Inside the minibus carrying ten *Produce That 100* participants. Perhaps because tension permeated the air, the inside of the bus was silent. Gang Rojun looking out the window, 26 Dogyeong in the seat to his right, 58 Sihu with his eyes closed, and so on. None of the participants opened their mouths.
"······"
"······"
They were just reading *Produce That 100* articles on their phones or mentally reviewing the practice they had done until now. It wasn't strange. While Rojun had gone out quite a bit as a lyricist, actor, and writer, for the rest of the participants, this was their first outdoor activity outside the campus.
It was even a concert.
No matter how small the scale, giving off a fan meeting vibe, thousands of audience members were expected, and for them, since it was the first concert of their lives, the exhilarating feeling as if their hearts would burst was a natural emotion.
Then Rojun glanced at 26 Dogyeong sitting to his right.
*The kid was already on the quiet side, but now he looks even more withdrawn.*
It wasn't that Gang Rojun wasn't nervous either, but his anticipation was greater than his fear. Because it was his first experience at an external performance venue rather than the campus hall stage. Perhaps finding the heavy atmosphere at this point quite uncomfortable.
"Um—"
At least 71 Jeongu, the puppy-like one with high energy, opened his mouth with an awkward smile.
"I searched the concert venue, and it's bigger than I thought."
Only then did a few stiffened participants react.
"Including standing, it easily exceeds three thousand seats."
"If you cram people in, wouldn't it be four thousand?"
"Why are you shaking so much??"
"I don't know, I'm just really nervous."
"Ha— During the fourth evaluation on campus, it was better because the space was at least familiar, but doing this outside entirely is killing me."
Among them, 46 Gangmin, who was handsomely exotic-looking, called out to Rojun, who was looking outside.
"Hyung, you look completely fine. Like you're the only one shooting a pictorial."
All the participants' gazes fixed on Gang Rojun.
"Aren't you nervous, hyung?"
"Seeing you, your face is already a face, and your guts or whatever seem max level too."
"You're so calm, hyung."
Gang Rojun smiled lightly and answered, feigning composure.
"I'm just looking forward to it, rather than being scared."
26 Dogyeong nonchalantly poked Rojun's hand with his index finger.
"Hyung, your hand is shaking."
"I've always had a bit of a tremor."
"You were fine until yesterday."
"I developed tremors starting this morning. I didn't even need to move my hand to brush my teeth. The shaking brushed them on its own."
Soon, most of the participants burst into laughter. Thanks to that, some tension seemed to ease. In the meantime, the minibus entered Seoul with heavy traffic and stopped at the underground parking lot of a building near Yeouido. It was quite a large building, and as the minibus's front door opened, PD Woo Hanseok poked his face in.
"Let's all go check out the performance hall."
The participants who had let out small breaths got off the bus one by one. When they came outside, more than ten staff members including Woo Hanseok were gathered, and once all ten participants including Gang Rojun had gotten off, Woo Hanseok took the lead and started moving. It seemed the entire building was used as the performance hall, as no outsiders were visible at all.
Then.
-Swish.
Among the group that had come up to the first floor, PD Woo Hanseok opened a thick iron door. The staff entered inside without much fuss. Before long, the sight of the performance hall unfolded before Rojun as well. Dozens of staff members who had already arrived were busy with final setups. Gang Rojun's eyes grew wide the moment he saw it, and his mouth naturally fell slightly open.
*Whoa— it's way bigger than the campus stage.*
Voices followed.
"Wow... this is insane."
"This performance hall is so cool."
"We're going to stand on this stage??"
Sincere exclamations of admiration from the participants standing around Gang Rojun. It was understandable. For one, the performance hall was at least twice the size of the *Produce That 100* campus stage, and the ceiling was incredibly high with many lights attached to it. The standing area surrounding the U-shaped thrust stage and the audience seats divided into the first and second floors looked like thousands of seats at a glance.
Of course, it might be considered a small venue for famous idols, but to Gang Rojun, it felt enormous.
*What kind of fan meeting is done on this scale?*
The entire performance hall's color tone was black. The stage floor, the fences, the seats, and the walls were all black. For a moment, Rojun felt a slight chill. The destructive power of a performance hall larger than the fourth evaluation stage was at this level.
*Then just how enormous were those concert halls with tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands of people that I saw in articles?*
The other participants were thinking similar thoughts. Famous idols who soared in front of hundreds of thousands of spectators were truly amazing. PD Woo Hanseok approached them while they were momentarily dazed.
"Are you okay??"
At the same time, cameras attached themselves to them. In fact, small cameras had been installed in the minibus as well. In other words, the entire process was being filmed. The participants barely came to their senses and uttered a few impressions, and Woo Hanseok distributed papers to them.
"The performance cue sheet is out, so familiarize yourselves with it. Let's check the waiting room in the back too. And the outfits. The outfits aren't very glamorous. But first, a brief explanation."
PD Woo Hanseok gestured toward the U-shaped thrust stage.
"Today, we'll repeat the rehearsal all day according to the cue sheet. Your teamwork is important, of course, but we'll also check the sound, lights, screen videos, and so on— and we'll practice the talking segments too. Rojun-nim."
"Yes."
"On the day of the concert, you'll be handling most of the talking segments, since that's usually the leader's job."
Damn, he was barely used to being the leader, and now MCing too? Rojun politely pointed at 58 Sihu standing next to him with both hands.
"PD-nim, wouldn't it be better if Sihu hyung-nim took the leader role?"
"W-what are you talking about! Me??! I-I-I st-st-stutter, so I can't!"
With an expression telling him to accept it, Woo Hanseok placed a hand on Rojun's shoulder.
"The leader position suits you perfectly, Rojun-nim. Why act weak? You did just fine at the *Rental Lover* press conference in front of a hundred reporters, didn't you?"
"······"
In the end, Rojun nodded.
"Are the talking segments provided separately?"
"We have them, but as you do them, you'll need to ad-lib too."
A few minutes later, after finishing the briefing, PD Woo Hanseok requested something of the ten participants including Rojun.
"Everyone, go up on stage. We're taking a group promotional photo."
Then.
-Swish.
Leader Gang Rojun took the lead, and the ten *Produce That 100* survivors struck their poses. Soon, several white spotlights shone on them.
-Click!
The shutter sound was the signal to begin.
Later.
After about an hour of preparation time, Gang Rojun and the participants dove into full-scale rehearsal. It mostly proceeded according to the cue sheet, but *Survival 100* was the most central stage. Whatever the case, they heightened the rehearsal's intensity starting with the songs assigned to each participant—ones they had performed during the evaluations so far.
-♬♪
Usually, one holds back during rehearsals compared to the actual performance, but because the participants lacked experience, they did their best even during rehearsal. Because of the fear that if they slacked off here, they might make mistakes during the real thing.
The participants on stage, those below, and Gang Rojun in the waiting room were all hanging on for dear life.
Lee Hanna, as well as all the *Produce That 100* judges, visited the site.
They gave advice or rolled up their sleeves to help.
"Eyes, eyes! Vocals and choreography matter, of course! But making eye contact with the audience is really, really important in a performance!"
In the midst of this, PD Woo Hanseok had to check various things related to the performance while verifying the participants' form. From the sound to each and every seat. Not only that, but the nearly one hundred staff members were busy as well.
"PD-nim! This seat over here is creaking a bit!"
"Replace it, replace it!! If it's even slightly off, just change it!!"
The rehearsal continued past lunch and into the afternoon, and currently on stage were Gang Rojun and 58 Sihu holding guitars. It was the turn for the *Survival 100* acoustic version. Both of them were highly focused. Rojun was so focused that he couldn't even pay attention to the gift that AI Simulation had sent.
-[Hidden Mission 'First Concert Rehearsal!' achieved! You have been gifted 15 coins as a reward.]
Thanks to everyone squeezing out all their strength in their respective positions, no major problems occurred and time flew by. Though night fell, the passion in the performance hall did not cool.
At this time, the media was hectic, churning out articles about the *Produce That 100* small-scale concert scheduled for tomorrow.
《[StarTalk] The 'Produce That 100' Small-Scale Concert Finally Opens Tomorrow—What Will the 10 Survivors Show the Audience?》
The public was the same. News of the small-scale concert could easily be found everywhere, from social media to communities and beyond.
"-I really wanted to go... but failed again this time. TT"
"-Anyone going to the Produce That 100 small concert!! Please write a review...."
"-Me!!! I'm going!!!! Heehee, I'm already nervous!!"
"-So jealous"
"-The competition must've been dozens of times worse than a broadcast recording...."
"-All the fansite masters definitely swarmed like crazy lolololol"
"-Me too... I want to see Rojun in person...."
·
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·
·
And so Tuesday, the day of the small-scale concert, dawned.
Tuesday the 13th, morning.
At an early hour. Around the concert hall building in Yeouido, many people wielding cannon-like cameras were visible. In front of the building, across the street, a little further away, and in nearby cafes. Not only that, but people who looked like reporters were mixed in among them.
Even.
"What's that over there? Why are they standing in line like that??"
"Is it a famous restaurant?"
"No, that building is probably a concert hall? Ah— looks like some concert is happening."
A long line had formed from the building entrance. The *Produce That 100* small-scale concert started at 1 PM, but from morning, audience members began to flock. At around this time, Gang Rojun could be found inside the performance hall.
-♬♪
Performing spectacular choreography to the blaring song. The other participants were doing the same.
They were matching their breathing even right before the main performance.
They had started makeup around ten o'clock. At the same time, the admission of thousands of audience members began. The crowds that had been packed outside the building entered one by one, jumping up and down as they saw the stage decorated with posters of the *Produce That 100* participants.
About an hour later.
"Look at the people, it's crazy."
"How many is this?? Is this really small-scale??!"
"It is small-scale if you compare it to popular idols— ugh, our kids must be really nervous."
Thousands of people were packed into the concert hall. Several hundred in the standing area around the stage, and about two thousand five hundred or more surrounding the stage and standing area. There were also many *Produce That 100* staff. And cameras aimed at the stage. What stood out on the audience side were the light sticks. Released today, produced by the *Produce That 100* side. The sight of roughly over three thousand light sticks swaying was a sight to behold.
Those light sticks stood out even more two hours later.
-Sshh.
The lights throughout the entire concert hall darkened, and the *Produce That 100* logo appeared on the giant screen set up behind the stage. Some kind of grand sound effect reached the ears of the thousands of audience members. The audience members sensed that the concert opening was imminent.
They began screaming as if the space would tear apart.
In the darkness, bright lights snapped on toward the stage. Standing there were ten men dressed in matching black blazers and pants. Gang Rojun and the participants. They had completed proper makeup and hair.
The moment the ten participants they had been waiting for came into view, the shrieks of the thousands of audience members grew several times louder.
"Kyaaaaah!!"
"Kyaaaaaaaaah!!"
Having looked at the thousands of spectators for a few seconds, Gang Rojun, standing at the center of the participants lined up in a row, raised the handheld mic in his hand. Soon, Rojun's low-pitched voice resonated throughout the performance hall.
"Hello, I've missed you so much."
Of course, this ment was provided by the production team.
"Welcome to the *Produce That 100* concert. We'll be showing you many things today, so please look kindly on us even if we make mistakes."
Then, the faces and names of the ten participants including Rojun appeared on the large screen behind them. Amidst ear-shattering cheers, Gang Rojun announced the first stage.
"Then we'll begin—the opening stage is *Produce*."
Before his words even finished, a sound loud enough to drown out the massive screams.
-♬♪
*Produce* rang out thunderously.
Meanwhile, at SBC Broadcasting.
In a fairly spacious conference room, PD Jeong Suryeong was seen, her disheveled hair somewhat tidied up. Several executives including her. They were staring at the screen at the front of the conference room, and on the screen, General Director Tom Kabil, who was in Japan, was displayed.
Jeong Suryeong was currently in a video meeting with Netflix Japan.
It was naturally a meeting that included an interpreter, and having already spent about an hour on agendas such as the launch schedule for *Rental Lover*, they were wrapping up. Therefore, the executives who had exchanged greetings stood up from their seats first.
At this moment, Jeong Suryeong, who had made a promise with Gang Rojun, called out to the curly blonde Tom Kabil on the screen.
"General Director, I have something to ask aside from *Rental Lover*."
General Director Tom Kabil answered as if he had been waiting.
"Yes. PD Jeong Suryeong, actually there was something I wanted to ask as well."
Oh? Really? Jeong Suryeong gestured for him to go first.
"Please speak first, General Director."
"Ah— um, it's regarding Writer Rojun who wrote *Rental Lover*. If we... were to make an offer, is there a possibility that the writer would write a work for us? Since you worked on *Rental Lover* together, I thought you might be able to gauge that."
For some reason, her smile deepened and she shrugged her shoulders.
"Well."
She changed her plans. She had been planning to probe from her side, but since he had attempted first.
"As you know, the writer has been quite famous lately and has been busy with *Produce That 100* recently. I've also been swamped with my own work. He probably doesn't have time to write, does he?"
"I—is that so?"
She already had a script to offer. However, she hid it for now.
*This means I have to raise Writer Rojun's value first.*
She intended to make General Director Tom Kabil anxious.
"Ah, I think I also heard something."
"Yes?"
Scheming was a specialty of the veteran, Jeong Suryeong.
"Didn't he say he has a completed work?"