LIGHTNOVELONLINE Chapter 49
Chapter 49
Before I could ask about the identity of the sticker, the staff member disappeared as hurriedly as they had come.
Left bewildered with the mysterious sticker, I followed the instructions and stuck it to the right side of my chest before entering the auditorium.
While I was being held up by the staff, Ban Yo-han, who had gone in earlier, was chatting with Kim Jun-woo. He paused and looked at me lining up.
More precisely, he glanced at the sticker I had put on and spoke in a tone of great surprise.
“What? You got one too?”
So what on earth is this?
I scanned the lined-up trainees, wondering if it had something to do with our rankings.
It seemed to be evenly distributed from 2nd place to 58th place, including Seo Moon-gyeol.
It didn’t seem to be related to rankings.
After the production crew announced the start of the filming, the auditorium door opened, and Jena entered.
“Hello, everyone.”
“Hello!”
By now, it felt quite familiar and pleasant to greet her.
Standing straight with a microphone in front of the trainees, Jena spoke in a gentle yet organized tone.
“First of all, congratulations once again on surviving the first ranking ceremony and being able to perform in the second round.”
The surviving trainees cheered in self-congratulation.
In fact, the word “cheer” was displayed prominently on the monitor installed by the production crew.
Once the surroundings quieted down again, Jena continued with a more formal and weighty voice.
“And the joy of your previous ranking lasts only until this moment.”
Her remark instantly cooled the somewhat excited atmosphere.
The trainees quieted down as if cold water had been poured over them, and Jena smiled meaningfully.
“The newly starting voting is entirely unrelated to the previous votes. In other words, even the current 1st place trainee, Na Yoon-jae, could be eliminated in the next ranking ceremony.”
Na Yoon-jae, the sacrificial lamb of the merciless script, managed his expression with a forced smile.
“Of course, the opposite is also entirely possible.”
The 64th place trainee, who made eye contact with Jena, gave a trembling smile.
“Nobody knows what amazing things await you. I hope you all believe in yourselves and give your best with a new mindset.”
It started with a harsh reality check and ended with an encouraging note of hope.
A louder applause erupted than before.
“The trainees who survive the next ranking ceremony will be 36 in total. Those from 37th to 64th place will be eliminated.”
This time, a little less than half of the trainees would be eliminated.
It could be tougher than last time.
“And to determine the surviving trainees, the second round of evaluation is….”
Jena paused for a moment before announcing clearly.
“Position Producing Evaluation.”
Clap, clap, clap. The trainees, without any specific instruction, dutifully applauded, and the PD looked satisfied.
“Do you remember the goal of this season’s Pick Your Heart? Global, and….”
“Self-producing!”
“Yes, that’s correct. Starting from this evaluation, your producing skills will be thoroughly assessed. Expert evaluations will also commence from this round.”
I suddenly remembered the presence of expert evaluations, which I had forgotten about for a while.
I heard there was a lot of talk about expert evaluations on the internet after the first episode aired.
Well, it wasn’t an evaluation that had anything to do with me since I had no producing skills to speak of.
“The Position Producing Evaluation requires producing skills in three areas: vocal, performance, and rap.”
Listening to the subsequent explanation:
The vocal position needed to rearrange the given song into a new style and rewrite part of the lyrics, the performance position required creating choreography and partially designing the stage production, and the rap position involved rap-making, which was the least amount of work but still out of my capability.
But then, I wasn’t capable of vocal or performance producing either.
To objectively produce a decent outcome with such tasks, the trainees would have to be exceptionally skilled.
Considering that agencies typically send their not-so-outstanding B-team trainees to such programs, it seemed utterly unrealistic.
“Additionally, there is a complex position prepared to assess producing abilities in multiple areas simultaneously.”
That would be even more impossible, wouldn’t it?
I wasn’t the only one thinking that. Worry was evident on the faces of other trainees too.
I couldn’t understand what the Pick Heart production team trusted to give such absurd assignments to these inexperienced rookies.
“Before we proceed to song selection, we will form teams. We have prepared an interesting team formation game.”
Jena explained the rules.
The game, conducted over three rounds, had the following rules:
Everyone would dance to the music, and when it stopped, they had 30 seconds to find team members.
To be recognized as a team, they had to hold hands when the 30-second countdown ended.
And the method of finding team members varied slightly for each round.
In the first round, 64 trainees paired up to form 32 pairs.
In the second round, the pairs from the first round either combined to form a 4-person team or remained as pairs.
In the third round, the 4-person teams could combine into 8-person teams, or 4-person teams and remaining pairs from the second round could combine to form 6-person teams, or pairs could combine to form 4-person teams.
If pairs remained until the end, they would form a team.
Is the explanation a bit complicated?
In summary, 4-person, 6-person, and 8-person teams would be variously formed.
In theory, there could be a minimum of 8 teams and a maximum of 16 teams.
Although the specifics of how the second round voting would proceed weren’t clear yet, in seasons 1 and 2, there didn’t seem to be any particular advantage or disadvantage based on the number of team members.
Still, eight members seemed a bit too many, and four might make the stage look empty, so six members seemed just right.
“Does everyone understand?”
“Yes!”
“Before we start the team formation game, there’s one thing to inform you. Some trainees have very special alphabet ‘P’ stickers on their chests.”
The trainees’ attention turned to those of us wearing stickers, including me.
“This ‘P’ stands for producing.”
Jena, who seemed to be smiling while looking in my direction, continued.
“These stickers were given to trainees who responded in the pre-interview that they could produce in at least one area among vocal, performance, and rap, and who would be subject to expert evaluation. Having a producer in the team would certainly make preparation for the evaluation much easier, right?”
The trainees with producing stickers didn’t seem particularly agitated, as if they already knew this fact.
I was the only one caught off guard by this sudden bolt from the blue.
What? Me? That can’t be right.
The moment I realized something was seriously wrong, a quest triggered, as always.
[Sub Quest Triggered!
[▶ Quest Description: How many people get the chance to confront their talents head-on in their lifetime?]
From past experience, I knew that just reading these three lines meant the system was smoothly spouting nonsense on the level of “Do you know the way?”
I skipped the detailed explanation and went straight to checking the rewards and penalties.
If they were bad, I’d reject immediately.
[▶ Guaranteed Reward: Skill 《???》
▶ Penalty for Failure: Random Stat Reset]
[Y/N]
I wouldn’t be fooled by the promise of a skill anymore. It was bound to be something useless like 《Snowball Fight (Beginner)》 or 《Upright Walking (Beginner)》.
Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me.
Moreover, the penalty was the worst I’d seen recently.
It meant that, if unlucky, the charm stat I painstakingly raised could drop to 10.
I subtly moved my fingers to firmly press ‘N’.
And then…
[This quest cannot be refused.]
[It will proceed automatically.]
I knew it. Still, a person can have hope, right?
Since the quest was forcefully accepted and the explanation window disappeared, I’d have to check the detailed content later when I had time.
I turned my attention back to Jena’s explanation.
“One more thing, you cannot refuse a team proposal from a trainee ranked higher than you.”
Indeed, the era of rank supremacy had arrived.
At that moment, I made eye contact with Ban Yo-han, who was smirking slyly.
He gave me a fox-like, thin smile.
His smug look made me curse internally.
‘Damn it…’
In this situation, I had to stick to a trainee ranked higher than him no matter what.
I couldn’t be in the same boat with someone wishing for my elimination.
As I made this resolution, the staff instructed the trainees to spread out widely across the auditorium.
I stood as far away from Ban Yo-han as possible.
He seemed to realize I was avoiding him.
“Then, we’ll start the first round!”
With Jena’s declaration, the familiar first verse of “Heart Attack” began to play.
As I locked eyes with you
When you call my name
While dancing with the moves my body remembered, I fixed my gaze on my target trainee.
I’m aiming for your heart
Heart a-ttae-ttae-tack!
Suddenly, the music stopped, and a 30-second countdown began on the monitor in front.
Trainees who had been dancing on the spot scattered.
There was no time to hesitate.
I also dashed with all my might, utilizing my agility of 27.
My target was Seo Moon-gyeol.
He had a producing sticker, was ranked higher than Ban Yo-han, and despite his unique personality, seemed like a decent person…
‘The best bus driver!’
Given his personality, he was bound to do whatever was asked in any team without taking any benefit for himself, like a household elf.
Rather than watching him give everything away to others, it was better to…
“Hyung! Let’s team up! I’ll treat you well!”
I’ll use you humanely, efficiently, and thoroughly!
Fortunately, Seo Moon-gyeol stood still, waiting for me.
“Okay.”
He answered simply and readily, holding my hand, and we passed the first round.
Ban Yo-han, who saw me running towards Seo Moon-gyeol, grabbed Kim Jun-woo’s hand, who was crying out that he hated handsome guys, instead of chasing me.
There was a slight delay because a few trainees couldn’t find a pair within 30 seconds, but soon the second round began.
Ban Yo-han, not giving up on me, looked at Seo Moon-gyeol, who was unnecessarily handsome, and dragged the despairing Kim Jun-woo toward us as soon as the music stopped.
“Moon-gyeol, let’s team up.”
Seo Moon-gyeol looked at me as if asking what to do instead of answering right away.
I stood like a shield behind Seo Moon-gyeol, the highest-ranked among us, and pointed at Ban Yo-han over his shoulder, quickly instructing.
“Say no.”
“No.”
Without a moment’s hesitation, Seo Moon-gyeol’s response came, leaving Ban Yo-han murmuring in a voice filled with betrayal.
“Wow, Seo Moon-gyeol, you…”
Seo Moon-gyeol responded blandly.
“The kid said no.”
I had asked him because I felt he might listen, but I didn’t expect him to be so direct, which left me a bit flustered.
Was I now repaying the grace of feeding and sheltering him with internal division as the enemy?