Became The Leader of a Girl Group Destined To Fail - Chapter 114

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com

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Chapter 114.

“…Ah.”

After a full minute of silence, Rumi—her face flushed with anger and humiliation—managed only that single utterance.
It made sense. A junior, younger than her no less, had asked “Who are you!?” multiple times, so her pride must have taken an enormous hit.

“So you’re that girl? The one who got in as the sixth alternate. And they said even that sixth place was a pity vote, right?”
“…!”

This was dangerous.
I tried to position myself between Yeon Ju-hong and Rumi.
But in that moment—

“Yes, that’s right?”

Yeon Ju-hong’s eyes widened even further as she smiled.
Ju-hong, you’re terrifying….

“…You really have no respect for your seniors, do you? I’m your senior. Do you think your seniority jumps up ten years every time you hit first place on a music broadcast? You’ve only been debuted for a few months, but we’re already in our second year—”

Rumi tried her best to bear down on Yeon Ju-hong with force.

“Oh! So you were a senior!”

But there was something Rumi didn’t know.
When someone tried to openly suppress Yeon Ju-hong—

“Wow. I’m so sorry! I didn’t know. A second-year senior, no less~ Well, yes. Senior!”

She never buckled.
The only person who could suppress Yeon Ju-hong was Yeon Ju-hong herself.

“Second year—who could that be? Oh, you must be from Hi-Hi-Ho! I didn’t recognize you because you’re so much more beautiful in person than I expected. Senior, you’re truly gorgeous! I’m so incredibly honored to meet you!”

Yeon Ju-hong continued speaking her mind without wavering, regardless of whether Rumi’s face flushed or not.
It was no ordinary display of skill.
She swiftly covered everything with praise so that no one around us could misunderstand.
Of course, Rumi herself—the one at the center of this—would sense that it wasn’t genuine.

“I was so nervous I didn’t recognize you, senior. And you’re so radiant in person, it’s overwhelming.”

Yeon Ju-hong appeared more composed and unflappable than anyone else.
But I could see through it.
Right now, Yeon Ju-hong was a runaway locomotive that had completely derailed.

“Um, senior! We really need to grab sandwiches! I haven’t eaten since yesterday evening! See you later!”

Yeon Ju-hong ended the conversation on her own terms and dragged me out by the arm.
It was the most tempestuous conversation I’d ever witnessed.
Though admittedly, it was entirely one-sided—she’d unleashed the storm and demolished everything in her path.

“Yeon Ju-hong.”
“Don’t scold me for being rude. I’m so furious right now I’m about two seconds away from trash-talking that senior—Rumi or whatever her name is—all over social media.”
“…well….”
“You know she’s not normally like that.”
“I know.”
“If that senior had treated me that way, I would’ve been respectful too.”
“I know, I know.”
“Since you can’t say anything mean to people… I just did it for you instead. Don’t be upset with me.”
“I won’t.”
“…really?”
“Yeah, I won’t.”

She did it with good intentions, after all.
I’m worried about what comes next, but that’s fine.
She thought ahead for us; I can handle what comes behind.
Still.
Our little sparrow’s offensive power has returned.
I shouldn’t be smiling in a situation like this, but I can’t help feeling proud.

***

A conference room at the Broadcasting Station.
After finishing two sandwiches each, we were listening to the writer of “Top of Idol” explain the program to us.

“What we’re looking for is just a touch of sensationalism. You know what I mean? Cutthroat competition. That sort of thing. Right now, StillBlue is the perfect rookie group to create that competitive dynamic, you see? Especially with Ryeo-yu and Hi-Hi-Ho in the mix.”
“…I’m sorry?”

‘Perfect rookie group’—as if.
One good shove and we’d be the perfect rookies, all right.

“Look, we’re not asking for much, okay? We’re not going to make StillBlue look bad, trust us. Really, trust us. We’ll edit everything beautifully for you.”

Yet despite those reassuring words, greed gleamed so obviously in their eyes.

“Just follow the script and have a little debate with the people next to you when we tell you to, all right? Okay? Okay, let’s head straight in.”

Before I could even object, we were swept into the studio.
Honestly, that was the moment I found myself desperately missing Kang Writer.
I understood they wanted sensationalism to boost ratings.
But please, not with such young kids.
The moment I was certain no one was listening, I quietly spoke to the members.

“Don’t follow the script. You don’t need to do what they tell you to do.”
“Huh? Is that okay?”
“Yeah.”
“We won’t get in trouble? I feel like we’re going to get in so much trouble…”

The members looked increasingly anxious at my words.
Their expressions screamed the typical rookie fear—how could we possibly defy the Broadcasting Station, an authority figure?

“We’ll get in trouble.”
“But then—”
“Getting in trouble is all that happens. A little scolding doesn’t matter. It’s far better for us to be timid and awkward on broadcast than to damage our image.”
“!”

A bland image isn’t necessarily a bad thing.
In fact, excessive variety show talent often poses a significant risk of hindering future idol activities.
That’s why I imposed restrictions on all variety show appearances, despite Kim Geum’s high entertainment value.
Idols appear on variety shows to build recognition.
But we already have considerable recognition for rookie idols, thanks to Make a New Color.
There’s no need to stake everything on variety show appearances while squandering our image.
Of course, Kim Geum seemed somewhat dissatisfied.

“Just tell them you couldn’t do it because you’re not versatile enough. Say you didn’t know how. Tell them that as rookies, you’re unfamiliar with this sort of thing—stick to that and they’ll have no choice. After all, they’re the ones making unreasonable demands on rookies.”

I was familiar with it.
That gaze that mistook being a rookie as permission to manipulate people freely.
That malice that assumed rookies could be controlled at will.
But there’s no need to fear rejecting malice.
Accepting malice doesn’t return benefits—
it only comes back as more malice.

“At worst, they simply won’t call us back. Besides, since Colors invested in this broadcast, they can’t openly criticize us anyway.”

If we couldn’t avoid appearing because Colors had invested in the broadcast,
then I should use that Colors investment to my advantage.
If they pushed me into a survival show I desperately didn’t want to do, then Kim Mo-gyeong should be prepared for this much.

“Then that won’t work, will it?! If they don’t call us again because we’re boring….”
“Ju-hong.”

For the first time in a long while, I could smile with genuine conviction.

“We’re rising, aren’t we?”
“Yes…?”
“Then they’ll call us even if they don’t want to.”
“!”
“Even if we become so unbearably repugnant they’d rather die than call us, they’ll call us relentlessly.”

That’s the worst part of the entertainment industry.

“This isn’t a place where you’re judged by character or skill—”

In a sense, that’s what makes it fair.

“It’s a place where you’re only judged by popularity. Never forget that.”

In another sense, it was the very thing that most disillusioned me.

***

“If you’re an idol, you must aim for the top. 【Top of Idol】. I’m the MC, Shin Yu-hwa from Jet A.”

The recording began in earnest.
The production team had positioned our seats between Kim Ryeo-yu and Hi-Hi-Ho.
Anyone could feel they were waiting for a fight to break out.
I kept my gaze fixed solely on the MC.
The moment my eyes met those of Hi-Hi-Ho or Kim Ryeo-yu, they’d be sure to capture that scene and use it for the preview.
Especially since both Kim Ryeo-yu and Hi-Hi-Ho had bitter histories with Yun Chung.
The person I needed to be most careful about right now wasn’t my members—it was myself.
I couldn’t give them any opening.
Seeing Shin Yu-hwa’s face didn’t sit well with me either.
Even back when I was Baek Nok-ha, Shin Yu-hwa was famous.
He initially made a name for himself as an unrivaled top-tier star, but dragged scandal after scandal in his wake before ultimately disappearing from the entertainment industry due to a drug case.
To me, Shin Yu-hwa was precisely that image—nothing more.
The fact that such a small-time figure had ruined so many people’s lives only infuriated me further.
Such a small-time figure had destroyed so many lives.

“…and so, there will be a total of three competitions. Two preliminary competitions and one final competition.”

The rules of 【Top of Idol】 were as follows:

1. There are three competitions in total.
2. Each team prepares a stage matching the competition theme.
3. Voting takes place after each preliminary competition. (Pre-public voting 50%, rival voting 50%)
4. One team is eliminated after each preliminary competition.
5. The final competition is held live. (Text voting 100%)

“Some of you may be curious about how the rival voting works.”

Shin Yu-hwa continued with his characteristic gentle smile.

“The public’s voting is ‘pre-voting,’ so they vote without seeing the stage—purely based on their expectations for each team.”

In short, it’s a popularity vote among the general public, completely divorced from stage quality.
Of course, the second competition could tell a different story.
If the first competition’s stage was disappointing or satisfying, the voting results could shift accordingly.
But the pre-vote for the first competition was decided purely by popularity.
It’s a cruel system, one designed to provoke controversy.
I didn’t like it much.

“However, the rival vote is different. Your rivals—those who witnessed that stage—will vote directly. Each team can vote for one team other than their own, the one they think performed best. Each team gets one vote. So the maximum possible votes a team could receive would be five.”

And this…
We were at a serious disadvantage.
Starting with Kim Ryeo-yu and Hi-Hi-Ho already as our enemies, this voting system worked against us.
With the teams voting directly like this.
My thoughts grew heavier.

“By combining those scores, rankings from first to sixth place will be announced. And the team with the lowest ranking is eliminated after each competition.”

That meant only four teams would advance to the final competition.
…This really wasn’t going to be easy.
Honestly, I’d wanted nothing more than to be eliminated gloriously in the first competition, points or no points.
But if I did that…

“Unnie, we’re definitely getting first!”
“First, first, first, first, first, first, first…”
“Everyone, let’s give it our all.”
“…Of course we’ll work hard. We have to perform well.”

I couldn’t let down these four people, their eyes blazing with determination.
…Right.
We’d survived that brutal survival show where our debut was on the line.

“Let’s do this.”

What gave me comfort was that I could now speak these words aloud.

“Now, let me announce the theme for the first competition.”

Because now I had people listening.

“‘Steal the rival team’s signature song.'”

Let’s try it.
Together.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com

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