The judges seemed to want to say something along the lines of "RaeBin, was it you who ruined the arrangement?"

So I had to choose my words well.

"I will not defend him and blame that boy, but I will clarify the situation."

-Yes, RaeBin... he made the arrangement with the staff in charge of it, but it was us who decided the direction of the arrangement.

-...!

Kim Rae Bin shuddered.

"I hope you're not going to say anything."

Fortunately, Ryu CheongWoo also spoke.

-That's right. We will talk about it and solve the problems you mentioned. We will make sure to show you the best presentation on the day of the team battle.

-...

I think we saved it.

Cheongwoo and I didn't say anything else. The judges looked thoughtful, but soon nodded.

"I guess the time for berating us is over."

It's a relief.

-You will have to start organizing again from this moment, because you will be far behind the other teams and will lack time. Will you be able to do it?

-We will do it. We can do it, right?

-Yes!

-Alright guys, you can!

If it wasn't for the guy who had thrown his brains in the trash, I wouldn't be here, responding without hesitation.

Fortunately, this time the troll came to his senses and responded forcefully.

Judge YoungRin nodded and continued.

-It's fine, but you should know that it could be a reckless challenge for this limited time, you will have to deal with the consequences.

-Yes. Changing the arrangement back does not guarantee that it will be better than it is now.

But if we don't change it and the presentation isn't good, people will think, "Why didn't they change it even though they were criticized?"

There will be many people who will say "These guys don't accept any challenge", so there was no point in giving up without finding a better solution.

In the end, whatever we do, the process is edited and evaluated according to the results. It was something that all the participants knew implicitly, so there was a sense of discipline and tension in the team.

-Yes, we will take it into account and move on.

When we thought that Ryu CheongWoo's answer seemed to end the situation, a voice was heard.

-Can I tell you something?

Asked the singer and songwriter of the song.

-Oh yes... Go ahead.

The judges responded to the composer who suddenly interrupted and he raised his microphone and looked at us seriously...

-I couldn't feel the power of "Burning like the sun" in his performance.

-...?

I don't know what he's talking about now, just as we were winding down on criticism.

Seeing us bewildered by his words, the composer continued.

-This song has to instill courage and passion in people's hearts, right? But you guys... just because you're handsome and talented at dancing doesn't mean you've conveyed that message.

-...

Oh, he's right...

-When I promoted that song with my band, we really tried to convey that feeling. Guys, just because you're a little famous now, you shouldn't forget to respect that song.

Isn't he ashamed to say that to survival show contestants who haven't debuted yet? He seemed to be mistaking the "flashy" comments for advice.

I think his ego is too big.

However, he made a strong point about something we should pay attention to because our reactions would go into editing.

I have to think of an alternative arrangement, but should I take that nonsense into account?

I was very upset, but I didn't refute it when I thought that in the end we would take control of the song from the "poor unknown composer and idol", so I meekly replied.

-Yes!

-We will keep it in mind!

Well... that's how things work in our society.

* * *

With the feedback from our team finished, we were about to start the discussion about the fix, but the troll hesitated and spoke to RaeBin.

-Hey, I'm sorry...

Is it okay for him to apologize on camera?

Since I had supported RaeBin by clarifying that it was our decision, then it was up to him whether or not to correct his mistakes.

RaeBin was silent for a moment, but soon nodded.

-No, it's alright. It's true that I was in charge of the arrangement.

In fact, it wouldn't be strange if he had answered something like "No, you made me do it, damn you".

In the end, Ryu CheongWoo patted both of them on the back and ended the conversation.

-Well done, guys. Let's talk about the arrangement as soon as everything is ready.

By the way, that "be ready" refers to the cameras that monitor our team are filming us.

-Yes!

During the short break, we all spread out and tried to get our spirits back up. Due to the criticism we received in our trailer review, everyone had not-so-good expressions, but still hoped that we would solve it soon.

"It is useless to have hopes unless we come up with a good arrangement option that will lead us to success."

At first glance, no one thought of the direction of the arrangement. Rather, they seemed to be waiting for something to come out after talking for a while.

They want to be happy without trying hard to achieve it.

"The future doesn't look very bright."

-Hmm, Park Moon Dae hyung.

-Oh, tell me.

As I sat in a corner deep in thought, Kim RaeBin spoke to me.

"How weird."

I haven't talked to him much in the past three days... No, come to think of it, I rarely chatted with anyone these past few days. It's so hard to practice the choreography that I didn't have time to talk.

Kim RaeBin looked a bit awkward, but he spoke to me solemnly.

-Thank you very much.

-No problem.

I guess he is thanking me for helping him clear up the situation with the troll.

It's the first time someone helps me in a situation like this...

Just as I expected, he understood his situation in broad strokes. It was something that RaeBin was very concerned about.

If he started another fight, he was afraid that public opinion would say that he didn't fit in with the team and because of him, we wouldn't have a good result.

"That's why he stayed silent, he preferred to be discreet."

He continued his story.

-I was worried that I would be criticized for my lack of teamwork after the problem I had with my first team, but thanks to Park MoonDae hyung, I got through the crisis. I made a good choice by first recruiting someone who cooperates with his team...

-...?

So he chose me because of my "good teamwork"?

I asked him and he confirmed it.

-Yes. I have seen you treat your teammates in a reasonable manner. Of course, I also chose you because you have great singing talent.

-Hmm, well, thank you.

The fact that he believed in the content of the episodes, after he had been destroyed by the editors, was very unique.

How can he believe in my ability to work as a team...when I was edited out as being very antisocial at the beginning of the show?

That is incredible. If he had chosen Keun SeJin, I would have understood.

"Oh, so he chose Ryu CheongWoo to be the leader of this team?"

I see that he has his own standards.

As he noticed me confused and embarrassed, RaeBin spoke to me again.

-Oh hyung. It's okay if you talk to me more comfortably.

-...Hmm, okay.

Well, it wasn't bad talking to a guy of high standards.

When I answered him, I realized that there was another question for him to ask.

-By the way, do you have any ideas for the arrangement?

-Actually, I think it's a bit difficult.

Kim RaeBin's "bad boy" impression softened a bit and he looked depressed.

Even if we start organizing our ideas again, it's a question of how much we need to fix it from here on out.

What it means is that we don't know how many more parts we'll have to fix and test if it works until we have something finished. In addition, we can't forget that we must practice very well so as not to make mistakes before the deadline.

-I don't think it's possible to fix it much... The modifications we made are so chaotic that I don't know what to touch because there is no uniformity.

-That's true.

Like me, he doesn't have any specific ideas and so he can't decide what to fix. As soon as he started to protest, he muttered as if he couldn't stop himself.

-We should heed the composer's advice, but I'm not quite sure what "inspiring courage and passion" means.

-Neither do I.

That's very true. It was hard to understand that advice.

How can idols inspire courage and passion? It's not like we were the superheroes of those American comics that I read when I was eight years old.

-...?

Wait. I think... I just realized something.

I began to analyze more of what I had thought before and I realized that a strange idea had occurred to me. But the more I thought about it, the idea... fitted perfectly with this situation.

It was an idea where all the problems that were pointed out to us could be solved. It is not necessary to change the choreography of the cheerleading concept that we had already practiced so much, and it can even convey the message of having "courage and passion".

Perhaps it is a great solution. But the problem is...

"...It's too much."

It was. The problem is not that it is too excessive, but that it can be taken as something very childish.

Oh? But whether we fix it like that or not, it was clear that if someone made a mistake and left the stage, our team would be eliminated.

-No.

-Uh, hyung?

-Wait a while.

I ignored Kim RaeBin and screamed in my mind as I watched the team members slowly return after finishing their free time.

"Status window!"

And I quickly opened the boys status windows.

-...!

I didn't look at all of his stats in great detail, but their Talent stats were above B- grade. By itself, having some ability at grade B indicates that you are good at attracting attention from others.

It is a fact that this team has been formed with high-level people.

"Perhaps this... could work?"

For some reason, the judges didn't really care that our concept is cheerleading. I had forgotten that.

-RaeBin, I have an idea about the arrangement.

-Y-yes?

I told my idea to a puzzled RaeBin.

-What...?

He seemed very nervous at first, but as I explained, he calmed down and soon his eyes began to shine.

He responded in a better way than he expected.

-Give me a minute.

RaeBin ran over to the keyboard set up on the side of the practice room and started playing something.

And I remembered the property I saw earlier in Kim RaeBin's status window.

All you need is a little inspiration.

→ When inspired, his creative speed is increased to 120%

-...

Just like with Seon AhHyun, he also has a separate window from his status window to describe his ability.

"Isn't there a function to copy another guy's properties...? That's often seen in web novels."

I wanted to regret it, but first I had to do something. I quickly called up my status window and invested my points in the Talent category.

Thus, like my colleagues, I also reached grade B- in said classification.

"Great, now I'm better."

-MoonDae-ya, why did RaeBin just go on the keyboard out of the blue?

CheongWoo had approached RaeBin to talk, but he couldn't because he was too focused on playing the instrument, so he came to ask me why.

Hearing this, I could only shrug my shoulders.

-I had an idea and I think he liked it.

-What idea?

-One about becoming heroes.

-...!?

Behind the confused Ryu CheongWoo, Cha YooJin whispered to the person next to him.

-An idea about turning the tongue into water?

There were five days left for the competition date.

YooJin has difficulty with some Korean expressions due to living abroad for many years. As you can see, the change of one or several syllables is capable of altering the entire context and meaning in a sentence, so it is easy for him to get confused with them and say "strange things".

* * *

And five days later, the day of the competition arrived.

In front of the stage building where the 2nd "Idol Corporation" team battle would take place, there were too many people.

That didn't mean that the number of viewers had increased significantly. This was due to skyrocketing ratings and popularity, which also increased the number of people wandering in front of the building hoping to catch a glimpse of the performances taking place there...

It wasn't even the last broadcast of the show, but he disliked all the people who owned or sold photographs and other merchandise of the contestants, blocking his way.

"Wow. This program is not a joke."

The woman was standing in line at the entrance of the building, dodging the crowd with a sullen expression.

At the request of a friend, she submitted a request to attend as part of the public, but only she could get a ticket, so she thought "'Why don't I just go? '' and took a break so she could go.

"I don't understand why this is so famous lately."

Of course, the request of her friend who invited her to eat and crying begged her "Please tell me later how our MoonDae was", played an important role in her decision.

However, she still had one thought on his mind.

"How good is that boy...?"

She had seen photos of Park MoonDae with her new golden brown hair on social media. He was quite attractive, but she believed that he was not handsome enough for people to like him that much.

Even so, she finally entered the building thinking that it would be better to watch him, since in return he had gotten a good meal.

She couldn't even imagine that in the future she would beg her friend to have a photo of Park MoonDae after the competition ended.