"Team kill mission? Doesn't that sound a bit brutal?"

"I can't believe they named this mission after a literal crime."

"I'm curious what it means, though."

"Team kill—a term frequently used during online games when one teammate kills another teammate. This may be accidental or deliberate; however, they both entail the same thing—killing the one who trusted you the most," June read the dramatic opening statement that the production crew had prepared.

Mei's eyes narrowed in suspicion when she finally realized what was going on.

"For this round, you aren't going to choose your rival groups," June finally revealed.

"Instead, your rivals are the people within your own group," he said.

The girls erupted into erratic whispers, not expecting the twist that Azure had incorporated in their very first live mission!

Unskilled members felt like they were at a loss, while skilled members internally rejoiced. Heemin appeared composed. However, she was grinning from deep within.

She knew that no one in her team would be able to surpass her in terms of talent and popularity, so everything was working in her favor.

Meanwhile, Mina froze after she heard the announcement. She knew that Azure had a lot of tricks up their sleeves, but they just took it up a notch with the unexpected twist.

She looked at her teammates and knew that they already had fandoms of their own, some bigger and some smaller than others.

Just then, Heemin raised her hand, so June gestured for her to speak.

"Do we have the privilege to choose our teammates within the team, too?" she asked.

The others disagreed with her question, saying that it was unfair. So, when June shook his head, they all sighed in relief.

Meanwhile, Heemin merely smiled gratefully. For her, it didn't really matter who her teammates were. She just knew that she would be able to carry them to victory.

"That will not be the case," June responded.

"In fact, your representatives already made the choice when they called out your names," he continued.

Mina's frown deepened. She glanced to her side once more, where Mei was seen with her signature calm expression.

"The first four trainees would team up with the people who formed their teams. That means that the remaining five trainees will automatically become a team."

Once again, some groaned in disappointment while others were extremely happy.

A small smile appeared on Mina's lips as she looked at her teammates. She didn't regret choosing them first since they were popular yet also talented.

"Aww," Ara said by her side as she reached her hand to Mei. "We'd be competing with each other!"

Mei merely smiled before shaking her head.

That was when Mina's smile fell. However, she quickly smiled again as her members already huddled to talk about their strategy.

Meanwhile, the remaining five trainees looked at each other warily, knowing that they were the lesser-talented bunch in the group of ten.

Yeri, who was the most experienced of them all, cleared her throat.

"Don't be discouraged," she said. "Mentor June is still not finished with his announcement."

The other girls nodded, albeit a bit hesitantly, before focusing their gazes on the stage once again.

"However, it doesn't end with that," June continued.

"While it is true that your team is going to be divided into subteams, it still doesn't take away the fact that you guys are a team. There would only be one performance, but you have to make some adjustments to make it look like you're a separate team while still maintaining the cohesiveness of the performance."

Ara held onto her head, suddenly feeling dizzy.

"Goodness," she muttered. "Those were a lot of words."

"In short," June smiled, causing Ara to sigh in relief.

"You guys have to perform as a whole team while showcasing the edges of your subteams," he concluded.

"At the end of each performance, the live audience will vote for their favorite subteam. Each winning subteam will gain 50,000 stars, which will be added directly to your corresponding votes on the next elimination."

"50,000 stars? That's huge!"

"That's a small amount compared to the votes that they had last season. Zeth even went as high as more than a million during the first elimination."

"Still, 50,000 stars is a lot for people like us. It could make or break our participation in the show."

"Moreover," June continued. "After all of the performances are over, the audience will vote for the team they like the best out of all the ten performances! The one with the highest votes will get a whopping 100,000 stars."

The girls were now more intrigued. It seemed like they were all greedy for the team benefit. However, some of them felt that it would be hard to achieve, especially with Heemin's team.

So, in the end, most of them focused on their subteam performance.

"Now," June said. "Are you ready to begin your second mission?" he excitedly asked.

June was actually getting tired since he had a long shoot yesterday, but he was doing a damn good job acting as if he was excited.

"Yes, mentor!" the girls exclaimed.

"Good," June smiled. "For now, you can distribute lines within your teams and prepare a concept or outline for your performances."

"Tomorrow, the mentors will visit your respective practice rooms to evaluate and guide your performances," he said.

The trainees murmured both excitedly and worriedly.

"Thank you for your time, ladies. Please carry on with the shoot without me."

With that, June finally placed the microphone on the ground while the ladies went to their respective areas.

June was supposed to leave the stage, but it seemed like his feet were anchored to the ground.

He couldn't help but let his eyes linger on Mei. He could already see their team dividing themselves, with Mei's team in an undeniably-awkward atmosphere.

June sighed and shook his head.

"Maybe this is for the better," June muttered. "Going against Mina would make her shine less. Although, I'm afraid she'll have a harder time."

With that, he finally left the stage.

However, just as he walked down the small stairs, Fu appeared before him.

[Congratulations! You have stepped on a lucky mission.]

[Brotherly love is the best love!]

June paused and shook his head at his perfect timing once again.

[Help your sister win the mission.]

[Succeed and have the chance to upgrade one skill by one grade!]

[Fail and have all skills reduce by one grade.]

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