The audience cheered as the music faded away. The members of Team 2 waved their goodbye to the audience below the stage.

– Kyaaa!!! What was that?!

– Finale worthy!

– Don't you think that Xu Jiji and Yeo Haru's chemistry onstage is superb?!

– Ayumi! You're so good-looking! Please debut!

– Please let Zbigniew debut so he can flex his idol muscles!

– Xi Huan is so cool!

As Team 1 read the comments on the screen inside their waiting room, the air circulating in the whole room was getting heavier. Rayen could feel the pressure weighing down his shoulders.

Looking around him, everyone's faces were dark.

'This is bad.'

It's not that Rayen was unconfident of their own performance. It's their team's condition that's worrying him.

Rayen glanced at Adrian, whose face was the darkest.

'Shouldn't the leader do something with this?'

However, Adrian seemed out of his wits these past few days. His usually sensitive perception of Rayen's facial expressions seemed nowhere to be found.

Rayen was just about to open his mouth when a staff member opened their waiting room door.

"Team, please get ready."

Rayen shut his mouth and followed his team out silently.

...

On the way, their team met the others from Team 2.

After Team 2's performance, the weight over their shoulders had lessened. Especially Xi Huan, who couldn't stay in the same place for a minute. Her head kept glancing left and right, conversing both with Xu Jiji and Yeo Haru at the same time.

When she spotted the members from Rayen's team, her face brightened.

"Rayeye, Adidi, Lili! Hi!"

If only Rayen could have the same energy as her...

When the two teams' eyes met, the sense of rivalry swirled in the air. Still, no one voiced out their wish for the other team to lose. Wishing themselves luck would mean wishing the others their death.

As they passed by each other, only a few nods were exchanged.

The moment that Team 1 ascended the stage, the view below gave them a sense of oppression. Hundreds of eyes watched them expectantly, their hearts still beating fast from excitement from the earlier performance.

Rayen's breath was stuck in his throat, his fingers getting stiffer from pressure.

Yet, he continued to walk toward his position in their formation. If their team lost this battle, his future wouldn't be certain for the individual performance later.

He still needed to accumulate 110,000 points to debut. This round's 50,000 points would help him bridge this gap.

Even if he's afraid, the only thing he could do now was give his best to deliver his all in this performance.

'It's now or never!'

The stage lights dimmed.

...

In the livestream, the short commercial interlude finally reached its end. The comment section was also filled with countless words.

– Fighting! Team 1!

– Looking at their full white attire, I thought that angels had descended to get me.

– Rayen, debut! Fight for Prickles!

– Navin for the win! Angel Navin!

– Ah, I really wish I could see their performance live personally...

Watching the finale live at the venue does have its perks, but watching from the livestream also brought a different experience for the fans. For example, some information wouldn't be shown on the venue, but in the livestream, it would — just like an easter egg.

From the bottom-left corner of the screen, the title of the songs that Team 1 would perform was displayed.

[METEOR by AWorld + GUN POINT by WiEk + BOOK'S FINALE by Yellow Boyz

Bullet Rain

Arrangement: Im Rayen, KLi]

This information immediately caught the attention of the viewers.

– Three songs?

– I've seen two songs getting merged together, but three songs...

– Haha, I know all these songs! How the hell did they even arrange them? They're totally different songs!

Three different energies and sounds in one song?

In theory, it's nearly an impossible task to combine. Yet, here it was, in one song performance, arranged by idols that haven't even debuted yet.

As the fans wondered what kind of performance they would witness, the first song's melody filled the stage. It sounded the same as "Book's Finale", yet it also sounded different.

– Is this really "Book's Finale"?

At the same time, the lights came back again. The audience below was greeted with a messy scene. Rubbles and trash lay scattered the whole place, left-over foods untouched on the table.

A lone torn wall stood erect in the middle. Graffitis in different colors filled it, but the eyes of the audience laid on the eye-catching single line written on the center.

"WE WERE HERE"

It was as if the world suddenly stopped. The six people onstage likewise stood unmoving in their places.

– What kind of concept is this? Fallen angels?

– No, I think it's not!

– I think it's the apocalypse! Look at the stage set! I think they wanted to adapt Meteor's apocalypse setting.

The music filled the whole stage. As though the viewers could see it floating in the air, it bathed the entire set in different colors.

The former bubblegum pop now sounded so dreamy without its vocals.

– Somehow, it feels so nostalgic.

– I approve of this arrangement!

Yet, before the viewers could even enjoy the music, it suddenly changed courses.

The synth from the second song entered the scene, grating the ears of the people listening to the song. At the same time, the six people onstage started to sing simultaneously.

"I stood still,

Waiting for it to come.

I stood still,

Waiting for you to point it at me.

I stood still."

Others sang in a high-pitched voice, some others whispered as though afraid of being heard. Their voices combined as though they were lunatics performing a ritual.

– My mom thought I was listening to some crazy ritual!

– My ears are getting raped! Help!

Among the audience below the stage, Minji's heart had fallen to the ground. Even though her ears are getting raped, she still persevered on watching their performance. However, she couldn't help but worry.

If this was the kind of performance that Rayen would show, how would they win?

She stared at Rayen at the center of the stage. Just like everyone from his team, his eyes were closed solemnly as he sang along their ritualistic lyrics. This evoked the feeling that something was continuously wrong, stirring even the hearts of the listeners to beat wildly.

– Wait... Although I feel like the sound is so hard to listen to, it's not that bad at all?

– Same. I feel like although my ears are getting violated, my heart is getting excited.

– What the hell is happening to me? Why the hell can't I just stop listening to it? I can just mute this thing off, but I strangely don't want to.

Just then, all the sounds stopped, leaving all their excited hearts hanging.

Rayen opened his eyes. He raised his hand and aimed it at the audience.

"Bang! Bang!"

'The show is just getting started.'

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