Became The Leader of a Girl Group Destined To Fail - Chapter 81

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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 81.

I squeezed my eyes shut.
The remaining ranks were 1st, 5th, and 6th place.
The remaining people were me, Kim Ryeo-yu, and Yeon Ju-hong.
I had to be 1st place, and Yeon Ju-hong had to be 5th place.
That was the scenario I had prepared for so long. At the very least, Yeon Ju-hong had to place within the top five.
And Kim Ryeo-yu had to settle for 6th place.

“For a full six months, these three individuals have devoted most of their youth to this singular moment. The Colorists have painted the fruits of their most precious teenage years, their brilliance. However, regrettably, not all of them can debut. One will become 1st place, the next generation Color Muse of Colors. Another will be 5th place, the final Muse. But one will be 6th place, and must embark on a different journey.”

Do Hee-young flipped the cue card and gazed at the camera.

“I express my gratitude to all the Colorists who have been with us until this very moment, and now I announce the long-awaited 1st place.”

Do Hee-young turned her body to take in the three of us.
Behind Do Hee-young, I could see the Audience Seating Area and dozens of cameras, with lighting so intense it felt like it would set my face ablaze.
It was a landscape I had seen countless times before.
Yet I couldn’t understand why I felt so small in this moment.
I couldn’t understand why thoughts of someone I had tried so hard to erase kept surfacing now of all times.
In truth, from the moment I entered this world, I had forced myself not to think of my mother.
I had only etched the word “1st place” into my heart, trying to erase the word “mother.”
Because if I only thought about how I had to place 1st to save my mother, I feared I would become too cruel to others.
I feared I would try to trample on people like Kim Ryeo-yu just to achieve 1st place.
Yet I also knew the truth.
My mother would never want me to become such a terrible person.
Rather, she would be someone who would choose to simply die.
But I was too weak to let my mother go like that.
All I could do was try to forget my mother for a while.

“Congratulations.”

Mother.
Are you doing well?
Come to think of it, my mother really hated that I was a singer.
Now here I am, starting all over again from the beginning because I want to save my mother.

“Make a New Color. First place in the final vote.”

Am I doing well, Mom?

“Trainee Yun Chung.”

Boom—
Confetti rained down with the sound of fireworks.

“You have debuted as StillBlue, Colors’ next-generation girl group.”

The roar of the crowd, a kaleidoscope of confetti filling my vision, the other trainees embracing me tightly.
As a flood of overwhelming sensations crashed over me,

Ding!

Something seized all of my attention.

[First Wish: Debut as first place in the Entertainment Company debut survival program ‘Make a New Color’]
[Success!]
[Current wish fulfillment rate: 50%]
[Congratulations! You have fulfilled Yun Chung’s first wish! You have earned the opportunity to move forward to the next wish!]
[Time remaining until next wish announcement: 48:00:00]
[Time remaining for system update: 48:00:00]
[A major update is scheduled, so please wait a moment.]
[Enjoy your 48-hour vacation!]

Vacation?
As if.
This wasn’t a vacation—it was the beginning of preparations for a new war.
The daze that had clouded my senses vanished the moment I read that message.
For now, let me set aside thoughts of the distant future.
Right now, in this moment.
I needed to repay those who had run alongside me until the very end.
I grasped the microphone Do Hee-young handed me with both hands.

“…Actually.”

The weight of knowing there was still one mission left to accomplish.
Once I set aside my longing for my mother.
Something became visible to me.

“I never imagined I would reach this moment. It seemed so vague, so far beyond what I deserved, that without realizing it, I think I was avoiding it. To me, it only looked like something impossible.”

If I had only started with Baek Nok-ha’s memories, I probably would have thought I’d naturally come in first.
But the moment I gained Yun Chung’s memories as well, my thinking changed.
People terrified me, and I felt myself becoming infinitely small.
It seemed Baek Nok-ha’s memories had been desperately covering up Yun Chung’s trauma.

“There were moments I wanted to give up countless times. I pretended to be strong, pretended to be fine, and even deceived myself, but in truth, I wasn’t fine at all. I was scared, I was hurt, and everything felt difficult.”

My eyes were dazzled and spinning, so I couldn’t even be certain I was looking at the camera.
The only thing I could feel clearly was that someone was holding my arms and hands.

“It was thanks to all of you that I found the courage to keep coming back to this stage.”

I wanted to show Yun Chung too.
The love and affection she should have rightfully received.

“Just as you’ve opened a path for me, I will be there for you at every step of your journey.”

And I wanted to show Baek Nok-ha as well.
That no matter how lacking you are, look at all the people who love you.
So I set aside my selfish and complicated emotions for now,

“Thank you, and I love you.”

For now, I would focus only on the people standing before me.
My heart ached.
The remaining rankings to announce were 5th and 6th place.
The only people left were Kim Ryeo-yu and Yeon Ju-hong.
But standing on stage was only Yeon Ju-hong.

“Currently, trainee Kim Ryeo-yu is unable to take the stage due to personal circumstances. We will provide a separate greeting at a later time. We sincerely apologize to all our Colorists who had such high expectations.”

Do Hee-young continued with a professional smile, flawless and polished.

“Now, only the final member of Colors’ New Muse, StillBlue, remains.”

Do Hee-young made eye contact with Yeon Ju-hong before turning away.

“Make a New Color. You’ve walked this long journey with us. Now we truly stand at the threshold of the final announcement. My heart is heavy with regret, but given how many people are waiting, I must reveal the result quickly. The final color painted by our Colorists is….”

The moment I saw Do Hee-young’s expression, I could sense it.
I looked at Yeon Ju-hong.
Yeon Ju-hong seemed to sense something too.
The same premonition as mine.

“Trainee Kim Ryeo-yu.”

It was a terrible premonition.

“Congratulations, Trainee Kim Ryeo-yu. Though you are not present here, you have become Colors’ new hue and will advance together as the next generation Dream Color.”

I had truly worked hard.
For a perfect scenario.
But one of my scenarios had failed.
I looked at Yeon Ju-hong.
Yeon Ju-hong’s legs had already given out, and she collapsed.
All the trainees rushed to Yeon Ju-hong and embraced her tightly.

[Resuming in 1 minute.]

***

Are you seriously cutting it off here?
That one minute… is MEN seriously a one-minute streamer?
Wow
This actually works lol
A complete reversal in an hour… even dramas get criticized for poor narrative logic if done this way
Yun Chung in first place for real?
Live update ongoing) Make a New Color final debut lineup

5th Place: Kim Ryeo-yu
4th Place: Ryu Bora
3rd Place: Seo Baek-young
2nd Place: Kim Geum
1st Place: Yun Chung

Debut hype hype!!

Wait, what about Yeon Ju-hong??? How did that happen?
└6th place, didn’t make the debut cut
└└But Kim Ryeo-yu debuted?
This is actually hilarious. Kim Ryeo-yu debuts but Yeon Ju-hong doesn’t.
Ryeo-yu’s fans must have really clenched their teeth and voted hard?
└They had a material offensive during the voting event lol
Yun Chung’s story is like a drama

From episode 1, she had a complete five-pointed star visual and made a huge impact as the main visual
Throughout the broadcast, she got caught up in all kinds of character controversies
I thought she was done for when she suddenly got branded as Kim Ryeo-yu’s bullying perpetrator and fell to rock bottom
But nope, that wasn’t it
She was actually the victim of Kim Ryeo-yu’s political maneuvering
And when that was revealed in the final episode
1st place
Hahahahahaha

Wasn’t this the production team’s grand plan all along?
Big picture…
Yun Chung’s acceptance speech was really touching

Anyone who sees it can see that you’re going through a lot of hard times… Really… But I’m so grateful that you persevered ㅠㅠ

But I was disappointed she didn’t mention her fellow trainees from the same year
└There’s still this low-level troll around…
└└If you’re upset she didn’t mention same-year trainees, go get 1st place yourself and mention them
└└└Lololol
So Kim Ryeo-yu and Yun Chung are debuting in the same group?

Wow
This is going to be insane

Everything feels so awkward.
I mean, StillBlue is perfect except Kim Ryeo-yu is really the problem.

If we just removed Kim Ryeo-yu, it would be flawless..
What if we put Yeon Ju-hong in that spot instead?

But will she even debut?
└She didn’t even show up at the final ceremony.. I would’ve quit by now.
└└If she had any conscience at all, she would’ve done it already. But she’ll probably just awkwardly push through and debut anyway.
Am I the only one who laughed when I heard the group name?

The way they announced it so naturally, like water flowing lol
It really was StillBlue.
Yeah it was, they fought so fiercely over it lol

I mean, the articles said from the beginning that the group name would be StillBlue lol
└At first that’s what they said, but then they said Kim Mo-gyeong wasn’t confirmed yet.
└└But in the end it became StillBlue anyway.
└└└Why are you complaining to me? Take it up with Kim Mo-gyeong.
So who’s the center?

Since Yun Chung got first place, is she the center?

Nah.. honestly the center is Ryu Bora lol she has that unmistakable center aura.
Yun Chung looks like center material too though.
Honestly just looking at charisma and visuals, it’d be Kim Ryeo-yu… but her image is ruined so that’s impossible.
└Kim Ryeo-yu really stop showing your anti side, your hate is so obvious. Even Kim Ryeo-yu’s own fans don’t think she should be center.
It’s just that if all five of them were in different groups, they’d all be definite centers. But putting them together like this, the competition is insane.
└This is it.
But is there still another stage left?

Why aren’t they ending the broadcast and coming back later??

They said there are three stages today though?
Yeah, what else is left?

While everyone wondered about the broadcast that hadn’t yet concluded,
something else was unfolding backstage.

“The results turned out rather disappointing.”

Hong President wore a faint smile as he observed the two people before him.
The trainee who had just placed fifth.
And the executive who had somehow managed to push that trainee all the way to fifth place.
Ordinarily, it should have been a commendable combination….
But instead, it was a combination that made his skin crawl.

“Director Kim.”
“Yes.”
“What do you think about this, Director Kim?”

***

“The joint collaboration between MEN and Colors, the global idol survival program 【Make a New Color】, has now concluded with the final ranking announcement and the debut group reveal. Now, for our final remarks—”

Just as Do Hee-young was about to wrap up with a smile.
A member of the Production Team rushed over and whispered urgently in Do Hee-young’s ear, handing her a new cue card.
Do Hee-young’s face showed clear bewilderment as she asked, “Really?”
But soon, realizing the situation was genuine, she nodded her head.

“Colorists, we ask that you please stay tuned.”

Do Hee-young composed herself as if she had never been flustered at all.

“It appears that Kim Ryeo-yu will now share the fifth-place comments she was unable to give earlier.”

Ding dong
Ding dong lol lol lol lol lol lol lol lol lol
Wow this is so fun
Sudden Kim Ryeo-yu

The Audience Seating Area stirred with murmurs.
Most noticeably, the ten trainees still on Stage had their eyes widening in shock.
But regardless of whether the trainees were bewildered, Kim Ryeo-yu slowly made her way back onto the Stage.

“Kim Ryeo-yu, with a final ranking of fifth place, has secured a spot in the debut group. We’d like to hear a few words for your fans.”

Park Ha-eun handed her microphone to Kim Ryeo-yu.
Kim Ryeo-yu snatched it away without even glancing at Park Ha-eun’s face.

“Hello. I’m Kim Ryeo-yu.”

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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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