Free Web Novel—This time, it’s a stage where we have to show our skills. Then even if it’s hard, it’s right to challenge the best choreography.
Lee Sion said it casually, insisting they keep the choreography’s difficulty as it was.
At that moment, Ryu Ayeon felt as if someone had struck her head with a hammer.
‘......I was trying to compromise.’
The instant she heard Lee Sion’s words, Ryu Ayeon realized she’d been trying to run away down an easier path under the excuse that it was “for the team.”
—Unni, try some of this too!
Im Yunkyung approached her as if nothing at all was wrong, even though Ayeon had been acting cold.
—Ayeon-unnie, you’re really amazing! I wish I could dance like you too.
Geum Shinyu, who would come over and watch whenever Ayeon practiced choreography, saying she wanted to dance like that too.
And the other Bang! Bang! Love team members as well—they weren’t avoiding her. They naturally treated her as just one of the team.
At first, those behaviors from the team members had felt like a burden to Ryu Ayeon.
But at some point, she realized she didn’t want to disappoint them.
More precisely—she didn’t want to be hated by them.
Because if even these team members were to say to her, like her previous teammates had, that becoming a team with her was the worst thing that could’ve happened—
That would really hurt.
That was why she tried to change the choreography.
Wouldn’t it be okay to make choreography at a level where the team members wouldn’t struggle so much?
—We’re not just going to scrape by this Position Evaluation and be done, right?
However, only after hearing Lee Sion’s words did Ayeon realize that this wasn’t actually for the team’s sake.
‘If we let it slide like this, neither the viewers nor the judges will be able to see our team’s charm.’
She wanted to show a stage where the members shone, like the one Lucid Dive Team A had put on during the Group Battle Mission.
“Do you need to poop?”
“......Shut up.”
Of course, that wasn’t easy, and while Ryu Ayeon was concentrating on her worries about the stage, a voice reached her.
Lee Sion.
Since no one normally spoke to her like that, Ayeon didn’t even have to turn around to know who it was.
“You were sitting there groaning to yourself, so I got worried.”
“......If it weren’t you, there’d be no problem at all.”
“What’s with that hurtful thing to say. Come on, spill it to this unni. What’s bothering you?”
“Let’s not talk.”
What Ryu Ayeon was agonizing over wasn’t something any of the other team members could easily help with.
‘The choreography fits Bang! Bang! Love well. But taking it all the way like this is unreasonable.’
The team members had agreed, but bringing the choreography exactly as it was wasn’t good.
This wasn’t compromise—it was an accurate grasp of the situation.
‘Jihae-unnie, Nayeon, and...... even Lee Sion can handle it. But for the rest of the team to fully digest this, time-wise it’s impossible.’
Separate from trusting the team, knowing the limits was important.
The level of skill Ryu Ayeon had seen from the team members up to now—
Ignoring that and just pushing forward insisting it would work wasn’t the right answer either.
“We need to modify the choreography.”
“What?”
As if she’d read Ryu Ayeon’s thoughts, Lee Sion suddenly talked about revising the choreography.
Just tens of minutes ago, Lee Sion had been the one saying they shouldn’t lower the difficulty, so Ryu Ayeon was beyond baffled—she was dumbfounded.
“You clearly said earlier—”
“The choreography is definitely good as it is. But taking it exactly like this won’t work.”
“Then?”
At Ayeon’s question, Lee Sion rubbed her chin, pretending to think for a moment.
“Keep the difficulty the same, but make parts where each team member can show their own charm. And make those parts flow well with the original choreography, but ease up on the difficulty there so they can sort of catch their breath.”
“...That’s your solution? Fine. Let’s hear it. How exactly are you going to make that kind of choreography?”
“That’s something our Ayeon’s gonna have to do.”
“...What?”
At Lee Sion’s shameless tone, Ayeon wondered if she’d misheard.
“Shinyu has really good rhythm sense. Gahyeon-unnie—maybe because she’s tall?—for some reason her lines look really good when she dances. And Yunkyung’s cute, right? What if you mix those kinds of things in more?”
“You think that’s easy? Do you have any idea how many demands that is—”
“Is it hard? Ah......sorry. Sluggish Ryujin was pretty good at this kind of thing.”
“What did you just say......”
“No, no, I didn’t think it’d be too much for Ayeon. If you really can’t handle it, I’ll go beg Sluggish Ryujin for help!”
Snap.
Ryu Ayeon heard the sound of the string holding together something called reason snap cleanly inside her head.
For the record, she’d heard that sound exactly twice in her life, and both times, it had been because of the same person.
Smack! freēwēbnovel.com
“Ah!! Why did you hit me?!”
“I’ll do it.”
“You said you couldn’t?”
“I never said I couldn’t......I’ll make a new choreography somehow within this week, so you go practice.”
Staring fiercely at Lee Sion, who was wearing an aggrieved expression like she didn’t know what she’d done wrong, Ryu Ayeon resolved that she would create a new choreography no matter what.
***
“Contestants, are you all preparing well for the Position Evaluation?”
Yes!!
At MC Jang Junseok’s words, the replies of the gathered contestants echoed through the auditorium.
“My time has come.”
While we were adjusting choreography in the practice room, an announcement came telling us to gather in the auditorium.
The moment I heard it, I knew my time had arrived.
“Do you think it’s another game to decide the order?”
“At this timing, what other reason would they have to call us?”
“Lee Sion, please stay still already! How long are you going to keep warming up for?!”
Our Bang! Bang! Love team was gathered to one side of the auditorium.
As we headed there together, we discussed why the production team had called everyone this time.
Every time there was an announcement to gather in the auditorium, something always happened—anyone who didn’t expect there to be a reason this time would be an idiot.
Choosing team leaders, choosing songs, even the safety training last time.
And our team’s consensus was that it would be about deciding the stage order.
During the previous Group Battle Mission, they’d run a mini-game around the mid-check to decide performance order too.
“What do you think the game will be this time?”
“Doesn’t matter. As long as it’s something where I can knock Sluggish Ryujin down.”
No matter what kind of game came up, I planned to represent the team.
If Sluggish Ryujin showed up, I could beat her and reclaim my honor. And if she didn’t, I could mock her for hiding behind her teammates like the Sluggish Ryujin she was.
“Contestants, you’re all quite noisy. Do you perhaps know why you’ve been gathered here in the auditorium?”
While we were talking about the upcoming game, Jang Junseok threw a question to the contestants.
“Contestant No. 24, Jo Yujin—do you know why we’ve gathered?”
“Uh......to choose the performance order for the Position Evaluation......”
“Oh! That’s a very good guess, but unfortunately, it’s wrong!”
At Jang Junseok’s words, the auditorium buzzed again.
It seemed our team wasn’t the only one that had assumed they’d gathered to decide stage order.
“The order for the Position Evaluation stages has already been fixed according to the order of the songs you chose—starting with the Vocal & Rap positions and ending with the Dance position!”
The shocking announcement that the stage order was already set.
But before anyone could even react to that, Jang Junseok continued.
“Today, the Idol Ground 100 production team has prepared gifts for you!”
“Gifts?”
“What, like supplements again?”
“Are they giving out iPads or something?”
At the word “gifts,” the contestants started getting excited, talking about what they wanted.
“Tch.”
“Why are you unhappy now?”
“Sluggish Ryujin’s luck is good.”
While the other contestants were excited, all I felt was regret at losing my chance to discipline Sluggish Ryujin.
“Have you been enjoying the meals at the dorm lately?”
Jang Junseok continued on, apparently unaware of my bitter feelings.
But this time, unlike usual, when contestants always answered with loud cheers, everyone clamped their mouths shut as if it had been planned.
The dorm menu lately had been so brutal that even knowing the cameras were rolling, no one could bring themselves to answer positively.
“It seems the meals may not have been very satisfying. Then today’s gift should be even more meaningful for you! Come on out!!!”
As if he’d anticipated that reaction, Jang Junseok looked even more excited and pointed toward the auditorium entrance, shouting for them to come out.
“Chicken!!!”
“Pizza......there’s pizza too!”
“What is this......a hidden camera prank?”
All eyes in the auditorium were forced to turn that way.
The identity of what entered, filling the hall with the rich smell of oil and the unmistakable scent of flour, was famous-brand chicken and pizza.
And not just one or two—dozens of boxes of each.
“From now on, we’ll begin the Idol Ground 100 talent show!!!”
***
Kim Miyoung, the 33rd-generation descendant of the Demon of Ratings, Deoksu Kim, was truly a cruel person.
“I’ll do a water deer voice imitation!”
Keuuhhh! Keuuhhh!
Watching Lee Gahyeon’s talent show from the stage, I felt like tears were going to fall from my eyes.
“Stop it! Stop already! This is cruel!”
Contestants looked on with pity as Lee Gahyeon stubbornly continued her water deer imitation alone on stage, while Jang Junseok turned his head away like he couldn’t bear to watch.
Only the filming crew were laughing.
“This is too cruel......”
“Gahyeon-unnie, just come down!”
“Let’s just not eat the chicken or pizza, okay?!”
Even Yoo Jihae, the very symbol of gentleness, could only scream for Gahyeon to come back—an unbearably cruel sight.
—The food prepared today will be awarded based on the scores the production team gives after contestants from each team come up and perform a talent show!
A devilish proposal—trading food for entertainment.
‘So that’s why they’d deliberately made the meals so bad.’
Under normal circumstances, the contestants wouldn’t have so easily abandoned their rationality as idol trainees.
But after being subjected to merciless dietary oppression by the dorm meals lately, the contestants finally gave in to the devil’s temptation.
Not just Lee Gahyeon up on stage now, bleating keuuh-keuuh, but other contestants as well had already shown humiliating talents.
“I’m going.”
“Huh? Unni, what are you going to do?” freewebnøvel.coɱ
“I’ll use my body if I have to.”
I knew this was a scheme my aunt had set up, so I had no intention of falling for it—but watching Gahyeon’s fighting spirit, I couldn’t just let it go.
It wasn’t because I wanted chicken or pizza.
I was going to release my seal for the sake of the team.
“Could you prepare roof tiles? Wooden boards would work too.”
When I asked the staff for the necessary items before going on stage, they looked flustered for a moment, then rummaged through storage and actually brought out roof tiles and wooden boards.
“Contestant Lee Sion is on stage! Please give her a big hand!”
As soon as preparations were complete, I stepped onto the stage without hesitation, and at Jang Junseok’s cue, the watching contestants erupted into applause and cheers.
“Woooah!! Lee Sion, hurry and show us something fun!”
“If you tell a Romance of the Three Kingdoms story, you’re dead!”
“If you do some weird old-man joke, you’re dead!”
I could hear heckling mixed in, but I ignored it and raised one hand high to calm the crowd.
“Contestant Lee Sion, what talent will you show us?”
“Breaking. I’ll show you breaking.”
“Breaking?”
Before the word had even finished, the staff began stacking the roof tiles and wooden boards in front of me.
“The boards are fine, but roof tiles are dangerous and could cause injury—maybe we should leave those out......”
After finishing the setup, a staff member approached me, saying the roof tiles were risky and the boards could be rigged instead.
“Fake things can’t move people’s hearts.”
I refused firmly.
And right away, my talent show began.
“Now, we’ll watch contestant Lee Sion’s breaking performance!”
Breaking.
It’s absolutely not easy—but this body was once called Haandong Kim Duhan in my past life.
The shining first-dan certificate in special assault martial arts this body possessed existed for moments like this.
My breaking show, which I’d used countless times as a talent act back in the army.
“Hah!”
Bang!
After lightly smashing the wooden board with my first straight punch, I asked Jang Junseok to hold another board.
As the main MC, unable to refuse a contestant’s request, Jang Junseok raised the board with trembling hands.
Jang Junseok squeezed his eyes shut, afraid of getting hurt.
But there was no need to worry.
Feet are faster than eyes.
Whack!
My flying kick struck the board Jang Junseok was holding perfectly, splitting it cleanly in two.
And for the grand finale—
Bang!
I leapt powerfully and smashed the roof tile with my forehead.
“Wooooaaaah!!!”
The tile shattered beyond recognition, leaving nothing but fragments and dust.
“Did Lee Sion really do that?”
“That’s insane. That’s first place material!”
“They went all the way to the convenience store and now they’re taking all the chicken and pizza too?!”
Cheers erupted from the contestants.
“Who am I?!”
“Lee Sion!!!”
“Say my name!!”
“Lee Sion!!!!”
Hearing the crowd’s explosive response, it felt like dopamine was flooding my brain.
The same thrill as getting a pentakill in Legend of Valley.
Even the production team had to acknowledge my performance, awarding me an average score of 9.2—the highest among contestants so far.
“See? This is who I am.”
“We believed in you, Captain!”
“So even Lee Sion has a hidden talent!”
“What is your head made of that it’s so hard?!”
When I came down from the stage, my teammates—starting with the water deer—showered me with praise.
‘This is it.’
Basking in my team’s admiring gazes, I quickly scanned the area.
And just as expected, my eyes met Sluggish Ryujin’s, who ⊛ Nоvеlιght ⊛ (Read the full story) had been watching me.
—Who’s the pathetic one now? Sluggish Ryujin who can’t even eat chicken or pizza?
Immediately, I sent Sluggish Ryujin a message with my lips.
So she’d definitely understand. Slowly. Clearly. One syllable at a time.
My sincerity seemed to get through—her face twisted right away.
I braced myself, tensing my back, expecting Sluggish Ryujin to charge over and hit me.
But—
“I’ll participate too!”
The place Sluggish Ryujin headed toward wasn’t me.
It was the stage.
Even Jyujin—someone who looked like she’d never participate in something like this.
As Sluggish Ryujin got on stage and declared her intent to participate, Jang Junseok excitedly asked what she’d show.
“I’ll sing ‘Three Bears.’”
“‘Three Bears’?”
Sluggish Ryujin chose the children’s song Three Bears.
“What is she trying to do?”
“Why is Ryujin-unnie suddenly like that?”
“Lee Sion, what did you do this time?”
The contestants murmured at this incomprehensible, bold choice, but once the music started, they had no choice but to fall silent.
“Three bears live in one house, Daddy Bear, Mommy Bear, Baby Bear...”
As the children’s-song backing track played, Sluggish Ryujin began singing in a sticky voice, twisting her entire body.
Her hands slid down from her face over her body, and she even made provocative expressions while “looking for the bears.”
“Mommy Bear is slim.”
As if she were trying to turn the broadcast into adults-only content, Sluggish Ryujin added waves to her movements.
“I-isn’t this crazy?”
I could only gape.
What Sluggish Ryujin was doing now was shocking enough to make people forget my breaking performance.
“She’s scary when she commits.”
When the song reached its ending, Sluggish Ryujin tilted one shoulder down slightly and revealed a hint of her collarbone.
By then, the auditorium had completely transformed into the atmosphere of a military morale show.
“Incredible! Contestant Sluggish Ryujin records an average score of 9.4, surpassing contestant Lee Sion to take first place!”
The production team clicked their tongues in amazement as they scored her.
When Jang Junseok finished his line, Sluggish Ryujin bowed and met my gaze.
‘Pathetic.’
Just two characters.
With silent lip movements, Sluggish Ryujin said it to me.
“Ah......then we can’t eat both chicken and pizza—just one.”
“Wow, Ryujin must’ve really wanted to eat. I’ve never seen her go that far, even at Logic.”
“Hey, at least getting one of them is something.”
I hadn’t expected Sluggish Ryujin to go that far either, so I wondered if I had to admit defeat.
But—
“...I’ll bring it.”
Ryu Ayeon, who had been silent until now, finally spoke.
