Top Girl Group Scenario Rewritten with My Own Hands - Chapter 54

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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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Episode 54
[Who will KMA give the Female Rookie Award to this year?]
Ashcode, a major label with strong album sales and a large overseas fanbase
vs
Evergreat, whose digital music performs at an almost miraculous level and has great mainstream appeal
Either way it goes, I think it’ll make sense, but I’m rooting for my X-idol’s Rookie Award anyway. One, two, three, team X-idol stans, let’s go!
——————————
– But why does PN’s digital music perform so badly? Didn’t they pick solid title tracks?
└ That’s about divisions 1–3, but division 4 especially just can’t pick a title…ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
└ Yeah, honestly the B-sides are better this time
└ What, survival concept? In trying to look minimal, the titles just don’t fit Korean taste
└ Honestly, even if they do a strong concept, if the girls can sing well it’d be listenable, but even though they’ve added members, besides Noah everyone’s vocals are…
– team X-idol stans are here too ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ My group got crushed in X-idol and had good results but still lost the Rookie Award to a major, so I’m rooting hard for Evergreat
– KMA usually goes with majors anyway, plus PN’s only had a female idol debut in 8 years, so I think Ashcode will get it
– Looking purely at the objective metrics, didn’t Ashcode sell a ton of albums in this comeback??
└ But if we’re counting that way, digital music is a Evergreat blowout—they’re even getting crowd sing-alongs at college festivals now
└ KMA counts international streaming too though, so the score gets murky
[If it was just Korean voting, the Rookie Award would be clearer]
But the Rookie Award voting comes from overseas too and includes album sales, so honestly who knows
If we’re just going by current awareness and digital track quality, it’s Evergreat, but Ashcode broke 300k in total album distribution this time too, so really no telling
——————————
– Kinda slyly throwing shade at Ashcode, huh; they’re not lacking in awareness though
└ Are you an Ashcode fan? To casuals, Ashcode still has the image of a major-company rookie who botched their live performance and has weak vocals
└ That person’s really posting mean comments so boldly
└ It’s not a mean comment, it’s a fact
[When did KMA’s Rookie Award even become so authoritative?]
[Is Evergreat even capable of talking about a Rookie Award…]
[Evergreat fans are really throwing shade at Ashcode, honestly ㅋㅋ]
[Why the hell did this whole drama even start?]
I’m a fan of one of these groups but honestly this just hurts—we’re just throwing shade at each other and getting nothing out of it. I’m proposing we all stop this madness right now
——————————
– Me too, I’m a fan of one of them and it’s just painful. Let’s just not talk about it, come on
– I read the whole thread; I don’t think a non-fan even started this drama anyway
==========
If a like system existed, I would’ve at least liked that last post.
The internet really is better for your mental health when you don’t spend too much time on it.
I closed the internet community window I’d pulled up using “Rookie Award” as a keyword and threw my mobile phone straight onto the bed.
“Unnie, what time is our pickup tomorrow?”
“Ten o’clock. If you need to shower, better wake up early—it’s going to be tight on time.”
“I should get to sleep fast…….”
Hyun Jae-yi, looking drowsy, grabbed the loft ladder and slowly descended. I was worried she might fall, but though it creaked, she made it down fine.
It was already the end of October. Tomorrow was the K-STAR AWARDS schedule—or KSA, for short.
Though KSA isn’t the largest award ceremony, it marks the beginning of this year’s K-pop award season.
For Evergreat, attending an award ceremony was a new experience; though we weren’t given an enormous time slot, we received enough time to perform two songs,
– This girl’s not insane or anything. What did she ask me to fix again…….
– Yeah, this is our first ceremony. You’re allowed to act a little crazy.
– I give up……. Just tell me exactly what you want instead of just vague feelings, please!
– Aren’t you already being pretty precise about it though?
– Yeah, so you’re not a complete pain at least…….
As the event schedule filled up and I heard my share of nagging about not overextending myself, Shim Yu-jeong took on the Arrangement for KSA in my place (and got paid the arrangement fee, naturally).
I may have acted a bit like a difficult client…….
Since Shim Yu-jeong understood I wanted to put care into my first award ceremony stage, she accepted the revision requests. …Probably.
Even at a small award show, if you perform the stage well, you can gain fans through it being uploaded to YouTube. Award show stages these days all get posted online, so it’s impossible to predict which stage will blow up and bring in new fans.
(Though it’s true you should give your all to every stage anyway) That’s why the award ceremony stage deserves that effort.
And award ceremonies and end-of-year music festivals are stages where fans get to see a different side of you than usual.
“Go to sleep. It’s late.”
“Okay…….”
“And Ji-on, stop messing around and sleep too.”
I scolded the still-noisy room next door and went back to my room, collapsing onto the bed.
Getting invited to an award ceremony means they’re planning to give you at least one award.
What award would we receive tomorrow?
***
“The KSA Rookie Award this year goes to……. Congratulations! Evergreat and Ashcode!”
Wooooow!
A huge roar erupted from the audience.
I had a feeling that last year they split the Male Rookie Award and Female Rookie Award, but when they took voting on the homepage, they bundled it as just one Rookie Award. So they’d planned to give it to both all along.
In voting that usually favored male idols, both Ashcode and we had been running neck-and-neck for first and second place, so this year it seemed like the right call……. and then again it didn’t…….
“Wow!”
“The Rookie Award…!”
Hyun Jae-yi bolted out of her seat with both arms flying up; Lee Han-byul blinked as if surprised……. The members’ reactions were great.
I flashed what felt like a practiced smile and led the members up to the stage.
“Whoa, Hyun-seo’s crying!”
“Ah… I’m not crying, it’s just…….”
“That’s crying! Ah, our Hyun-seo worked so hard, huh~”
“I said I’m not!”
“Haha, and the youngest isn’t crying either.”
“I’m really not…….”
That’s good—it’s nice when a member gets choked up like this. When I patted Go Hyun-seo’s back, she kept insisting she wasn’t crying while pressing at the corners of her eyes with her hands.
She probably didn’t think of it as a co-award, but Go Hyun-seo seemed to feel some sense of reward for her long hard work. I definitely had to hand her the microphone when the time came.
Ashcode, seated closer to the stairs and first to take the stage, seemed considerably composed by comparison.
Compared to our team—which had someone getting emotional, someone teasing her, someone looking flustered—they looked poised enough that I wondered if they’d been told in advance they’d win the Rookie Award…….
As I accepted the trophy from the presenter, I signaled Ashcode to go first with their acceptance remarks.
Noah of Ashcode nodded and began her remarks with a formal greeting.
“First, we want to thank CEO Jeong Kyung-won and Director Kim Young-kwon for making it possible for us to be here, the PN family, and……”
It was clear Noah had memorized the names she absolutely had to mention—she almost rap through her acceptance remarks with one person’s name after another.
Not forgetting to thank the fanbase, Noah finished her breathless acceptance remarks and handed the microphone to us.
It’s right to credit the hardworking staff, but watching her rattle off names like that in almost rap form—clearly the company had given her advance talking points. Even idols from major labels go through their share of hardships…….
“You do the acceptance remarks, Hyun-seo.”
“Me?”
“Yeah, you do it. Let’s start with a greeting: one, two, three!”
“Hello, we’re Evergreat!”
And I smoothly handed off the acceptance remarks to Go Hyun-seo.
I wasn’t taking any objections. The quick pivot to greeting left Go Hyun-seo no time to push back, and the acceptance microphone went straight to her.
“Um……, honestly I didn’t expect us to win the Rookie Award, so I didn’t prepare remarks……. I, uh, I’m not sure what to say…….”
Ha. It was the first time I’d seen Go Hyun-seo fumble like this in front of the camera.
I felt a bit of amusement and let out a small laugh, and that made her glare at me slightly. Why, what was I supposed to do?
“Thank you so much to all our Every members for letting us be nominated for an award you can only win once in your lifetime. We never would’ve made it this far without you……!”
Then she seemed to steel herself, gathered her voice, delivered her remarks, and pulled me forward to the microphone.
“The leader should finish. Honestly, I can’t think of anything else to say……!”
Go Hyun-seo practically rapped that into my ear and hid behind me. I genuinely wanted to laugh, but since she’d handed off her remarks and disappeared, I couldn’t even do that!
“And first, I want to thank Team Lead Lee Su-bin, the members of Music Proof Management’s Team 3, Producer Shim Yu-jeong, the hair and makeup staff, and ……including CEO Lim Kyung-taek, everyone who’s worked with us and supported us since our debut.”
To be honest, I’d considered not mentioning Lim Kyung-taek’s name, but I mentioned it out of courtesy. This is what social grace is—saying thank you even when you’re not grateful…….
“And one last time—thank you so much, Every!”
And that came from the heart.
Why is it that people with no connection to you at all can cheer you on like this?
It’s probably an emotion I’ll never understand in my whole life, I always think whenever I meet Every and receive such unconditional affection.
As I stepped slightly back, the other members, reading the moment, each added their own remarks.
“We love Every~!”
“Oh, me too! Thank you, Every!”
……Usually they’re just short quips like this, though.
We smiled in response to the applause and cheers from the audience and made our way back down from the stage.
Receiving the award isn’t the end.
Now it’s our turn to prove on stage that we deserved this award.
***
I’ll make it for you
La la Lucky days
I’ll make it for you what kind of day do you want
lucky or happily
“…….”
This was the first time attending an award ceremony and accepting an award.
And this was also the first time feeling this much psychological pressure.
That’s what Jo Eun-bin was thinking.
She would’ve preferred it if Ashcode had gone on stage before Evergreat……. That would’ve been better.
– Well yeah. Like, for most of the Arrangement and stage composition stuff, our opinions get heard, right? Seo Ji-on unnie mostly handles the main work, but this time Producer Shim Yu-jeong just took our input and did the work herself.
– I see…….
– What about you guys?
– We……. the company decides for us. …Like during the evaluation.
– Oh. I think I get it. But you guys still prepared it, right? Do your best! Congrats on the Rookie Award.
– You too, Jae-yi. Congratulations on the Rookie Award…….
– Thanks! See you later then!
Hyun Jae-yi had a good personality, and having won the award seemed to put her in a cheerful mood. When they had a moment to talk before taking the stage, she answered Jo Eun-bin’s question readily.
‘This is so embarrassing, somehow…….’
It was just……. something about it. It wasn’t her imagination that every time she met Evergreat, she felt herself diminish.
And that, probably…….
“Wow…….”
“Oh, when did Hye-eun get here?”
“Just now. I finished preparing, and I was curious about the stage in front……. I’ve gotten a little closer to Hye-rin and Han-byul…….”
Wait, look at me for a moment
Just for a little bit, like right now
On the monitoring screen, the member who was Hye-eun’s age was singing the bridge with a bright expression.
So that all the fortune you’ve wanted
All those wishes you’ve always hoped for come true—
Ah——!
And Seo Ji-on took that straight up to a soaring high note.
The other members driving forward relentlessly through the song, sustaining the final chorus.
Airtight. Not a single gap. That’s why we felt ashamed—we couldn’t match that.
That’s what Jo Eun-bin thought.
Every time she saw Evergreat, she became diminished because the skill gap forced her to confront her own shortcomings. The same Rookie Award winners, yet such a huge difference in ability…….
Lee Hye-eun, the youngest, seemed to be having similar thoughts from her sidelong glances.
But neither Lee Hye-eun nor Jo Eun-bin was foolish enough to voice these thoughts aloud.
Evergreat’s second song had already started.
“What’s UP, KSA!”
“Wooooow!!”
“Now’s the time, let’s run!”
The member taking the opening verse launched the new song with a sharp, clean ad-lib, but the two of them didn’t say anything to each other until they had to move to wait for their own stage.
Rewriting the Top Girl Group Scenario with My Own Hands
Author
: Nam Seo-rang
Date of Publication
: January 30, 2026
Publisher
: AcesMedia Co., Ltd.
Editor
: AcesMedia Editorial Team
Address
: Floor 4, Urban Bench Building, 325 Teheran-ro, Gangnam District, Seoul
Email
: [email protected]
※ This work is published by AcesMedia Co., Ltd. in accordance with a contract with the copyright holder,
and its contents may not be used in any form or by any means without permission from the company and the author.
This e-book is protected by copyright law, and any unauthorized reproduction or copying may result in legal liability.
UCI
: G720:N+A129-20260102083.0054

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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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