From Skid Row to Superstardom: An Idol System Novel-Chapter 94: Meet The Boys (2)

Grace Choi watched the 3-hour episode with interest, laughing throughout as she watched the shenanigans of the 100 contestants as they tried to make it through the maze within the specified time limit.

The production team did a good job of capturing interesting scenes of the contestants going through the maze and combining them with their audition and showcase performances, and just by watching the clips, Grace easily learned the names of the contestants she didn’t really know and knew a few things about their personalities as they tried to achieve the goal set by the production team.

The score of contestants vs production match overwhelmingly went to the production team since most contestants failed to get through the maze in time, but the scenes of them performing the prompts from the screens, as well as the interactions when groups found each other, tried to decide a path, or panicked while trying to escape the maze, were entertaining.

One of the group escapes that received the most screen time was William Forbes, who almost perfectly navigated the Maze and perfectly completed all the prompts with his group of five people without meeting anybody else.

While he escaped within the given time limit, Grace found it a bit boring, especially because it was so long and there was no real chemistry between him and the people with him.

It was just five long minutes of seeing their profiles and watching William Forbes give instructions to his group.

After that dull point, the fun picked up again, and Grace found herself rooting for the contestants who tried to sabotage the production team by winning while breaking the rules.

Hearing the panicked screams of despair as the staff members tried to contain the cheating contestants, chased after them, or dashed to report it to the PDs before sighing in defeat as the contestants made it out in time, made her really root for those contestants.

She particularly liked Daniel Kim, a Korean participant who, after being allowed to use the restroom by randomly complaining, climbed the walls of a narrow hallway and stuck to the ceiling as if he were a spy until the staff member left, before sneaking like a ninja through the staff pathways to finish the maze in time.

There was also a Brazilian contestant with luscious long hair who somehow sprinted through the whole maze, contorting his body through any gaps he found and eventually making it to the maze exit.

Throughout the whole thing, his long, luscious hair never looked tangled or messed up, and she hoped he would someday share his haircare routine.

Another contestant she liked was the sole British competitor who seemed to be able to charm any staff member with his easy smile as he strolled through the maze as if it were his own backyard. fгee𝑤ebɳoveɭ.cøm

There was also a really tall boy who just body-slammed the doors until they opened before strolling to the end, and another boy who got so lost that he lay on the ground until the production team came and retrieved him.

As the video was nearing its end, she wondered when Ari’s maze video would show up since she still hadn’t seen him appear even once throughout the whole thing.

Finally, with 10 minutes left of the episode, he finally appeared.

The scene started with the three boys, Ari, James, and Carlos jumping off the maze walls to the surprise of the camera crew, who had been looking expectantly at the exit door of the maze.

It was the exact image that was displayed on the thumbnail.

"How the heck did he get up there?" Grace muttered as she stared at the image.

She had assumed that the maze background and angle had been photo-shopped for dramatic effect, but it seemed that the three boys had actually climbed up the tall maze walls and jumped down.

Curious about how it happened, she rewound the clip, watching as the three of them jumped down once more.

Before the three boys hit the ground, the image froze as a profile picture suddenly appeared.

It was a picture of Carlos with his hair slicked back except for one perfect piece that curled over his face.

Grace sighed happily as she read his profile information, enjoying the look his slightly sharp yet handsome appearance contrasted with his large, brown, beautiful eyes framed by thick, dark lashes.

- Carlos

- Nationality: American, Peruvian, Mexican

- Age 21

- Hair color: Black (natural)

- Eyes: Brown (natural)

- Height: 6ft (184 cm)

- Position: Vocals

- Favorite Food: Lomo Saltado, Pollo a la Brasa, Tamales

- Likes: Motorcycle

- Dislikes: N/A

When the last bullet point for Carlos appeared, the entire clip of him singing a hymn for his audition video was shown, and Grace genuinely got goosebumps on her arms as she heard him continually spit out high notes as if it were as easy as breathing.

Even though they didn’t show any clips of Carlos dancing, his vocals were so good that she would have placed him in the debut group even if he was a terrible dancer, because it would be a shame to miss out on angelic vocals like he had.

Especially when combined with his bad boy image, the gap was the exact taste that Grace liked.

The profile picture then faded away as the video of the three boys jumping down was rewound all the way to when Carlos entered the maze.

He was entirely by himself and made it through several stops in the maze, performing the requests displayed on the LED screen before he got lost and stuck at a door that required three people to perform for it to open.

As Carlos’ timer ran down while two different groups passed him, the camera that was looking down at him suddenly swiveled and turned to capture a tall blonde boy wearing a cowboy hat and a shorter boy wearing a brown tracksuit and a strange green mask standing at a crossroads.

It was clearly Jamie and Ari.

While looking around, Ari suddenly pulled Jamie close to point and smile up at the camera before his bright green eyes followed the camera as it swiveled to a different area.

His sea-green eyes immediately lit up as he followed it, walking to the maze wall before him.

He began speaking to the person on the other side of the wall before suddenly running back and slamming his body repeatedly against the green maze wall like a crazy person.

As Jamie looked at him in concern, Ari told him something that Jamie originally disagreed with before finally caving in.

Sensing that this was the moment, Grace paid even more attention as Jamie cupped his two hands together, allowing Ari to step on it before throwing the boy high up against the wall.

The first three times, Ari missed the top, getting easily caught by Jamie before finally catching it and pulling himself up and over.

Then Grace watched as Jamie gauged the height by jumping as high as he could, slamming his hand against the wall.

Seeing that his reach was close to the top, the blonde boy backed up before running at full speed and leaping into the air.

Both his hands solidly grabbed the top of the wall and easily pulled himself up with an excited grin on his face as he said something to Ari, who held up a blurred hand.

As Jamie squatted on top of the wall while looking down at Carlos’s surprised face, the image froze as Jamie’s profile appeared.

- James (Jamie)

- Nationality: American

- Age 19

- Hair color: Blonde (natural)

- Eyes: Blue (natural)

- Height: 6’2 ft (189 cm)

- Position: Vocals

- Favorite Food: Nashville BBQ & Hot Chicken

- Likes: All Music

- Dislikes: Farm Work