‘Ugh··· I can’t believe I’m coming here again.’Because it was still dawn, air so cold it felt like her ears would freeze wrapped around Jiyeon’s body.An early hour before even the sun had risen, when everyone should still be asleep.But in front of the cable broadcasting station MPlay, there were plenty of people standing in line just like Jiyeon.People divided into their own little groups, arms full of placards and things, wearing happy smiles.They were none other than fans of singers waiting to enter the music show Music Count.‘Is this really okay···?’Looking at those clusters of fans, Jiyeon suddenly felt that the reality of being here alone was strangely lonely.Memories floated up of going to prerecordings of music shows together with other fan comrades she’d met through fan sites or SNS, whether it had been for G.G in the old days or, more recently, for DP, the group she’d been stanning.But today, for the first time, Jiyeon was taking part in a prerecording alone.‘I didn’t want to come by myself, but··· I really want to see it once for real.’The reason Jiyeon had cut school at the crack of dawn and come to stand in front of the broadcasting station.That was to see the very first reveal stage of Idol Ground 100.At first, Jiyeon had felt resistance toward both the unfamiliar format of an “idol survival program” and the fact that as many as one hundred participants were appearing.But at some point, she found herself replaying the participants’ prerelease interview videos over and over again.‘They didn’t pick a hundred for nothing!’At first she’d thought they’d picked way too many participants, but that was a stupid thought.What’s the charm of a large-number idol group?It’s that there’s bound to be at least one person in there who’s exactly your type.And because Idol Ground 100 had as many as one hundred people, there were quite a few participants who fit Jiyeon’s tastes perfectly.‘Today··· I’m definitely going to see them in real life!’To see the real-life appearance of one of them no matter what, Jiyeon had come all the way out to the broadcasting station in Sangam, which took an hour from her house, in this freezing weather.‘Is this overdoing it···?’Jiueon carefully hugged the placard in her hands close to her chest, as if worried someone might peek at it.[Lee Sion, let’s definitely debut!]The very person who had led Jiyeon all the way here today, and the participant who’d kept Jiyeon glued to her computer monitor for the past week.In her fifth glorious year as an idol fan, Jiyeon was so excited at the thought of seeing Lee Sion in person that she’d even made and brought a placard herself.The reason Jiyeon was being so self-conscious, though, was that she was worried people around her might think it strange that she’d come here to cheer on a single participant from a program where the broadcast hadn’t even started yet, let alone their debut.***Jiyeon’s worries were unfounded.“Ryu Ayeon!”Right now, you could see people all around the audience seats excitedly shouting someone’s name while holding up placards.In their hands were placards with Idol Ground 100 participants’ names written on them, just like the one Jiyeon had made.Even at a glance, you could see that a considerable number of people were here to cheer for Idol Ground 100’s participants.‘What the, on SNS the only posts were saying MPlay was going apeshit!’Jiyeon felt wronged that she’d been worried coming alone would make her stand out.The internet had been full of nothing but negative takes, but the fact that there were fans coming to see the stage like this even before the broadcast had begun—Meant that interest in Idol Ground 100 was higher than she’d thought.“They’re coming out!”And at last, it was time for Idol Ground 100’s first stage to begin.‘Wow, that’s a lot.’One hundred people.Compared to a normal idol group, which no matter how big usually didn’t go over nine members, the fact that there were a full hundred participants meant that even the way they came on stage wasn’t ordinary.Participants entering in turn from a total of five different entrances.‘Huh? What is this!’Seeing the participants step onto the stage, Jiyeon couldn’t help but be shocked.Because even the structure of the performance hall, which seemed to have been installed specially for this stage, was extremely unusual.A special stage shaped like a five-tier cake.The participants standing on the very top floor of the hall had flashy lighting and could be seen well from the audience, but the lower you went, the less lighting there was and the harder it became to see.Especially the participants on the very bottom floor—things were so dark you could barely even see their faces properly.‘By what standard did they divide them? Ah, wait··· could it be by prerelease interview view count?’Still, as someone with at least a bit of idol fan experience, Jiyeon could tell the production staff wouldn’t discriminate among the participants like this for no reason.Thinking they must have divided the tiers in order of results based on some criteria, Jiyeon quickly began scanning the stage from the very top level.“There she is!”And when she spotted one participant standing on the highest level of the stage, Jiyeon unconsciously shouted out loud.Lee Sion.The reason Jiyeon had come here today, and the face she’d watched in prerelease interview videos so many hundreds of times that it now came out in her dreams when she slept.That face was right in front of her eyes.‘Crazy! This is crazy!!!’Jiyeon couldn’t stop inwardly exclaiming as she looked at Lee Sion’s face.Even on video, Lee Sion had been so pretty she’d grabbed Jiyeon’s attention at a glance, but seeing her in real life, you could feel some kind of indescribable aura.Especially—‘Look at those eyes!’The way Lee Sion stood with a neutral expression, leisurely scanning her surroundings, gave off a chill like a sharp blade.And that very atmosphere was Jiyeon’s favorite, the so-called “cold princess” style.In fact, Jiyeon’s taste had always been consistent.From the old G.G days to DP before this, all the members who had struck Jiyeon’s visual preferences dead-on had made her fall seriously deep into fangirling.Because of that, everyone who knew Jiyeon called her a severe face stan.‘Looks are a virtue for idols too!’Jiyeon thought that for an idol, visuals were just as important as skill.And by that standard of hers, Lee Sion fit perfectly.“They’re starting!”“Wow! With a hundred people, just looking at them is no joke, huh? How many cameras is that?”“More than that, what song are they going to sing? They’re not seriously going to have a hundred people sing some other idol’s song, right?”At last, the stage was full of all one hundred participants.Music began to play.This moment I’ve been waiting for (Oh yeah)The light I’ve been hidingNow it’s time to show itYou can’t avoid my eyesAs the upbeat music rang out, people in the audience unconsciously started bobbing their heads to the beat.Even though it was their first time hearing the song, the melody was intuitive and the mood was really exciting, so they could get into it without any particular resistance.On top of that, the sight of one hundred participants dancing in perfect unison to the song was something you almost never saw, so even audience members who hadn’t cared much about the stage at first were gradually fixing their gaze on it.Maybe it seemed like a dreamBut I become realityNow it’s finally my turnMake it so that everyone remembers me‘Wow··· I didn’t expect much since they’re trainees, but they’re really good?’Jiyeon, like the other audience members, was completely drawn into the stage and staring at it, entranced.But thanks to her many experiences seeing other idols’ stages in person, Jiyeon could tell at once that the level of this stage was anything but ordinary.Because of the nature of idol choreography, even a small increase in the number of people makes matching the moves exponentially more difficult. If a hundred people go up on stage together, usually things just turn into a total mess.But the participants of Idol Ground 100 were cleverly avoiding that problem.‘At first they’re slightly focusing the lights on the people on the very bottom floor, then as it gets closer to the highlight, they’re naturally drawing the audience’s eyes upward to the participants on the higher levels.’Pick me now, pick me wowThe name that will make you flutterAmong countless starsChoose me— right now!Just from watching this section leading into the highlight, you could see the lights blatantly concentrating on the participants at the very top level of the stage, and the cameras closing in on them.‘Whoa, their skill’s good too?!’Jiyeon’s eyes caught on Lee Sion, dancing intensely at the very top level under blinding lights.Shine me now, light me upTrust me to the endEven though she wasn’t the center, just being on the top level meant that for whatever reason, she was a participant being highly evaluated.And more than anything, the fact that they were catching Sion in a solo shot while she sang this peak part of the song was enough to make you feel that the broadcasting station was focusing on her.On top of that—‘I felt it in the interview videos too, but··· that voice is really good!’Rather than being so overwhelmingly good it gave you goosebumps, her voice tone was so nice that the listener naturally got absorbed into it.Even though she was handling it live while dancing, her pitch didn’t waver even a little; it was so stable it was almost relaxing.‘I can’t let this go··· I’ve got to debut you no matter what!’As Jiyeon (18) watched Sion (19), she was already steeling herself to scour SNS and online communities and launch a hashtag campaign, ‘#Debut_Lee_Sion’.“There’s only one chance!”When the song finally reached the last part, the lights went out and began to shine on only a single person on stage.‘Wow··· that Ryu Ayeon is insane too. Well, who else would stand center besides her.’Among the one hundred participants, the lone person who would decorate the final ending image.That protagonist was none ✪ Nоvеlіgһt ✪ (Official version) other than Ryu Ayeon.The lights focused solely on Ryu Ayeon, who was standing proudly at the very front of the stage, and Ryu Ayeon, as if she didn’t feel even a hint of nerves under that spotlight, sang the last part of the song and hopped up.- Right now it’s me, it’s now!‘Huh? Didn’t Ryu Ayeon just slip?’But what caught Jiyeon’s eye at that moment was Ryu Ayeon’s body, which suddenly lurched and looked about to fall as she sang the ending part of the song and went to strike the final pose.However,Tap!Right then, Lee Sion, who had been behind Ryu Ayeon, grabbed her hand and naturally pulled her up at a timing that made it impossible to tell when she’d appeared.***‘That was insane.’I was so impressed with my own reflexes I almost let a curse slip out.Since I had a mic on right now, if I’d actually said it, it probably wouldn’t have ended with just a meeting with my aunt··· which made it a good thing on a thousand different levels that I didn’t.“Are you okay?”“···.”Like we were in some kind of Romeo and Juliet scene, I quietly mouthed the words in a tiny voice to Ryu Ayeon, whose shoulder was pressed up against mine, practically leaning into my arms.But whether she didn’t hear me or not, Ryu Ayeon just kept calmly holding a natural pose, breathing hard.“Cut!”At last, the shooting director in front of the stage called the wrap, and at the same time, the participants who had been holding their poses could finally relax.“What the! What was that at the end?!”“Hey~ don’t try to pry.”And right away, Seo Ryujin ran up to me and demanded to know what had happened.Just from her expression, it was obvious she hadn’t seen exactly what happened and was dying of curiosity.“I’ll tell you later back at the dorm.”But with Ryu Ayeon right here in front of us, it felt a bit off to explain exactly what had happened, so I brushed it off and told Ryujin I’d tell her later.“You didn’t, like··· shove your way into center at the end because you wanted the ending shot, right?”“Do I look crazy to you?!”“Just asking.”How sad.Lately I could feel my dignity being shaved off in real time.The way Ryujin could insult me like that and then brazenly head back to the waiting room first without a care in the world was proof enough.When we first met, she’d gotten all shy, struggling just to meet my eyes, but now every time I joke around she just glares and smacks me on the back.And that wasn’t all.Suyeon, Nara, and Jihae, who used to sit quietly listening whenever I talked about games or historical dramas in the dorm, had also changed their attitude a lot recently.‘Unni··· everything else is fine, but could you please stop talking about that Legend of Valley Saker player?’···I did go on a bit long about Saker.But is Saker just some random player?Saker’s plays are a treasure that go beyond belonging to Korea; even being designated as a World Cultural Heritage Site wouldn’t be enough, so of course it’s going to take a while if I have to explain them to kids who don’t know anything.“···I could’ve done it alone.”“Huh?”On my way to the waiting room, briefly reflecting on the kids’ recently worsening attitude toward me and on the collapse of Korean Confucian values.Out of nowhere, a single sentence suddenly popped out of Ryu Ayeon’s mouth, who had been walking beside me without a word until now.Just as I was about to ask what on earth she meant.Ryu Ayeon strode past me with quick steps and disappeared.Kids these days really had no manners.

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