Roy overcame his embarrassment and raised both hands to wave—but realizing he was still holding the egg in his right hand, he ended up only waving with his left.
‘What’s that egg?’
‘Is it a spirit?’ I’ve never seen a spirit egg before.
Whoa, that’s crazy.
The scene of Ber hatching from the egg hadn’t been aired yet, so the audience flooded the chat with reactions about the egg.
Even though the egg had been mentioned before, it had been overshadowed by the comments about Roy’s face and singing.
Look at that face.
If he just lived as a Hunter, it’d be a national loss.
Even while Roy stepped away for a moment, the chat window continued flying upward non-stop.
Another contestant sat down in the chair after Roy, but the viewers were still too caught up in talking about spirits and spirit summoners.
The chat exploded so much that the production crew had to briefly pause the shoot.
“You were amazing, hyung. I wish I hadn’t been so nervous…”
Being one of the earlier performers had its downsides, but the upside was that the nerve-wracking wait time was shorter compared to others.
Roy smiled at Hajun’s words, but instead of a smile, a long-suppressed sigh slipped out through his lips.
“I was shaking like crazy too.”
“You didn’t look nervous at all…”
Hajun looked up at Roy with admiration.
Roy’s singing had been pitch-perfect and right on tempo—hard to believe he was nervous.
“Let’s take a break now.”
His legs gave out, making his steps wobbly.
Roy and Hajun sat down near the shooting area and leisurely watched the rest of the contestants perform live.
“I think it was better to go early. Everyone’s doing more or less the same kind of performance.”
It had been a sudden, unplanned mission.
Since no one had anything prepared, they ended up doing similar things.
Even without looking at the chat, Roy was sure the screen was filled with complaints about how boring it was.
“Now that it’s live, you can really see the skill gaps.”
“Seriously. Everyone’s so nervous, I feel bad watching.”
The pressure of the fast-moving chat was stronger than expected.
Roy and Hajun watched the others for a while, then slipped away.
“Let’s start practicing the theme song now.”
“Being one of the earlier performers does have its perks, I guess.”
Even after one mission ends, another begins right away.
Live broadcast missions were important, but the theme song performance mission was even more critical.
You had to do well on stage if you wanted to make it to the live show broadcast.
“Did you memorize all the lyrics?”
“Yeah. But… are we sure the version we memorized is accurate?”
The production crew had only shown the stage once.
Memorizing the choreography and lyrics perfectly was nearly impossible.
It wasn’t a known song—it was their first time hearing it—and they were all still stunned by the doppelgänger performance.
“There probably aren’t that many contestants who memorized it more accurately than us.”
Roy had remembered most of the dance and lyrics, and they filled in the blanks with what others recalled.
Trying to remember it more perfectly than that might’ve just been wishful thinking.
“That’s true. Hyung, are you okay with the dance moves?”
Only then did Roy realize that they barely had time to even talk.
“Ber, stay here for a bit.”
Since Ber was still in egg form, it was hard to hold him while practicing.
Roy gently placed the egg on a chair and started practicing with Hajun.
“…I’m back.”
Kim Jaemin, who had gone up shortly after Roy, returned.
By that point, Roy and Hajun’s foreheads were already damp with sweat.
“I think I totally blew the broadcast…”
Not long after, Kim Chan joined them with a gloomy look and started practicing too.
Even Lee Doha, who had the latest performance slot, returned from the live mission, and the pace of practice picked up.
“We’ll now begin preparing for the theme song mission stage!”
Other contestants gathered around Roy’s group, and everyone began practicing in sync when the production crew announced the next schedule.
“Please, let me pass this one…”
Hajun clasped his hands and spoke with a desperate voice.
The stage that had been packed with doppelgängers earlier was now eerily empty.
“This is basically military boot camp at this point. We can’t even sleep properly…”
Originally, the time limit for the doppelgänger mission had been 24 hours.
But the contestants had cleared it faster than expected, and many had been injured in the process.
So the production team gave the remaining contestants rest time while the injured recovered.
Some took power naps, but no one actually got any proper rest.
***
“Everyone, please take your positions!”
Each contestant moved to the spot marked with their rank.
Roy also found his place and stood still, watching the judges take their seats.
Ber had been left in the care of the production crew.
‘Can I use the reward I got from clearing the last mission now?’
[Of course! The “Convincing Atmosphere” will activate the moment the song starts!]
Roy, still smiling, looked toward the camera as he conversed with Earth.
He was preparing to use the item he had earned earlier.
“Are you all ready?”
“Yes!”
Lee Jian picked up the mic.
The contestants answered in unison, and their voices echoed powerfully throughout the set.
“This mission is tough even by an active idol’s standards, but I believe you all can pull it off.”
Most of the contestants looked grim.
They had practiced as much as possible, but they all knew they weren’t quite ready to perform in front of the judges.
“Dragging this out won’t help anyone. Let’s begin the stage right away.”
No sooner had Lee Jian put down the mic than the opening of the theme song began to play on stage.
More than half the contestants missed the beat, moving their hands awkwardly as the performance continued.
[‘Convincing Atmosphere’ has been activated! 02:59:58]
A glow that only Roy could see enveloped him for a moment before vanishing.
He didn’t feel any different, but he could only hope the effect lived up to its name and made the performance look convincing on camera.
“Some contestants are performing better than expected… but others are clearly out. No question.”
As Yukay spoke, Lee Jian and Lee Hyeyeon nodded solemnly.
Yukay focused closely on the choreography, beginning to mark “Pass,” “Hold,” or “Eliminated” next to each contestant’s name.
“Do they think we can’t hear their singing? Some contestants aren’t even making a sound.”
Lee Hyeyeon adjusted her headphones, her voice tinged with pity.
The contestants were all wearing artifacts that recorded their singing during the performance.
While some might’ve assumed they were just ordinary mics, the production team had been far more thorough than that.
“Still, I think it’s impressive that they pulled off this much. If I were participating, honestly, I wouldn’t feel confident either.”
Lee Jian was the only one trying to defend the contestants.
They had only heard the song once, and then were shown the choreography.
Performing it perfectly would take more than talent—it would require genius.
“Anyone stand out to you? Lee Doha definitely lives up to his first-place ranking. His dance is practically flawless. There’s a slight mistake in the choreography, but other contestants made similar errors.”
Yukay mentioned Lee Doha by name.
“I’ll have to review the recordings later to know for sure, but so far, Kim Chan, Min Junyoung, and Hwang Roy seem to be doing quite well.”
Lee Jian’s eyes fell on Song Doyoon.
He had ranked second in the first ranking announcement.
“Song Doyoon isn’t performing as well as expected. He was always solid in both singing and dancing.”
“I think he memorized the wrong choreography. His pacing completely collapsed halfway through.”
Contestants had practiced in groups based on friendships.
Unfortunately, the group Doyoon joined had learned a version of the choreography that was significantly different from the original.
It didn’t seem like a problem during practice, but once on stage, seeing other contestants perform, he must’ve realized something was wrong.
“Judging this is going to be really tricky.”
The performance finally ended.
The contestants stood on stage, gasping for breath, their faces tense with nerves.
“Great job, everyone. It was nice to see you giving it your all.”
Lee Jian offered some neutral praise to gather the contestants’ attention.
“But not everyone will receive the same result. Please wait a moment while we prepare to announce the outcome.”
The judges began reviewing footage carefully.
Some names already had decisions beside them, but many remained blank—still undecided.
Every time the judges spoke with serious expressions, the tension among the contestants thickened.
Even though they couldn’t hear the conversation, someone was bound to be told they were eliminated.
“Thank you for waiting. The results will now appear on the stage beneath your feet. Contestants who passed will stand on blue. Those on hold will be on green. Eliminated contestants will be on red.”
The stage beneath the contestants began to shift colors—blue, green, red.
Only then did the contestants realize they had been standing on square sections of the stage.
“We will now announce the results.”
Lee Jian didn’t drag things out.
She handled the announcement quickly and decisively.
Faces lit with hope or dropped in disappointment as the color under each contestant stopped changing.
“A total of 27 contestants have passed. 31 are on hold. 12 have been eliminated.”
The eliminated contestants bowed their heads as they looked down at the blood-red floor beneath their feet.
“Those who passed or were eliminated, please step down from the stage. We will now begin the re-evaluation for those on hold.”
Without even a moment to collect themselves, the contestants exited the stage.
The staff guided the passed contestants to a refreshment area, while the eliminated ones were led to a space with nothing but a few chairs.
“Well, at least we all made it through…”
Kim Chan looked toward the eliminated contestants with a heavy expression.
Their posture and steps revealed just how heartbroken they were, and it tugged at his heart.
“There are more contestants on hold than I expected.”
Han Jihoo scanned the stage.
When he spotted Song Doyoon still standing there, he raised one eyebrow in surprise.
“Those who passed, please enjoy the snacks here while the next evaluation is underway.”
The contestants who passed were happy to have made it but felt guilty seeing the eliminated ones.
That guilt quickly gave way to a growling stomach and bitter smile as they looked at the snacks.
“It’s no wonder. We’ve been going nonstop all day.”
Just then, Lee Hajun’s stomach let out a loud growl.
His face turned bright red as Kim Jaemin patted him on the back in comfort.
“Let’s eat first. We’ll need the energy for whatever mission comes next. They might not give us much of a break.”
Kim Jaemin, the dependable eldest, led the younger members.
Over at the snack table, others had already gathered, picking out what they wanted to eat.