Genius Idol’s Strategy to Conquer the Entertainment Industry

Chapter 29

Oh Hyun-jin, who seemed to think he had created enough suspense, adjusted his microphone and called out the name of a trainee.

Gradually, members were being added to Oh Hyun-jin’s team.

It was as if he had pre-arranged it, selecting trainees who were obviously good at at least one of vocals, dance, or rap.

“The trainee I will pick is….”

I was pondering who I should choose when my turn came since I didn’t expect to be picked for that team combination.

“B-grade trainee On Raon.”

…Really?

I was momentarily stunned but regained my composure at the sound of the obligatory applause from the trainees. I stepped forward and stood next to Ji Yeon-woo from Bae Gi Music, who had called me.

“This time, trainee On Raon can pick a trainee to be a team member.”

Who should I choose? I didn’t expect to be picked so quickly, so I felt a bit flustered.

Maybe Jun-woo hyung, who has a good personality? Jing Xiao, who seems to attract a lot of attention? Seo Moon-gyeol, who is good in looks, personality, and skills?

At that moment, a trainee raised his hand as if he wanted to be picked.

My eyes widened when I confirmed who it was.

Surprisingly, it was Ban Yo-han. It was the same guy who had nonchalantly ignored my earnest gaze earlier.

Ban Yo-han’s sudden action caused some laughter among the trainees.

Jena also laughed lightly and asked me.

“What will you do?”

I felt a sense of déjà vu. It seemed like he had raised his hand like that when he recommended me as the class president last time.

You sly fox, do you have any conscience?

“…I will choose trainee Ban Yo-han.”

But not choosing him here would be like kicking away the airtime and narrative that had come to me. And that guy knew it too.

I thought ‘fox’ was a very fitting nickname for him.

As Ban Yo-han quickly walked up and stood next to me, a notification popped up.

[Seo Moon-gyeol is worried about you.]

I wondered about Ban Yo-han’s character that even Seo Moon-gyeol from the same agency was worried about me.

I didn’t know why, but the other team members’ expressions also seemed to momentarily tense up. I didn’t know the reason.

Anyway, with Ban Yo-han, our first team was complete.

Our team composition was as follows:

A-grade: Oh Hyun-jin, Kim Sejong, Ji Yeon-woo; B-grade: Ban Yo-han, On Raon; C-grade: Han Da-hoon, Song Jung-hwan.

It wasn’t exactly an ‘Avengers’ lineup, but it didn’t seem to have any noticeable gaps either. It was quite solid overall.

After about 40 more minutes, all 14 teams were formed.

During this process, a team with Na Yoon-jae, Ok Do-yoon, Jing Xiao, and Seo Moon-gyeol, all included, was created, causing sighs among the trainees.

‘If we go up against that team, we will definitely lose.’

I was convinced of it.

Ban Yo-han should be there, but why was he here?

“Now that all 14 teams are decided, we will give you 10 minutes to discuss with your team members which mentor’s song to cover.”

Each team then began to discuss their options.

A camera was assigned to each team to capture the discussion.

In our team, Oh Hyun-jin took the lead in the conversation.

“Since we don’t have much time, we should talk quickly.”

“Yes.”

“First of all, I want to avoid girl group songs.”

“Me too.”

In the first competition, there wasn’t much arrangement involved, making girl group songs, which generally have a high pitch range, quite challenging.

Even in the same male edition of season 1, most trainees wanted to avoid girl group songs.

“I personally want to aim for songs by senior group Jupiter. What do you all think?”

“Jupiter’s songs are good.”

When Oh Hyun-jin brought it up, other trainees actively agreed.

Watching them for a while, I spoke up.

“But won’t the competition be fierce?”

Jupiter, who had gained senior status after a few years in the first tier, had songs that were inherently attractive.

We would get criticized by fans if we didn’t perform well, but that was the same for any song.

Moreover, if we avoided girl group songs.

The remaining male idol mentors were Chronicle, who might have a song from the 20th century; Pluto, who usually did concepts too difficult for competition songs; and Upon, whose strength was in group dances suitable for their ten-member lineup.

Therefore, Jupiter felt like a relatively safe choice, and it was easy to predict that many teams would aim for it.

Of course, I didn’t come to this information for free.

While staying at Grandpa Go Soo-jong’s house, I watched and reviewed all seasons of Pick Heart 1 and 2, learning about the ‘mentor song cover evaluation.’

I wasn’t as knowledgeable about this game world as the NPCs, but I could engage in this conversation to some extent.

“Right. Listening to others, it seems like Shao and Gyeol’s team are also aiming for it.”

Ban Yo-han, who had been quietly listening, agreed with me.

Hearing that the ‘face genius’ team was aiming for it made Han Da-hoon and Song Jung-hwan, who had weaker visuals, flinch for a moment.

It was a good time to start persuading.

“So, I have a suggestion.”

“…What is it?”

“Let’s do a song by Chronicle.”

“I knew you would say that.”

Ban Yo-han muttered quietly.

I ignored him.

“We don’t have much time, so let me quickly give you five reasons why we should choose a song by Chronicle.”

One, Chronicle’s comeback song last year was excellent. It topped music shows several times.

Two, unless the production team wants a failed stage, that song is likely to be chosen for the competition, and the suit, which is a game-changer in such competitions, is the costume.

Three, the choreography isn’t too difficult but exudes sophisticated charm, typical of Chronicle.

Four, the song captures the vocal aspect well with the highlight part after the bridge.

Five, (generously providing understanding) King God General Chronicle’s Muk Teacher will give us lessons, so what more is needed?

Han Da-hoon and Kim Sejong were convinced by the second reason, Song Jung-hwan by the third reason, and Ji Yeon-woo by the fourth reason.

Ban Yo-han didn’t seem to have a strong objection from the beginning.

So the remaining person, whose face couldn’t hide the displeasure as things weren’t going his way, was Oh Hyun-jin.

“One minute left!”

Just in time, Jena announced that we had almost run out of time.

It was time to make a decision.

* * *

“Have you all made your decisions?”

While the trainees were talking, the staff busily placed placards with the names of the mentor groups on one side of the wall.

Jena explained the rules, making it seem like they were about to start a race.

“One representative from each team will come out and hop with their feet together to the placard of their chosen singer.”

Unless you fall, there won’t be much risk of injury. Not bad.

It might look a bit funny, but viewers would be happy as long as the participants don’t get hurt.

In our team, Han Da-hoon confidently volunteered, saying he was good at such things.

“Then, get ready… go!”

The trainees who weren’t participating cheered hard, hoping their team representative would successfully secure the desired mentor’s song.

“Wow!”

“Jing Xiao! Jing Xiao!”

Jing Xiao, who hopped like a kangaroo, was the first to stand in front of Jupiter’s placard.

As expected, the MVP of chicken fights showed his skills.

His movements reminded me of a scarecrow chasing a moving castle.

Another trainee followed and secured a spot, quickly closing Jupiter’s selection.

Han Da-hoon, third overall, stood in front of the Chronicle placard, receiving cheers from our team.

Shortly after, the last wandering trainee weakly hopped towards the Rosetta placard, completing the mentor selection.

Jena glanced at her cue cards and then spoke.

“Now, we’ll announce the competition songs. On the count of three, the representatives at the placards will reveal the stickers.”

This show loves peeling stickers.

“One, two, three!”

Seven stickers were removed simultaneously.

“What? Which one?”

“TOXIC!”

The Chronicle placard revealed the song I had been aiming for, ‘TOXIC.’

There were several reasons why I predicted ‘TOXIC.’

First, the audience, mostly young, wouldn’t choose a song they didn’t know, so it was likely picked from Chronicle’s post-military comeback songs in 2012.

Among the four title tracks released during that period, the song that had good results and was suitable for competition was, in my opinion, ‘TOXIC.’

The rest were fan songs, songs with almost no choreography, or difficult songs, which were excluded.

Based on this reasoning, I was confident about the choice, but still, it was a relief that ‘TOXIC’ was selected. If not, it could have ruined the team’s atmosphere from the start.

[You made an appropriate deduction using some information and your intuition. Intuition +1]

“Thus, all 14 teams and songs for the mentor song cover evaluation are decided!”

A staff member behind Jena pretended to clap above their head.

The trainees followed with moderate cheers.

* * *

After having another bland breakfast at the dormitory, we returned to the auditorium where we had originally gathered and began earnest practice.

Our team received the

roughly divided lyrics and pens from the production team and sat in a circle. In the center was a tablet PC.

“Let’s decide on the leader first.”

“Sure. Anyone wants to be the leader?”

The eldest, Kim Sejong, volunteered, and the leader was quickly decided.

The problem was the center. In such programs, it’s a highly influential position that everyone wants.

Although the show is entirely at the PD’s discretion, the center’s importance often disappears, being central was considered crucial by many.

“Let’s watch the stage video first.”

Kim Sejong operated the tablet and played the stage video.

Chronicle’s ‘TOXIC’ was a dance song that exuded an understated sexiness with the charm of an adult’s ease.

When I thought of ‘sexy,’ the fact that ‘On Raon’ was a minor crossed my mind.

Well… when has this industry ever cared about that?

Fortunately, the lyrics and choreography didn’t include overtly explicit appeals, so I thought I could interpret it appropriately.

After the stage video ended, a window popped up asking if we wanted to learn the choreography and song. I tried both and failed.

When will my intelligence go up? When will I become an omniscient character who can ace the learning pass?

After the video ended, Ji Yeon-woo spoke gently.

“It seems like minors wouldn’t fit as the center for this song.”

“You never know.”

Oh Hyun-jin, who had been sulking, responded a bit defensively. Han Da-hoon and I nodded in agreement.

Although I looked like a teenager on the outside, mentally, I was the oldest here. In my world, you all would be calling me hyung.

“Then let’s each take turns doing the killing part’s song and choreography? Just capture the feeling, and then we can vote for the center.”

A trainee made a reasonable suggestion, and everyone agreed.

The killing part that everyone knew happened to be Muk Hye-sung’s part.

One person wrapped their hands around another person’s neck as if choking them, then slid down. The eye contact, as if they wouldn’t let go, was particularly important.

This kind of choreography was awkward to practice alone, so a partner was needed.

Oh Hyun-jin looked at me and said.

“I practiced this song during the company’s monthly evaluation. Raon was my partner then, so could you do it this time too?”

I was about to agree without much thought when Ban Yo-han, smiling brightly, interrupted.

“Can I do it? I think I’m still lacking in skill and experience, so I won’t apply for the center, but I’d like to try this.”

“Oh, yes. Of course. Please do.”

“Thank you.”

Ban Yo-han glanced at me. I wanted to tell him to stop looking at me, but there was a camera.

Eventually, I ended up going last.

Unsurprisingly, Oh Hyun-jin was the strongest center candidate.

Han Da-hoon, a high school freshman, still looked quite young, Song Jung-hwan didn’t match the mood, and Ji Yeon-woo and Kim Sejong were too average.

In contrast, Oh Hyun-jin impressed everyone with his skill and expertise.

It wasn’t special, considering he had already practiced it during the company’s monthly evaluation.

But in these situations, what mattered more than skill was the feeling.

When it was my turn, I faced Ban Yo-han, closed my eyes, and tried to focus.

‘The person in front of me is a dealer about to be killed with low health…. If I don’t catch and finish him off immediately, I might die from high blood pressure….’