Translator: Dreamscribe
"Will there never be another group like G.G..."
Lee Ji-yeon, currently a second-year high school student and nearing the end of her time as a high school girl.
She had skipped lunch and was huddled in her seat with a blanket wrapped around her, staring at her smartphone screen.
-An idol group member D from a popular group was caught last night driving under the influence...
The entertainment news section was currently ablaze with an article about a drunk-driving idol.
Lee Ji-yeon, staring at it, was beyond furious, she felt so burned out inside that she couldn't even feel anger anymore.
'I never asked them not to drink because they're idols! I just wanted them to call a substitute driver if they were going to drink!!!'
Honestly, she felt like screaming loud enough to shake the whole school. That’s how unfair it felt to her.
The boy idol group she had rapidly become obsessed with over the past year was 'Death Perado'.
Commonly referred to as DP, the group honestly wasn’t great at singing or dancing, but their looks alone were enough to rival top-tier boy idol groups.
Thanks to that, Ji-yeon, a high school girl faithful to appearances, had fallen for them because of their visuals.
The problem was, the DP members were really living off their looks.
She had endured every single dating scandal that broke one by one for each member, as if they were catching some contagious cold.
She had even tolerated when one member, at a fan signing event that fans had paid dearly to attend, responded with an apathetic “Ah, really?” 18 times in a row, completely turning them off.
She also tolerated a member who claimed to be sick and didn’t attend a pre-recorded broadcast, only to be photographed the next day drinking and partying.
But now, the leader of the group, the only one without any prior scandals and who had become the fans’ last hope, had just landed the final blow with a drunk driving incident.
-I'm quitting being a fan, these guys are just hopeless.
-Did I ever ask you to sing well? Or even dance hard? I put up with your shitty outfits!!! I just asked you to breathe, just breathe!!!
-Fuck, if even you’re like this, then you’re basically telling us to get lost!
DP’s fan cafe was already filled with posts from fans, all expressing the same crushed feeling as if they had been copied from Ji-yeon herself.
"I used to be so happy fangirling G.G...."
At this point, Ji-yeon couldn’t help but feel resentment toward G.G, the group that had introduced her to the idol world.
G.G.
Official name Golden Girls, they had burst onto the scene in 2008 like a comet and rewritten the history of girl idol groups.
Especially known for their military-level synchronization in group choreography and stable vocals, they had a strong image as a skilled idol group.
Ji-yeon had been in elementary school when she first saw G.G’s stage and became a fan, and even now, long after their disbandment, she hadn’t been able to leave the idol world.
So now, Ji-yeon could only resent G.G for pulling her into the idol world and then disappearing by disbanding.
No, to be honest, she resented herself for falling into DP just because of their looks.
"I’ll never... fall for appearances again!"
Just as she made that vow, a new entertainment news headline caught her eye.
She was about to ignore it, assuming it was another drunk-driving article, but her gaze stopped when she read the title.
-MPlay's new program ‘Idol Ground 100’
Save your idol!
MPlay was a cable music channel that she often enjoyed watching.
"MPlay is producing an idol survival show?"
There had been plenty of idol reality and variety shows until now, but this was the first time she saw a survival program, and her curiosity was piqued. Ji-yeon began searching for more information about ‘Idol Ground 100’.
And it didn’t take long before she found a flood of information about Idol Ground 100.
'Are they crazy? What are they doing bringing trainees to do this.'
'For real, bringing in kids that young just to eliminate them through voting, this is way too cruel.'
'Even having over nine members in a group makes it hard to remember names, but 100? Who’s going to watch that?'
The comment section on articles about Idol Ground 100 was flooded with mostly negative reactions.
Ji-yeon, too, couldn’t help but view it negatively.
Bringing in 100 idol trainees and deciding eliminations and survivors through voting each round felt like an excessively harsh system.
Not only that, but the fact that only the top 7 ranked trainees out of 100 would be able to debut also didn’t sit well with her.
‘Even if there’s a contestant I like, I can’t be sure they’ll make it into the top 7, so how am I supposed to watch this without feeling anxious?’
Rather than making a pointless program like this, she thought it would be much better if they just produced a reality show for the other boy group she was pushing as her new favorite.
‘Huh? A preliminary interview video?’
Just as her interest, once sparked by this new bait, was beginning to fade, her eyes caught a link.
It was a link to a video where you could watch the preliminary interviews of the 100 contestants. Seeing it, Ji-yeon became slightly interested.
A pure curiosity about how they selected 100 idol trainees and who they were.
Ji-yeon clicked the link as if hypnotized, and soon she found the preliminary interview videos for the participants of Idol Ground 100, located on the video clip board of the portal site.
‘What? Why is this person's view count so high?’
The preliminary interview videos were arranged in order of views, and the top 1st, 2nd, and 3rd places were videos of trainees from major entertainment agencies.
The trainee in the number one ranked video was so famous that even she knew of her.
Ryu A-yeon, a trainee from TSP, one of the top three idol agencies in Korea.
Despite being just a trainee, she had appeared in the music videos of idol groups from the same agency and had extremely high recognition.
There were even frequent posts on community boards titled, “Who’s the girl that appeared in Baseline’s new music video?”
But the video currently catching Ji-yeon’s attention was not one of the top 1st, 2nd, or 3rd ranked trainees.
It was ranked 5th.
It was definitely a high rank, but what drew her attention wasn’t the rank itself. It was the face captured in the thumbnail of the preliminary interview video.
She clearly looked like she wasn’t even wearing makeup, but her face glowed like it had been photoshopped compared to the other contestants’ videos, and it gave off an almost bewitching charm.
‘Independent individual trainee?’
Moreover, while most contestants were trainees affiliated with large or small agencies, the trainee ranked 5th had "independent" listed in the affiliation field, which stood out.
Ji-yeon couldn’t understand how any agency could leave such talent unaffiliated until now.
‘What the hell! She is basically an idol just from her face alone, and these dumbass agency people have let her remain unaffiliated until now?’
Ji-yeon, who had momentarily vented her anger at Korean agencies’ pitiful inability to recognize talent, quickly calmed herself and clicked the video.
Then, the preliminary interview video began playing in a calm, straightforward manner.
"Hello, my name is Lee Si-on. I'm 18 years old, and I’m currently practicing on my own without an agency."
As she watched the video where she calmly introduced herself, Ji-yeon suddenly thought her voice was really nice.
Many people overlook it, but Ji-yeon believed that voice was one of the most important qualities for an idol.
‘Even if someone’s looks aren’t my type, if they have a good voice, I somehow keep watching them.’
Anyway, the voice of this trainee named Lee Si-on, along with her looks, was exactly the kind Ji-yeon liked.
'What are your hobbies?'
'Playing a game called Legend of the Valley.'
'Oh? You play that game? Then by any chance, what’s your tier....'
'... For reference, my tier is Silver, but I think that’s a bit unfair. Honestly, even if I rate myself conservatively, no objectively, I think I’m at least Platinum level. It’s just that I’ve been unlucky....'
Ji-yeon, who had unconsciously found herself focusing intently on the interview video, flinched slightly at the sudden mention of the name Legend of the Valley.
‘Isn’t that the game boys are obsessed with?’
Although she had never played it herself, she knew the name because boys in her class and even her younger sibling at home were obsessed with the game.
‘Well, it’s a popular game, so girls could play it too.’
Usually, when idols were asked about their hobbies, they gave cliche answers like reading, watching movies, or exercising. This, however, was somewhat refreshing, and she wondered if she strategically listed gaming as his hobby.
'Do you get it? There’s no way I’m actually Silver level!'
She seemed genuinely serious as she said she wasn’t at Silver tier, judging by the intense expression on her face.
‘Okay then, do you perhaps have a personal motto you live by as a trainee?’
‘A motto... I think it would be devotion to the country.’
‘What?’
“Huh?”
Ji-yeon, who had been watching the preliminary interview video, couldn’t help but voice her confusion at the exact same moment as the PD conducting the interview in the video.
Devotion to the country?
She found herself wondering, what even is that?
***
"You have to keep your promise, Aunt."
“How many times do I have to tell you! I said I’d give it to you!!”
I squinted at my aunt with slightly narrowed eyes.
-Is this really you?
A few days ago, I had done a preliminary interview for an idol survival program I got dragged into by my aunt’s pressure.
Just like she said, it didn’t seem like much, so I answered the random trivial questions without giving them much thought and came back.
But ever since that preliminary interview video aired, my smartphone hadn’t stopped buzzing with KakaoTalk notifications.
Starting with friends asking if that was really me after seeing the video somewhere, and now even extended family members were making a fuss, asking if I was debuting as a celebrity.
Especially,
‘To my beloved daughter. Mom is always worried about you. Please come back soon to our warm and cozy home.’
Our Mrs. Kim Sukja had suddenly switched her stance as if I was already a celebrity, pleading for me to return home like a long-lost daughter.
‘I didn’t expect my peaceful life to collapse this fast.’
I was starting to regret how much I had underestimated the influence of being on broadcast.
“If you do well at tomorrow’s entrance ceremony, I’ll give you the 1 million won cash right on the spot.”
“If you’re lying, I can’t guarantee your safety, Aunt.”
“You better not cause any trouble there! And don’t even act like you know me on set!”
“That’ll be easy.”
Now that my face was already exposed, I had no choice but to at least go through with the entrance ceremony, which was the bare minimum condition my aunt had set to ensure I got the promised money.
Tomorrow’s entrance ceremony was apparently the shoot where the 100 idol trainees participating in the program would enter one by one, showcase their singing and dancing, and receive their grade.
The judges would then divide the 100 contestants into five groups and assign them grades from A to F in a brutally cruel format.
“You’ve prepared the song and dance for tomorrow, right?”
“Of course.”
Trainees? At best, they’re just wet-behind-the-ears kids, aren’t they?
My aunt kept pressuring me, saying I needed to at least imitate something to avoid embarrassment, but I wasn’t the type to get intimidated by a bunch of kids showing off their skills.
On top of that, I was told that after the entrance ceremony and grade assignment, the training camp would begin, and I’d be stuck there for at least two weeks.
“The first week will be for 100 people to rehearse for the group stage performance, and they’ll be given their first mission task.”
“A 100-person group performance?”
“That’s the program’s opening highlight.”
At first, the idea of a 100-person group performance sounded intense, but when I thought about it again, it wasn’t a big deal.
Back when I was a company commander, didn’t I lead 100 soldiers in drill training?
This would be no problem.
“And during the next week, there’ll be more practice for the group stage performance, and the performance will take place on the final day. After the stage, the first ranking announcement will happen.”
“Wait a minute... Aunt, that means I’m tied down for at least two weeks, right?”
“That’s right.”
My mind started calculating quickly.
As of 2015, the minimum wage is 5,580 won.
Since I’ll be in training camp during the shoot, let’s assume I would’ve worked a 12-hour part-time shift each day. That’s 66,960 won per day.
Multiply that by two weeks, and that’s 803,520 won.
But since I’m also paying the price of having my face publicly exposed, when I factor that in, the 1 million won allowance isn’t just fair, it’s actually a lowball.
'I've been had!'
My aunt had dangled the massive bait of 1 million won to cloud my judgment and then pulled off this entire scheme.
I felt like Sima Yi caught in one of Zhuge Liang’s traps.
Kim Mi-young.
She's scarier than Mrs. Sukja.
***
TL Note: Fan created AI art