Genius Idol’s Strategy to Conquer the Entertainment Industry

Chapter 76

Compared to other groups, our group had hardly any changes in members.

Even the parts were almost the same.

The only change was that Seo Moon-gyeol willingly swapped his part with Na Yoon-jae, who had wanted to keep his role as the sub-rapper from ‘Rewind’ B-1.

“Thank you, hyung.”

Na Yoon-jae expressed his gratitude plainly, seeming to have quickly realized that Seo Moon-gyeol wasn’t greedy. He probably noticed it during the first competition with the Face Genius group.

Anyway, Seo Moon-gyeol, who had even recorded the guide by himself, had no trouble moving from rap to vocals.

The center position was contested between Ok Do-yoon and Na Yoon-jae, with Na Yoon-jae winning.

I considered applying for the center this time, but recent interview questions like “Don’t you want to try being the center, Raon?” or “Aren’t you ambitious for the center role?” made it obvious they were setting me up to look like an ambitious or greedy person.

So, I decided to keep a low profile.

However, Ok Do-yoon, who had lost out on the center position twice, seemed quite frustrated, collapsing to the floor with both hands.

“Am I not suitable for this song…?”

That wasn’t it.

It was just that Na Yoon-jae fit the role better.

The empty parts in the choreography were filled tightly by Seo Moon-gyeol and Ok Do-yoon’s collaboration.

The choreography, which didn’t seem too difficult at first, transformed into one that demanded all our saved-up energy towards the end.

It was a fantastic collaboration of emotional lyrics and a dance routine that didn’t allow any indulgence in emotions.

“Sorry, but… don’t you think there’s a big gap between the song and the choreography?”

“It’s fine. We can do it.”

“……”

I saw Ban Yo-han clenching his fist next to me, trying to catch his breath.

Kim Jun-woo, who was weak at dancing, had his face buried in his hands, muttering something sorrowfully as if he had given up.

The Rewind choreography, with its increased difficulty, was certainly tougher compared to the choreography for Toxic or Eolssu Eolssu.

In fact, if we categorized those choreographies by difficulty levels—high, medium, and low—they would definitely be low.

Toxic was designed considering the joints of a 17-year-old veteran dance singer, and Eolssu Eolssu took into account the members’ lack of skills, so they had to be easy.

Therefore, just because the reviews for the previous competition stages were good didn’t prove my skills.

The only dance I could claim to have a high difficulty level was Heart Attack, which I somehow managed to perform, but just barely.

There were so many others worse than me at that time that my inadequacies were relatively hidden.

Having learned a lot about dancing and improved my physical abilities since then, dancing again now felt completely different.

So, this stage was more about doing well than enjoying it.

This choreography was another reason I didn’t apply for the center position.

If I became the center, Seo Moon-gyeol would be on my right and either Ok Do-yoon or Na Yoon-jae on my left, and I didn’t think I could survive between them with just a few days of practice.

What could I do?

I had to admit what I had to admit.

I had only been dancing for less than three months, and the only ones worse than me were Ban Yo-han and Kim Jun-woo.

However, vocal practice was more manageable than I thought.

At first, I found the notes quite high.

But the more I sang, the more I felt the song and the part fit my vocal range well.

Jung Ha-neul’s discerning eye was spot on.

Especially when we practiced the part where the three sub-vocalists build up the notes before the main vocalist, Kim Jun-woo, hits the high note, there were exclamations of admiration among the members.

“Wow… how can the three of you harmonize so well? It’s really good.”

“It was a stroke of genius to have Gyeol hyung switch to vocals.”

Seo Moon-gyeol’s voice provided a solid foundation, my voice filled the middle, and Ban Yo-han’s falsetto added a melting sweetness, like ice cream.

I liked the song so much that I got goosebumps every time we practiced the short part that felt like it passed by in an instant.

I truly loved this song and wanted to do even better.

I didn’t want to focus on anything else.

It was natural that our already long practice hours got even longer.

“Aren’t you overdoing it?”

Kim Jun-woo asked.

“It’s okay. I’m managing well.”

By using the fatigue recovery mode lightly, I managed my fatigue by taking short naps whenever it reached 60, lowering it to below 50.

Managing my fatigue like a phone charging rapidly in short bursts was surprisingly doable.

“Don’t you think you’re some kind of machine?”

Ban Yo-han said, crushing and throwing away the wrapper of a sponsored ginseng stick he had just sucked dry.

“People break down that way.”

“Thanks for your concern.”

Ban Yo-han’s favorability slightly increased, and I received a notification that he hoped for my elimination.

I really didn’t care about it anymore.

The next day, 36 trainees gathered in one place for a midterm check.

The midterm check replaced the usual lessons from mentors, with composers and choreographers participating as one-day mentors for the third competition songs.

Among the original mentors, only Jena and Juan were present.

The six songs for the third competition included our group’s ‘Rewind,’ along with ‘Ah yeah Ah yeah,’ ‘Ready 4 You,’ ‘Because You’re Cute,’ ‘Day and Night,’ and ‘Melt Me.’

Of these, ‘Day and Night’ and ‘Melt Me’ were sexy concept songs that were similar but different.

The former subtly expressed feelings, while the latter was straightforward and bold.

‘Ready 4 You’ was a gentle confession song, ‘Ah yeah Ah yeah’ was a cheerful hip-hop song, and ‘Because You’re Cute’ had a cute and fresh concept, as the title suggested.

And our song, ‘Rewind,’ was a mix of freshness and wistfulness in a 1:1 ratio.

The ‘Ah yeah Ah yeah’ group, which included many trainees ranked around the 30s from the last ranking ceremony, received feedback that, despite their skills, they failed to capture the lively feel of the song.

The youngest trainee, Kim Jung-min, who was the center for the ‘Because You’re Cute’ group, felt dejected after receiving the uniquely harsh critique that they seemed to be trying too hard to act cute rather than being naturally cute, as intended by the composer.

I didn’t know how a song designed to be cute from the planning stage could come across as naturally cute.

Still, I couldn’t disagree with the critique of it being excessive. Except for the center, Kim Jung-min, the rest were overwhelming.

I suddenly feared that my past attempts at aegyo had come across the same way.

The ‘Day and Night’ group seemed like a group for, by, and of Oh Hyun-jin.

The composer and choreographer from Producer Team BB continued to lavish praise on Oh Hyun-jin with unbending arms.

Despite Oh Hyun-jin’s annoyingly good skills making the stage decent to watch, it was clear that the animosity between Ha Seo-joon and Choi Tae-woo, who had argued previously, still lingered.

This was especially evident in the part where they did consecutive rap sections, trying to go solo rather than lift each other up.

The composer didn’t seem to like it very much.

Although he didn’t say much, perhaps out of concern that it might negatively affect Oh Hyun-jin, his teammate, his stiff expression suggested that the production team would extract some footage one way or another.

Kashima Sora, who had practiced ‘Rewind’ with us, was the main vocalist for the ‘ready 4 you’ group.

Kashima Sora’s vocals matched well with the refreshing song, making it seem like a wise choice.

However, the overall performance was so average that the choreographer criticized it for not having anyone stand out.

Seo Chan-bin’s group, ‘Melt Me,’ had the best atmosphere among all the groups.

The underage center, Jing Xiao, received a good response. Personally, this team, which included last competition’s first and second place winners, seemed the strongest.

“Lastly, ‘Rewind’ group, please come forward.”

Our group members, who had been sitting in a row, moved forward, including me.

“Let’s greet them.”

While everyone was turned towards the composers,

“Do you remember?”

Leader Kim Jun-woo softly asked.

“That boy back then.”

The other members slightly turned their heads towards the mentors, responding in a whisper.

We straightened up as we received applause from the other trainees and mentors.

“Hello! We are That Boy from Back Then.”

Kim Jun-woo greeted on behalf of us.

The team name ‘That Boy from Back Then’ was suggested by Na Yoon-jae, and it was unanimously agreed upon because it suited the song’s atmosphere.

After the formal applause died down, Juan, looking at the documents on the table, spoke up.

“Wow, this is really a field of top ranks, isn’t it?”

Jena nodded in agreement.

“If Jun-woo, who’s in 12th place, is the lowest rank… wow, that’s no joke.”

It was something I hadn’t really paid attention to, but with members ranked 3rd, 5th, 6th, 7th, 11th, and 12th, it made sense for such comments to arise.

I was newly surprised to realize that my rank was the highest among them.

‘I’m higher than Na Yoon-jae and Ok Do-yoon?’

I must never look at the internet.

“I see that this group neither lost anyone nor gained anyone. It’s exactly six members, including the last one, On Raon.”

Jena continued, picking up from the choreographer’s comment.

“That’s because many of the trainees who practiced ‘Rewind’ were eliminated in the second ranking decision. There were 24 who practiced this song, but only 8 survived. Two of them went to different songs.”

One of the two who went to a different song was Kashima Sora, and I didn’t know who the other one was.

“So, you’re performing on behalf of the 16 trainees who practiced this song but didn’t get the chance to go on stage.”

Composer Jung Ha-neul put down his pen and said.

“No changes in top-ranking members. I had high expectations, but now I have even higher ones.”

I was worried that such high expectations might burden the other members, but they seemed accustomed to it, probably because they were all top rankers.

As we all got into position, a calm prelude began to flow.

“Whenever the sky is blue, I will think of you who I left behind that day….”

* * *

We completed the midterm check without any major mistakes.

Our group received overall positive feedback, similar to the ‘Melt Me’ group.

“Jun-woo, you’re always reliable, but… Raon, you’ve improved a lot. Both in singing and dancing.”

“Thank you.”

I suddenly wondered which stat influenced singing if physical ability, strength, and agility influenced dancing.

Based on my experience, I thought that rather than directly affecting skills, those stats broadened the spectrum of how smoothly one could perform.

“I thought the choreography looked tough because the song seemed difficult, but you guys raised the difficulty yourselves.”

The choreographer admired, and the culprits behind the difficulty rise looked proud.

“Yo-han has improved a lot too. He always had good sense, but now he seems more stable with a solid foundation.”

Seo Moon-gyeol, who everyone thought was in the rap position, drew attention with his singing skills.

There were talks about a certain university’s practical music department and calling him a cheat character. I wholeheartedly agreed.

“Personally, I think this team has the highest chance of winning. The balance is too good.”

“Thank you!”

“Other groups, don’t lose heart and do your best.”

There were several comments hinting that our group was seen as the potential top contender, almost as if it was prearranged.

After the midterm evaluation ended and we were back to practicing, the production team began calling trainees one by one.

I thought it was for an interview related to the midterm evaluation, but.

“What? A phone call?”

“Yes. A phone call. You can call your family and talk about everyday things, or discuss anything difficult. Just have a comfortable conversation as long as it doesn’t spoil the broadcast.”