June knew right then and there that his visions were right. He was a bit hesitant on believing Jenny's words because her initial approach didn't leave a good impression. However, June could now confirm that her words had some truth in them.
Haruki was definitely involved in that rooftop incident. It was still unclear how he partook in it, but it must also be the reason why Haruki hates him. Before he could pry further, a crew member went backstage and signalled for the participants to come up the stage.
The tension was cut short as June made his way back to where EVE was standing. The other members pestered him about what he said to Haruki, but June ignored them. "Let's go," he said, leading the team to go to the stage. The audience screamed as soon as the groups made their way to the stage.
It was the loudest screams of the night since the different fandoms were trying to out scream each other. Not Robby's fans, though. They didn't even come. "Ten minutes passed by so quickly, didn't it, Haemin?" Wonbin asked, the two hosts converging in the middle. "I agree," Haemin chimed. "Or maybe we're just in denial that the show is finally coming to an end." Wonbin placed his hand over his heart and sighed. "You got me on that one." "Well, it seems like the participants can't wait for it to end, though," Haemin joked.
However, none of the participants even chuckled. They were all too nervous to even consider it as a joke. Haemin chuckled awkwardly before facing the front. "Then, lets not prolong this agony any longer.
Let's go ahead and check the current rankings," he seriously said. The LED screen lit up behind them with the current rankings of the participants. The crowd murmured as when they saw CHAOS current score. 18, 978, 456 - Look at that.
They're social distancing. - As expected, CHAOS had already won. - I genuinely feel bad for the other teams. They haven't even reached the ten million mark yet some of them are hoping to win. - Not Robby, though. He hasn't even reached five million. - Social distancing where?
EVE is literally trailing behind them with only a two million gap Indeed, EVE was the closest in terms of scoring with CHAOS. However, it couldn't really be denied that the two million gap was still pretty large—especially with CHAOS' large fandom. Nonetheless, June clenched his fists together and waited for the new votes to come in.
Wonbin and Haemin received the envelope that contained the final ranking of the participants. They opened it and looked at it at the same time. Their expressions couldn't be painted, so it was hard to predict the outcome of the last mission. "Before we announce the last official rankings, let us first thank you all for your dedication to watching this show," Wonbin said. "We have garnered yet again the largest amount of votes for this mission, exceeding fifty million votes in total!" The crowd gasped when they heard the number of votes. - Dang, people really got nothing to do with their money anymore. - How much is that?
You could buy two houses with the prize of those votes. - Is it bad that I contributed 500,000 of those votes? - What the heck? Are you a son of a billionaire or something? - You could say so. - Who did you vote for then? - EVE, of course. "Now, let's start with the last place!" Wonbin exclaimed. The lights turned dim and the spotlight focused on the two hosts.
The participants became even more serious as the music intensified further. June sighed in frustration since he knew it was going to be another long show. He had flashback during Rising Stars when the hosts would take too long to announce the rankings. "He gave his all to the show; however, he had unfortunate results," Haemin started off. "In seventh place, with more than four million votes, we have—Robby!" Curt claps were heard in the room.
Everybody already expected it. As much as CHAOS was the obvious winner, Robby was also the obvious loser. - We already knew that. - Move to the next rank please. - Yeah yeah, that's expected. - Actually, the next rank is pretty expected too. "In sixth place, we have MORPH3D!" Indeed the last two places were quite predictable based on the number of votes throughout the show. "The fifth and fourth place only has a 200,000 vote difference, so we'll be announcing them together," Haemin said. "In fifth place is BOYMYSTIC, and following after them is SPADES!" Disappointed sighs were heard in the studio, but was quickly filled with proud claps. SPADES and BOYMYSTIC bowed in front of the audience, knowing how hard their fans worked hard for them.
Nico, the prideful member, teared up as their fans showed them their colorful banners. Jordan chuckled and gave Nico a hug despite feeling emotional. Deep inside Jordan's mind, he knew that their group was nearing their end. "Now, for the awaited third place—the bronze medalist," Wonbin started off.
June glanced at OCTA before looking down at the ground. As much as he wanted to stay humble, he was almost a hundred percent sure they were going to make it to the final two. The eleven million votes they garnered during the last mission set them aside from OCTA with over five million votes. "OCTA is our bronze medalist!" Haemin announced, causing June to nod.
If EVE didn't make it into the final two ranks based on his predictions, then he was ready to shave his head for being so confident. However, now that it was confirmed they were in the final two, he felt his heart beating even faster inside his chest. It wasn't only him but the rest of the members of EVE, too.
Even Jia, who was sure she was currently experiencing a heart arrhythmia, felt like she was going to pass out at any second. CHAOS, however, remained composed, most of the members thinking they had it in the bag. It definitely wasn't unreasonable.
They've been on top for the entire duration of the show, and they were most likely going to stay on top until the very end. However, June didn't want to lose any hope. "It's close," Wonbin sighed. "Too close," Haemin exclaimed . "Please turn to the screen," he said, directing everyone's gazes to the large LED screen behind them. The numbers beside CHAOS and EVE started going haywire, and the onlookers held their breaths in anticipation of the awaited reveal.
Then, it finally happened. The numbers on the screen froze, revealing the final kings of the show. Wonbin and Haemin were right.
It was close. Too close.
