Translator: Dreamscribe
Ah.
Was this how Caesar felt when he was betrayed by Brutus?
"That was a fiercer punch than I expected."
"I got smacked on the back, Captain."
I was rubbing my stomach, and beside me, Yun-kyung was devoting herself to patting the part of her back that she couldn’t even reach.
‘Dieee!!!’
Just as I was about to give Na-yeon a joyful high-five for showing off her skills splendidly in front of the Class F participants, Na-yeon struck my stomach with a punch like lightning, and then smacked Yun-kyung’s back.
"You two should be grateful that’s all you got!"
While Yun-kyung and I were still grumbling from the lingering pain of being hit, Na-yeon was huffing, saying we still hadn’t reflected on our behavior.
How could someone be so shameless?
Maybe this is why people say, "Never raise a black-haired beast."
Still, it seemed like Yun-kyung and my sacrifice wasn’t in vain.
"I think it’s best for Na-yeon to take on the role of leader."
"I agree too! I feel bad for Ga-hyun unnie, but with those skills, it’s definitely going to be better than before."
"Let’s hurry up and practice again!"
Once they witnessed Na-yeon’s skills firsthand, the Class F trainees who had been drooping in low spirits were now looking energized again.
Of course, not everyone felt the same.
‘She must be really shocked.’
Lee Ga-hyun, now the former leader of Class F, was slouched in contrast to the festival-like atmosphere of the class.
Honestly, it would’ve been more strange if she were unfazed after something like this.
Although we handled it somewhat gently, in the end, this was an incident that basically told Lee Ga-hyun she was unfit and should step down.
I too had expected this outcome, which is why I couldn’t help but ponder and ponder again before staging the coup.
‘Still, there was no choice.’
But with my experience from my past life, I already knew.
When emotions like sympathy begin to interfere with judgment, it always comes back later as an even greater regret.
***
"Raise your arms a bit more. And when you turn, give the beat softly so only the person in the middle of the formation hears it. Otherwise, like now, the timing gets off and you’ll end up bumping into each other."
At Na-yeon’s instructions, the Class F participants nodded weakly with exhausted faces, barely catching their breath.
New formation, new song parts.
As soon as she became the leader, Na-yeon completely changed the way the Class F performance was built, starting everything again from scratch.
And in the process.
‘Wait, why are you putting me at the center!!!’
Na-yeon took a rather drastic measure.
She placed Lee Si-on as the center of the Class F stage.
‘I have no choice. No matter where I put Lee Si-on, everyone’s attention gets drawn to her. It’s more logical to just put her at center.’
Of course, it wasn’t that Na-yeon liked Si-on and put her at center for that reason.
But even among Class F, which wasn’t behind other classes in terms of looks, Si-on’s appearance stood out to such an extent that the moment the performance began, she instantly stole the audience’s attention.
So Na-yeon decided it was better to just put her at center and focus the attention from the beginning.
And that choice wasn’t wrong.
"Say my name."
"Genius...."
"Louder!"
"The greatest genius in history who even blasphemes against God...!"
Even now, despite everyone in Class F having collapsed from the relentless practice, Si-on and Yun-kyung were still lively and chattering nonsense, catching Na-yeon’s eye.
‘Yun-kyung’s still young, so I get it, but what’s with Lee Si-on? Is she on some kind of drugs?’
Basically, idol trainees had good stamina.
They had to train in dance all day long, and also exercise to manage their physique and condition, so those with poor endurance couldn’t survive as trainees.
But even those kinds of trainees had collapsed under today’s five-hour non-stop training led by Na-yeon....
Yet Lee Si-on looked as if she had just taken a walk, with stamina perfectly intact.
‘It’s not just her stamina.’
Na-yeon judged that, in order for Class F’s stage to improve, the top priority was to raise the skill level of those without basic technique, starting with Lee Si-on, and so she focused on her with intense training.
‘Steps?’
‘Right, the reason your choreography keeps breaking and disconnecting is because you haven’t learned the basic steps.’
When idol trainees first learn dance, the very first things they encounter are rhythm training and basic steps.
Among them, basic steps usually refer to exercises like groove, wave, and isolation, which involve moving different parts of the body separately.
It might look simple on the surface, but since it's the foundation of all choreography, it's an essential element that must be learned.
‘You were using something this good all by yourself?’
And when Na-yeon gave a simple demonstration to teach the basic steps, she still vividly remembered her shock upon seeing Si-on immediately copy her movements.
No matter how basic it is, controlling the body part by part isn’t easy, it’s so difficult that even after a week of learning, some people still can’t do it if they lack the right sense.
But the moment Na-yeon taught it, Si-on moved as if it was something she already knew, grooving and waving so naturally that even when compared to Na-yeon’s own basic steps, it didn’t look awkward at all.
And that wasn’t all.
Pick me now, pick me wow
The name that will make your heart flutter
Among countless stars
Choose me- now!
After fixing her choreography, Na-yeon tested Si-on by letting her try a vocal part,
‘Why is she singing well?’
Just until yesterday, Si-on had nothing but a nice tone and her singing ability was terrible, but when she effortlessly sang the highlight of the theme song "Spotlight" Na-yeon thought she had to be dreaming.
The highlight of "Spotlight" was extremely difficult.
The pitch gradually rises, and at the line “Choose me- now!” it suddenly jumps to the 3rd octave.
The problem is, at that exact moment, the choreography also requires a jump, so it’s never an easy part to perform properly.
But Si-on completed that highlight part perfectly, without even sounding out of breath.
‘Oh, that? Teacher Hye-ryeong told me to try singing it like that last time.’
Na-yeon had asked in disbelief how she could sing it like that, but the answer she got only left her more speechless.
Diaphragmatic breathing.
This breathing technique is a must-learn for any singer, but it’s not something you can master just by learning it.
At minimum, it takes a month, at most, even years, of constant repetition to truly master it so that your body naturally uses it while singing.
The idea that someone could master it in just one day was practically impossible.
‘No way... Was she hiding her skills?’
Watching Si-on now, laughing away with Yun-kyung over something, Na-yeon thought to herself.
The moment she imagined that Si-on might have deliberately pretended to be bad, secretly hiding her real skills to make herself stand out later, it sent a chill down Na-yeon’s spine.
***
‘I’ve been training diaphragmatic breathing since my days as squad leader.’
In the military, those with small voices simply couldn’t survive.
When giving orders to soldiers or junior officers, having a weak voice would, bluntly put, ruin your authority.
That’s why, at the Military Academy, teaching students how to speak using diaphragmatic breathing was a mandatory part of training.
But who would’ve thought it’d come in handy like this.
“Look at this!”
“Wow! Unnie, you’re the goddess of isolation!”
When I spun my neck like a fan using isolation, Yun-kyung freaked out like she had just seen something amazing.
In addition to the diaphragmatic breathing Hye-ryeong had taught me, there was something called isolation that Na-yeon taught us.
And that was quite fun too.
While keeping the body’s center fixed, I moved my neck, chest, and pelvis, it looked so cool that I ended up doing isolation over and over without realizing it.
The more I did it, the quicker I got used to it, and now whenever I showed isolation, Yun-kyung would cheer like she was watching a circus act.
“I found isolation really hard, but unnie, how did you learn it so fast?”
“I don’t really know either.”
Yun-kyung, who kept gasping in admiration at my flashy isolation, clung to me asking for some kind of know-how, but honestly, I didn’t have any to give.
‘I just watch and copy, and it works.’
When I watched people dancing, I could clearly see where they were using strength and where they were relaxing, so I simply copied that. That was all.
Earlier, even Na-yeon, who was teaching me dance, was surprised to see how quickly I copied her, so I guess the things I’m doing right now aren’t as easy as I thought.
"Unnie, it feels reassuring having you at the center."
"Why did Na-yeon put me at center instead of herself?"
The newly changed formation now had me standing in the center.
At first, I didn’t want to take such a noticeable position, so I tried to refuse firmly, but when I saw Na-yeon quietly clenching her fist, I had no choice but to accept.
‘Am I going to get cursed out for this?’
What I originally envisioned was putting Na-yeon as the leader, at the center, as the trainer... basically shoving all the annoying roles onto her.
Me stepping out as center wasn’t a scenario I had ever considered.
Besides, since I wasn’t skilled enough, I figured the other participants would complain, but surprisingly, they didn’t seem to have any issues.
"Isn’t it obvious? When you’re at the front, unnie, it just somehow looks convincing."
"What?"
"If you keep your mouth shut and just stand still, you’re basically the embodiment of an idol."
My mom said the same, and so did my aunt, and now even Yun-kyung says I’m perfect as long as I keep quiet.
"Okay, let’s get back to practice!"
After joking around with Yun-kyung for a bit, Na-yeon’s voice echoed through the practice room, signaling the end of our break and the resumption of practice.
At the same time, even though they all looked tired, the Class F members stood up and formed their positions again.
I, standing now in what had become my spot, at the very front of the formation, began focusing once more.
‘While moving your feet, don’t just focus on the current move, but anticipate the next move and step accordingly.’
Endlessly repeating what Na-yeon had taught me in my head, I listened to the music that began to play.
‘...Am I enjoying this?’
I realized that I, who at first didn’t even understand music, was now following the rhythm with the tips of my toes, keeping the beat.
At first, I was dragged into this just to earn some allowance money, and I honestly just wanted to go home quickly and rest.
But the more time passed, and the more I learned, I couldn’t understand why simply dancing and singing like this felt so addictive. Right now, I was... having fun.
***
"This is a problem."
"Sunbae-nim, what’s wrong?"
Inside the editing room at the MPlay broadcast station.
Lately, this place was being used almost as if the production team of Idol Ground 100 had taken it over entirely.
And it made sense. With 100 participants, the number of staff involved was the largest in the network’s history, and the amount of cameras and equipment being used was enormous.
And from the perspective of the production team, who had to review all the footage and select scenes worth airing, it was downright hellish.
"The original plan that PD Kim had in mind was to sacrifice Class F to boost Class A members while also highlighting the judges’ images."
"And?"
"We’re trying to edit it like that but... the Class F kids are just too entertaining?"
Lee Hak-yoon, who was in charge of editing Idol Ground 100, was currently in deep contemplation.
‘Lee Si-on. Without her, the whole narrative of the show just feels flat...’
Even just from a quick review, Hak-yoon instinctively knew that to make the show fun, they had to include Lee Si-on no matter what.
But if they did that, the original plan focusing on Class A’s storyline could end up getting weakened.
‘From Class A, probably half of the debut team will come out... If that A Class story gets weak, the show might lose momentum.’
So now Hak-yoon was racking his brain over whether to edit with a focus on Class A, or to bring out the drama centered on Class F.
"Ah, this is driving me crazy... If only Lee Si-on jumps to Class A during the mid-evaluation, everything would fall into place."
"Come on, sunbae... How could someone jump from Class F to Class A in one go? People would accuse the show of being rigged."
"You’re right. I should hope for realistic things..."
Agreeing with his junior’s words, Hak-yoon decided he would have to watch more footage before making a final decision on the editing direction, and continued reviewing the remaining cuts.