“I never imagined I’d actually appear on TV…”
Sitting closest to the TV, Lee Hajun hugged his knees and rested his chin on top of them.
He was currently sitting on the floor with his back leaning against the sofa where Roy was sitting.
Sensing the emotion in Hajun’s trembling voice, Roy gently stroked the top of his head.
Looking up at Roy with a goofy smile, Hajun accepted the popcorn Han Jihoo handed him and hugged it to his chest.
“Oh right. Roy hyung, you were seriously impressive in Episode 1. I even tried to imitate you.”
Not all of the audition videos were shown in Episode 1.
Each contestant had a short version of their audition video uploaded to the official website.
Only contestants who left a strong impression during the auditions, like Roy, made it into the main broadcast.
Roy grabbed Hajun’s head and firmly turned it toward the TV.
Reading the room, Hajun quickly stopped talking about the auditions and focused on the Episode 2 broadcast now playing.
“They really edited out a lot. That shoot took forever.”
“Seriously.”
Even though Episodes 1 and 2 combined were a total of three hours, there was still way too much footage to fit in.
Most of the scenes had to be cut out.
“I was on screen for literally three seconds…”
Most of Episode 2 focused on the performance evaluations.
There were also clips of the contestants getting off the boat and heading to the waiting area.
Hajun pointed to the brief glimpse of his own head on screen and made a face like he was about to cry.
“But we’ll probably get more screen time for the stage performances, right…? You know what I mean, right…?”
Kim Chan patted Hajun’s shoulder.
Their eyes met, both filled with mutual dread.
Just like Roy had danced with a broomstick during his audition and somehow avoided being edited out, the two of them had made some pretty cringeworthy mistakes on stage.
“Didn’t Jihoo hyung say his performance went okay?”
“Huh? Yeah, I did. I’m not the type to get nervous.”
Han Jihoo, happily eating the vanilla ice cream Roy had bought, nodded.
“You’ll probably look cool on camera, Jihoo hyung.”
“It might get cut. I didn’t exactly leave a huge impression.”
Smiling genuinely at Kim Chan, who was clearly envious, Jihoo looked around at the others who were now all focused on the TV.
‘So this is what it feels like to be part of a team.’
Even with a long two-week break, Jihoo didn’t really have anything to do.
Though he was affiliated with an agency, he didn’t care much about maintaining a good impression with them.
And it wasn’t like he had much affection for the other trainees at the agency either.
He could feel they were uncomfortable around him and tended to avoid him.
Unless it was for lessons, he didn’t bother going to the company to practice.
Spending awkward time together benefitted no one.
Maybe that’s why.
To others, this might seem like a trivial moment—just a group watching a show together.
But to Jihoo, it was precious.
“Wow, Doha hyung. A monster’s opening its mouth right at your feet, and you don’t even blink? What is your heart made of?”
Hajun stared wide-eyed at the screen showing Lee Doha.
With his calm expression, it looked like Doha was standing in a peaceful flower field rather than a monster-infested battleground.
“His dancing is seriously amazing.”
“Totally. Honestly, I think Doha hyung is the best dancer among the contestants. I mean, just between us.”
Hajun’s admiration made Kim Chan puff up like he’d just been complimented himself.
“I was thinking the same thing. Doha, can you give me some dance lessons? I think you’re way better than the trainer our agency assigned to us.”
Jihoo, seizing the opportunity, made his request to Doha.
Lying lazily on the couch like the laziest man alive, Doha simply shook his head.
“Too much work.”
“Hahaha. That’s such a Doha answer.”
If you watched Doha closely, you’d see his life revolved around dancing, singing, performing, and sleeping.
Even though he turned him down, Jihoo found himself more amused than disappointed.
“You’re good at dancing too.”
Roy glanced sideways at Jihoo’s handsome face.
If they had to pick the worst dancer in the group, it would definitely be Roy.
But in Roy’s eyes, Jihoo danced well.
After all, he’d earned a gold rank in dance.
“Ahhh!”
“Whoa, what the—!”
Hajun let out a high-pitched scream when he finally appeared on screen, grabbing both cheeks in horror.
Kim Jaemin, who had been watching with laser focus, clutched his chest in shock.
“S-Sorry… But seriously, what do I do…? Don’t I look like I’m about to cry?”
“Yeah…”
Roy, who wasn’t good at lying, gave an honest answer.
Tears welled up in Hajun’s big eyes.
[A-A-A-A… Hello…….]
On screen, it was obvious to anyone watching that Hajun was trembling in fear.
Even the way he bit his lips tightly to keep himself from crying was clearly shown on the broadcast.
Below the screen, flashy sound effects accompanied the subtitle: [Youngest Contestant!]
Lee Hajun didn’t even need a caption—his chubby cheeks alone made it obvious.
He looked like he was in his mid-teens at most.
“It’s okay, Hajun. You’re cute, so even if you tear up, it just makes you look cuter. The problem is…”
Kim Chan muttered in a gloomy voice.
It seemed the producers had decided to label Lee Hajun and Kim Chan as the “Coward Duo.”
Seeing himself appear on stage right after Lee Hajun made Kim Chan’s eyebrows droop heavily.
In reality, there had been a significant gap between their actual performance times.
But the way the broadcast was edited, it looked like Kim Chan had gone up right after Hajun.
“…Hello.”
Though he didn’t stutter, his voice was barely louder than an ant’s sneeze.
“Contestant Kim Chan, your voice isn’t coming through very well. Could there be something wrong with the mic?”
One of the judges signaled the staff, seemingly convinced the microphone was broken.
“HELLO!!”
“…Ah, so the mic wasn’t broken after all.”
The real issue was that Kim Chan, upon seeing the signal, shouted so loudly it seemed like he was trying to shake the entire stage.
Just like on screen, Kim Chan’s ears turned bright red as he watched the broadcast in real time.
“Do you think… I’ll survive the first ranking ceremony?”
“We did a good job on stage. Don’t worry too much. And you’re pretty well-known, so you’ll be fine.”
Kim Jaemin patted Kim Chan’s shoulder, trying to reassure him.
‘Chan nim, you must have been really nervous. I feel disappointed for you…’
‘Exactly.’
Due to a combination of nerves and fear, Kim Chan couldn’t even show half of his usual skill.
In the second half of the song, his voice cracked—twice.
BOOM!
“In the mem’ry… I-I see you standing there…”
Even the monster beneath the stage could tell that Kim Chan was afraid.
It slammed the platform with more force than it had for any of the other contestants.
‘Surprised he didn’t cry.’
Though his eyes were visibly red, Kim Chan held firm and finished the final note.
Roy looked at him with pride in his eyes.
Not just Roy—everyone else in the room was watching Kim Chan.
Even Lee Hajun, who had been sulking over his own broadcast appearance just a moment ago, looked at Kim Chan with sympathetic eyes.
“Everyone… can you stop staring at me?”
Feeling even more humiliated, Kim Chan bit his lip again.
The other contestants’ brief moments on screen passed by quickly.
“Still, I think we got a pretty decent amount of screen time.”
“I’m the one in trouble.”
“Huh?”
Among all the contestants shown so far, Kim Jaemin had the least screen time. His airtime wasn’t even a quarter of Kim Chan’s.
“My looks are average, my skills aren’t anything amazing… and my evaluation stage didn’t leave much of an impact. It is what it is.”
***
As the mood sank following his words, Kim Jaemin forced a bright smile.
That’s when Kim Chan realized—this wasn’t the time to be sulking over how pathetic he looked on TV.
Broadcast time was limited, and there were many contestants.
A few extra seconds on screen could easily change someone’s ranking.
“Hyung…”
“It’s okay. I really enjoyed doing our first performance together. I even got to sing the main vocal part with Jihoo. I was just being objective about things.”
Kim Jaemin also realized the more he spoke, the more pressure he put on the others.
Just then, Roy appeared on the screen.
“Roy’s on! I still think he doesn’t come across well on camera. I mean, he still looks handsome, but in real life, his aura is something else.”
“I thought the same thing. I bet people will be saying Roy hyung is way better looking in person.”
Thankfully, Lee Hajun picked up on Jaemin’s intent and helped change the subject.
The ranking announcement hadn’t happened yet.
Since they’d gathered today to monitor the broadcast, they decided to push aside the gloomy thoughts and emotions for now.
“Roy is seriously… a steel heart. I think he was even calmer than Doha or Jihoo.”
“That surprised me too.”
“You don’t have to be modest.”
If Roy kept denying it, the relaxed mood they’d just restored might fall apart again.
So, wisely, Roy closed his mouth and watched himself on TV with a strange expression.
‘Is that really what I look like?’
‘Yes! But honestly, Hero nim, you’re way better looking in person! Everyone needs to witness your real-life face~’
‘Not you too…’
Even back on the Aether Continent, no one had ever called him ugly.
But he never imagined his looks would become such a weapon.
“Roy hyung seems to improve really fast. He’s already way better in that clip than when we first met. And by the time we did our first stage, he’d improved even more.”
“Totally agree.”
It made Roy feel a bit guilty.
Of course, no one could deny that he worked hard—but Roy had something else: Earth.
By completing Earth’s missions, his stats visibly improved.
And whenever time became a constraint, Earth provided a solution.
“It’s all thanks to you guys.”
That’s why Roy gave the credit to his teammates—and it was true.
Originally, Kim Chan and Lee Doha had coached Roy during practice at their agency.
The other teammates they met for this mission had done the same.
Even the youngest, Lee Hajun, had put aside his own practice to help Roy whenever he saw him struggling.