★ The Second Life Idols Lucky Plan – Chapter 19

"..."

"..."

We stared at each other's faces in silence.

It's only been 20 minutes since the team was formed, but the atmosphere was already destroyed compared to other teams.

Of course, it was because all the current team members had a premonition of the hellish group assignments that would unfold in the future.

'... Why did things turn out this way?'

I let out a deep sigh. At first, the team atmosphere, which was friendly and cheerful in its own way, suddenly changed when it was time to choose a song and creative field.

* * *

"Let's do our best!"

"Fighting!!"

"Let's get first place and get a benefit ticket!"

Obviously, the team atmosphere was not awful at the beginning. The balance of the final team was not so bad.

'Two A-class, two B-class, one C-class, D-class, and F-class each.'

It was a team that included all classes, but I expected the overall skills to be a little more stable than other teams.

Danwoo Ju had enough skills to be praised by Mina in addition, he is the vocal leader in Class D, and even the F-rank trainee only fell because of a mistake at the time of re-evaluation. Still, the first grade he received was a B-grade.

Furthermore,

"Wow!"

"Danwoo your the best!"

Ju Danwoo, the runner in the song choice order battle that was decided, showed an unexpected motor nerve and achieved splendid second place.

As 14 teams had to share 7 songs, the sooner the songs were selected, the better. In the midst of that, Danwoo Ju took second place, so we just had to think of a song we wanted to sing comfortably without worrying about anything.

In other words, in all areas, we could see that we were in a pretty good position from the beginning.

Among them, what enriched the team members hearts was the existence of Aiden Lee, who received favorable reviews even from experts at the time of individual evaluation.

He showed high-level arrangement skills at the time, and both vocals and dance showed solidity befitting an A class, so he was the ace of this team and <Design Your Idol> in name and reality.

That's why our team was so relaxed as if we had already won the group battle.

Until Aiden Lee, whom we were openly leaning on, made a bombshell remark.

"I want to do all the arrangements, lyrics, and choreography."

"Uh?"

"Yes?"

I couldn't hide my surprise at those words because what he said was truly a bombshell.

'...What kind of confidence-'

Whether or not I stared at him in shock, Aiden Lee had a bright face.

"If there are 1,000 votes for each field, if you choose all three, you get 3,000 votes for Benefit. So, isn't it better to do all three?"

"No, no, Aiden. That's true, but..."

Park Wonhyo, a class B trainee, scratched his head in shock.

"Why? Do you hate the idea?"

"No, it's not that I dislike it..."

"So you're saying it's good?"

"No, not that either..."

"Huh?"

Aiden Lee tilted his head with a puzzled face. Everyone became silent once more.

I could already feel the future problems draining away my already lacking energy.

'...Ugh.'

I raised my hand above my throbbing head amidst the silence of my teammates. Even as they watched each other, Aiden did not seem to understand why the other team members weren't responding.

In some ways, Aiden wasn't wrong. As the saying goes, the more, the merrier.

"Well... even if we choose to do all three like that... We have to complete those creative missions in just one week, but what if we run out of time?"

However, that was only in the case of when we had time for 'merrier.'

"If we do everything wrong on stage, the outcome will be bad. If we do one thing well, the outcome will be good."

"I agree with Taeyoung's words. Wouldn't it be better to pick one thing and focus on it? If you get greedy and ruin everything.... I'm in dangerous territory as an F-grade. If I fail it's practically over for me."

After a long silence, the first to speak was Taeyoung Kim from Class B and Youngoh Hwang from Class F. They both seemed to try to keep the 'well-known genius' in check.

I also agree with them. As he said, now was the time to focus on what to choose and what to discard.

'It's a gamble to be blinded by the benefits and choose a task beyond your ability.'

However, it was not good to choose too passively. In addition to losing the opportunity to show off your skills to viewers, you will blow all the benefit votes at once.

Do you choose to take the risk no matter the outcome, or do you focus entirely on one area while heading down the safe path? Currently, all trainees face two options.

It was the same for us, and of the two options, the current team members' opinions seemed closer to the latter.

But Aiden Lee didn't seem to have any intention of backing down.

"Aren't you confident hyung?"

"Uh?"

"Hmm, didn't we all participate in <Design Your Idol> to challenge ourselves? We all have to contribution every day anyway. Whether big or small, you have to do something. So are you guys going to play?"

"..."

Aiden spoke in a reserved questioning voice like a teacher. The two of them, who had been talking calmly, suddenly shut their mouths.

Riding on the silence, Aiden Lee continued speaking in a light tone.

"I can arrange it. Then I thought that each of the remaining members could do the lyrics and choreography. The hyungs are good at dancing, so they can be in charge of the choreography, Danwoo hyung is a rapper, and Yoo-ha is good at singing, so they can try going the lyric route."

And Aiden Lee naturally looked away and looked at Zixuan, who was silent.

"Didn't Danwoo Hyung bring you because you can do something?"

Zixuan's face widened in embarrassment. Zixuan, who had joined the team at Danwoo's designation, had been silently watching without giving any opinion.

"Yes? Ah..."

At Aiden Lee's question, Zixuan was taken aback for a moment, then met stated at me and Danwoo with pleading eyes.

While Ju Danwoo's face was stiff as if he didn't know what to do, I shook my head slightly at him. It meant don't feel pressured and do whatever you want.

'There's no reason to be dragged along by Aiden's will.'

Anyway, it's a group mission. It's right for everyone to voice their opinions and vote for a majority.

I shook my head with that in mind, but Zixuan looked at me and put on a very conflicted expression.

"... I could! No, I can choreograph. I created one at the end of the month evaluation."

As if Zixuan had made an inner promise, he nodded with a determined expression.

"Look, you can do it. Then the hyungs can do it too, right?"

At those words, Aiden Lee grinned excitedly and turned his gaze back to Park Wonhyo, Kim Taeyoung, and Hwang Young-oh. The three of them flinched at his gaze and Aiden Lee spoke again.

"Can't you just do it?"

"Uh?"

"Can you not do it?"

At those words, the eyes of the three glanced at Aiden Lee, and the cameras lined up around him.

In this atmosphere, it was obvious what they had to say.

"... Oh, uh!"

"No, I can! Who said I couldn't?"

"Uh, uh! I can!"

The three trainees ended up crying and nodding their heads to eat mustard. Aiden Lee naturally drove the atmosphere, so he eventually broke his will. They must have been a bit afraid that they would be seen as passive trainees on camera.

Next, Aiden Lee's gaze was directed to me and Ju Danwoo.

"Are Yoo-ha and hyung okay?"

"... I'll try my best!"

"... Do as you please."

Ultimately, it seemed that even Danwoo Ju, pushed by the momentum, had a spirit of challenge without knowing it, and I had to nod at the end.

It was Aiden Lee's complete victory.

* * *

After selecting the field of creation, the time to choose a song for the group battle followed. Team Do Jihyeok and Cheon Serim were the first to step out, and without consulting for a long time, they received a song from a boy group with a sexy concept.

It was our team that came next.

"Group 2, have you decided which song to choose?"

Taking the microphone from the MC, Aiden Lee glanced over the songs written on the signpost. Then I fixed my gaze on a signpost.

"I want to sing a song for Lumiel seniors."

Another bombing statement.

"Uh?"

"Wait, Lumiel?"

... It was that he wanted to blow up the best chance they had and choose a girl group song instead of a boy group song.

'Is this kid serious?'

I was taken aback and stared blankly at Aiden Lee's seemingly innocent face.

In a survival program that launches a boy group, most girl group songs included as the theme song for the group evaluation were close to penalties.

First, the heights don't match because the genders are different, and aren't there too many differences in the concept? That's why most male trainees avoided using girl group songs as evaluation songs.

It was natural. Who wants to go down a dangerous road? If you choose a boy group easily, you can bury it with a little variation without changing the key or concept, so most of the <Design Your Idol> trainees were aiming for boy group songs.

That's why I was thinking that Aiden Lee would choose a boy group song, but I didn't expect this guy to catch me off guard this far.

"Group 2, what's going on? Did you choose?"

The MC read our team's agitated appearance and urged with an invested face. Aiden Lee whispered in a low voice leaving us bewildered.

"Do you believe in me?"

...Do you believe in me?

Aiden Lee grinned as we just stared at him with puzzled faces.

"I get it, I get it. It's hard to believe me, but trust keeps just this once."

"... I know you're good at it."

I finally couldn't stand it and opened my mouth. I was planning to stay out as much as possible, but it was because Aiden Lee's rampage continued without anyone stopping him.

Earlier, everyone was taken aback by Aiden Lee's momentum there must be a reason why he was attracted to Benefit, but he had to listen to the correct reason for choosing the song.

Because I couldn't let everyone get caught up in pointless beatings.

'... Although my goal is a quick release.'

Still, that was just my goal.

Many other trainees considered <Design Your Idol> their last chance. Isn't that kind of guy on our team?

"..."

Danwoo Ju said.

'... I invited them to perform together, but it would be difficult if this team collapsed.'

I glanced at the camera, kept my expressionless face as much as possible, and continued my words by creating a tone that seemed to be a productive discussion rather than a conflict structure.

"Tell me what you are planning. We don't know the picture you draw. If I don't explain it, I can't help but feel anxious."

"Oh, hmm. I understand."

Aiden Lee nodded politely at my words. He seemed to admit that his self was also lacking in explanation.

"Um, my plan."

But when he tried to talk, he fell silent momentarily as if he didn't know what to say.

But Aiden Lee straightened his face and grinned as if he had just come up with something to say. Then he raised his hand and pinched me.

"I'm making Yoo-ha the main vocalist."

"... what?"

...The final bombshell exploded.