Park Min-hwan, age 20
Position Sub Vocal
Visuals B+ / 172cm, 63kg
Vocals B
Composition/Lyrics/Arrangement D
Dance D+
Leadership E
Hidden C
A moment later, Park Min-hwan's stats appeared before my eyes. It talks annoyingly, but the fact that it does everything it can for me is pretty reassuring.
Anyway, what grade would Park Min-hwan get with these stats— he'd sung it perfectly without a single cracked note, so he could get about a C, right?
"Trainee Park Min-hwan, didn't you prepare any dance besides the singing?"
Just then, dance trainer Do Hyeon-min picked up the mic and threw out a question. Since his own area was dance, maybe he felt something was missing.
Then Park Min-hwan raised his head as if he'd known that question was coming.
"I did prepare. But the level of polish wasn't high, so I only brought the vocals."
"Level of polish....... May I ask whose judgment that was?"
Even at a fair distance, I could feel the edge in trainer Do Hyeon-min's voice. And apparently I wasn't the only one who felt it, because the whole set went quiet in an instant.
'Level of polish.' A trainee who hadn't even debuted had said out loud a phrase that even people who'd reached the very top of a genre don't toss around lightly, so it was only natural things turned out like this.
Park Min-hwan also noticed the mood had turned strange and lowered his eyes for a moment. But if he dodged the answer here, wouldn't that be even worse— I was just starting to worry.
"......It was my younger sibling's opinion."
"Sorry? Your younger sibling?"
Letting out a long breath and steeling himself, Park Min-hwan came out with an answer no one had expected. But the answer was so unbelievably absurd that even the trainer who'd asked the question was thrown and asked again.
Younger sibling? Could he mean another trainee at his agency?
"Yes. My little sister...... told me I couldn't go out there with something like that."
But once again, Park Min-hwan's answer sidestepped my expectations with ease.
"Pfft— I-I see. If it's not rude to ask....... How old is your little s-sister?"
Trainer Do Hyeon-min covered the mic for a moment to hold back the laugh about to burst out. And I, whose emotions show right on my face, had to keep recalling my hard past, afraid my face would get caught on camera.
Sad thoughts. Think sad thoughts.
"She's ten this year."
"Pfhht!"
Though my efforts were smashed to pieces by one more exchange of question and answer between the two of them.
"Agh! Ten? Did he just say ten?"
"Kids that age do have the sharpest eyes. But— pfft."
Laughter burst out all over. It was a commotion that went off at just the right time, when sleep was pouring down on us after eating lunch and jumping dozens of times for the opening video.
"Whew! Sorry. That was an answer I didn't see coming at all."
"......It's, fine."
A moment later, the trainer, having barely gotten his laughter under control, apologized to Park Min-hwan, who had turned red everywhere his clothes didn't cover.
That was probably the best answer Park Min-hwan could give.
"If your little sister stopped you that firmly, we can't ask you to show it here. We want to make you an idol, Mr. Park Min-hwan, not an older brother his little sister hates."
"Thank you for understanding."
It couldn't have wrapped up more warmly.
When Super Strong Dragon had called him a tough one, I'd been secretly worried he'd be hard to recruit, but since he'd folded on dance at his little sister's word, it seemed I could let out a breath of relief.
'That's exactly why you're no good. There you go, relaxing that fast again.'
"Not at all. Trainee Park Min-hwan's final grade is B. We'll be looking forward to seeing your dance at the next test for sure."
"I'll work hard."
In that moment, Super Strong Dragon's words, which had blindsided me, and the bright smile of Park Min-hwan, who'd grabbed a Grade B with a vocal rank lower than mine without even showing any dance, seemed like they wouldn't leave my mind for a while.
"Jae-min, you okay?"
"Huh? Ah. Yeah, yeah. Of course."
"You don't look okay at all?"
After that, several more trainees went by, but I couldn't pull myself together for a while. At the hyungs' worried faces, my eyes squeezed shut on their own.
Here I'd come in with the dream of debuting and making it, and I never thought something like this would shake my mental state. Get it together. If I waver, I'm the only one who falls behind.
'Now you've finally pulled yourself together.'
Thanks to hearing Super Strong Dragon's laughter for the first time in a while, my head felt a little lighter.
"Aw— I'm really fine. But how many are left now?"
"Hm. There are only a handful of empty seats now. Let's see— about three in A, two in D, and two in F?"
"Seven....... If we hold out another thirty minutes, generously, we'll finally get out of these seats."
It was a shame not to watch the stages they'd surely worked hard on, but I could check that part with the hyungs later.
"The end of the long journey is in sight. Next up is Tubinek."
Even MC Jeong Gyu-won's voice was starting to sound worn out. Still, he did his best, lifting the mood along with the corners of his mouth.
"Suseong Ent. Trainee Jo Hyeon-jae's grade is F."
"Angels, all of you are Grade A. Congratulations."
"Kissel's Trainee Ju Seung-u, Grade F."
Were the judges tired too? As they neared the end, they handed out grades quickly without any particular comment.
Among the trainees in their seats, too, the cheers that used to burst out at the end of every stage had long since vanished, and now only quiet applause trickled out.
'Anyway, humans really are cruel. They matched the number of seats to each grade in advance, gathered up desperate people, and then just slapped on nice-sounding words like Keepers and whatnot.'
Huh?
At Super Strong Dragon's words, a sound almost burst out of my mouth. It was something I hadn't realized even when Se-jun hyung told me the number of people left along with the grades.
'What's with that reaction? The name's different, but this is the same as 'that' survival show you know.'
Right. Like Super Strong Dragon said, this was a rigged game of Go-Stop from the start. How could I have forgotten that?
Lee Jae-min, get it together. This time, I've got to debut.
"It feels a bit wrong to say this, but I'm glad we went early. The further back it goes, the less convincing it gets between the trainees' skills and their grades."
"Hah— I think so too."
At Se-jun hyung's words, Jun-hyeok hyung sighed. So the seats left now were one in A and two in D.
"Haneul Music's Trainee Ha Hyeon-jun is Grade A, and Trainee Kim Tae-seong is Grade D."
And with grades splitting within a single agency, only one seat was left. That meant the last contestant would have no choice but to get a D.
Hm? But as I remember it, Yu Yeon-su was definitely an A, so doesn't that mean his stage has already gone by?
"Hyung, you know. Was there a Yu Yeon-su......."
It seemed Yu Yeon-su's stage had passed while I was lamenting forgetting the most important thing.
Flustered, I sent an S.O.S to hyung, and hyung, who'd been watching the stage, thankfully responded to me quickly.
"Huh?"
"Ah, the stage of a trainee named Yu Yeon-su. I was wondering what you thought."
"Yu Yeon-su, you mean the Tempest Ent. trainee who was on a while ago? He was good, good enough to go pro right now. Plus, he was the first and last one to get an A by unanimous vote of the judges."
If hyung was saying that much, it must have been an incredible stage. I'd simply marked him as the main dancer, but apparently he'd nailed the singing too.
"Right. I thought he was only a good dancer, but that's impressive."
As I muttered, wondering whether I should tweak the group's lineup even now, it was hyung's turn to nudge me and ask.
"But Jae-min, how do you know that trainee?"
"I heard other people talking about him earlier while we were waiting for roll call. That someone amazing came out of Tempest this time. I didn't know he'd be quite literally amazing, though."
I hadn't actually seen the stage, but this much should get me through somehow, right?
"Jae-min, you—"
"All right, the time has come to introduce our last contestant!"
But apparently my excuse wasn't good enough, because just as hyung was about to say something again, the MC, right on cue, shouted out the last agency in a voice more pumped than ever.
"Huh? Hoseong Music, that's the one that was late at roll call earlier, right?"
"Yeah. Looks like they weren't late this time, luckily."
It's a shame that no matter what kind of stage Yeo Eun-gi puts on, the grade he'll get is already decided, but that's a problem easily solved if we climb up together at the next test.
Because I'm here, of all people.
"Hello. I'm Yeo Eun-gi of Hoseong Music."
Steadying myself and turning my eyes to the stage, I saw Yeo Eun-gi with his head slightly bowed.
"All right. Let's see the stage, then."
Instead of the sarcasm Super Strong Dragon should have come out with by now without fail, Park Hui-su sunbae-nim's words rang clear across the stage, and on that cue, Hoseong Music's stage began.
The star I see far away,
I walk without hesitation toward the dream that beckons.
Burning up all the passion inside me
It's okay even if I wander in the dark
Listening to his calm song flowing along without a hitch, I started to get a little anxious.
Because I remembered what Super Strong Dragon had said before Star Recycle started, not to treat the past I knew and now as the same.
What if Yeo Eun-gi doesn't rap this time? None of the trainees who'd gone before stuck in my memory as a rapper. Could Jun-hyeok hyung have marked anyone?
Just as my eyes were darting wildly in a panic, Yeo Eun-gi flipped the handheld mic in his grip.
From sunrise till late at night,
I ran toward my dream!
The same old track, Skip,
On my own rhythm, Kick!
And I was able to get my calm expression back in no time. Thanks to Yeo Eun-gi's outstanding rap skills.
"Ooh— he can really ride a beat?"
At Se-jun hyung's surprised voice beside me, I couldn't help puffing up with pride, for no good reason.
Right? That's our main rapper, whom I marked. You'll be seeing him a lot from now on, so get used to his face. The words shot up all the way to my throat, but I barely held them back.
"Good work. Trainee Yeo Eun-gi's rap skills are really outstanding. Good enough that the network over there would want you."
When the stage ended, Yeo Eun-gi received the most positive feedback on rap of any in recent memory.
"Hoseong Music's Trainee Yeo Eun-gi is Grade D. We hope to see you somewhere higher next time."
That still couldn't change the grade that was already decided, but at least he'd drawn out the words next time, which hadn't come up very often.
"It's over. Really over!"
"Good work, everyone. Se-jun, Jae-min."
"Hyungs, you worked really hard."
Even happier than the guy I'd marked getting a good review was the fact that we could escape this place now!
The trainees around us, patting each other on the back with bright smiles from the heart, were mostly in the same boat.
"At last, all 108 contestants have found their places. Contestants, judges, and our Star Keepers! Thank you all for your hard work!"
"Waaah—"
Riding that mood, cheers and applause followed the moment the MC finished speaking.
The numbers on the clock I checked through narrowed eyes were 20 and 32. Not counting the time for lunch and the opening video, we'd been locked up on this set alone for over 8 hours, and we could finally get out.
So in a word, it was a situation where everyone had no choice but to be happy!
But more than any of that, God, if you exist, please tell me that today's work ends here. Please!