Chapter 241: At All Costs

The group of friends clapped as Team Adorbz's performance came to an end. Even when they have already watched it before, it still couldn't be denied that their performance was the best among the rest.

After the performances, the elimination of the trainees were shown, and once again, it brought tears to the eyes of the viewers.

Because of it, two trainees shot up the trending list on Navel. Jangmoon and Steel were overjoyed when they saw their names on the trending page. Most of the people were praising June and Jangmoon for the emotional conversation they had before the elimination.

On the other hand, Steel received sympathy since they thought he was unfairly eliminated by Lin Zhi.

"Ah, my back hurts," C-Jay said, stretching his body as he stood up from the floor.

The other trainees, too, started cleaning up their mess, knowing the episode had come to an end.

However, Jaeyong's gaze remained on the screen. "It's not over," he said, causing the other trainees to halt.

They turned to the screen, where a new announcement was shown.

"The midway rankings will now be shown. Here is the status of your favorite idols!"

The group of eight sat down once more, looking at the screen with wide eyes.

"They're going to show this right now?" Ren asked in disbelief.

"Fuck, I'm nervous," Akira said, placing his hand in front of his beating chest.

"You're going to rise," Jaeyong assured, patting his back.

Just then, the first number was shown on screen—1st.

They were all even more surprised. "They're starting with the first?" Casper asked. "That's a first. They always start with announcing the second to the last trainee."

1st—Zeth.

"No surprise about that," Jisung said. "You're going to debut as the center at this point."

Zeth scratched the back of his neck, feeling shy yet proud at the same time.

2nd—Casper.

"Again, no surprise about that," Ren chuckled. "Your ranks are already cemented. Congratulations on debuting, brothers," he smiled at Zeth and Casper.

Casper shook his head. "Nothing's certain at this point."

3rd—Ren.

"Congrats, bro," Jaeyong sincerely congratulated Ren despite being surpassed.

Ren's eyes widened, obviously not expecting the rise in his ranks.

"You deserve it," June said. "Don't doubt yourself now."

"Yeah, congratulations, bro!" C-Jay exclaimed, wrapping one arm around Ren's neck.

4th—Jaeyong.

"Eyy, you're still in the upper ranks," Akira teased. "I would have thought you lost some fans because of how much of a crybaby you are."

Jaeyong glared at him. "Stop teasing me about that."

"But really," Casper said. "I already knew about your group when you first debuted. You had such a strong facade back then. You didn't even cry when you earned your first music show win."

"That's what I thought, too," C-Jay chimed. "You must have kept it for years, huh?"

"I don't cry," Jaeyong said. "There's just a certain someone...I mean, something that makes me cry."

They all turned to him suspiciously. "Sure," Akira teased. "But congratulations, leader. You've also secured a spot in the debut team."

Jaeyong sighed. "Just like Casper said, there's nothing certain at this point."

Just then, some shouts of surprise were heard in the other rooms, surprising the group of eight.

June, who had kept his gaze on the screen throughout their conversations, narrowed his eyes as he looked at the next rank.

5th—Lin Zhi.

"Nothing is really certain at this point," June muttered, causing the others to turn to the screen too.

Their eyes widened in surprise, wondering how Lin Zhi could have risen in ranks so much when he was always been on the border of the debut group.

Lin Zhi, who also didn't have a clue that he would rise this far, looked at the screen with wide eyes.

His roommates patted his back. "Congratulations, Lin Zhi. You've worked hard."

After getting over the initial shock, a small smirk emerged from Lin Zhi's lips.

"Indeed, I've worked hard," he whispered.

Back in June's room, his friends still weren't over the fact that Lin Zhi was now fifth in ranks.

"Is that possible?" C-Jay asked. "Should I have taken my shirt off too?"

"Something's not...right," Zeth pointed out. "But then again, he did take off his shirt during the last performance."

Jisung pouted. Then, does that mean that Lin Zhi's rank was higher than June's? Jisung thought June deserved the fifth spot.

"This is yours, bro," Jisung said, nudging June's shoulder.

June, too, had some hope in his heart. He knew he wasn't as popular as those in the top four, but he also gained quite a number of fans during his time in Rising Stars.

Again, his goal was to debut in at least the last debut spot, which is now 8th place, since he knew how much pressure the higher-ranked trainees would be in.

But then again, debuting in 6th place wouldn't be too bad, too.

It was actually the perfect number.

June wanted his name to be shown at the point.

6th—Akira.

June frowned as he looked at Akira's name on the screen. Don't get him wrong. He was happy for his friend's rise in ranks, but it didn't make sense to him.

"Holy? I earned a spot in the debuting team?" Akira asked, wide-eyed.

His friends, despite being shocked that Akira had surpassed June, congratulated him sincerely.

7th—Jisung.

Jisung shyly looked down at his lap while his friends congratulated him. However, even if they were happy for each other's ranks, there was still an elephant in the room.

Surely, June would be the next person on the debut list, right?

8th—Jaxon.

June stayed silent. The room turned awkward, nobody daring to say the first words. This was all too strange for them.

June did very well during the Production Mission, undoubtedly showing the best performance in the entire episode.

9th—Daeho.

10th—Leo.

11th—Sehun.

June's frown deepened with every name being shown on the screen. His heart beat faster in his chest, and for the very first time in the show, he actually felt...threatened.

There was less than a week until the finals, yet his rank had dropped so much.

The viewers, too, were finding this strange. However, even if June had plenty of supporters, he also had plenty of haters.

- Does this make sense? How can June drop this low?

- People can't accept the truth. Now that we're only allowed to vote for one trainee using one account, it's showing that June doesn't have a lot of solo fans.

- True. His fans must have been fans of other trainees, too. And now that we're in the finals, there are significantly fewer people voting for him.

- Shut the fuck up. Everyone I know voted for him.

- My friends and I voted for him, too. Are we really that small in number?

12th—June.

June pursed his lips, the silence in the room deafening.

For Lin Zhi, this was much better than he had thought. He had never understood why he felt something off with June right from the start, or maybe he just reminded him of the friend he killed a year ago, but he was glad that June's rank had dropped so much.

"Hey, it's okay," C-Jay said, snapping June out of his trance.

June glanced at his friends, who all looked concerned for him.

June, although feeling concerned, merely nodded in acceptance.

"It's alright," he nonchalantly shrugged. "It's just the midway results," he said, trying to assure himself. However, deep inside his mind, June knew it would become even more difficult to rise in the ranks since the next episode would already be the final one.

His friends continued acting concerned for him, and he was about to reassure them that everything was okay when a pop-up from Fu suddenly showed.

[This is your last survival show mission.]

June paused.

[You have to debut at all costs. Otherwise, there will be consequences.]

June frowned. He wasn't used to Fu speaking in this tone, so whatever this next mission was, it must be vital.

[The title of the mission is Project A+. Lin Zhi must not make his debut in Rising Stars. Stop his debut...at all costs.]

[By accomplishing this mission, all skill aspects will be increased to A+. Failure to accomplish the mission will make the host go back to his original state—before all of the upgrades.]