The Goal is the Ending Fairy

⟦But I don’t care (who are you to)⟧

⟦I make my own path (Yeah, I did it!)⟧

The members on stage showed no signs of nervousness. They exchanged parts while smiling comfortably at each other, and even during doubling moments, they found the right cameras filming them.

‘The high-ranked ones are definitely different.’

The choreographer acknowledged this while watching Won Chaeseo and Seo Dan-ah performing their parts. Those two definitely knew how to work the stage.

The other two following in rank had improved significantly compared to the first evaluation, and even yesterday’s rehearsal. They were trainees with plenty of potential.

‘But Ga-yeon keeps being the weak link.’

The choreographer slightly furrowed her brows as the consistently bothersome trainee moved to the center for her part. She was the trainee who ranked 18th in the first mission.

⟦Your worry, your interest – I don’t need any of it⟧

⟦I’m on my way, ay~⟧

Perhaps because she was flanked by good dancers, her slightly sloppy movements stood out quite clearly. Plus, her pitch was unstable and she almost missed the beat. Because of this, the choreographer clicked her tongue internally.

‘Though better than yesterday…’

Even the judges who had been enjoying the rhythm and the performance had subtle changes in their expressions when she appeared. Not in a good way.

But soon their faces brightened dramatically with Won Chaeseo’s appearance as center for the chorus.

⟦Let’s go!⟧

⟦Umm, Umm I can do anything⟧

⟦Everything I want, Take it, Umm⟧

The beat dropped with a move like throwing a ball into the air. Following that, Won Chaeseo shifted her gaze from above her head to the camera. 

Won Chaeseo’s round eyes were captured perfectly by the camera, enhancing the effect along with the camera movement.

“That’s it~”

“Wow, so good!”

The judges watching both the stage and monitor burst into enthusiastic responses in unison. 

The panel showed their excitement with trendy Western-style reactions. 

Even the CEO smiled with satisfaction, corners of his mouth turning up.

“I told you Chaeseo’s good.”

“There’s a reason she got first place.”

And

‘Clean. The center stands out well.’

The choreographer also got into the rhythm, watching the trainees execute her choreography well. Her excited head-bobbing with feeling almost looked like she was internally dancing along.

Following that came 11th-ranked trainee Kim Min-ah’s vocals with the second verse. It was a part with moderately high pitch that had a slight singing-rap vibe. 

A perfect vocal part for Kim Min-ah trainee who was somewhat weak in singing. Thanks to that, she handled the part without much difficulty.

“They divided the parts well.”

“Right. From song selection to strategy, they’re quite smart.”

Then passed the part of the trainee under clouded eyes, followed by Won Chaeseo’s short rap part and 15th-ranked Lim Yeonseo’s brief high note part. 

The latter two parts both concluded successfully, drawing big reactions from the judges.

Soon Seo Dan-ah came forward for the second verse’s chorus center.

⟦Let’s go!⟧

⟦Umm, Umm I don’t care about your path⟧

⟦I’ll go wherever I want to go, Umm⟧

“Wow, look at that voice.”

“Dan-ah’s skills have really improved in such a short time.”

“Wow~ With her vocals locked in, it sounds so good?”

She too drew plenty of positive responses from the judges. 

Additionally, her facial expressions were just right – naturally looking down at the camera without being excessive, making it quite memorable.

After the chorus center part came a short bridge part. After she finished even those few measures diligently, 11th-ranked Kim Min-ah took her place. 

Simultaneously, a modified melody based on the hook beat added joy to the exciting rhythm.

Thus began the dance break. 

The team members perfectly executed the original choreography’s unique and quick formation changes, properly showing those difficult routines. They even showed their sense by pointing with their fingers while spotting their cameras between movements.

Similarly, the judges cheered with raised hands, shouting things like ‘it’s over’ and ‘they’re so good.’ Among them, the CEO also clapped satisfactorily and crossed his arms. 

He even craned his neck forward, showing focus to see the stage closer.

However, the trainee who bothered the choreographer’s eyes remained consistent. Though not glaringly obvious, she was clearly falling behind. 

By now, everyone probably knew who ‘that trainee’ was without having to say it.

The choreographer found that disappointing, but everything else felt good. She was even enthusiastically following along with the choreography, at least with her upper body.

After running through the dance routine intensely, the song gradually wound down. 

Along with that, the melody that Seo Dan-ah had hummed during the intro was now sung by Won Chaeseo in a low tone. It had a different charm from when Seo Dan-ah sang it.

In what could have been a plain circular structure of the original song, they gave it a unique point by contrasting their different vocal colors.

The trainees walked leisurely to their positions to that rhythm, finishing the outro stylishly. It was a stage full of elements to focus on until the very end.

When the camera captured the panting trainees for a moment and the performance ended, those sitting in the judges’ panel cheered loudly.

“This is it~!”

“Isn’t this much better than yesterday?”

“Yeah. They did really well, seriously.”

The trainees, not knowing what to do with themselves amid the prolonged applause, soon expressed their thanks loudly while bending like folders at the waist.

‘Finally finished safely.’

Seo Dan-ah, bowing among her teammates, wiped her sweat with a much more relaxed mind.

* * *

“Ahh, finally it’s over!”

“Don’t you think we got lots of praise?”

“Yeah!”

The team members were in the waiting room, wiping sweat or drinking water. They were quite excited by the judges’ overwhelmingly positive reactions, which were better than expected.

“Good work, unnie.”

“Yeah, you too.”

Similarly, Won Chaeseo, removing her in-ear monitor behind me, lightly placed her hand on my shoulder. 

Her expression looked comfortable, suggesting she had given her all on stage and was now able to relax.

Even when our eyes met occasionally during the performance, she had seemed quite immersed. That was a relief anyway.

But only one person among us didn’t look happy:

“……”

18th place. 

Perhaps because she alone had received criticism, her expression was not just dark but seemed slightly angry. 

Looking at that, she really is one badly programmed character. To be able to make such a sullen face when all the cameras are on… 

I really don’t understand what kind of confidence that is.

“Huh?”

“Hey, where are you going?”

– SLAM!

…And not stopping there, she suddenly left her seat.

‘She’s lost it.’

As I sighed at that sight, another team member next to me shrugged their shoulders. 

Soon after, Won Chaeseo, reading the atmosphere, asked if she should follow, but at the staff’s restraint, she just sat down in her seat.

“She’s probably just going to the bathroom. There are cameras everywhere, no way she won’t come back.”

“…Right?”

Won Chaeseo nodded slowly at my words and slumped her shoulders. Being the leader, she seemed quite concerned about 18th place.

Still, when I gave her a slight hint with my eyes, Won Chaeseo understood my meaning and turned her attention back to the monitor.

Someone who runs out will definitely return on their own. At least if their head isn’t just for decoration. 

More importantly, we needed to watch the remaining three teams’ performances from the waiting room. 

In other words, until the ranking announcement after this, we just needed to be good reaction robots.

Next on the monitor was ‘Chae Seonha Team’. They were right after our team’s order.

⟦Stay right there, I’ll chase after you soon⟧

⟦Because I see you⟧

Their team sang ‘Play Wire’ group’s song ___. (This was also a song that existed in reality.) Their concept was quite original, being an idol group that focused on members’ skills and core fanbase rather than public appeal.

Even looking at the lyrics in sequence, there wasn’t particularly any grand worldview or beautiful phrasing. 

Rather, there were more parts that lacked coherence and didn’t flow smoothly. But despite that, it was a song that had decent success thanks to its addictive melody and chorus lyrics that fit perfectly.

“As expected, Seonha team is good.”

“Ooh, Seonha unnie’s rap is so cool.”

The team members around me watching Chae Seonha team’s performance let out exclamations of admiration. Fools. This isn’t the time to just purely admire them.

While their stage has a different story from ours, there’s a lot of overlap in the song genre and concept. 

Plus, they’re a team packed with high-ranking participants just like us, and they received the best evaluation during the interim assessment. And above all, their strategy is good too.

This song was ‘somewhat’ successful thanks to fan power, but looking at digital performance alone, it wasn’t that great. 

However, Chae Seonha team added flesh to the slightly lacking song, interpreting it with a concept that the public would like.

In this case… viewers can’t help but feel this performance resonates more than the original. Then the standard for comparison also gets lowered. Chae Seonha’s modest arrangement skills played a big part in that.

Most trainees from rapper backgrounds can do their own beat making. So the majority have some expertise in music production. Of course, Chae Seonha is no different. So it wasn’t unexpected.

Still, I really couldn’t have imagined they would come back with an improved song in just a few days. 

Thanks to that, the stage currently showing on the monitor was first seen at yesterday’s rehearsal. To think they would completely rework the song just from some minor criticism during the interim evaluation. They were quite an adventurous team.

Because of that, their already best performance came back even more polished… The other teams were nearly mentally destroyed yesterday. …That included our team too.

Anyway, the conclusion is that this ‘Chae Seonha Team’ is the biggest rival among the six teams. 

However, even if that’s the case, we can’t show these thoughts openly. Right now with cameras around, we need to show plenty of admiration and support.

In the end, while I was busy calculating internally, I had to keep showing responses and reactions externally.

‘Still, they are good.’

I crossed my arms while watching Chae Seonha team on the monitor. Even I couldn’t help but purely admire during Chae Seonha’s storm of rapping. 

With rap positions being so scarce, isn’t Chae Seonha really a cheat item? I feel like whichever team gets her automatically has better odds.

Even though Chae Seonha will be eliminated after being used like that… Calculating coldly, for the first time I thought she might be a somewhat regrettable talent.

While staring at the monitor like that, eventually, Chae Seonha team’s performance came to an end.

The following evaluation for Chae Seonha team naturally had the best comments so far. However, this team also had an unexpected variable.

“The dance mistake was a bit disappointing.”

Chae Seonha team silently nodded at the CEO’s evaluation shown on the monitor. Yes. This team had one member make a mistake during the dance break near the end. While it wasn’t very noticeable on the monitor, the problem was that the CEO’s eyes caught it.

“Still, I think you did well continuing to the next move without panicking. The handling of that part was fine.”

“Thank you!”

With that final evaluation from the CEO, Chae Seonha team all bowed together.

‘In that case, we might have a decent chance.’

We also received nothing but praise except for one person. …Or not. Maybe 18th place was too much of a troll for that. When she slightly missed pitches or subtly fell out of beat, it really made me want to curse.

I almost grabbed that brat’s collar and dragged her off stage. The urge was quite strong. If she had really ruined the stage because of herself, I might have actually done it. After all, my ‘survival’ is at stake here.

“…Maybe I should pray.”

“…? Unnie, are you religious?”

“No. But doing it might make me feel better.”

It seems better to do something rather than just waiting for results doing nothing. Won Chaeseo sitting next to me also clasped her hands together, seeming to understand. 

Seeing how she just roughly held her hands together, she didn’t seem particularly religious either. Still, she appeared to be thinking hard about something in her own way.

I also fixed my gaze on the floor. I don’t believe in God, but in this world, there might be something similar.

‘You bastard system operator, stop messing around and just let me debut smoothly.’

After repeating what was either a prayer or threat in my mind, I could watch the next performances with a more peaceful expression.