the Throne
Who is she?
A youth trainee from Ulsan IC, one of the most prestigious domestic clubs in the country.
At the same time, she was someone the Pick Yu-Ah staff had already earmarked as a prime candidate for the final debut lineup.
Seol I-an sat quietly in the second-place seat.
It was a seat she had chosen for herself after carefully sizing up the other contestants the moment her participation was confirmed. It wasn't a calculated move to get more screen time.
She simply believed there was someone who deserved to be above her.
When she first stepped into this studio, her eyes had naturally drifted toward the throne at the very top.
To say she hadn't coveted it would be a lie. Any contestant would have felt the same.
But sitting in that seat was a declaration that one was ready to bear its weight.
And in Seol I-an's eyes, there was only one person capable of bearing that weight.
Jeong Yu-ah.
Vocals, dance, rap—she didn't have a single weak spot. On top of that raw talent, she possessed a relentless work ethic, making her the undisputed strongest of their generation.
Even her visuals were a gift from the heavens.
They say a genius cannot defeat someone who works hard, but in the face of a hard-working genius, an ordinary person who works hard has no choice but to kneel.
Seol I-an calmly accepted that in this equation, Jeong Yu-ah was the genius, and she was merely the ordinary one.
And yet.
Someone had climbed up to the first-place seat—or rather, the throne, as it was more fittingly called.
By the time Seol I-an turned her head, the girl was already seated.
She shifted her gaze to study the girl's face.
A girl sat there with an incredibly tense expression. She looked profoundly uncomfortable, as if she had sat down while keeping her upper body frozen in a rigid military attention stance.
If you're going to tremble like that, you should have just sat in a lower seat.
Looking at her demeanor, Seol I-an couldn't comprehend why she had chosen the first-place seat.
So, she observed her further.
[Independent]
Only those words were written in the agency column of her nametag.
Having no affiliated club meant she had built herself up entirely alone, outside the systematic youth academy structure.
Without an environment to hone her basics, without trainers to guide her direction, and without any experience performing on stage as a team.
Only those who had actually stood on a stage knew what that truly meant.
Is she just trying to grab attention?
Seol I-an clenched and unclenched her hands resting on her knees.
The person she needed to focus on right now wasn't this girl.
Just as she was wrapping up her complex thoughts, the murmurs in the studio suddenly swelled.
Sitting in the first-place seat certainly had an effect. From that very moment, dozens of cameras turned to face me all at once.
The view was a nice bonus. Looking down on everyone made me feel like a king.
Or rather, like Louis XVI standing before the guillotine.
All those camera lenses felt like glaring human eyes, making it hard to breathe.
Murmur, murmur...
The studio suddenly grew noisy.
Then, the cameras abruptly whipped around. At the same time, everyone's gaze converged on a single spot.
The entrance leading from the waiting room to the studio.
Who is it?
To be completely honest, I barely knew any of the contestants on this show. I had submitted my application via email on December 20th, and today was the 28th.
Some might say, "Eight days is plenty of time, you could've done some research!"
But the truth was, I had something else to prepare for.
It was the upcoming level test.
To put it simply, we perform on stage, get evaluated, and get sorted into grades.
Since that was far more urgent, I hadn't looked into the other trainees.
Which meant I had absolutely no idea who this girl standing right in front of my nose was.
"Hey."
A low, quiet voice echoed through the silent studio.
"Would you mind moving?"
Her phrasing was polite enough, but it carried an underlying arrogance that didn't even entertain the possibility of refusal.
Well, aren't we cheeky?
With her sharp eyes and high-bridged nose, she had the kind of face that had probably broken a few hearts. Her silver hair and amber eyes gave her the fierce impression of a white tiger. Honestly, she wasn't exactly my type.
The surrounding air froze instantly.
I could feel the girl sitting in the second-place seat next to me gulping hard as she watched this unfold.
"Why?" I asked.
Twitch.
Her eyebrow twitched slightly at my brief response. Was she not used to this kind of pushback? Just how much of a princess treatment had she grown up receiving?
She seemed pretty narrow-minded, too.
"Because that seat isn't one you can handle."
Glare—
Why was she staring so intensely into my eyes?
Hey! You wanna go, girl?!
Glare—
As a man of men, I couldn't back down now.
I immediately matched her gaze.
And just like that, an intense staring contest began.
"..."
"..."
"..."
Ah, my eyes are starting to hurt.
In times like this, the best trick is to roll your eyes around as much as possible while keeping them open to distribute moisture, but...
Stare—
Since we were in the middle of a simultaneous battle of wills and staring contest, I couldn't do that.
Ugh, I'm reaching my limit. Tears are starting to well up.
Glance—
In a split second lasting barely 0.2 seconds, I shifted my gaze down to her nametag.
Know your enemy and know yourself, and you will win a hundred battles.
My action just now was absolutely not backing down because my eyes hurt. It was strictly a tactical retreat for the sake of ultimate victory.
I definitely wasn't crying, okay?
[Jeong Yu-ah: Pohang IC]
Pohang Idol Club. If I mapped it to the soccer clubs of my past life, it would be a club famous for raising elite youth players.
Is that why she's so confident?
"Whether I can handle it or not is for me to decide," I replied, clenching my fists.
I wanted to cock my head to the side to look extra cocky, but if I did that...
Ah.
I just imagined it.
A sudden chill ran down my spine.
Wait, didn't I already ruin my reputation the moment I started the staring contest?
The girl, Jeong Yu-ah, stared at me intently for a long time. It was an inquisitive gaze, as if she were thinking, What is this girl trying to pull?
Then, her lips curled into a smirk.
"Fine, do as you please. Experiencing just how heavy that seat is will be a good lesson for you."
She whipped around. Then, she glanced at the girl sitting right next to me in the second-place seat.
"I-an, do you mind if I sit there?"
The girl named Seol I-an stood up without a word.
The hierarchy was sorted out with razor-sharp efficiency. Did they already know each other?
Taking the vacated second-place seat, Jeong Yu-ah didn't look at me again.
Just then, the studio lights dimmed, and a massive electronic screen flashed to life.
Murmur, murmur...
A powerful beat began to pour from the giant woofer speakers positioned in every corner of the studio.
Soon after, the stage screen split down the middle.
Accompanied by a dazzling spotlight, a woman walked out.
"Hello, everyone. I am Park Ji-hyun, the host of Pick Your Idol."
At the appearance of this legend, all one hundred trainees screamed in unison.
A former member of the Red Devils—the first-team group of the world's greatest club, Manchester United—and the number one idol in Asia.
And South Korea's eternal captain.
Though she had retired due to chronic injuries, she remained an iconic symbol of the industry.
Her voice was low and firm.
"Over the course of this show, you will undergo a total of five missions and evaluations. All rankings will be determined 100% by viewer votes."
Her gaze swept across the pyramid seating. Trainees with sweaty palms gripped their trousers tightly.
"In each evaluation, those who fail to place within the designated cutoff must rip off their nametags and leave this place."
"However, the final six who survive until the very end will earn their debut. And to the single individual who claims first place, the throne of the debut group's center will be granted."
Park Ji-hyun's speech didn't stop there.
"In today's idol market, which is dominated by the giant clubs of Europe and South America, we in Asia still remain on the periphery. The purpose of this program is simple."
She raised her index finger.
"To produce an Asian representative idol group that will take the world by storm."
The studio fell silent for a brief moment.
Below, someone let out a soft gasp. Elsewhere, fists clenched, and a girl sitting in the front row bit her lip.
One hundred people had heard the exact same words, yet their expressions were entirely different.
Fear, excitement, determination, tension.
Glance—
I subtly shifted my eyes to look at Jeong Yu-ah next to me.
Her lips were tightly pursed, and her eyes burned with an intense fire. A fierce fighting spirit radiated from her. I had never seen a hungry predator in the wild, but if I ever ran into one in the jungle, I imagined it would feel exactly like this.
"To grow, you will need excellent teachers. Allow me to introduce the Pick Yu-Ah training team."
Park Ji-hyun stepped out of the spotlight, moving to the side as a rock ballad track suddenly began to play.
Then, figures began to emerge from the light.
The first to walk out was the legendary former national team main vocalist, Ri Cheon-hee.
Walking out with her hands shoved in her pockets while casually snapping her chewing gum, she stopped at the center of the stage and briefly scanned us.
Her sharp gaze, accentuated by dark eyeshadow, left a strong impression.
The genre of the background music shifted to an EDM beat.
Following her, the legendary former national team main dancer, Ahn Ji-hwa, made her entrance with elegant strides.
Though she wore a gentle smile, her presence was anything but soft. It was the overwhelming aura of South Korea's finest technical dancer.
"Whoaaaa!"
The music abruptly cut off again, transitioning into an old-school hip-hop track.
This time, Kim Na-ju appeared, nodding her head to the beat. Her position was main rapper, and she was yet another legendary figure. She took her place at the center of the stage.
Standing between the three of them, Park Ji-hyun reappeared.
She raised her microphone once more.
"And just so you know, I am also included as one of your trainers."
"Kyaaaaaah!"
Proportionate to the number of people in the room, it was the loudest female scream I had ever heard in my life—spanning both my past and present existences.
Excited by the prospect of receiving direct instruction from these legendary seniors, the contestants began to chatter all at once, turning the studio into a bustling marketplace in an instant.
Then, Park Ji-hyun lightly raised her clenched left hand.
With astonishing speed, the studio fell dead silent.
"For effective training, it is essential to assign grades that match your current skill levels. We will now begin the level test to evaluate your abilities. Your grades will be divided into A, B, C, D, and F Grade."
With her declaration, the studio lights flashed, turning a blood-red color.
Wee-woo, wee-woo!
My heart began to thud nervously for no good reason.
"Alright, starting from the first-place seat, please come down to the stage in order!"
At the staff member's announcement,
Thump, thump.
Sweat began to pool in my clenched fists.
Are you seriously not even going to give me a second to catch my breath?!