Chapter 808: The First Eliminated Contestants (3)

I started by calmly trying to reason with Kudo Akira, who was shouting about a rigged vote just because his daughter had lost.

"This stage was one Minatsu was bound to lose," I said.

"What? What do you mean, bound to lose?"

"She made a mistake by wearing Japanese-style clothes and a Noh mask at the Korean preliminaries."

If Kudo Minatsu hadn't come out wearing a traditional Japanese Noh mask when she sang 'Soul Fire,' the result might have been a little different. Yet to Koreans, that kind of masked performance was unfamiliar. On top of that, seeing an idol cover her face with a goblin mask just didn't sit well.

However, the bigger issue was that her character had vanished. Over the last two weeks, Kudo Minatsu had built an image of being the cute younger sister type. But in today's battle, she tried to show off her skills and artistic flair. And in doing so, she completely wrecked the cute character she had worked so hard to create. Naturally, the fans who were expecting another adorable stage couldn't help but be disappointed.

After all,

Project I.O.A

was a show to choose an idol, not to crown an artist.

I explained that to him, but Kudo Akira still wouldn't accept it and raised his voice. "Hey! Even the judges said the overall performance was better from my daughter! So if this is the result, you must've rigged it! Don't think I don't know how production staff meddle in these audition shows!"

Kudo Akira was a famous producer who ran his own label THE AKIRA under AMOSE, and he currently produced the girl group MEME—a five-member group that had made a splash three years ago with highly artistic stages. Because of that success, Kudo Akira had come to value artistry above all else in girl groups.

So when Minamoto Aoi, who prioritized mass appeal over artistry, beat his daughter in the competition, he couldn't contain his rage.

'

Fine. I've tried reasoning enough

.'

Now it was time to destroy his thinking as a producer. Only then would he stop meddling in

Project I.O.A

for good.

I took a deep breath, then began to leak just a sliver of what I knew about the future. "I respect your success both as a singer and as a producer. But if you refuse to let go of your obsession with artistry, you're going to destroy not only MEME but your daughter too."

Kudo Akira's expression froze. "You're saying my stubbornness is going to ruin MEME and my daughter?"

"Yes. Today, Minatsu only put on that kind of stage because she knew you were coming and overdid the performance to impress you. And it's not just that. If you keep putting artistry over mass appeal, MEME will disband in less than a year."

All five members of MEME were kids who had been called prodigies in their respective fields from instrumentals, vocals, dance, to so on. When they debuted in Japan, they were referred to as the genius idol group.

They focused more on artistry than mass appeal from the start, pouring massive investments into creating groundbreaking performances.

Their debut three years ago, where they flew across the sky on a giant drone, was still remembered as a legendary stage. Their unique and artistic attempts consistently made headlines. They became a literal meme, constantly talked about by the public.

However, that only lasted the first year. When Kudo Akira, drunk on success, began to obsess over artistry and veer into the avant-garde, the public started to pull away from MEME. And six months from now, Kudo Akira would make a fatal mistake driven by desperation.

In an effort to represent light and shadow in the world, he would dress MEME members in full-body latex suits in black and white and send them onto the stage. When MEME performed avant-garde movements in latex, the public recoiled in shock and poured out harsh criticism. They called them a grotesque girl group.

From that day on, the members were too shaken by fan backlash to ever step on stage again. Eventually, Kudo Akira's label THE AKIRA would shut down too.

Wanting to slip that future in subtly, I approached Kudo Akira and whispered softly. "You're having a hard time settling on a concept for MEME's next album, aren't you?"

Kudo Akira flinched. "W-Who says I am?"

"It's obvious just looking at you, so don't lie. Haven't you heard the rumors about me being a fortune teller?"

Before the regression, I had heard that Kudo Akira visited a shrine and got his fortune read every year. So there was no way he would brush off a warning from someone called a fortune teller.

As expected, Kudo Akira flinched.

I didn't miss the opening and pressed hard. "The next album—if you go with what you're thinking now, it's going to flop. So drop it."

Kudo Akira snapped back. "T-That's nonsense!"

I let out a short laugh and said, "It's obvious. You're trying to go with some deep concept about the human condition or whatever, right? And let's see... It looks like you're planning to dress the MEME girls in some weird outfits again. Don't do it. If you go through with that, you'll fall straight into ruin. MEME, and you."

"H-How do you know that..."

'

How do I know? Because I'm one of the people who saw that performance before the regression

.'

Kudo Akira staggered backward, legs buckling as if the so-called prophecy had hit him hard. His face went pale.

"So please, stop pushing MEME down the wrong path just because of your obsession with artistry. And don't do it to Minatsu either."

Kudo Akira stood there dazed, unable to speak for a while.

***

A moment of silence passed.

Then, Kudo Akira leaned in and whispered so no one else could hear. "Chief Jung... do you really think MEME is going to fail? Or... can you actually see it?"

His tone had softened, so I lowered my voice and responded calmly not as Star Jung the Fortune Teller but as a talent agent, laying out a precise analysis.

"Yes. I can see it. But even if I couldn't, you know better than anyone that every time MEME leaned harder into artistry, their sales dropped by thirty percent. That's not strengthening artistry. That's drifting away from mass appeal."

Kudo Akira fell into silent thought.

I offered one more piece of sincere advice. "I know how much you care about your daughter. But since you've entrusted her to us, please trust us all the way. I.O.A will definitely succeed."

Kudo Akira nodded weakly. "Alright. Then I'll go quietly watch the second half."

With that, Kudo Akira turned away with his shoulders slumped.

However, I stopped him because there was still another child he influenced.

"Would you mind if I said a word about the direction MEME should take going forward?"

Kudo Akira paused. "Do you have a good idea?"

"Replace your current composer Matsui with your assistant composer, Hirose Haruko. Make her your lead composer and co-producer. She'll give you songs that fit MEME perfectly."

"You want me to take help from Hirose? But she's a bit..."

"Too lighthearted in her style?"

Hirose Haruko, the assistant composer at THE AKIRA, would later leave Kudo Akira and become one of Japan's most famous idol composers. Her songs might seem light, but every single release became a major hit with catchy melodies.

Kudo Akira looked at me with surprise. "How do you even know that?"

'

How? Because I've seen it

.'

But since I couldn't say that, I just shrugged.

Kudo Akira jumped to his own conclusion. "I didn't expect you to know even the inner workings of my label. Clairvoyant... and now this level of intel... I see now, I can't win against someone like you."

Awed by my information, Kudo Akira straightened up and looked at me earnestly. Then he slowly bowed his head.

"I was way out of line today. I was just anxious... because I'm a father. I was scared something would go wrong. But thinking back, I was being foolish. I sincerely apologize."

Taken aback by Kudo Akira's sudden apology, I quickly helped him up with both hands. "Please don't. Just don't make the same mistake again. And I'll accept your apology."

Kudo Akira raised his head. His face was full of remorse. "Thank you for giving me a chance to make it right. From now on, I won't criticize you to the media or cast doubt on

Project I.O.A

again."

The gratitude in Kudo Akira's voice, not just for helping his daughter but also for supporting MEME, was unmistakably sincere.

"If you're truly thankful, then please support I.O.A when we head to Japan."

Kudo Akira nodded and gripped my hand firmly. "Of course. Leave something like that to me."

Because I forgave and helped Kudo Akira, we would now be able to count on significant support when I.O.A started activities in Japan.

And once again, I was reminded of the power I held as someone who had returned from the future.

***

Tonight's

Project I.O.A

broadcast was structured differently than usual with three segments instead of two since it marked the first elimination.

Intense battles had unfolded over the past two hours, and now it was time for the final announcement.

MC Kim Jung-Joo took the mic.

-All performances are now over. Contestants, please come up to the stage.

At Kim Jung-Joo's words, the

Project I.O.A

contestants began walking up. All 132 of them stood on stage, each one scanning the audience for their parents with emotional expressions.

At that moment, Ji Yung-Sik gave the call. "Now's the time! Don't miss a single face. Get a shot of everyone!"

Until the very end of the show, Ji Yung-Sik insisted on giving camera focus to every participant, saying they were all still part of the team.

"What's our current viewership ratings?"

"As of 1:15 a.m., it's at 8.9%."

"It hit 9.5% around midnight, but it didn't drop much?"

"No, sir!"

Considering how late it was, the numbers were still record-breaking.

Soon, all the contestants had gathered on stage. Kim Jung-Joo swallowed hard and raised the mic again.

-Now, we'll begin announcing the 16 teams who will move forward. That's 64 contestants in total—32 from the Korean preliminaries, 16 from the Japanese, and 16 from the Chinese. Let's begin the announcements.

After taking a deep breath, Kim Jung-Joo started reading the names.

-Team 16: Lee Jin-Sol, Park Ha-Yoon, Jiang Lin, Hirose...

The moment the announcements began, tears started streaming down the faces of both those who made it and those who didn't.

***

-That concludes the selection of the 16 teams.

As soon as the announcement ended, the kids began hugging each other, crying openly. Even Kim Jung-Joo, unable to bear watching the eliminations of contestants he had grown fond of, turned his back to the stage as he delivered the closing remarks.

-Thank you to all the

Project I.O.A

participants who gave such passionate performances over the past two weeks. That concludes today's broadcast. We'll see you again next week.

At that moment, all 132 contestants, whether they had passed or not, bowed in unison. And at the same time, the app was updated with the day's results.

[PROJECT : I.O.A]

[Results Announcement]

[Team 1]

Sung Na-Ra (173 points, Korea #1)

Song Mi-Hee (172 points, Korea #2)

Wang Lina (165 points, China #1)

Minamoto Aoi (164 points, Japan #1)

[Team 2]

Choi Yeon-Mi (168 points, Korea #3)

Go Eun-Seo (167 points, Korea #4)

Yang Bing Bing (164 points, China #2)

Nagai Haruko (163 points, Japan #2)

[Team 3]

Han So-Won (165 points, Korea #5)

Park Eun-Chae (163 points, Korea #6)

Liu Lan (160 points, China #3)

Kudo Minatsu (162 points, Japan #3)

...

Because of the ten-point bonus awarded for winning one-on-one battles, the rankings had shifted significantly.

Former FIVE Angels member Sung Na-Ra and ten-year trainee Song Mi-Hee had each won their one-on-one battles against Go Eun-Seo and Han So-Won, respectively, securing their place at the top in Team 1 once again.

Even though Go Eun-Seo had lost to Sung Na-Ra in the battle, her strong performance during the group stage where she carried her team had elevated her to Team 2.

Yang Bing Bing had fallen behind Wang Lina after losing their one-on-one, and Kudo Minatsu had been pushed down to Team 3 after losing to Minamoto Aoi.

Only the top two teams would debut as I.O.A, so the competition within the top ranks had become just as intense as the fight to avoid elimination.

As soon as the broadcast ended, Engineer Jang Dae-Joon reported the final viewership ratings. "We closed at 9.1%."

Ji Yung-Sik nodded. "9.1% at 1:30 in the morning... that's incredible.

Phew

. Great job, everyone."

The high viewership ratings were something to celebrate, but no one in the monitoring room cheered. Silence hung heavy in the air. The broadcast might be over, but the monitor still showed the contestants on stage.

I slowly got up from my seat.

Sasuke quickly followed. "Where are you going?"

𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝕨𝕖𝗯𝚗𝚘𝕧𝕖𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝕞

"To see my kids!"

I had never once thought of any of the participants from

Project I.O.A

as outsiders to Hoop Entertainment.

And now, I was going to personally thank every one of them who had endured the last two weeks.

***

Ten minutes had passed since the broadcast ended, but the kids still hadn't scattered from the massive stage in the performance hall. The bond built over the last two weeks kept them clinging to one another.

"

Sob

... So-Won, I... I..."

"Yeah. I know. Just message me later, okay? I'll be there whenever you call."

"Eun-Chae, can I still keep in touch with you?"

"Of course. Message me every day!"

Both the eliminated and the passed were crying hard. None of the staff or talent agents watching from the sidelines could bring themselves to say it was time to go.

Chief Lee Dong-Min, too, was staring at the kids, speechless.

"Mr. Lee."

I called out to him, and he quickly wiped his tears.

"O-Oh

, you're here."

"Sorry I'm late."

"No, no. Here... take the mic."

I took the mic, because I had something to say to the ones who had been eliminated.

Tap, tap.

As I tapped the mic, all the kids turned to look at me. Tears welled in the eyes of these teens, who should still be at the age of throwing tantrums.

"Mr. Jung~"

Hearing them call out to me made my chest tighten. However, I held it in and began to speak.

"You all worked so hard over these past two weeks."

Tears welled up again in both the successful and the eliminated.

"And I'm sorry for pushing you so hard. It must have been the toughest training experience you've ever had, but I hope you know that it was never to torment you."

The kids nodded quietly.

"Since we couldn't let everyone pass, all of us at Hoop Entertainment just wanted to give you a taste of what professional training is like. So that when the next chance comes, if not this one, you'll be ready to grab it."

Project I.O.A

would only select eight out of 132. However, the rest were all kids talented enough to pass Hoop Entertainment's tough audition. From the beginning, I had intended to help even those who were eliminated find new chances elsewhere.

"Mr. Jung..."

Seemingly unaware of my intention until now, some of the kids started to choke up.

"Even though some of you won't be able to continue with us after today, I want you to know that all of us at Hoop Entertainment treated you like our own trainees these past two weeks."

Even brief encounters formed bonds. The kids seemed to understand what I meant, and tears kept flowing.

Then, just as planned, Lee Dong-Min, Ahn Ye-Eum, and all the Hoop Entertainment talent agents lined up beside me.

Seeing them in place, I grabbed the mic again and called out. "To our Hoop Entertainment trainees who gave it their all these last two weeks—salute!"

At my words, all the Hoop Entertainment talent agents bowed at a ninety-degree angle in unison.

"Thank you for your hard work!"

To these teenagers, who had endured two weeks in an unfamiliar place, I bowed slowly with deep gratitude and respect.

At that moment, the teary-eyed contestants all responded in unison as if rehearsed with their voices filled with emotion.