GIJS

Chapter 154 Social Status Upgrade!

The expressions of the Chinese team members waiting for the results were not very pleasant.

The expected dreadful performance from the slave class turned out to be unexpectedly good. Even the opinions of the Chinese judges were divided.

Normally, the Chinese judges would have blindly supported the stage involving the Chinese team. This meant that the performance from the slave class had appealed to everyone.

"...Damn it..."

Pi Houkam, keeping his head low to avoid the camera, continued muttering curses. If things went this way, the plan might go awry.

However, Pi Houkam still had some faith. No matter how good the unexpected performance was, the power of the audience numbers and the pre-arranged internal voting would surely prevail.

Until the results were announced, Pi Houkam dreamed of a sweet victory.

"The kingship remains unchanged! Korea's Velocé retains the throne!"

But MC Jeong Hae-jin's announcement shattered Pi Houkam's hopes.

The news that Velocé had retained the throne was discouraging. Velocé had repeatedly thwarted Teibo's attempts to outshine 7IN.

The fact that Velocé retained the throne meant that 7IN would continue to be protected by the royal authority.

"Damn, so it's nobles this time too..."

Pi Houkam thought to himself.

"Next, SHINO and QUAN have achieved the noble class—!! QUAN's status has risen to the noble class after a fantastic martial arts performance on the collaboration stage—!!"

Surprisingly, Teibo's name was missing even from the noble class.

Pi Houkam's lips moved faster as he muttered curses. The anxious glances of Teibo's members met in the air, as if they were unsure of what was happening.

"Don't panic, don't make such stupid faces!"

"B-but this is..."

"It doesn't matter if it's noble or commoner, it's all the same if you're not a king. The winner is the one who takes the throne in the end."

Despite trying to maintain his members' morale, Pi Houkam was unable to hold on when the commoner class results were announced.

"Now, the remaining classes are commoners and slaves. Let's see if the teams of the slave class succeeded in upgrading their status or if they remain as slaves! I will now reveal the results!"

"..."

MC Jeong Hae-jin's gaze shifted to the members of 7IN and the Guardians as he paused for a moment.

"Congratulations, 7IN and the Guardians! Both teams have successfully risen one step in status and escaped slavery—!!"

"Wow—."

At the announcement of the results, the two teams that were previously slaves embraced each other. Most of the judges also stood up to applaud. Except for a few with sullen faces, everyone in the room saw it as a deserved outcome. Especially, the members of Velocé cheered with great joy, clapping like seals.

"Woohoo—!!"

"Hey, you guys are the best—!! In terms of skill, you were the kings—!!"

"Congratulations on the status upgrade!"

In the midst of the festive atmosphere, only the two teams could not smile. Teibo from China and AKIRA from Japan, who were automatically confirmed as slaves.

"This is nonsense!"

"...?"

"Please reveal the detailed scores! We need to see the scores!"

Pi Houkam suddenly demanded, and MC Jeong Hae-jin calmly responded.

"Yes, we were just about to reveal them."

With Jeong Hae-jin's gesture, the scores of the seven teams appeared on the large LED screen. Pi Houkam's eyes scanned the detailed scores in an instant.

The score gap was much larger than expected. What was surprising was that Teibo had hardly received any points in the internal voting. It was clear that the Japanese teams, who had colluded before the preliminary round, had now withdrawn their votes.

"...These cowardly bastards..."

Pi Houkam's anger surged. He wanted to grab the Japanese team members by the collar and demand answers immediately.

Although the audience had left, they still had to be careful about their language due to the ongoing recording. However, Pi Houkam seemed too enraged to care about that.

Suddenly, Pi Houkam stood up and shouted towards the Japanese team.

"Hey, what's going on here!"

"...?"

"We were supposed to get your votes, so what is this..."

"Wait—!!"

However, PD Kim Seok-hoon's sharp voice interrupted Pi Houkam.

While PD Kim Seok-hoon had been grinning and watching the judges fight, this time he acted quickly.

Kim Seok-hoon, standing up from the directing seat, addressed Pi Houkam in fluent Chinese.

"You said you were supposed to get their votes? Are you admitting to vote manipulation among the participants?"

"W-well..."

"I can tolerate fights and insults, but I can't tolerate manipulation."

"!"

"Right? You must be mistaken about something."

Under PD Kim Seok-hoon's intimidating tone, Pi Houkam's arrogance was deflated. Pi Houkam, slumping his shoulders, quietly sat down, only blowing out frustrated breaths with his colleagues.

"This concludes the first round of the competition. Are you satisfied with the changed statuses?"

"Yes—!!"

All the participants, except Teibo and AKIRA, answered energetically.

Seeing Teibo's members, who were still sulking and blaming others for mistakes and disruptions, and even causing internal strife, the scholar clicked his tongue.

"Good grief..."

As the old saying goes, "To govern a kingdom, one must first cultivate oneself, then govern the family, then manage the country, and finally bring peace to the world."

Those who can effectively rule this kingdom should ascend to the throne, but they cannot even manage their own emotions.

"Taewoong."

"Yeah, what?"

"It seems those people are definitely unfit to become kings."

"Ha-ha, right. What kind of kings are they?"

"Let's go and show them where the cleaning supplies are."

"Yeah, let's do that. These guys wanted to exploit us, so they got what they deserved."

After thoroughly showing the Teibo members where the cleaning supplies were, the scholar and Taewoong walked away, arms folded, hopping towards the commoner quarters.

* * *

The commoner quarters were far superior to the slave quarters in every way.

There were various advantages, but the greatest one was undoubtedly being located on the top floor. The space was surrounded by windows, providing excellent natural light and ventilation.

"Haha, now we don't have to sleep next to Gunja anymore."

"Hehe, yes. Now I can sleep comfortably on my own."

"But thinking about it, isn't it a bit disappointing? I enjoyed chatting before bed..."

"Well, we probably won't have that luxury now."

"Huh? Why?"

"When the preparation for the second round starts, everyone will be so exhausted that we'll just fall asleep as soon as we lie down."

"Ugh... just thinking about it makes me tired."

It wasn't just the accommodation and facilities that had changed. After the first round of the competition, the Japanese teams, SHINO and AKIRA, started approaching more frequently.

Most of the conversations were inconsequential. They complimented the competition, saying how much they enjoyed watching 7IN's videos.

Although they didn't overtly show displeasure, the 7IN members found these interactions rather unpleasant.

"Don't you find the Japanese people funny?"

"Hmm..."

"They were teaming up with the Chinese to make us slaves, and now they're acting all friendly."

"Exactly. If it weren't for that, we might have gotten along well."

"Maybe I'm petty, but I can't warm up to them."

"No, Hyunjae, you're not petty."

"Why? Doesn't Gunja-hyung feel the same about the Japanese?"

"There's a saying, 'Gu-mil-bok-gyeom (口蜜腹劍).' An opponent who approaches with a smirking face is often more frightening than one who openly shows hostility."

"That's what I'm saying. It feels so insidious."

"Exactly. A true scholar should be consistent in both words and actions."

"Oh, it's been a while since we heard 'true scholar' in the third person. It's nice to hear it again."

After the new accommodation arrangements, while the participants were adjusting to the changed atmosphere, the first episode of [Dynasty] was released worldwide through the OTT platform WebFlix.

Episode 1 covered the preliminary performances of the seven teams and the results announcement. As the first-ever four-country joint idol survival show, viewer expectations were sky-high even before the broadcast.

Especially in Korea, the anticipation was immense. While the scale of capital and fan base might differ, Korean idols were never inferior in performance level compared to any other country.

With teams like Velocé and 7IN among the top Korean idols, their fanbase couldn't help but be excited.

As the program started, viewers burst into laughter at the conflict between Gunja and Pi Houkam, who were at odds over the descendants of the Ming Dynasty.

[LOL] [Gunja, please stop] [Got totally served, haha] [Well, it's a fact that the Chinese burned their own cultural heritage] [??? I don't understand what Gunja is saying;; someone explainㅠ] [There was a Cultural Revolution in China in the late 1900s] [It was an event where Chinese people burned and destroyed their own cultural relics] [Why???] [I guess they wanted to start over] [So it makes sense they aren't descendants of the Ming Dynasty] [Gunja seems like a genius, how does he say that so well, haha] [Today, thanks to Gunja, I learned about history along with Chinese characters] [But is it really okay to air this? PD Kim??] [What if Chinese fans hate our kidsㅠㅠ I don't want that]

Despite the early-stage conflicts, 7IN's fans found it satisfying but remained anxious.

However, the 7IN fans in China seemed indifferent to such conflicts.

[Gunja spoke well!] [He's even got a charming personality. I'm even more captivated] [If he had just taken hits from unreasonable attacks, it would have been less impressive] [There's no need to be polite to baseless attacks!] [It's true that China did foolish things] [Even if we can't watch YouTube, we love 7IN] [A man who just smiles isn't attractive] [Pi Houkam = Unpleasant] [In the future, 7IN and Teibo will likely have conflicts. That's PD Kim Seok-hoon's style of directing.]

Of course, there were many Chinese fans who disapproved of Gunja's remarks. Especially among Teibo fans, Gunja had almost become a public enemy.

[What's that crazy guy saying] [So rude] [Anyone who touches painful history deserves to be condemned] [But it was Pi Houkam's side that first touched on painful history] [Be quiet up there. Are you Chinese?] [We need to unite. We've clearly identified the enemy] [They're definitely inferior to Teibo in skill] [People who talk big often have terrible skills] [Teibo's performance is superior to most K-POP idols. Teibo is a transcendent group made by gathering the best qualities of Korean idols.] [Is 7IN a team that can actually dance?]

However, when the preliminary performance stage was revealed, the reactions of the previously triumphant Teibo fans changed dramatically.