GIJS

Chapter 151 Ice & Fire

At the gathering of all the colleagues, the scholar revealed his interpretation of "Damn" based on what he had heard.

As usual, he used a blank sheet and a brush pen. The members' eyes widened at the simple explanation that included some Chinese characters.

"Huh? It's read like that?"

"That's what I heard."

"Hmm... but it sounds quite plausible."

"Well, foreigners don't pronounce 'Damn' as 'dam.' This seems closer to the original pronunciation."

"Haha, that's right~ help isn't pronounced 'help' but 'strait'~"

"Exactly. It's similar to that."

"I suddenly have a lot of ideas popping up in my head."

"···Me too··· I think it's a really good keyword···."

"Great, then let's discuss it with the Guardians. Hyuk, can you do the translation?"

The stagnant meeting for the competition song started to gain momentum with the scholar's idea. Even the Guardians members, who had been dazed by the Chinese characters, began to nod and applaud at Inhyuk's kind explanations.

"Cool idea—!!"

"Alright then, let's develop it in this direction!"

"Okay, let's head to the rehearsal room first!"

* * *

The ten days of preparation for the first competition passed in an instant.

The participants, from the aristocrat and commoner classes of the China-Japan alliance, had already completed their preparation for the competition song.

In particular, Teibo and QUAN from China had many concepts and drafts ready, making stage preparations much smoother. All their drafts had been refined by renowned international producers.

Moreover, Teibo – SHINO and QUAN – AKIRA were all idol groups based on performances, so stage composition was also easy for them.

The wealthy Chinese agencies provided generous support to Teibo and QUAN.

They spent a fortune on setting up the competition set and hired top-notch backup dancer crews to fill in any gaps in the performance.

"There's nothing like a massive investment."

The completed stage looked quite grand.

With 30 backup dancers on stage at once and a rearranged orchestral soundtrack, the audience had no moment of respite.

"Perfect, with this we can aim for the king's position."

After the rehearsal, Teibo's leader, Pi Houkam, wore a triumphant smile.

It was regrettable that the rehearsal had been conducted in strict secrecy. He had hoped that the sight of this rehearsal would crush the morale of the slave teams entirely.

"What kind of stage did the slaves prepare?"

"I don't know, and I'm not interested."

At a member's question, Pi Houkam smiled dismissively, as if it wasn't worth worrying about.

It was a mistake from the start to recruit a team like Guardians. A rock band and a performance group? It was impossible to even imagine them on the same stage.

If the mission difficulty given to the aristocrats and commoners was normal, the slave class teams were given missions equivalent to super-hard mode.

"It's their own fault."

After all the rehearsals were finished, preparations for the actual competition began. The enormous stage set brought by the Chinese teams was installed, and dozens of backup dancers in the backstage stretched non-stop.

With 400 audience members in place and a multi-national judging panel seated, the curtain finally rose on the first competition.

The first to take the stage was the 'King' class, Veloce.

Veloce's representative song was rearranged with an African style. It felt like Veloce's determination to reign as a king in this jungle-like dynasty castle was conveyed through the performance.

Koo-woong, koo-woong—.

To the addictive African percussion rhythm, Veloce members showcased a flawless dance with not a single misstep.

Their costumes, styled in green and gold with accessories inspired by tropical plants, and the stage as a whole felt like a perfect performance rather than a competition.

Waaaaaaa—.

As soon as the stage ended, cheers and applause poured in. Despite it being the first stage, all the judges were already standing and applauding. The subsequent judging comments were all praise.

"Damn···."

After watching that stage, the following contestants could only grit their teeth. Especially Teibo and SHINO, who were aiming for the throne through status elevation.

To become the king, they needed to beat that performance.

However, they had their own sources of confidence. The 200 middle-class and Japanese audience members, as well as the relatively adjustable self-voting scores.

A tremendous amount of capital was also invested in their stage. While they didn't know about other aspects, they were confident that their stage's splendor and grandeur wouldn't lose to anyone.

"We can win!"

"Yeah, let's go for it!"

Next up was the aristocrat class Teibo – SHINO alliance.

The concept of the aristocrat alliance's stage was distinctly futuristic. With SHINO, who had the concept of 'ninja idol,' it was expected they would prepare a conceptual stage. However, Teibo chose dazzling and glamorous EDM.

Jing, jing—.

The stage was packed with visuals that didn't let the audience look away for a moment. The EDM with a densely packed arrangement, and a mega crew of over 30 backup dancers performed Tron dance in the middle, making the audience dizzy.

Taewoong, who was watching the Tron dance backstage, complained.

"Hey, isn't that neon sign dance similar to what we did in [Sing Along Duet>?"

"Well, Tron dance has been around for a while···."

"Still, the movement and composition of our stage are too similar, don't you think?"

Although the mega crew's Tron dance segment looked dazzling, it left a sense of unease for the 7IN members. However, the overwhelming scale of the performance seemed to evoke some excitement, and the cheers from the audience grew louder.

Waaaaaaa—.

The stage was filled with high energy from start to finish. In a competition, such stage composition was undoubtedly effective. As proof, even the Korean judges in the judging panel praised the stage.

"It's a very glamorous and well-organized stage. Usually, such stages tend to become chaotic and mediocre, but it seems you've maintained consistency despite that."

The praise from the Korean judges, who were considered adversaries, made the aristocrats' shoulders lift. However, the praise didn't end there.

"However, it's a bit disappointing that there was no narrative. Although it was dazzling, it didn't really convey a story or purpose behind the stage."

"···."

"If you reduce the flashy elements a bit and focus more on storytelling in the next stage, I think it will be an even more impressive performance."

The Korean judges' feedback about the lack of narrative was disappointing.

Teibo and SHINO politely bowed their heads, but inwardly, they scoffed.

Narrative? Storytelling? What's the point of preparing for that?

The most important thing is the audience's reaction. A dazzling stage is the most effective tool to elicit responses from the audience.

The Chinese and Japanese audience members, who made up half of the audience, cheered for the two teams to their heart's content. That was the most crucial aspect for the aristocrats.

Judges' comments weren't important. With such a response, they felt confident they could aim for the royal position.

The next stage, QUAN – AKIRA, was themed around QUAN's specialty in martial arts.

For the older AKIRA members, simple martial arts movements were choreographed, while the more challenging moves were performed by QUAN members and backup dancers from a martial arts troupe.

Although the core members performed easy moves, the stage was busy enough that it didn't seem awkward.

"Good, good···."

The commoner's stage was also important to Teibo.

If they wanted to prevent the slaves from rising to the commoner class, the commoner's teams had to perform well. If 7IN's status rose to the commoner class, the aristocrats would no longer be able to exploit them.

Therefore, QUAN – AKIRA's stage needed to be impressive. Fortunately, Pi Houkam also thought the commoner's stage was quite good. The audience was cheering just as enthusiastically as for the aristocrats' stage.

Waaa—.

Of course, the subsequent judging comments weren't all positive.

"The AKIRA members didn't dance at all, was that agreed upon?"

"This arrangement and concept seem optimized for QUAN members, but I'm curious if the opinions of both teams were sufficiently coordinated regarding the direction of the song."

"While it was a splendid stage··· it felt more like AKIRA was on stage as QUAN's backup dancers rather than a collaborative stage. Actually, they did easier moves than backup dancers, making their role seem even less significant."

"However, the stage wasn't terrible. To reiterate, the stage was good. But there was some disappointment in the distribution of roles among the members."

Although there was some criticism, it was okay.

Soon, the stage of the slaves would be followed by only criticism.

After all the previous stages were over, 7IN and the Guardians' combination finally took the stage.

Waaaaaaa—.

As the cheers quieted down, a large drum sound began to echo from afar, but nothing was visible on stage.

"···?"

"Where are they?"

As all the audience members and competitive teams tilted their heads, someone pointed to the ceiling with a shout.

A large block of ice, tied with ropes, began descending, and stage devices started rising from the floor.

Revealed from the stage devices was Inhyuk, with his huge physique.

His outfit resembled a firefighter's. However, since half of his jumpsuit was removed, his upper body muscles, like a statue from a Greek temple, were fully exposed.

Kyaaaaa—.

Just by that appearance alone, the female audience members, regardless of nationality, started shouting.

But that was just the beginning. Inhyuk, lifting a large wooden hammer next to him, began smashing the ice.

Poooor, pooooor—!!

With each powerful strike, the ice shattered into pieces. As Inhyuk swung the hammer, his upper body muscles bulged and defined, as if asserting their presence.

Pooor, poooor, pooooor—!!

The immense power of his movements made even the aristocrats and commoners involuntarily shrink back. As pieces of ice flew in all directions and fell on their faces, they felt a shiver run down their spines.

Poooor—!!

Finally, when Inhyuk shattered the ice into countless fragments, a large curtain hidden inside the ice was revealed.

The black curtain had red Chinese characters written on it: '大炎' (Great Flame). As soon as the curtain was fully unfurled, flames ignited at the bottom. The curtain, which had been trapped in ice moments ago, turned into a blazing fire, filling the space with a heavy rock sound that seemed to have been waiting for this moment.

"Damn—!!"

As if igniting the fire of rage within the slaves' hearts.

Lead vocalist Chad's fiery voice erupted, piercing the audience's eardrums.