Idol Hides His Military Service

Ten thousand.

At first glance, it sounded like a number that didn’t seem all that big.

Then again, there were ten-million-ticket movies, the neighboring country’s population was 1.3 billion, and with 50,000-won bills showing up, the word ten thousand had lost a lot of its weight.

These days, in games, if someone said ten thousand—whether money or combat power—it just looked pathetic.

But ten thousand people was never a small number.

[Hello, Idol Ground 100 viewers! I’m Jang Junseok, the program’s main MC!]

Waaaaa!!!

Climbing onto the Gymnastics Arena stage, lavishly dressed up with lighting, Jang Junseok announced Idol Ground 100’s Final Round live broadcast in an even clearer voice than usual.

And as if answering back, ten thousand audience members in the stands roared. The heat was so intense it felt like it carried past the venue and all the way to viewers watching on TV.

-This is insane, why am I so nervous over this?

↳What do you mean why, it’s my life

↳For real, who cares that I bombed that stupid mock exam, this is more important

↳If Kim Suyeon can’t debut today, pick one: either the PD dies or I die

↳Wouldn’t the PD pick you dying?

↳Kim Suyeon fans have bad vocabulary, noted···

-So many people showed up, but why didn’t I win tickets? f***?

↳Honestly, stuff like this looks cleaner and easier to see at home than on-site anyway

↳Then why is there a post in your history saying you arrived at the Gymnastics Arena, you f***ing bastard!

↳Haha sorry;;

↳MPlay you crazy bastards, you can totally tell they dumped money into the stage

People who couldn’t make it in person and were watching on TV or a computer were dumping posts and comments into Idol Ground 100-related communities at a pace and volume way faster than usual.

[Idol Ground 100 began its first broadcast this past January···and after a three-month long journey, we’ve finally arrived at today’s Final Round.]

-Stop dragging it out like a f***ing beggar!

↳Ninja art: See you in 60 seconds!

↳Ninja art: Act like you’re about to announce it, then cut to another screen!

↳Ninja art: Keep doing that and get CPR from Lee Sion!

↳I had a dream my grandpa was about to tell me lottery numbers, then Jang Junseok showed up and stalled, so I woke up without hearing them

With Jang Junseok’s entrance, posts went up condemning the hosting, thanks to the bad reputation built up over time. Even so, everyone admitted one thing: the MCing was solid.

Maybe it was the actor background—starting with diction that landed cleanly in your ear, all the way to handling unexpected situations with ease.

Today, too, even though it was a live broadcast happening inside the Gymnastics Arena, the steady pacing stayed the same, cranking up everyone’s anticipation.

[Three, two, ···one! Idol Ground 100’s final text voting begins now! Everyone, vote for your girl! The ones who choose the seven contestants who’ll be picked as the national girl group are you!]

Bang-bang-bang!!!

The moment the words ended, the lights illuminating the stage cut out, and fireworks shot up into the sky.

Tap.

Then, right as the fireworks died out and the lights came back on, shining down on the stage—

“Waaaaa!!!”

In that short instant, twenty-five contestants were already lined up onstage, and the audience, seeing them, screamed themselves hoarse.

“Lee Sion, what is that!! Look at the hair! That’s insane!”

“Yuri!!! Fighting!!!”

“Matching the outfits like school uniforms is seriously so good!”

♬

If this were a regular broadcast stage, the voices of ten thousand people might’ve been a problem, but maybe because it was a Gymnastics Arena, even that started to feel like part of the music spilling out.

-Of course it starts with Spotlight?

↳This song is crazy addictive

↳For real, the first time I heard it, it felt cheesy, but somehow it gets stuck in your head

↳I still replay the clip with all 100 on stage sometimes

When the intro to Spotlight—a song no Idol Ground 100 viewer could fail to recognize—came on, excitement was inevitable.

It was made on the assumption that a hundred people would sing it, so it fit a concert like this perfectly.

Maybe it really is like a dream

But I’m making it real

Now it’s my turn

Make everyone remember me

As the song started, the twenty-five contestants walked out to the exact center of the stage.

And—

-What the hell, is this live?

-No, more than that, what’s up with Lee Sion! Almost didn’t recognize Lee Sion

-So f***ing pretty···I’m getting chills, so someone can actually pull off that hair color

↳If I did it, I’d be a silver-haired orc, but why does Lee Sion look like an elf?

↳With the contacts, it’s even mystical

↳I was gonna vote after seeing the stage, but I’m just voting now

As the contestants’ new looks, hidden tight for the Final Round, were revealed, both the venue and the internet exploded with talk.

Pick me now, pick me wow

The name that’ll make your heart flutter

Among countless stars

Choose me—now!

-Seo Ryujin really went for it, huh. A ponytail!

↳Okay, this year’s Nobel Peace Prize is decided

↳All the ridicule after that live stream···now it’s time to come back as Seo-leader

↳Anyone who didn’t watch the live stream to the end shouldn’t be allowed by law to see Seo Ryujin’s ponytail

-Ryu Ayeon, you crazy b****! Twin tails here?

↳Ayeon doing twin tails, who knew

↳But why does it also suit Ayeon so well?

↳Ayeon is just Ayeon

↳From the face alone, that’s a confirmed idol

It looked like Raon and the stylists’ efforts were paying off—trying to show each contestant something never shown before, tailored to each person’s individuality.

All twenty-five got a hot reaction, but it wasn’t only talk about visuals.

Shine me now, light me up

Believe in me to the end

Watching the contestants sing while stomping their feet nonstop through the entire performance, people eventually forgot to even scream and just stared at the stage.

“That song is harder than you’d think, but they’re really good.”

“The choreography is way more brutal than you’d think. The moves are simple, but they have to keep jumping the whole time.”

“Didn’t they used to just play the track?”

The live broadcast stage everyone remembered—the first time Idol Ground 100 ever showed itself.

Back then, a hundred people did that stage. Now it was down to a quarter °• N 𝑜 v 𝑒 l i g h t •° of that at twenty-five, but it somehow felt even fuller than before.

Only three months had passed, yet the growth in skill was obvious at a glance.

Especially—

There’s only one chance

“Right now, it’s me—right now!”

Two contestants stood in the exact center of the triangle formation, shouting Spotlight’s final ending line.

-Wow···chills. Did you see that ending just now?

↳They did that on purpose, right?

↳Yeah, a hundred percent

↳They know how to work people, bringing that back like this

↳Lee Sion, Ryu Ayeon! Don’t you feel bad for the polar bear?

↳Why a polar bear all of a sudden?

↳There’s something like that···

On the screen installed above the stage, Lee Sion and Ryu Ayeon were shown with their foreheads pressed together as if leaning in, letting out light breaths.

Then, at the exact timing, the two turned their heads forward.

Kyaaaaaah!!!!

Screams that sounded like shrieks poured out of the stands.

It was a perfect ending to the first stage that announced the start of the Final Round.

***

“You need to change right now!”

“Yes.”

Hoo.

Following a staff member’s guidance to the waiting area, I tried to calm my pounding heart.

‘It’s completely different.’

Maybe because of my past-life experience, I didn’t get nervous on stage.

I’d gone up in front of people and spoken countless times, so it would’ve been stranger to be nervous.

But—

-Waaaaa!!!

Performing on stage in front of ten thousand people was something I’d never experienced before.

Countless people—so many you couldn’t even take them all in at once—watching the stage and pouring out cheers.

It made me feel something I couldn’t explain with words.

All the different banners the audience had brought to see us.

[Lee Sion, debut. The number one idol in my heart]

[Sion’s mom, Sion is an idol!]

[Lee Sion’s face is welfare]

[Lee Sion debut D-0]

While I was on stage, the sight of people cheering for me and the other contestants kept catching my eye.

[All of Canyon Silver refuses Lee Sion’s promotion to Gold]

Of course, sometimes there were ones that broke my focus, but even those, too, I took in with my eyes and carved into my head.

“···.”

It didn’t seem like it was only me.

Seo Ryujin was also moving to the waiting room in silence, eyes blank, even after coming down from the stage.

Maybe this strange emotion I was feeling was hitting Seo Ryujin too. In a way, that only made sense.

“Jang Junseok’s ment is five minutes out. The team going in next, get ready fast.”

Still, there was no time to think about it right now.

My heart wanted to sit in the afterglow of this feeling and talk with the others, but the moment we got to the waiting room, the stylists waiting for us quickly wiped off sweat and fixed our makeup.

And beside them, other stylists were standing by holding the outfits we’d be wearing.

Everyone was focused on supporting us, faces tense, because we had to prepare the second stage right after the entrance stage.

There was a little breathing room for Lucid Dive, the team stage done by me and three other contestants, unlike the team right after us, Breath, which came immediately next. Even so, it was still a rush.

“Wearing G‧G seniors’ outfits···.”

“I love it so much! Yuri’s so lucky!”

“Wow···this is literally exactly what was in the album jacket.”

‘Huh···I didn’t think a day would come when I’d put on a uniform again.’

Unlike other teams’ outfits, our team’s outfits had a lot we had to be extra careful with.

-I want you to perform wearing these outfits.

These were outfits Hyeryeong had personally brought us—stage costumes G‧G used back when the group was active.

With Seo Ryujin and Kurosawa Yuri and the other team members putting them on and getting excited and making a fuss, it wasn’t strange at all.

The white navy-uniform design was famous enough that even I remembered it, even though I’d never cared about idols, let alone the entertainment industry.

[09 G‧G is a legend]

↳What the hell, did they even book a battleship just to decorate the stage?

↳They said they even used helicopters for filming

↳From the song to the outfits, it’s perfect. Seriously a legendary stage

↳Will there ever be a girl group that tops G‧G?

It was so famous as “G‧G’s legendary stage” that I couldn’t not see it, and it definitely left a strong impression.

They filmed using helicopters and booked an actual navy warship, performing on the deck. Even someone clueless like me could only think it was incredible.

And since these outfits, which played a huge part in making that stage legendary, were basically synonymous with G‧G, I couldn’t help thinking, Are we really allowed to wear these?

The sizes were all a little different, and fitting them to us meant altering something precious. That made me hesitate.

But—

-Doesn’t it feel like it’ll fit Lucid Dive’s stage?

Hyeryeong said it would fit our stage well, told us not to feel burdened and to just do the stage well, and handed the outfits over.

“Wow! Sion, it suits you so well!”

“Really?”

“Yeah! The outfit color and even your hair color match so well.”

While I was lost in all kinds of thoughts, I realized I’d already changed into the new stage outfit.

The stylist helping me change looked at me and made a huge fuss, saying I was pretty.

Listening to that fuss, I looked at myself in the mirror.

‘It does seem like it fits.’

I thought I’d never wear a uniform in this life, but here I was, wearing one again.

-Once a soldier, a soldier forever!

All of a sudden, I remembered a battalion commander I’d seen during reserve training in the past—trying to force unreasonable training on the reservists, only to get surrounded by angry reservists and declare unconditional surrender.

“Let’s check the blocking one last time.”

“Yeah.”

A new stage outfit, and high heels higher than what I usually wore.

I’d already been through it in rehearsal and practiced it, but the real thing was different, so I couldn’t let my guard down until the end.

Especially since we’d changed the ending part compared to before, it was necessary to pursue perfection on top of perfection.

“The Breath team’s stage ends in one minute. Lucid Dive team, get ready to enter right away!”

It was time to go up on stage again.

***

[This really feels like watching a concert]

↳Honestly, I didn’t expect much since it’s live, but the stage quality is decent

↳Feels way better than a lot of idols’ stages

↳Ah, I’m going crazy, why are these bastards showing the voting ranks so stingily?

↳For real, that’s evil. Only revealing seventh place midway, does that make sense?

No matter what community you went to, it was nothing but talk about Idol Ground 100.

Some of it was about the stages in the Final Round, but what came up the most was—

[We will now reveal the current interim ranking! The contestant currently running in seventh place is ··· contestant number 42, Kim Suyeon!]

They’d switched the online voting to hidden rankings starting three days ago, and even the number of votes for the live text voting was being kept hidden by the production team. 𝘧𝓇ℯ𝑒𝓌𝑒𝑏𝓃𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭.𝒸ℴ𝓂

Because of that, people were arguing back and forth about who was in the debut lineup based on the vote rates up to now, but without accurate information, it was chaos itself.

-Honestly, first, second, and third are locked, but from fourth on, I have no idea

↳I was shocked seventh is Kim Suyeon. Ranked twenty-fifth last time—shot up that much?

↳After the on-site stage video went up, popularity exploded. Even in the online vote, before it got hidden, the rank climbed into the top ten

↳Park Garam should be safe, right?

↳No clue. Park Garam’s rank drops like crazy

Especially since they weren’t revealing everyone’s ranks, only the cutoff line—seventh place—people could only burn with anxiety.

-Geum Shinyu absolutely has to make it in. A real hidden gem pick

↳The gem is Lee Gahyeon. A team needs a character like Lee Gahyeon to run well

↳Then add Yunkyung to balance the ages

↳f*** lol Lee Gahyeon is still 22, why are you talking like over thirty

↳Honestly, isn’t 22 kind of old to debut as an idol?

↳There’s Yoo Jihye too, why are you only picking on Lee Gahyeon’s age

↳Yoo Jihye already debuted before, active

↳Yeah, and it f***ing flopped, right? And now you want Yoo Jihye to ruin this group too?

“Wow···people’s reactions are brutal.”

“At this point, pride and conscience don’t matter. They want to get their fave in even if it means tripping other contestants.”

And Hyungsoo, who had intended all of this, was satisfied with the current reaction.

The number of text votes tallied so far had already passed 700,000—an insane number—and considering there was still plenty of time left until the live text voting ended, it was enough firepower that hitting one million—no, even two million—was possible.

Kzzzt.

-Lucid Dive team is going on stage now.

Hyungsoo, watching the heat rise for a moment, immediately spoke into the radio and sent a call to the filming director at the voice that came through the earphone.

“Director, you need to catch it well this time.”

“Don’t worry. I’ve said it dozens of times—do you think I’d miss it?”

“You know. If this goes wrong, Senior Miyoung will come to kill us.”

“Okay, got it. I’ll make you one picture.”

After ending the radio call, Hyungsoo’s eyes caught Lucid Dive team climbing up onto the stage.

‘This picture is looking good.’

Lee Sion, Seo Ryujin, Kurosawa Yuri, Yoo Jihye, Kim Nayeon.

Hyungsoo had prepared a small event for Lucid Dive team’s stage, made up of core members who wouldn’t be strange in the debut lineup, and Hyungsoo was already curious what kind of reaction people would have when they saw it.