Genius Idol’s Strategy to Conquer the Entertainment Industry

Chapter 6

The top seat wasn’t just any top seat.

Even sitting up straight with perfect posture was comfortable.

That was really something. Even chairs worth hundreds couldn’t match this.

‘I ruined my back playing games, but I wish I could take this chair home.’

Fortunately, the trainees who came in after me didn’t aim for the first place seat and quietly sat in the 90s range chairs.

If it were me, I would have at least tried to mess with the guy sitting in the first place seat if he looked as easygoing as ‘On Raon,’ but these guys lacked guts.

And so, all 100 chairs found their owners without any fuss.

Taking advantage of the break, Jo In-soo, the main PD of Pickheart, came out and gave a long speech along the lines of, “You’re going to work to death from now on, but we’ll make you world stars, so don’t complain and just follow us,” then disappeared again.

While I was roughly ignoring those old-fashioned words and watching the names and backs of the trainees from above, the electronic display showing the red heart logo changed.

[Pick Your Heart Mentor Team Leader]

The trainees, who had been tense with the PD’s appearance, let out a sigh of relief.

They already seemed to know who was coming out. Don’t just keep it to yourselves; let me know too.

I heard the sound of high heels clacking. Someone was walking onto the stage.

“Wow!”

The trainees, who had stood up even before the person’s identity was clear, cheered.

[Jenna]

Her captivating appearance and the aura she exuded with every step proved that Jenna was an extraordinary person.

When the screen changed, the applause from the trainees subsided, and the woman in a stunning red suit, Jenna, stood in the center of the stage with a microphone.

“Hello. I’m Jenna, the director of Pickheart Entertainment, here for Pick Your Heart Season 3.”

Once again, applause poured out for Jenna. Whispers spread from all around.

“Wow… she’s really beautiful.”

“God Jenna. Goddess Jenna.”

The contestants’ reactions were great. They had to act like that to get more airtime.

“I was the director for Season 1, and now, here I am again for Season 3. We have 100 of you here. Nice to meet you all.”

“Nice to meet you!”

The trainees’ response was enthusiastic. Because the senior groups from the previous seasons did so well, they were hopeful they could be just as successful.

“In Season 1 and Season 2, Pick Your Heart selected debut members entirely based on viewer votes.”

Lies.

“In this season as well, only the trainees who receive the fans’ votes for both their performances on and off the stage will survive the three elimination rounds and continue to dream of debuting.”

At the harsh word “elimination,” the excited trainees either bowed their heads, sighed, or stiffened their expressions.

Watching their reactions, Jenna’s eyebrows lowered as if she felt sorry for them, then she composed herself and continued.

Every year, dozens of Idol groups debut, and just as many fade into obscurity. Therefore, Pick Your Heart Season 3 has two differences from the previous seasons.”

As Jenna finished speaking, the words ‘GLOBAL’ and ‘SELF PRODUCING’ appeared on the screen.

“As you can see, the goals for Season 3 are global outreach and self-producing.”

The trainees murmured softly.

First, aiming for a full-scale overseas debut, this season includes a significant increase in the number of foreign trainees, and we have extended the final debut group’s activity period to two years and six months to facilitate smooth overseas activities.

I was suspicious that they were just short on trainees domestically and hastily recruited through auditions abroad, but I decided to let it go for now.

“Please note that this time, even international fans can vote through the app.”

I can see it now. The app servers will be crashing and the app store rating will drop to one star.

The explanation continued about self-producing and expert evaluations.

So, the expert evaluations mentioned in the quest descriptions and articles were about this.

“To ensure the skills of the final group, the trainees performing in the final debut evaluation stage will receive expert evaluations besides the existing votes, selecting one trainee each for vocal, performance, and rap positions within the group as sub-leaders, capable of songwriting, choreography, and rap-making.”

The trainees buzzed with unease.

“This means that even if a trainee is not in the debut rank by simple vote count if they have enough skills and receive high expert evaluation scores, they could debut as a sub-leader within the top 10. All trainees should remember this and give their best in all evaluations.”

Am I the only one who thinks this sounds like it’ll be really easy to rig?

“Right now, no one knows who among these 100 trainees will debut.”

But the PD must know.

Like the seniors before you, all of you will experience tremendous growth during the filming of this program. Let me introduce the mentors who will support that growth with all their might!”

As the words ‘Pick Your Heart Mentor Team’ appeared on the screen, about five people received applause from the trainees as they walked onto the stage.

Their names were… Muk Hye-sung, Han Ji-hee, Seok Soo-young, Lee Chang-yeon, and Juan.

Jenna and the mentor team standing in a line looked quite impressive.

The excited trainees whispered.

“The lineup is no joke.”

“Wow, Muk Hye-sung rarely appears on these shows. Their casting power is insane.”

“Everyone who was a hot topic in Seasons 1 and 2 is here.”

Anyway, I have to show my humble singing and dancing in front of these incredible people.

‘I apologize in advance.’

“Now, let’s all greet the CEO of Pickheart Entertainment, who will be watching over you all!”

It seemed like they referred to the viewers or voters as the “CEO” here.

CEO, huh? It seemed like a title meant to make the viewers feel like they held power.

“CEO of Pickheart Entertainment! Please take care of us!”

* * *

The mentor evaluations that followed were the first assessments where trainees from each agency showcased their prepared songs, dances, or rap performances to the mentors.

As a result, the groups were divided.

“Choi Entertainment trainee Na Yoon-jae will join mentor Seok Soo-young and trainee Kim Sejong will join mentor Juan.”

“Thank you!”

“Do well, everyone.”

“Yes!”

Pickheart was dividing the groups by the mentor.

First, Han Ji-hee mainly picked trainees with balanced abilities who needed more detailed refinement.

Seok Soo-young chose trainees who weren’t bad overall but were lacking in dance, while Lee Chang-yeon selected those with similar levels but lacking in vocals.

Juan picked rap position trainees, and those who had basic skills but weren’t good enough for Seok Soo-young or Lee Chang-yeon to pick.

Finally, Muk Hye-sung was taking trainees who were obviously in serious condition.

If their dance or singing was below a certain level, they went to Muk Hye-sung.

Dividing the groups based on their deficiencies seemed quite efficient.

‘I know where I’m going.’

I had forgotten even the basic skills I learned as a trainee, and my stats were terrible.

This time, the trainees going on stage were from Japan.

“Hello! We are Nagase Ritsu from Star Stage.”

“Noma Haruto!”

“Azumi Ren!”

Jenna spoke warmly to the Japanese trainees, who introduced themselves in a fairly understandable accent.

“We’ll watch your performance now.”

While the trainees prepared the stage, the mentors discussed something among themselves, but I couldn’t hear well.

“They’re Japanese trainees.”

“They didn’t train in Korea. They came straight from Japan, right?”

“Yes.”

The downside of the top seat is that I can’t hear what the mentors are saying. Those in the lower seats can hear everything the mentors say. It must be fun.

Not that I want to fight for a seat in the 90s, though.

After a while, the music started.

I couldn’t see the mentors’ expressions, but it wasn’t hard to sense the atmosphere cooling in real time.

At least in the Korean Idol scene, their performance was below the acceptable level.

With each part, trainees and mentors alike sighed and groaned. Some even turned their heads, unable to watch.

Seok Soo-young lamented.

“What do we do with this?”

Having heard horror stories about Japanese idol survival shows, I could maintain my composure, silently clapping in time.

When the performance ended, the mentors sighed deeply in succession.

After a heavy silence, Jenna, holding the microphone, spoke first.

“There’s still a long way to go to debut as an idol in Korea.”

“There’s nothing organized enough to watch properly right now.”

All of Star Production will receive training from mentor Muk Hye-sung.

The Star Production trainees, knowing the kind of trainees Muk Hye-sung had taken, looked dejected.

The one who seemed to be the leader, Nagase Ritsu, was the fastest to recover and bowed politely.

“Thank you!”

Although the Japanese trainees, with their shoulders drooped, left the stage as failures, considering that a significant number of trainees were already exhausted from Season 1 for male Idols, the overall level, including foreign trainees, wasn’t too bad.

Not bad enough to be criticized by the public, at least.

“Are you not tired?”

During the break between performances, trainee Seo Chan-bin, sitting in the second seat, leaned toward me and asked curiously.

Of course, I wasn’t tired.

[Bed is a Spade Bed, Chair is a First Place Chair. Fatigue -10]

The more time passed, the more refreshed I felt, instead of tired.

Thanks to that, I felt more energetic than ever since I got possessed.

As my body felt comfortable, my voice naturally came out gently.

“There are so many interesting performances, so even if my body is tired, my mind isn’t.”

“Wow. You haven’t performed yet, right?”

“No. I’m a bit nervous because I don’t know when it will be.”

“Good luck.”

“Yes. Good luck to you, too.”

While we were warmly cheering each other on, a staff member gave instructions from below.

“True, Oh Hyun-jin, independent trainee, On Raon, Wes Music, Kim Junwoo, and Yoon Myung-soo, please come down and wait!”

Finally, it was my turn. But was it a coincidence that they called me along with Oh Hyun-jin?

“Do well!”

“I’ll do my best.”

I’m only level 3, so I can’t say I’ll do well.

I felt the trainees’ gazes as I leisurely walked down. The guy who predicted he’d be 100th and took the first-place seat was finally performing, so of course they’d be interested.

Heading to the back of the stage, a staff member explained various things.

“Trainee Oh Hyun-jin, trainee On Raon, and Wes Music will perform in that order. Trainee Oh Hyun-jin will wait here, and trainees On Raon and Wes Music, please wait here. You can practice a bit, but please don’t be too loud.”

“Yes.”

While another trainee’s evaluation took place on stage, I put on my in-ear monitor.

Of course, custom earphones were out of the question, and I had to secure old earphones with tape to prevent them from falling off.

“Why…”

Oh Hyun-jin, who seemed to want to say something while looking at me, closed his mouth and turned away when Jenna called for the next trainee to come up.

Why? What is it? 

Say something.