Tap.

I took the mic Jang Junseok handed me.

And the cold metal filling my right hand spread from my palm through my whole body.

'Ah··· this feeling.'

Sitting there quietly up to now and listening to VYNNIA, LYNX, and Seo Ryujin say the same obvious lines in front of me, it felt like my irritation had been piling up without me realizing it.

The moment I grabbed the mic, that was when the energy finally started circulating through my body.

I had no choice but to spring up from my seat.

"I’ll be the one to tell you how I feel about joining Three Kingdom today."

Starting sweet, normal, and safe with a bland greeting was the basic move.

After I finished the greeting and turned my head to look around, VYNNIA, LYNX, and our members were all staring at me.

Not just them—Jang Junseok, the main MC, the filming crew, and even all the audience members sitting in the stands were staring at me too.

Having everyone watch you to see what you’re going to say was more nerve-racking than I expected, but I was someone who had already gone through this kind of experience dozens—no, hundreds of times in my previous life.

"First, I’d like to offer my deepest condolences to VYNNIA and LYNX, who’ll be facing us."

"!"

At what I said, I could practically see an exclamation point pop up over every one of their heads.

"Well, if we’re talking debut timing, all three groups are probably around the same, but when it comes to this competition, our experience is different."

"Uh··· what kind of experience is different?"

Even veteran actor Jang Junseok, who’d been hosting so smoothly up until now, looked flustered enough to stammer a little as he asked what was different.

"Our Iam members are survivors who made it through a survival program with 100 participants. Especially our oldest, Lee Gahyeon—she’s the embodiment of cold-bloodedness. She won’t even give up pork cutlet to a younger member."

"Hey!"

At my words, Lee Gahyeon’s face went red and she looked like she wanted to say something to me, but then she must’ve realized we were filming, because she only moved her lips silently.

Pfft!

At the same time, laughter burst out from the audience.

"LYNX and VYNNIA are pretty flowers raised in a gentle greenhouse, but our Iam grew up rough. For example, Ryu Ayeon once planned a dorm escape during Agbaek training camp life because she was hungry!"

Ryu Ayeon glared at me with a look that clearly said, 'That was you.'

"Uh··· wasn’t that led by Ms. Lee Sion?"

Even Jang Junseok, who’d been Agbaek’s main MC, asked me like he was dumbfounded, but it was fine.

"That’s exactly how scary broadcast editing is. The real culprit was Ryu Ayeon."

"Is that so? Now that’s a very interesting story!"

"Right?"

Jang Junseok immediately played along and pinned it on Ryu Ayeon. I’d felt it before, but this guy was good.

"Anyway, with a difference in experience like that, I think it might be a little burdensome for LYNX and VYNNIA to face us."

"Iam has just shown us their bold ambition, worthy of a confident rookie!"

"No, no! Wait! That was Lee Sion, not our opinion—"

"Then let’s interview the two groups who just received that declaration of war. First, VYNNIA—how did you feel hearing Iam’s interview just now?" 𝘧𝓇ℯ𝑒𝓌𝑒𝑏𝓃𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭.𝒸ℴ𝓂

Seo Ryujin tried desperately to shove it off as my personal opinion alone, but Jang Junseok ignored her easily and moved toward VYNNIA.

'Oh?'

Sure enough, VYNNIA’s leader, Kaella, had a completely different expression from the one she’d had earlier when she was smiling and tossing out bland lines.

"···That was a really fun story, but honestly, if we’re talking experience, I don’t think we fall behind those two teams—no, I think we’re ahead."

"Is that so?"

"Rather, VYNNIA practiced together tightly from our trainee days, and since we’ve been connected like that, I think we can show an even more unified stage."

"That goes for us in LYNX too! Me and the LYNX members have all been tightly banded together practicing for debut up to now, so we can show an amazing stage!"

The moment Kaella finished speaking, Esther from LYNX cut in and answered even though Jang Junseok hadn’t asked.

'This is it.'

Up until now they’d been acting way too well-behaved.

Honestly, when the three of us are clashing, who wants to lose, and who doesn’t want to win?

I wanted to beat both VYNNIA and LYNX—who I call our rivals—and stand tall at the very top.

-Company Commander, are we really infiltrating from here?

-We can do it. If it’s you guys, the guys I trust.

-No··· this is a valley, though···.

-A valley is where people live too. If we infiltrate from here, 2nd Company’s just wide open. I’m telling you.

Back when I was a company commander, there was a time the battalion commander ordered rotating opposition-force training by company.

-Eh, between us, it’s not like we’re actually fighting for real. Let’s go easy.

That night, the company commanders all got together for drinks and I remembered how we’d vowed, all friendly and warm, to just do it half-assed.

But the moment training started, like none of that ever happened, the companies tried to kill each other—an absolute betrayal scene.

And me too, back then, I’d shown Zhuge Liang-level brilliance and led the opposition force myself, infiltrating through the valley that connected in and out of the base and raiding another company.

As a result, when training ended and the other company commanders were getting a meaningful lecture in the battalion commander’s office, our company got to throw a party.

Like this, competition wasn’t a bad thing.

You sharpen each other and improve even more, so as long as it didn’t get too extreme, competition was actually a good thing.

Even now—

"We at SY will absolutely not lose!"

"We’ll take first place on the name of CEO Park Taesu!"

"We’ll put it on Lee Sion’s name!"

I only poked them a little and they were already burning with motivation, weren’t they?

VYNNIA and LYNX members had sparks flying in their eyes, unlike earlier.

Yeah. It was more fun when you beat an opponent who was actually fired up like this.

"That’s a relief. Honestly, when I watched VYNNIA and LYNX do their first interviews earlier, I got a little scared you might’ve been planning to make excuses after you lose, so I thought you were already intimidated."

And our Iam members weren’t the type to lose in trash talk either.

Without anyone even telling her to, Ryu Ayeon threw out a line that provoked both groups at once.

When Ryu Ayeon, who’d just been handed the mic by Jang Junseok, said that while looking at the VYNNIA and LYNX members, I definitely heard that snapping sound I’d heard plenty of times before—something breaking.

***

"Lee Sion, you know what you did wrong, right?"

"No··· it’s just, when someone gets hyped up···."

"Then are you hyped up twenty-four hours a day?"

In one corner of the practice room, Lee Sion was kneeling with her hands raised.

In front of her stood Raon, the producer, wearing an expression that was something else.

'Hm··· looks like she really has no intention of going back anymore.'

Who would look at Raon like that and think she used to be a singer who swept Asia and got called the Queen of Asia?

-Yunsik, where the hell did that bastard go! Tell him I’ll kill him if I get caught!

Raon and Iam had definitely gone to do Three Kingdom’s first recording, but what came back to the company looked like a bandit gang.

Sanghyeok still couldn’t get that shocking scene out of his head.

Lee Sion being dragged into the company’s front entrance with both arms held by Lee Gahyeon and Seo Ryujin.

Amazingly, Lee Sion had handcuffs on both wrists—made out of a jacket.

-Raon, what is this···.

-Be careful, CEO. She tried to run the entire way here.

And Raon’s eyes as she escorted Lee Sion straight into the practice room like she was a violent criminal had killing intent swirling in them.

'It was shocking.'

After moving to the practice room, Sanghyeok got a report from Raon about what happened today, and he could understand a little why Raon had dragged Lee Sion back this firmly.

One day.

Not a week—just one day, and not even a full day, just half a day, and Lee Sion came back after causing not one incident, but two.

How could anyone let her off easy?

-This is a human rights violation!

-I know.

-Huh?

-I’m going to have to violate human rights today.

Normally, Lee Sion would’ve been screaming that it was unfair and resisting to the end, but this time she must’ve sensed something was off, because she was holding herself back.

Even now, she was kneeling quietly with her hands raised.

If it were the usual Lee Sion, she would’ve already run, and run, and run.

"Why the hell did Jang Junseok give her a mic!"

"Because Seo Ryujin was so boring···."

Glare.

Of course, even then, she was still provoking Raon in little bursts.

"What did she even say to make it like this?"

"I don’t know, at the end she grabbed the mic and—"

-"God Lee Sion submits a declaration to Yours! The realm is in chaos because of LYNX and VYNNIA, so inheriting CEO Kim Sanghyeok’s will and Producer Raon’s will, our Iam will unify the girl group Three Kingdoms!"

-"Waaaahhh!!! Iam, let’s go on the northern expedition!"

-"Lee Sion, win before the fizz in the cola in my hand goes flat!"

-"Make a pledge again this time!"

-"Fine! If we take first place this time, we’ll hold an Iam concert once!"

"Ah."

After hearing Raon’s vivid reenactment, a sigh slipped out of Sanghyeok without him realizing it.

It was scary enough that Lee Sion, the walking pledge-spammer, had blurted out another pledge on broadcast again, but he couldn’t not be shocked by the sheer scale of that pledge.

In truth, the signs that Lee Sion wanted to do a concert had been there for a while.

-Ah, I want to do a concert!

-Don’t say it out loud, Lee Sion!

Ever since the guerrilla performance in New York, she’d gotten hooked on performing and whined about doing a concert whenever she got bored.

But a concert wasn’t a joke, and even if they were going to do one, they’d been planning it toward the end of Iam’s activity period—so the fact that she suddenly threw it out as a pledge was already giving Sanghyeok a headache.

"The higher you aim, the more—"

"Be honest! What spy are you?! SY? TSP?"

"The TSP spy is Ryu Ayeon over there—"

"Uaaahhh!!!"

In the end, Raon couldn’t hold back and smacked Lee Sion’s back.

"Calm down, Raon!"

"Let go! CEO!! Today I’ll send Lee Sion to heaven so she can do her concert there!"

And Sanghyeok had no choice but to struggle to restrain Raon, who’d lost all reason.

'I don’t have a choice.'

Sanghyeok instinctively knew he had no choice but to take Lee Sion’s side.

Normally, Sanghyeok, the CEO, should control Lee Sion, the artist, and Raon, the producer, should protect Lee Sion’s individuality, but—

"Boo!! Violence can’t solve anything!"

"Sion always solves things with violence."

"That’s right! Not long ago, when I pointed something out, she even poked my side!"

"What Sion does is a loving smack!"

No matter how you looked at it, it seemed impossible for Raon to hold in her anger, so Sanghyeok had to take Lee Sion’s side instead.

"It’s something that would only be possible if we win Three Kingdom, so I don’t think you need to worry too much right now."

"Haa··· haa."

At Sanghyeok’s restraint, Raon finally let go of the back of Lee Sion’s neck.

Only then could Sanghyeok finally breathe a sigh of relief.

"Then you’ll have to prepare the concert, CEO."

"Huh? Seo Ryujin, what do you mean—"

"We’re taking first place on this program."

But apparently, the only one who wanted to stop was Sanghyeok.

"We have to beat both VYNNIA and LYNX."

"Agreed. We’ll knock out the concert while we’re at it."

"Ryu Ayeon? Seo Ryujin?"

He’d calmed down Lee Sion and Raon, and now Seo Ryujin and Ryu Ayeon were suddenly burning with fighting spirit.

"No, why are those two—"

They sometimes caused trouble, but compared to Lee Sion they were the quiet ones, so they’d kept Sanghyeok’s heart at ease. Seeing their eyes go weirdly wild made him panic.

"It’s because of the mission."

"Huh?"

"They gave the first mission on Three Kingdom."

"The first mission?"

"It’s a song swap."

Even after Raon said that, Sanghyeok still couldn’t understand why that mission lit those two on fire.

***

The more you cut it off, the bigger the noise gets

Poisonous talk spreading over silence

All that’s left in my hands are wounds

They say it only ends if I light the fire

'VYNNIA’s songs really do all have insanely complex structures.'

Shinyu was admiring it all over again while listening to VYNNIA’s new song, "CUT IT CLEAN."

After returning to the dorm, Shinyu kept replaying VYNNIA’s songs nonstop.

-Because we Iam choose VYNNIA.

That was because, in the first mission of Three Kingdom—swapping and covering each other’s songs—Iam picked VYNNIA.

Originally, when they first heard the details of the mission, Iam had been thinking about LYNX, since LYNX made music that was at least somewhat similar to theirs.

-Our song will be pretty hard to pull off, so it wouldn’t be weird if you avoided it.

When Seo Ryujin, Iam’s representative who got first pick, went out to choose a song, VYNNIA provoked them by saying their song would be hard to digest.

And Seo Ryujin, who would never tolerate provocation like that, ended up choosing VYNNIA.

-You think we can’t do it?

On top of that, thanks to VYNNIA’s provocation, Seo Ryujin and Ryu Ayeon—the ones who used to be called A Class’s devils back in Agbaek—were back for the first time in a while.

-Until we copy VYNNIA’s basic choreography today, you can’t go back to the dorm!

-Im Yunkyung! Where do you think you’re running off to!

They were staging a protest, saying they wouldn’t leave the practice room until they copied all of VYNNIA’s basic choreography, and how much did everyone suffer trying to stop them?

They still hadn’t even decided which VYNNIA song they were going to pick, and they didn’t know how the choreography would change depending on the arrangement of the chosen song, but Seo Ryujin and Ryu Ayeon were burning up, saying they’d show VYNNIA what-for.

Of course, it wasn’t just those two who were fired up right now.

'I can’t lose.'

All Iam members had debuted after going through the brutal survival of Agbaek, so there wasn’t a single member who lacked fighting spirit.

Shinyu too kept listening to the music and agonizing over which VYNNIA song to choose for Three Kingdom, and how to dye it in a color only Iam could show.

And one person flashed through Shinyu’s mind.

'Sion!'

The person who always gave Shinyu inspiration—Lee Sion.

Shinyu decided to try putting Lee Sion into VYNNIA’s song.