Chapter 280: Absolute Core vs. Glittering Stars
Time quickly advanced to 4:25 PM. As the final performance before ITZY and IZONE concluded, staff swiftly moved onto the stage to prepare it for the main event.
The drowsy fans and the five members of Jiang Shu also perked up, putting down their phones and stopping their conversations, all looking towards the stage.
As the lights dimmed and staff arranged the stage, pre-recorded footage appeared on the large screen.
ITZY’s songs, accompanied by clips of their music videos, echoed through the studio.
The screen gradually darkened, then a beam of light suddenly illuminated the pitch-black room, revealing Shin Yuna’s figure.
Shin Yuna, with a brilliant smile on her beautiful face, looked at the camera and said, “I was chosen by Chairman Jiang at the audition. At that time, I was completely lost about the future, and I only felt fear and unease about Chairman Jiang’s choice.”
Shin Yuna’s small face was filled with a look of reminiscence.
“Later, on my first day at the company, someone told me that I was a trainee brought by Chairman Jiang, an exclusive trainee destined to debut. This fear and unease grew stronger, but at the same time, the belief in debuting was quietly planted that day. Sometimes I wonder, if I could reach the very top, maybe I could live up to Chairman Jiang’s choice?”
At this point, Shin Yuna faced the camera and showed a big smile.
“We will win!”
【Wow! So Yuna was an exclusive trainee!】
【Chairman Jiang personally brought her to the company. This is an honor, but also pressure. Yuna must have had a tough journey.】
【We will definitely win, ITZY fighting!!!】
The scene switched, and Lee Chaeryeong’s figure appeared in front of the camera.
“Hehe! Ouni was born before me, but debuted after me, so she’s my junior. Today’s glory will be claimed by this senior!” Lee Chaeryeong said with a smile, patting her chest as she looked at the camera.
Next were Choi Ji-soo, Hwang Yeji, and finally, ITZY’s true soul.
Shin Ryujin’s appearance was different from the other members. When Shin Ryujin’s figure appeared on screen, the background was the campus of Seoul Arts High School.
Shin Ryujin, with her profile to the camera, gazed up at the distant school emblem, lost in thought.
After two or three seconds, Shin Ryujin’s voice followed.
“Three years ago, Chairman Jiang invited me here, asking me if I wanted to shine on stage.”
The next second, the scene shifted, and Shin Ryujin’s figure appeared in DM Entertainment’s conference room.
“Two years ago, in this conference room, Chairman Jiang announced in front of me that I would debut as ITZY’s Absolute Core. When I heard this decision, my first reactions were fear and doubt.”
“I doubted whether I, an ordinary trainee, could live up to a term as powerful as ‘Absolute Core’?”
“It was at this moment that Chairman Jiang said something to me that I still remember vividly to this day.”
Shin Ryujin turned her head for the first time, facing the camera directly.
“Youzhen, you weren’t like this when we first met.”
Then, Shin Ryujin’s face showed a smile.
The smile’s arc grew wider and more unrestrained.
It was a smile of confidence.
Looking at the camera, Shin Ryujin extended her right hand and gave a big thumbs-up to herself.
“From ITZY’s initial obscurity to our current dual dominance, we have been climbing all the way. IZONE is an obstacle in front of us, but it will not be our end.”
“So, juniors, please become our stepping stones!”
The screen finally froze on Shin Ryujin’s unrestrained and confident smile.
The girl’s confidence was high-spirited, just as when Jiang Shu first met her.
Looking at Shin Ryujin on the screen, Jiang Shu’s face also subtly showed a look of reminiscence.
This was the Shin Ryujin he wanted to see.
This is our Wangdao Passion ITZY!
【Burning! So burning!!!】
【ITZY’s Absolute Core Shin Ryujin!】
【We have a reason not to lose! ITZY, go for it!!!】
【Juniors, become our stepping stones!!!】
【Bring IZONE here!】
【This is our ITZY! These are our five eternally passionate girls! Go ITZY! Overthrow the great demon king, reach the top!!!】
The live stream’s bullet comments reached their first peak since the show began broadcasting today with Shin Ryujin’s declaration. The number of bullet comments also increased at an astonishing rate. If you opened the live stream’s bullet comments, you would find that the entire screen, like snowflakes, was filled with ITZY fans.
The sudden surge of bullet comments did not affect the MV playback. Soon, IZONE’s MV began.
After the same song playback as ITZY, the screen did not show a single member’s figure like ITZY, but instead…
In the darkness, twelve chairs facing away from the camera appeared. The members sat on the chairs with their backs to the audience.
The next second, the camera switched, and the twelve chairs faced the camera. IZONE’s twelve members, dressed in black women’s suits, sat on the chairs, and a solemn atmosphere instantly permeated the entire screen.
“Exclusive trainees? All of us are.” Kwon Eunbi’s voice followed, and the camera zoomed in on Kwon Eunbi.
After Kwon Eunbi finished speaking, she stood up and took off the necklace around her neck. IZONE’s logo hung on the pendant of the necklace.
“Members come from all over the world. We have different backgrounds, different nationalities, and different cultures, but when we gather together…” Kwon Eunbi squeezed the necklace in her hand.
“The world will focus on us.”
Subsequently, IZONE’s members appeared one by one, speaking their pre-prepared lines.
The camera cut again, and Sakura’s figure appeared.
“I debuted many years ago. In Korea, I am ITZY’s junior, but in the idol industry, I am the senior.” Sakura said this, smiled slightly, and looked at the camera, as if ITZY members’ figures appeared in her eyes.
“Facing IZONE, you are the challengers.”
Finally, Zhang Yuanying’s figure appeared in the camera, and the audience immediately erupted in deafening cheers.
As the absolute twin stars of K-pop, at the current stage where aespa lags far behind IZONE, Zhang Yuanying is the undisputed popularity queen of K-pop.
Sixteen-year-old Zhang Yuanying faced the camera, a perfectly-placed look of confusion appearing on her delicate face as she tilted her head at the camera.
“I was already a K-pop twin star when I was fourteen. Now I’m sixteen, and it’s time to go further.”
The confusion on Zhang Yuanying’s face receded, replaced by a calm yet extremely confident smile.
“The throne of the girl group world has been vacant for too long. Now, the queen of girl groups is coming.”
The camera suddenly zoomed out, and IZONE’s twelve members stood in a circle, looking up at the overhead camera. The screen froze.