Chapter 38 - We're Going to Climb High

“Waaaaah!”

Explosive cheers erupted under the dark night sky.

The Night-Bomb Festival was in a state of being swept up in an excitement befitting its name, 'Bomb of the Night'.

“Everyone! Are you all ready?”

“Waaah...!”

“Choux-pop! Choux-pop!”

The audience responded with cheers to the voice of Choux-pop's leader, Seong Hae-won, who had come up on stage.

“Okay, let's go!”

Choux-pop's performance began along with a fierce dance track.

As Baek Yeon-ah was watching the scene from the staff seating area, a voice was heard from the side.

“That's Choux-pop for you.”

“PD Seo?”

It was PD Seo Dong-cheol of TVX.

Seo Dong-cheol confirmed that the seat next to Baek Yeon-ah was empty and sat down there.

“What brings you here? To a place like this.”

“I came to watch the singers.”

Baek Yeon-ah and Seo Dong-cheol had known each other for a long time.

However, as Baek Yeon-ah became the CEO of Haram Entertainment and Seo Dong-cheol went to TVX, their relationship had become a bit distant.

“Choux-pop, as befits a girl group that DP Entertainment fostered with all their heart and soul, their level is high.”

“……”

“The leader, Seong Hae-won, is firmly holding the center... the main vocalist, Joo Ga-hee, is supporting the entire group with her outstanding vocal ability. The other members are also playing their roles.”

Seo Dong-cheol evaluated while watching Choux-pop on the stage.

“Choux-pop must be very busy these days. Since they have solo concerts and events scheduled. They must be very tired and would have lacked practice time... it's really amazing that they can maintain that kind of quality.”

“You rate Choux-pop very highly...”

Baek Yeon-ah made a dubious expression.

“I guess you came to see Choux-pop after all?”

“No?”

Seo Dong-cheol said with a composed expression.

“To speak coldly, I don't need to watch Choux-pop's performance.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Because it's always the same.”

“The same?”

“It's maintained consistently, no matter the stage. There are no days when they're terrible, and no days when they're amazing.”

Saying that, Seo Dong-cheol shook his head.

“Something like that can't move people.”

“Move people?”

“You could call it entertainment value, or you could simply call it fun.”

Seo Dong-cheol lifted his head upwards.

Baek Yeon-ah also followed suit and looked up at the night sky.

Looking up at the dark night sky, Seo Dong-cheol said in a relaxed voice.

“No one is moved by a geostationary satellite that always stays in the same position.”

“……”

“For people to feel something, there has to be change. Either it falls from top to bottom with a whoosh like a meteor...”

Seo Dong-cheol smiled, moving his finger up and down.

“Or, it has to show itself transcending the laws of physics and soaring up from below.”

***

In the midst of the heated fervor, Choux-pop's performance ended.

It was a perfect performance, without a single mistake, that you could enjoy with an easy mind.

The expressions of the members coming down from the stage were also full of a sense of fulfillment from having completed their mission.

“……”

Newstarz, whose turn was next, was waiting backstage, so they couldn't see Choux-pop's performance in person.

Still, because the cheers could be heard continuously, they could tell that Choux-pop had put on an excellent stage.

However, there was no one who was intimidated by that fact.

“Go on.”

Baek Hyeon-woo said to Newstarz.

No more instructions were needed.

What to do, how to do it... they all knew.

And so, Newstarz went on stage.

Because Newstarz was less popular than Choux-pop, they couldn't elicit a wildly enthusiastic response right from the start.

“Newstarz? I've heard that name somewhere.”

“You know. The group that Choux-pop's Joo Ga-hee was originally in...”

“But this song, I feel like I've heard it somewhere before...”

As the intro began, a simple drum beat echoed.

At that, some audience members who knew Newstarz well reacted.

Because it wasn't the intro to their latest song, 'For you', but their debut song from 3 years ago, 'Gravity'.

However, the song they knew and the song that was about to begin would be completely different.

Because this was the 'Gravity' of the reborn, complete 5-member Newstarz.

“Gravity, the force that always pulled me──𝅘𝅥𝅮”

As the main vocalist Yoo Jeong-ah's voice burst out.

For a brief moment, the area below the stage became quiet.

This was because the audience members had all held their breath at once.

And that short silence was quickly replaced by something else.

“Ooh...!”

“Waaaaah...!”

It was fervent cries of admiration and cheers.

‘She captured people's hearts instantly!’

Baek Hyeon-woo, who was watching the stage, clenched his fists.

The person Tae Jong-soo had poured his heart and soul into training the most during this time was none other than Yoo Jeong-ah.

It seemed Tae Jong-soo had sensed a level of potential in Yoo Jeong-ah on par with Lyeo-woo, the nation's top female singer.

He had upgraded her vocalization with thorough vocal training, and Baek Hyeon-woo had also improved Yoo Jeong-ah's physical with high-intensity training.

As a result, Yoo Jeong-ah's already high-level vocal ability rose to a whole other level.

––––––––

[Yoo Jeong-ah]

Vocal: S+

Dance: A

Visual: E+

Potential: SS

Body Condition: 80%

Mental Condition: 90%

––––––––

When he first met her, Yoo Jeong-ah's Vocal was A-rank.

But now it had grown to S-rank.

She had risen to the same level as Choux-pop's main vocalist, Joo Ga-hee.

Of course, that's not to say that Yoo Jeong-ah had become a vocalist on the level of Joo Ga-hee.

Because her biggest drawback, her stiff expression and atmosphere, had not yet been sufficiently improved.

However... it still didn't matter.

Because although everyone was listening to Yoo Jeong-ah's song with their ears, they were watching something else with their eyes.

“Waaah...!”

Newstarz's older pair, Seo Na-eun and Kim So-yeong.

The two of them had come to the very front and were gathering people's gazes.

The main dancer, Seo Na-eun, already had outstanding dance skills from before, but today she was showing a performance that had grown one step further.

Kim So-yeong was also captivating people's gazes by mobilizing her slender, long limbs and intense gaze.

––––––––

[Seo Na-eun]

Vocal: A

Dance: S+

Visual: B+

Potential: A

Body Condition: 85%

Mental Condition: 90%

––––––––

[Kim So-yeong]

Vocal: B

Dance: A+

Visual: S+

Potential: A

Body Condition: 80%

Mental Condition: 95%

––––––––

Seo Na-eun's Vocal and Dance, and Kim So-yeong's Dance had grown.

On top of that, both of them had plus corrections applied to their Dance and Visuals.

Those two had stepped to the very front and were gathering people's gazes by showing their best performance.

They were in the middle of helping Yoo Jeong-ah, who was still not used to the stage, pour all her energy just into her vocals.

Of course, it wasn't just Seo Na-eun and Kim So-yeong.

Laura and Kanade also showed a charming performance, moving bubbily on either side.

Because Baek Hyeon-woo had frequently checked their silhouettes and corrected them, there wasn't a single flaw in the members' dancing.

“Hey, what's with them?”

“Was that what Newstarz was like?”

“I did hear they were relaunching as a 5-member group today... but the feeling is completely different?”

Amidst the enthusiastic reactions of the people, Laura came to the center to sing her part.

At that moment, a middle-aged man holding a large camera high up could be seen among the large crowd.

It was the same fancammer who had filmed and uploaded Seo Na-eun's fancam last time.

Laura, who recognized him at once, focused her consciousness on that camera.

Smiling brightly, she threw a full-powered wink toward the camera lens.

––––––––

[Laura]

Vocal: A

Dance: B

Visual: A++

Potential: S

Body Condition: 95%

Mental Condition: 95%

––––––––

Laura's Vocal alone had grown to A and the rest were the same, but today, two plus corrections were attached to her Visual.

Originally, Kim So-yeong's Visual ability on the status window is the highest, but in fact, if you were to say who was 'in charge of visuals' in Newstarz, it was Laura.

Thanks to her mixed Swedish heritage of silver hair, blue eyes, and white skin, she possessed a truly goddess-like beauty.

Her only drawback was that due to her personality, she sometimes gave off a chilly or surly impression.

In this moment today, Laura overcame that drawback.

In a state with two plus corrections attached to her Visual, she fired a wink full of aegyo at the fancammer's camera.

“Ooh...!”

“Waaah...!”

Cries of admiration burst out from around the camera.

Weren't there a few people who genuinely fell in love?

Even the fancammer who was filming, his hands were trembling.

This video will definitely be a huge hit.

“And so everything held me back. But still, I──𝅘𝅥𝅮”

The more the song went on, the more the atmosphere heightened.

Even in the instrumental break, they showcased a perfect dance centered around the main dancer, Seo Na-eun, making it impossible to look away, and the main rapper Kim So-yeong's rap also roused the excitement.

Who would have imagined that Newstarz, a group of mediocre popularity, would arouse such a tremendous response?

“This is better than Choux-pop from earlier?”

“Yeah, isn't this side better in both singing and dancing?”

Even the audience members themselves began to compare them with Choux-pop, who had just performed.

However, there were not a few voices saying that Choux-pop was better than Newstarz.

“Ayy, that's not it. Choux-pop did better.”

“Doesn't it just look better because you didn't have high expectations?”

In truth, it wasn't an easy task to judge who did better between Newstarz and Choux-pop.

It's not like sports where a score comes out; you have no choice but to evaluate it based on your subjective impression.

However... from Choux-pop's perspective, the very fact that they were being compared with Newstarz, who were of a much lower status, was humiliating.

“What is this...”

Team Leader Jeong Do-woon, who was watching Newstarz's stage with Choux-pop, was in a state of being completely caught off guard.

Today, Jeong Do-woon couldn't see Newstarz's rehearsal because of another schedule. That's why he hadn't expected at all that Newstarz would do so well, and he couldn't help but receive a huge shock.

Now that things had turned out this way, the narrative of Choux-pop one-sidedly crushing Newstarz could no longer be established.

“Why are they so good?”

“I know, right.”

Hearing Team Leader Jeong Do-woon and Seong Hae-won's conversation, Joo Ga-hee's face scrunched up.

She kept remembering meeting Newstarz and Baek Hyeon-woo last night.

If it ends like this, she herself, who had spat out 'You losers do your best together,' will become a total joke.

Feeling her insides boiling, Joo Ga-hee glared at Newstarz on the stage.

Make a mistake.

Screw it up.

Joo Ga-hee poured out words of curse in her mind.

“The Gravity that won't let me go like that, but──.”

Right at that moment.

As if Joo Ga-hee's curse had worked, an accident broke out on stage.

From the hand of Kanade, who was changing positions to meet the climax of the song... the microphone slipped on her sweat and flew into the air.

“Ah…!”

We're fucked.

Everyone thought that.

Now the microphone would fall to the floor, and the sound would echo loudly.

Then the atmosphere would be shattered in an instant.

It's a huge mistake that would ruin the well-progressing stage in one go.

The microphone, spinning in the air as it fell to the floor.

Watching that, Joo Ga-hee smirked.

Team Leader Jeong Do-woon's eyes also sparkled. Because if Newstarz made a big mistake, the perfection of Choux-pop, who had shown a perfect performance, would stand out even more.

However, right at that moment.

“Hyaap...!”

Clatter!

Kanade threw her body.

Even while rolling once, she stretched out her hand with all her might.

And just before it hit the floor, she narrowly caught the microphone in her hand.

–––––––––

[Kanade]

Vocal: B++

Dance: B++

Visual: A++

Potential: S

Body Condition: 100%

Mental Condition: 100%

–––––––––

Even though she grumbled every day about being put through hell training.

Even though she hadn't shown any growth on the status window.

Today, Kanade was in the best condition.

And, the idol named Kanade is someone who can pull off more amazing things than anyone else if she just properly gets into the groove.

“……!”

In that moment, all the other members were moving.

Putting Kanade, who was kneeling on one knee at the very front, as the center, they scattered with two people to the left and right to create a formation.

Perfect teamwork born from an extreme sense of unity.

In the middle of all that, Kanade shouted the climax of 'Gravity' as if this had been the plan from the beginning.

“I'm going to climb high. Escaping from the force that pulls me down...!—𝅘𝅥𝅮”

A tremendous cheer soared up to the top of the night sky.