Chapter 20

After the judges say they interim evaluation, the case of Park Chang-joong overlooking my part was quickly dropped.

I was factually assaulted by Min Si-hyun and Lee Jin-hak, not anyone else.

"...I think it's just Si-hwan doing his member's part."

He even voluntarily returned the bridge part to me first.

On the one hand, I felt bad for his mental breakdown, but it's his own fault.

You can only realize this by yourself.

No matter how much I wanted to make things better, I should have carefully evaluated my capabilities and the surrounding conditions.

Park Chang-joong probably realized this in hindsight.

Our every move is being thoroughly recorded and we will not be judged on this one stage alone.

It's a program where you have to hold your breath for a long time, and it's only now that he realizes that he'd overdone it.

Unexpectedly, Park Chang-joong obediently followed my instructions as the leader.

Honestly, I was thinking of doing counter measures to counter the fact that he might accuse me of creating this situation on purpose.

It's a good thing I didn't.

The rest of the practice period went by quickly, and there was no more dissonance in Group 9.

Every night, Yoo Ha-woon and Chae-haru checked on their vocal parts with me, and I was secretly honing my own secret weapon.

"Hyung, what have you been doing by yourself?"

"Oh, nothing much."

Even when Yoo Ha-woon came by unexpectedly in the middle of practice, I tried to keep him around.

"No matter how I look at it, I think you would have prepared something."

"It's my mood, it's my mood."

He flapped his flippers at Chae-haru, who was analyzing him sharply.

This is a hand that should be revealed on the main stage.

Cerberus chuckled as he watched me change the subject every time.

{Master, I've never seen you like this before.}

'So you have a problem with that?'

{No! It's all new and exciting! Show me more!}

'You're a pervert.'

And just like that, the days quickly flashed through on the calendar.

The day of the long-awaited first round of group battles had arrived.

***

"We'll enter in a single file line~."

With the heat sweeping in from June, the staff was already sounding tired.

Even if the group battle rounds were held on the set inside the KNet building, there would still be 200 people in the audience.

The air conditioning was inadequate, and it was like being in a sauna in 36.5 degrees.

But despite the steamy atmosphere, Song Ji-won was in high spirits.

"I knew sister would survive."

"I'm always sitting around doing nothing but giggling, but this is chewing gum."

Holding a mini fan to her face, Song Ji-won gave a thumbs-up to her motivation.

Song Ji-won and her friends, who had watched the 'Asri 2' theme song performance together, had all signed up as audience members for the first round of intuition.

Not only were they excited for season 2, but they'd already also expected the competition to be stiff due to the quality of the 'HIT' stage and the number of standout trainees.

"True story, I'm in the 32000s."

"I'm still on the white screen."

"This is fucked up..."

Most of the time, I couldn't make it past the castle of the Guangclers and lost miserably.

Fortunately, Song Ji-won, who has worked in the game industry and moused hundreds of times, and Dong-ha, a seasoned veteran who also went to the show last season, were able to survive and save their pride.

"Why didn't you bring your camera?"

"Sis, you don't know how strict KNet is about screening, they even hire professional female guards to pat down everyone who enters."

"Wow, I didn't know that."

Song Ji-won often went to concerts and fan meetings whenever she could.

But she hadn't had much experience with live viewing. She had spent less time on the cobblestones than most.

Song Ji-won's classmate, Kang Eun-young, was a "homemaker," aka a homepage master. They graduated together from the Department of Media and Visual Arts, and she became a photographer to fulfill on her hobby.

She also had the attribute of being an idol geek, so it was just a natural skill to become a homemaker.

I was curious about the level of security at KNet that made even such a passionate homa succumb.

"Excuse me, but could you hike up your skirt?"

True to Kang Eun-young's word, the female shikyu actually took it upon herself to check under her skirt.

"I don't know about you, but homemakers like yourselves tend to hide their cameras in different areas, and I've used that method a lot, and it's fine where there's a male guard, but with a female guard like that, it might get caught."

"You're great, and they're great."

This feeling of watching the world's greatest fight.

After passing through the first gate of security, I now had to go through a metal detector.

It was a moment that reminded me of leaving the airport.

"This is how they catch bomb smugglers, man."

"I think so, too. It's a bit harsh, but then again, we home horses have different techniques for hiding cameras, hehe."

After about an hour of censorship, we were allowed to go on set.

It was actually quite large. Of course, it didn't have a raised stage like a typical concert, but it was wide enough to allow us to move around easily.

"Sis, did you bring everything like I told you?"

"Water, towel, fluffy sneakers, emergency snacks, and a hand fan."

"Okay, pass. You're probably going to be standing here for at least four hours, so you came prepared."

As I watched the staff busily prepare the stage, I realized why people come to Intuition.

I was seeing the trainees in real life, not just on a screen.

"On the one hand, it's a shame."

"For what?"

"Well, the first episode of 'Asri 2' hasn't even aired yet, and if I'd gotten a few of these first-round photos out beforehand, the website and bluebird traffic would have exploded."

"I can see where you're coming from, Homa."

Looking at Dong-gi's withered face, Song Ji-won desperately tried to think of something to console him.

"At least we get to see their faces, unlike when we take pictures, so let's settle for that, for today."

"That's right, I'm really here to see Hwan's face today. You wanted to see Si-hwan, right?"

"Of course, I'm a one-trick pony."

Song Ji-won had already made up her mind.

It's okay to be a trainee at a big agency, and it's okay to be a trainee with overwhelming visuals.

But in this day and age, how could a trainee with such a rare visual/dance/singing talent get the first pick?

That's out of line.

Song Ji Won was excited to see Yu Si-hwan's fantastic live performance.

The question is, when will KNet show Yu's group's performance?

'I'm sure they'll put it at the very end.'

So far, only one video has been released for 'Asri 2', and that's 'HIT'. There are only a handful of contestants who generated significant buzz through that one video.

Naturally, in order to create a dramatic effect, the main characters of the topic would generally be pushed to the back. The opponent is KNet.

The impatient wait continued.

There were many things to check, such as the sound system, stage floor tiles, and lighting system.

Another hour passed.

Finally, there was a movement from the side of the stage and a cheer erupted from the audience at the far end.

"Hello, national managers. I'm Ko Hyun-joo, the general manager and MC of 'Idol Stardig Season 2', and I'd like to thank you all for your never ending support."

"Wow, it's really Ko Hyun-joo!"

"He's crazy!"

After all, actors are actors.

Like rain pouring down on a drought-stricken land, the wilted audience was quickly revitalized by Ko Hyun-joo's appearance.

"Welcome, managers, to today's first round of Group Battles. Before we get down to business, I'd like to make a few important announcements."

The announcements included how to select the winning team for this round, the upcoming referendum on the 'Asri 2' website, and tips for purchasing benefit items.

For Song Ji-won, who was one of the most enthusiastic participants in 'Asri 1', the scope was easily predictable.

"In this battle round, there will be a total of 16 groups competing against each other for eight songs. At the end of each round, managers on site can use the remote control given to them when they enter to press the number of the group they think did better, and it doesn't end there."

Ko deliberately stalled a bit to make room for an editorial point.

"After the group voting, the managers will vote for one additional trainee who they think did the best within the group they voted for. This participant's vote will determine the benefits they receive, so please vote carefully."

The double voting system was also used in 'Asri 1'.

In previous seasons, you voted for the trainee you thought did the best in the two groups that competed against each other, and the team with the most votes in the final group won the victory benefit.

This time around, they've refined it a bit more.

"Hey, maybe you should think about the next best trainee this time, too."

"Eh, no thanks, I only have my eyes for one."

"You're so single-minded."

MC Ko Hyun-joo paused for a moment, looking at the crew's signals, before making a final announcement.

"Finally, there's still the most important thing to convey to the national managers: the unique system that only 'Idol Stardig Season 2' has. The 'All-Star Voting', 'Match Prediction', and 'Sponsor' features will open after episode 1 airs."

"The time has finally come for me to show my true colors."

"Sis, your eyes really scare me."

Song Ji-won didn't work at a game company for nothing.

I've played a lot of games since I was in the lunchroom to expand my knowledge base, and baseball definitely wasn't the only game I've played.

And one of the best parts of the baseball games was the game prediction system to predict on the outcome of the game.

For Song Ji-won, the format of 'Asri' was a piece of cake.

"If you're a manager who watched Season 1, you'll be familiar with these three features: the All-Star Vote, where you can vote for your favorite picks from the nation's managers once a day; the Match Prediction, where you can predict which group will win the upcoming rounds and which contestant will win the MVP; and Sponsor, where you can use the money you earn from the Match Prediction to support your own picks. You've been waiting for this, haven't you?"

"Yeah—!"

"As we said in the trailer, your picks will be more important than ever in Season 2, so we hope you'll do a good job and raise enough money."

A system of sending sponsorships to contestants you root for after they've been ranked and earned corresponding rewards.

All survival programs encourage hyper-immersion.

Viewers need to be completely invested in the contestants in order to root for them.

As interest grows, viewership will naturally increase.

From that perspective, 'Idol Stardig' cleverly blends the thrill of a sporting event with the essence of a survival program.

'Even in Season 1, we had a hard time keeping up with the rankings, and this time they've even increased the importance of sponsorships.'

Song Ji-won's head was already aching.

The audience around her sighed as if they knew what was coming.

Feeling that her early aggro had definitely worked, Ko Hyun-joo smiled and started the first round.

"Now that the contestants are all ready, let's now move on with the first round of 'Idol Stardig Season 2' group battle competition in earnest. Play the Stage."