Chapter 257

Late at night, at the lounge on the first floor of the dormitory building for freshmen.

The kids from Class Zero gathered in front of a hologram.

While waiting for the live announcement of the winner of the death match challenge, the kids ate some snacks at lightning speed to get rid of their nerves.

In particular, Hani was devouring her chocolate praline coated with caramel at an astounding speed.

The scene changed from the Playlist contestants getting advice from vocal trainers.

The signal “LIVE” appeared at the top left corner of the screen, and MCs Choi Jina and Yeom Junyeol began to speak in the studio.

“Oh no, it’s starting already!”

“Wow…”

“Oh, it wasn’t a live broadcast since the start?”

“Those were prerecorded scenes! I guess the other contestants were watching it together in the studio too.”

A video clip of Choi Jina and Yeom Junyeol explaining the death match rules briefly appeared, and a short clip of the two contestants’ performances was shown.

Three days before the live broadcast, the number of views on their videos was hidden, and only the Playlist staff had access to it.

— At midnight, we will announce the result of the first deathmatch and video mission of Playlist.

At the center of the stage were Dokgo Miro and BJ Soybean standing next to each other.

The other contestants were sitting in terraced chairs in one corner.

Above Dokgo Miro and BJ Soybean, there was a hologram showing a countdown to midnight.

— Once the clock turns to zero, the number of views on each of the contestants’ videos will be frozen. Any views accumulated after midnight will not be counted. Let’s start the countdown…

— 10.

— 9.

— 8.

Choi Jina and Yeom Junyeol began the countdown.

Against the backdrop of the MCs’ voices, comments left by fans of BJ Soybean and Eungwang High students cheering on Dokgo Miro began to appear.

Finally, the countdown reached zero with a thrilling sound effect.

— Final counts are in. The results have now been delivered to this tablet.

Choi Jina spoke as she showed off the advertised tablet-type device that contained the result.

Yeom Junyeol, who saw the name of the winner on the tablet, looked shocked.

— The combined view count of the two videos is… Is this right? Yes, it’s over 5 million views!

Yeom Junyeol’s words rattled my classmates.

The combined views of the two videos were over 5.12 million.

“How many views did Miro’s video have before it was hidden?”

“I think it’s a little less than a million…”

“It was about 985,300.”

Hani remembers the exact number.

Kwon Lena and Mok Wooram looked down after hearing the number.

“The combined number of views is 5.12 million. That means the winner must have more than 2.56 million views. During the blind period, the number of views should have risen by at least 574,700.”

“Dokgo Miro’s video was on the rise, but a few days ago, the streamer’s fans put subway and internet banner ads at their own expense. I’m not sure how this one’s going to turn out.”

Maeng Hyodon tried to do some calculations with his fingers.

Unfortunately, he only has ten, so it’s impossible to calculate such big numbers like that.

In the meantime, Dokgo Miro and BJ Soybean were being interviewed with trembling voices.

‘They must be stalling. I’m sure they’re preparing some CG subtitles by now.’

On the stage, Choi Jina and Yeom Junyeol were seen exchanging glances with the staff and seemed to be waiting for the cue to announce the winner.

Since it was a live broadcast, the MCs can’t just reveal the results as they please.

A few more minutes passed in such tension.

“They’re going to announce it now!”

Above the two people, the hologram showed animated numbers going up over the two people on stage.

Choi Jina spoke very clearly as she gave a lot of strength to her voice.

— The player that survived Playlist’s first death match is…

Yeom Junyeol was the next one to speak.

–With a whopping 3,478,711 views!

3,478,711.

The number was pronounced clearly by Yeom Junyeol.

The sound of drum rolls resonated loudly, and the spotlight moved between the two contestants.

Finally, Choi Jina announced the winner.

— Dokgo Miro!

The spotlight focused on Dokgo Miro, and she was seen forcibly smiling.

After the trumpets rang once, the sound of her performance with Kwon Lena and Mok Wooram began to be played as background music.

The kids holding their breath finally cheered.

“Miro won!”

“Wow! Her views increased by more than twofold!”

“Eh? Twofold? How can that be double when 5.12 million is… 340? And… Wait how do you compute it?”

“It’s thanks to Lena-nim’s performance.”

A close-up shot of Dokgo Miro appeared on the screen.

She was covering her mouth and blinking slowly as if she couldn’t believe what just happened.

BJ Soybean approached Dokgo Miro and gave her a short hug and a tap on the shoulder.

The other contestants sitting down also flocked the stage to hug or shake hands with the two.

Every time she exchanged a word with the other contestants, Dokgo Miro’s eyes gradually filled with tears.

‘It looks like the contestants have a good relationship with each other.’

Contestants on audition programs usually have conflict with each other from the great pressure and stress, but it seems like Playlist was the exception.

There was a great sense of comradeship between them, perhaps it’s because they’re all players.

Even Saint of Naejang Mountain, who’s considered the strongest candidate to be Playlist’s final winner, maintained a good relationship with the others.

He had more hair now compared to his audition video.

Soon enough, Dokgo Miro’s face was zoomed in again.

— Congratulations, Miro. You are qualified for the next round!

— Congratulations! Please say something to your fans who diligently watched your video.

The MCs’ passed the microphone to Dokgo Miro after congratulating her.

Dokgo Miro accepted the mic, but she couldn’t speak right away.

Instead, she held on to the mic tightly and wiped her tears away with her other hand.

The strong Dokgo Miro, who doesn’t cry even when she received harsh comments from mentors and viewers during the broadcast, finally showed tears for the first time.

Perhaps it’s because this was the first time that Dokgo Miro’s performance was appreciated.

The cast and audiences cheered on Dokgo Miro to soothe her.

Hearing the cheers from everyone, Dokgo Miro composed herself and began to speak.

— Thank you very much to everyone who watched the video. Thank you for giving me one more chance, even though I’ve been lacking in many aspects.

Dokgo Miro thanked her parents, the other contestants, her mentors, and vocal trainers.

And lastly…

— And to my Year One Class Zero classmates who helped me film the mission song video… Thank you so much for helping me when I didn’t really expect anything…

Dokgo Miro looked straight at the camera and smiled.

It was a very brief moment, but she seemed to have gotten over her fear of cameras in that one second.

— …See you guys at school. I’ll buy you a meal!

Everyone in our class looked very happy with Dokgo Miro’s last comment.

More than being thanked and being promised a meal, everyone was ecstatic to hear Dokgo Miro say that she’d see us at school.

When Dokgo Miro finished her speech, BJ Soybean was given the chance to perform his final stage.

Eliminated contestants can choose what they will perform for their last stage, and BJ Soybean chose to sing his own song.

* * *

In a room at a family restaurant.

The kids in our class filled had their own champagne glasses filled with a non-caffeine sparkling drink.

“Congratulations to Dokgo Miro! Cheers to your continued success!”

“Cheers!”

The kids bumped glasses with each other.

Just as Dokgo Miro promised during the live broadcast, she took us out to dinner the day after.

We had to grab the opportunity because it was expected that Dokgo Miro’s schedule would be tight in the future, and we had practice for hunting otherworld attacks.

The midterm exam period is also coming up, as well as the sports exchange with the military academy.

Dokgo Miro was the center of our conversation.

“You said in the interview that you’d attend school, right? When do you plan on starting?”

“Once the filming for Playlist is over. I want to focus on the program first.”

“Even if she doesn’t make it to the finals, all the performers would be busy preparing for special stages and performances. Maybe you’ll get to attend school after the midterm exams.”

Dokgo Miro remained optimistic about both Playlist and attending school.

‘I think the success of the busking video helped her a little in overcoming her fear of cameras and coming to school.’

Behind the camera, Dokgo Miro had gained fans who were moved by her singing and continued to cheer her on.

It was us, her classmates, who helped prepare her stage, and various students from Eungwang High testified to her talent.

With the video performance’s success, Dokgo Miro’s phobia seemed to be fading little by little.

Although she still hasn’t fully overcome it yet, Dokgo Miro was able to smile naturally in front of the camera.

She even has full willingness to come to school.

“…By the way, whose idea was it to do busking?”

With Dokgo Miro’s question, the attention fell on me.

“It’s Euishin.”

“Vice pres.”

“This guy.”

“Euishin-ie!”

The other kids all spoke at the same time.

I was happy to see them all in sync, but I didn’t know how to react to them pointing at me like that.

“T-thanks…”

Hearing ‘thanks’ from the King made me feel even more awkward.

“Someone else could’ve suggested it too. No need to thank me.”

That’s what I replied, but Dokgo Miro just thanked me again.

Hwang Jiho laughed at the situation which made me feel mixed emotions.

“Hahahaha!”

After the main dish, cookies and cream macaron ice cream were served for dessert.

Hani was delighted to find out that the dessert has unlimited refills, and she ordered five more of it.

As if feeling generous, Hwang Jiho added a jelly bean topping to the dessert that Hani ordered.

Even though Hani wanted to get angry at Jiho, she ate the topping along with the macaron ice cream.

“…I thought it was one of the two. Is it that one?”

I heard Song Daesok mutter such words as we watched Hani and Hwang Jiho bicker.

* * *

Gwangil Elementary School.

Jeon Muyeong was doing the ridiculous task of infiltrating the elementary school.

‘I’m a senior aide to the congressman, and yet I’m here infiltrating an elementary school in our district!’

He had been caught up in all kinds of strange things, but it has been a long time since he felt this much ashamed.

‘Still, this is better than having Gukeon hyung go personally.’

The first case dealt with by Sung Gukeon.

From the group of teachers in that case, there was only one teacher left unscathed.

However, after investigating the said teacher, nothing odd happened to him except for a little SNS controversy.

Unsatisfied by the investigation, Sung Gukeon planned on looking into it himself.

Since it’s odd for a lawmaker to personally conduct an investigation on an elementary school student, Jeon Muyeong volunteered to do it instead.

‘It’s an ordinary classroom… but there’s one student who looks out of place. Is he the transfer student?’

In the teacher’s advisory class, Jeon Muyeong was hiding in a cabinet in one corner with his skill.

‘He’s the worst. He’s acting like this inside a classroom?’

He assigned a group activity for the class, but the kids are arguing about one child, saying that they don’t want the kid in their group.

Rather than stopping the kids, the teacher encouraged their behavior.

‘Don’t teachers usually mediate at times like this? Why is he referring to that poor transferee as a beggar?’

On the other hand, the gracious-eyed boy was just smiling, as if he doesn’t understand what the teacher was saying.

All of a sudden, the boy looked in Jeon Muyeong’s direction.

It was as if the boy was staring directly at him.

‘…Could it be? Is he a boy with player abilities? I don’t think a skill can easily overpower my hiding skill though…’

Although he was a bit reluctant at first, Jeon Muyeong activated his light skill, “Time Without Shadow.”

Jeon Muyeong completely disappeared soon.

“…!”

The boy suddenly ran toward his direction with a startled face.

The teacher and the other kids teased the boy for his unusual behavior, but the boy didn’t seem to care.

‘Can he really detect me? I would’ve been in trouble if I hadn’t used my light skill right away.’

While Jeon Muyeong breathed a sigh of relief, a golden light briefly flashed in the boy’s eyes.

The boy muttered something to himself.

“…This is the same skill that my benefactor used.”