Playlist, the sole audition program for players.
At midnight, the final vote to determine the final winner of the program will be announced.
It was finally time to determine who would be the winner of Playlist.
Three candidates.
Among them, the first to be announced was the contestant in the third place, and it’s no surprise the office worker who clearly showed the most sluggish performance among the three.
The office worker calmly expressed his feelings and gratitude to the people who supported him, and he kindly gave words of support to the remaining two.
“The last play of Playlist, now only two players remain on the stage!”
As the office worker stepped back from the stage, the only two who remained were Dokgo Miro and Yeo Raehun.
As if there’s a directive from the PD to stall, the winner wasn’t immediately announced.
The spotlight turned to the judges, and they looked even more nervous.
“We have a question for the judges who watched these two players progress from the very beginning. Who do you think will be the final winner?”
Choi Jina’s question resulted in a look of disapproval from the judges,
They laughed awkwardly as they passed the mic to each other, not wanting to speak first.
Meanwhile, the names of Dokgo Miro and Yeo Raehun burst out sporadically from the audience.
In the end, the president of the agency was the one to speak first, and he expressed his opinions as smoothly as a stream of water.
“Hm… First of all, let me tell you that I was worried about this live performance. We all watched the pre-recording together, and Miro and Raehun did so well. That’s why I was a bit worried, thinking how could they top that performance? But then when the live performance came, I realized I was worried for nothing.”
The other judges nodded in agreement.
The president of the agency took a moment to look at Dokgo Miro and Yeo Raehun before continuing.
“Both of them showed the best performance to the point where it’s almost impossible to determine who is better. It doesn’t matter who wins at all. However…”
As soon as the word ‘however’ left the president’s mouth, everyone turned completely silent.
Everyone in the studio was anticipating his next words.
“They can’t be judged solely by their performance on stage. Because of what happened beyond the stage, there are people who say ‘obvious win’ or ‘obvious lose’. In that context, I think today’s events will have a great influence on the results of the votes. With that, I predict that the Saint of Naejang Mountain will win.”
At the end of his words, cheers exploded in the studio for Yeo Raehun.
The president waved once to Yeo Raehun before passing over the mic to the judge next to him.
The next judge was a singer-songwriter who holds several records related to music.
“I agree with everything that the CEO just said. Anyone who stands in front of a camera can understand his opinion, but… there are also stars who survived big events without having their name buried and forgotten.’
Some of the judges nodded.
There have always been celebrities who were able to save their careers despite big accidents.
“Today, Dokgo Miro had to pre-record right after the otherworlds spawned in the building. Yeo Raehun was already leading by an overwhelmingly huge margin, and Dokgo Miro had to perform live right after him. There was a bit of trouble right before the performance too, right?”
The singer-songwriter, who is famous for his straightforwardness, glanced at the staff with sharp eyes.
Just before Dokgo Miro took the stage, there was an incident where a press office stormed into the studio, saying that they had to do exclusive coverage.
Cameras for the news station were turned on, and the studio was in a frenzy.
Dokgo Miro looked slightly stiff at the news station’s camera, but she remained calm even in the face of the unexpected situation.
“It’s not the first time that incidents happen on stage, but this is the first time. How does a different team have access to the studio that’s in the middle of a live broadcast? It’s a relief that Dokgo Miro wasn’t shaken, otherwise, there would’ve been major trouble.”
The news agency had the guts to say that they had permission to cover the events, but it turns out no one granted them permission at all.
The document that they presented which allegedly gives them permission to cover the story was fake, courtesy of the staff members who complained that there were players in the building who didn’t participate in dealing with the otherworlds.
Dokgo Miro was set up in front of the camera to be turned into a news story, not a camera that would capture her performance.
Nevertheless, she showed her best.
Because of that stage, the gap was more or less minimized.
The number of real-time votes was concealed thirty minutes before the voting was closed and at that point, it was once again difficult to determine for sure who would be the winner.
“In that situation, Dokgo Miro performed beautifully and was able to greatly reduce the gap. By just her performance on stage, Dokgo Miro made that happen.”
With that, the students of Eungwang High who came to support Dokgo Miro exclaimed.
“That’s right!”
“Win, Dokgo Miro!”
“Let’s debut, Dokgo Miro!”
Dokgo Miro’s school sunbaes roared like lions.
“I was greatly impressed by Dokgo Miro’s performance. My vote goes to Dokgo Miro.”
Dokgo Miro smiled brightly and bowed.
Perhaps due to nervousness, Dokgo Miro’s fingertips were trembling, but her smile of gratitude to everyone who supported her was unwavering
As a result of the general review of the five judges, the majority of them expected Yeo Raehun to win.
3-2.
However, there was still a good chance for Dokgo Miro would win since even the judges who chose Yeo Raehun as their winner completely agreed with the opinions of the judges who chose the other.
“In my device, only one name is written.”
After the judges’ general evaluation, the time to announce the winner has finally come.
As always, Choi Jina and Yeom Junyeol look directly at the camera while holding the sponsored tablet-type device in their hands.
“The final winner for the final performance of Playlist will be announced now!’
Fwak!
At Yeom Junyeol’s cue, all the lights on the stage were turned off except for the spotlights shining on the two remaining candidates.
Dokgo Miro and Yeo Raehun stood facing the camera and holding each other’s hands.
The screen showed a close-up shot of the two contestants’ hands.
“The final player of Playlist is…!’
The drum roll began and reached its climax.
Choi Jina finally opened her mouth to say the winner’s name.
“…Yeo Raehun! Congratulations!”
Pop! Pop!
Colorful confetti burst from all over the stage and the light focused on Yeo Raehun the moment his name was announced.
The song that Yeo Raehun sang during the live broadcast began to play in the background.
It was a song about his life that talked about the moment his energy wave awakened and his dream of becoming a rapper was slowly crushed, but being on Playlist, his dream was finally reignited.
The song went very well with his winning moment.
“…Congratulations, Raehun oppa!”
Yeo Raehun still looked absent-minded, as if the fact that he just won didn’t sink in right away.
He was finally pulled back to reality when Dokgo Miro congratulated him.
Yeo Raehun, who looked as if he didn’t know whether to laugh or cry, smiled at Dokgo Miro.
“Thank you.”
The two greeted and hugged each other before the bouquet and plaque were delivered on stage by the hosts.
Dokgo Miro was doing her best to hold back her tears when she looked at the audience and saw the Eungwang High students clapping for her.
Her gaze fell on Hani for a split second before turning somewhere else.
* * *
The last broadcast of Playlist was over.
The final winner was my playable character, Yeo Raehun.
‘It’s a shame that factors outside the competition had a lot of influence, but they both performed well.’
The Dragon Clan and the Red Lion Team, who were only watching the show for Yeom Junyeol, also acknowledge the two’s performance.
“So the Saint of Naejang Mountain won. Not bad.”
“That child is Junyeol’s hoobae, right? Indeed, Junyeol’s hoobae is talented just like him.”
Kim Shinrok momentarily stopped eating his dried persimmons as he stared blankly at the screen.
Yong Jegun was looking at him while smiling.
Kim Shinrok belatedly realized it, and he quickly went back to a serious face.
“A Eungwang High student is on stage so it’s only natural for you to focus on watching. Don’t be too embarrassed.”
“Who what who was embarrassed about what when?”
“Shinrok-ie was embarrassed that he got caught watching TV so seriously.”
“I wasn’t!”
Yong Jegun teasing Kim Shinrok seems to be something that would never disappear in this world.
Cheongryong looked pleased with the thousand-year-old Dragon and Tiger fighting childishly.
“The relationship between you two is ever so good.”
Is it though?
Well, looking at Yong Jegun’s playful teasing and Kim Shinrok playing along does make the two look very close.
Anyway, I was the one who’s benefiting from the two’s childish argument.
‘It’s good that Kim Shinrok isn’t talking about unnecessary things. He’s not even suggesting going back to Eungwang High.’
Yong Jegun told me to leave this guest up to him, and he’s really doing a great job.
Yeom Bangyeol left to receive a report from the Red Lion team members who were dispatched to the station, so it was Cheongryong who took the lead, saying that he would guide me somewhere.
‘Wouldn’t it be strange for the head of the Dragon Clan to personally attend to a high school student?’
That’s what I thought, but I was soon interrupted.
Cheongryong began asking me about Yeom Junyeol’s school life.
The other dragons also wanted to hear details about Yeom Junyeol’s school life — how he behaves, who he talks with, what he played, and who he hangs out with — but Cheongryong monopolized the story.
Without any trouble, I safely arrived at the place.
“Take a rest for today. We’ll talk more tomorrow.”
When I thanked Cheongryong and sat in the room, I suddenly felt a surge of fatigue.
I used Kwak Gyungu’s light skill to treat myself, and the Dragon King’s Shamans already did something to heal me, but my mental fatigue seemed to be untreated.
When I lay in bed and got ready to sleep, the events today all came to me.
As our class’ vice president, I was reminded of Dokgo Miro.
‘I wish Dokgo Miro would have more opportunities to debut…’
If there’s something, anything, I could do to help, wouldn’t it be much better?
While thinking about what I could do for Dokgo Miro…
Knock, knock.
I heard someone knocking.
‘Did Cheongryong come back? Or maybe it’s Yong Jegun?’
I could think of a few people who would possibly knock on my door, but I heard a voice from the outside that confirmed who it was.
“Euishin-ah, are you awake?”
My student, Yeom Junyeol.
