The Explosion of Reactions

The broadcast opened with a CG screen artfully composed of violet, pink, black, and white tones. It was clear they wanted to show off the budget—the quality was genuinely impressive. I propped up a tablet beside me to monitor the real-time comments.

The viewers seemed to share a similar impression. The comments were overwhelmingly positive about ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the video's quality. Most people were more interested in the trainees they already supported, though. That was only natural. Girl 100 had deliberately gathered trainees—or rather, girl groups—with strong buzz potential. Complete newcomers like Gyeoul were actually quite rare.

The broadcast began with a female narrator's clean, straightforward voice.

The screen transitioned to a girl sweating profusely as she danced in a practice room.

It cut to a girl singing on the street with a guitar slung over her shoulder, performing for a small audience of about three people.

Finally, it showed a girl sitting in a corner seat at a concert venue, staring with dazed eyes at the brilliant lights pouring from the stage where dazzling stars performed.

The girls from the previous scenes, now wearing pure white dresses, began walking toward the stage.

Their backs gradually faded out as the title Girl 100 rose into view.

Cheon A-ram watched the screen with clear interest, crunching away at her chocolate popcorn. Beside her, Seo Suyeon, who had been watching carefully, cautiously reached out and took a piece, crunching it quietly.

The broadcast moved at a brisk pace. It covered the basics of what Girl 100 was and how the voting system worked as concisely as possible before immediately shifting focus to the girls at the center of the story.

The first trainees shown were the three-member group Counter Eye from Neulbom Entertainment. Since one of them, Kim Yujin, was already confirmed to debut later, it seemed Kim Seonye wanted to give them extra push. The three of them chatted casually as they walked along a purple-lit path through a dark space and emerged into the lobby. That was where they met Gyeoul.

Ga-eul's face lit up as she exclaimed, "It's Gyeoul!"

Gyeoul's calm approach, combined with her characteristically sharp facial features, radiated a powerful girl-crush vibe. It looked like Kim Seonye had given her more support than expected.

"Ah… hello!"

Gyeoul couldn't hide her nervousness as she glanced at the Counter members. The confidence and aloofness she'd shown in her first appearance were completely gone. Perhaps finding that a bit pitiful, Kim Yujin started looking after her in various ways.

"That girl named Yujin seems like a good kid even if her words ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠are a bit rough."

"Yeah. The chemistry with the other member who's keeping her in check is nice too."

I could somewhat understand why their agency had formed a three-member group despite their lack of successful precedents. They must have seen enough potential in the chemistry between those three. Of course, the end result was them getting involved in vote manipulation and crashing spectacularly…

After their introductions, the four of them each firmly established their characters while filling the audio track until they reached the black door. As the four girls began pondering how to open the door, it wasn't long before light flooded the entire hallway and the black door slowly opened. The girls stepped out beyond the door—onto the stage.

While they each reacted with various expressions of awe, a wide camera shot captured both the stage and the tiered audience seating. In the midst of it, the camera lingered in a carefully composed shot on Gyeoul's eyes as they followed the beam of light stretching from the stage to the seats. The spotlight and brilliant illumination reflected in her eyes, creating a dreamy glow. It was beautiful.

It wasn't just me who thought so. Seo Suyeon spoke with admiration.

"Gyeoul really is beautiful."

"She is, Suyeon. She usually just looks like a kid, but seeing her like this on screen with full makeup… she's truly something else."

After that came the spotlights on the other trainees who appeared one by one, their battle of pride over the A-Class seats, the introduction of the actor-turned-MC and the six judges called "Masters," and then the first impression test that would later average 4 million views.

The first stage belonged to the three-member girl group Counter, who had shared the intro with Gyeoul. Instead of their own song, they performed Wall's "Wolf's Courtship," a track famous for its acrobatic performance and profound music video. As it was originally a male idol song—and one where every member was considered a main dancer—it was extremely high difficulty. Nevertheless, the Counter trio completed the stage flawlessly without a single mistake. The fact that they could deliver that level of quality without even a rehearsal spoke volumes about their practice volume and concentration.

"They'll definitely get an A for dance."

"The vocals were solid too. To sing live at that level during such intense choreography is more than enough to pass. Considering that trainees are part of this program, an A is only natural."

However, contrary to our trainer duo's expectations, they were all placed in B Class.

"Wait, that's a bit much."

"…Isn't the evaluation standard too strict?"

They had every right to think so. It seemed Kim Seonye wanted to screw over the judges who had nearly ruined the broadcast, because she had edited the stage with more spectacular and refreshing direction than ever. On top of that, she'd added post-processing to the vocals, making Counter look like they could go straight onto a music show with that quality. Thanks to that, the Masters who had rated such a performance as B Class came off looking rather petty.

The real-time comment section was in absolute chaos. It seemed Kim Seonye's editing had worked exactly as intended.

Next, four girls who called themselves Blanc Girls took the stage. The performance they showed fell short of the quality Counter had delivered, but it was still watchable. That was thanks to Kim Seonye's editing, which had cut out the countless mistakes that occurred during the three-minute song and only used about forty seconds of highlight footage. However, the judges who had seen their live ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠performance all concluded with an F Class rating. Naturally, viewers who felt the gap between the edited version and reality began cursing the judges.

…Seonye. Once you set your mind to something, you really go all out, huh?

In that heated atmosphere, Gyeoul finally stepped up.

"Gyeoul's already coming on."

"Uwaaah, Taeyang oppa, I'm so nervous."

"Ga-eul unnie, maybe you should stop clinging to Team Leader Sun like that? We're just trainees, you know."

"…Can't I do it for just a little while?"

"A little while? How long?"

"Two hours?"

"…That would be until the broadcast ends."

Gyeoul, who kept glancing around and stuttering, looked completely unreliable to anyone watching. The judges told her with indifferent expressions to begin, and Gyeoul prepared herself. At that moment, the screen switched to an interview with Gyeoul. It seemed to be a scene Kim Seonye had requested additional filming for.

Ga-eul looked at the screen with a pitying expression.

"Oh no. It looks like Gyeoul is really nervous."

"…It wasn't that."

"…"

The entire Toobear staff fell silent. Cheon A-ram, who had swallowed the popcorn she'd been chewing, looked at me and asked.

"Is that okay? Team Leader Sun?"

"It's fine. I've checked the final product. It won't have a negative impact on Toobear."

…Probably.

"Taeyang oppa, can I look at the comment reactions?"

"Wait, Ga-eul unnie, I'm going to cover my eyes… I'm too scared of comments like this."

"…Sorry. I'll just look at them alone later."

And then that problematic stage exploded.

My colleagues, who had been watching while holding their breath as if even breathing might interfere, only carefully opened their mouths after the stage ended.

"…It's definitely an A."

"It's almost a shame that there's no class higher than A."

The judges chanted "A Class" without any other commentary. As if to say this was the level that truly deserved to be called A.

"Team Leader Sun, show us the comments! The comments!"

"…I thought you were scared of comments, Yeoreum."

When I lifted the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠tablet to check the real-time comments, Ga-eul, Yeoreum, and the other colleagues all crowded behind me and to my sides. It seemed they were all curious even if they didn't say so. Cheon A-ram, who had approached from behind me as if climbing onto my back to see the tablet, exclaimed in admiration.

"…Wow. The reactions are exploding."