GIJS

Chapter 170 Free

In general, it's never easy for live broadcast finals on competition programs to turn out well.

Since it's live, the video and audio cannot be post-processed. Thus, mistakes can't be edited out, and pitch issues can't be corrected.

The participants' skills are fully exposed, so the quality inevitably falls short compared to stages that benefit from editing.

However, the [Dynasty] finals were somewhat different.

For the finals, all the participating teams were determined to deliver perfect performances. SHINO, who started strong, was followed by TEIBO, QUAN, and AKIRA, each delivering their best performances and thrilling the fans.

Wowww—

The fifth performance was by the band-concept idol group Guardians.

Guardians had always relied more on the charm of their live performances rather than their stage performance. At least for Guardians, their live performance was even more captivating than the edited broadcast version.

Ziiiiing—!!

"Wow, the solo performance is insane—!!"

"But are those people really idols—!? What kind of idol does face painting like that—?"

"I don't know, I don't care, it's exciting—!!"

By excluding 'idol-like' elements, Guardians were likely to receive deductions from the judges. Yet, they seemed to be genuinely happy, indifferent to the evaluations.

"I Feelin' Fxxking good—!!"

Shooting out explicit lyrics without editing, Guardians truly turned the stage upside down.

The members of 7IN, who were also from the slave class and had performed together on the [Damn!] stage, were stimulated by Guardians' explosive performance.

"Guardians, it looks like they really prepared hard for this one."

"Yeah. They're showing their true selves this time."

"Even if they lose, I guess they're going to show a truly 'Guardians-like' performance."

"Awesome... I really like them."

"Yeah. At first, I thought they were just crazy..."

"How can they be so calm?"

While clapping for Guardians' performance, the members envied their nerves of steel. In front of more than ten thousand spectators, the 7IN members were genuinely nervous for the first time in a long while.

"...Gunja Hyung..."

"Yeah, Yuchan."

"...Do you think we can do well?"

"We can. Haven't we practiced enough?"

With the audience heated up by Guardians' great performance, the next on stage was Veloce. Despite their experience with overseas tours and thousands of audiences, even Veloce seemed slightly agitated.

"Let's go!"

With leader Pael's shout, the Veloce members left the backstage and stepped onto the stage.

Veloce's competition song was [Kingdom]. The title suited them well, as they had never once stepped down from the throne.

Doo-wung, doo-wung—.

The song was majestic, as befitting the title.

From the start, the powerful bass and drums, along with the orchestrated main melody, resonated intensely, enhancing the grandeur.

On this monumental soundscape, Veloce delivered their best performance.

Wearing stage costumes in the color once reserved only for emperors, and performing an artistic mega crew performance with over twenty backup dancers, Veloce was making a statement.

Through refined movements, decisive vocals, and all elements on stage, Veloce seemed to declare:

We are the real kings. We can't give up this throne yet.

Watching the stage from backstage, the 7IN members were shivering with goosebumps multiple times.

"...Those guys are really amazing..."

"I can't even speak, really..."

"This time, they seem to be seriously determined."

"Pael, his eyes are so scary..."

Although Guardians' energetic performance was impressive, Veloce added restraint and majesty to their energy.

As the song approached its climax, goosebumps were repeatedly forming on the members' arms. They had seen various idol group performances before, but they had never seen such a monster handle diverse configurations and complex choreography so perfectly.

"This is why Veloce is associated with performance; performance is synonymous with Veloce."

"It makes sense why they were kings..."

"Hyung, are we going to be okay?"

With their turn coming up soon, the overwhelming performance of Veloce seemed to heighten the members' tension.

Seeing the anxious faces of his teammates, Gunja bit his lip. Although he too was feeling nervous, he knew how much they relied on him.

"Have you all forgotten already?"

"...?"

"Before we prepared for this stage, the theme we all came up with."

"..."

"Freedom. We all thought of freedom."

The theme for the final competition was 'Freedom'. For the finals, all teams could perform their stages without any constraints.

For this 'freedom performance', the boys all came with the concept of 'freedom'.

"This stage is our freedom, whatever we do. So our theme is 'freedom' itself."

"...Well, that's true..."

"How did all seven of us think of the same thing?"

The members were amazed, but to Gunja, it seemed quite inevitable.

[Dynasty] was a program about climbing the social ladder to become a king. However, Gunja and his friends were never inclined to be bound by such status.

Gunja, who had struggled through hard times together, understood this better than anyone.

While wealth and honor were nice, more than anything, the boys loved to sing and dance happily on stage.

Gunja was the same.

He crossed almost 300 years of time just to enjoy dancing and singing freely.

As they progressed through the competition in the [Dynasty] program, he realized it again.
Initially, he dreamed of becoming a king and depicted the throne, but after falling to the slave class, he prepared a stage of fury. He had fought wars against trivial 'pao cai' provocations and achieved a complete victory.

But the most enjoyable moment was singing while looking at the fans during the 'Weakness Mission'.

Of course, he wanted to beat Veloce. However, strangely, he didn't develop a strong desire for the throne.

While the program pushed them to 'seize the throne,' the members wanted to sing about freedom rather than the throne. The bird flying over the head of a king looked happier and freer than a king who anxiously sat on the throne.

Thinking about the moment when their opinions magically aligned, a smile appeared on the members' faces.

"It was amazing."

"Haha, none of us care about honor~"

"Honestly, wanting to beat Veloce is just about wanting to have a good performance, not really about seizing the throne. It sounds like a play on words though..."

"No, I get it. Everyone will relate, right?"

At Hyun-su's words, all the members nodded in agreement.

"Anyway, we weren't interested in the throne. So there's no need to worry about not becoming kings."

"It's strangely convincing..."

"Yeah, we're probably overly tense right now."

"Let's show what we prepared freely. No matter the outcome, fans will like our performance."

"Ah, our leader is the best."

"What? Was Gunja the leader? Didn't our team not have a leader?"

"Gunja is the leader."

"Ah, if Hyung says so, then it must be true!"

With much more relaxed expressions, the members placed their hands together. The warmth of their hands was shared as they covered each other's hands.

"Wow, your hands are cold."

"Hey, Hyun-su's hands are warm. Looks like he's not nervous at all."

"Haha~ I'm naturally warm~"

By the time 7IN was about to go on stage, all the members' nerves had already relaxed.

Wowww—

An enormous cheer awaited them, but the 10,000 spectators could no longer make them nervous.

"Chillin' members, you're up on stage~"

"Please turn on the mics~"

"Please confirm the numbers."

After the final checks backstage and the stage set being perfectly prepared, the seven members finally stepped onto the darkened stage.

The six competing teams, the judges, the 10,000 spectators, and the millions of global live broadcast viewers all held their breath, watching the stage.

Heaven, heaven—.

Confucius said, Mencius said—

From afar, voices reciting texts could be heard. What kind of concept was this? Amidst everyone's growing curiosity, the lights in the center of the stage finally turned on, revealing the members' appearance.

Heaven, heaven—.

Confucius said, Mencius said—

Six scholars dressed in neat robes and hats sat quietly, reciting texts. In the center stood Gunja, wearing a top hat, teaching the members like a mentor.

Zi bu yu guai li luan shen (子不語怪力亂神)—.

Zi bu yu guai li luan shen (子不語怪力亂神)—.

Gunja's deep voice echoed across the stage. His dozen or so backup dancers, who seemed to be his disciples, stood in black robes.

Gunja's pure narration continued.

Confucius did not speak of strange things,

Of strength,

Of chaotic things,

Or ghosts—

"Did not speak—!!"

All six boys and the backup dancers echoed Gunja's final words. Gunja, wearing the top hat, pretended to stroke his beard with a playful expression.

"Wow, look at his acting skills improve."

"His expressions are great."

"Looks like he improved a lot while shooting for the Cultural Heritage Administration and web dramas."

The Veloce members watching the stage also smiled lightly. Especially Pael, who looked as if he was watching his own son.

"Looks like they prepared well."

As always, it was an intro that well showcased Gunja's 'scholar' image. Like all teams, 7IN had prepared a stage that highlighted their strengths for the finals.

However, the atmosphere of the stage soon began to change.

The narration continued, but this time, the scholars slowly stood up from their seats. From afar, the deep sound of a large drum could be heard. At the same time, a mysterious blue smoke began to spread across the stage.

The smoke enveloped the stage, creating a scene that looked like clouds. The seven members and backup dancers walked slowly across this cloud-like stage.

Even though they were just advancing a bit at a time, the details of their movements were perfectly synchronized, making it look like a single choreographed piece.

Suddenly, the loud drum beat struck, and the members and backup dancers in their robes sharply moved their bodies, creating a strange contrast with the refined attire.

The subsequent smooth isolation movements also felt unusual. Although they were dressed as scholars, their movements resembled those of mythical beings.

In the center, Gunja continued his narration with his deep voice.

Strange things, courageous things.

Disorderly things, ghostly things.

Strange and eerie things,

Disorderly and chaotic things—.

At that moment, the white light shifted to a bluish hue, and white flames erupted from the members' robes.

The audience, who had been watching in silence, instinctively screamed. But this was not an accident.

Instead of the disappearing robes, there appeared the attire of a Taoist priest, with a magical transformation of costumes. As Gunja threw off his scholar's hat, his long black hair flowed down his shoulders.

As the beat changed, the seven boys, now transformed into Taoist priests, leaped into the air and began the first verse.

We are the strange and supernatural—!!

***

Hello! I will be publishing a new story soon after finishing Part 1 of this story - titled God Idol Project: Hope. Chapter updates may be fewer but I will regularly update on Saturday or Sunday.