Chapter 326: Dumb and Dumber

In the studio adorned with a mysterious dark purple theme, the bright white lights illuminated the excited faces of the live audience. 100 seats were filled to the brim, waiting for the awaited show to finally start.

50 empty seats situated in front of the audience, each seat designated for tonight's participants. However, one particular seat drew their attention. It was positioned beneath the 50 seats, like a throne amid the court.

The god's table, as it was called, stood out with its regal design. The fancy chair at the center awaited the arrival of the Quiz God, the mastermind behind the show, ready to pose questions that would challenge the intellects of the participants and entertain the eager audience.

Meanwhile, June and Jaeyong waited patiently behind the stage.

The 50 participants were already on standby, and June took the time to observe his future competitors.

Truly, the theme of 'Rising Stars' was best fitted for the types of people in the studio.

June noticed twins roaming around backstage, greeting all of the other participants. They had big bows tied in their hair, and he recognized them to be the dancing twins on LikLok.

They seemed to have very jolly personalities, so June hoped they wouldn't bother going up to him and Jaeyong.

However, much to his dismay, he made eye contact with one of them, and before he knew it, the twins were skipping over to where they were.

"Hi, there," the one with yellow bows greeted. "We've seen you a lot on TV."

"Um, I've seen you too," June awkwardly answered.

"You're more handsome in real life," the one with blue bows said.

"Thanks," June said, taking a step back to hopefully end the conversation.

However, they followed his movements and continued staring at him.

"My name's Fei," the yellow-bow girl said. "This is my twin sister, Kei."

"Nice to meet you," June said, nudging Jaeyong so he could take him out of the situation.

However, his teammate was busy answering practice questions on his phone.

"You did really well on your performance in the Abracadabra Festival. Your high note was amazing," Kei complimented.

"Ah, yeah. You guys are good at dancing," June responded.

"Thanks!" Fei beamed. "I'm sure you're better than us, though. We just make covers on LikLok."

June merely nodded.

"It's like you're a perfect human being," Kei continued.

"He's not perfect," Fei countered.

"Yeah, nobody's perfect," June agreed.

"He's dumb," Fei said. "Have you seen his report card circulating around the internet?"

"Oh, right. He's that guy," Kei chuckled. "I almost forgot since he's so handsome. So, I guess nobody can really be perfect, huh?"

June frowned, not liking how they were talking about him like he wasn't even there.

"Well, cheer up," Kei said. "You might stand out during the show...as someone who won't get any of the answers right."

The twins giggled, sounding like hyenas in the wild.

"Yeah, don't try too hard," Fei said. "The winner is already decided anyway. We're just here to show off our dances during the preliminary rounds."

June's frown deepened. "Decided? Is this show rigged or something?"

"No, silly," Kei said. "Zibo of MORPH3D is joining, so it's already decided."

"How do you say so?" he asked.

"Duh," Fei said. "Zibo is currently studying at Seoul University for a music degree. It's a liberal arts degree, but getting into SU already means he's smart. I also heard he studied in a prestigious private school in China."

"Yeah, and he has been featured on Idol Sniper as a genius idol, too," Kei added. "The complete opposite of you!"

June looked around until his eyes met a familiar face. He had never talked to the guy, but he had seen him during the Abracadabra Festival. It appeared like he came with one of his members, too.

To June's surprise, it seemed like they were looking in their direction, too, a subtle glare in Zibo's eyes.

Kei gasped. "Don't look toward their way!"

June shrugged. "Anyone could have a chance to win this thing."

"True," Fei said. "Maybe, except for you."

June chuckled as he shook his head.

"But since you were kind to us, I'll do you a favor. If one of us wins the preliminary rounds with our dance, then we're going to pick a topic you're confident in," Kei said.

"Sure," June smiled.

Making allies in this place wouldn't be such a bad idea.

"Choose Math," June said.

The twins looked at each other with wide eyes. "That's unexpected. I like your confidence."

"Is that a deal?" June asked.

"Deal!"

With that, the two of them went to bother the other participants.

June continued looking around until his eyes landed on a bubbly person practically running to where they were.

"Bro!" Seven exclaimed, smiling up at June.

"Umm, hi?" June asked, surprised that he was acting so friendly already.

Jaeyong finally stopped reviewing when he noticed Seven's presence.

"You guys are here?" Jaeyong asked.

"Yeah," Seven beamed. "It's a shame we're in such a boring variety show like this. Uno got to attend 'Crawling Man' by himself."

Jaeyong's eyes widened in surprise. 'Crawling Man' was one of the hardest variety shows to enter as a rookie idol. Even seasoned idols have a hard time being invited there.

As expected, Esper Entertainment was definitely on another level.

"Quiz God has good ratings too, though," June chimed.

"You're right about that," Seven said. "My parents watch it all the time. They force me to watch with them, too, but I can't handle stuff that has something to do with using my brain. Maybe I should have listened to them, though."

Jaeyong chuckled. "We're on the same page then."

"What?" Seven exclaimed. "I thought you were totally smart. I believe June and I are on the same page. We have the same grades!"

"You're still studying?" June asked.

"Yeah," Seven smiled. "I'm in 11th grade."

"Dang," Jaeyong said. "I can't believe you still have time for this."

"It's an Arts school," Seven smiled. "They give me lots of free absences."

"Well, good luck to you," Jaeyong patted the younger's back. "Good luck to your teammate, too," he gestured to Ocho, who was leaning against the wall while impatiently waiting for Seven.

"He doesn't need your good luck," Seven said. "He's one of the smarties on the show."

"Are there any other people we should look out for?" June asked.

"Well, Ocho's one," he said. "He graduated tenth in their batch in high school. Zibo is one, too! I met him once, but I didn't like him. He seems to be a very intelligent guy with a big ego."

"It seems like it," Jaeyong said, glancing at Zibo, who was currently surrounded by a bunch of other rookies who already wanted to get on his good side.

"Those twins are pretty smart too. We go to the same school," Seven continued. "Oh, and that girl from EXIT is also really smart. Honey's her name, I think. Aside from that, the others are just aspiring to show off their talents."

"You know a lot for a kid," June said.

"We're only four years apart," Seven defended. "But I'll take that as a compliment."

"Participants! Please take your seats. We will be filming in five minutes!"