The stage at the center lit up brightly.
If it had just been the stage, the contestants would’ve taken it as a sign that filming was about to begin.
But—
“What… what is that?”
One of the contestants suddenly jumped to his feet and pointed at the stage.
The others were all staring in shock, each reacting with varying degrees of disbelief.
“Why am I… up there?”
[Hero, look at that! It’s really amazing!]
“Beep!” (To think I’d witness something like this in my lifetime.)
At first, Roy’s eyes were wide with shock like the other contestants.
But soon, he folded his arms and began observing the figures on stage intently.
‘Doppelgangers. Not upper-tier—just low-tier ones that can only mimic certain behaviors.’
Doppelgangers weren’t common monsters.
Their ability to copy another’s appearance and skills made them extremely dangerous—once discovered, they were to be eliminated on sight.
Because of that, doppelgangers usually lived in isolated groups far from populated areas.
Even though monsters from the As Continent had started appearing on Earth, there was a clear difference.
‘They show up regardless of terrain or habitat now.’
Doppelgangers would never have appeared this way on the As Continent.
Roy didn’t know what the production team had done, but right now, the stage was filled with doppelgangers equal in number to the remaining contestants, moving in perfect sync like a single entity.
“Ugh, this is giving me chills,” Hajun said, shivering like someone caught in the cold, but he couldn’t take his eyes off the stage.
“They… dance better than me. And sing better too…”
One contestant clutched his hair in despair.
“But the more I watch, the more I realize—they all move exactly the same. Their vocal range is identical too… I guess I noticed late because their faces and voices are different.”
Kim Chan, who had been staring at the stage in shock, pointed out the oddity with sharp insight.
Roy and Hajun nodded in agreement at Kim Chan’s observation.
“Nice catch, Kim Chan.”
“Seriously. You sometimes act so different from your usual self—it’s fascinating,” Hajun added.
Kim Chan smiled bashfully at Roy’s praise but pouted slightly at Hajun’s comment.
“Sometimes? I’m always smart.”
“Sure you are.”
Hajun bit the inside of his cheek to keep from laughing.
Tears welled up in his eyes, and he quickly turned his head and wiped them away with his sleeve.
“The song’s actually pretty good.”
Most of the contestants were still in a state of panic.
It was understandable—they were facing beings that looked exactly like them, but weren’t even twins.
Only a handful, including Roy, were calm enough to listen to the performance properly.
“Stars in your mind. And make the world shiny.”
Roy unconsciously sang along to what seemed like the chorus.
His low but pleasant voice carried the melody, and those near him, slowly recovering from their shock, began harmonizing with him.
“Only one in the world. You and I.”
***
The song ended, and the doppelgangers froze in the exact poses they had when they first appeared on stage.
Despite dancing for several minutes to a high-difficulty routine, not a single one of them showed signs of exhaustion.
“Did everyone enjoy the performance?”
Confused by the eerie yet impressive performance, the contestants turned their attention to Lee Jian.
There was a small platform beside the large stage, like a lone island.
Lee Jian stood atop it, illuminated by bright stage lights pouring down like sunlight.
“I got goosebumps too while watching. Judging from your faces, I’m not the only one surprised, right?”
She dramatically swept her arm down her own arm and smiled brightly.
Contestants seated close to the stage wore tearful expressions as they stared at the unmoving doppelgangers with forced grins.
“Let me officially introduce them. The ones on stage are your very own doppelgangers!”
As soon as Lee Jian finished speaking, colorful fireworks burst around her.
The dazzling effects stole the contestants’ attention for a moment—but once it passed, their eyes were filled with a different kind of shock as they looked back at the stage.
“Those are doppelgangers?”
“Wait, the monsters just did a full stage performance?”
“No way. This is my first time seeing a doppelganger.”
“That’s… terrifying.”
Lee Jian scanned the group of stunned contestants, then signaled the production team.
Suddenly, two enormous hands appeared above her and clapped together.
Clap!
A thunderous sound echoed across the set.
The noise cut off abruptly, and everyone’s attention snapped back to Lee Jian.
“I understand why you’re shocked. I was too, even though I was informed ahead of time.”
Lee Jian had rubbed her eyes when she first saw the cue sheet, thinking she was mistaken—only to get scolded by the stylist.
Since this was a hunter idol survival show, she expected the production team to prepare some wild missions.
But even with that expectation, this one was a shocker.
“Even if you were surprised, I hope you still appreciated the song and dance. Courage and keen observation are essential qualities for a Hunter Idol, after all.”
Most of the contestants visibly grew anxious at what Jian said next.
After all, who wouldn’t be shaken by the appearance of a perfect copy of themselves moving around on stage?
“The song and dance the doppelgängers just performed is the theme song of our show! The title is ‘STAR’! A perfect word for all of you, don’t you think?”
The contestants’ jaws dropped.
They had all been anxiously waiting to find out what the theme song would be, but no one expected it to be revealed like this.
“With that, we’ll now begin this round’s mission!”
‘We’re doomed.’
That was the only thought running through the contestants’ minds.
They had expected a mission, sure—that’s why they’d entered the set—but this was their first mission after the ranking ceremony.
With the teams newly reorganized, they had assumed it would be a simple team-based practice task.
But those expectations had been completely shattered.
“From now on, you’ll have one hour to practice, then you’ll take the stage and perform in the exact spots the doppelgängers stood! Of course, that means singing and dancing too!”
“What kind of nonsense is that…?”
It was a song none of them had ever practiced before.
Even veteran idols would struggle to sing and dance to a completely unfamiliar song.
The ones who immediately grasped how difficult this was going to be were the contestants with longer trainee experience.
Their faces turned pale as they desperately tried to recall the performance that had just ended.
“We’ll start the countdown now!”
The staff showed no mercy.
Before the shocked contestants could even pull themselves together, a giant timer appeared on stage.
The red numbers, which had been frozen at 01:00:00, began ticking down—00:59:57…
“AAAGH!”
“Does anyone remember the choreography?”
“I don’t even remember the first line of the song!”
The contestants shot up from their seats in panic and chaos erupted.
The same was true for the Gold Team, which Roy belonged to.
“Roy! Do you remember the lyrics?”
Hajun looked at Roy with a desperate expression.
He had heard Roy humming the song earlier.
“Yeah. I remember most of the lyrics and melody.”
“That’s a relief…”
Hajun knew Roy had a good memory, but he hadn’t expected him to remember nearly the entire song after just one listen.
Hajun pressed a hand to his racing chest, trying to recall the choreography.
“I remember from the middle to the end pretty well…”
“Same. I remember the first few moves, but then it’s all a blur.”
Roy wasn’t great at dancing, so neither Hajun nor Kim Chan expected him to remember the choreography.
“I actually remember almost the whole thing.”
“Seriously?”
“No way…”
Hajun and Kim Chan clamped their mouths shut in shock.
The other Gold Team members nearby began subtly inching closer to Roy.
“I do remember it… but whether I can actually do it is another story.”
Remembering something and actually executing it were completely different matters.
Sometimes the body just wouldn’t follow the mind.
‘Status window.’
Roy summoned his system’s status window related to his idol abilities.
Compared to the start, his stats had improved quite a bit.
[Hwang Roy (22) – Vocals: B+ | Dance: B- | Acting: E- | Songwriting: F | Composing: F]
Because he had been focusing on the Hunter-related missions, the idol-related stats hadn’t changed dramatically.
Only his vocal skill had gone from B- to B+, and his acting from F+ to E-.
He had intentionally focused on improving his vocals over dancing.
The boost in acting came after realizing the importance of facial expressions while performing.
“Still, being able to remember everything is already amazing. I can barely recall a few lines of the lyrics,” Kim Chan said, giving Roy a thumbs-up.
To Kim Chan, Roy practically had a halo shining behind him.
“Let’s start practicing right away.”
Hajun was practically bouncing on his feet.
Some other teams had already started practicing, and since time was of the essence, they had no time to waste.
“We need to be able to see ourselves in the mirror.”
Since Roy would be demonstrating the moves for Hajun and Kim Chan to follow, a reflective surface would be ideal for practice.
“I wish they’d at least give us a full-length mirror.”
Kim Chan agreed and sent a longing glance toward the production team.
A few contestants tried to approach the staff to make a request, but the crew firmly shook their heads.
The trainees gave up quickly and stepped back.
“Let’s just do it.”
‘If only the Water Spirit King were here, this would be solved instantly.’
The smooth surface of still water could act like a mirror.
But Roy still wasn’t able to fully use Ber’s powers.
Instead of focusing on what he couldn’t control, Roy shifted his attention to what he could do.
“Should I show you the dance first? Or sing while dancing?”
“Can you do both at once, Roy?” Kim Chan asked.
Roy hesitated.
He normally practiced vocals and choreography separately—his philosophy was to master one thing at a time.
“It’s going to be tough… but we don’t have time.”
“Then show us everything at once.”
“Okay.”
Roy struck the first pose of the routine.
Hajun and Kim Chan stood in front of him, ready to watch and memorize everything they could.
“Um…”
Just as Roy began to move into the first step, a figure approached the trio and called out to them.