'Is it out of its mind?'
I stared blankly at the system window as that thought crossed my mind. Maintain debut rank until the 3rd ranking announcement? Even Kim Mingi, who ultimately debuted, hadn't sat in the blue chair every time.
'…He was pushed out of the Top 10 once, wasn't he?'
I think it was during the 3rd ranking announcement—right before the final stage—when he briefly fell outside the Top 10. That made his final debut even more dramatic.
It wasn't just Kim Mingi. In
Especially around the Top 10 threshold, aside from a small number of upper-tier trainees, no one could be certain who would rise into the Top 10 or fall out of it.
'And in the middle of all that… this thing wants me to not only stay in the Top 10 until the end, but secure a debut seat.'
In other words, the system was demanding this from me: no matter what, I must secure screen time and narrative relevance to stay talked about.
Don't even think about dropping.
"..."
I looked again at the glowing system window and corrected my thoughts.
Whoever created this system and made me regress… that bastard was definitely not some benevolent being giving me "luck."
***
Given our team composition, the trainees must have immediately realized what the producers wanted from our team.
First, me—formerly from KRM—and Yoo Chan-hee—from DIO. A rivalry dynamic the producers and viewers both want to see.
On top of that, they added Hwang young-oh, who'd exchanged subtle checks and cold shoulders with me during the previous team battle. And they even put Yoo Minseong—who'd clashed with Do Ji-hyuk and Cheon Serim on the opposite team last round—into the mix.
The picture was clear.
'They want conflict. Obviously.'
If conflict didn't arise, that would be the strange part. This was the producers sending us a message.
'If you want real screen time… play along.'
Conflict arcs in survival shows are nothing more than storytelling devices. No matter how it goes, it ends with a slightly uncomfortable reconciliation scene, and every trainee walks away with both gains and losses.
Which meant that if conflict was truly unavoidable, the important thing was how we handled it—where we drew the line. The real question was how well the trainees balanced and navigated that line.
"I don't want to do this song."
…Which meant that someone like this—someone who didn't calculate anything—was both the booster and the brake for the conflict narrative the producers had set up.
"Why not?"
"…I don't think that concept suits me. And I've never practiced anything like it."
Yoo Chan-hee gave a vague excuse while stubbornly staring straight at me. His sulky face made a sigh slip out of me naturally.
"Mm, then… Chan-hee, what song do you want to do?"
"Day Nine by Breakdown sunbaenims."
Breakdown was a 5-year-old senior idol group under DIO. With a strong hip-hop base and powerful rap, it was a song Yoo Chan-hee—who was aiming to be a main rapper—would naturally be comfortable with.
"But Chan-hee, wouldn't Day Nine be lacking in vocals?"
And it also meant the song was lacking in the balance needed for the Reverse Mission. Since positions were being switched around, a well-balanced song would be much more advantageous.
At Do Ji-hyuk's words, Yoo Chan-hee frowned sharply and shot back:
"But I think it's the safer choice. I know I can pull it off well."
"But then the positions will be too skewed to one side. Is that really okay?"
"What's wrong with that? As long as we do well, that's all that matters."
"…I agree with Chan-hee. I think Day Nine will be easier to highlight than 'Same And Different.'"
Unable to watch any longer, Cheon Serim subtly intervened to shift the direction, but Yoo Chan-hee cut her off with a sulky remark, so it had little effect.
Then Hwang young-oh, who had been watching the atmosphere, added his agreement, and the situation began unfolding exactly as the producers had designed.
'…I knew this would happen.'
I kept quiet and observed the situation for a moment. This atmosphere was far beyond what we could gloss over as a simple team discussion. The tension among the members was undeniable.
'I shouldn't have given a song suggestion.'
I had been the first to give an opinion during the brief team meeting before the song selection. I was the one who suggested "Same And Different" by Orchid, now 6-year idols.
So this situation was practically predetermined. There was no way Yoo Chan-hee or Hwang young-oh would agree with whatever I wanted.
'But I didn't think he'd be this bad at separating business from personal grudges.'
In the previous team battle, Hwang young-oh had shown that once the majority leaned one way, he'd swallow his complaints and follow the group. Yoo Minseong—judging from previous
So the biggest mistake was underestimating just how deep Yoo Chan-hee's hostility toward me ran.
"Mm..."
Do Ji-hyuk, who seemed ready to mediate, let out a troubled hum. After all, Yoo Chan-hee wasn't entirely wrong, so they couldn't just shut his idea down without consideration.
In survival shows, there are always two paths.
One: maintain your usual concept and aim for stability.
Two: go for a bold rearrangement and add a new concept—hit big if it works, crash hard if it doesn't.
And more often, the stages that become "legendary" are the second kind. Likewise, the stages that get harshly penalized are also the second kind. Yoo Chan-hee was arguing for stability based on that logic.
But that's only the "basic template" of survival shows.
'There's one more thing to factor in.'
The unique nature of
That's why they pushed the trainees with an ambitious creation mission from the very first round—to showcase that concept clearly.
From that, I learned: no matter how logical, stability scores low with this production team.
'Because the safe route isn't entertaining.'
Of course, the voting power belonged to the public—idol makers. So the staff were bound to give more screen time to teams taking new challenges, trying varied concepts, and creating interesting narratives.
Which meant more camera time, and thus more votes.
"..."
And any trainee with even a bit of awareness would have already picked up on this.
I subtly rolled my eyes and met the gaze of Cheon Serim, who seemed to be analyzing things similarly. We exchanged a glance, then simultaneously turned our heads.
There, we met the eyes of Do Ji-hyuk.
All three of us locked eyes in the empty air—and we instantly understood.
'We're calculating.'
We were figuring out how to rein in Yoo Chan-hee.
And in that moment of shared understanding, the three of us had essentially formed an alliance.
"…Then what does trainee Yoo Minseong think?"
Once we understood each other, there was no need to hesitate. I was the one who spoke first.
"Huh? Me?"
Yoo Minseong, who hadn't been able to voice any strong opinions in the previous mission either, jumped in surprise at suddenly being addressed. I nodded lightly and answered calmly.
"Yes. Could you tell us which of the two songs you prefer, Minseong? I think it'd be good if we heard everyone's thoughts."
"Ah… I…"
Unable to speak easily, Yoo Minseong's eyes drifted across the team members' faces.
He saw Yoo Chan-hee radiating hostility, Hwang young-oh sticking close beside him, and then me, Do Ji-hyuk, and Cheon Serim sitting rather relaxed.
After that, his gaze shifted toward Yoo Chan-hee.
That was when—
"Whichever way this goes, we're going to have to push another team out anyway. So don't worry about anything else—just tell us which song you want to do."
At Do Ji-hyuk's words, Yoo Minseong flinched, lifted his head, and glanced over at the area where the signboards were set up. Then his expression hardened.
"Mmm..."
His involuntary groan made me curious, and I followed his gaze to look at the trainees who had already secured their songs and were standing beneath the song signboards.
And then I couldn't help but admire him.
'…This guy really does think fast.'
What looked like Do Ji-hyuk merely reminding him of the mission rules must have struck Yoo Minseong as pressure.
Song selection in the 2nd mission worked differently from the 1st. Starting from the lowest-ranking team, teams chose a mission song—but higher-ranking teams could push them out and claim the song instead.
We didn't know which song Kang Hyunjin, ranked 1st, would choose, but since I (2nd) and Do Ji-hyuk (3rd) were on the same team, we could likely choose whatever song we wanted and secure it. One way or another, we would have to push another team out.
Right now, the lower-ranking teams were already taking up their songs one by one—and as for Day Nine…
'A trainee from his own agency chose it first.'
Among the VOT Entertainment trainees who had participated with him, one surviving trainee had already taken the slot.
Which meant that, given the mission structure, Yoo Minseong couldn't choose Day Nine.
'Only two teams can choose Day Nine. If we push the other team out, his own agency mate becomes our opponent—meaning he'd have to help eliminate that person. But if we push out his agency mate instead, he'd also feel guilty doing that.'
Emotionally and morally, Yoo Minseong would desperately want to avoid that outcome.
Up until a moment ago, he seemed too overwhelmed by the internal tension to notice where his agency mate was positioned—so Do Ji-hyuk had dropped that subtle reminder to steer his attention in the direction he wanted.
And that choice was absolutely correct.
"I… I think Orchid sunbaenims' Same And Different would be better."
Yoo Minseong had sided with us.
The reactions split instantly. Yoo Chan-hee and Hwang young-oh's expressions crumpled, while the tension in Do Ji-hyuk and Cheon Serim's shoulders eased slightly.
And then Cheon Serim was the one who tied the situation together.
"So right now, that's four votes for Same And Different and two for Day Nine, right? Should we go with majority rule then?"
"That's probably best. It's a shame we couldn't pick something everyone was satisfied with, but…"
"We might still find our groove once we start working on it!"
With those two, who worked almost suspiciously well in sync, setting the atmosphere, Yoo Chan-hee and Hwang young-oh exchanged quick glances—clearly torn on whether to push back or concede.
But they had no chance to voice anything.
"Let's try to do well together. Don't worry too much about the concept yet. With rearrangement and structure changes, it can shift a lot."
Before they could raise another objection, Do Ji-hyuk smoothly cut in—framing it as encouragement but effectively shutting down further debate about concept or arrangement.
"Ah..."
"Okay?"
"…Yes."
Being pressured like that, they couldn't really push back anymore. And the majority had already decided.
'No matter how simple-minded they are, they must realize there's nothing to gain from opposing this further.'
As I expected, Yoo Chan-hee shot a quick glance at the surrounding cameras, then reluctantly nodded. Having already lost the momentum, he didn't seem willing to risk an evil edit.
"…I'm fine with it too."
And with that, Hwang young-oh had no choice but to follow the majority as well.
"Team 4 chooses Orchid sunbaenims' Same And Different."
As Do Ji-hyuk said this into the mic with a smile, I looked over at Cheon Serim. He caught my gaze and gave me a grin.
Seeing that smile made me recall something he had said before.
—Hyungs, wouldn't it be fun if we ended up on the same team? Like once a problem comes up, Ji-hyuk hyung and Yuha hyung would team up trying to mediate everything. Oh, what if a legendary chemistry comes out of it?
That comment… was starting to feel oddly prophetic.
"Let's do our best."
Nodding half-heartedly at Do Ji-hyuk as he passed by, I headed with the others to stand beneath the signboard with our chosen song.
The opposing team hadn't been determined yet—only one team remained: the team with Kang Hyunjin.
That meant we might automatically end up against Kang Hyunjin's team, but I wasn't worried.
'There's no way he'd pick Same And Different.'
In my previous life, Kang Hyunjin had avoided conceptual songs whenever possible. You could tell just from the songs he chose.
He preferred stability over risk, choosing songs closer to easy listening.
"Team 1 will push out Team 6 and choose C.X's 'Noize.'"
Meaning, he wouldn't choose something like Same And Different—a song with an inherently strong concept.
"With Team 1's choice, Team 6 will naturally move to Orchid's Same And Different."
But there was one thing I hadn't predicted.
"..."
…that I hadn't checked who was in the team he pushed out.
"Mmm..."
Cheon Serim frowned slightly as he looked at the trainees who had stepped in right beside our group. Among them, I spotted a familiar trainee—Joo Danwoo—his face completely drained of color.
And I thought:
'…We're screwed.'
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