Chapter 27: Group Evaluation from Hell (1)
"It's so peaceful it's making nervous..."
I murmured, pressing my throbbing temple from ti to ti.
Ever since Lee Junhyeok left the dorm, it had been peaceful for once.
We got along so well that I was disappointed about having to switch roommates for the next evaluation.
‘Wow! Did you see this comnt? I think my heart dropped from excitent after reading it.’
‘...If your heart dropped, you'd be dead.’
‘Die yourself, you science nerd!’
Even Jin Sehyun and Seo Haim, who always bickered over nonsense.
‘Byeoldol, don't look at stuff like that. It's too distracting.’
And Ha Junseo, who enjoyed tea ti with his deadly coffee while hugging a Byeoldol doll.
Just watching them was amusing, so laughter never ceased in the dorm.
But peace would truly end starting today.
It was hard to expect the next teammate to be this cooperative, and there were always villains worse than Lee Junhyeok.
Lee Junhyeok had a twisted personality, but at least he had decent skills.
If soone had both terrible skills and a terrible personality, I’d really want to smack them.
Please.
Let get through this group evaluation safely.
OO: Everyone, the announcent is next week. Should we assign roles? Who wants to do the PPT?
OO: No one? I'll make the PPT then. Anyone want to present?
OO: Okay, I’ll do it. For the research… anyone?
SS: I’m in my graduation year, so I really don’t have ti ㅠㅠ Can I do the least demanding task? (emoji of folded hands)
OO: Let’s just give up.
-OO has left the chat-
"Oh no, that's not good."
I shook my head vigorously, recalling examples of disastrous group projects I’d seen online.
If a university group assignnt failed, at worst you’d get cursed for making a silly PPT.
But in this group evaluation, a failure ant becoming a and a video clip for the whole nation to mock.
The only reason I survived the second ranking announcent despite being low-ranked was thanks to being grouped with Seo Haim and Jin Sehyun…
"I can't expect that kind of luck again this ti."
Since we’d already been on a team together, they were likely to separate us.
If I rembered correctly, the format of the second team evaluation was infamously horrible.
Just then, soone appeared to drive away my thoughts.
"Oh, he's here."
"Waaaah!"
"You're handso as ever today!"
Chatter filled the air.
I swallowed as I looked toward Han Dawon erging from the usual commotion.
Han Dawon smiled easily and held up the script cards.
"Congratulations to all of you who will continue your challenge in the Stardust World."
"Waaaah!"
We had gathered for the announcent of the second team evaluation.
Everyone’s eyes sparkled, eager to hear the details, so Han Dawon skipped the formalities and got straight to the point.
"The challenge you'll face to survive the next ranking ceremony is... the 'Fate-bound Position Evaluation.'"
Fate-bound Position Evaluation.
Ah, right.
The mont it was revealed, every community site tore it apart, cursing the format to hell.
"In this mission, your team becos a fate-bound group."
"Fate-bound? What does that an?"
"Let now explain the rules in detail."
Two vocal teams, two rap teams, three performance teams.
A total of seven teams would compete, and each winning team per position would survive entirely.
"The battle will be judged with a 50/50 split between the live audience scores and the professional judges' evaluation. This will be your chance to secure a ticket to the next mission, so give it your all."
The problem was the remaining four teams...
"The teams that lose in their respective position battles will be evaluated based on video views, likes, and viewers’ votes. Two teams will be selected from this, and the bottom two teams will be eliminated entirely, leaving Stardust World."
As the shocking rule was announced, the studio erupted again.
Murmur murmur—
"Entire team elimination?"
"If it's elimination… then they're out for good? If it’s two teams… that’s all six mbers gone?"
"Then even soone ranked high could be out if their team sses up?"
"So even Kevin, who’s ranked number one, could be eliminated if he gets unlucky with his team? Seriously?"
"Please... let get good teammates."
Their understanding was spot on.
For a survival show that was clearly an individual competition, suddenly bringing up fate-bound teams?
It was just a device to create tension, making it so anyone could be eliminated.
‘What kind of ssed-up survival show is this?’
That’s probably what everyone was thinking, judging from their faces.
I rembered wearing that exact sa expression during my first life, so I didn’t even need to look.
I nodded calmly and waited for the next announcent.
"Now, we're not done with the announcents yet."
The most important part remained.
The announcent of positions and team mbers.
As the atmosphere struggled to calm down, Han Dawon grabbed the mic again.
"Your teammates for the Fate-bound Mission have been assigned considering the positions you ntioned in your pre-interviews."
Which basically ant it was random.
Yeah, it was like saying we had no say in anything.
That ant we just had to do our best, no matter what.
But even that resolve didn’t last long.
Flash—
My team assignnt appeared on the monitor.
"...?"
Vocal A: Kang Siwoo, Do Seohan, Lee Dokyung
I rubbed my eyes and froze in place.
I’d expected the team to change, but...
Hold on.
"Why am I in vocals?"
In my past life, my position was performance.
I had a strength in dance and no need to challenge myself with vocals, which I wasn’t good at anyway.
Just like the first ranking announcent, the second evaluation would eliminate quite a few contestants.
I had no intention of taking such a risk.
Jin Sehyun asked with surprised eyes.
"Did you choose the vocal position?"
As if.
"What the hell happened?"
No sooner had I muttered that than my interview popped up on the monitor.
My lips parted with bright eyes that looked like they were about to devour the cara.
[Trainee Do Seohan, is there a position you'd like to challenge?]
[Vocals… I really want to try it.]
[I'm confident.]
[I think I could make an impact.]
"Wow."
A gasp escaped before I knew it.
Sure, I did say all of that…
But they were said on completely different days!
What's with their editing skills?
It's almost like they created sothing out of nothing!
I pressed my forehead and replayed the interviews I must have given.
Yeah...
[Another position? Hmm, if I were to try sothing other than dance, vocals… I’d like to try it soday.]
[I'm confident in dancing.]
[This center evaluation… I think I could really stand out.]
That was probably what the interviews were like.
Thanks to the flawless editing where they spliced audio without any video, I had beco soone truly passionate about vocals.
[Vocals! I’m going to do vocals!]
That kind of enthusiasm practically flew across the screen!
"Whoa, vocal genius Seohan!"
"Seohan sings well."
"Let’s go main vocal, Do Seohan!"
Soone on the other side chid in with perfect timing, and now it had beco an undeniable fact.
Just listening to them, you'd think we'd been best friends at a vocal academy for ten years, even though we're barely close.
‘This is absurd.’
With that kind of editing, everyone would think I was primarily a vocalist.
"Hah… hah…."
I wanted to say sothing, but the screen quickly moved on to other trainees.
It seed I wasn’t the only victim of editing, as not everyone looked thrilled despite their so-called desired positions.
From the back ca a bright voice that sounded likely to be edited out entirely.
"Wow, this is my first ti rapping in this life!"
"What’s a rhy? Is it edible?"
Maybe I was better off than soone like that.
I pressed my temples and tried to organize my tangled thoughts.
To sum it up, this was my second evaluation:
Tead with unfamiliar faces.
A performance in a vocal position, which was basically my first ti.
Well, it didn’t go exactly as I expected, but…
"I can manage."
It was at least doable.
A red light turned on and the cara began to roll.
Three judges seated at a large round table were closely examining the team assignnt sheet in front of them.
Vocal trainer Yoo Minseo, dance trainer Choi Myunghwan.
Rapper JD was absent today, and Han Dawon filled in for him.
Trainer Yoo Minseo sipped coffee with a slurp and began to speak.
"This trainee Do Seohan is good at dancing, but he ended up in the vocal position?"
"Oh, he’s a dance-focused trainee?"
"Yes, when I saw him before, he clearly had talent in dancing."
Trainer Choi Myunghwan answered Han Dawon’s question.
What he rembered of Do Seohan from the last monthly evaluation was a guy who lacked flair but danced well.
But since the Stardust Project started, he’d changed like a whole new person… so maybe that wasn’t the whole picture.
Did he gain confidence in vocals during that ti?
Trainer Choi Myunghwan turned to trainer Yoo Minseo with a question mark in his mind.
"Is he good at singing too?"
"Um… not sure."
She could say with confidence that he wasn’t bad.
But was he good enough to stand out among the top trainees?
"He’s got talent."
Trainer Yoo Minseo gave a vague answer and scratched her head.
Unless he had main vocal potential, there was no reason to choose the vocal position.
Unaware of the production crew’s manipulation in team assignnts, trainer Yoo Minseo found it puzzling.
‘I thought he was the cautious type.’
So far, Do Seohan had never showcased vocals as his main weapon.
Even during the center evaluation, and the first grade evaluation too.
He had chosen songs that better highlighted his strength in dance.
A trainee who could objectively assess what he was good at and used that more cleverly than anyone.
For soone like that to try sothing new…
‘There must be a reason.’
Trainer Yoo Minseo chuckled and lightly tapped Do Seohan’s photo with her finger.
"Who are Do Seohan’s teammates?"
"Kang Siwoo, Lee Dokyung. Oh, I rember Lee Dokyung from the grade evaluation."
A guy who was solid all around.
And…
"Kang Siwoo… I don’t rember much about him."
Just an average trainee.
When trainer Yoo Minseo saw the team lineup, her eyes sparkled.
She didn’t know what mindset Do Seohan had in choosing this position,
But if he was the Do Seohan she knew—
The kind of kid who could turn crises into opportunities—
Main vocal.
"If they pick the right song, I think they’ve got a shot."
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