Became The Leader of a Girl Group Destined To Fail - Chapter 139

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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 139.

“Ah. Da-hwin. Hello. I’ve been enjoying your new song.”

I bowed in greeting immediately.
Then I checked the nameplate in front of the waiting room again.

[Yun Chung (StillBlue)]
[Da-hwin (Enliven)]

So we were sharing the waiting room.
It was common for rookies.

“I also really love your song ‘Blue,’ senior. Looking forward to working with you…!”
“Yes. I’m looking forward to it too. Let’s give it our all in today’s recording.”

Whether we shared the waiting room or not didn’t really matter to me, so after greeting her, I sat on the sofa.
But I could feel Da-hwin’s gaze continuing to linger on me.
Did she have something to say?
When I turned my head toward Da-hwin, she quickly looked away.
…What was that?
I decided to ignore it and put my earbuds in to listen to the song I needed to perform today.
“Dear My Diva” was slightly different in tone from the survival shows I’d done so far.
It was a survival show, but… it was closer to a stage competition, really.
The format was simply singing and then stepping down.
Most of the miscellaneous scenes like practice processes or song selection were omitted.
That made sense—there were a total of ten singers appearing here, including me.
Fitting ten stages and their evaluations into a short time frame meant the time allocation would be tight.
The competition format was a tournament.
Singers randomly drew their tournament opponents and held stage competitions.
For each competition, the stage that received more votes from the audience among the two performances advanced to the next round.
Once five winners were determined, the one who received the highest votes automatically advanced to the finals with a bye, while the remaining four held a semifinal stage.
After that, the final three would perform in the finals, and then the champion would be decided.
I could end up performing a minimum of one stage or a maximum of three.
Honestly, I would have preferred to just be eliminated in the preliminaries.
If that happened, I’d be tarnishing my team’s name, so that couldn’t happen.
Anyway, whether I won or lost, I wasn’t particularly happy about any of it.
Three stages might sound simple, but preparing even one takes at least a week.
It’s only natural when you consider the quality of the performance.
Fortunately, in my previous life, I prepared many stages like this, so it was relatively manageable.
I could just endlessly recycle the stages I’d done back then.
But the other cast members will probably find it difficult. Both physically and mentally.
Anyway.
The song I’ll be singing today is “O Sole Mio”.
It’s one of Italy’s art songs.
You might wonder why I suddenly chose an art song.
In my own way, it was a deliberate choice.
After all, every singer here has excellent vocal ability as a baseline.
The audience members also seemed to be selected mostly as “muggles” rather than fans of specific idols.
So I thought it might be good to take a little risk rather than play it too safe.
To sing “that art song”—the one everyone has encountered at least once in advertisements, movies, and all sorts of media.
Probably no one else here will have chosen an art song.

“What song will you be singing today, senior?”

That’s when Da-hwin spoke to me.

“Ah, I’m going to….”

I paused for a moment before answering.
Something told me I shouldn’t just answer straightforwardly.

“What about you, Da-hwin?”
“I’m singing “La vita”.”
“Ah.”

She chose an Italian art song too.
This was very unfortunate.
The Broadcasting Station was already eagerly watching for an opportunity to frame a rivalry narrative.
If we both sang Italian art songs from the first broadcast… the rival image would be cemented far too strongly.
I could already see the headlines that would circulate online.

Female idol with fierce rival setup from first broadcast.jpg
Rookie female idol who chose Italian art song main vocal (Yun Chung vs Da-hwin)
Yun Chung Da-hwin vocal ability comparison analysis (Next-gen female idol top vocal ability?)

Ugh.
None of these descriptors were welcome.
Besides, wasn’t it too much of a coincidence?
I watched Da-hwin quietly.
Could it be… that she already knew what I would choose?
I didn’t want to suspect something like this, but given that I’ve already followed the title concept keywords before.
I couldn’t rule out the possibility that she came in aiming for noise marketing.

“Is there… perhaps something wrong, senior?”

And yet.
Da-hwin seemed to sense my doubts and asked carefully.
…Had she done it on purpose?
After dealing with so many strange people, everything felt suspicious.
I examined Da-hwin’s eyes closely.

“Senior…?”

Her eyes didn’t exactly scream deception.
For now, I’d better hide any awkwardness as much as possible.

“No, it’s nothing. That song seems like it’ll suit you perfectly. I’m really looking forward to it.”

At my words, Da-hwin broke into a bright smile.

“Thank you so much! What song will you be singing, senior…?”

That’s right.
I still haven’t answered that.
I was conflicted.
I had decided to face them head-on, but I didn’t want to clash in the exact same genre like this.
Should I avoid it or not?
As I wrestled with the decision, a spark of irritation suddenly flared up inside me.
Wait.
What if Da-hwin’s Entertainment Company already knew my mission song in advance and deliberately challenged me with the same genre….
Weren’t they completely dismissing me?
Or were they confident that Da-hwin would win?
Either way, it was deeply insulting to my pride.
They were looking down on me.
If that’s the case, I need to prove that their judgment is wrong.

“I was originally scheduled to perform ‘O Sole Mio.'”

At my words, Da-hwin’s eyes dimmed for a moment before barely brightening again.

“That means….”
“Our concepts overlap a bit more than expected. Plus, as far as I know, Da-hwin and I are supposed to be facing off this time. Normally, when concepts overlap this much, adjustments are made. But it seems there was some kind of mistake.”

I said that and stood up.

“Would it be alright if I went to confirm this?”
“Ah, yes! Senior…. Now that you mention it… it does seem like there was some kind of mistake….”

Of course there was.
The only difference was that this “mistake” was deliberately orchestrated by Da-hwin’s Entertainment Company and Oh PD.
I left the Waiting Room and called Hong President’s secretary.
Fortunately, the secretary answered immediately.

“Secretary, is it possible to connect me with the President right now?”
-Yes, Yun Chung. I’ll connect you right away.

***

Naturally, Hong President flew into a rage the moment he heard the full story.
He barely refrained from saying he’d come to SWC himself.
He’d sent two of his idols as MCs, only to get stabbed in the back like this—he must have been furious.
Apparently, Colors had rejected the MC offer that came to Dan-ha and Han Jae-i five times.
During a period when they needed to focus on overseas tours and music activities, there was no need to send them as survival show MCs.
I actually agreed with that reasoning. Right now, Burnash needed to focus on solidifying their overseas fanbase rather than variety show activities.
However, since the broadcast station kept persistently reaching out, continuing to refuse would have been awkward, so they reluctantly accepted.
But then I got dragged into it and faced not just poor treatment, but outright betrayal—of course he’d be angry.
Hong President apparently entered into some kind of conversation with Oh PD.
Soon after, Oh PD called me over.

“Yun Chung.”
“Yes, PD.”
“I normally never change stage assignments on the same day. You know that, right?”

As if you wouldn’t want to throw away all the preparation you put into your own stage…?
You’re changing it because you were trying to toy with people by colluding with Moment…?
I felt nothing but absurdity at Oh PD’s shameless demeanor.

“Still, since Hong President asked so earnestly, I’m making an exception just this once and changing your stage assignment.”
“Yes. Thank you so much, PD. I’ll work hard to live up to your consideration.”
“Keep your stage movements clean. Don’t try anything too elaborate.”
“…I will.”
“You know there’s not much prep time, right? I’ve negotiated with the other performers and pushed your slot back. Originally you were supposed to go against Da-hwin, but instead you’ll be going against Yu-in from 【No Limit】.”

This was good news.
I hadn’t wanted to face Da-hwin from the start anyway.

“Thank you.”
“Make sure this doesn’t happen again.”

Once again, I was reminded of how many shameless people existed in this world.
I quietly left the conference room.
I had to prepare my stage all over again from here on out.
There was so much to do.

***

When I returned to the Waiting Room, Da-hwin was staring at me like a drenched animal.
She had been waiting for me.
…Why do I feel like a nanny these days?
This won’t do. I already have four small creatures I need to feed. I can’t pick up any more strays here.
I deliberately ignored her gaze and took my seat.
The moment I learned that Da-hwin’s song and mine shared the same genre, an idea had already formed in my mind.

“Senior, what did you…decide?”
“I’ve decided to change my song.”
“!”

If I couldn’t drastically alter my movements as Oh PD had said, then changing to an entirely different genre was equally impossible.
So I would shift only slightly, adjusting the direction just a touch—

“Have you ever heard of a song called ‘Falling Petals’? That’s what I’m going with.”

I had to command the Stage.
In the end, I chose a different song.
But I couldn’t be the one avoiding the confrontation.
I had to be the one consuming it.

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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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