Chapter 78

Second Round Ranking Announcement Ceremony.

The day to reveal the 24 surviving participants.

Seo-yoon Unni was gripping my hand tightly.

I whispered to Seo-yoon Unni as quietly as possible so the microphone wouldn’t pick it up.

– Unni, manage your expression a bit.

Got it.

Seo-yoon Unni’s face was tense.

The reason was.

“23rd place trainee is…!”

Because of the trainee called out first.

“Gu Eun-hee trainee!”

‘Looks like the 1st place reward is pretty hefty.’

Honestly, it couldn’t be helped.

In the first round of voting, you could vote for 7 trainees, but starting from the second round, you could only choose 4 trainees.

This meant the total number of votes had decreased.

– Based on the results of the on-site voting, the 1st place team in each position will receive a reward of votes × 100, and the trainee who ranks 1st overall in their position will receive a reward of 100,000 votes!

Thus, it was only natural that the value of the reward for the 1st place in the second competition was relatively increased.

And for the vocal & dance position, the top spot was taken by Seo-yoon and Na-eun Unni’s team.

Gu Eun-hee, who was said to have disrupted their practice, ended up receiving the position-based team reward since she was, after all, part of the unnis’ team.

Moreover, whether it was the gathering of that small fandom or if she received sympathy votes, I don’t know, but in the end, Gu Eun-hee survived in 23rd place.

Gu Eun-hee was getting up from her seat and walking towards the MC.

Fortunately, Seo-yoon Unni quickly filled her face with a bright smile and started clapping.

“When I was 58th during the first ranking announcement, I honestly thought I was done for, and I really didn’t expect to survive again this time. I really think this ranking is undeserved, and I will work hard to repay all the Chusers who voted for me by debuting… Thank you so much! I will strive hard from now on!”

Gu Eun-hee, now on stage, was sparkling her eyes while giving her remarks, but I couldn’t tell if I should believe what she was saying.

The second ranking announcement ceremony had begun with unexpected changes since the first ranking announcement.

“I really don’t know.”

“I really want to participate in the third competition…”

“Why are you like that? Don’t cry… Unni, you’ll definitely make it.”

The set was already filled with participants who were misty-eyed.

Even if we became friendly, it was a good thing I didn’t get too attached.

We were only a round away from the second competition, and from 99 down to 24.

Following that, the rankings were announced gradually.

“18th place is Park Ye-eun trainee!”

If possible, I hope Ye-eun Unni makes it to the end.

She’s the only cute one among the participants with a good impact.

The subsequent ranking announcements were also a series of surprises.

Clearly, just reducing the votes caused participants to have fluctuating rankings.
Core trainees with dedicated fandoms tended to maintain their rankings, but those who were grouped with other trainees for voting showed a tendency to drop.

“Now, let me announce the seventh place, which is a debut spot. This participant is from Topist Entertainment. They captivated the audience with their charming voice in the second competition!”

The three of us from Topist Entertainment.

With everyone still unannounced.

“Kim Na-eun trainee!”

I could feel Na-eun Unni’s grip on my hand tighten.

“Unni!”

Seo-yoon Unni jumped up from her seat and tightly hugged Na-eun Unni.

I wouldn’t typically do something so embarrassing, but since it was Na-eun Unni, I stood up and hugged her too.

What was unexpected was that Chae-rin Unni, who had previously been in fourth place, was now pushed down to sixth.

There were two reasons for this.

Firstly, she didn’t receive the first-place reward, and secondly, the Zy fandom was split between Yoon Seo-won and Gong Chae-rin.

After announcements reached from seventh to fifth place, it wrapped up with Hana Unni holding the fifth position.

Once again, Na-eun, Sara, Ha-rang Unni, and Seo-yoon Unni were all nominated for first place.

“Fourth place, Topist Entertainment’s Kim Seo-yoon trainee!”

Phew.

I can’t lose to Kim Seo-yoon.

“Congratulations!”

Seo-yoon Unni, with her back to the camera, whispered in my ear while hugging me.

– Isn’t it nice?

Kim Seo-yoon distorting my pure congratulatory feelings.

I congratulated her with a louder voice.

“Fourth place! Congratulations, Unni!”

Feeling a bit lighter, I settled down comfortably, waiting for the announcement of first place.

.

.

.

“Eh…”

– First place is Jeon Ha-rang trainee!

Once again, I ended up in second place.

Why?

Why, you ask? It must be because of the 100,000 votes, the reward for the first place position.

“Eh…”

“Stop sighing and change your clothes.”

When Sara Unni was called for third place, I had a glimmer of hope, but the problem was that Episode 7 aired just last night.

In other words, a day wasn’t enough time to reflect the events from that episode in the voting.

If it had aired in Episode 6, I might have gotten first place.

It was ruined because of that PD.

“Eh…”

“Ah, stop sighing already.”

“Seo-yoon, who got fourth place, doesn’t understand my feelings…”

“Why is she acting like this again?”

Seo-yoon Unni made a face of disgust.

“Sigh, there’s also someone who got seventh place—should you really be saying that?”

Na-eun Unni jokingly laughed.

Still a bit naive, I guess.

“Sorry, I’ll take it back.”

“Ugh, you only listen to Na-eun Unni and not a word I say?”
“Are you even listening to me?”

“Would you even listen?”

After the ranking announcement, it was finally time to prepare for the third round of the competition.

It was the latter half of Jedol3.

*

In the audiovisual room.

“Nice to meet you, trainees!”

It had only been a few hours since the ranking announcement, but the MC spoke as if it was the first time seeing us today.

Just a spot for editing, I suppose.

Having filmed Jedol3 for almost four months now, I could catch on right away.

“Now, only 24 participants remain. You all should be proud to be here! Applause!”

The atmosphere was still heavy from the sorrowful farewells with the eliminated members, yet all the trainees forced themselves to cheer and clap along to the MC’s lead.

“But now, we have the third round left. And only 13 participants will survive this round. What will the third round be!?”

“Theme Evaluation!”

“That’s right, it’s the theme evaluation. The 24 trainees will be divided into 4 themes for the competition.”

“And of course, there will be rewards for the first place this time as well.”

“Through on-site voting, the first place team will receive 50,000 votes and the remaining members of the first place team will receive 20,000 votes each.”

I’ve heard that starting today, the voting has changed to 2 votes per person.

This means it has as much impact as the rewards for the first place in the second round.

“For the past two weeks, the chusers have voted to pick the images that suit you best. Now, let’s reveal the theme songs for each image!”

On the giant screen in front, the composers and the songs along with choreography videos appeared.

“Hello, we are…”

“The song we are giving you this time is the sexy themed ‘Gossip’.”

.

.

.

“Hello Jedol3 participants, we are Team Alchemy…”

“The song we composed for you is the cute themed ‘Gently’.”

-Gently turn your eyes away

The songs weren’t terrible overall.

But I could feel that they weren’t polished enough; they had the feel of competition songs.

Whatever happens, I just hope it’s not cute…

Please, I hope a lot of people corrected their votes after watching Episode 7 that aired yesterday.

After all the song introduction videos ended, the MC grabbed the microphone.

“Now it’s time to see what songs the chusers have chosen! First, Jeon Ha-rang, please step forward!”
It seemed like there were benefits to being number one in terms of volume.

“What theme do you think the judges chose for Ha-rang, the trainee?”
“I think it might be girl crush.”

I mean, Ha-rang does have that girl crush image since she’s a rapper.

I want to be a girl crush too…

“I wonder if the judges voted for Ha-rang as a girl crush, just as she thought? Hmm…”

The MC gave a mysterious smile for no reason. That uncle was really annoying every time I saw him.

“So, if there’s a trainee who fits the girl crush image, who do you think it is?”
“Me.”

“Uh… I think Hana Unni would be a great fit for girl crush.”
I didn’t even expect that.

“But she’s not exactly girl crush. Is there a trainee who should do something else?”
Ha-rang Unni didn’t hesitate for a second before answering.

“Do-hee!”
Oh, crap.

I almost blurted that out loud. Ever since joining this program, I feel like I’ve been angrier than usual.

As a gentleman, I shouldn’t be feeling this way.

Sigh…

“Alright, now I’ll call out the trainees who will team up with Ha-rang! First, Hana Kwon!”
She clearly has the sexy or girl crush vibe, but even as the announced trainees left the audiovisual room for the practice room, I wasn’t called.

“This time, 2nd place Do-hee Lee, please come up to the stage!”
Please be girl crush.

“Do-hee, what theme do you think you were chosen for?”
“Girl crush.”
“Really?”

The MC seemed confused, the meaningful smile had disappeared. Is there a problem with me being a girl crush?

Should I smash his head?

“Hmm… I understand. Now, I will call out trainees with the same theme as Do-hee! First, Kim Seo-yoon!”
Oh?
Seo-yoon Unni could potentially be girl crush since she could be a bit fierce.

Or maybe not.
On the show, she often acted all feminine and flirtatious, so maybe not.

“Next, Park Ye-eun!”
…Hmm.
Ye-eun Unni is definitely girl crush-worthy.
Her confidently choosing the main vocal during the first competition? Totally girl crush.

“Next is Hwang Yeon-ha!”
Although she’s been labeled as cute all over the community, she is 25 and the oldest, so she could potentially be girl crush…?

“Mei-rin!”
At least she could be pure…

“Finally, Gu Eun-hee!”
Uh…?

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