CHAPTER 321: BOYCOTT POP STAR ACADEMY (7)

Right before she was about to go on stage for MC-ing the ranking and elimination ceremony, Areum from Red Lace reviewed her notecards with a pounding heart.

As a long-time idol, she was used to scandals in the industry, but this was the first time she had witnessed one this big from up close and the fallout that could come from it.

To be honest, she had never been involved in such a messy situation and regretted accepting the MC job.

All she wanted to do was support a survival show and possibly serve as a mentor to upcoming juniors, but it was a bit too late for regrets.

Hoping with all her heart that no additional incident would occur and that everything would go smoothly, Areum walked onto the stage, which was decorated in a pyramid style, with a throne-like seat at the very top.

Looking down at the audience, filled with only 30 contestants, her eyes automatically found the face of a handsome red-haired boy with vivid green eyes at the center of the current scandal.

Meeting her eyes, he gave her a genuinely happy smile, and for a second, Areum found herself charmed by his beauty, causing her to miss several prompts coming from her in-ears.

"Ahem, apologies. Hello and welcome back, contestants. I’m Areum from Red Lace, and I’ll be the MC for the day. How is everyone doing?"

- good

- nervous

- Please let me not be eliminated

As the contestants gave mixed responses, Areum tried to smile in a comforting way.

"Well, it’s lovely seeing you all once again after those amazing performances. You all look quite dashing in your uniforms. Today, we’ll be having our ranking ceremony, and unfortunately, it means that for 10 of you, your journey will be ending today."

Pausing for several seconds to let her words sink in, Areum smiled as she continued.

"But before we get to that, let’s celebrate some wins. Are you all curious about your evaluation results? This was one of the weighted factors that contributed to your final ranks today and I can assure you that is pretty surprising."

Seeing that the contestants nodded, Areum nervously pointed to the screen that lit up behind her.

Hoping that nothing crazy would appear like the last time, she let out an imperceptible sigh as a 3-column chart appeared with ’Vocals, Rap, and Dance’ written at the top.

"Shall we count down together for the big reveal? 5. 4. 3. 2. 1."

At the count of 1, those who were between 21st and 30th place saw their names and let out a despondent sigh.

Since Ari wasn’t expecting his name on there, he quickly glanced over it while staring expectantly for the screen to change.

For some reason, even though the surprise mission time was up, NOVA had refused to tell him if he successfully ranked within the top three categories so that he could gain the stat point reward.

"Congratulations to these contestants, now for those who were ranked by our judges between 8th place and 20th place."

After several seconds, the list updated again, showing those ranked between 10 and 20.

On this list, Ari recognized quite a few names, including Vishal across all three categories and Mathew in rap.

Thankfully, his name still wasn’t on there, though, so he continued looking at Areum expectantly, his eyes urging her to hurry up and reveal the next batch.

Thankfully, the screen changed just as Areum began speaking.

"Congratulations to these contestants, now let’s take a look at our top 7."

Not bothering to look at the bottom of the list, Ari started at the top and worked his way down.

As he read it, he began to smile.

In 1st place: Vocals: Ariel/Jamie | Rap: Ariel | Dance: Mathew

He and Jamie had tied in vocals over Carlos and, surprisingly, he had come first in rapping over Benjamin.

In 2nd place: Vocals: - | Rap: Benjamin | Dance: Daniel

In 3rd place: Vocals: Carlos | Rap: Levi | Dance: Ariel

And he had come third in dance right after Daniel and Mathew.

1st, 1st, 3rd.

Not too shabby.

The task was successfully completed.

[Ding!]

[Task 2 of Surprise Mission: Enough is Enough has been completed.]

[+4 free stat points.]

"Congratulations, Captain! Tied on vocals!"

"You too, Cowboy."

Ignoring the screen that filled his vision, he and Jamie high-fived each other repeatedly in excitement while Areum finished calling out the names of the people who had ranked in the top 7.

Once she was done, her previously bright face became sad once more as she had to begin the elimination portion of the day.

"It’s with a heavy heart that I begin the elimination ceremony. For full clarity on how the ranks were decided, the ranking this time takes your combined evaluation rank from the judges, your group ranking in the performance, and finally, the votes you received from the public to calculate your position. Without further ado, let’s begin. The contestant coming in 19th place is...Leo. Please come up on stage and give a brief speech."

At Areum’s announcement, Leo patted his chest in relief before almost sprinting toward the front.

"The contestant ranked in 18th place is Minjun."

"The contestant ranked 17th is Minho...."

"In 14th place, contestant Vishal. Congratulations. Please come up."

Ari watched as the Indian boy walked up with a determined expression and took the offered microphone from Areum.

"It’s not often that someone who looks like me gets to this point in a program like this, so I’d like to say thank you to those who voted for me, to the judges who have noticed my hard work, and to the team I worked with during this last performance. I plan to keep working hard to improve my skills and show you my scandal-free best self and make you all proud. Thank you."

Vishal handed the microphone back to Areum before going to take a seat, while Ariel blinked in surprise.

Hmmm?

That was a bit...

[Oh? What’s this?]

[I knew you weren’t on good terms but...]

[Is he throwing shots at you?]

[It seems that your friendship has broken down?]

Has it?

Guess he’s pretty upset, but there’s nothing I can do now.

Shrugging to himself, Ari continued to watch Areum call people onto the stage while applauding as each person gave their little speech.

Mathew had risen to 8th.

Justin had risen to 7th.

Levi was 6th.

With each name called, Ari moved further and further up his seat.

At the rate that it was going, since he had done well in the group and individual evaluations and based on his discussion with Chloé, Ari figured that he was going to be somewhere within the top 5.

As long as he was safe, he was completely fine with any rank.

What was more important to him was whether or not William would still be here after everything that was going on.

Please, please, please.

If there’s justice and good in the world, let him be eliminated.

Crossing his fingers, Ari watched with a bit of nervousness as Areum continued calling out names and contestants gave their speeches.

Daniel had fallen to 5th.

Jamie was 4th.

Carlos was 3rd.

Benjamin was 2nd.

And in first place-

"This contestant tied for first in vocals, first in rap, and third in dance, then led his team to second place at the performance, and received the most votes in the history of the show so far. Contestant Ariel, you’re ranked first. Congratulations. Please come up to the stage and say a few words."

- Woooooo!!!!!

Hearing Areum’s announcement and Jamie cheering on stage while clapping loudly, Ari smiled widely.

While he was happy at being first, he was even happier at the thought that his dream would really come true.

That William would be eliminated.

Good flipping riddance.

Walking onto the stage with a happy smile, he took the microphone and gave a longer-than-usual speech.

"Thank you to my teammates for working hard on our last performance. Getting second place wouldn’t have been possible without everyone doing their part. Thank you to the judges for the good evaluations. Thank you to everyone who voted for me and supported me. I really appreciate you all. But most importantly, thank you to the Angels, who have supported me from day 1 and continued to support me throughout every problem or scandal that’s cropped up. Truly, you are like my guardian angels, and I wouldn’t still be here without all of you. I want to continue to do well and make you feel proud to support me. And...a special thank you to ChoiFish under the C for their support in running my community. They think you’re a big boss. Once again, without the amazing fans and their support, I really wouldn’t be here."

Bowing his head deeply toward the camera, Ari held the position for several seconds before he handed the microphone back to Areum and went and sat at the top of the pyramid, in the rank one position.

As he passed by Mathew, Levi, Carlos, Jamie, and Benjamin, he high-fived their outstretched hands so hard that it left his palms stinging.

Seeing that Ari was seated, Areum sighed as she looked out at the remaining contestants who were staring at her despondently.

9 of them were sitting together, holding hands with teary eyes, while in the center row, a handsome blonde boy with perfectly coiffed hair sat alone.

The expression in his blue eyes was cold, and as she stared at him, she was reminded of the cruel way he acted during the field day.

"The contestant coming in 20th place is..."