"All right. I'll be rooting for you, participant Park Mun-dae."

"Thank you."

Chung-ryeo accepted the refusal neatly without saying anything more.

I wanted to proceed as I planned to draw more conversations and show desperate cuts, but I didn't see such a scenario to be possible.

'First of all, his name is too big.'

It was a big difference because he was last year's grand prize winner. Rather, there was a high possibility that only 'Park Moon-dae' would come out looking pathetic.

"Then, I will destroy this contract."

Chung-ryeo picked up the contract, held it in front of the camera, and tore it in two.

'He's performing for the camera.'

It was probably an act he had been told to do in advance.

"You worked hard to make a difficult decision. I wish you all the best in the future."

"Thank you. I hope that Chung-ryeo sunbaenim will also finish your promotions healthily."

We shook hands and bowed our heads in line with the atmosphere.

"Ah, are you aware of our activities?"

"Yes? Yes."

Shouldn't we end the shoot now? I'm not sure why, but the conversation continued.

Let's just be courteous.

"I really enjoyed listening to the newest album."

"Wow~ What's your favorite song?"

Is this guy doing this on purpose? Don't tell me he's doing this because I refused.

"Well, I especially liked 'Stargazing'."

I reservedly picked the song. To be honest I haven't had time to listen to it.

It was a song I saw in a fan post shared on social media while I was searching up 'Park Moondae'.

"Oh, that's the one I wrote."

Chung-ryeo happily pointed at himself.

'He's good at promoting himself too.'

He's already so popular that it couldn't get any better. He really is an experienced idol.

"Aha, you're saying that on purpose since I'm here."

I just laughed. It was strange to refute here, and it was strange not to refute, so there was nothing I could do.

Chung-ryeo smiled, and as if he had suddenly remembered something, he suddenly walked out the door.

'What's going on?'

Chung-ryeo came back with an envelope in his hand.

"It's nothing much, but red ginseng. I brought it for you to eat it and get stronger."

"Ah, thank you."

The brand logo written in gold on the red envelope was clearly visible, so this was a sponsored add for sure.

'Anyway, getting red ginseng was welcomed anyway.'

As soon as I accepted it, Chung-ryeo greeted for the last time.

"Then, fighting!"

"Yes, fighting."

The shoot ended with us smiling at each other. Immediately after, the staff came in to take care of Chung-ryeo.

Some of the staff adjusted the camera and touched the tablet PC, but it was clear that many of them came along with Chung-ryeo. They were probably VTIC's personal staff.

'They're putting a lot of effort.'

That's how cherished VTIC was in this country.

After confirming that the staff has removed the microphone attached to our clothes, Chung-ryeo quietly spoke.

"Moon-dae-ssi."

//TN: Having -ssi at the end is a way to address someone respectfully. Kinda like -san in Japanese.

"Yes."

Unlike before, he wasn't smiling.

It wasn't a firm expression, but a natural facial expression of someone who was talking.

"Even though I'm saying this myself, but LeTi is a good company. The payment is good too. If there's a situation after the program ends, you can contact me."

He meant to contact him if I was eliminated.

'Is he serious?'

Why is he recruiting trainees here, when he's not even an executive in his agency?

'Oh, does he have a share in company stocks?'

That would make sense.

Still, I'm not sure why he's saying this to Park Moon-dae, but... maybe they don't have a suitable main vocalist for their debut group.

I nodded without saying anything.

"Yes. Thank you."

"Don't mention it."

The conversation ended there. I naturally left the room and moved to the waiting room following the staff's guidance. Perhaps in order to prevent the spoilers of the test from leaking, it was an isolated room from the participants who had not yet taken the surprise psychological test.

"Hyung!"

As soon as I entered, Kim Rae-bin, who was sitting there first, talked to me.

"Did you get a casting offer?"

"Yeah, from LeTi."

"I got LeTi, too!"

As expected, more VTIC members came.

Kim Rae-bin was uncharacteristically excited and told the story of meeting a VTIC member. When I nodded and listened, Ryu Chung-woo came in the room with a disappointed look on his face.

"Oh, you guys finished first."

Just by looking at his expression, Ryu Chung-woo made it clear that he was mentally conflicted.

'Was it also VTIC?'

3/10 is a very generous probability.

Another participant's face appeared from the side.

"Hyungnim! Where did you get the casting call from?"

"It was... Wonder Hall."

It was T-Holic's agency. A large agency that has long been known for selecting succesful idols.

'That seems good, too.'

The person who asked the question responded with admiration. Ryu Chung-woo sat down with a dispirited smile.

'That's unexpected.'

It's a bit strange that he seems to want to go with the agency, even though it's almost certain the he will debut, but he must have his reasons.

Participants returned to the waiting room one after another. Soon, all the ten first people doing the test gathered.

'Everyone in the first group rejected.'

To be honest, I thought one or two of the lower ranks would want to leave, but this was unexpected. It's because the lineup of the agencies were much better than I thought.

Everyone form the second group returned to the waiting room. At this point, there were a number of people who were happy to have a strange sense of resonance.

"Th-they seemed like a good person."

Seon A-hyun, who returned later, muttered with a bright face. A solo artist seemed to have given kind words of encouragement to him.

"But seems like you still refused."

Seon A-hyun jumped at the sound my the joke and muttered with a surprised face.

"O-of course I have to do this until the end! You know, if I go there then... we can't debut together..."

It seems that Seon A-hyun was extremely pleased with the friendships he made for the first time.

'If the deal had been a little better, everyone else would have jumped on it.'

I looked at him a little pitifully, and just nodded.

"I understand."

"Y-yeah!"

Seon A-hyun cheerfully exclaimed. Kim Rae-bin was looking at Seon A-hyun from the side with a strange expression.

In that moment, the third group slowly began to return.

"LeTi, what a waste! This is such a pity!"

Big Se-jin, who was the first one to return, said as he sat down and smiled.

So this guy also got an offer from LeTi.

'So, Kim Rae-bin, Big Se-jin and I got the offer from LeTi?'

It may be a coincidence, but it was quite interesting to see the agency's pattern.

And what Big Sejin said was even funnier.

What do you mean it's a waste?

'He's saying something he doesn't even mean.'

It seemed like his goal was to debut as quickly as possible, but there was no way a reasonable guy like him would go to LeTi, since he wouldn't be able to debut quickly there.

However, after confirming that the microphone was off and the camera wasn't turned this way, Big Se-jin mumbled quietly.

"Aah~ Should I have just changed agencies? This a bit of a shame."

I guess he was more worried about this than I thought?

His current agency hasn't seemed very reliable in the past, so his words seemed to have come out without noticing.

In fact, this was a rare opporunity, since normally it's impossible to change to a better agency without completing current agency's contract period first.

Taking over trainees who were affiliated with other agencies to make their final debut in was nothing more but a giant broadcasting company's cruel use of power.

In other word, they were like gangsters.

Even if the agency would be reluctant, since a trainee was eliminated from the agency's debut group anyway, like recycling, they would send them to the show.

'It was to keep a good relationship with the brodcasting station.'

However, since this season of the show has been doing so well, there seemed to be some pressures to voluntarily drop out and remain in the agency. I remembered the words Big Se-jin had said during filming break.

It's not like they're tempting you with any benefits, so there's no way people would like that.

"I'm just kidding. I'm going to debut here~"

Big Se-jin laughed, but it was clear that he was really worried, even though he said he was joking.

'Surprisingly, a lot of the guys ranked at the top were shaken.'

I shrugged my shoulders. Isn't there anyone who wants to drop out to reduce the competition a bit? Unfortunately, that didn't happen. Only one person from the lower ranks dropped out.

"Choi Won-gil will leave from today and will respond to the casting call from agency 'Traveler'."

//TN: not sure if the spelling is 'traveler' or 'trebler' but 'traveler' sound better so...

I was amazed.

'He understood his situation well.'

It must have been because of the quick turnaround of votes from the last round, after seeing the public opinion on that episode.

Maybe because he was still young that he was unable to control his emotions as he wasn't smiling, but it seems like he knew how to use his brains.

"O-our agency?"

I heard Gold 1, who seemed flustered, mumble behind me.

'Oh, he was from Traveler.'

I heard he had difficulties turning down the offer of T-Holic's agency. Looks like he felt attached to his original agency.

'Seems he has the guts to keep going with the show.'

Anyway, that concludes the Casting Call event. I was a little bit sad that I couldn't achieve my original goal, but my part was still secured.

'They are not going to cut the footage with VTIC.'

At the very least, there's no way they would hire them and then just cut them out.

The production team took a few cuts of the trainees' reactions to Choi Won-gil's departure and immediately started preparing for the ranking announcement.

Because of this, the participants had to endure the long and boring waiting time by sitting at the seats from before the event started. However, everyone seemed busy talking with each other because of the impressive conversation topic.

"Woah, you mean that agency?"

"That's awesome."

"How was Chung-ryeo like in person?"

Even the level of tension decreased before the start of the ranking announcement ceremony.

"Phew~ the line up of the agencies wasn't a joke. There were a lot of those who felt conflicted."

Big Se-jin breathed out and listed the names of the agencies one by one. Then he looked around and whispered with a strange smile.

"Hey, you know what?"

"What?"

"That hyung with the same name as me was also very conflicted."

It seems he was referring to Lee Se-jin, the former child actor.

'Come to think of it, he was the last one to join after finishing the test.'

Lee Se-jin came back almost at the same time as the news of Choi Won-gil's departure.

I didn't really pay attention to it, since I didn't really care. Hmm.... To be honest, I still don't really care about it.

Since a while ago, Big Se-jin didn't really have any good feelings about Lee Se-jin, but he slowly started to show his true feelings to me since he had become more comfortable with 'Park Moon-dae'.

"He was originally in an agency for actors. Does he really want to switch to become an idol?"

"That could be possible."

I think he will be eliminated, but if he wants to continue being an idol, he should consider changing agencies.

Because of his age, it would be difficult to change agencies unless he debuts right away.

'It's up to him to figure it out.'

Big Se-jin shrugged his shoulder as he realized I wasn't very interested.

"Is that so?"

The free time was over.

The shooting for the next ranking announcement ceremony began in full-scale.

* * *

As the participants were preparing for the ranking announcement ceremony. Celebrities in the agencies who made a surprise appearance at the event had already left their seats for other schedules. It was the same for VTIC, whose schedules of they're activities started in minutes.

Two of the VTIC members were sitting in the van looking at their phones, and only spoke up when when ordering lunch.

"Hyung, how was it?"

"I just did my work."

Chung-ryeo calmly answered.

"Hyung, did you meet those three ones, or did you notice anyone? The kids I met seemed fine."

"I'm not sure."