Rayen didn't wallow in his disappointment for long, though. Instead of falling deeper into despair, he just turned his attention back to the broadcast at hand, closing the Idol:Revive app on his phone.

Since they didn't have a screen monitor in their waiting room, Rayen went to UCube and searched for the live broadcast himself.

This week, there were only six groups and 2 soloists that had their comeback, excluding their own group. But among these eight performers, ALTAIR was also in their first week, so their song still wasn't eligible for the chart ranking.

Meanwhile, ATOMIC and DARIA were in their third week. And this week's first-place contender was also these two groups, so their performances were placed in the last part of the show.

SEEDZ had been preoccupied with their earlier questions with Plotter, so five performances had already finished, including ALTAIR's.

It was a pity. Rayen had been curious about this group since Plotter praised them earlier.

Anyway, he still could witness their performance on the next music show.

After the current performance, it was finally the top two contenders' turn. Rayen and the others had already witnessed ATOMIC's performance earlier, so they just paid attention to DARIA's.

DARIA is also a four-member group, just like the current ATOMIC without its center. As a fifth-generation group, this number was quite unusual. From what Rayen observed, fifth generations mostly have five or more members. The number of members also influenced the number of their fans.

Obviously, a larger group would have a potentially larger fanbase, since there would be more bias options and varieties that fans could choose from. Also, the more members there were, the more content a group could produce, thus they could potentially reach more fans this way.

That's why a four-member group was really quite unusual in this age.

Well, DARIA's agency seemed to be a small one. That must be one of the reasons.

DARIA's performance would be the first to air as the line-up was based on popularity + seniority. DARIA had just debuted last January, and this was their first comeback.

Before the performance, there was still the interview segment which was done live.

"We have come with our beautiful flowers for this day!"

"Let's all welcome one of our first-place nominees!"

The two hosts stepped aside, revealing the four members of DARIA who were standing behind them.

Simultaneously, Daria introduced themselves. "Hello, hello! We are Daria!"

The entire livestream was filled with cheers. Even the comment section was buzzing.

– Daria! Our beautiful ladies!

– Still as beautiful as always!

Rayen stared at the four women, each with their own aura.

"As this week's Top Song's first place nominee, what would you say to your fans?" one of the hosts asked.

The one who lifted their mic to speak was Daria's leader, Yona — blonde, beautiful, and with sleepy eyes. The way she stood, she exuded a princess aura. With their all-black outfit, she seemed even more unreachable.

If Rayen had to rate her visuals, he would undoubtedly place her the same as Iris. Definitely an S rank beauty!

"Darings, thank you for your utmost support! Because of you, we can also be first-place nominees!"

– We love you, Daria!

– Yona, don't worry! You can be the best even if you're a rookie!

– Darings will always be daring! Those chargers won't be able to snatch the victory from you!

– Such a small group is already attacking a big group. Let's see how you can beat us!

– Chargers :P

Daria was oblivious to the small fan war happening in the comment section, so the interview session carried on as usual.

Soon after, the interview ended and the group's performance finally aired.

The music started. As soon as it reached his ears, Rayen blinked.

'This is Daria's song?'

From Rayen's impression of DARIA, he had expected an elegant concept and song. However, the one playing on his screen definitely screamed something else.

The song was filled with heavy bassline and drumbeats, and Yona, the sleepy princess... When she opened her mouth and started rapping in a nasal voice, Rayen's impression of her seemed to break.

"....."

'Where the hell did the sleeping princess go?'

Their song was heavy hip-hop — a completely different song from what he expected. Even the dance steps were so intense. Just Rayen imagining himself dancing to it, he already felt breathless.

Briefly, Rayen glanced at Xu Jiji, who was also watching the stream from his own phone. For some reason, Rayen was reminded of Xu Jiji with this Yona. Her impression, and the way she danced.

If Rayen were to compare it, Xu Jiji might still come out on top, but Yona's moves certainly were kind of similar to Jiji's.

Xu Jiji seemed to notice Rayen's gaze and glanced at him. Rayen only smiled and went back to watching the stream.

When the three minutes of DARIA's intense performance finished, Rayen couldn't say anything. He placed his phone down on his lap, lips pursed. The whole waiting room was silent.

"That's kinda... good," Mr. Big News said.

The others nodded.

No wonder DARIA, a rookie group, could contend with ATOMIC. With that kind of performance, even Rayen wasn't confident about winning against them.

Fortunately, SEEDZ were still in the first week of their promotions. But after the first week, they would have to clash head-on with them then.

How long would DARIA's promotions even last?

After that, ATOMIC's interview and performance also aired. As expected with a group that had established itself as the king of the 4th generation, their performance was also quite good. However, something seemed to be missing with them.

Also coupled with Rayen's annoyance with their earlier encounter, he secretly rooted for DARIA's win.

Before the announcement of the winners, every team was called out from backstage.

The stage was crowded, as well as the area below the stage. As the first-place nominees, DARIA and ATOMIC stood in the center, surrounded by everyone.

"Now, let's announce this week's Top Song winner!"

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