The moment all eyes in the audience fixed on Roy.
With his eyes lowered, the expression of drawing out emotion was impossible to look away from.
It was hard to believe such an immense vocal volume could come from a single person’s vocal cords, as his voice filled the entire space.
The audience unconsciously rubbed their goosebumped arms.
“Cold farewell, that day, you and I.”
The final verse was sung by Roy and Choi Eunhyu, facing each other.
The earthen pillar that had moved them right in front of the audience had already disappeared without a trace.
The two, along with the four spirits, returned to the same poses they had at the start of the stage.
The sunglasses they had tossed away as part of the performance came back like a boomerang, blown by the wreath’s breeze, hovering over their faces on stage.
“Kyaaaah!”
“Roy! I can die now with no regrets!”
“Choi Eunhyu! Choi Eunhyu! Choi Eunhyu!”
Even after the stage ended, silence lingered for a few seconds.
As Roy and Choi Eunhyu caught their breath, an immense roar of cheers erupted from the crowd below.
The reaction was even more intense than any previous performance.
“Wow. That was such an exciting stage, I honestly wanted to dance along.”
Lee Jian, who was hosting the show today, took the microphone.
But even Lee Jian’s voice was nearly drowned out by the audience’s cheers.
The crowd continued their passionate shouts even after Lee Jian lowered the mic and raised it again.
***
“This was truly a great experience.”
Roy looked down at Choi Eunhyu’s outstretched right hand and fell silent for a moment.
He noticed the tears welling up in Eunhyu’s round eyes.
“Ugh, I’m not crying because I’m sad.”
Choi Eunhyu roughly wiped his eyelids with the back of his hand.
He had narrowly lost the match against Roy.
“You did really well too.”
“I know. I’m just so thankful to the fans. They gave me so many votes.”
The difference in their votes was less than twenty.
Though it was a bit disappointing, neither of them thought they could perform better than the stage they had just finished.
“Hyung, you have to carry it all the way for me. I’ll be cheering you on.”
“Yeah.”
Roy suppressed the welling emotions that threatened to rise at the sight of Eunhyu, a kid trying so hard to hide his feelings and speak only kind words.
“22.”
(For some reason, my heart aches…)
Throughout all the rehearsals, Aqua had been the grumpiest toward Choi Eunhyu, yet now she gently cupped his cheek.
Feeling the moist touch on his cheek, Eunhyu’s eyes widened.
A tear dangling from the tip of his long eyelashes dropped onto Aqua’s face.
“Hic, give me your number, please……”
Moved by Aqua’s comfort, Eunhyu handed his phone to Roy with tears flowing even more.
It was the phone the production crew had returned after filming ended.
Since Eunhyu was eliminated, he had to board the boat that would take him and the other 15 eliminated contestants off the island.
“I’ll contact you when I go on leave. Let’s eat something delicious.”
Roy still didn’t have money on hand, but if he asked Hwang Guman, he could use the company card to cover a meal with Choi Eunhyu.
Meanwhile, as Roy and Choi Eunhyu shared their bittersweet farewell, a commotion broke out elsewhere.
“How is this possible? I’m eliminated but you passed?”
Roy’s gaze naturally shifted toward the source of the noise.
Lee Chulhun was shaking Kangchul by the collar, who was taller than him.
‘That guy still hasn’t come to his senses.’
Lee Doha was the opponent Roy was determined to beat.
Not just anyone, but Lee Doha—a contestant who had ranked first multiple times at the announcement ceremonies.
Moreover, Lee Chulhun barely scraped through the last ranking announcement.
Roy believed Chulhun survived only because the producers pushed screen time his way and edited out unlikable moments.
‘Otherwise, there’s no way that guy should’ve lasted this long.’
Many contestants who were better in every aspect than Lee Chulhun had been eliminated at the previous ranking announcement.
The moment Lee Doha was paired against Lee Chulhun, Roy was sure this would finally be Chulhun’s exit.
And seeing him cause such a scene over the inevitable result was just pathetic.
{That guy’s been a disliked person from start to finish!}
The angry voice of Earth echoed in Roy’s head.
Roy’s eyes sharpened at Lee Chulhun, who had provoked Earth into such words.
“Enough now. Get ready to board the boat.”
“Let me go!”
The production staff, unable to bear it any longer, were pulling Lee Chulhun away from Kangchul.
Roy stepped closer to see off Lee Chulhun’s final moment.
“Such a shame. I really wanted to face you in this mission.”
He patted Kangchul’s rumpled clothes and smiled gently at Lee Chulhun.
“What…?”
“You’ll know your place after you lose to someone you looked down on like me.”
The increase in vulgar language wasn’t limited to Earth and the spirits.
Roy had no desire to be polite toward such an opponent.
His lips curved into a smile, but his gaze was cold and steady.
“You bastard…!”
Now eliminated, Lee Chulhun shook off the staff’s attempts to hold him back and lunged at Roy.
A sudden gust of wind struck one of Chulhun’s legs with great force.
Struck by an invisible force, Lee Chulhun crashed headfirst into the ground.
“Ouch, that must hurt a lot.”
Though with his high level, smashing his face on the floor wouldn’t cause much pain, Roy deliberately raised his voice.
At the same moment Lee Chulhun’s face hit the ground, a cloud of dust rose.
“Cough, cough…”
Inhaling a mouthful of dust, Lee Chulhun coughed violently until his face turned bright red.
He was about to charge at Roy again after recovering from the cough.
If the head producer hadn’t stormed over furious at Chulhun’s behavior, Roy might have taken the chance to crush his arrogant nose.
***
[Hey Dohan, the final members seem almost decided?]
[There are only 15 left now.]
[The production said the final debut group would be 8.]
[Looks like it’s going to be a shootout if I want my pick to debut?]
[But honestly, I think some of the members are already confirmed.]
[Center – Hwang Roy.]
[At first, I thought he’d rely on his looks alone and fall quickly because his dancing and singing were so bad.]
[But no. His skills keep improving.]
[Even if he was originally good and hiding it, early broadcast videos show his skills were at a level no acting could cover.]
[His skills shining means his face shines more too.]
[And when paired with other members, the synergy is great.]
[If you look at the stage with Ha-jun, the stage presence was insane.]
[That’s why I think he’ll almost certainly debut as center.]
—[But isn’t Lee Doha better looking? He’s insanely handsome.]
—[Probably too handsome. These days, centers tend to be those with various charms.]
—[So who’s the final group then? Why mention only one and stop?]
—[Probably all the Hunter S-ranks? I see they all survived so far.]
—[Who are the L-ranks?]
—[Lee Doha, Kim Chan, Han Jihyu, Kim Jaewoo, Minju, Song Doyoon.]
—[Huh? What about Hwang? I thought he was S-rank.]
—[The producers never told Roy’s exact Hunter rank, only his level.]
—[Controlling four spirits, isn’t that obviously S-rank?]
—[I don’t know either. Nothing official yet.]
—[Anyone rooting for the Zombie member?]
—[Me!]
—[I bought lottery tickets, I really didn’t expect him to survive again.]
—[He’s a real underdog victory.]
—[I’m voting for him to debut in the final group as is.]
—[I hope so, ㅠㅠ The more I see him, the more I feel for him…]
—[If S-rank includes Hwang, there’s only one spot left.]
—[That spot will be fiercely contested.]
—[I want the youngest to get in.]
—[Me too, so cute ㅠㅠ]
“Roy hyung! Look at this.”
“What is it?”
Roy tilted his head toward the phone screen Kim Chan held out.
The screen was filled with dense text on a community message board Kim Chan frequently checked.
“The boss told you to stop checking the community so much.”
“Eh, I can filter out the bad comments myself.”
Not everything on the community board was positive.
Even during live broadcasts, malicious comments often appeared.
But on the community boards, the hateful comments were sometimes worse.
Because of this, Hwang Guman had banned artists from visiting the community to protect their mental health.
Still, Kim Chan occasionally sneaked onto the community despite Guman’s warnings.
“There are a lot of people saying you, me, Dohan hyung, and Jihu hyung will make the final group.”
Kim Chan’s cheeks flushed.
Roy narrowed his eyes and examined his expression, but saw no sign of hurt.
Apparently, he was carefully picking out only the positive comments to read.
“A lot of people say Jaemin hyung and Hajun might debut too.”
The affectionate feelings for his fellow trainees were evident as he swiped the screen with his thumb.
“Our agency’s going to have something to celebrate.”
Three trainees from Bada Entertainment had all advanced to the final round, beating trainees from other major agencies.
Because of that, Hwang Guman’s face rarely left a smile these days.
“Boss gave me this.”
Kim Chan grinned and pulled out a card from his pocket. It was Hwang Guman’s personal card.
“Today, the three of us can go out, eat delicious food, and shop. Two hundred thousand won each!”
Kim Chan’s financial situation was just as tight as Roy’s.
“Is it really okay to go out? Lately, so many people recognize us.”
A smile bloomed briefly on Roy’s lips at the thought of some free time after a long while, but quickly faded.
Before the final mission, the producers had given the contestants a two-week vacation period, telling them to come back in top condition.
However, Roy hadn’t even been able to step outside the convenience store in front of the company after returning.
Because of the crowds gathering there.
The building where Bada Entertainment was located didn’t have great security, so Hwang Guman had requested the landlord to install a lock with a password on the first floor.
“If we go out like this, we’ll definitely be caught. So I prepared this.”
Kim Chan came out holding something full in his arms as if to say, “Don’t worry.”
“Dohan hyung, get up! We’re going out.”
He shook Lee Doha’s shoulder firmly to wake him from the curled-up nap on the living room floor.
“Bpee?” (What’s this?)
The spirits resting nearby in various forms gathered around Kim Chan.