Screaming at the sight of the cyber roulette wasn’t just the other participants’ thing.
‘Damn,’
I couldn’t help but stiffen my expression, recalling the bad experience from the First Team Competition due to that cyber roulette.
‘Because of that, I ended up doing a Tail Rose song that didn’t even suit me back then.’
As I remembered, Yoo Seol also got a boy group song that didn’t match her at all.
Calling it coincidence might work, but there were certainly lots of suspicious bits.
I wouldn’t have said anything if it were a manual roulette, but that cheap program looked like it could be rigged with just a little touch, so my doubts kept growing.
Of course, even if I had my suspicions, there wasn’t anything we could do.
Even if we were worn out by the later parts of the program, the production team was still Na Ah Ah’s kingdom.
If I expressed dissatisfaction here, the production team could cleverly edit me into an unlikable character, and I’d be in for a disaster at the end.
No one raised objections against the potential rigging of the cyber roulette since it was unclear.
“Now, let’s have one member from each team come up to the stage!”
At Han Si-woo’s words, our team members started glancing at each other.
Going out now would get us at least another shot on air, but the burden of selecting the song for the final competition was heavy.
It was definitely a high-risk, low-return situation.
Maybe that’s why their gazes soon… whoosh. swoosh… turned toward me, the practical center of our team.
As everyone’s gaze fell on me, Lee Hye-jeong glanced at me with pity and asked,
“Ye-rin, should I go?”
“…No.”
To be honest, I hesitated to go out myself, but I couldn’t let Lee Hye-jeong go. And there was no way I could send the youngest Seo Yoo-jin out.
“I’ll go.”
“Wow-!!!”
“Ye-rin unnie, fighting!”
In the end, I went up to the stage, receiving my team members’ cheers.
And for the opposing team…
“Unnie.”
“…Ye-rin.”
As expected, Yoo Seol came out.
While exchanging a glance with Yoo Seol, the production team set a red button in the middle, and Han Si-woo continued hosting.
“Now, team one has participant Ha Ye-rin, and team two has participant Yoo Seol. Both participants are the ones who placed 1st and 2nd in the last ranking announcement, so you can’t help but feel the tension.”
whisper-.
Han Si-woo took out a coin he had prepared beforehand from his pocket.
“Let’s decide who picks the song first by flipping a coin. Ha Ye-rin, Yoo Seol, please choose between heads or tails!”
It might not matter, but… I wanted to be the last to go.
“…I’ll choose heads.”
“Then I’ll take tails.”
“Yes, it’s Ha Ye-rin with heads and Yoo Seol with tails. Now, let’s flip the coin.”
flip.
thud.
As the coin left Han Si-woo’s hand and spun in the air, it settled back into Han Si-woo’s hand.
And the side that was facing up was…
‘…Heads.’
It was heads.
“Heads has come up. Priority goes to participant Ha Ye-rin. Ha Ye-rin, would you like to spin the roulette first or later?”
“…I’ll spin later.”
“Alright then, Yoo Seol, please step forward and spin the roulette first.”
Thankfully, I could spin the roulette in the order I wanted.
I quietly cheered for Yoo Seol, who stepped forward first.
“Unnie, pick a good song.”
“…Thanks.”
Though Yoo Seol nodded in response to me, her expression was less than cheerful.
She looked more anxious than usual… now her face seemed even stiffer.
Huff….
With a heavy sigh, Yoo Seol…
press.
…pressed the button.
spin-.
The roulette began to turn.
Yoo Seol watched it as if the King of Hell was deciding her fate.
The other team members clasped their hands together, praying for a good song.
And as the roulette gradually slowed and a song was selected…
click.
[Energetic Start! – Rolling One]
“Team two’s song for the final competition is Rolling One’s ‘Energetic Start!’”
“Phew…”
“Wowww….”
“Phew, what a relief…”
Yoo Seol and the rest of team two sighed in relief.
‘Energetic Start!’
A title song from the first album of Rolling One, one of the best girl groups produced by Shin PD.
It was a bright high teen pop song that encapsulated the fresh feel of Rolling One’s rookie days, now that they had passed into the realm of veterans.
Though it felt somewhat light for a final competition song…
With just the right difficulty that wasn’t too hard and not too easy…
Given that it was a hit, practically all idol fans knew it, and importantly, it focused heavily on dance, making it an optimal song for team two, which included Yoo Seol and Na Han-na.
‘I could follow the original as it is, and the arrangement difficulty isn’t too hard either… It’s a total win.’
As Yoo Seol picked a good song, I felt my own anxiety rising.
“Now, let’s have participant Ha Ye-rin step up to spin the roulette!”
“…Yes.”
With a tense expression, I stepped forward, and my team members cheered for me.
“Ha Ye-rin fighting!”
“Ye-rin unnie, don’t stress, just pick!”
Even Yoo Seol, who had already chosen the song, gave me a comforting look with a more relaxed expression.
“Pick a good song too.”
“…Thank you, unnie.”
With everyone’s expectations and cheers behind me, I stood in front of the red button.
As I stared fiercely at the roulette button, Han Si-woo casually asked me with a laugh.
“Participant Ha Ye-rin, do you have a song in mind that you wish for?”
“Um…”
To be honest…
I didn’t want a too generic song.
Since this competition was my last, I wanted something a bit more explosive and challenging.
But sharing my thoughts outright was tricky, so I dodged it appropriately, answering.
“I respect all the seniors I saw earlier on the screen, and I think all their songs are great, so I don’t mind what comes up.”
“Haha! I see! Then, participant Ha Ye-rin! Please spin the roulette now!”
Huff.
At Han Si-woo’s words, I sighed once and gathered my will in my hand.
And…
press.
I finally pressed the roulette button.
spin-.
The roulette spun, and various songs whirled by.
Even though I had said I wanted a challenging song, it felt a bit off-key to do something too experimental for the final competition.
‘It should have some weight, be shocking yet popular.’
It was a somewhat tricky order, but there were songs in that roulette that met those conditions.
I silently wished for those kinds of songs to appear…
‘God, please.’
Unbeknownst to me, I had started praying to heaven.
But at that moment…
I was about to shift my gaze up to the ceiling when I locked eyes with someone.
It was none other than… Shin PD.
And Shin PD looked at the spinning roulette and my anxious face…
‘Laughing?’
…He was grinning.
As soon as I saw Shin PD smile, I felt a chill run down my spine.
At the same time…
‘The two of you… Let’s see what happens…’
Shin PD’s last words, as if he would definitely take revenge someday, echoed in my mind.
flip, thud.
Finally, the spinning roulette stopped.
boom.
[Hero and Demon King: The Tale of Light and Corruption – Gnews]
“……”
“……”
A deep silence enveloped the set, leaving even Han Si-woo momentarily speechless.
And on my team members’ faces, as they watched the song that had been selected, despair and dismay filled the room.
I had vented some frustrations by touching Lee Hye-jeong’s screen time, but it didn’t mean Shin PD’s anger had fully subsided.
How to take revenge on Ha Ye-rin, who dared disrespect him?
The answer was simple.
It was impossible to knock Ha Ye-rin out of the debut team since she already had a solid fan base, so at the very least, I had to prevent Na Ah Ah from winning.
However, Shin PD couldn’t openly neglect Ha Ye-rin due to the advertiser pressure from Na Ah Ah.
So he decided to showcase one of his specialties.
That is, to subtly screw over a hard-to-touch rival while pretending it’s an accident.
The cyber roulette could be rigged.
And Shin PD had secretly coordinated with the props director to select the song for Ha Ye-rin’s team.
It was none other than Gnews’s ‘Hero and Demon King: The Tale of Light and Corruption,’ produced by Shin PD’s faction.
Just looking at the title raises alarm bells about this song. While it had some success as a hit, that was solely due to the passionate fans of Gnews fielding it.
The concept of this song was about a fantasy hero and the dark overlord, but its juvenile lyrics and cringeworthy story made it pretty much unbearable to listen to.
Even now, it remained a banned song among Gnews fans, marking a dark history and stain for the group.
It was a song that no current top-tier idol could possibly pull off.
No matter how good Ha Ye-rin was, once the song was drawn, there would be no way to handle it.
Ha Ye-rin and her team were bound to mess up the final live performance, which would undoubtedly go down in history forever.
From the production team’s perspective, it was also a great opportunity to grab viewership with a shocking scene at the bitter end of a program that had already lost its spark.
‘Who did you think you were to mess with the PD? As punishment, I’ll gift you a stage of infamous history that will haunt you until your retirement.’
Feeling pleased with his plan, Shin PD observed Ha Ye-rin’s team members’ faces.
Seeing the expressions on the members of Ha Ye-rin’s team as they contemplated the selected song seemed to paint their futures in unimaginable gloom.
Shin PD snickered and turned his gaze toward Ha Ye-rin as well.
There was nothing more delightful than seeing that stiff, cold, annoying girl wearing a face of despair.
But just as Shin PD shifted his sight toward Ha Ye-rin…
‘…Hmm?’
Shin PD had to doubt his own eyes.
And no wonder…
‘Laughing?’
Though she ultimately covered her mouth with her hand,
Ha Ye-rin was indeed smiling at the selected song.
Even though it was a song that no one would dare to handle… she looked like she had hit the jackpot.
‘Hero and Demon King: The Tale of Light and Corruption.’
A cringeworthy title that wouldn’t even fit a theme song for an anime.
When you actually listened to it, the lyrics were even more cheesy.
I had heard it before.
‘As soon as I heard the first line, I was so turned off that I quickly turned it off.’
It was definitely a difficult song to pull off, and it was the worst option among the available choices.
But…
[Trait: Sky Demon – You are the maverick of the entertainment world, the Sky Demon of the idol industry, the devil of talent bestowed from heaven. The moment you appear, everyone else is merely a commoner. Please conquer the complacent entertainment world and cover Korea with your name along with your fanatics.]
As soon as I saw my trait, there was a concept I wanted to try out.
Since I had yet to find a song that encapsulated the concept I had in mind, I hadn’t dared to attempt it…
‘But with this song…, I can give it a shot.’
The song I picked, ‘Hero and Demon King: The Tale of Light and Corruption,’ could adequately convey the concept I was yearning for.
Admittedly, it wasn’t an easy route, but if successful, I could potentially create a pretty substantial stage for the final competition.
With Lee Hye-jeong and Seo Yoo-jin being adept in arrangements, it was worth a try.
‘To end Na Ah Ah’s final stage with the concept I desire…’
Even just the thought of it sent shivers of excitement down my spine and fueled my spirit of challenge.
It made me smile.
At the same time, my gut feeling about the final competition…
It seemed like a pretty remarkable stage would unfold.
