WETRIED TRANSLATIONS

[ Translation - Aren ]

I'm a Reporter, Please let me get off the Stage

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Chapter 48

“Now, we will proceed with confirming each group’s positions. First, Chenstin members, please come up to the stage.“

Four members of Chenstin stood up together.

Originally, there were six of them, but two were probably waiting outside, bewildered, unable to join the recording.

“Please introduce yourselves one by one and share your positions.”

As Lee Kyubin instructed, the member standing furthest to the left grabbed the microphone and spoke.

“Hello, I’m Leeho. I’m the main dancer.”

He had a tall and slender frame, standing somewhere in the upper 170 cm range.

His monolids and sharp, long eyes gave him a distinct look.

His slightly lean silhouette perfectly matched the aesthetic of modern idols.

Since Chenstin’s average age was only around 20, it made sense.

“Hello, I’m Yuho, Chenstin’s leader. I’m in charge of vocals.”

Yuho greeted us in a calm, steady voice.

Looking at him again, I noticed that he was a bit on the shorter side.

He looked to be in the lower 170 cm range.

Was it because he was still young……? Maybe he was still growing?

The only noticeably tall member seemed to be Leeho.

All of them almost looked like a bunch of baby squirrels.

“Hello! I’m Yujae, the talented one in Chenstin! I’m in charge of rap, lyric writing, and, of course, being cute! Hehe.”

That member had a fair complexion and a naturally adorable face.

He also looked the youngest.

Was that why he was one of the first to arrive?

Maybe he just had too much energy and woke up early……

“Hello, I’m Iyu. Chenstin’s ‘chic’ member. I take on the role of the unexpectedly charming youngest.”

Seeing that his role was simply ‘the youngest’ concept, it seemed like he didn’t have any particular skills.

“Oh, and our other members are Munsu and Wijun. Munsu is the main vocalist, and Wijun is a sub-dancer.”

“I see, thank you for the explanation. Don’t worry, the rest of your members will be able to join starting from the next recording!”

Lee Kyubin spoke cheerfully.

A staff member then brought out a round, transparent container.

It looked a lot like a lottery draw container.

There were about six small, round capsules inside of it.

“This container holds different position labels. Each member will randomly draw a position to determine their role. Now, let’s have our main dancer, Leeho, go first.”

They could’ve just discussed and adjusted the roles among themselves, but of course, they had to add a little gambling element for extra drama.

Leeho obediently picked out one of the capsules.

It was the kind that split in half. like the toy capsule prizes kids used to get in elementary school.

He twisted the plastic open, took out the small folded paper inside, and held it up for the camera.

[Vocal]

“Alright, our main dancer, Leeho, will now take on Yuho’s position as a vocalist.”

Leeho forced a smile.

But I could see it.

That expression that practically screamed:

‘Damn, I was hoping I’d at least get sub-dancer.’

The rest of the members took turns drawing their capsules.

Main vocalist Yuho ended up taking on Yujae’s rap position.

Yujae, who was originally the rapper, became a sub-dancer.

Iyu took on Leeho’s role as the main dancer.

(At this point, Leeho’s expression darkened slightly).

With all four members in the studio having drawn their position, Munsu and Wijun, who were outside, were automatically chosen to be the youngest (?) and sub vocalist.

I heard that Munsu, the main vocalist, was rumored to be quite the skilled dancer as well.

So, the two of them would take on performance-heavy roles, acting as Leeho’s left and right hands.

“Alright, next up are the VOV members, please come forward.”

One by one, each group went through the process of redistributing their positions.

Finally, WEEKANIZ was called up last.

Excluding Baekgyeom and Ire, the remaining five of us stepped onto the stage.

“Hello, I’m Yuyoung from WEEKANIZ. I’m the sub-dancer and sub-vocalist.”

Following my introductions, the rest of the members calmly introduced themselves.

“Yes, this group has a unique position, there’s a producing member. Baekgyeom is usually in charge of production. Does anyone want to take on that role?”

Lee Kyubin asked.

No one was responding.

A dance could be memorized, and singing could be manageable somehow, but producing? If you didn’t know what you were doing, you literally couldn’t do anything. Everyone knew that.

“Erm…… Well, honestly, Baekgyeom is highly specialized, and he was the key player in producing our title track <Totter>. No matter what position we take, we’ll do our best, but I think it’ll be a bit tough for anyone to match Baekgyeom’s skills, haha. That’s all.”

In the end, I awkwardly laughed while giving some vague excuses.

Lee Kyubin nodded nonchalantly.

“Alright, then, Yuyoung-nim, why don’t you pick first?”

I reached for a capsule without hesitation.

Honestly, I had just one wish in mind.

“…… Yes. I got Sub-dancer.”

“Yuyoung-ssi, looks like you got the same position! That’s fine. Let’s move on to the next one.”

Okay. Safe.

“……I got rap.”

Seo Haedun had drawn rap.

WEEKANIZ didn’t have a heavy rap presence, but when it did show up in our songs, it usually fell under Ire’s domain.

So, it seemed that Haedun would take on Ire’s role.

“Main vocalist.”

Ah. That wasn’t the best.

Yoon Sanho’s vocal skills weren’t particularly strong.

His voice was thin and youthful, lacking the power needed for high notes.

Still, if we chose the right song, we might be able to work around it.

It was still manageable.

“I got…… sub-vocal.”

Tae Oh drew a position that was neither good nor bad.

“……”

It was at that exact moment I started breaking into a cold sweat.

Right now, I was assigned as a sub-dancer, Seo Haedun was a rapper, Yoon Sanho was the main vocalist, and Tae Oh was sub-vocalist.

That meant the only major position left was one Haedun usually held, ‘main dancer’.

Given how performance-heavy our idol group was, the main dancer’s role was crucial.

And yet, it hadn’t been assigned yet.

So this would mean that it would go to either Haram, Ire, or Baekgyeom.

None of the three…… were particularly strong in dancing.

Haram reached for a capsule and twisted it open.

I didn’t even blink as I fixated on his pick.

“……Producer.”

“Oh, congratulations! You’ll be taking Baekgyeom’s specialized role.”

Lee Kyubin clapped his hands lightly.

I felt like steam was about to come out of my head.

“Now that all the present members have drawn their positions. Leader Yuyoung-nim, please pick on behalf of the two members waiting outside.”

Shit……

Sweat was practically dripping off me.

[Item Recommendation – None Available]

What, did this damn system go into power-saving mode just because I left my phone behind?

It was dead silent in this life-or-death moment.

Screw it.

What was the point of worrying now?

Without hesitation, I grabbed a red capsule.

This was the pick for Baekgyeom’s position.

From the very beginning, I only had one wish.

The only thing I wanted was for Baekgyeom not to draw main dancer.

‘The only position left should be main dancer and sub-vocalist. The odds are a completely unpredictable 50-50. At this point, I just have to close my eyes and pray. Please, anything but main dancer……’

“Alright, Baekgyeom is the main dancer!”

Fuck……

God is dead.

“Oh my, Yuyoung-nim, you look a bit flustered.”

“……N-not at all. I was just thinking about Baekgyeom for a moment, haha.”

I quickly fixed my expression.

Lee Kyubin had somehow taken a step closer, and I instinctively stepped back to maintain some distance.

“Let’s go over the final lineup. Here are the results for WEEKANIZ. Yuyoung-nim is the sub-dancer, Headun-nim is the rapper, Tae Oh-nim is a sub-vocalist, Sanho-nim is the main vocalist, Haram-nim is the producer, Baekgyeom-nim is the main dancer, and Ire-nim is also a sub-vocalist.”

Baekgyeom as the main dancer……

I silently prayed.

‘Please, let us get a ballad song instead.’

A ballad in a competition like this would usually be a complete black hole……

But sometimes, if you want to survive, you have to throw yourself into a black hole.

* * *

After the position-swapping process was finally over, the studio settled down.

Now, all that was left was song selection.

No one knew what kind of song we would get yet.

Whether it would be one of our own songs or someone else’s (which would be a real disaster. Baekgyeom merely breathing wrong could turn into a defamation scandal) was still a mystery.

“Now, we’ll move on to song selection. Instead of drawing lots, this time we’ll be using a new method. You can choose between your group’s title track or a B-side track, and from there, the machine will randomly select a song for you.”

Hmm, at least they would let us perform our own songs.

That meant everyone would obviously pick the title track.

“……Chenstin will go with the title track.”

“Alright, a random selection will be made from the title tracks.”

“……VOV will also choose the title track.”

“Understood.”

Just as I had guessed.

Everyone was picking their title track.

Any hesitation was purely for show, just to stretch out the broadcast time.

But honestly, hesitation was pretty stupid.

No matter how you looked at it, choosing the title track was the better option.

First of all, even though it had already been performed, the title track would be far better.

And considering the reaction when it was performed live, the title track had far more recognition.

The option of choosing a B-side was just bait the producers threw out to stir things up.

“WEEKANIZ, what will your choice be?”

“……We’ll go with a B-side track.”

“Ooh. Finally a group choosing a B-side! WEEKANIZ might be the only one, actually.”

I could feel a sharp stare drilling into the side of my head.

No doubt it was Haedun.

Not being able to discuss this beforehand due to the recording was a real problem.

Haedun was probably cursing me out in his head right now like ‘That bastard, why the hell did he pick a B-side? Is he insane? Why is he falling for the producers’ bait?’

Finally, it was Loop7’s turn.

As expected, they also chose their title track.

“The performance will take place in a week, on Sunday, during a live audience recording. Since the first episode airs on Saturday, this will be an offline stage for our viewers and fans to see immediately afterward!”

A week from now?

Even the <Documentary Three Days> team wouldn’t film under these conditions, man.

Oblivious to my internal complaints, Lee Kyubin just kept smiling as he stepped back, preparing to announce the songs.

The stage dimmed, and the mission songs began appearing on screen, starting with Chenstin.

Then it was WEEKANZ’ turn. The song title flashed onto the screen.

[RELOAD]

“……”

‘Reload’.

My first thought upon seeing those six large letters was:

‘……What the hell is this, you damn bastards?’

If my ears weren’t deceiving me, this beat was……

Hip-hop.

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