The team we battled wasn't too bad.

Ryu CheongWoo fit the song very well and his performance was above average compared to the rest of his team.

However, in the minds of the audience, there would be no other team that compares to ours.

It must be because it's a VTIC song.

That's the problem with covering the latest hit of a very popular idol group that is the same gender as you. The audience has memorized the original performance of that song, so even if there was some performance better than VTIC's, the audience wouldn't easily recognize it.

Especially VTIC fans, who can be found anywhere on the internet. When they see the presentation of this equipment, they will surely criticize it and say that "It cannot be compared with VTIC".

Still, knowing all that... that team put on their best performance.

The members of my team knew it too, but we went back on stage smiling and waving to everyone when we were called to start the voting.

The MC introduced the teams in order of performing the covers.

-Oh the Aktober 31 team! It was an exciting and fun presentation just like Halloween! That's what your team's name was intended to imply, right?

-Yes! It is true that he tries to express the emotions that are felt in the celebration of Halloween! -But it also has another meaning.

-Which?

-Just as there are 31 flavors of ice cream, each of our team members has a different colorful charm!

Keun SeJin looked at us as if he was looking at a bouquet of various flowers. Then, the members of the team began to pose in different ways for the cameras. I... put my two index fingers on my cheeks and gently squeezed them.

Actually, in my previous life it would have been impossible for me to do that gesture unless I was drunk or trying to make fun of someone, but I have to survive on this show no matter what.

-Aaahhh!!

-How nice!

Fortunately, there was no bad reaction. It was lucky that I raised my appearance level. Well, level B- indicated that my appearance looked nice, but not to the level of being considered beautiful.

Then followed the presentation of the opposing team.

-Hello, we are...

They weren't embarrassed about showing up, but I did feel nervous about the difference in cheers they were getting than my team members.

-Nice to meet you. My name is Ryu CheongWoo!

-Aaahhh!!

It was almost unbelievable that the audience screamed with excitement at Ryu's performance, but unfortunately that won't be enough for his team to win the battle.

-Shareholders, please choose! First of all, vote for the team you think did the best! The "Aktober 31" team is the number 1 choice! The "Mountain Heroes" team is the number 2 choice!

Everywhere you could hear the audience pressing the option they were voting for and, as soon as they finished using the remote controls used to vote, the MC ended the vote and announced another one...

-All right, next. Shareholders, you can choose one participant from each team! Choose the ones you liked the most!

The MC clarified again.

-I will repeat it one more time, do not choose two members of the same team! You can vote for 2 contestants, but only choose your favorite from each group, please.

That was the beginning of a new fight.

The production wanted to stimulate competition more, so they didn't want to reward only the winning team, but also showed a reward according to the individual votes for each team member. It was announced to us unannounced when we went to rehearse on stage...

-Pay attention! The reward for the "Individual Competition" within this team battle is... A ticket to be exempt from elimination!

-...What!?

That announcement sparked discussions about who might be eliminated on each team.

Fortunately, my team did not join in the contentious discussions.

I easily convinced Seon AhHyun and got him to trust himself. The Gold 1 and 2 grade boys didn't have the courage to speak badly even though they had some complaints. Lee Sejin must have felt more overwhelmed to sing his best and Choi WonGil didn't say anything useless so as not to break the mood of the others again. As for Keun SeJin, he had no complaints because he managed to grab the position of main dancer.

There was no reason to cause a conflict, because each of them solved their own moral problem a hundred times, not just because it was team week.

In conclusion, shouldn't we be called "the best team"? We did not have any problems in the team as we solved our own problems to improve. Also, due to our good teamwork, we received a lot of attention from the cameramen.

However, the individual vote ended in a more ambiguous atmosphere than the team vote.

-Thank you very much!

After a brief thank you and farewell, the participants left the stage. I did too, but strangely, I felt like it was a shame that I had to withdraw.

***

Filming ended in the middle of the night.

-Thanks for your hard work~

-I felt that it was a bit difficult!

Everyone was disappointed when they heard that the results of the individual competition will be announced at the ranking ceremony, but they quickly pulled themselves together because that same method had been used last season.

For my part, I felt comfortable thinking that my group won the team battle anyway.

Yes, my team won.

-The team that wins the team battles is... "Aktober 31"! Their score is 401, greatly surpassing "Mountain Heroes" who scored 82 points!

-Oh my God!!

"401 vs 82" was a crazy score.

When the announcement was made, for 5 seconds we heard excited cheers and screams from the audience.

Except for Keun SeJin, my colleagues were on the verge of tears, but quickly calmed down.

-Uh huk...

-...Dong Kyun.

-You did a good job. You tried very hard.

A contestant from the other team actually cried.

It would not be seen well to shed tears of joy when another person cries of sadness at the same time.

Thanks to this event, my team members, who were aware of the camera and the state of the opposing team, vaguely expressed their happiness on stage but became extremely emotional as soon as the shoot ended.

-Should we do a group chat? We've been living together for so long~ Or do you want to continue alone?

-That would be perfect!

-I agree, Leader-nim.

Group leader Keun SeJin created the new group chat. Everyone was in a good mood about it and to my surprise, even Lee Sejin gave his number with no problem joining.

-Oh!

-Oh hyung!

-Wow~ Everyone can talk a lot!

-...

I also gave my number and added them on my phone as new contacts.

...I should mute notifications.

-MoonDae~ You tried so hard!

-Uh, you also worked hard as a leader.

Keun SeJin congratulated me to receive something in return, so I did as well and he felt satisfied.

-Haha! Was I really a good leader?

-...

-Mr. Kim Yang doesn't know what to say... I'm kidding, it was just a joke!

Keun SeJin smiled at me as he excused himself. I don't believe him, I wish you would stop.

-Let's see each other often. Stay in contact!

-Hmm, yes.

It seemed that Keun SeJin wanted to get closer to me.

"It seems like they will eliminate the other guys from their agency because they don't have good rankings and don't show good skills."

However, I cannot forget that he is one of the candidates to become a drug dealer and user. He didn't want to take any chances until my suspicions were completely cleared up.

"I'll block him and then tell him my phone is broken."

-Me too... y-your number...

-Do you want to exchange numbers with me?

Seon AhHyun nodded strongly.

Yes, he was better than Keun SeJin.

When I agreed to exchange our numbers to talk in person, his face lit up, and seeing this, Keun SeJin added with a smile.

-Should we have a chat between the three of us? It would be nice to have a group chat because we are the same age.

Did he have to insist like this?

Since AhHyun approved of that proposal, I immediately received a notification of a new group chat and had a bad feeling.

There was a problem that I postponed because I was in a rush to finish the team battle. Before, I was worried that our submission would be as good as the opposing team's because then we would end up with a tie vote, as happened in one of the battles last season.

But now that we have resolved that issue, I am once again in doubt. Will I be tied to these two boys as if we were a group?

-...

I don't know. Anyway, I think we did a good job in the team battle, so I think we'll all pass the next ranking ceremony...

-Go home carefully~

-Bye now!

After the farewell, the participants left the set. I also got out and got on the bus. When I get back to my rented room, I'll look up reviews of the tag team battle.

* * *

The public usually signed a commitment not to divulge the content of the competition until the program was broadcast. However, it was rare for them to abide by the spoiler ban, so various articles could be found on different web pages written by anonymous users.

I learned that in my past life.

---------

Best: Soft & Sweet ㄱㅅㄱ

---------

What the hell did those guys do? I see that they mention them every time

L It was great?

L Didn't they say they did amazing?

L What Soft & Sweet song did they do? Does it have something to do with popcorn?

It was amazing...

I thought that Cha YooJin's team, who was ranked first in the rankings, would get more mentions, but somehow it seemed like my team got all the support from the public.

Of course, about half of the people commenting on the reviews weren't supportive of Icorpo, but rather were seeking to ridicule the show. But from what I see, it seems that the competition left a good impression on the public.

I selected some of the reviews to read.

------

...The guys who covered Soft & Sweet's debut song did really well, I think they're at a level where they could already debut. It was the team that Lee Sejin was in and it seems that he had a good chemistry with his teammates. The atmosphere of the song was shocking... I wonder who came up with that concept.

Ah yes, if you like idols who can sing high notes perfectly, you will find the main vocal in this team.

--------

What the hell did those guys do? I see that they mention them every time

L Who else was there besides Lee Sejin?

L You said they were very good hahahaha but you don't remember their names!

L If you think he's lying, just look at the photos haha...

L I checked other articles to remember their names and there was Seon AhHyun. He was so fucking good that if they asked me who could be the center, I would choose him 100%

L But how was their cover? I'm really curious because Soft & Sweet's debut song is so cheesy

L I can't say the concept, but was it something that gives you goosebumps?

L A concept of robots?

L Hahaha ignore it, they sure just did the fairy concept

L Nononono sure was a werewolf concept

L Or vampires

L What the hell is wrong with you? Crazy bastards ㅠㅠ

L Sure the fairies won

- They ruined the article.

I checked other articles and discovered that the same people who were trolling in the first article I read, continued to make fun of the other articles as if they were playing a game.

It may be very difficult to believe the lucky audience that attended until the program is broadcast, but there is something better to do.

Wouldn't they be more curious as long as they don't know the details?

And since the production team will definitely be analyzing public opinion from the Internet, this overflow of comments is likely to be a boon to the performance of the teams in their future performances.

"I've seen enough reactions to the articles..."

Now I must see my new priority. I activated the popup that was shown as soon as I finished the presentation with my team.

You managed to impress most of the public!

Audience: 582 people (Renewed!)

Percent Impressed: 81% (Renewed!)

Select: Special Attributes ☚ Click!

The explanation of the window was longer and more detailed than on other occasions.

Perhaps the number of viewers and the ratio of impressed set a record that allowed me to acquire a new attribute. The two attributes I've used so far have worked, acquiring them according to how good a presentation you can give is a great reward.

If I don't debut within a year's time, I will die; so I must take every opportunity to survive.

"...Ugh, I get angry every time I think about it."

Apart from that, I leveled up thanks to the 500 dance practices I achieved while preparing for the first battle. But I didn't want to distribute my points yet, I had planned to do it efficiently depending on the next challenge they give us.

"I'll keep the points and let's turn this around."

When I clicked, the slot machine I expected appeared. It seems that I got used to this system little by little.

The machine's screen spun around and stopped on a gold-colored title.

-Oh...

It was a bit disappointing because I saw a few silver-colored titles, so they seemed to be high-grade. Unfortunately I got a low grade, light brown bronze.

"I couldn't get lucky."

In short, the effect of the title matters more than the degree. After a brief moment I cleared my mind and checked the effects of the attribute I got.

People will pay a little more attention to all your actions.

I'm speechless.