Became The Leader of a Girl Group Destined To Fail - Chapter 115

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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 115.

“Now, each team must perform the opposing team’s signature song in a competition. However.”

Shin Yu-hwa said this while looking at Kim Ryeo-yu.

“There is a team that hasn’t officially released any music yet. Ryeo-yu.”
“Yes.”
“You’re still a rookie without a debut song, correct?”
“…Yes, that’s correct.”

Of all things, he went and picked someone who hasn’t even released an album.
At this point, I had to admire Kim Mo-gyeong’s audacity.
He was destroying common sense entirely.

“In fact, viewers must be wondering. Even though she appeared on 【Make a New Color】, she never officially debuted. How did she end up on this program? Do you have any thoughts or words you’d like to share about this?”
“…Yes. There’s something I really want to say to the viewers.”

Kim Ryeo-yu accepted the microphone with a visibly tense expression.
If someone didn’t know better, they’d think she was the victim here.
I quietly checked my members’ expressions.
They were all maintaining their poker faces just as we’d discussed beforehand.
Even Kim Geum and Yeon Ju-hong, who I’d been most worried about, were doing perfectly.
Actually, I was so angry that my head felt clear.

“First, I want to thank all the senior artists who appeared with us. Even though I haven’t officially debuted yet, you welcomed me so warmly… and in the waiting room earlier, you greeted me so kindly. I was really happy.”

As far as I knew, nobody had visited Kim Ryeo-yu’s waiting room.
I had to admit Director Kim was clever.
He was indirectly saying that all the performers had agreed to this arrangement.
Of course, judging by how shocked everyone looked when she appeared, they clearly hadn’t agreed to anything.

“Furthermore, I want to apologize to everyone who was hurt because of me. I’m just grateful that we can now clear up the misunderstanding and move forward. But even if it was a misunderstanding, creating that misunderstanding was my mistake. I deeply reflect on this and promise never to repeat the same mistake. To all those who believed in me and supported me, I will repay your faith with a great performance.”
“Yes, that was truly a heartfelt apology. I believe anyone can make mistakes and be misunderstood. What matters is not repeating the same mistake. Listening to your words, Ryeo-yu, I can feel your determination never to make that mistake again. Excellent. Let’s have you repay everyone’s faith through a great performance here on 【Top of Idol】.”

Shin Yu-hwa wore an expression of deep emotion—whether he’d been instructed beforehand or not.

“You don’t have a signature song yet, Kim Ryeo-yu. I heard that you’re debuting your first song right here on Top of Idol. Is that correct?”
“Yes, that’s right. To maintain fairness with the other contestants, I decided to release my debut song as well. I imagine the viewers are probably encountering the track right about now as they watch the broadcast.”

So she was planning to debut right here.
Things were finally starting to make sense.
The viewers wouldn’t understand it, of course.
Why MEN had placed such a risky bet on Kim Ryeo-yu.
Why they’d included her in a program that could succeed perfectly fine without her.
But from MEN’s perspective, Kim Ryeo-yu wasn’t that much of a gamble.
Sure, she’d attract some criticism, but criticism was merely an indicator of buzz value.
A broadcasting station wasn’t a celebrity—they wouldn’t fret over a little backlash.
What would really concern them was if there was no buzz at all.
They were clearly aiming to generate proper controversy from episode one to drive up viewership ratings.
Of course, that was MEN’s angle.
From our perspective—from the other contestants’ perspective—we’d picked up a bomb.
And we’d practically grabbed a nuclear warhead.
I was watching Kim Ryeo-yu with an appropriately professional expression when I felt an odd gaze.
…What was that?
I turned my head to glance around, and the strange sensation vanished immediately.

“Understood. Since the other contestants haven’t heard the song yet, would you mind performing it for us here? Of course, for fairness, this performance won’t air on the broadcast.”

The feeling had come from the other contestants’ direction.
Was it just my imagination?
I pushed the uneasy feeling aside and redirected my attention to Kim Ryeo-yu’s stage.

***

Call me with the tip of your tongue
Call me BAD
Call me BAD BAD BAD

Kim Ryeo-yu’s new song unmistakably bore the mark of Colors’ financial prowess.
The bass alone was grandiose, and the composition was meticulously crafted throughout.
The repetitive chorus seemed deliberately engineered for addictiveness, and it reflected every current trend perfectly.
It had a subtly different texture from ours, yet felt oddly similar all the same.
On the surface, it felt assertive and confident, but dig deeper and it was ultimately… Kim Ryeo-yu’s original sensibility.
Still, that was a lyrical issue—the song itself was good.
It seems they poured the money they withheld from us straight into that track.
Even so, I didn’t want to win with that song.
I’d rather perform Hi-Hi-Ho’s stage than get entangled with Kim Ryeo-yu.
They probably don’t want to be connected with us either.
At least not from the beginning.
As we move toward the finale, they’ll probably want to manufacture some reconciliation scene with us.
Of course, I had no intention of letting that happen.
It wasn’t worth openly insulting her, but that didn’t mean I wanted to laugh along and chat merrily with her either.

“Now we’ll reveal the next secret girl group team—a group making their comeback after three years—”

The other secret team was Max Burning.
They didn’t have particularly high public recognition, but they were quite popular overseas.
With overseas activities as their main focus, they’d had a considerable hiatus, but now they seemed to be revving up their Korean activities again with this comeback.
The group concept was clear, and each member’s skills were solid.

“Now, let me introduce each team’s signature song that you’ll need to cover.”

Cha-yul: 【Slope】
Sugar Dream: 【Hawaiian Pizza】
Max Burning: 【Creepy Love】
Hi-Hi-Ho: 【That Summer Day】
StillBlue: 【Blue】
Ryeo-yu: 【Call me BAD】

Just by glancing at the song titles, I could feel each group’s concept.
It seemed they’d deliberately gathered groups with distinctive identities.
Even if they were relatively less popular, the viewing experience could be diverse.
Take Max Burning, for instance—they’d never charted at number one, but they had a solid core fanbase.
Now that I thought about it, only three teams had ever hit number one: us, Cha-yul, and Sugar Dream.
And Sugar Dream had only managed it once.
Established groups had no reason to accept survival shows like this, so the casting was primarily focused on rising-tier groups.
…except for Cha-yul.
Cha-yul was definitely a popular artist.
Anyway.
I knew all the competition songs.
Since I’d been composing with Kim Geum recently, I’d heard every female idol title track released over the past five years.

“Now then, we’ll have each team decide which representative song to cover. Song selection will proceed with the member of lowest seniority choosing first.”

This was way too blatant favoritism toward Kim Ryeo-yu, MEN.
At this rate, they’d be getting warnings soon.
…but what good would it do to worry about MEN?
We just needed to focus on ourselves.
I carefully reviewed the song list.
Let me organize each song’s concept first.

【Slope】: Pop rock infused with tropical house
【Hawaiian Pizza】: B-grade sensibility hook song with a tacky twist
【Creepy Love】: Dark fantasy K-pop in the metal genre with a drum bass that gets stuck in your head
【That Summer Day】: Synth pop that’s bright and upbeat, highlighted by funky synthesizers
【Call me BAD】: Pop centered on Latin-style synth sound

“Now then, I’ll give each team time to discuss which song should be your priority.”

Following Shin Yu-hwa’s words, the cast members began huddling together to deliberate.
We were no exception.

“…what does everyone want to do?”

At my question, all the members just exchanged glances.
Given how starkly different our tastes were, I had a feeling this would be a difficult discussion.

“…To be honest, the moment I saw everyone here, there was someone I immediately wanted to cover.”
“Bora too? I was thinking the same thing.”
“Hehehehe. Me too!”
“Oh, actually, I had someone in mind as well.”

I didn’t say it out loud, but truthfully, I had someone too.
Without even needing to look at the song list, there was someone I immediately wanted to cover.

“Then should we all say it at the same time?”
“Sounds good.”
“Yes, yes!”
“Okay. Let’s go.”
“One, two, three.”

Who was it, you ask?

“Cha-yul sunbae.”
“Cha-yul sunbae!!”

As expected, when push comes to shove, we’re all on the same wavelength.

“I actually wanted to do Cha-yul sunbae too.”

Only after confirming that the members’ opinions aligned with mine could I voice my own thoughts.
I was truly relieved.
Not having to engage in a lengthy debate.
Why Cha-yul specifically?
Cha-yul’s song “Slope” is a masterpiece.
But the real reason is,

‘Nok-ha.’

Simply because I know Cha-yul well.
That’s why I felt I could do it justice.

‘Are you digging yourself into another hole again? You know it’s not your fault. Come to our place instead. How about we have a drink together?’

It’s been a while, unnie.
I never thought I’d see your childhood like this.

“Yun Chung?”

Oh.
I’d been lost in thought for far too long.
I nodded quickly.

“We’re second in the order, so there’s a chance. The problem is—”
“Who Ryeo-yu chooses.”

At Seo Baek-young’s words, shadows fell across everyone’s faces again.

“Well, I’m not really worried.”
“Why?”
“…Ryeo-yu will probably choose 【That Summer Day】.”

At my words, all the members wore question marks on their faces.
Just wait and see, I’m telling you.

***

“I will perform 【That Summer Day】 by Hi-Hi-Ho sunbaes.”
“!”

As expected, Kim Ryeo-yu chose 【That Summer Day】.
The members all turned to look at me simultaneously.
Their eyes asked how I possibly knew.
In truth, it wasn’t such a surprising outcome.
It was simply because 【That Summer Day】 was the easiest song to perform and the safest to execute.
I’d predicted she would choose a song she could handle smoothly without her true skill level being exposed.
Moreover, Kim Ryeo-yu had come out trying to neutralize her negative image by any means.
Would she really choose a popular idol’s song in such circumstances?
She would definitely try to choose the least popular idol’s song to minimize the risk of backlash.
Since the original artist’s fanbase wasn’t that large, it was also relatively easy to avoid criticism.
And it was a good song to escape that sexy concept of hers, even if just a little.

“Excellent. I’m already looking forward to seeing what kind of feeling Ryeo-yu will bring to 【That Summer Day】. I hope to see a great performance.”

After delivering his obligatory comment to Kim Ryeo-yu, Shin Yu-hwa turned his gaze toward me.

“StillBlue. You’re up next. Which song will you be performing?”

Again.
Once more, I felt a gaze directed at me from somewhere.
But this time, I could tell exactly who was looking at me.

“We’ll be performing Cha-yul’s ‘Slope.'”

Cha-yul.
So she’s had that habit of staring intently at people she wants to befriend since ten years ago.

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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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