Save a Failed Idol's Life

He said he liked being an idol, so that probably wasn’t it.

Maybe he was going somewhere to refresh himself. I had no idea what he was planning in that smart head of his.

Then, one by one, the edited videos were released and the cameras captured the reactions of the cast in real time.

We also had plenty of time to watch the edited version, and it was much more neat and refined than the YouTube version.

The YouTube premiere version kept taking full shots to show the members’ movements as concisely as possible.

As a result, it failed to give the spotlight to each scene and made the screen look cramped.

‘I wish we could have uploaded this version to YouTube.’

I couldn’t hide my regret and looked around, and the other members seemed to feel the same.

“Well, at least we’re lucky to have the edited version on the broadcast.”

Seon-woo looked around nervously and the others relaxed their tense expressions.

“Yeah. We’re lucky to have this one.”

There was no need to dwell on the past. It was better to let go of what we couldn’t do and think about what we could do next.

Let’s show them the best reactions. Everyone was admiring and nodding along, but they all had the same thought in their minds.

‘Yeah, we get it. You did a good job editing. So what rank are we?’

Was it the same for our kids? Kyunghwa wiped the sweat on his palm with his pants.

I should have told him beforehand that we could re-arrange the song and put it in the next album if we couldn’t get the music source. I didn’t like seeing him nervous about being pushed out of the music release like the fourth place.

The anxious waiting time was over and the ranking announcement finally began.

“Now! It’s time to decide the outcome of the first mission! Before we reveal the audience vote scores! Let’s start with Floss and reveal their internal evaluation scores!”

Ugh. The screen switched back to the observation cameras in each team’s hideout and the scenes of Floss’s ranking decision were played like a highlight reel.

“Uh… but this is… we have to admit it.”

“What stage could be first place if this one isn’t?”

“I was mesmerized.”

“Let’s put Floss first.”

“Wow. I’m so jealous.” fre𝚎w𝐞bn𝗼v𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝗼𝚖

After taking a voice from each team, the next scene was BK’s interview after the stage.

He must have cried a lot that day, not just in front of the camera, because his eyes were swollen. He appeared on the screen with a calm expression.

“To be honest… I was jealous and so respectful. It’s such an honor to be on the same stage as them…”

And the next interview was Vesper’s… main vocal? I don’t remember who he was.

“Do I need to explain more? Overwhelming. Period.”

Vesper’s main vocalist made a gesture of slashing his throat with his palm, and everyone went crazy copying him.

You made such a fuss in the pre-interview, but you prepared this pretty well.

In the pre-interview, they were all trying to kill Floss, and now… As I thought, the devil’s editing kicked in.

“But… wasn’t it too biased towards a few people?”

“If you take out some members, it feels like they were used as extras?”

The criticism that followed made a loud noise, and there were reactions that I couldn’t tell if they were booing or cheering.

And this roller coaster continued for us after P2CK.

The early content was not that bad.

“Climax! The stage was really good!”

“Ah~. We wanted to do Carol.”

“You were very clever to secure Carol at this timing~, something like that?”

“It was good. Clean and impactful.”

After a brief moment of feeling touched by the praise, the criticism began.

“It seems like you lack something that can only show Climax.”

“Uh, we would have done better if we did this.”

“You haven’t shown enough charm to be overwhelming yet…”

Ugh, even though I didn’t think they were wrong, it hurt to hear the criticism directly.

Until Floss, everyone would have written them as the overwhelming first place, so I could guess the ranking.

But from P2CK, the vague praise and criticism repeated, so I couldn’t tell who they ranked second.

Everyone was in front of the camera, so they pretended to focus on the screen, but their minds were elsewhere.

The P2CK members sitting across from me were shaking their legs so much that I felt dizzy even though there was a distance between us and the stage.

That’s how the edited version and the internal interview were announced until the last order.

“Now, from now on! We will reveal the internal scores and audience voting scores by team according to the number of views!”

That meant. I had to wait a long time to hear the final ranking.

There were still two more scores to announce…

Everyone looked like they had never envied Floss, the first place in views, so much.

“The representative boy group of Korea, Floss! Will they survive this survival show!”

Boom, with the sound effect, everyone swallowed their dry saliva. At the same time, the MC gestured exaggeratedly and smiled.

“It will be revealed in 60 seconds!”

That bastard’s 60 seconds. Everyone sighed as if they were out of breath. The good thing was that we didn’t have to wait for the real 60 seconds like the viewers.

“Right away! We will reveal the scores!”

“Good job, everyone!”

“You can’t go home yet! Wait by team and come over here for individual interviews!”

As soon as the main camera was turned off, everyone’s tension was relieved.

I have to do this three more times. At least the result was good.

If the result was not satisfactory, our kids would have suffered from wondering what the problem was, not with words but with expressions.

“Ha… That was really close.”

Kyunghwa brushed his chest as he turned his back to the camera and headed to the waiting area.

To put it briefly, we succeeded in landing third place. First place Floss, second place Vesper, third place Climax.

The ranking looked like Climax did a surprising performance, but the detailed scores were not that positive.

1st [Floss] 621 points

2nd [Vesper] 319 points

3rd [Climax] 299 points

4th [AtoX] 298 points

5th [P2CK] 230 points

6th [Playground] 177 points

It was a close call. If even one person had not voted for us in the audience poll, we would have lost our rank to AtoX.

We could have been proud of our stage performance as the second best.

But we felt the wall of the fandom and influence that the brand name of Vesper had. We couldn’t overcome it with just a ‘good stage’.

We had mixed feelings. We couldn’t be too sad, since we did better than expected.

But we couldn’t be too happy either, since there were many things that bothered us.

We thought of our fans who tried their best to increase our views against the formidable fandoms of the other groups. We couldn’t afford to be depressed.

“Climax, please come for the interview! Ise, please come this way first!”

I was lost in thought for a moment, and then it was our turn. I ran towards the staff who called my name for the interview.

There were so many cast members that they had to interview several people at the same time. The structure was like a makeshift booth, where each of us had to answer questions from a rookie PD.

‘It feels like I’m getting a group vaccination or something.’

As I looked around the white curtains, the PD greeted me with a bright smile.

“Hello, we’ll make this quick so you can go home soon! First, please tell us your feelings about today in a short and concise way!”

It would be better to say only good things here, without showing any regrets. I smiled shyly, curling up the corners of my mouth.

“I’m really glad that we got a good result, because our cover song had a strong carol vibe, and I wanted to share it with you as a song.”

“Was there anything you were dissatisfied with?”

“No, not at all. They all cooperated well and followed me. I’m always grateful to them.”

“But if you had to complain about one thing?”

Maybe he was trying to get some more provocative comments from me. But it wasn’t like I was talking to the outside world, and they were my friends. He wouldn’t edit it in a weird way, would he?

I relaxed a bit, thinking that the song issue was over for now. I unwittingly gave him bait.

“Ah. The problem is… they trust me too much?”

“That sounds like a brag, not a complaint.”

“Is that so? I really have no complaints. I’m more worried that I might have burdened them.”

“Okay~. You’re bragging about being best friends with Climax, right? I get it. Lastly, please tell us your determination for the second mission.”

“We’re preparing to show you a more amazing performance, so please look forward to it!”

The interview ended sooner than I expected, probably because he realized he couldn’t get any juicy content from me.

The booth behind me was filming… AtoX B, I think. I sneaked out of the booth and pressed my ear against the wall to hear what he was saying.

“How do you feel about the result of this mission? You must have been very disappointed.”

He was expected to be second in the pre-survey, so he must have been hurt by not making it to the song ranking.

The difference in points was so small, I hoped he wouldn’t hold a grudge against us.

I already felt like punching him whenever I saw his face. I didn’t want to worsen our relationship here.

Then, AtoX B snapped.

“Ah… Honestly, I think it’s ridiculous. How can the score be like that? Our view count was so high, but we lost by one point…”

He took the bait, and the PD scratched his itch.

“By one point, you mean… you don’t think Climax deserves to be above us?”

He fell for the provocation and blurted out whatever he wanted.

“Of course not. I don’t even know if they did that well. Let alone being third…”

He was saying that? I felt like I had been slapped in the face, and I clenched my fist.

“One point difference? … How can Climax be above us? That makes no sense!”

AtoX B fell for the PD’s provocation and blurted out whatever he wanted.

“Isn’t that right? Honestly, I don’t even know if Climax did that well. And to be third place? Even more so…”

What is this kid saying right now?

I felt like I was slapped in the face out of nowhere and clenched my fist without realizing it.