Chapter 266: Rule Changes (1)
MC Ryan Leary, who had a colorful cast with lots of signatures on his foot, rolled onto the center of the stage on a knee scooter.
Behind him was a much smaller 3-tiered pyramid than before, with 7 seats at the top row, 11 seats in the middle row, and 12 seats in the bottom row, level with the stage.
The seating wasn’t the only thing that was minimized as compared to before; there were fewer cameras recording than usual.
"Hello contestants! Welcome back to our ranking ceremony. It’s been pretty chaotic, hasn’t it?" Ryan Leary’s bright voice rang out in the auditorium.
- yessss
- it’s been a mess
At the sounds of agreement coming from the contestants, Ryan Leary nodded knowingly.
"Well, here’s to hoping things return to normal from now on. Today is the final ranking ceremony that I’ll be doing with you all until you guys come back from Korea, and we’re switching things up a little. Although I’d like to say a lot since I missed you all so much, I’ll try to keep it brief, as many of you are traveling to Korea. I want to free you as quickly as I can so you can spend time with your family and, more importantly, pack your suitcases. If you’re anything like I am, your laundry basket is full of dirty clothes, you don’t even know where your suitcase is, and you probably have to do some last-minute shopping, amirite? So, shall we get started?"
- haha how did you know
- Let’s do it
"Great! Then let’s get the announcements out of the way because we have quite a lot of them. Firstly, our ranking ceremony today will be a tad different than usual. Rather than tell you your ranks, I will call up the contestants who are safe in random order and have you all sit down. If you’re not called, then unfortunately, you have been eliminated, and your journey ends here. You will not be continuing on with the program."
The MC looked around at the suddenly quiet contestants with a solemn expression before continuing.
"Additionally, your previous ranks are now worthless, and the previous votes are null and void. Meaning after this ceremony, you’re all simultaneously in first place and in last place."
- huh?
- What does that mean?
- How are people going to debut if we all have the same rank?
Murmurs of confusion filled the auditorium, and the MC waved reassuringly.
"You all sound quite worried, but this is a good thing. From now on, your rank will be determined by the judges’ opinion accounting for half the points, and public voting counting for the other half. It means that rather than depending solely on your popularity and the public’s votes to achieve a high rank, the trainers who also act as judges and see all the hard work you do can give you a high score, which may place you at a higher rank and help you debut. And with the reset of votes across all contestants, that means that if you were trailing before, you now have the chance to soar to greater heights and even get to debut rankings because everyone is starting at the same level. Does this make sense?"
It didn’t.
Despite some of the contestants looking pleased at this announcement, Ari wanted to call BS immediately.
"Does anyone have any questions?"
Ari had several.
For one, what prompted the sudden change from strictly audience voting to suddenly including the judge rankings now, when they could have just included them in the beginning?
It didn’t make any sense unless they were trying to prevent a contestant from being eliminated by audience votes, and he guessed that it was William they were trying to protect.
As several hands shot up, the MC called on a person who rarely spoke.
"Yes, Levi? Go ahead."
"Why the sudden change in voting methods? And why aren’t our current rankings being announced? You clearly have them. Share." Levi asked in his characteristically sharp tone.
Good job!
Hearing the question, Ari wanted to shoot Levi a double thumbs-up and start clapping.
Put them on the hot seat and make them answer!
Because no matter how he thought about it, the sudden change just sounded sketchy!
Before he could stop himself, Ari’s eyes turned to look at William, who was sitting comfortably on his chair, with a large smirk on his face like he owned the place.
"Unfortunately, I don’t have that information. It’s something you would have to ask the production team."
How convenient.
As if thinking the same thing, Levi continued pressing the MC as he sat forward in his seat.
"Then, can you tell us the number of votes each person currently has?"
Yes! Yes! Nice follow-up!
I am also curious too!
The MC seemed to glance toward the back of the auditorium before shaking his head sadly.
"Ah, I’m sorry. You’ll have to ask the Production team for that information as well. I’m sure they would be willing to tell you in a private setting."
"They don’t have it here? They can’t pull it up?"
"No, unfortunately not."
"How suspicious," Levi said dryly as he gave Ari a look before leaning back in his chair.
"Ahaha, I’m sorry that you see it that way. Any other questions? No. Alright, the second announcement I have is that once you arrive in Korea and settle in, there will be a reassessment of your skills across all categories. This is to figure out how you’ve all improved, but also to figure out which areas you need to focus on to be part of the group. I hope you all look forward to it. Now that the boring stuff is out of the way, let’s get started. When I call your name, please come take a seat on the stage in any position you like. First up is William. Congratulations on being safe. Everyone, please give him a round of applause."
As William walked up to the stage to the sound of a very polite round of applause, he went to the MC and gestured for his microphone, and after a moment of confusion, received it.
The blonde boy took a deep breath, adjusted the cuff of his jacket, wiped a tear from his face, and started speaking in a softer tone than usual.
"I just wanted to say a few words to my fellow contestants. I know that I may not have been the easiest person to get along with, but I’ve been reflecting on myself and how I can do better. I want to assure you all of my willingness to learn from each of you, to grow as a person, and to utilize those skills to become a better person and a teammate you all can count on as we move on to the next steps in our journey on this show. Benjamin, I know we’ve had our differences, but let’s get closer once again. Levi, we’ve been childhood friends since day 1, and even though you originally came here to support me, I’m happy to see that you chose to stay instead of leaving like you were supposed to. Rex, Carlos, you’ve helped me so much in the past, and I want to continue to build our relationship. And Ariel." William seemed to take a deep breath while glancing at Ari with gentle eyes.
Ari felt goosebumps rise all over his body, and a chill ran down his spine as his body physically revolted against the strange stare.
"Despite our past differences, I would like to become close to you. I see many commonalities between us, and I feel we can learn and pass things to or from each other. What do you say?"
I want to tell you to get lost, dive off a cliff into a rocket, and get shot out into space.
Since he couldn’t say that, especially as people stared at him, Ari blinked before replying neutrally.
"I believe in reciprocity."
"So you’re saying you don’t want to let bygones be bygones? To start anew?"
Would you let a bygone be a bygone when the bygone was somebody murdering you and throwing your body in a dumpster for some strange, mystical, alien tech?
[I’m not alien tech.]
Sure you’re not.
And supposedly, you can’t read minds either, yet here we are.
[.....]
"Ariel? What do you say?"
Cough cough cough
"Are you ignoring my words, Ariel?"
"I- cough cough"
"Really? Fake coughs."
As William continued pressing him in an increasingly frustrated tone, Ari began forcing himself as hard as he could.
"No- cough cough cough cough."
"He’s not faking; he’s been really sick. Take a deep breath your seaness."
As he felt Jamie patting his back like a sledgehammer, he continued coughing until he heard the MC’s voice.
"Oh dear, it seems that contestant Ariel is still quite sick. Regardless, I’m sure he understands that you mean well, William. The two of you can continue this conversation later, so please have a seat. The second contestant that is safe contestant is contestant Benjamin. Since we’ve set the precedent, please say a few quick words and go have a seat."
Ahem, ahem.
Ari cleared his throat and rubbed it surreptitiously as he glanced at the stage with watery eyes.
He had accidentally given himself a headache by forcing the cough.
Benjamin quickly got to his feet before rapidly hopping onto the stage and taking the microphone from the MC.
"Big ups to my fans for continuing to vote for me. I hope that I can continue to do well and not disappoint you." Smiling a wide smile that showed off his dimple, he handed the microphone back to the MC and went to sit on the complete opposite side of William at the very top of the pyramid, leaving a hefty gap between them.
"Thank you, Benjamin. The next safe contestant is Daniel K. Please come up."
....
The MC continued calling contestants one by one, and even though the order was supposedly random, it more or less followed the previous ranking order, with the exception of Ari.
"The twenty-sixth contestant that is safe is Mathew. Please come up."
Name after name was called, and as Ari watched both his friends and team members take their seats, his heart began pounding, even though he kept his face as calm as he could.
Had his rank really dropped that low?
He knew that, compared to his previous performances, his Team TV Off performance wasn’t good, as his rapping skills were inferior to his vocal abilities.
And with his inflammatory lyrics added into the mix, it was sure to turn some people away from him.
Ari knew that his rank would drop.
It was inevitable.
After all, people like their contestants PC, and as he had seen online, he was a cocky, polarizing person who needed to learn to keep his mouth shut.
But to the level that he wasn’t called, even after the 26th person went on stage, was a bit disheartening.
Perhaps it was a good thing that the votes were reset.
If he could make it past this point, the climb back up to debut rank wouldn’t be as bad, especially if the gap between votes was large.
If.
But realistically...
If he didn’t make it, he would what...?
Go back to his room at the Choi family church?
Graduate from high school?
Then what?
His friendship with Jamie would probably die slowly because the schedule that the other boy had once made for the group would keep him busy practicing, creating music, or performing.
Even his friendship with other boys might drift away.
As for pursuing music, becoming the greatest superstar idol, and making William pay for what he did to him, was there even a path for that outside of this show?
How would he go about doing that?
Would he be able to continue safely now that William was aware of him?
Numerous thoughts spun around Ari’s head.
As the MC continued calling names out, Ari locked eyes with Jamie, who looked simultaneously shocked and like he was about to cry.
The blonde boy’s hands were clasped together, and the leg that was always bouncing when he was nervous was tapping against the ground like a jackhammer.
"The twenty-seventh contestant that is safe is Minho."
"The twenty-eighth contestant that is safe is Minjun."
"The twenty-ninth contestant that is safe is..."
Giving Jamie a cheeky smile, Ari mouthed ’smile’ before staring at the MC.
Two spots remaining.