From Skid Row to Superstardom: An Idol System Novel-Chapter 118: First Ranking Ceremony (2)

"Wow! I’m so glad to see that you’re all excited!!!!" MC Ryan Leary said with a smile as he saw the forced grins on the contestants’ faces.

Not wanting to make it too awkward for them, he quickly moved on to the next topic.

"As mentioned earlier, unfortunately, today is the day that the journey with Pop Star Academy ends for 10 of you amazing contestants. I want you all to know that judges truly had a difficult time making a decision, and while it was mainly based on the surprise mission, they gave you all to learn and perform the signal song and dance, other things influenced the tough decision that they had to make. Please know that your worth isn’t defined by your journey here, and I’m sure you’ll move on to do great things." freёwebnoѵel.com

At the MC’s solemn words, the air became filled with tension as the contestants sat up straight in their chairs.

It had suddenly become real that this was the end of the road for 10 of them.

A couple of contestants felt quite bitter as they remembered all the work they had put in, especially into the newly assigned teams that might be wasted if they were eliminated. Quite a few subtly glared in PD Emily’s direction before bowing their heads.

Of course, there were other contestants who were completely confident that they were staying even if they had no reason to be, and others who were nervous like Jamie, whose leg had become a jackhammer trying to dig into the center of the earth, even if he was 99.9 percent safe.

Ari was somewhere in the middle.

When he remembered how badly he did when he performed the signal song and had to get Jelissa’s help, he actually felt a bit nervous.

While he was mostly sure he wasn’t among the worst 10 contestants here, he also knew that both Jaywalk and Larry Jackson disliked him, so there was a slight chance that he would get eliminated.

With his heart pounding while he tried to maintain a neutral expression, he picked up the drink underneath his seat to calm himself and immediately choked and began coughing.

Disgusting.

This one was even worse than the one he had after the maze.

Ari felt Jamie’s large hand pounding on his back, and as the MC’s words stopped, he immediately wanted to dig a hole and dive into it from embarrassment.

Forcibly clearing his throat, Ari looked ahead and pretended that nothing had happened, once again thankful that his face was covered in thick white paint.

He subtly kicked the disgusting drink under his chair before paying attention to the MC staring at him.

"Ahem. Please be careful when taking a drink of the amazingly delicious new ion drink made by Propeller, which will propel you to greatness whether you’re an athlete or an aspiring idol. It’s so good, you might choke!"

Ari: ಠ_ಠ

Ryan Leary quickly inserted a PPL advert before continuing with his words, "When I call your name and rank, you may come up on stage and say a few words before heading to your seat on the pyramid. After the ranking ceremony is complete, those who were unfortunately eliminated have the option to either head back to pack their bags immediately or perform with their teams one last time for the judge’s evaluation."

There was a solemn pause before Ryan Leary began speaking, "In 89th place, Contestant Sloan, please come forward."

There was a polite round of applause as a red-haired boy with a face full of freckles stood up with teary eyes and went on stage next to the microphone stand.

Ari remembered that he was one of the members of the F(1) team, with his dance, rap, and vocal stats all E-rank.

"I’d like to thank the trainers for their aid in helping me learn and keeping me in the program. I vow to continue working hard and continually improve my skills. Thank you!" Sloan bowed his head tearfully before making his way to sit down in the second-to-last seat in the pyramid.

"Thank you, contestant Sloane. In 87th place, contestant Vishal, please come forward."

...

"In 79th place, Contestant Mathew, please come forward."

One by one, Ryan Leary called the contestants up to the stage, and the seats around Ari became emptier.

Much to his surprise, he still hadn’t been called yet, but his worry had decreased when he saw several of his former team members being called.

"In 69th place, Contestant Ariel, please come forward."

Hearing his name, Ari blinked in surprise before standing up with Jamie’s help.

After high-fiving the nervously smiling blonde, Ari slowly limped to the stage, taking a deep breath before climbing up the five stairs and then walking toward the MC.

"Ah, contestant Ariel, I didn’t realize you were injured." Ryan Leary immediately dashed over to help Ari walk to the mic stand with a concerned expression.

"Yeah, somehow it happened on s...hmm" Ari paused his words as he saw PD Emily cutting across her throat with her hand.

"Ah, well, I hope you get better soon. Would you like to say a few words?"

"Sure. I’d like to thank the judges for seeing potential in me, and I’d especially like to thank my Vocal trainer, Jelissa, for her help and advice in everything." Ari replied honestly as he bowed his head toward the woman, who seemed very concerned about him.

Giving her a faint smile, he turned to leave to climb the pyramid, but Bing Yongsun grabbed his microphone to speak.

"Contestant Ari?"

"Yes, sir?" Ari turned to look at him curiously.

"I see that you’re still wearing that strange makeup?"

"Yes."

"Hmm. How long is that going to stay on?"

"It will be coming off very soon," Ari said honestly, and it seemed that the man read the truth in his eyes, because he nodded.

"See that it does."

Nodding at the performance director, Ari turned back and limped over to his seat while waiting for everyone else to be called.

Carlos came in 52nd place.

Suzuki Rei was 48th.

And somehow, William Forbes was 40th.

Seeing the slightly angry face of the blonde boy as he came up, Ari made sure to keep his face smooth while internally cheering.

"Contestant William, you look quite shocked. Would you like to say a few words?" Ryan Leary commented as William stood next to him.

"I am very shocked at my current ranking, but I want to thank the judges and will strive to do better until I reach the number one rank, where I believe I belong." William bit out with a cold smile while briefly glancing at the judge’s table before staring at PD Emily, who gave him a cold smile in return.

"Thank you, contest William. Please take a seat." The MC replied politely before continuing to call up the other contestants.

Jamie was ranked 13th.

Levi was ranked 9th.

Benjamin was ranked 4th.

And finally, the MC called the top two contestants to the stage.

"Contestants Rex and Contestant Daniel, please come to the front. The judges had a difficult time choosing who would be ranked first between the two of you."

As Ryan Leary called them both, the tall Korean boy with blonde tips in his hair and the slightly shorter Korean boy with bright orange hair stepped up on the stage.

Curious, Ari took a look at both of their stats for the first time in a while.

[Daniel Kim]

[Vocals: C+ (B-)]

[Dance: A (S+)]

[Visual: B+ (S)]

[Rap: A (S+)]

[Charm: B+ (S)]

[Break Dancing: A- (S+)]

[Acrobatics: B- (A)]

[Taeri Jang]

[Vocals: B+ (S-)]

[Dance: B+ (S-)]

[Visual: B (A+)]

[Rap: C- (A-)]

[Charm: A (S)]

[Composing: C+ (A)]

[Leadership: B+]

As always, Daniel’s stats were as broken as ever, but Rex, whose real name was Taeri, had just as broken stats as well, which made sense considering he had done backup dancing and vocals for one of the biggest boy bands ever, BTZ.

He even had the Leadership stat that Ari had never seen on anybody else.

So, realistically, Ari wasn’t surprised that these two were ranked at the top for an impromptu mission. It would be crazier if they weren’t.

He hoped that as his own skills improved, he would make it to the top 7 while that bastard William continually dropped until he was eliminated.

For now, he would be satisfied with avoiding elimination this round.

"The contestant that came in first place, impressing the judges with both their vocal skill and dancing ability as they performed the signal song they learned in less than 12 hours is....."