The S-Rank Paparazzi Reincarnates as an Idol - Chapter 56

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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 56
“Now then, let’s take some time to establish the concept that will determine victory and defeat.”
“Yes!”
“Trainees, would you please look at the Screen?”
Five different concepts appeared as text on the Screen.
“Fresh and bright, Royal, Boy Crush, Wild, and Fairy Tale!”
‘They’ve packed in all the good concepts without overlapping with last time.’
“You’ll each select one of these five concepts and prepare your stage!”
“Woooow!”
With the broadcast’s growing recognition, the Production Team’s determination to extract the best possible stages from thirty trainees was evident in the concept selection itself.
‘It’s practically a cheat code—as long as I don’t pick the difficult Royal concept, anything else should work fine.’
“Now, I’m sure you’re all curious about the order for selecting concepts, yes?”
“Yes!”
“The concept selection battle will be…!”
The low drum sound gradually accelerated.
“A Random Dance Challenge.”
‘Go for it, Kang Chan!’
You guys, we’ve got an A+ dance stat.
“Please send one representative from each team to the stage.”
Following Yoo Ho-seung, Kang Chan’s face also seemed to glow with an aura.
“Through the Random Dance Challenge, whoever demonstrates the most outstanding dance skills will have the first pick in choosing their concept.”
‘Finally…! I’m actually getting on the bus.’
My heart began racing at the reality of finally getting a proper shot at it.
“Now, please select the team member who will represent your team!”
The moment Park Chae-young finished speaking, I looked toward Kang Chan.
The other team members, including Yoo Ho-seung, naturally turned their gazes in Kang Chan’s direction as well.
“Ahem!”
Kang Chan let out a small, embarrassed cough at the sudden barrage of attention.
‘Understood! You bastard.’
“How about our team’s most skilled dancer, Kang Chan, goes as our representative?”
I offered the suggestion as a matter of courtesy.
“That’s right! Kang Chan really does dance incredibly well.”
The team members who had survived this far chimed in with practiced ease.
‘Survival really does mean strength.’
These guys had developed a certain sense for reading the room through their time here.
Watching his teammates encourage him, Kang Chan slowly opened his mouth.
“Since you all insist so much, I’ll go as the team representative.”
“Woooow!”
“Kang Chan! Kang Chan!”
Kang Chan advanced toward the center with confident strides, clearly not displeased by his teammates’ cheers.
Since we were divided into five teams, a total of five trainees took the stage.
Boom— boom—
Without warning, fast-paced music suddenly poured through the speakers.
It was the Production Team’s way of signaling us to start without explanation.
The first song was funk, famous among b-boys.
As the drum break rang out sharply and filled the space, Kang Chan positioned himself at the center and lowered his body.
Kang Chan tapped out the rhythm with his toes while swaying his body, then fluidly wrapped his arms and upper body in smooth motions.
In an instant, he threw himself to the ground as spins and flares connected in rapid succession.
Among all the trainees keeping rhythm, Kang Chan was undeniably in a class of his own.
As if answering the cheers, Kang Chan bounced powerfully and attempted a power move.
He really could dance exceptionally well.
Spinning once and seeming to pause mid-air, his arms and legs achieved perfect balance as he finished with a freeze.
He absolutely tore it up.
True to his A+ stat in dance obsession, Kang Chan showcased flawless b-boy choreography.
As Kang Chan rose to his feet on the final beat of the music, cheers and applause erupted.
“Trainee Kang Chan, who displayed overwhelming dance skills, will be the first to claim the concept selection right!”
“Wooooow!”
It was an overwhelming massacre of the competition.
This team actually feels pretty decent so far.
It was predicted to be the smoothest team assignment we’d done yet.
☆☆☆
I need to take back that statement.
I was clearly mesmerized by the dancing.
“Our team will select the royal concept.”
“…What?”
“Oh… Kang Chan, wait a moment!”
That was the concept I’d most wanted to avoid!
He’d chosen the royal concept without consulting anyone.
“Trainee Kang Chan’s team is now confirmed for the royal concept!”
Park Chae-young’s confirmation shot caused the team atmosphere to cool rapidly.
This group assignment was shaping up to be difficult as well.
The remaining teams continued with their dance challenge battles to determine their concepts.
Meanwhile, the team atmosphere was absolutely terrible.
“…”
The team members were forcing their mouths upward while looking at the camera, displaying broken reactions.
Anyone could see they were full of complaints.
Finally, amid this precarious atmosphere, all the teams’ concepts were decided.
“Are all of you satisfied with your team’s concept?”
The team members reluctantly nodded at Park Chae-young’s comment.
“Lastly, I’ll inform you of the benefits for the team that places first in this competition.”
At the word “benefit,” the trainees’ eyes suddenly gleamed with a different light.
Contrary to their quiet smiles, their pupils burned like predators who had spotted prey.
“The entire first-place team will receive an additional 5 million votes as a benefit!”
“…!”
‘That’s completely unprecedented.’
Within the overheating popularity of Star picking5, individual vote counts were already remarkably high.
But the benefit of an additional 5 million votes meant that the entire first-place team would avoid elimination and essentially secure a top-tier ranking.
‘I have to place first no matter what.’
“Everyone, please move to your assigned conference rooms starting now. We’d like you to begin preparations for your concept stage, starting with song selection and working within your team’s budget.”
“Yes!”
At the news of the 5 million vote benefit, a more resounding cheer than ever before echoed through the auditorium.
“Then we look forward to the concept stage battle in two weeks.”
The familiar closing music unique to Star picking5 flowed through the speakers.
“…Cut!”
“Trainees, we’ll be moving right away.”
“Yes!”
As I moved to the conference room with the Production Team, not a single word passed between my teammates, their expressions rigid.
‘This isn’t going to be easy from the start.’
But there’s no way around it.
Placing first is the only way to guarantee survival, so I have to drive this team forward no matter what.
While I was lost in thought, we finally arrived at the conference room door.
As the heavy brown wooden door slowly opened, the interior of a neat conference room came into view.
The walls were painted in a warm cream color, decorated with a wood-textured table and soft lighting.
Cameras were already installed in various spots on the walls and table.
“Royal Team, everyone.”
“Yes!”
As I turned my attention to the Production Team’s call, an assistant writer handed me a whiteboard marker.
“With the leader at the center, please proceed with the discussion freely according to the concept.”
“Yes.”
“Understood.”
Yoo Ho-seung naturally accepted the pen with both hands extended.
Once my teammates confirmed that Yoo Ho-seung had stopped in front of the whiteboard, they naturally gathered around it, conscious of the camera’s red light.
“Royal Team, hello. I’m Yoo Ho-seung, who will be serving as the team leader.”
“Woooow!”
“First, I’m happy that we’ve become one team like this.”
“Me too!”
“Nice to meet you!”
Snappy reactions from my teammates conscious of the filming camera burst forth.
‘This is so different from the temperature I felt in the corridor earlier.’
Indeed, there’s always a reason why the survivors made it this far.
Of course, I applauded enthusiastically as well.
“Thank you for welcoming us. First, shall we discuss our team’s concept?”
Since we’d been filming for an extended period, we already knew each other’s existence, so introductions were skipped.
“Sounds good.”
“Yes.”
A single word was written in large blue marker on the whiteboard.
‘ROYAL.’
“How should we develop the Royal concept? If anyone has good ideas, please feel free to share.”
Suddenly, the air in the conference room grew tense.
“Hmm.”
“Royal, huh…”
The oldest member leaned back in his chair and opened his mouth.
“Actually, I’m curious about something regarding Kang Chan.”
Kang Chan, expressionless, tilted his head slightly and spoke.
“What would you like to know?”
“Why did you specifically choose the Royal concept?”
‘Honestly, I was curious about that too.’
All eyes turned at once toward Kang Chan, who had unilaterally chosen the Royal concept without consulting the team members, their gazes filled with dissatisfaction and questions.
“Because it’s cool.”
“…Pardon?”
‘He really chose it for that reason alone?’
Watching Kang Chan speak so confidently, the team members’ expressions went blank.
“Actually, didn’t I get eliminated in the second Survival Competition stage?”
“That’s right.”
“Since I was eliminated with a cute concept, I wanted to show the coolest version of myself on this stage, so I chose it.”
Kang Chan’s expression was utterly serious.
‘No wonder his eyes looked a bit off when he was giving his acceptance speech after the Grand Finale.’
The shock of being eliminated must have been quite significant.
“Being cool is the best thing in the world, after all.”
“Ha ha….”
“Being cool is nice, right.”
Watching the team members laugh awkwardly, I quickly assessed the situation.
‘At this rate, the team atmosphere is going to completely fall apart.’
The concept was already chosen and couldn’t be changed.
So there was only one thing I could do here.
‘I need to salvage this before the atmosphere gets any worse.’
“I also think the Royal concept was the best choice among the five concepts.”
“Yes…?”
Seeing the team members’ expressions asking why I was doing this too, I forced a professional smile.
“Because I just thought of a good idea.”
“What do you mean?”
I watched my teammates’ expressions shift from their initial reluctance to genuine interest, and I voiced the idea that had just occurred to me.
“Since Royal is our concept, what if we centered the performance around a throne?”
“…!”
“There would be fierce battles to claim the throne, but ultimately, the message would be that we’re the ones who seize it.”
In that instant, every face around the table transformed.
“And what that throne represents is debut.”
“Wow…”
“That’s actually pretty good, isn’t it?”
“I love it!”
‘That did it. I’ve managed to salvage the situation.’
Starting a meeting when team morale has been destroyed by one person’s reckless action only diminishes efficiency.
That’s why I chose to restore confidence by lifting everyone’s spirits as high as possible.
This approach allows the team to achieve better results.
Fortunately, the throne concept resonated with them, and the atmosphere shifted in an instant.
My teammates, now energized, began throwing out ideas without hesitation.
Yoo Ho-seung, who had been rapidly jotting down everyone’s suggestions, suddenly turned around and spoke up.
“Then for costumes, what about going with classic royal white and gold accents?”
‘This guy really does have excellent taste.’
“Those are perfect colors—they’re symbolic of royalty.”
White represented pure bloodline, and gold symbolized power and honor, making them ideal for a king.
Even Kang Chan, who had been nodding quietly until now, opened his mouth about the costumes.
“I think the costumes look amazing too.”
‘This guy—as long as something looks cool, he’s happy with it, isn’t he?’
I swallowed my skepticism, and the costume design was quickly finalized with unanimous approval from the team.
“We’ve settled on the concept. So what about the most important part—the song?”
For this mission, since the concept was already determined, we had the freedom to choose our own track.
“Wouldn’t a song with a royal feel—something grand yet with a strong bass—work perfectly?”
“The kind that makes you think of a throne the moment you hear it.”
Kang Chan, who had been listening quietly to his teammate’s input, raised his right hand high.
“I have a song in mind.”
‘What’s he going to suggest this time…?’
All eyes snapped toward Kang Chan, filled with anticipation.

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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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