LIGHTNOVELONLINE Chapter 68
Chapter 68
From today, filming would resume.
It wasn’t a costly on-site shoot, but rather commuting to and from the filming location.
This was to prepare for the 3rd round of the competition, the Original Producing Evaluation.
The Original Producing Evaluation, abbreviated as OPE, was, as the name suggested, a competition where original songs were performed.
Until Season 2, it was called Genre Evaluation, where they covered existing songs from different genres. However, with the introduction of the self-producing system this season, a few trainees with composing abilities had pre-submitted their own songs.
Whether it was just the highlight part or only the first verse, regardless of completion.
Professional composers, arranged by the production team, then collaborated under the guise of teamwork to refine these submissions to a level of recreation, completing them as full songs.
Though they didn’t say it outright, the quality of the trainees’ works, still mere amateurs, was too low to use as-is.
‘……Or so I read in an email at 2:30 AM today.’
Poor office workers…
For the record, the filming schedule was notified the day before.
It was amazing that the broadcast continued to run even with such sloppy handling.
No, perhaps it ran well because they somehow managed to do it like this until now.
“It’s hot….”
Now that my face was somewhat known, and since other trainees seemed to be doing it too, I wore a mask instead of a hat when leaving the guesthouse.
I wore only a mask because wearing both would draw more attention and look suspicious.
My destination was the studio of composer Jung Ha-neul. It was the same place we went to for recording Heart Attack last time.
For reference, Ban Yo-han and Seo Moon-gyeol were also scheduled to come to the same place.
Considering that Jing Xiao and Nagase Ritsu went to different composers, they must have divided us based on some criteria.
I wondered what those criteria were.
‘I’ll find out soon enough, won’t I?’
I was lucky enough to find a seat on the subway to Seoul, where I put on my earphones, lowered my head, and pretended to sleep.
Even though I lowered my head enough to hide my face and was buried in the crowd, a couple of people seemed to recognize me and took pictures.
Because of my skill, I could sense their presence, which made me more conscious.
‘Should I just turn off the skill?’
I hesitated for a moment but decided it was better to keep it on. It might be useful someday.
After getting off the subway, I exited through the agreed-upon exit and looked around.
Honk! A now-familiar small black car’s window rolled down, revealing Kwak Sang-hyun’s face.
I hurriedly opened the back seat door and got in. From here, I was supposed to go with other seed trainees heading to the same destination.
I shouldn’t get used to such one-sided kindness.
As I got in the back seat, Ban Yo-han, who had been fiddling with his phone with a slightly frowning face, looked up.
“Superstar is here?”
“Who do we have here? Isn’t it Prince Valentine?”
After the last broadcast, Ban Yo-han had earned the nickname ‘Prince Valentine,’ or the slightly more embarrassing ‘Wang Da-nim,’ meaning ‘Prince’ in a cuter way.
The important thing was that either way, it was enough to make the listener feel embarrassed.
He had shown meticulousness by not teasing me over the phone or text, intending to tease me properly in person.
“What kind of manners are those to a prince? Show some civility and respect.”
Ban Yo-han was definitely a tough nut.
He replied kindly without a frown, as if he were a real prince, making my patience futile.
“Is this guy insane?”
Seo Moon-gyeol explained, unfazed by my blunt remark.
“He’s been teased by Ji-woo hyung and Seong-ha for days.”
Kwak Sang-hyun also shook his head and added.
“Seeing that, even the CEO and employees joined in… Now, when he enters the company, they all say ‘the prince is here’.”
They teased him so much that he became immune and responded nonchalantly.
Damn it. I should have teased him when he reacted.
Patience sometimes led to defeat.
Feeling disheartened, I lost the energy to joke around and fell silent.
Seeing me quiet down, Kwak Sang-hyun, somewhat relieved, started the car.
“Your team is really popular. You can expect good rankings this time.”
“Thank you. But we can’t be sure yet.”
“There’s no ‘can’t be sure.’ Even people who don’t know anything know you did well. Thanks to you, Gyeol got a lot of screen time too. The CEO asked me to thank you.”
“No, it’s not because of me. Gyeol hyung just did well.”
“No, you did well.”
“You’re too kind.”
Our hearty laughter and exchanged compliments were interrupted by an affinity notification.
[Ban Yo-han, who thinks both did well, wishes for your elimination. Ban Yo-han’s affinity +1 Current affinity: +55]
No surprise there.
At this point, it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say Ban Yo-han wished for my elimination every moment he saw me.
Because it’s a nice day, because it’s a bad day, because it’s an average day, for any conceivable reason, he wished for my elimination.
‘At this rate, isn’t he more of a goblin than a prince among the male leads?’
Seeing it so often, I no longer felt offended but considered it a system error.
Just as I tried to justify this persistent affinity description.
[
The achievement name was irritating, and the omitted conditions made it worse.
Well, even unjust victory is still a victory.
Somehow, it felt like I had just gained 1 mental victory, but for my mental health, I decided to ignore it. Even this was a mental victory.
Yet, calling it mental victory made it seem pitiful. Let’s call it self-rationalization. Self-rationalization.
Now, self-rationalization also seemed like a pitiful word.
Ultimately, I decided to call mental victory a thought process for boosting self-esteem. Abbreviated to TPSBSE.
If you think about it, even choosing such words was a form of TPSBSE… What am I supposed to do?
[For achieving five mental victories in an instant, the system grants you a gift. Willpower +5]
Damn it!
It was Kwak Sang-hyun who saved me from the inescapable swamp of TPSBSE.
“We’re here. Text me when you’re done. As always, be humble, greet well.”
If it sounded like he was worrying about me too and not just the company trainees, Ban Yo-han and Seo Moon-gyeol, was it just my imagination?
Judging by their expressions, it didn’t seem like it.
“Yes. Thank you.”
I greeted with a pleasant smile.
As soon as we got out of the car, we rushed into the building where Jung Ha-neul’s studio was located, before anyone passing by could notice us.
Upon entering the studio, we saw the staff who had arrived earlier and some trainees sitting on the sofa.
We bowed and greeted everyone as Kwak Sang-hyun had instructed.
“Hello!”
“Oh, hello.”
Cameras were installed all around the studio. It didn’t seem like filming had started yet.
While Kim Jun-woo was excitedly talking about our group’s stage reactions, a staff member counted heads and nodded.
“All members of Group A-1 are present.”
Which meant there was also a Group B.
The trainees present were Kim Jun-woo, Ok Do-yoon, and Kashima Sora.
Except for Kashima Sora, I was at least somewhat acquainted with the other trainees, which put me at ease.
Noteworthy was that all the trainees gathered here were in the top 20.
Ban Yo-han and Seo Moon-gyeol, who had not had enough screen time to improve their rankings, were ranked 10th and 12th last week, and I was 11th.
Kim Jun-woo, who was 18th last week, had recently stood out as the main vocalist in the 2nd round stage.
Unlike Nagase Ritsu, who had participated in Pick Heart after being an idol in Japan for about a year, Kashima Sora, who had been a trainee in Korea from the beginning, was ranked 7th or 8th last week.
Along with Jing Xiao, he was one of the few foreign trainees who had ever made it into the debut range.
Only two foreign trainees had made it into the debut range so far. The term ‘global’ that they used so much for promotion seemed meaningless.
Except for Ok Do-yoon, who maintained a stable position within the top 5 as a kind and versatile character taking care of his junior, Jing Xiao.
The rest of us had rankings that were driving both the trainees and their fans crazy.
However, Seo Moon-gyeol, Kim Jun-woo, and I still had a chance for our rankings to rise next week.
Even though the rankings fluctuated weekly, unless you were at the very top like Na Yoon-jae, Oh Hyun-jin, or Seo Chan-bin, it was equally nerve-wracking.
At that moment, Jung Ha-neul came out from the inner room, holding an iced coffee in one hand.
“Oh, everyone is here. It’s still 10 minutes before the scheduled time. You all are very punctual.”
It had been almost two months since I last met Jung Ha-neul, and he looked much more relaxed compared to the time when he had to handle dozens of recordings in a day.
“We will begin filming.”
A staff member clapped the slate.
Jung Ha-neul looked at the trainees who stood up as soon as he appeared.
“Everyone, sit down. Although it’s late, I watched your performances in the 2nd round.”
“Thank you!”
“As I briefly explained before, the composers selected the trainees who they thought would fit their songs based on your performances so far, including the 2nd round. There was quite a competition among us to bring in the trainees we liked. It seems our tastes are similar because the top picks were quite consistent. Since we filmed that process too, it will be broadcast later.”
I wondered who among the trainees here would be the one to cause such competition.
‘Everyone but me seems likely.’
I didn’t think I had shown much in terms of singing. Nor did I think I had shown anything impressive in dancing.
Although I had been told I was good-looking lately, I still didn’t see myself as having a definite visual appeal.
‘……How did I end up 11th?’
[A moderate amount of self-reflection is good, but don’t underestimate yourself. Wisdom +1]
For once, it was a commendable message.
Our system has changed.
[Because it seems pathetic and dumb. You need to listen to the whole sentence in Korean. Intelligence -1]
You bad system. Insult me all you want, but don’t reduce my intelligence. It’s already hard enough to increase it.
While I lightly tapped my cheeks to calm the trembling, Jung Ha-neul continued.
“Also, somehow, your fans analyzed your vocal tones and sent me recommendations on which combinations would be good. I took that into consideration too.”
Then Jung Ha-neul added leisurely.
“If we’re doing this, we should aim for first place.”
The previously relaxed atmosphere tightened.