Chapter 146:
As soon as I pressed the ‘Yes’ button, a brief flash of light came from my fingertips and disappeared. I didn’t even read the explanation layer properly and skipped it reflexively, so I didn’t know what the reward was, but it didn’t matter.
The quest title itself was telling me to go screw myself, so I might as well do as I please.
They were barely 20 years old, and they had no right to say anything even if I acted like a jerk.
There was a certain line that I could tolerate as an adult, and they crossed it.
I would have preferred someone who was greedy and asked for things that would help them.
But they didn’t even show up, so I had no idea what they wanted.
‘Let’s see how you like the bus ride I prepared for you.’
I showed them the new data I had organized and asked the production team for their contact information.
It took an hour or so before one or two of them started checking the data I sent them.
[^^] Wow, amazing 5:34 PM
[^^] Ise is really reliable 5:35 PM
[^^] We just have to trust him 5:35 PM
Yeah, go ahead and trust me blindly like you do now. See what happens. The original plan for Climax was to do our best individually.
But in the end, I was doing the work of five people. I gritted my teeth and prepared my revenge slowly.
After a few days of running around alone, from directing to choreography, to arranging, I finally had a rough outline. It was the day of filming for the first mission ranking announcement.
“Ugh, I’m nervous…”
It felt like a month had passed since the view count and likes period ended, and the final ranking was as follows:
Flosss
AtoX
Vesper
Climax
P2CK
Playground
Flosss
Climax
Vesper
AtoX
P2CK
Playground
There was no big change in the lower ranks. The order of Vesper and AtoX changed in the view count, and ours and Vesper’s changed in the likes count.
AtoX’s view count soared because of a kind of noise marketing.
Their stage was so bad that people reacted negatively, and even a separate video of comments was made, which increased the original video’s view count.
It was not a good meaning for the view count to rise, so the actual participants must have been… not happy at all.
I felt lighter when I thought that they were ruining my outfit in the unit mission.
“Oh…”
We were the third group to enter the set. I didn’t know how much that had to do with our actual ranking…
We all sat down with a mix of anticipation and nervousness, and opened the door that led to the center of the stage.
As the fog for the entrance cleared, we saw Flosss and Playground watching us from their seats.
“Hello! We are Climax!”
We bowed to the camera and the groups that were waiting for us, and found our seats from last time.
Behind the familiar chairs, there was a screen. It showed the likes and views rankings, which we had already learned from the script, but they were marked with question marks, as if they would be revealed later.
[Current Rank] ?th
[24-hour Trend Index] ? points
The text seemed different from before. I felt a strange sense of curiosity and looked up at the screen. Kyunghwa pointed it out.
“The text has changed.”
“Huh? Really?”
Yi-jun also noticed the screen late and rubbed his eyes to read the text again.
Maybe there was something inappropriate about dividing the rankings by 24 hours based on the views. I didn’t know the reason, but it wasn’t a big negative issue for us.
It would be a pity for Flosss, who could expect an explosive response from the 24-hour reaction.
As we quietly settled in our seats, the MC pointed at us with a strong voice and asked.
“How do you expect the results today? Are you confident?”
I quickly took the microphone from the staff and answered with enthusiasm.
“We did our best, so we hope we get a good result!”
I deliberately gave a vague answer, but the MC tried to get a more provocative response from me.
“Oh, are you confident? What rank do you aim for?”
Then Yi-jun pulled the microphone from my hand with a playful expression and answered.
“We’re aiming for the third place that’s like the first place.”
Yi-jun showed one finger with his right hand and quickly changed it to three, making the audience laugh.
The first recording was done without an audience, and the reaction was added later. But today, for some reason, there were about 30 audience members sitting in the back row.
‘How did they choose them?’
Well, the ranking wasn’t determined by the reaction, so I decided to think positively and looked at the MC again.
“Third place that’s like the first place! We heard Climax’s witty answer well.”
The digital release was up to the third place, so everyone must have been hoping to get in the top three. The first place was obvious. It had to be Flosss. Everyone must have been anxiously waiting to see which team would take the second and third place.
I glanced at Playground’s seat. They looked better than when they finished their stage, but they still seemed tense.
“Please give us one more comment to wrap up this stage, and we’ll help the next team enter.”
This time, I quickly passed the microphone to Kyunghwa before Yi-jun could snatch it again.
“It was great to try something different and unusual, and it was a very meaningful time to get the opportunity to cover the songs of the seniors we respect sincerely.”
As expected, a standard answer came back, and the MC seemed to give up on digging up any controversy here. He stretched his arm toward the entrance.
“Yes! We heard Climax’s comment well! Next, we’ll meet AtoX, who showed a shocking transformation in this mission!”
AtoX, who gave a messy performance that was called shocking, started to enter.
As I faced AtoX A and B, who were walking in the front, my blood pressure started to rise.
Thanks to them, I wouldn’t faint from low blood pressure during the shooting, you bastards.
I tried to find peace of mind by imagining the fluffy tail of Pposili in my head.
The thick fur, the soft and cozy feeling when I touched it… Pposili’s tail was healing itself. But my anger subsided a little… hell no. There was no way.
My blood pressure soared to a dangerous level again as Vesper entered the stage.
They didn’t just come in, they looked around the stage and gave me a cheeky greeting when our eyes met. They had some nerves.
Let’s see in a week. I wonder if you’ll still be smiling then.
I clenched my teeth and smiled as peacefully as I could.
Finally, when all the teams, including P2CK, entered, the ranking chart appeared on the large panel screen in the center of the stage.
1st [?]
2nd [?]
3rd [?]
4th [?]
5th [?]
6th [?]
1st [?]
2nd [?]
3rd [?]
4th [?]
5th [?]
6th [?]
1st [?]
2nd [?]
3rd [?]
4th [?]
5th [?]
6th [?]
The internal evaluation ranking was based on the sum of the scores given by each team to the other teams, from 1st to 5th place, with 10 points for 1st, 8 points for 2nd, 6 points for 3rd, 4 points for 4th, and 2 points for 5th.
“Wow… I’m nervous seeing this.”
We had just submitted our ranking of the other teams at the team hideout before entering the shooting site.
It was hard to give the rankings as we felt at first, knowing that our scores would affect the other teams’ rankings.
The so-called check pick. We didn’t know how the editing would show which team gave which rank to which team, so it was difficult to make a noticeable check pick, but I thought everyone would have a lot of trouble from 2nd to 5th place.
We were no exception.
‘I wish I could give AtoX and Vesper a tie for last place.’
Unfortunately, there was no such option. I didn’t want to give Playground 5th place, even if they were pitiful, and if I gave 5th place to either Vesper or AtoX…
AtoX deserved 5th place for showing a disappointing result that didn’t meet the expectations.
Vesper had nothing special, but their stage wasn’t bad.
This was the ranking we gave after making our decision.
1st place [Flosss]
2nd place [Vesper]
3rd place [P2CK]
4th place [Playground]
5th place [AtoX]
Damn. I felt bitter about having to give Vesper the second place. But objectively speaking, giving P2CK a higher rank than Vesper would have looked like a blatant pick to sabotage them.
Just bear with it. Just a little bit. I calmed myself down and then the MC announced the view count ranking with a powerful voice.
“First, let’s reveal the view count ranking! The view count is based on the final number of views until the designated period, and it may differ from the data after the aggregation period.”
At the end of the MC’s remark, the question marks on the screen flickered once and turned into numbers.
Flosss 3,298,732 views
AtoX 2,675.442 views
Vesper 2,154,323 views
Climax 1,723,894 views
P2CK 1,693,139 views
Playground 1,025,845 views
Seeing the concrete figures, I realized how much of a gap there was between us and Floss.
AtoX’s number was inflated by people who came to mock them.
Vesper’s number was boosted by their foreign fans.
If I think about it that way… our rank wasn’t that bad.
‘I have nothing to say if this is a mental victory.’
This was all information that everyone already knew. So what mattered more now was how the voting scores and the internal evaluation turned out.
“Next, we’ll announce the audience ranking!”
The total number of audience members who entered was 120. I thought again that the sample was too small, but for a team like us with a weak fandom, that could be an advantage.
“But before that! Let’s go back to the stage and relive the heat of the performance!”
As expected, they didn’t show it right away. They had to get more footage, of course.
I sat up straight and looked at the screen. I wondered if they edited it differently from the YouTube version. This version seemed to have more time and effort put into it.
The first batter was Floss.
They were not bad when I saw them on YouTube, but the edited version made their grandeur even more impressive.
“They really did well.”
Seon-woo exclaimed again as he watched the screen. They did well, they did well, but…
What was the main spotlight of that stage doing right now?
He didn’t leave the group chat, so he didn’t seem to have completely cut off contact. But he still hadn’t replied to the message I sent him personally.
‘What’s wrong with this kid?’
I couldn’t do anything about it even if I was worried, but seeing Yu-geon shining on the screen made me anxious again.
‘He’s not thinking of retiring for real, is he?’
A sudden uneasy thought crossed my mind.
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