The Goal is the Ending Fairy

After that, the utterly depressing announcement of eliminated teams finally ended. 

5th place was ‘Park Sojung Team’. 

And 6th place was the so-called ‘Remaining Team’. 

The 5th place performance had nothing worth watching except the leader, and 6th place also failed to achieve their goal of “rebellion of the lowest-ranked.” 

Actually, the difference in stage quality was so stark that I had predicted their rankings from the moment I saw their performances. 

So it wasn’t a surprising result.

And cruelly, the elimination announcements continued without pause. 

Six people would be eliminated here. 

Of course, I already knew who would be eliminated.

‘Well, four of them are debut members anyway.’

The debut group that would be formed through this show would have 7 members total. 

Among them, as we know, two were Yoon Hee-jo and Lee Jinyu, one was from the surviving team, and the other four were among those ten. 

No wonder so few from the original debut lineup ended up debuting successfully. 

It must have been mainly trainees who bounced back from lower ranks. 

In that case, it means the other six excluding them would be eliminated.

“Now, regrettably, we’ll begin announcing the eliminations.”

The elimination announcement took place in a deliberately solemn atmosphere. The trainees whose profiles appeared on screen all silently accepted the results with dark expressions.

But something was wrong.

“…And so, this mission’s eliminated trainees are trainee Lee Nahye, trainee Park Minji…”

I doubted my eyes looking at the eliminated trainees’ profiles on screen.

“…and trainee Song Seoju, trainee Go Yeonhui, trainee Kim Ajeong, and trainee Hwang Seohyun.”

All four debut members were eliminated?

‘How is this possible?’

Of course, even if I possess an existing character in this game… I know not everything will flow exactly the same as the game. 

With my non-debut member character joining, the member count would naturally have to change… So I was expecting some variables.

But who could have imagined the majority of the member composition would be completely overhauled?

“Unnie?”

“……”

This is dangerous. 

As the game’s flow differs from before, the variables I can predict decrease. But this is practically a complete reversal of the flow.

It means I no longer know which trainees will fill the remaining spots. It would be bad enough if my debut teammates were trolls, but if they try to push me out… Wouldn’t debut become completely impossible?

‘What exactly went wrong?’

I tried retracing everything wondering if it was my fault, but couldn’t be sure. I hadn’t particularly tried to do anything major. 

If anything, I had no choice but to obey the system, or I’d die.

“Unnie.”

Then what exactly went wrong? From the beginning? Before that, what was the difference between those three and those four that made the former survive?

Skill… isn’t it. 

If they had designated four debut members as low-ranked characters from the start, those four would have definitely bounced back given the game structure. 

So skill wasn’t particularly an issue for those who would become debut members. 

The game system would have filled in that plausibility anyway.

Above all, those four didn’t have skills deserving elimination among the elimination candidates.

“……”

Other differences besides that… Ah. Maybe points of contact with me? Yoon Hee-jo and Lee Jinyu happened to be around me often. But not the other debut members.

‘…No, that doesn’t make sense.’

Then there’s an issue with the remaining one. 

Because besides those two, I never had a conversation with the other debut member.

What should I do? My head is so cluttered it’s making me nauseous.

“Dan-ah unnie.”

…!

While I was lost in confusion alone. Only then did I feel someone tapping my shoulder.

“Huh?”

When I suddenly lifted my head, I startled Won Chaeseo too because I was so surprised.

“What were you thinking about so deeply? You didn’t answer no matter how many times I called…”

Her eyebrows lowered slightly as she faced me.

“Your complexion doesn’t look good either…”

“Ah…”

Stumbling over my words at Won Chaeseo’s question, I hurriedly looked around.

“The PD said they’re cutting the cameras for a bit.”

Seemingly understanding the reason for my behavior, Cha Sihyun who was standing beside me suddenly chimed in.

When I gathered my thoughts and looked toward the stage, the eliminated trainees had already finished their speeches and left the studio.

Ah, I messed up. I was too spaced out just thinking about something. What if I looked weird on camera?

Though I was briefly worried about my behavior, it probably wouldn’t be an issue since I had my head down anyway.

Still, I should get my act together.

“Are you really okay?”

“Ah, yeah. I’m fine. How about you?”

“I…”

Won Chaeseo dropped her gaze without finishing her words.

“I’m not sure yet.”

“…I see.”

That’s enough. 

As I’ve thought many times, since it’s a psychological issue, it won’t improve instantly. 

So if there were even slight signs of improvement, that was enough. At least for this mission.

“What’s not going well?”

This time it was Cha Sihyun beside me asking. Seems she noticed me wracking my brain… For me, it was an uncannily accurate question.

“No, nothing much.”

“Ah. Are you disappointed about getting second place?”

“……”

Hey, you jerk. I don’t know why she’s chosen this route of scratching at my wounds. 

If someone else said it, I’d take it as consolation, but hearing it from a first place team member just feels like deception. 

Plus, her standing with hands behind her back while smiling was enough to irritate me.

“Not really…”

“No. We’re not disappointed.”

Suddenly Won Chaeseo stepped forward instead of me. What’s she saying when she’s probably the most disappointed right now.

“Really?”

“Yes. To me, our team was first place today.”

Won Chaeseo immediately used the ‘mental victory mindset’ I taught her on Cha Sihyun. Cha Sihyun showed another pure, innocent smile toward Won Chaeseo.

“That’s a good attitude. Seems you’ve gotten quite close with Dan-ah too.”

“We weren’t unfriendly even before this mission.”

But the atmosphere between the two seems a bit strange… 

‘Were they originally not on good terms?’

That’s unexpected.

“I hadn’t seen you two together much before.”

“Sihyun unnie only joined recently.”

“…Right. Still, I’m glad I became friends with you all quickly. Especially Dan-ah.”

After finishing her words, Cha Sihyun pressed close to me and tried to put her arm around my shoulders. 

That too was blocked by my hand. Who’s friends with who? And why do you keep trying to include me in your conversation?

“Dan-ah is only this shy with me?”

“Yeah, sure. So could you move away?”

When I casually ignored her words, Cha Sihyun muttered that “so mean” thing again while rubbing her pushed-away arm.

“I, I also…!”

“Hm?”

Meanwhile, Won Chaeseo raised her voice slightly as if she’d made up her mind about something. It was the most animated voice from her so far. 

Though it still wasn’t very loud, it seemed like she had gathered quite a bit of courage by her standards.

“I also want to be fr-fri…”

…Friends? Was there any reason to feel that close? Ah. Well, she did say my comfort helped her, so maybe she felt increased intimacy on her part. But what came out of her mouth was even more bewildering.

“I… want to be friends.”

What now? ‘Why is she being like this again?’

Hiding my bewilderment, I turned toward Won Chaeseo while also pushing away Cha Sihyun who was sticking close and watching with apparent enjoyment.

“Um… do you mean you want to speak informally with me?”

“Ah! No, that’s not…”

“Chaeseo’s being bold~”

“You can speak informally. You’re technically my senior if we’re counting company time anyway.”

“That’s really not it…”

Won Chaeseo shook her head vigorously and continued rambling, ignoring Cha Sihyun’s teasing.

“I just meant I want to become as close to you as that.”

“You two already seem close though?”

“But you might not feel the same way… And I want to get closer to you…”

As if embarrassed by her own words, Won Chaeseo’s voice gradually grew smaller.

‘If I’m this embarrassed hearing it, how must you feel?’

While it was fascinating seeing this side of her for the first time, and it was certainly good that the first-ranked trainee wanted to be close to me… How should I put it…

“It kind of sounds like a confession.”

Cha Sihyun giggled. It was exactly what I had been thinking but hadn’t said.

“Ow, why!”

Not hiding my annoyance, I smacked Cha Sihyun’s back. But at this point, Won Chaeseo’s expected rebuttal wasn’t heard. Checking to see if she was upset by Cha Sihyun’s words…

Won Chaeseo was quietly nodding and began explaining carefully.

“You’re right. A confession is truthfully revealing thoughts or hidden feelings in your heart, right?”

What?

“So if we’re considering that, I’m just now telling you the truth that I wanted to be close to you…”

“Okay, I get what you mean.”

As I covered Won Chaeseo’s mouth as she sat there acknowledging it, she blinked in confusion. 

Though it didn’t last long, as she soon ended up nodding hesitantly at my urging for acknowledgment. Only then did I remove my hand from her mouth.

“Dan-ah’s quite popular.”

“Kind of.”

While I was busy pushing away Cha Sihyun who approached my ear again, she muttered more incomprehensible things.

“This is when I should say something like this, right?”

“What?”

“This is fun.”

Cha Sihyun finished speaking with a slightly shadowed smile. Fun my ass, talking so much after engaging in childish mind games that even elementary schoolers wouldn’t do.

“It’s more fun stealing when there’s more competition.”

“Stop talking like a player…”

Won Chaeseo, who had been listening to our conversation, suddenly clenched her fists again.

“Dan-ah unnie isn’t property.”

“Still, next time I want to team up with Dan-ah~”

I don’t know how they can exchange such ungrateful words about wanting me as a teammate… 

Just like game characters, the story development is like something straight out of a youth drama. No. This is closer to a soap opera.

Seems like I’ll need to build up resistance to evil spirits first if I want to reach the ending in this game.

“Okay! Camera 2 issue resolved! We’ll resume filming~!”

Just as I was about to burst from Cha Sihyun and Won Chaeseo’s inexplicable mind games, a savior-like shout came from far away. 

Thanks to that, I could get Won Chaeseo and Cha Sihyun back in their places.

As I grabbed Won Chaeseo’s shoulders, still in the midst of their mind games, and turned her forward, she spoke to me.

“But, unnie.”

“What now.”

“We’re friends now, right?”

…Yeah, think whatever you want.

Only after hearing my affirming response did Won Chaeseo’s expression improve. I really don’t understand why she’s so fixated on being called friends. 

Let’s just think she’s trying to shift her focus elsewhere to overcome her first-place trauma.

“Then can I play around like Sihyun unnie does?”

“…What kind of playing around?”

“This and that.”

I barely held back a sigh at the question whose intent I couldn’t fathom.

“As long as it’s not too severe or annoying.”

“Okay. Then can I play a prank soon?”

Who announces pranks beforehand? She gets stranger the more I see her. But what could I say to that? 

Just agreeing moderately was the wisest decision to end this back-and-forth.

“…Fine.”

Then Won Chaeseo returned her gaze to its original position with the brightest expressionless face yet. 

‘Bright expressionless face.’ Though it was paradoxical, there really was no other way to describe her face. 

If she’s this happy to the point of forgetting her first-place obsession… Well, that’s fortunate anyway.

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>>Important character ‘Won Chaeseo’ has been moved by you!

>>As additional reward, your broadcast screen time increases partially!

>Broadcast screen time +10 seconds Up↑

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