I desperately want to win on the peninsula

AOMG Practice Room

"Living like a legend, every day... I sing unparalleled verses, and I've gotten used to bearing the weight of the crown."

A life as fleeting as a mayfly, yet always persevering.

My time and the mundane world are constantly drifting further and further apart, yet I will never lose myself. If you feel me...

You can always walk with me, even if failure is what you desire.

In the practice room, the 60-second performance ended in lingering notes, and the beat faded away.

After Lin Qianqiao joined the AOMG team, he would practice rapping in front of the full-length mirror in the practice room as usual when he didn't have any schedules, because the kids he had practiced with were a little... unwilling to continue to face him head-on.

He wasn't the only one in the practice room; Zhou Xian and Earthling were also squatting in the corner practicing. The two sat on opposite sides of the practice room, as the winning team in the team battle would have one winner.

Lin Qianqiao, who ranks first, does not need to compete and can directly perform without competition. Generally, there are also rewards, the amount of which depends on how much capital the mentor group has.

For example, Brand New's Sane gifted a pair of limited-edition Air Jordans to a dad rapper, and Jay Park gifted Lim Gan-chiao a new red and white 3DS with a lot of game cartridges. They were quite good at giving gifts.

Nowadays, whenever Lin Qianqiao has free time, she goes to the sofa in the lobby of AOMG to lie down and play games. Park Jae-beom is sometimes dumbfounded when he sees this and regrets his decision to give her the reward.

Getting back to the main point, the other two members need to compete for a spot in the performance, so that's the situation.

To be honest, choosing between Zhou Xian and an Earthling isn't that difficult.

It all comes down to which typhoon is better, since SMTM relies more on stage effects. The live audience has the right to vote, and the live stage takes precedence over video playback and audio output.

The earlier you are in this process, the more directly you can feel the charm of the stage.

If Lil Boi hadn't run away when he chose his team, the process would have been much simpler.

Unfortunately, this guy insisted on having some kind of competition, so he left... and went to the YG team.

Otherwise, AOMG's overall strength would be significantly improved, and its competitiveness could remain at the top. Currently, the strongest team overall is Brand New, and the remaining three teams are not much different.

YG team was originally ranked T1, but when they faced AOMG in a team battle, he went all out and completely destroyed their team, which was full of aggressiveness in the show.

The main reason is that there is an audience voting segment at the beginning of this round. He was already a popular player, and he is also a strong main attacker, so his advantage is really huge, which is only natural.

After the victory, YG team had to eliminate one player, causing their overall strength to plummet and leading to their current predicament.

The next round of performances will be winners vs. winners and losers vs. losers, namely AOMG vs. Brand New and YG vs. ZICO.

Therefore, producer Gray, who needed to create songs for the team, was quite busy, so Lin Qianqiao took Zhou Xian directly to help.

Forget about anything else, just state your own style first, so that the producer has some ideas for the direction of songwriting. There's no point in pretending to be deaf and dumb.

Moreover, Jay Park is very ambitious. Since the establishment of AOMG's label in 13, Jay Park has always been the leading rapper under its banner, driving the company's development.

The production team is taking this so seriously because they hope to build the label's reputation and attract more promising rappers to join.

Lin Qianqiao, who had finished practicing, walked over to Zhou Xian and stood next to him. She noticed that Zhou Xian was wearing a wired earphone and was completely absorbed in his own world, holding a lyric book and muttering to himself. It was obvious that he was practicing.

The beat for the song has been released. The song is called "Red Sun". It was created by Gray during this period. Zhou Xian and Lin Qianqiao volunteered to help and the three of them worked together to complete the song.

Originally, it wasn't his business, but Zhou Xian was too cowardly... He's the kind of person who can be all smiles with acquaintances, but becomes timid and withdrawn when facing unfamiliar producers.

Later, Lin Qianqiao took the initiative to help propose Zhou Xian's specific style to Gray, and after Gray's approval and confirmation, the style was adopted.

Zhou Xian's audacity gradually grew, and he finally dared to get involved in the production, which resulted in the song "Red Sun," which is truly hideous.

Without disturbing him, Lin Qianqiao picked up the Switch from her bag and moved away from Juanwang. She found a corner and leaned against the wall to play. She understood the importance of moderation and it was definitely not an excuse for laziness.

After an unknown amount of time, Zhou Xian took off his headphones and heard the sound effects of a game hacking and slashing not far away. It had been going on for several days, and now he knew without a doubt that someone was slacking off.

Turning to look in the direction of the sound, as expected, it was Lin Qianqiao playing games in the corner of the practice room, a cheerful smile on her lips, looking relaxed and carefree.

Zhou Xian glanced at another corner and saw that the Earthling had left the practice room at some point. He had no choice but to compose himself and seek advice.

To be honest, now that we've reached the middle and later stages of the show and the top ten list has been released, Zhou Xian can be considered somewhat famous. To say he doesn't want to go any further is simply wishful thinking.

Zhou Xian walked up to Lin Qianqiao, sat down cross-legged, and after a moment of silence, said, "Qianqiao, stop playing games, I have something to ask you."

"Okay, go ahead and say it." Hearing this, Lin Qianqiao didn't even look up, continuing to immerse herself in the hack-and-slash game, and casually replied.

"Hey... how can I get selected by the mentor to participate in the performance?" Zhou Xian took a deep breath upon seeing this, and finally hung his head dejectedly like a defeated rooster.

"Is such a simple question even necessary to ask?"

Lin Qianqiao put down the game console, looked up at Zhou Xian, and frowned. "You don't need to compare yourself to anyone. You just need the producer to be more familiar with you and to do a better job in terms of style than Earthlings. That's the reason you can perform."

"Aren't these two your strengths? What are you worried about? Earthlings should be the ones worried." He was originally an idol, so why is he afraid of this? In addition, he has connections. This is Zhou Xian's biggest advantage in the team competition.

As the saying goes, those involved are often confused, while bystanders see things clearly.

In reality, some paths have already been paved, so we just need to keep moving forward. Excessive worry can create a bad impression and cause us to miss the best timing.

The logic is simple. Upon hearing this, Zhou Xian seemed to perk up. If he didn't understand his own advantages, then he might as well go find a tofu block to smash his head against.

"I understand. So your preparations should be fine, right?" Zhou Xian looked at the confident Lin Qianqiao and asked hesitantly, "Gray is currently focused on producing 'Red Sun,' so your self-composed songs will be slower."

"The preparations are alright... Jaebeom listened to them and thought they suited my style perfectly. I have no problems here, they're totally okay." Lin Qianqiao shrugged. She had stayed up until midnight again last night and got up early today, so she was still a little sleepy. She yawned lightly. "However, it should be quite interesting to face Basick."

"If Jaebeom thinks there's no problem, then it's okay, good!" Hearing that even the mentor was optimistic, what else could Joo-heon say but give a thumbs up in praise?

Zhou Xian suddenly remembered something and asked with a look of surprise, "You're still so calm when facing Basick?"

"Stay calm, I have a revival coin. You should worry about yourself." Lin Qianqiao narrowed her eyes. "If we lose to Black Nut in the performance, one member of AOMG will be eliminated."

"Tsk! I know you two have high hopes for you. I'm not like you, getting singled out directly." Zhou Xian said with a hint of worry, then turned to look at Lin Qianqiao. Seeing his composed demeanor, he suddenly felt a pang of envy.

Then Zhou Xian took a deep breath, looked at Lin Qianqiao and said confidently, "I'm definitely ready. Just watch my performance."

"If I can advance, I'll ask the company to let Hyorin Noona feature for me, hehehe." As he said this, Zhou Xian grinned in a slightly disgusting way, lost in his fantasy.

Lin Qianqiao frowned as she watched, thinking that his emotions changed so quickly, sometimes sad and sometimes happy, that he was a born Pabu, which was quite frightening.

SMTM performances can invite artists to collaborate, but this depends on the company's background and network. The production team won't help you invite big-name artists. Starship Entertainment has Sistar, which is great. AOMG's network is also not bad, but YG has a greater advantage.

"Fine, fine, you can have the chance to work with Hyorin Noona." After saying that, Lin Qianqiao quickly pushed off the ground and moved away from the person.

Hearing the words of deference, Zhou Xian became displeased and, watching Lin Qianqiao walk away, muttered loudly, "What do you mean by giving it to me? I was the one who thought of it first."

"Bullshit, Hyorin Noona told me she would feature me when she met me at the company. Who do you think you are?" Upon hearing this, Lin Qianqiao revealed that he was Hyorin Noona's favorite MONSTAX member. His confident rebuttal made Zhou Xian's eyes widen instantly, his face full of disbelief.

He then glared at Lin Qianqiao through gritted teeth, his face flushed red, veins bulging on his forehead, and his lips trembling as he said, "I don't believe it!"

"Believe it or not, I'm Hyorin Noona's first choice, the number one. You're barely number two..." Zhou Xian's defenses were too easy to break through. Lin Qianqiao pouted, "Otherwise, you can go ask Hyorin Noona."

"Hahaha, now you know you're chickening out, aren't you? Feeling guilty? You even made me ask you, just because you thought I wouldn't dare?" Zhou Xian's retort was full of cowardly and guilty smiles, so forced.

"Zhou Xianxi knows he's a coward, huh? If you don't dare to invite Hyorin Noona, I can help you make the contact." Without thinking, Lin Qianqiao plunged a knife into Zhou Xian's chest, and then felt very pleased to see his miserable state.

"Bullshit! I definitely dare to..."

"Heh...you trusted me too much."

In any case, Zhou Xian had never won a battle between the two, so this confrontation naturally ended with Lin Qianqiao emerging victorious.

After a brief bickering, Zhou Xian still asked Lin Qianqiao the question that had been bothering him, "Are you really not going to collaborate with celebrities on stage? Collaborating with famous artists can be very helpful in getting votes, even though your popularity right now..."

Zhou Xian sounded a little sour at this point, and pursed his lips, "Even if you're very popular right now, you still have a better chance of winning against Basick, given his popularity."

"What you said is actually quite right. Collaborative performances are very helpful in garnering votes and greatly increase the chances of winning, but there's one thing worth mentioning..."

Lin Qianqiao pondered for a moment and said, "The winning team is different. After all, it's not a do-or-die game, and there's still a performance stage for them to turn the tide."

Since the losers' bracket only has one stage left, a collaboration stage is inevitable, giving the winners' bracket more options.

"Damn, so that's how it is. I was wondering why the company and AOMG didn't help you contact popular artists outside. I thought they weren't paying attention to you." Hearing this explanation, Zhou Xian obviously realized what was going on and nodded as if he had just understood.

"Come on, you just can't understand this logic."

Lin Qianqiao shrugged and added, seeing Zhou Xian's popularity gradually rising, "So, right now it's more about testing each other's true strength and popularity. I might be happier if Basick invites an artist to collaborate. He lost his amazing hook feature in the top six, so even if he invites another artist in the next top four, it's easy to lose that feeling. I'm planning to keep the stage I collaborated on for later use."

If you know Tendou Souji, it will be easy to understand.

After all, when you get your hands on an insect device, who wouldn't be eager to experience the "Cast Off!" explosion and lightning speed first?

Only the "Pretentious King" used his initial form to fight the monster insects to determine his current strength before revealing a little of his true abilities.

Similarly, Knight Takumi would do the same.

"Tsk, you guys are overthinking things. Does that mean Basick won't be inviting anyone to perform on stage either?"

"Do you think Brand New, with its connections in the industry, would lack these things?"

"We definitely don't need it."

"It's good that you know."

After all, with a group of contestants already here, each mentor group has its own strategy, and they naturally have to play their cards carefully.

The current situation is mainly due to the problematic format of SMTM. In order to protect the four mentor groups so that they can enter the performance stage, the mentor groups are actually allowed to target their own members first, which is truly astonishing.

To be honest, if the music streaming task were turned into a competition, and the stage were absolutely top-notch.

Even after the competition, the worst-performing mentor groups will still have some left, which they can then use for the public performance.

They always end up making things look really bad, like YG's music streaming task is an example.

The so-called group audio task is the same as the surprise task with Snoopy during the recording of the fourth episode. It is a performance of catching the microphone and cooperating. YG performed the same way as last time, which was that there was no coordination at all. Some people even tried to grab the microphone and recreate a famous scene.

There's a champion who seems to care about the big picture, and he wants to incorporate the senior-junior relationship from the Korean Peninsula society into the team, hoping to use his status as the big brother to suppress the others and make them obey him.

However, this guy has neither strength nor fame, but he's the oldest and all he does is talk big. It's no wonder no one wants to pay attention to him.

In the end, the team split into two groups, neither of which would submit to the other, nor could they be of one mind, nor would they serve as a supporting role for the other.

The whole team simply gave up on the idea, with each person choosing a section that suited them to rap, and no one trying to cut into anyone else's part. In the end, they just rapped and performed on their own, leaving the problem back to the mentors.

By the time the mentors realized what had happened, it was too late to salvage the situation.

This caused the atmosphere in the lounge to plummet to freezing point, with everyone blatantly ignoring each other.

In fact, no one was willing to back down on this matter. If they admitted it, they would have to play a supporting role. Whoever was willing could do it. Anyway, neither side was willing to do it, which led to a serious sense of disconnect in the group performance.

The team is full of internal strife and has no intention of fighting against others, so it loses a lot of competitiveness. Everyone is just bragging about dissing the fierce and putting on an amazing typhoon performance.

There are very few actually adrenaline-pumping scenes; there's no real passion, but the stench is definitely there.

The show relies on the production team's self-righteous and malicious editing to increase conflict, like children playing house.

……