Became The Leader of a Girl Group Destined To Fail - Chapter 119

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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 119.

“Slope” was a song that emanated a peculiar, enigmatic sound.
The rhythmic vitality characteristic of tropical house pulsed through it, yet the overall melody settled into a melancholic depth.
A song that possessed the sorrowful shimmer of a pristine Snowy Field.
Cha-yul’s interpretation reflected this sensibility.
A vocal-centric pop-rock solo with virtually no choreography.
The song triumphed through melody and distinctive lyrics rather than stage spectacle.
In fact, Cha-yul was formidable in the audio realm.
Yet the intro now flowing forth was something different.

‘The beat… it’s become faster and more grandiose?’

Prism Homma’s grip tightened with tension.
Once the five members appeared on stage, cold sweat began to flow unbidden.

‘Those insane ski goggles—absolutely insane.’

White fur hats and ski goggles, an aesthetic that embodied winter itself.
Kim Geum stood out especially, wearing oversized ski gloves.
Though the winter attire was elaborate, it avoided feeling heavy—the overall impression was light and radiant.
All of them wore white-based costumes with a vibrant, shimmering quality.
Inspired by ski wear, yet adorned far more extravagantly.
The impression conveyed was less pretty and more striking.

‘They’ve captured the winter aesthetic to match the lyrics!’

Riding the lift up
Beneath your feet lies the Snowy Field
We are ascending

The opening verse belonged to Yun Chung.
She wore blue translucent goggles, then slowly lifted them in time with the lyrics.
Ryu Bora emerged from behind, steadying herself on Yun Chung’s shoulder.

Up & Down Up & Down
We’re climbing even though we know we’ll fall
Going up

‘Insane pair choreography!’

The song originally had no choreography.
Yet intensely demanding moves kept flowing one after another.
Around the moment when I couldn’t catch my breath, couldn’t focus through the grueling synchronized dancing.

But I’m not afraid
I’m not afraid
Don’t grab the stick
Hold my hand instead
We’re going to descend from now on

Seo Baek-young had lost her mind.
She really had.
The older sister who always played the gentle, dependable role—Seo Baek-young’s eyes burned with fierce intensity.
Her face, already called ‘beautiful and cute’, shone even more brilliantly.
Before I knew it, the words escaped my lips: “Unnie…!”
StillBlue’s members lined up in a row.

Run Down
You’re descending an endless slope
Go Down
Endlessly sliding downward
But I’m not afraid
We slope away from slope
We slope away from snow

The choreography had members following one another like shadows.
Each member turned as if running, advancing forward, then the next member continued the sprint.
At first glance, it truly felt like skiing down a mountain.

Ignore the stop sign
Someone’s always trying to hold you back
If you’re afraid of going down
Hold my hand
Just go up instead

Yeon Ju-hong’s bright, energetic part began.
The lyrics happened to match Yeon Ju-hong’s style perfectly.
Her part was so captivating that I found myself wondering if it had always been this sticky and engaging.
Her expression shifted dramatically with every single word of the lyrics.
It was a part that made her seem cute one moment, cool the next, beautiful the moment after—and somehow made you want to hold her hand and climb up together.

Hmm going up and down
Where do you want to go?
Tell me everywhere you want to go and come back to
Tell me everything Just let’s go
Stop worrying Let it go
Up & Down up and down
What does it even matter?
On this Slope, we go again
Here we go!

Next came Kim Geum’s rap section.
A part that didn’t exist in the original—created entirely by Kim Geum alone.
Kim Geum, making gestures of going up and down with her hands in ski gloves, looked both adorable and remarkably skilled.
Her eyes sparkling behind the goggles and her tight, precise rap delivery.
This was the moment I had to seriously consider acknowledging Kim Geum as a true member of the group.

Run UP
We climb this endless slope
Go UP
Let’s keep climbing together without stopping
But we’re not afraid
We slope away from slope
We slope away from snow

The chorus played again, but something was different.
The lyrics had changed from ‘Down’ to ‘Up’, and the members’ choreography shifted to convey a soaring, uplifting energy.
With the addition of band instrumentation, the sound became far more grand and stirring, filling the chest with emotion.
As the sound built layer by layer, nothing remained but a smile.
The members’ expressions had grown noticeably brighter and lighter.

‘Absolutely healing stage….’

***

The first Slope cover stage that didn’t fall apart (Subject: StillBlue)

(Video)

This is the first cover stage that Cha-yul herself said she was satisfied with

[Cha-yul: Isn’t it really good?]
[Cha-yul: I was thinking we should try this version at the concert.]

It seems she especially loved the song arrangement

By completely changing direction and making it genuinely idol-like, it just comes across as cute and not bad at all
└2222 It was good that they didn’t awkwardly try to be all “I’m an artist~”
└└33333 It was nice how they clearly showed that Cha-yul is an artist and StillBlue are idols
The lyrics change and arrangement really showed effort, this is the kind of cover I like
It was good to see their understanding of the song
The singing is one thing, but the choreography was really well-made and they executed it beautifully
★
An idol group that doesn’t mess up Slope? Yes, that’s our girls, please look forward to more
Now I understand why Cha-yul liked it… In a previous interview, Cha-yul actually said this song isn’t about descent but ascent, and it was great that StillBlue clearly demonstrated that this time
Who said StillBlue would mess it up, we just made a legend

***

Production Team: How was StillBlue’s stage?

[Cha-yul: As the original artist, I was very satisfied with that performance.]
[Ryeo-yu: They were skilled even back during Make a New Color. And they performed just as well this time.]
[Rumi: Wow, they were good?]
[Rumi: But what surprised me was that the parts were distributed evenly regardless of members? The main vocal parts were surprisingly minimal.]

Production Team: Does Hi-Hi-Ho have a large proportion of main vocal parts?

[Rumi: I think it’s a bit larger than StillBlue’s juniors.]
[Rumi: Please look forward to it!]

And so Hi-Hi-Ho’s performance began.

Oh, I’m so excited
I’ve never seen their stage before, so I’m actually looking forward to it
Since they’re completely unknown, I started with zero expectations, but they don’t seem that bad

Better than pepperoni
Better than bulgogi toppings
Better than chicken, there’s something

?
The pitch is shaky from the start…
Is that the main vocal?

Everyone says something’s wrong
Our combination is all wrong, they say

Pia lol what’s going on with her live vocals…
It’s not live broadcast, they definitely did post-processing, yet this happens?;;
Something’s definitely off
The stage is following the lyrics lol the stage really is weird.. even the member combination seems wrong; Pia’s struggling

Ha-ha-ha-Hawaiian pizza
On salty cheese
Sweet-sweet-sweet-sweetly placed
Like pineapple, love

Don’t add it, get out
My ears almost died

And so Hi-Hi-Ho’s competition stage was a complete disaster.
To begin with, Hi-Hi-Ho had limited stage experience.
They’d only appeared on music broadcasts a few times to perform their own songs, so this was their first time officially covering someone else’s work.
Moreover, the arrangement stayed close to the original’s atmosphere, making it sound nearly identical to the source material and inviting direct comparison with the original artist.
In short, it was a downgraded version of the original song.
Insufficient experience.
Insufficient skill.
Insufficient planning.
These three factors aligned perfectly, resulting in an inadequate performance.

Hi-Hi-Ho is seriously 10th tier

Not their popularity but their actual skill is 10th tier lmaooooo
Rumi is the main vocal but why is her pitch so unstable?
Pia is pretty though… but I can’t say anything since I don’t have money
The other two members still have no facial recognition, no presence, no parts

Seriously a sobering stage lolololol
Sugar Dream should sue them for ruining the original
Now I understand why failed groups fail
How did Top Doll even debut?
How did Rumi even beat out Yun Chung to become main vocal?

At this point isn’t it academic consensus that Yun Chung left Hi-Hi-Ho because she didn’t want to be there?

It really seems like Yun Chung abandoned Hi-Hi-Ho, not the other way around
This is the first group where you can actually tell who cut ties with whom

***

And so all six teams’ performances came to an end.
To be honest, the song was one thing, but learning the group choreography nearly killed me.
It was almost as difficult as our title track, Blue.
Still, we pulled it off perfectly.
I was confident about it.
We absolutely nailed it.
Looking at the members, their eyes were brimming with vitality.
We couldn’t say it out loud because the cameras were rolling, but everyone knew.
That we were pretty damn good today.
My impressions of the five other teams’ performances, excluding ours, were as follows.

Kim Ryeo-yu: A safe choice, an unremarkable performance
Hi-Hi-Ho: A complete disaster
Max Burning: Far better than expected
Sugar Dream: A performance that showed experience, but slightly dull
Cha-yul: Cha-yul being Cha-yul, as always

Hi-Hi-Ho in particular was really… at a serious level of failure.
Of course, it was exactly what I’d anticipated.
I mean, I wasn’t even paying much attention to Hi-Hi-Ho in the first place.
Rather, my concern lay elsewhere.

“First, we’ll announce the pre-vote public ranking!”

The pre-vote public ranking was reflected this way.
Out of a total of 100 points, the pre-vote public score accounted for 50 points.
So the 1st place in public voting would get 50 points, and 6th place would get 0 points.
It worked like this.

1st: Cha-yul (50 points)
2nd: StillBlue (40 points)
3rd: Max Burning (30 points)
4th: Sugar Dream (20 points)
5th: Kim Ryeo-yu (10 points)
6th: Hi-Hi-Ho (0 points)

Our pre-vote score was 40 points.
It was absolutely not a low score.
However, the rival vote score still remained.

“Now, I will announce the rival voting rankings and points. Each of you cast votes for your rivals. Each team can select exactly one ‘Best Team.’ And each team can designate exactly one ‘Worst Team.'”

Designated as Best Team: +10 points
Designated as Worst Team: -10 points

Like the public pre-voting, the rival voting tallied each team’s scores, with 1st place receiving 50 points and subsequent rankings receiving progressively lower scores.
Now, how many points we received out of the 50 available from rival voting would determine our ranking.
This was exactly what I had been worried about.
What, you thought I was concerned about how many votes we’d receive?
No.

1st Place: StillBlue (50 points)
-Best Team votes: 4
-Worst Team votes: 0

I was worried about who we would choose.

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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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