Chapter 17
Chapter 17
"Have you all been doing well?"
"Yes!"
"The first gateway toward 100%, before I announce the theme... first, let's decide the teams!"
Before the MC even finished speaking, I plopped both hands onto Han Neuti's shoulders in front of me. It was a warning gesture to remind him not to forget our promise.
—Hyung, we're on the same team for the first competition, right?
—Huh?
—Right?
—Oh? Uh... Yeah, sure, why not.
The response was a bit lukewarm, but whatever—I was going to get on the same team as this guy no matter what and wring some points out of it.
Damn, how did my life come to this?
"But everyone."
Just as I was bemoaning my own situation, the MC dropped his voice and shouted as if announcing a surprise present.
"The teams have already been decided!"
I whipped my head up and widened my eyes.
This wasn't a reaction for the cameras. I was genuinely shocked.
"All of you trainees, on your way in, exchanged drink vouchers at the 'Dayday Coffee' truck, didn't you?"
Belatedly, my mind began spinning at full speed.
The vouchers with names on them, and the menu that was nearly sold out and almost empty by my turn.
The staff who sent back a trainee who had come in empty-handed, insisting he absolutely had to have at least one drink.
'I thought it was just for PPL.'
To think they'd hidden a surprise like this. The production crew must have had a blast planning it, so I'd keep pretending to be stunned for them.
"Trainee Ahn Jiwon, what drink did you choose?"
"I had an A-Mary-cano!"
"Trainee Kang Inseok?"
"Hot Cho, Hot Choco."
In this evaluation, the teams would likely be made up of trainees who had drunk the same beverage.
It seemed the other trainees had caught on too—each time the MC called on someone and a drink name left their lips, cheers and groans of 'I had that too!' erupted.
'Hmm....'
Then Han Neuti and I were definitely on the same team.
Not bad.
"Trainee Han Neuti."
"I got that, uh, cucumber... that, Cucumber? Some kind of ade...."
"Cucumber Toktok Sparkling Ade."
"Ah, Cucumber Toktok Spa... Sparkling Ade... it was!"
This was PPL, so we had to get the menu name right. I tapped him on the shoulder to clue him in, and Han Neuti immediately spat out the input as if reading from a screen.
Around us, people muttered under their breath—who would actually drink that?
.......
......Wait.
That was the only reaction?
"Yes, for this competition, trainees who drank the same beverage will team up and proceed with the mission."
It was chilling. An ominous energy crept over me.
There were other people besides the two of us who had chosen something like Cucumber Toktok Sparkling Ade?
I frantically glanced around, searching for trainees who looked like they had uniquely peculiar taste buds.
But all I spotted was a forlorn-looking flock in gray clothes.
"Um...."
One of them timidly raised a hand.
Here, the color symbols by grade always followed the order orange-red-purple-blue-green, so those people were probably....
"We... didn't get to drink anything...."
The Failed Class trainees.
Listening to them, it turned out the production team hadn't even given the Failed Class vouchers to begin with.
At that petty move, a voice of jeering flowed from somewhere.
"Wow, that is so fucking cheap...."
It came from right in front of me. I promptly smacked Han Neuti's shoulder and shut his mouth.
"Yes, the Failed Class trainees were unable to choose a drink."
"......."
"Instead, they get to choose their own teams!"
In this type of survival show, that was a radically unconventional privilege, and murmuring rippled through the room again.
Even so, I couldn't shake the ominous premonition, so I kept clawing at the meat of Han Neuti's shoulder.
As if in response, the MC added firmly.
"However, only for teams that aren't full yet."
Han Neuti, who had been getting clawed at by me, turned his back and stared at me.
I stared back.
An awkward silence circled between us.
"Then I will now call out the teams that haven't reached full capacity. Mint Choco Frappe, one. Cherry Cola, two. Cucumber Ade, four...."
One Tier 2, one Tier 4.
Four Failed.
'A full third of the Failed Class is ours....'
Having finished the calculation, I immediately grabbed Han Neuti's shoulder.
"Whoa, who's gonna join us? I'm so excited. Right?"
"Hey hey, I'm getting dizzy, man...."
And then, pretending I couldn't contain my anticipation, I shook Han Neuti back and forth by the shoulders—a signal that if his expression had darkened, he'd better fix it immediately.
While we were doing our best to radiate positive energy, four unfamiliar faces came up hand in hand, as if their group consensus had been reached.
"Hello...."
I greeted them warmly and checked the name tags pinned to the front of their outfits.
Two from the same agency, one Japanese, one from an acting management company.
"How old are you all, by any chance?"
"We're all seventeen...."
No wonder they looked young.
With Han Neuti making a fuss about how hard the little babies worked, the MC explained the rules for this mission.
"The theme of the first competition is <1% and 100%>. The twelve teams here will play mini-games and be assigned one of six boy groups each, and...."
The name changed every time, but like any other survival show, the first competition would be a senior group cover battle.
Sure enough, the MC's explanation went exactly as expected.
'The two teams assigned the same group compete, and the winning team receives a benefit of 2,000 votes.'
Afterward, the production crew dragged in panels with group names written on them.
"Let's start the group selection game first. Please select one competitor from each team!"
I scanned the list and then turned my head toward my teammates.
"Is there a senior artist you want to cover?"
"......."
Why was it so quiet?
And why had that hyung gone quiet along with them?
In the middle of it all, one of the Failed Class trainees barely managed to open his mouth. He spoke like someone I'd dragged into an alley and demanded money from.
"You can... do whatever you want... hyung."
"Huh?"
"Your grade's, way higher... so just...."
Ah, so it was a given that I would be the one to go?
I nodded, slightly dumbfounded.
'...Let's call it a win.'
Conveniently, I had a plan anyway.
They were the ones who threw away the chance for an easy ride. Don't come crying to me later.
"You must grab the sign and return to the starting point for it to count. Intercepting signs mid-run is also allowed, so I'm looking forward to an exciting match!"
The game proceeded as a straightforward sprint.
The only difference was that the signs were arranged in a circle facing each other, with signs of the same group drawing a diameter.
The competitors also gathered in a circle and waited for the start signal. It was a setup where you could easily tell which team was aiming for where and which group they were targeting.
'The intention behind this... couldn't be more obvious.'
I glanced sideways.
"What."
Baek Gyeonwoo, who had come out as the competitor for the A-Mary-cano team, mouthed the word as our eyes met. I shook my head and turned my neck back forward.
'Look at this lineup.'
Ahn Jiwon and Baek Gyeonwoo. A full half of Tier 1 was on the same team, no less.
On top of that, the others were faces I'd seen a few times on social media after the music video was released. You could call them a picture-perfect ace team.
Because of that, in this game, most teams now had something to consider before they even thought about which group to pick.
Namely, avoiding that terrifying ace team.
"Whoa!"
"Please, please...."
"Gyeonwoo hyuuung!"
Bang!
Cheers erupted along with the signal.
In that brief instant, after assessing the overall movements, I set my final target and ran forward without hesitation.
Just as I snatched the sign without any trouble—
"......! Sorry!"
"Ah, it's okay."
Someone's hand, grabbing for the sign, scraped down my forearm.
The thought that my skin had definitely gotten scraped off crossed my mind, but there was no time to check the wound right now.
Leaving the other person white as a sheet and fidgeting behind me, I returned to the starting point.
'What a relief.'
Thanks to that, I'd brought it back safely. I gave a slight nod to the trainee who was frantically apologizing with hand gestures and pulled my sleeve back down.
"Whoa...."
"He's seriously fast...."
The Failed Class trainees let out minuscule, ant-like voices of admiration, while Han Neuti, who had gone quiet alongside them, clapped listlessly... clap... clap....
This was awkward. Was I going to be able to properly milk some screen time out of this atmosphere?
"Now please reveal your signs!"
At the MC's words, starting from the left, the signs began to be unveiled one by one, and our team's turn came around quickly.
"The Cucumber Sparkling Team, we will now reveal our sign."
I dragged it out a suitable amount to build tension, then flipped the sign over.
"Gasp!"
"Oh man, that... wow...."
"Insane."
[Wonseokit]
A hip-hop boy group launched by HoF Entertainment.
They'd debuted with the ambition of showing 'real hip-hop' in a kids' playground idol scene... and had promptly been met with reactions calling them try-hards, crashing miserably. Afterward, they switched direction to a safer concept and had safely settled into a rising status.
They were a comfortably manageable size to cover in a survival competition, and moreover, since they were from a major company, their name recognition within idol fandoms was on the higher end.
And most of all.
"So the team covering the song of the group <Wonseokit> will be the Cucumber Sparkling Team,"
"......Ha."
"And the A-Mary-cano Team!"
Because Baek Gyeonwoo's team had looked like they wanted to do it.
In the distance, I could see the trainee who had gone for the same sign earlier sweep a hand over his chest in relief.
It was a natural reaction. Nobody would want to jump into a fight with a foregone conclusion.
But my goal wasn't the benefit, so I didn't care.
'Who's going to hang onto a measly 2,000 votes.'
My Failed Class teammates' expressions had darkened noticeably, but from the looks of it, they couldn't bring themselves to blame me, as if it hadn't occurred to them that I might have done it on purpose.
......I felt a little sorry.
Still, in the end, this would be to their advantage too. I would make sure of it.
"Alright, then, all the matches have been determined like this."
The MC, having settled the room, resumed the proceedings. Now the real thing was beginning, so without delay, we'd start with part distribution—.
"But wait a moment. What did I say the theme of this competition was?"
"......?"
"Yes, it was <1% and 100%>."
The MC grinned.
"Those signs you're holding in your hands have stickers on them."
"Huh?"
"Oh, they actually do."
"Can we peel them off?"
"Yes, everyone please peel them off right now."
Just as he said, there really was a sticker stuck beneath the group name. It was the same color as the background, so it wasn't noticeable unless you looked closely.
'What's this?'
As I carefully scratched at a corner, the sticker peeled off easily.
The letters revealed next were.
[1%]
'1%?'
"Allow me to explain. In this competition, you will be competing with the seniors' debut songs and hit songs. 1% is the debut song, 100% is the hit song!"
"......."
Let me explain again.
Wonseokit's debut song had crashed spectacularly and been buried deep as a dark history.
No, wait. It had almost been buried, but as dark histories are wont to do, it had faithfully served as a cautionary tale, constantly being called the worst debut song ever up until now.
"Debut song? What was it again?"
"Nice Zombie... wasn't it?"
That very dark history, <Nice Zombie>....
Was what we were doing now.
* * *
The seventy-two trainees began to sit in their teams and ignite their passion.
"......."
"......."
[Meanwhile, one team was just dead silent...]
"Okay!"
I swept away the ominous caption that had popped into my head and clapped my hands together.
"Shall we start by distributing parts?"
"Y-yes!"
At the very least, one of the Grays (since 'Failed Class' sounded a bit too harsh) who had noticed my efforts nodded his head.
I was so grateful that I pounded Han Neuti's back, hard, as if patting it reassuringly. Was it okay for the eldest hyung to be glued to his tablet from the very start?
"I think it's easiest to decide the main vocal first. Is there anyone who wants to be main vocal—."
"......."
"......."
"Me! I want to do it!"
Damn it, that ominous caption had almost materialized again just now.
I hurriedly raised my hand and kicked up a fuss, and everyone flinched and stared at me.
"Okay. You do it."
"Thank you for conceding."
Han Neuti, who had been burying his head in his tablet since earlier, had been slapped on the back into focus, and now he patted my shoulder as he spoke.
The tablet he'd been staring at had a clip of the dance break playing on it.
'Actually... this isn't the absolute worst-case scenario.'
I'd just been momentarily spooked by the song's notoriety. Given the current situation, this song choice might actually be the best possible option.
In K-pop, wasn't rap often used as a refuge for members who absolutely cannot sing? Even if the experts would be clutching the backs of their necks, for our team, whose vocal skills were overwhelmingly lacking, this could serve as a breakthrough.
And that dance break.
The reason <Nice Zombie> had never been completely buried was partly because of this dance break. As expected from one of the four major agencies, it was made up of a sleek beat and trendy moves, so it had circulated quite a bit as short-form videos under the name of a challenge.
Yeah, if we could just save this dance break.
"C-can we really pull this off?"
"It's way too hard...."
We could save it, right?