Peninsula: I created the golden age of girl groups

Like a wary little deer, Lim Yoona cautiously pushed open the door of Examination Hall No. 1 and peeked around.

He breathed a sigh of relief after confirming the room was empty, then turned and waved to the group in the corner, "Hurry up! They're not here yet! Thank goodness we're not late!"

The tension eased slightly as everyone exchanged glances and quickly followed Yoona into the rest area, where they put down their backpacks, water bottles, and other belongings.

Yoona pouted and complained with a wronged look, "Unnie, could you please stop making me do things like this all the time?"

Jessica, who was fixing her bangs in front of the mirror, laughed and patted Yoona's head when she heard this. "Hey! If you don't go, who will! It's because you're the youngest! The maknae should act like the maknae!"

"Young..."

Yoona glared at Seohyun defiantly, then turned to look at her. "Isn't there Seohyun here? She's even younger than me!"

Suddenly called out, Seohyun turned her head innocently and looked at Yoona, "Unnie..."

"Fine, fine! I give up!"

Looking at Seohyun's expression that said, "I don't know anything, but I'm very obedient," Yoona was speechless, like a deflated balloon. She waved her hand helplessly, "Fine, I'll do it. Anyway, I'm destined to be bullied."

Seeing Yoona's self-destructive attitude, everyone laughed, and the tense atmosphere caused by the assessment eased considerably.

They made a ruckus for a while longer.

Kim Tae-yeon, who had been silent until now, clapped her hands. "Alright, let's hurry up! This monthly exam is probably to see the results of our joint practice over this period. Even if it's just last-minute cramming, let's not waste these last few minutes."

At this time, Taeyeon was not yet the official leader, but she had already taken on the responsibilities of the leader.

"Inside."

The girls responded in unison, their playful smiles vanishing instantly. They scattered, some singing, others warming up, each making their final preparations.

They all knew what they were about to face.

At SM.

For this pre-debut group, which is being given high hopes and is in the most crucial sprint before their debut, the monthly exam is no less rigorous than a small-scale debut audition.

Although most of them are veteran trainees, they have practiced this song "Reunion" countless times...

But no one dared to relax or be negligent in the slightest.

The final lineup for debut has not yet been determined, and nobody knows if they will be the next one to leave.

Kwon Yuri took a deep breath, rubbed her face vigorously, and cleared her mind of distractions.

In her view, she was the one who couldn't afford to make a mistake, at least not today, and she couldn't let her actions cast a shadow over the entire team.

Time passed by, and soon, footsteps approached from the corridor outside the door.

"They're here!" someone exclaimed.

Everyone immediately stopped what they were doing and, at Taeyeon's call, quickly gathered in the center of the room and stood in their usual lines.

"Click".

The door opened.

A group of people walked in, and the air in the room instantly froze.

Leading the way was Lee Soo-man, the founder of SM Entertainment. He wore his signature glasses, his face was calm, and his gaze swept over the girl in front of him without any emotion.

Following closely behind was President Kim Young-min, who also had a serious expression and only occasionally turned his head to whisper to the person behind him.

The girls' breath caught in their throats.

Just facing the company's two top leaders is enough to put them under immense pressure.

Not to mention, the all-star lineup following behind the two.

Kenzie, Yoo Young-jin, The One, Shim Jae-won...

The judging panel is an ultra-luxurious lineup that encompasses almost all core aspects of SM Entertainment's music, dance, and planning.

The significance of this monthly exam is self-evident.

Led by Lee Soo-man, the group took their seats one by one. Without any unnecessary formalities, Lee Soo-man said directly, "Then... let's begin!"

The assessment process and repertoire for the monthly exam were determined at the beginning of the month.

First, there was a group vocal assessment.

The girls will take turns coming forward to sing a designated song or section individually, or to conduct an impromptu harmony test.

The examiners sat below the stage, evaluating and recording their findings.

Occasionally, he would raise his hand to signal a stop, directly pointing out the problem without any mercy.

In this segment, Kim Tae-yeon and Jessica, as the lead vocalists, undoubtedly received the most attention.

Although neither of them made any mistakes, Lee Soo-man's gaze almost never left them while they sang, sometimes nodding, sometimes frowning, which made them extremely uneasy.

The same applies to the subsequent group dance assessment.

However, this time, members with outstanding dance skills, such as Kwon Yuri, Kim Hyoyeon, and Lim Yoona, became the key targets for evaluation.

Overall, the monthly exam process was tense but went relatively smoothly.

However, for these girls, they had fought their way through countless monthly exams, and their strong mental fortitude honed during their long trainee years meant that their performance was generally above average.

After all, the people who can stand here have all had a long average number of years of training, and Jessica, for example, has a training career of seven years!

After the group assessments concluded, the judges stopped writing and began exchanging ideas.

The smiles on their faces showed that they were quite satisfied with the girls' performance so far, which eased the tense atmosphere on the scene considerably.

The girls felt a little more at ease, thinking that they had passed this basic hurdle.

However, before they could fully relax, Lee Soo-man spoke again.

"The basics should be fine. Now let's see how well you've practiced your debut song. You've been practicing for so long, it's time to show us something decent."

"Yes, teacher!"

The girls responded in unison and quickly adjusted their positions.

The prelude begins.

It was a familiar piano solo, layers upon layers of strings, and rousing drumbeats... Every note that rang out was deeply etched into their bones and fused into their blood.

The girls lined up in a row and stood quietly in the center of the stage.

As the music started, the girl at the back of the group moved first, slowly walking towards both sides of the stage. The whole group was neat and uniform, full of energy!

Positioning, changing positions, eye contact, harmonizing voices... everything proceeded smoothly and methodically.

Even the usually strict judges couldn't help but nod slightly, their eyes showing approval.

The parts rotated, and soon it was Kwon Yuri's turn.

She took a deep breath, spoke, and her voice was steady.

Although she is not the lead singer, the long-term rigorous training has made these girls have no weaknesses.

But... in that subtle moment of emotional shift, the unique singing style of Jiang Yuhe's version, which had been lingering in her mind, resurfaced like a ghost!

Although she tried her best to pull herself back, that momentary deviation still caused a brief flaw in her otherwise perfect performance.

This is actually not a big problem.

But at this moment, they are facing big names from all areas of SM Entertainment.

Almost the instant the mistake occurred, the expressions of several judges changed.

Yoo Young-jin frowned immediately, opened his eyes, and locked his gaze precisely on Kwon Yuri.

But then, as if he had just thought of something, he turned his head, leaned close to Lee Soo-man's ear, and whispered something very quickly.

Upon hearing this, Lee Soo-man also raised his gaze, looking at Kwon Yuri with a strange expression in his eyes.

Kwon Yuri could naturally sense the change in the atmosphere, and her heart couldn't help but tremble.

In her panic, she made another mistake in the next harmony.

And this time, it was even more obvious and more deadly than before!

Even Sooyoung and the others started to be led astray by her. If it weren't for Taeyeon in the middle, who brought the whole rhythm back with her powerful vocals and quick thinking...

This whole performance might completely fall apart.

The music continued, but the atmosphere on the judges' panel had changed.

"stop."

Lee Soo-man finally couldn't hold back any longer and called for a halt.

On stage, the performance came to an abrupt end, and the eight girls staggered, looking completely bewildered.

Kwon Yuri's face turned deathly pale, and her entire body felt ice-cold.

Lee Soo-man remained silent for a moment, his gaze falling on Kwon Yuri, his voice revealing neither joy nor anger.

"Yuri, you, come out."

He paused, then emphasized, "Sing this song, from beginning to end, all on its own."