From Skid Row to Superstardom: An Idol System Novel-Chapter 112: It’s Your Fault (2)

"I said it’s all your fault! If it hadn’t been for you, I wouldn’t have chosen them as teammates! They’re all terrible!"

Ari: ಠ_ಠ

Ari: "...?"

What kind of nonsense was this boy talking about?

Did I hold you hostage when you were choosing the people you wanted on your team?

How the heck did it become my fault?

Unwilling to take responsibility for something that clearly was not his fault, Ari took a deep breath before replying calmly.

"I think you’re sorely mistaken and under a lot of stress, so I’ll let it slide just this once."

"I’m not! I chose them because of you!"

"...Why in the world would you do that?"

Are you crazy???

Ari kept that part silent.

He truly couldn’t understand Leo’s thought process in the slightest.

Full offense to his previous team members, except Vishal, but it was some of the worst experiences he had, and he was previously homeless.

The fact that he had to become an absolute menace and veritable villain to his past teammates to get them to practice, learn their parts, and participate on time without slacking was a testament to his strong will, and it was something he had no interest in ever doing again.

If he had a choice, he would avoid all of his previous teammates except for Vishal and never team up with them.

So the fact that Leo had specifically chosen his former teammates was crazy to him.

"Because, somehow, your team got the second most popular video even with a terrible leader like you! Of course, I had to choose the people on that team, especially when Benjamin and Jamie snatched up all the good people."

"What makes you think I’m a terrible leader?" Ari asked curiously, although he completely agreed with the term.

He would hate it if he had a leader like himself.

"Why are you acting like you don’t know? Your only talent is that you sing well, and you rub it in your team member’s face at every opportunity!! You took all the good parts of the performance, boss people around, drag them to practice whenever you feel like it, and you don’t listen to anyone or even let them participate in ideas, and to top it off, you go around wearing weird face paint because you think this whole thing is a joke! Everybody saw you dragging people out randomly at lunch or when they were sleeping! You know what people call you behind your back? The crazy alien dictator and Captain Crashout, because you go around picking fights when things go your way!"

At the surprisingly cute insults and the somewhat accurate depiction of himself, Ari burst out laughing while Leo’s face turned a bright red as he realized that he had just said everything out loud.

"Look, I can see you’re having a tough time, but blaming your choice of team members on me is absolutely crazy. Sure, my team performance was top 2, but all you saw was the pretty front view of the performance and my crazy actions, without knowing why I had to do those things to get the results that I did. Regardless, I don’t really care what you think about me, but you need to lock in and take charge of this team. The way things are going, we’re cooked come performance day."

"But they’re terrible! Including you! Everyone is acting selfish, and nobody wants to cooperate!!" Leo shouted out in frustration as he slumped to the ground.

"How am I being selfish? For fighting for and getting the part I wanted without giving in because I knew I was the best person to sing it? Didn’t you do the same for the main rapper position?" Ari bluntly pointed out the duality of his actions, and Leo bit his lip as he looked away.

He wanted to say it was different because he was the leader, but he felt like those sea green eyes were already looking down on him.

Seeing Leo avoid eye contact, Ari snorted, "I’m not a judge, so don’t look like you’re on trial. You were the best for the position, and you got it. Same as me. Do the same for the others on the team so we can stop wasting time having the same conversation every freaking day."

"But half of them are my good friends, and the other half are always arguing, and they all want the same position. I can’t snub my friends, but also.... If it were Rex, he could easily handle this." Leo bit out, and Ari sighed as he looked at the ceiling.

For some reason, he felt like he had been counseling a lot of people lately.

It was tiring, especially since he didn’t consider Leo a friend or even an acquaintance.

He really wanted to leave and let the boy figure it out, but since he really didn’t want to put out a trash performance, he decided to be helpful.

"First of all, you’re not Rex, so let’s start there. I don’t know him, but whatever style you’re trying to imitate is not working for you. This is not a friend project, it’s serious, so forget the fact that they’re your friends and act like a leader."

"But..."

"But what? They’ll think you’re mean? Gasp! Oh no! The horror. I’m sure you’ll be happy to have your friendship when you’re eliminated." Ari rolled his eyes sarcastically before standing up.

Although Leo glared at him, he just adjusted his mask and walked toward the door.

"Wait! Don’t go! Tell me what I should do!"

"I said it earlier. If you want to listen to my advice, go for it; if not, hopefully, everyone, including you, gets a rude awakening when we get evaluated by the judges."

"Then...how can I lead better. Clearly, you were successful in the last round, and it turned out great. Tell me my weak points so I can improve! Don’t hold back."

Seeing the desperate look on the boy’s face, Ari sighed before counting it off on his fingers as he sat by the door.

"You’re a lazy, procrastinating, pushover without a spine." Ari quickly listed out the faults that he noticed in Leo.

As Leo’s face turned red, Ari continued counting it off on his fingers, "You can’t refuse others’ actions because you secretly want to be friends with everyone but also want to do well, and you’re clearly trying to mimic the actions of somebody without the know-how or personality to back it up."

"Wow. Tell me how you really feel." Leo replied in a bitter tone as his eyes watered up and he began sniffing.

"I absolutely will since you asked for it. And don’t you dare cry. If I see a single tear, I’m leaving." Ari replied bluntly, waiting until the sniffing stopped.

"On a more positive note, you’re trying your best to make the team succeed, which is admirable. And even if you can’t make a stand, you won’t put your friends in a position where their skills aren’t enough for the role and won’t cave in even if people yell at you, so you clearly care and are doing your best to replicate the actions of the leader you respect."

As Leo’s eyes lit up at the compliment, Ari brought him back down to earth, "Even if it’s very ineffective."

"Thanks for being honest, I guess." Leo mumbled, "I don’t know how I can fix this team before the evaluation."

"Fix this team before the evaluation?" Ari tilted his head before smiling coldly, "Don’t bother. It’s too late for that, and if we’re going to get scolded regardless, let’s get scolded to the fullest extent so everyone gets a wakeup call. It might be better even to cancel the all-night practice and let everyone rest, at least temporarily."

As Leo’s eyes widened at the strange advice, Ari gave him a cheeky grin, "Rather than trying to fix this broken ship, start building a new one from concept to costumes so we have a good response to the judges after they drag us to hell with their criticism."

"And afterward, heh, if the team members don’t have good ideas or don’t want to cooperate, as the leader, drag them to h*ll, whip them into shape, and grind them down to dust. Ask my previous team, I have no shame and no embarrassment, and I will force everyone to work hard to succeed, even if I have to call you out in front of other people. And as you can see, it worked wonders, so I recommend that method to you. Even if they talk behind your back or call you a crazy alien dictator or Captain Crashout, as long as the results are good and you’re not eliminated, then a win is a win. Of course, make sure you handle yourself so you don’t get evilly edited, but you seem decently liked, so I’m sure you’ll be fine. Probably."

Leo stared at him in silence before muttering, ’Captain Crashout’.

Then, as if he just remembered, he glanced back at Ari before pointing to the hidden camera location that all the contestants had discovered after they watched the first episode, "Should you be openly saying this? What if the PDs are recording?"

"You’re asking me this after you had a full-blown team argument for 30 minutes?" Ari asked with a small laugh as Leo’s face went pale as he remembered his actions.

"Don’t worry, I checked when I first came in; there’s no memory card in the cameras, and the battery is dead."

"Phew-"

"Either way, think about what I said. I’m going to do some research and head to bed, so good luck, Leader." Giving Leo a mock salute, Ari left him sitting thoughtfully.