<h4>Chapter 26</h4>


    Rank A was 100 points.


    Rank B was 75 points.


    Rank C was 50 points.


    All spectators had to assign one of the above three ranks to each team, and the average score was calcted from all scores to determine the first to fifth ces.


    —They racked their heads like crazy to think of this lol


    —Yeah, to prevent Only One from winning by andslide


    This was clearly a way to keep Only One in check. Although the program said they were recruiting audiences, it was clear that most of the audience would be Kang Hyun Sung’s fans as the rest, including us, were no-name idols with no fame to speak of.


    If each person was allowed to vote only once, the audience voting score would be heavily concentrated on Only One. Yet, a voting system would prevent that from happening as the spectators had to score all the groups and rank each group like they were doing an evaluation. Since this could prevent votes from gathering only on Only One, it could look like a fairer evaluation method. However, the problem was that it only ‘looked’ fair.


    —f*ck, it’s all just a show


    Reply: hahaha


    —Can that system even filter out Hyun-Sung’s crazy fans? Won’t they just give A to Only One and C to the other teams? lol


    Anyone could figure out it was unfair by just thinking even a little bit. Kang Hyun-Sung’s individual fandom was as strong as most top-tier idols, and it was the prevailing opinion that even if he released a first solo album alone, he could easily sell 100,000 copies in the first week.


    In contrast, the rest of the groups could not sell even more than 1,000 copies if they released an album now. Poprity needed to be rtively simr among the groups for there to be realpetition, but if there was such an overwhelming difference, thepetition itself could not be established. Kang Hyun-Sung’s fans would obviously use dirty tricks and try to take advantage of the blind spots, and the production team was probably well aware of this as well.


    —TF  using shallow tricks to not get cussed out


    Reply: It’s he unfair no matter what they do. At this rate, it would also feel iffy if Only One got first ce


    Reply:  gonna say they tried their best


    Since this was the case, the production team had to give the impression that they were doing their best to even out the ying field, or it would just be a show that tantly favored Kang Hyun-Sung.


    —They should change the title to Kang Hyun-Sung and the doomed idols hahaha


    —Shouldn’t the show be called Kang Hyun-Sung’s Second Chance, not First Chance? lol


    Reply: That’s f*cking hrious


    Reply: It’s going to be Kang Hyun-Sung’s one-man show


    Reply: By the way, what’s Kang Hyun-Sung’s group name?


    Reply: Only One haha it’s so f*ckingme, giving early 2000s vibe


    People mocked Only One for bing an invasive species that destroyed the ecosystem of no-name, doomed idols. But among them, those who were not fans of Kang Hyun-Sung began to apply to be an audience one by one.


    —I’m not Kang Hyun-Sung''s fan, but I might go to look for a new<i> oppa</i>


    —The survival show narrative is chef’s kiss* though. I’m going.


    There were people who were tired of their mundane lives and wanted to find a new source of vitality and those who were curious about the program itself. For many reasons, people who were not Kang Hyun-Sung’s fans also applied to be part of the audience. Of course, the number was certainly smallpared to Kang Hyun-Sung’s fans, but it was a number that couldn’t be ignored.


    * * *


    The second shooting day and firstpetition day dawned. Thest two weeks seemed to have flown by. In the meantime, the filming team came to our dorm and filmed us practicing and brainstorming for our concept. Of course, it wasn’t a real meeting but where we pretended to be in a meeting for the show. During the shoot, Do-Seung revealed that he was also theposer of “Sailing,” victory0505 and also theposer of our contest song this time, “Walya.”


    There was a smallmotion among the production crew, and they had a brief phone call with the program’s scenario writers to exin this fact. I would only know how this whole process would y out when it came out on air. Nevertheless, two weeks quickly passed by with various events and stage practice happening in between.


    And today was finally the d-day, our firstpetition stage. Like the day of the introductory performance, we woke up at the crack of dawn. I, the youngest, woke up first at 4 a.m. Then, I went to the shower room, washed up, put on my clothes, and prepared breakfast.


    Then I woke up the members. “Everyone! Wake up!”


    “Ugh...” Yeon-Hoon couldn’t lift his head and could only sluggishly move his lower body.


    <i>Sighhh. </i>“It’s morning.” Do-Seung put his hand on his forehead and was in disbelief that it was already morning.


    “Agh! Ha!” Woon stretched his arms and legs while lying down. Andstly—


    “...” Dong-Jun was still fast asleep.


    It was a morning like any other. I said, “Quickly wash up and eat breakfast.”


    There were about thirty minutes left until breakfast was done. Since the members’ washing time has been reduced to five minutes these days, I thought I had enough time to finish preparing breakfast before they all washed up. Starting from Yeon-Hoon, everyone took their turns using the bathroom. Dong-Jun didn’t wake up until the end but finally began squirming out when Woon came out of the bathroom.


    And he said his usual line in the morning, “...Instead of breakfast, I’m going to sleep more.”


    However, he always received the same answer. “Get up and wash upzy head.” Do-Seung forced Dong-Jun to stand up, dragged him to the bathroom, and coerced him to wash his face.


    “Argh! It’s cold! I said it’s cold!”


    “Wash up ande out.”


    After Dong-Jun finished taking the shower like this, morning preparations were finished with Dong-Jun sitting at the table.


    “It’s a sandwich?”


    I replied, “Yes. I thought we might get bloated if we eat something too salty.”


    What I made today was a simple sandwich. I made it with ham, scrambled eggs, and a handful of vegetable mix I bought for a sd. The taste was like any normal sandwich.


    “Yumm! It’s delicious!” Yeon-Hoon took a huge bite until his cheeks bulged out and did a little shoulder dance. He always gave good reactions to foods that weren''t anything special.


    “It’s good, Tae-Yoon. Thank you for making it.”


    “You did a great job with the sandwich. I’ll make breakfast tomorrow, so you can sleep in next time.”


    Woon and Do-Seung also took their turns toment. These days, Do-Seung and I took turns making the meals. Originally, all the members were responsible for making meals and were supposed to take turns cooking, but since the other members’ food was inedible, it was decided that Do-Seung and I would take charge of the meals. But in exchange, we were excluded from cleaning the room and bathroom and doing theundry. Dong-Jun chewed his sandwich with his eyes half-closed. He looked like he might fall asleep while eating like that. After a simple meal, there were still about 20 minutes left until Ms. Seung-Yeon and Ms. Hyuna were supposed to pick us up.


    I asked, “Did you guys monitor the responses yesterday?” By monitoring, I meant if they checked the responses to <i>The Showcase</i> trailer and the evaluation method.


    “I roughly looked over them.”


    “I’ve checked out a fewmunity forums and sites as well.”


    “It’s pretty hot in Bluebird as well. It even came up in the top viewed topics.”


    “Yeah, I did it, but I couldn’t do too much because I was scared...”


    Everyone seemed to have monitored the responses at least a bit. Then I thought they would understand a bit what I was trying to say.


    I said, “Anyhow, it seems like Only One will win first ce, right?”


    “Yeah.”


    “Most of the responses seem to think that.”


    “It seems like the production crew thought a lot about the evaluation method, but I don’t think it would be enough to prevent Only One from taking a huge lead.”


    The idea of voting with ranks A, B, and C seemed good in its own way. However, as expected, it was not enough to prevent Kang Hyun-Sung’s dominance. The production crew gave off the impression that they had done their duty, but this made it even more of an issue.


    <i>‘It feels more like they’re goingl idk, just let it be.’ </i>I saw more people mocking the show for using shallow tricks not to get insulted than actuallyuding their efforts.


    I asked, “Won’t it be better to getst ce again?”


    “...What?”


    “Last ce again?”


    “...Why?”


    <i>Sigh.</i>


    The members reacted a little sharply to my opinion. Everyone didn’t show it, but it seemed as if cingst in the introductory performance had left deep emotional wounds. If we came inst because we didn’t do well, we wouldn’t have felt this frustrated. However, since we obviously did the best but came inst, it was only natural that they felt frustrated andmented how unfair the whole show was. They must also be feeling that everything was futile and this was only the nature of the show business.


    However, when it aired, there would definitely be some people who would feel sorry for us. We could be confident of that since there were no ws in our skills.


    “If we can’t be first, I think it would be most impactful to be inst ce.” I thought it would be better to continue this impact for a long time. In order to do that, it was better to be first orst. Since it was unlikely for us to win first ce, I was saying we shouldest.


    “But can we best ce even if we want to?”


    Of course, it was reasonable to ask a question like this if we couldn’t force the results. But I said, “Won’t it be possible to cest?”


    “Why?”


    “Kang Hyun-Sung’s fans don’t like us.”


    “Oh, that’s right.”


    Because we gained attention by copying Kang Hyun-Sung’s video, we were receiving a light level of hate within Kang Hyun-Sung’s fandom. Since more than 90% of the audience would be Kang Hyun-Sung’s fans, it was crystal clear that we would get rank C. Maybe my words came off a little too strong, as the members’ faces didn’t look good. The atmosphere instantly became chilly in the morning.


    Honestly, I hadn’t meant to say this in advance, especially on the day of our performance. Perhaps, it was better to hold these ns or expectations alone. However, after seeing the members’ expressions drop after finishingst in thest recording, I thought it would be better to tell them in advance. I reasoned that they could feel a little less sad if they prepared themselves beforehand.


    “We’re not inst ce because we’re not good enough.”


    “Yeah, that’s right.”


    “True.”


    “There’s nothing to be ashamed of.”


    The members also knew that judging on skills alone, we shouldn’t havee inst ce.


    “So this could be the driving force to create a fandom big enough that we could turn the tables at thest minute.” In order to be the final winner of <i>The Showcase</i>, we just had to win first ce in thestpetition since thebined score of the first, second, and thirdpetitions and the individual fourthpetition were weighed as fifty-fifty.


    The reason for that was that the fourthpetition would be done live by text voting. In other words, we could win first just by winning first ce in the third andstpetition to win.


    I asked, “Why don’t we just think of the first and secondpetitions as stepping stones to flip the whole stage over?”


    The members nodded lightly in agreement.


    I continued, “So let’s not worry too much about our ranks today, since we’ll probably do the best today too.” I thought so from the bottom of my heart because I’ve seen all the other group performances in my previous life. Since I clearly knew their skills, I thought our performance could definitely rank first. However, the members seemed to have taken my words a bit differently.


    “I can’t believe I’m hearing constion from Tae-Yoon of all people.”


    “Tae-Yoon...”


    “Wow, how cool~”


    “Thanks, Tae-Yoon.”


    Everyone seemed moved. Yeon-Hoon approached me in a tearful voice, hugged my shoulder, and gave me a pat. Although I hadn’t said all that for them to be touched. Yet, if our sense ofradeship and unity increased thanks to that, that was good enough. Just in time—


    <i>Ziing.</i>


    Yeon-Hoon’s phone began vibrating. Ms. Seung-Yeon and Ms. Hyuna must have arrived.


    “Let’s get out, guys!” Yeon-Hoon organized the situation and got up and said, “As Tae-Yoon said, we’ll do the best today, so let’s not dwell too much on our rankings.”


    “Yes!”


    “Let’s go!”


    “We can do it, Siren!”


    The members moved out, shouting encouragement, and I also left the dorm with them while taking my long padded jacket.


    * * *


    At<i> The Showcase</i> 2 production team’s office. One of the scenario writers, who was selecting the audience list, tilted their head. The total number of spectators was set as 150, and of course, a lot of people applied. They had originally thought 140 out of 150 people would be Kang Hyun-Sung’s fandom.


    “Unexpectedly, not a lot of Kang Hyun-Sung’s fans were chosen, right?”


    “Yes. Well, we didn’t check them one by one, but when we monitored the responses yesterday, I heard that was the case.”


    They were told that not too many Kang Hyun-Sung’s fans were chosen by the estimates. Frankly, there was no way the production team could check whether the currently selected audience was really Kang Hyun-Sung’s fans or not. However, if they looked through thements inmunity forums, inte galleries, and various social media, they could get a rough estimate of the proportion of those who applied.


    “They said that more than 50 people were not in any fandom at all, right?”


    “Yes, they’re more in the category of people who are just curious about what we’re doing and wanted to check the show out.”


    “Nice...” The ratio came out better than expected. Of course, more than two-thirds were probably Kang Hyun-Sung’s fandom, but from their rough estimate, one-third were not a fan of any group.


    One writer said, “At this rate, we might really not know what’s going to happen.”


    However, this thought was quickly shut down. “No way. Only One will probably win first ce.”


    “Hmm.” Even then, the scenario writer, who was looking at the audience list, couldn’t stop thinking about another possibility. There were many cases where a single, small variable could change the final result. Therefore, this variable was definitely enough to bring about a big change.