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Chapter 58

Precognitive Vision showed me a scene where Only One won first place in the second round of the competition.

—Thank you so much. I think this first place is very meaningful to us, and it’s all thanks to our fans. We’ll work harder on stage.

Kang Hyun-Sung was making a face overwhelmed with emotions as he gave his thoughts about winning first place. I couldn’t believe that this was an expression that a guy, who was struggling with burnout just a few moments ago, could make. However, this was not the important part. Why did Only One win first place—that was the important part. Since this was something I hadn’t thought about, my head hurt.

Of course, Only One could win first place as they must have practiced hard. The fact that Kang Hyun-Sung practiced enough to experience burnout meant that the amount of practice his team did must have far exceeded the norm. Moreover, since the other members saw their leader so exhausted to the point of receiving IV fluids at a hospital, it must have been a strong motivating force for them. But...

‘We’re not in first place?’ I had firmly believed that we would be first place. The amount of practice that we did was also not within the realm of normal humans, and our morale also would never love to another group. In my opinion, we were superior to Only One in terms of individual abilities. Moreover, although small, we had garnered enough fans from the first episode to be called a fandom, and above all, the public opinion was favorable towards us.

With all these factors combined, I thought we had a good chance to win first place. But if Only One won first place again, this meant that they must have done so well without any imperfections in their skills. In other words, they did a performance that everyone couldn’t help but acknowledge their performance as first place. I didn’t know why the Precognitive Vision showed me the results of the performance and not the actual performance; I would only be able to accurately assess the situation after seeing their performance.

‘But if they showed me only the performance, I would have complained about not knowing the results.’

If I could only choose one to see, I did think seeing the results was better. I carefully inspected the scenes Precognitive Vision showed me one by one. All the Only One members looked completely moved and immersed in their emotions. Judging by their proud expressions, it meant that everyone was confident in their performance. The more I watched their reactions, the more curious I got about their performance. Then, the next moment—

Ziiiing.

The haze that occupied the space quickly disappeared and then—

Whoosh!

The Precognitive Vision turned off, and the world returned to its original speed.

“What do you want to eat?”

“Hmm.”

“Aren’t we just going to eat salad again?”

“Let’s eat a lunch box set today.”

“Bet it’s going to be just chicken breast lunch box.”

I stared at the members huddled together, trying to decide the menu. Maybe it was because I just came back to the present after watching future scenes shown by Precognitive Vision but everything felt strangely foreign.

“Tae-Yoon?” Yeon-Hoon looked up at me and blinked.

“Ah, yes.”

“Why are you just standing there and staring into space?”

“Ah, just. I guess I’m nervous.”

“Let’s first choose the menu. We need to eat first to have energy.”

“Yes.” I went to the sofa and sat down after choosing the diet lunch box that we often ate. Honestly, it was not time for us to eat.

‘Only One will win first place.’ It was much more important to figure out how to change the future I saw. If Only One won first place in the second round of competition, the following development of the show looked rather bleak. If Only One, who managed to barely save face by winning first place in the introductory performance and the first round in a slightly questionable way, also won a clean victory in the second round, this could mean the beginning of Only One’s full-on domination for the show.

‘It could be the starting signal of Only One’s monopoly.’ The rival plot line that we worked so hard to establish with Only One might backfire, and a new plotline centered on Only One could be created. If Only One managed to win solely on their skills, their fans would have the basis to strongly argue that while the broadcasting show was pushing for Siren and holding back Only One, Only One still managed to flip the playing field and obtain victory by their pure skills.

‘Perhaps, we might lose the third and fourth rounds like this.’ We might not be able to accomplish the goal of winning first place for the entire show. If Only One won first place today and won first place in the third round, their spot for the final first-place winner would be finalized. Even though the fourth round was the last round with a 50% weight grade, it was not enough to overturn the points accumulated by winning the first, second, and third rounds.

‘We came up too fast.’ Honestly, my original plan was to give the first and second round to Only One and start flipping the game around from the third round. However, this plotline was shattered because the aftermath of the first episode was stronger than expected. Instead of the story where the underdogs, Siren, challenged the strong enemy, Only One, it became a story where the dark horse challenged Only One.

This was not good in many ways. I pressed my forehead and tried to organize my thoughts while looking at the ceiling. I tried to think of possible scenarios if we didn’t win first place. If we didn’t reach 100,000 in our album sales in the first week, Do-Seung would die. I couldn’t ever let the future get to that point. I needed to do something. But—

‘There’s nothing I can do right now.’ The future looked even more gloomy because I had my hands and feet tied, and we were on the verge of performing. Why did I only gain this ability now? I wished that I could have gotten it earlier, and then I could have made some kind of plan.

“The lunch box is here~”

The members took out the lunch boxes and placed them on top of the table.

“Tae-Yoon! Eat!” Dong-Jun put a lunch box and chopsticks in front of me, and I could barely focus on the food.

I tried to think positively for now. ‘There’s no guarantee that the Precognitive Vision would be accurate.’

The future was the future because it hadn’t come yet. We could change it somehow. But—

Sigh.

There was nothing so helpless and uncomfortable as leaving our future to uncertain odds. I finished my lunch box without even knowing how I ate everything. Then I lightly practiced the choreography with the members, fixed the outfit again, and tried to spend the remaining time until the performance as efficiently as possible. However, my head was still full of thoughts about Only One winning first place.

“Tae-Yoon, are you sick?”

“Does your stomach still hurt?”

“Hmm. Wouldn’t it be better to take the anti-diarrhea medicine now?”

My expression was so bad that even my members were worried about me. I replied, “It’s all right. My stomach is really fine, so you don’t have to worry about it.” After reassuring the members, I made my expression calm. I was making the members too uncomfortable right now.

Then I resolved to myself, ‘Yeah, Since nothing is certain yet, there’s no need to worry in advance.’

I calmed myself down like this. Just in time, a voice rang out.

—Only One on standby!

The shooting was about to begin.

“Ahhhh. It’s about to start.”

“Let’s turn on the TV!”

“Only One did a remake of our ‘Walya’, right?”

“I’m looking forward to it.”

The members then turned on the TV to watch the show; the light flashed and Only One appeared on screen.

* * *

Park Soo-Chul, the main producer of The Showcase 2, looked at Only One coming up to the stage with disapproving eyes. Only One was late today. Although they said it was because Kang Hyun-Sung was sick, they were so late that by the time they arrived, they didn’t even have the time to do a proper rehearsal.

Of course, they conducted a brief rehearsal to match the camera’s movement since if they didn’t even do that, they couldn’t film the show. However, they skipped the main rehearsal, which Only One had to perform as if they were doing the actual shooting. It was due to Kang Hyun-Sung’s poor condition; he refused to do the rehearsal, saying he needed to relax as much as possible before the main stage.

Sigh.

‘This is why kids who are half famous are the most problematic.’

The show business was where power abuse was rampant. Production teams would treat the cast members poorly, and the vice versa happened as well. This round-and-round circle of power abuse made people sick of show business. But what could he do about it? He had no choice but to believe that they prepared well on their own. Currently, the set was filled with 150 spectators. Then, the hosts of The Showcase 2 finally came out on stage.

—Hello to all the viewers and audience who came to see the stage once again. I’m comedian Kim Young-Jin, the host of The Showcase 2.

—And I’m singer Nahyun.

—A lot of people came here to see the performances again today. I’m predicting that all five groups in the waiting room are eagerly waiting to perform on stage today.

The hosts relayed their lines as written on the cue sheets and filled up the content. As the main producer, Park Soo-Chul knew that not all of their comments would be used on the show, but they didn’t know what they would specifically end up using so they made the hosts say all the lines. Like this, meaningless remarks continued.

—Please explain the ranking system, Mr. Young-Jin.

—Yes, the second round is the same as the previous first round, where each group is rated A, B, and C...

The hosts described the ranking system again.

—The group who placed first would produce a top-budget debut album...

They explained the first-place benefits and rewards.

—Do you know what the concept of the second round is?

—It’s ‘Your Showcase,’ a concept about showing ‘your’ song. Each of the five groups will show another group’s performance...

Lastly, an explanation of the second round of competition followed. The comments continued smoothly without any stops or pauses.

—Then we can’t make everyone wait anymore, right?

—Yes, we’ll start the performance right away. The first performance is—

When the audience’s interest was reaching its peak, the hosts made a short pause and revealed the first group to come up on stage.

—It’s a team that remade Siren’s <Walya> to <Moon Night>.

—It’s Only One’s stage!

The hosts revealed that the first performer was Only One.

“Kyahhhhhh!”

Gasp!

“Crazy!”

Strong exclamations burst throughout the studio. It seemed as if no one thought Only One would do the opening stage. Moreover, since most of the audience members were Only One fans, they must have been elated to see their idols so quickly on stage. Soon, the stage darkened, and the anticipation before the performance filled the studio.

‘I wonder how it will be.’ Although Park Soo-Chul had roughly heard the arrangement’s structure, it was his first time seeing the actual performance as well. He was curious about this stage as a viewer before being a producer. He stared at the stage with his arms crossed. Before the stage brightened and while the stage was still dark, he heard the first notes ring out.

Ding—

‘Sampling?’ It was a completely different composition from Siren’s “Walya.”

‘Is it Chopin’s Nocturne?’ It was a melody familiar to the public. It seemed as if Only One had arranged the melody a little slower and more melancholy and put it in the intro. The blue and cold lights gently filled the stage, and the stage set was revealed.

‘It’s a mansion’s veranda.’ The set resembled the veranda of a two-story mansion. To show the floor height, the veranda was installed quite far above. Kang Hyun-Sung slowly walked out to the veranda in line with the slow classical sampling intro. He walked with leisurely and somewhat seductive steps, and he wore a frilled shirt with black slacks. People gaped at his medieval aristocratic outfit as it was an elegant and luxurious outfit that matched his fair skin and platinum blonde hair. Kang Hyun-Sung swept the veranda with his fingers.

‘The accompaniment changed?’ After the classic sampling ended, the music began playing.

Dan-ddan-dan.

However, while “Walya” actively utilized Korean traditional instruments in its arrangement, Only One’s performance used Western orchestral instruments with the sound of piano as its base. The music only used “Walya’s” melody, and the overall sound was completely different.

—In a deep dark night, I lay wide awake

Standing on the veranda, Kang Hyun-Sung sang the introduction of “Walya”, which was arranged in a classical style in a low voice. However, the real shock began after that.

—The boundless azure sky, bluish moonlight

—Softly envelops me and drives me to the streets once again

When Kang Hyun-Sung’s clear voice spread gently onto the stage.

Bang!

With a sudden explosion—

“Ahhhhhhh!”

Kang Hyun-Sung fell off the veranda.

Flick.

At that moment, the lights started to light up, and four members rose one by one over the place where Kang Hyun-Sung fell—no, the members who were originally lying there woke up one by one from Kang Hyung’s fall. The movement they showed while getting up looked like a flower blooming, so it made the viewers awed by how beautiful this scene was.

–The warmth of that day that’ll never come back

–I thought our distance couldn’t get any further

The choreography of Only One’s members began in earnest. Each member paired up and showed a choreography that stroked each other’s faces as if they were looking at a mirror. While people were still shocked that Kang Hyun-Sung fell off the veranda, they were sucked deeply into the stage.

And even Park Soo-Chul, who was watching the whole show thought, ‘Crazy punks.’ Even while staring at the stage in astonishment, he was cheering in his heart.

While Siren’s “Walya” was about a love that couldn’t come true, Only One’s “Walya”—no, “Moon Night” was about narcissism.