GIJS

Chapter 38

Yu Gunja, you terrifying guy

What appeared before him was the status screen of Leon, the leader of the group 'Lunatic.'

[Leon (25)] [Appearance: A- (A+)] [Singing: A- (A)] [Dancing: S (S+)] [Charm: A+ (A+)]

Gunja had seen various participants' status screens up to now, but this one was something new.

Almost all of his stats were filled to the limit of potential.

One could tell just by looking at the status screen how much effort he must have put in.

Unfortunately, he didn't seem to have much talent for dancing...

However, what was important was the phrase written below the stats.

[Your first benefactor.]

It was a phrase he had never seen before, but it wasn't hard to infer its meaning. 'Benefactor' was a term he had heard often even before he skipped through time.

Leon, the head of the idol group 'Lunatic.'

So this guy was his benefactor.

Gunja met Leon's gaze and quickly scanned his face. Even from a glance, it was a distinguished face. The first thing that stood out was the cool forehead. This shape, also known as a square forehead, signifies outstanding intelligence, strong perseverance, and an adventurous spirit.

From that forehead, the straight nose bridge came into view. A man with a straight nose bridge never misses the opportunities that come to him. Perhaps this man sees this very moment as an opportunity.

At the tip of the nose was a well-formed, plump nose tip. Among aspiring idols, some had sharply pointed noses like blades, or noses with tips that turned up to reveal their nostrils, which were typically associated with financial losses.

But looking at that nose tip, it was clear that he knew how to turn an opportunity into wealth.

Combined with the serious and quiet yet sparkling eye shine.

The tightly closed jaw and red, firm lips were the same as Yu-chan 's.

A face doesn't tell everything, but from Gunja's experience, there were no mediocre people among those with such faces.

And then the phrase 'benefactor' appeared on the status screen.

There was no longer any reason to hesitate.

As Gunja turned his body towards Leon, the desperate Director Woo Kyung-hoon made his final plea.

"Gunja, think it over. There's no harm in getting to know BET, right?"

"Hmmm-."

"Also, if you hand over [Unmannered Ones] to us, you won't regret it. We'll recruit SSS-level personnel, equipment, and artists to perfectly recreate it."

"E-SSS-level?"

"Of course, it's BET. Naturally, it's SSS-level."

The mention of SSS-level made Gunja's face scrunch up.

Even if the creation was based on a sale, to say they would recreate the song with SSS-level was like declaring they would ruin it!

"Sorry, that won't work."

"...Huh?"

In the end, Gunja bowed his head to Woo Kyung-hoon and looked at his colleagues.

"I want to choose Senior Leon."

"!"

"Is that okay?"

Gunja's colleagues nodded vigorously in response.

"Good, very good, so good!"

"We all agree!"

"Alright then..."

After securing the agreement of his colleagues, Gunja turned completely towards Leon.

"Oh, the choice of the 'Manner Control Team' is Leon, the leader of 'Lunatic'! Leon, who is regarded as a role model for many aspiring idols, is indeed popular!"

After a fierce competition, Leon, who won [Unmannered Ones], still had an infinitely serious and calm expression.

"Mr. Yu Gunja."

"Yes, Senior."

Leon extended his strong-looking arm towards Gunja and spoke with a tone of certainty.

"We'll be meeting often from now on."

"Yes."

"Let's lead the revival of Korean idol music together."

"!"

It was indeed a grand ambition.

After shaking hands firmly, the members of the 'Manner Control Team' returned to their seats and chatted about this wonderful moment.

"Crazy, crazy, Senior Leon is taking our song!"

"I really can't believe it..."

"But Senior Leon is serious every moment, haha."

"I've never seen an idol use words like 'revival' and 'lead'."

"Seems like the broadcast character wasn't just a concept."

"Why, but they say no bad people among those who are awkward."

Jang Min-ki and Yoon Jeong-hoon laughed as they recalled Leon's remarks, but Gunja was quite pleased with them.

To lead the revival of idol music.

The moment he heard those words, instead of laughing, he felt a shiver all over his body.

For someone who had only been thinking about his idol debut, Leon's words were a novel shock.

This guy is seeing a bigger picture beyond just idol activities.

Yes, as a man, one should hold such ambitions in their heart.

Gunja looked forward to the day he would meet Leon again after all this competition.

Meanwhile, the expression of Director Woo Kyung-hoon, who was not chosen at the last moment, was not good.

"That kid, he's something else..."

Muttering to himself, Woo Kyung-hoon wiped the cold sweat from his forehead.

On TV, he seemed like a pure and cute boy from Cheonghakdong, but the real Yu Gunja was a completely different character.

Despite promising 'SSS-level reconstruction,' Gunja frowned rather than smiling.

It was a declaration of intent to ruin the song.

"A frightening guy..."

Even now, while Gunja was laughing with his colleagues, Woo Kyung-hoon felt he had glimpsed the hidden nature behind that smile.

The charm of an idol displayed on stage.

The mass appeal that captivated viewers from teenagers to people in their 50s.

Musical talent that included playing the geomungo and gayageum, and even performing pansori.

Even while laughing and chatting innocently with his colleagues, the coldness that showed no compromise when interests were at stake.

"I want him..."

Soon, Director Woo Kyung-hoon's eyes sparkled with affection and a desire to possess.

* * *

After the cash-involved 2nd round auction ended, the remaining competition continued.

At this moment, the most awkward position was that of Ju Ha-sung's 'Playboys,' who had to perform immediately after the 'Manner Control Team.'

Not only was it burdensome to follow the greatest stage ever, but their concept also overlapped with an oriental theme.

A situation where they couldn't avoid comparison in many ways.

Despite their attempts to completely suppress Yu Gunja's team with a similar concept and 'sniper performance,' Ju Ha-sung and Noel had to admit that their judgment was wrong.

Wowww-

The audience's cheers and the judges' reactions were incomparable to the previous stage.

The beat was clean and well-crafted. The performance was good. The song was not significantly lacking compared to a professional producer's work.

After some lukewarm praise, their original song [Invincible] was sold for 1500 coins.

While it was the second-highest bid, it was still far less than the 3000 coins plus 30 million won that [Unmannered Ones] fetched.

Feeling the defeat, Ju Ha-sung lowered his head.

From freestyle battles to now, he had already lost twice to Yu Gunja.

His clenched jaw and bulging temple veins twitched repeatedly.

Woom-

When the camera light turned red, he smiled and aligned his gaze with the camera.

"Hyung, don't be too disappointed."

"..."

"Next time we'll be facing a different team, and we can tear them apart."

"..."

"Hyung, won't we be on the same team next time?"

"..."

"Ha-sung Hyung?"

Noel kept talking, but Ju Ha-sung remained silent.

Noel would likely be eliminated in this round.

For Ju Ha-sung, who was only focused on debuting, Noel, who was already half-eliminated, was no longer worth talking to.

The stage continued after that.

Ki Yu-chan, teamed with Yang Jeong-moo, performed a relatively less noticed part but received praise for his near-perfect performance and singing, overshadowing Yang Jeong-moo.

On the other hand, Yang Jeong-moo, the center, overperformed while being conscious of Ki Yu-chan and ended up self-destructing.

Kwon Tae-woong, who performed as a lively boy idol, initially received negative feedback due to his intensity, but...

"Puhaha-!"

"What's up with Tae-woong's pink T-shirt?"

"Wow, look at those chest muscles."

"Kwon Tae-woong! That's gross-!"

Instead, he turned the concept and intense choreography into a strong suit, adding humor to the song and earned a favorable review.

"Ah, I shouldn't be like this, why am I so drawn to Kwon Tae-woong?"

"Thank you!"

"I find Tae-woong's deltoids so funny. When he spins his arms, they get so pumped up..."

"Thank you! Teacher, would you like to touch them later..."

"Puhaha, who would do that!?"

"Sorry!"

"I'll just take the heart, just the heart."

"I love you!"

"Ah, I'm going crazy because of him."

His overwhelming presence even made So-ye-jin, who rarely smiled, laugh.

Seeing Yu-chan and Tae-woong receive good reviews, Gunja also smiled contentedly.

Yu-chan's curse must have been more than halfway resolved.

Tae-woong's stiffness... didn't seem to be resolved, but it was a good thing he survived by leveraging it as a strength.

After all the stages were over, the 48 participants received their performance evaluations. Based on the combined scores from pre-show viewer votes (30%), live audience votes (30%), and judge evaluations (40%), the bottom eighteen participants faced elimination on the spot.

As expected, Noel's name was on the list of those eliminated.

Meanwhile, the 'Manner Control,' who had hoped for a clean sweep, also faced elimination. Despite their best efforts, the elimination of Jang Min-ki and Yoon Jeong-hoon, who had ranked in the 40s in pre-show viewer votes, meant that not all members made it through.

The four remaining members embraced Jang Min-ki and Yoon Jeong-hoon with mixed emotions. Yet, the eliminated two showed relief rather than regret.

"Hey, hey, don't cry. We will see each other again?"

"Honestly, I'm not upset at all. We went out with a legendary performance."

"Gung-ja, thanks for picking us."

Gung-ja tried to hold back his tears, but as soon as he bowed his head, tears streamed down, and he ended up bowing deeply.

"Thank you..."

"Hey, Yoo Gung-ja, are you crying?"

"Crying? That's completely out of the question..."

"You're crying! Haha, I told you not to cry!"

"It's not..."

When he finally wiped away his tears and looked up, he saw that his other teammates were also shedding tears. The deep bonds formed through their hard work were evident.

The first to catch his eye was the large, burly Cha In-hyuk.

"Sniffle—"

Cha In-hyuk was crying, rubbing his nose, and a status window appeared next to his face.

[Currently worried about being caught crying]

Should he tell them he's seen countless tears before? That was a dilemma.

Ji Hyun-soo also had tearful eyes as he looked at the eliminated teammates. Only Ha Hyun-jae remained unaffected.

"Older brothers, don't be upset if I'm not crying!"

"But aren't you a bit too okay with this..."

"Hehe, we'll see each other next week anyway. Let's eat meat together."

"Oh, meat sounds good."

"Shall we eat meat on Friday and watch the broadcast?"

"Okay, deal."

Even in this situation, Ha Hyun-jae was cheerfully jotting down contact information and even making plans to meet next time.

Gung-ja was once again impressed by Ha Hyun-jae.

Of course, there were other participants who didn't cry. Joo Ha-sung, who had to say goodbye to two of his team members, was one of them.

"Older brother, we'll keep seeing each other."

"Yeah."

"Really, it's a promise."

"Got it. Let's do that."

He forced a sympathetic expression, but Gung-ja heard it. It was probably a feigned gesture for the cameras.

He really, really, really didn't seem to be compatible with him.

Gung-ja felt this once more.

* * *

After the second round of competition, which consisted of original compositions, fan reactions remained similar.

Gung-ja's fans worried about the 'Geomungo Session Incident,' while his antis hoped for his downfall.

[ㅠㅠㅠ Can someone spoil from the live audience?ㅠㅠㅠㅠ] [I'm so curious about Gung-ja's performance] [ㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠ They must have removed the Geumungo and Gayageum, right?ㅠㅠㅠㅠ] [Ugh, I'm so annoyed by these backlash issues] [LOL, give up hope, you bumblersㅋㅋㅋㅋ] [Stop with the spoilersㅋㅋㅋ Didn't you see the mid-check?] [Whether or not the session is included doesn't matter] [ㅋㅋㅋ Someone spill the details]

Fans and antis alike wanted spoilers from the live audience, and as the demand surged, spoilers began to trickle in.

[I went to the live audience. Yoo Gung-ja made another legendary performance] [ㅋㅋㅋ What legend? Session casting legend?] [No, it's not about the session. Gung-ja played it himself] [ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ] [He played the Geumungo and Gayageum himself?ㅋㅋㅋㅋ] [Yes, and it was live] [ㅠㅠ I also went to the live audience, and that spoiler is true] [I was actually a Joo Ha-sung fan and didn't like Gung-ja, butㅠㅠㅠ I'm about to embrace Gung-ja after seeing the performance]

The online opinions were sharply divided between those who believed the spoilers and those who didn't. This division remained tense until the broadcast of episode 7.

[ㅋㅋㅋ Common comment from the antis: I was a Ha-sung pickㅠㅠ] [Antis, did Ha-sung get such strong competition?ㅋㅋ] [I also went to the live audience. I'll show proof (photos)] [Oh, a brave appearance ㄷㄷㄷ] [I'm a true neutral, and if I had to pick, it would be Ki Yu-chan, but Yoo Gung-ja's performance was legendaryㅇㅇ] [Really?;;] [Played the Geumungo and Gayageum alone... And the final rap was seriously amazing] [ㅋㅋ Yoo Gung-ja rapped?] [ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ What kind of nonsense is that] [No, it's true. The judges even stood up] [ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ Ahahaha] [True antis clearly don't understand the stage] [Even if you're faking it, do it convincingly~ㅋㅋㅋㅋ] [Rather say he rapped using pansoriㅋㅋㅋ] [Yoo Gung-ja rapped, book, book, book~ㅋㅋㅋ] [Where did you get the proof photos?ㅋㅋㅋㅋ] [What's the point of faking it so much?ㅠㅠ] [Then just watch the broadcast] [ㅋㅋㅋ You don't have to tell me~ㅋㅋㅋ] [I'm already thrilled thinking about the antis' collective disappointment on broadcast day]

"Ugh, why do they live like this?"

Yeonji clicked her tongue at the online opinions. It was frustrating, but she decided to endure it since the opinions would likely change by Friday.

"Oh, how long until the broadcast..."

However, Yeonji's wait was unexpectedly shortened.

On Wednesday, two days before the broadcast, an unexpected video was uploaded to the 'Music Planet' YouTube channel.

[[A-Yuk-Si2] Exclusive Reveal of Unbroadcasted Footage! Yoo Gung-ja's Scholar Freestyle Rap Battle!?]

The video featured a freestyle rap battle between Yoo Gung-ja and Joo Ha-sung that wasn't shown in the broadcast.

Within a day of the video's upload, every online community exploded once again.