The final round, true to its name , gave viewers the authority to choose the competition song.
Viewers were shown the concept, candidate songs, and choreography in advance, and then voted. The trainees then formed teams based on the song and choreography decided by the two-week voting period, and performed in the final round.
Unlike the first round—where harsh creative missions and other "brutal" tasks were imposed without mercy—this time, trainees only needed to focus on practice.
So, among all the competitions held so far, this one could have been the most comfortable for the trainees… but of course, the production team had no intention of leaving us be.
"The leader of each team will be the trainee with the highest rank, and the leader may freely assign positions to the team members."
In other words, they added a rule that gave the highest-ranked trainee full decision-making power over the entire team—an obvious setup for conflict.
"Will the two trainees with the highest rankings please step forward."
The ones who stepped forward were Do Ji-hyuk and Yoo Chan-hee.
Yoo Chan-hee looked flustered, as if he hadn't expected this format at all. Ji-hyuk, on the other hand, already had the look of someone who had a plan.
"Starting with first-place trainee Do Ji-hyuk, please call the name of the trainee you want on your team. You will take turns. In addition, the first-place trainee receives one more special privilege."
"A privilege…?"
"What is it?"
It was already unfair enough that the top two trainees held all decision-making power regarding the teams, but the mention of another privilege made the trainees whisper nervously.
Ignoring their reactions, the MC revealed a shocking perk.
"If there is any trainee among those chosen by Yoo Chan-hee whom you want, trainee Do Ji-hyuk may take that trainee."
"What—so…"
"Hyung can basically make a team entirely of the trainees he wants?"
All eyes turned to Do Ji-hyuk. According to the MC, Ji-hyuk could essentially create his own dream team for the final round.
Not only that, he could take all the desired positions and assign them however he wished—an overwhelming advantage for this round.
Meanwhile, the conditions were clearly disadvantageous for Yoo Chan-hee.
The staff seemed aware of this imbalance, so they gave Yoo Chan-hee one way to stop Ji-hyuk.
"However, trainee Yoo Chan-hee may block the steal twice. In those cases, trainee Do Ji-hyuk will not be able to take the trainee he wants. And once the team sizes are filled, no further steals are possible."
In other words, Ji-hyuk had to choose carefully when to steal—without misjudging the timing.
And the trap in this rule was obvious enough that both Ji-hyuk and Chan-hee would have to think very carefully.
One wrong move and they'll get criticized and lose votes.
It sounded fancy on paper. You could even argue the privilege was justified.
Giving special privileges to first place is common in other survival auditions too, and structurally, there's nothing wrong with it.
But the hidden trap was that one person was being handed too much responsibility.
If the leader had to make every decision, then all blame for bad choices would fall solely on the leader.
Which meant the hardship started from the very first pick.
Choose only high-ranked trainees and you'll be called greedy.
Choose only close friends and you'll be accused of favoritism.
But no one would want to intentionally pick a trainee with noticeably weaker skills either.
In other words—no matter where you stepped, it was a landmine.
This is more of a penalty than a privilege.
Maybe the show wanted to keep things dramatic until the end, but since the burden fell onto the current 1st and 2nd place trainees, the others were probably relieved.
To avoid as many pitfalls as possible, the best approach would be to pick trainees fairly—balancing skill and existing relationships.
Then, instead of the leader deciding positions alone, it would be safer to ask each trainee for their preference and let them choose.
Yoo Chan-hee would likely try to avoid pressure and go that route.
As for Do Ji-hyuk…
He's probably not even thinking about a dream team.
No one wants to lose the spotlight unnecessarily.
Since the competition is still ongoing, screen time is everything. Forming a team solely with high-ranking trainees would be like cutting your own chances.
So he'd probably choose a mix—some high ranks, some low ranks—and try to craft a storyline where he shines. He'd also pick positions that let him stand out on stage as much as possible.
"Then we will now begin team selection!"
But my prediction was completely wrong.
"I will take trainee Kang Hyun-jin from trainee Yoo Chan-hee's team."
Do Ji-hyuk didn't seem interested in being cautious at all.
***
"Let's do our best."
"Fighting!"
After all team members were set, the ten selected trainees sat together in the practice room.
When Ji-hyuk smiled and spoke, Cheon Se-rim grinned and chimed in, prompting awkward greetings around the room.
And I… when I saw the lineup, I momentarily lost words.
Do Ji-hyuk, Cheon Se-rim, Kang Hyun-jin, Joo Dan-woo, Gyeong Ji-won, Park Won-hyo, Yoo Min-seong, Zixuan, Hwang Young-oh…
…Plus me.
It was almost an all-star lineup.
Except for Zixuan, isn't everyone here a main-position trainee?
And on top of that—
—I will take trainee Aiden Lee…
—I-I refuse!
At one point he even tried to take Aiden Lee. The trainee who ranked 5th in the latest ceremony—a main rapper—but failed to get him.
—We can't be on the same team as 2nd place, right?
Judging from that question, he would've taken Yoo Chan-hee too if the rules allowed it.
…Then it would've been Yoo Chan-hee's team without Yoo Chan-hee.
At any rate, except for the two failed steals, the team was exactly what Ji-hyuk wanted. He did seem a little disappointed about not getting Aiden Lee or the 5th-place target he had been aiming for.
Honestly, I never thought he'd pull trainees so aggressively.
Even the production staff looked surprised at how greedy he was. They must have assumed he'd take just a few trainees while being careful about optics—not go this far.
That's why I couldn't understand him.
This lineup might benefit the team, but… wouldn't it be completely unhelpful for Do Ji-hyuk himself?
If this had been a previous round where we had to compete against other teams, things might be different—but for this final round, even if we formed teams, it ultimately became an individual match.
Naturally, what mattered most was standing out within your team. But in that sense, something about the team Do Ji-hyuk built felt strange.
"The weirdest part is that Kang Hyun-jin is even in this team."
Kang Hyun-jin's slump had completely disappeared after the third performance. And since he, like me, had a "legendary fancam" circulating, no one understood better than Kang Hyun-jin how strong his stage presence and performance ability were.
Their positions overlapped, too. Both of them were aspiring main dancers. Without Hyun-jin, the odds of Ji-hyuk receiving more spotlight would increase. So why bring him?
The more I thought about it, the less sense his choices made.
And my doubts only grew deeper when Ji-hyuk spoke.
"I'll start with the positions I have in mind. I was thinking Yu Ha as main vocal, Hyun-jin as main dancer, and Dan-woo as main rapper. I'd like the sub-positions to be decided after discussion. As for center, I want us to vote on that."
"…Uh, hyung, you're not taking any main position?"
Park Won-hyo asked, surprised that Ji-hyuk would hand over every main position instead of claiming one for himself first.
"I'm planning to apply for center, but I'm not choosing myself for it. Vote for the trainee you think fits best."
The refreshingly casual response made everyone's expressions go strange. Then someone raised his hand, drawing all our attention.
"…Can I ask why? Why you decided the main positions like that."
It was Hwang Young-oh. He glanced briefly at me, then spoke as if dissatisfied by Ji-hyuk's decisions.
Hwang Young-oh was currently ranked 11th. And in terms of votes, he wasn't far behind me.
If I hadn't received the short-form video benefit, things might've gotten dangerous.
Since he knew how small the vote gap was, Young-oh probably felt regret. He had clashed with me several times for the main vocal position, so losing his chance to compete this round must have been frustrating.
So it seemed he was trying to get Ji-hyuk to reconsider.
"It's because I think these are the best positions."
Ji-hyuk dismissed Young-oh's complaint with a single short answer.
"The best positions?"
"The moment I heard the song, I immediately thought Yu Ha suited main vocal best—his tone fits it. Same for main rapper. Dan-woo is the only aspiring main rapper in this team. And for dancers, there's no one in
"Ah…"
"Well, that's true…"
In this team, the only trainee with the skill to serve as main rapper was Joo Dan-woo.
If Ji-hyuk had succeeded in bringing in the 5th-place trainee he wanted, it might have been different, but the moment Yoo Chan-hee protected 5th place, our team's rapper slot was as good as set.
As for main dancer… that part I don't fully get, though.
Of course, among the aspiring main dancers in our team, no one could surpass Kang Hyun-jin.
But did he really bring Hyun-jin just for that? Because he's the best dancer in
For what purpose?
"Ah, but… we also want to have a chance to compete."
Still, despite my personal doubts, Ji-hyuk's reasoning was sound enough that the other trainees looked disappointed but accepting.
Except for main vocal.
"We think we're skilled enough for main vocal too. If we don't even try, I think we'll regret it later."
Within our team, there were three trainees who had performed as main vocals in previous rounds: myself, Gyeong Ji-won, and Hwang Young-oh.
With so many alternatives, Young-oh wasn't going to give up easily. We all knew our skills were on similar levels.
"Can we at least do a test?"
Gyeong Ji-won felt the same. Since this was the final round, we couldn't just accept Ji-hyuk's word and give up.
"We can do a test."
Surprisingly, Ji-hyuk accepted the request without hesitation. Then his eyes drifted toward me.
"Is that okay with you, Yu Ha? If you want another position, I can assign it. If you want main vocal without testing, that's fine too. What do you want to do?"
I looked at him quietly. His relaxed tone carried a subtle, probing nuance.
I didn't know what he was thinking.
"Let's do the test."
Either way, I wasn't planning to avoid it.
"I also think deciding main vocal through a test is best. Since it's the last round, I don't want anyone to have regrets…"
At my words, Young-oh frowned slightly while looking at me. I alternated my gaze between him and Gyeong Ji-won.
"If Gyeong Ji-won and Young-oh hyung are okay with it, I want us to each sing the competition song. Then we can vote on who did best."
"…Fine."
"I'm okay with that."
Neither of them refused. The stage for the test was set, and after yielding my turn to the other two, I looked forward.
『Specialty (Vocal) Stat Growth!』
Specialty (Vocal): A– → S– (Stat +3, Unlock Complete – Synchronization Achieved)
The system window announcing yet another upgrade—earned through the main quest reward—floated before me.
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