Faith

"Then I'll announce the results right away. First up — Group E, who performed first."

A wall of blue backdrop. At its center, the words We Are Idols sat framed by a logo that looked for all the world like the rings of a planet. Directly beneath it, five profiles were displayed.

Moyo, Park Na-na, Seol Pyo-woo, Im Pupu, and Na Hae-ri.

The members of Group E for the second round of the Wooga-dol audition.

Ssa-yo's avatar, which had logged in at some point, drifted to the center of the stage. He hesitated for a moment, then pressed the selection button.

"The passers from Group E are Park Na-na and Na Hae-ri. Congratulations."

From Group E's Discord room, the sad weeping of the passers as they comforted the eliminated contestants spilled out across the channel.

"Next is Group B."

"Group A. Going straight in."

Today's Ssa-yo was merciless.

From Group A, only Yun Seo-a and Mango-rang survived. Group G that followed produced Ji-ho, Bom Yeoreum, and Na-ro-si… Group C left only Baiyo and Elsa standing.

And then, at last, it was Group F's turn.

I watched Ssa-yo's choice with a knot of tension coiling in my chest.

In the original history, only Gold Kiwi survived from our group. But…

An irregular named me had appeared, and with her, a variable named Miho who had been influenced by that irregular.

What decision would Ssa-yo make under these conditions?

I, for one, was a guaranteed pass.

I had put on a performance that ranked among the top three of the first-round Wooga-dol stage, and I boasted high name recognition and a reasonably solid fanbase. To eliminate me in the second round of all places?

It would plant the idea in viewers' minds that I had been cut because of today's debate. That I had voiced an opposing opinion, earned Ssa-yo's resentment, and been punished for it.

If that suspicion took root, Ssa-yo's public goodwill would plummet, and interest in the Wooga-dol audition would turn ice-cold.

Did Ssa-yo have the guts for that?

"Seo-a, you pass. And…"

Just as expected.

What differed from history was that Gold Kiwi had been eliminated. And Miho's turn was still left.

Through Miho, I can read Ssa-yo's mind.

Miho was a slightly ambiguous contestant. She clearly had the charm of a virtual streamer, but her singing wasn't strong enough for an idol audition. On top of that, the image she pursued was the "sexy" type, which limited her within the conventional idol mold.

But it's not a weakness big enough to get her cut in round two. Looking at the remaining contestants, Miho sits somewhere in the mid-to-upper tier.

At the second-round level, she was a competitive enough participant. In the end, Miho's fate rested entirely on Ssa-yo's subjective judgment.

If Ssa-yo watched today's debate and has even the slightest intention of lending an ear to the opposition, she'll pass. But if not…

In the opposite case, she would be eliminated. She had been sitting on the borderline between pass ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠and fail — and if she had earned Ssa-yo's dislike by standing with me on the opposing side of the debate, his subjective judgment would have swung against her.

"Group F contestant Miho's second-round result is…!"

Ssa-yo drew it out for a beat, then made his choice.

Sighs and cheers collided in rapid succession across the chat ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠window.

I let out a low, quiet scoff at the result that had been revealed.

Ssa-yo's intentions… I had them figured out for certain.

Fifteen passers. Twenty-one eliminated.

A moment where light and shadow stood in stark contrast — and not just for the contestants. The viewers were no different.

Those whose favorites had passed were purely elated, diving even deeper into Wooga-dol. Those whose favorites had been cut expressed their disappointment and drifted away from the project.

It was an unavoidable phenomenon. You couldn't grab the fans of the eliminated by the scruff of the neck and force them to keep watching the audition.

What remained now was to tightly bind together the fans of the passers, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠one's own fans, and the viewers who had been drawn to the Wooga-dol content itself and were still looking forward to it.

Ssa-yo was probably thinking something along those lines right about now.

"He really dropped Miho."

Tch. I'd expected it to some degree, but it still left a bitter taste.

With this, the odds of stubborn Ssa-yo changing his mind had become vanishingly slim.

Right. So in the end, he was going to dust off that same strategy that had failed before my regression and run it again.

In that case, I respectfully declined. I had no hobby of boarding sinking ships.

Honestly, Ssa-yo's intention to let me pass all the way through has probably vanished by now too. So is this a mutual win-win?

Looking at Ssa-yo's final-passer picks from before the regression, you could predict the virtue he prioritized above all else.

— Berry, Ji-ho, Bom Yeoreum, Q-Rings, Na Hae-ri.

Aside from Na Hae-ri, every single one of them was a complete broadcasting novice — ordinary people. And they were young, too.

What did that mean?

Exactly. Ssa-yo had prioritized selecting members who would move according to his own tastes.

It lined up perfectly with the very first statement Ssa-yo had made before Wooga-dol even began.

"I'm going to create a virtual Danuri."

Danuri was a female streamer who had done countless collabs with Ssa-yo — nicknamed things like Ssa-yo's attachment doll and Ssa-yo's toy. On that front, the final passers scored highly.

And the only one with real experience, Na Hae-ri, is also easy to control.

Na Hae-ri had a broadcasting career long enough to rival Park Na-na and Baiyo. But compared to those two, her solo streams had no popularity and her fanbase was severely lacking. From Ssa-yo's perspective, she would have been a leader-type who suited his tastes perfectly.

The viewers, however, thought entirely differently.

At the Wooga-dol final selection stage, when only one last seat remained, the audience flooded into Park Na-na's and Baiyo's streams. They assumed that the final name called — with a leader-type feel — would be one of those two. The number of viewers watching Na Hae-ri's stream at that moment didn't even reach a third of either of theirs.

But the last name called was Na Hae-ri. Everyone offered congratulations on stream, but that day the communities filled up with posts criticizing Ssa-yo's incomprehensible choice.

Hadn't he used the high-profile virtual streamers as hype bait from the start, only to discard them at the final stage?

On top of that, among the eliminated, Park Na-na, Baiyo, Yun Seo-a, and Elsa had commanded the strongest fanbases through Wooga-dol. Not a single one of the popular four had made it through?

The Wooga-dol viewership was cut cleanly in half — into those who would keep supporting Wooga-dol, and those who said Wooga-dol could go to hell and they'd root for the eliminated instead.

In the end, Ssa-yo's greed to control everything had put Wooga-dol in jeopardy from the very beginning.

That's how badly he wants obedient, compliant members. But this time, I've thoroughly wrecked the place.

I was certain of it. I had been marked by Ssa-yo.

Of course, it wasn't the kind of thing where personal grudges had formed. That was a different category entirely. In the present situation, I simply needed to speak in terms of my chances of passing the Wooga-dol audition.

Cutting me right in round two would look too bad, so maybe he'll go for the picture of a heartbreaking elimination at the finals?

Not bad. But there was one thing I had to account for.

The possibility that Ssa-yo would suddenly push Lucy through as a final passer.

At first, the impression of the pre-regression final passers had been so strong that I'd dismissed it — but thinking it over carefully, didn't Lucy fit Ssa-yo's selection criteria perfectly?

She's obedient and compliant. The idol vocal style is a sticking point, but she's a decent singing pick, her broadcasting career is short, and her fanbase is still middling.

The more I thought about it, the less it seemed like a low-probability scenario.

This was no time to sit around.

Ignoring Miho's Discord messages — she was whining alone about being the only one eliminated — I contacted Lucy. Getting blindsided while taking it easy was not an option. I moved immediately.

"Yeah, Seo-a. What's up?"

"Unnie, you trust me, right?"

To persuade Lucy for certain, I swung the ultimate trump card right from the start.

Ugh. To think I'd end up calling someone "unnie" again. But nothing worked on Lucy quite like that form of address. As an only daughter, she had always desperately wanted a cute little sister growing up.

The truth was I wasn't a little sister — I was a big brother. (Whoops.)

"Yeah. I trust Seo-a."

She was stiff with most people, but with those she had grown close to, she laid herself bare without reserve. Lucy's soft, giggling laugh — I hadn't heard it in a while. Vowing that this time I would protect it no matter what, I spoke.

"Can you trust me and drop out of the Wooga-dol audition?"

I was the one who had convinced her it was a huge opportunity and gotten her to apply. Lucy had refused several times, saying it was too much pressure. How absurd must it feel from her perspective for the very person who had talked her into it to reverse course now?

I might even get an earful. Still, I steeled myself to persuade her somehow — and then Lucy's easy answer came back.

"Okay. I'll do that."

"Huh?"

"Hm?"

I hadn't misheard, had I?

By any measure, Wooga-dol was a massive opportunity. And she was giving it up this easily? Off just a few words from me?

"I trust Seo-a. You told me back then, remember? Superstar. Would a fan lie to me?"

"…"

A faintly mischievous tone from Lucy. Had she actually remembered the words I'd blurted out during our first collab? Embarrassment left me briefly speechless.

How long had it been since I'd seen this side of Lucy?

I couldn't even unload the plans swirling in my head. I just laughed.

It was a happy moment.