The ball Kang Rojun raised above his head. The task written on that ball was choreography. Rojun had lifted it with a calm face, but inwardly, a slight worry came with it.
‘Whew—choreography. I knew it would come up someday, but I didn’t think it’d be next right away.’
In truth, he had wanted vocals more than the other tasks. He would have to use “AI Automation” either way, but there was still a huge difference between having experience and having none. Even so, Kang Rojun did not fall into excessive despair.
Rather, his resolve became simple.
‘Whether it’s vocals, choreography, or rap, I’ll probably have to do them all in the end. Let’s just manage my expression properly.’
Since it had come to this, he might as well show them the rebellion of a terrible dancer. Kang Rojun was tone-deaf, yet “AI Automation” had made “Bereavement” sound like it was sung by a professional singer. In other words, there had to be a breakthrough on the dancing side too. Whatever the case, what mattered now was not showing his competitors any openings.
Several cameras then captured Kang Rojun’s impassive expression and the ball raised above his head.
Meanwhile, PD Woo Hanseok pushed up his glasses.
‘Why is that guy so calm? Like he already knew what he was going to draw.’
He looked at Rojun with a strange expression, then openly smiled.
‘Well, either way, it’s nice that he drew choreography. As long as it’s not vocals, I’m fine.’
The situation was rolling in the direction he wanted. He already knew that “Number 1’s” vocal skills were above a high level, so it was better to see the other areas as soon as possible. On top of that.
‘I need to confirm whether skipping the training was just baiting for attention or not.’
Kang Rojun was currently a person of interest in “Geubaekpeu” for various reasons. His insane visuals were one thing, but the bigger issue was that he had recently said he would train alone and not receive training. Normally, one would assume he had confidently passed because he had the skills, but on the other hand, he might have no skills whatsoever and was simply pretending to be a villain to draw attention.
‘Whether he’s good or bad, it won’t hurt me. But if it’s just reckless bravado with no skill whatsoever—then it might be necessary to knock him down a peg.’
The first broadcast of “Geubaekpeu” was not far away now, and a contestant’s image could be shaped however they wanted through editing. That was the power PD Woo Hanseok possessed.
‘Well, his visuals are so absurd that he might survive on viewer votes, but if a contestant runs wild without control, he’ll be hard to manage later.’
Of course, he could also be branded by viewers as a talentless villain or unlikeable and be eliminated quickly. Then PD Woo Hanseok spoke to Rojun.
“That’s enough. You may return to where you were with the ball you drew.”
Kang Rojun answered briefly and blended back into the group of successful contestants. The successful contestants from Group 1, who already knew Rojun’s vocal ability, were busy glancing at Kang Rojun.
‘His choreography has to be trash, right? Yeah, honestly, with that face and those vocals, his choreography should be trash.’
‘Please suck. I hope he sucks at choreography and fails miserably.’
‘No, if his face is god-tier, then as a human being he should have some gaps elsewhere!’
Especially Number 10, with his bright red hair, was openly staring at Rojun beside him.
‘I don’t know about vocals, but I’m better than you at choreography. Whew—please, I have to draw choreography too.’
His head was filled with nothing but thoughts of crushing Kang Rojun, and PD Woo Hanseok called the next successful contestant, Number 10.
“Next, Number 10, please come out and draw.”
Number 10 swallowed hard, put his hand into the square box, and carefully chose a ball. Only for a moment. Once he decided on a ball, he slowly pulled his hand out. Number 10 slowly checked the ball in his hand.
Then, all at once.
“Whoa!”
He let out an exclamation and lifted the ball high over his head. Familiar letters could be seen.
—“Choreography”
Following Number 1, Number 10 had also drawn choreography. Soon, PD Woo Hanseok, standing behind them, looked at Number 1 and Number 10 and confirmed something, while Number 10 could not hide his delighted expression.
‘Yes!!’
The reason Number 10 had been selected was because choreography was what he was good at. Luck was on his side. Regardless, PD Woo Hanseok continued the drawing for the successful contestants.
“Next successful contestant, come forward.”
Next came vocals. Then choreography again. Rap appeared after that. Gradually, vocals, choreography, and rap were drawn in a mix. Because it was purely luck, the expressions of the successful contestants who drew their tasks varied.
Some looked like they were going to die, while others were full of life.
Just drawing the tasks for the second round took roughly an hour. Naturally, since all seventy successful contestants had to draw. As a result, twenty drew choreography, thirty drew vocals, and twenty drew rap. This, too, was the picture the production crew had decided on. The staff divided the successful contestants again by task.
“Mm—”
PD Woo Hanseok, holding a megaphone, gave the briefing.
“In the second round, you will compete against the successful contestants gathered by task. The format is one-on-one survival. Your opponent, the song you’ll perform, choreography, and so on will be decided by the production crew.”
After finishing, his smile deepened.
“You’re all hungry, right? For now, unpack at the dorms where you’ll be staying, and let’s eat first.”
A little while later.
The staff standing before the successful contestants gathered by task announced the rooms that would be used as dorms. Kang Rojun was in Room 105. All seventy successful contestants did not move at once. The start was with the choreography team, which Rojun belonged to.
Perhaps because the dorms were close, everyone walked.
Maybe because the choreography team were each other’s competitors, there was not much conversation. Most of them wore firm expressions. The cameras captured this, while Kang Rojun was busy looking around.
‘This place is seriously huge—ah, is that smell jeyuk??’
Around the time Rojun was distracted by the smell of food coming from somewhere.
“Here it is!”
A staff member stopped in front of a gray building. It was three stories tall and of a moderate size. Kang Rojun was reminded of the one-room building he lived in.
‘It feels a bit more modern than that place?’
Then they entered the dorm one by one. Rojun did the same. Room 105 was at the end of the first-floor hallway. However, Kang Rojun did not enter the room right away. There had been an instruction from the production crew. When they arrived at the room, they were to wait in front of the door.
At that moment.
—Swoosh.
Someone came up to Rojun’s right as he stood in front of Room 105. Looking over, he saw a man with a baby perm standing there. A face he was seeing for the first time. Kang Rojun first checked the number attached to his chest.
‘Number 58?’
Number 58 was a successful contestant from Group 2, not Group 1. His face had a somewhat round impression. Whether he was a man of few words or not, he gave a small greeting and that was it. Not gloomy exactly, but seemingly shy. Well, Kang Rojun did not feel much about it either, so he let it pass.
Before long, everyone assigned to Room 105 had gathered.
Number 1, Number 19, Number 37, Number 58, and Number 88.
For the most part, the very skinny Number 19 and the bronze-skinned Number 37 were the ones with high energy.
“Ooh! Looks like the five of us are sharing one room!”
“Is it a five-person room?? Anyway, let’s get along! Though who knows when any of us will disappear!”
Kang Rojun and Number 58 were on the quiet side. Number 88, who was taller than Kang Rojun, was gentle and good at reacting.
“Haha, saying we don’t know when someone will disappear is a bit cruel.”
Once all five had gathered, a staff member walked over and said,
“Decide the order with rock-paper-scissors first. You’ll choose beds in order.”
Choose beds? Rojun looked inside the open room and understood why they had to choose beds.
‘Ah—two bunk beds and one single.’
In that case, everyone would want the single bed. Kang Rojun also preferred the single if possible. Soon, the Room 105 contestants, including Rojun, began playing rock-paper-scissors.
‘Okay!’
First place went to Kang Rojun. Everyone else had thrown out open hands, while Rojun had played scissors. Once the order was roughly decided, Kang Rojun chose his bed.
“I’ll use the single.”
After the single, the beds that sold fastest were the bottom bunks of the two bunk beds, and the remaining successful contestants naturally had to use the top bunks. The inside of Room 105 was more spacious than expected. It felt slightly bigger than the one-room apartment Rojun lived in. The successful contestants who entered the room were busy opening the suitcases they had brought, but Rojun, sitting on the edge of the single bed, had nothing in particular to do.
‘Why do they have so much stuff? Am I the one who doesn’t have enough?’
Anyway, he would be living together with these guys now, right? At first, he thought it would be uncomfortable, but so far it was not bad. Well, he would find out as they lived together. In truth, what really bothered him were the small cameras installed here and there around the room.
‘Hmm—how many of them will survive?’
They were competitors, but perhaps because they were roommates, he was subtly curious. Then the high-energy Number 19 and Number 37 spoke to Rojun.
“Huh?? Number 1, is that backpack all your luggage??”
“Yes.”
“Whoa—that’s super simple?? Judging by your face, you seem like you’d take reeeeally good care of yourself. But you’re seriously crazy handsome. I’m jealous, so jealous.”
“No, not really. I just put on lotion, that’s all.”
It was then.
—[“Ah, ah.”]
A man’s voice rang out from the audio installed in the dorm. It was PD Woo Hanseok.
—[“Do you like the dorms? After you eat, starting with the ‘choreography team,’ please gather again in the hall with the stage by three o’clock.”]
It seemed they would brief the choreography team, which Kang Rojun was part of, first. Having understood, Rojun moved with his roommates to the cafeteria attached right next door. As expected, the main side dish was jeyuk.
‘Kuh—the jeyuk is good.’
After moderately filling their stomachs, Kang Rojun and the other successful contestants immediately roamed around here and there. Naturally, the staff were in charge of guiding them. From the dorms to the cafeteria, all sorts of practice rooms, studios, workrooms, and so on. There was nothing missing.
Kang Rojun simply found it fascinating.
‘There’s seriously everything here?? Amazing.’
It was a whole new world. Of course, the other successful contestants reacted a bit more dramatically.
“Wow—the practice room is huge!!”
“I’ve seriously always wanted to practice in a place like this!”
Perhaps because everything was filled with novelty, time flew like a bullet, and it was soon three o’clock. Only Rojun, who had been looking through “AI Simulation” in the dorm, got up. In Room 105, Kang Rojun was the only one on the choreography team.
“Ah! Number 1, you were on the choreography team?? See you later!”
Leaving behind Number 19’s cheerful farewell, Kang Rojun left Room 105. Looking toward the hallway, the staff were already gathering the choreography team, and once it seemed all twenty had gathered, the choreography team moved again to the hall with the stage.
The setup was the same aside from the cameras, lights, and sound equipment.
When the choreography team entered, PD Woo Hanseok, who had been waiting, welcomed them.
“Come on in.”
Smiling, he met Kang Rojun’s eyes, then picked up the megaphone.
“From now on, please stand together with the numbers I call. Number 1, Number 10. Number 15, Number 21…”
PD Woo Hanseok rattled off the numbers. The bright red-haired Number 10 came to stand beside Kang Rojun.
“Number 1, are you any good at dancing?”
Kang Rojun turned his head toward Number 10 and answered roughly.
“Who knows.”
“You must be good, since you even skipped training, right? No, but the people in my room were all saying Number 1 might be a terrible dancer.”
Kang Rojun flinched inwardly.
“I could be a terrible dancer.”
“If you really are, that’d make for a funny picture. It means you were acting super tough, right? I’m pretty good, you know.”
What was he supposed to do about that? Number 10 was grinning as he needled Rojun. In response, Kang Rojun shrugged. He was not exactly a pushover either.
“Saying you’re pretty good also sounds like acting tough.”
“…Excuse me?”
Number 10’s brow furrowed sharply. In the meantime, PD Woo Hanseok, having called all the numbers, stepped in.
“You’re all paired up, right? The two standing together now will be opponents in the ‘choreography’ survival.”
In other words, Number 1 Kang Rojun’s opponent was Number 10. After hearing the explanation, Number 10 smirked.
“Oh—we were going against each other. I look forward to it.”
“Yes. I look forward to it too.”
Watching Rojun answer briefly, Number 10, already having some resentment built up, ground his teeth inwardly.
‘I really don’t like this bastard.’
Having received a tablet from a staff member, PD Woo Hanseok continued briefing the successful contestants, who had been paired into a total of ten teams.
“Number 1 and Number 10 will do the choreography for the song ‘brake.’”
PD Woo Hanseok announced a total of ten songs. There were no recent songs; all of them were fairly old. At that moment, one successful contestant tilted his head and asked a question.
“Um—PD, it seems like most of the choreographies for the songs you mentioned are male-female duets?”
“That’s right. To be precise, every song just announced is either a male-female duet or a co-ed group song.”
“Ah, then do the two people in a pair split the parts?”
“There’s no need for that. You will perform only the male part of the male-female duet choreography. However, since there are two of you, one person will perform the choreography for the first verse, and one person will perform the choreography for the second verse.”
Even Kang Rojun found that a bit strange. If they were going to do it that way, was there any need to use male-female duet choreography?
‘Even I don’t know crap, but this feels a little weird.’
It was not just Rojun. All ten choreography teams gathered in the hall seemed to be thinking something similar. Sensing those gazes, PD Woo Hanseok smirked and suddenly shouted through the megaphone.
“Come in!”
Then, with a bang, the side door of the grand stage opened. Quite a number of people entered in a line, and the staff lined them up in a row on the stage. White lights switched on with a click. The successful contestants gathered in front of the stage, including Kang Rojun, looked up at those who had come onto the stage.
Rojun was rather surprised.
‘What is this?? Women? They’re all insanely pretty.’
It made sense. Those who had gone up onto the stage were women beautiful enough to draw the eye at a glance. There were ten of them. The various cameras busily filmed them, and the successful contestants around Kang Rojun seemed to recognize the women and reacted.
“Huh?? They look familiar.”
“Aren’t those five over there from that group? ‘Limesome’?”
“‘Limesome’?”
“A rookie girl group. I think I saw them on a music show.”
“A girl group??”
The murmuring among the successful contestants grew louder. Hearing that, Kang Rojun also felt as if he had seen the women onstage on TV before. At that moment, PD Woo Hanseok spoke again.
“These women may be rookies, but they are currently active in the industry as girl groups, and they will take the female parts in your male-female duet choreography task.”
In short, it meant they had invited rookie girl groups. Two girl groups, even. Around then, among the girl group members onstage, the one standing farthest to the right, with a fox-like face, lightly tapped the arm of her teammate on the right.
“Look at that guy’s face over there.”
“Huh? Who?”
In truth, by then, the gazes of all ten girl group members had already gathered on one person below the stage.
“That guy. The black-haired one wearing Number 1.”
“Ah—ah… Whoa. What… what is he?”