+EPISODE THREE+
❛ ❲ to the top ❳ ❜

The camera zooms into Somi, she's standing on the stage with a spotlight that shines above her

❛ SOMI ❲ n. representative ❳
Hello national producers, welcome back to the show!

Somi smiles at the camera, politely waving at the camera before beginning to speak again

❛ SOMI ❲ n. representative ❳
Eliminations once again are occurring; it's both exciting and worrying to see who may continue on the show and rank high! The debut lineup will be announced this episode, but the celebration will be continued and showcased in our fourth and final episode, so continue watching!

Somi says, a smile still on her face as she says it

❛ SOMI ❲ n. representative ❳
Let's not wait any longer! Now, let's start announcing the official rankings for Project Astrea!

The camera transitions and shows a stage with many seats, the seats are all in a pyramid position, it goes from 1st place at the top to 8th place, there are no seats for 9th to 19th place

The camera moves to focus on Somi, who is now seen walking towards the chairs, standing beside them all, before raising her mic and beginning to speak

❛ SOMI ❲ n. representative ❳
Hello national producers! This will be a stressful time for both you and the participants. We get closer and closer to the final lineup as time goes by...

❛ SOMI ❲ n. representative ❳
But at least all nineteen girls were able to see themselves shine on stage and improve while participating in the show! For these announcements, the remaining debuting participants will remain seated until the eliminated contestants say all their goodbye speeches!

The camera pans to show all nineteen girls sitting on the opposite side of the stage, facing the pyramid seating, before spinning back to Somi, who now holds a paper with a list on it

❛ SOMI ❲ n. representative ❳
I'll start by announcing the rankings from nineteenth to ninth; we'll save the official ranking of the debuting members for the next episode!

Somi says neutrally, sad for the eliminated trainees yet happy for the debuting ones, the girls waiting stare nervously as they await their rankings

❛ SOMI ❲ n. representative ❳
Starting with nineteenth place... Lee LJ with 1,670,357 points!

LJ gets up sadly, a small frown as she stays where she's at, Somi hands her the microphone for her to say her goodbye speech

❛ LEE LJ ❲ 19th ❳
I thank each and every one of you for being here and supporting me through my dream. I thank everyone for this wonderful and amazing journey through Project Astrea. This project gave me the ability to be myself and be confident. It was amazing trying to reach my dream. I love you all and hope y'all do your best! Thank you.

Somi sadly nods and takes the microphone back, the remaining eighteen girls waiting for their ranks to be announced seem to get nervous and sad because of it

❛ SOMI ❲ n. representative ❳
The person who ranked eighteenth is... Bae Yunjin with 1,699,355 points!

The girl shakes her head in dissatisfaction as she takes the microphone from Somi with a disappointed frown

❛ BAE YUNJIN ❲ 18th ❳
Well, this hurts, but I'll never stop trying because, as you all know, that ain't me. But you know, there comes a point in life where you feel like giving up, and y'know, sometimes I feel like I should stop trying, but I know you guys wouldn't want that, so I won't ever stop trying!

The remaining seventeen unranked girls stare nervously as Somi takes the microphone back from the sad girl and begins to speak again

❛ SOMI ❲ n. representative ❳
The person who ranked seventeenth is... Hashimoto Koyuki with 1,890,853 points!

Koyuki smiles bittersweetly as she politely takes the microphone from Somi and begins her speech

❛ HASHIMOTO KOYUKI ❲ 17th ❳
This is definitely not the end for me. I will keep trying! Keep your eyes open, but until then, thank you!

Somi goes silent once Koyuki's speech is done before taking the microphone and raising it again to speak

❛ SOMI ❲ n. representative ❳
The person who ranked sixteenth is... Beom Minji with 1,899,914 points!

Minji sadly nods at the result as she takes the microphone from Somi

❛ BEOM MINJI ❲ 16th ❳
Oh, that's really sad, actually. I really put a lot of effort into what I did, and I hope at least a few people noticed. That's all I ask. Thank you for the opportunity to be on this show, and I guess this is goodbye.

Somi takes the microphone back, giving a small supportive smile to the sad girl before speaking once more

❛ SOMI ❲ n. representative ❳
The person who ranked fifteenth is... Byun Sena with 1,979,378 points!

When Somi says Sena's name, she immediately tears up and fans her eyes to keep the tears from falling, she still manages to take the microphone from Somi though

❛ BYUN SENA ❲ 15th ❳
Thank you to anyone who supported me. I truly love you all for believing in me. Until next time, make sure you keep living life the way you want to.

The remaining unranked girls begin to slightly shuffle from where they are. Everyone wants to debut, but now getting within the top eight seems like a hard task as they intently listen to what Somi's next announcement will be

❛ SOMI ❲ n. representative ❳
The person who ranked fourteenth is... Park Haneul with 2,008,384 points!

As Somi says that, Haneul seems shocked before she shyly nods and takes the microphone from Somi

❛ PARK HANEUL ❲ 14th ❳
This has been an incredibly wonderful journey. Project Astrea gave me the ability to learn and grow, so even though I got eliminated, it was still one of the best things I've ever participated in. The thing I'm definitely going to miss is all the amazing people here. It was so nice getting to know you and training with you. I love you all, and I wish you good luck. Thank you!

Somi takes the microphone and begins to scan over her paper of rankings before preparing to speak again

❛ SOMI ❲ n. representative ❳
The person who ranked thirteenth is... Seong Kyungmi with 2,235,800 points!

Kyungmi shyly smiles at her placement, seemingly happy at getting so far as she takes the microphone

❛ SEONG KYUNGMI ❲ 13th ❳
Ah. This is... wow. I didn't expect to leave. The time I've spent here seems so short. But it was a good time nonetheless. I'll always look back on my photos and think about the good memories. I guess I'll see what the future holds. Goodbye everyone!

Somi gently takes the microphone from her, Somi seems sad from all the eliminated trainees and their reactions before she announces the next rank placement

❛ SOMI ❲ n. representative ❳
The person who ranked twelfth is... Byun Boeun with 2,398,784 points!

Boeun smiles, somewhat satisfied with the results as she takes the microphone and speaks

❛ BYUN BOEUN ❲ 12th ❳
Thank you everyone for helping me get this far into my journey of reaching my dreams. I'm sorry for letting you down, but I promise this isn't the end! I will always be thankful for this opportunity and look back on my time here with a smile. Thank you to all the other girls and mentors who have supported me and helped me grow. I will always remember you and will continue to cheer you on! Please continue to support me. I'm sorry, and I promise to do better next time...

Somi grabs the microphone politely from the girl to announce the next rank

❛ SOMI ❲ n. representative ❳
The person who ranked eleventh is... Park Eunhye with 2,582,076 points!

Eunhye nods at the results as she takes the microphone from Somi

❛ PARK EUNHYE ❲ 11th ❳
What I know is that it won't be the last you hear from me, I will keep on dreaming and you will definitely hear from me. Thanks to you all, thanks to Project Astrea I'm able to keep on going with my dream. I know it might be the end of my journey here, I'm super grateful for it more than you know but I will keep on working hard for all of the people that supported me and gave me their love. To the remaining trainees, much love to you all.

Somi seems to get tired of the repetitive phrases but tries not to show it as she takes the microphone and begins to repeat the same words again

❛ SOMI ❲ n. representative ❳
The person who ranked tenth is... Amelia Kim with 2,699,736 points!

Amelia tries to smile, but her watery eyes betray her sadness as she takes the microphone quietly

❛ AMELIA KIM ❲ 10th ❳
Thank you to those who rooted for me. Maybe I didn't meet your expectations; that's sad to think of. I made friends with most of these girls here, but it's time to leave. I'll make sure to train myself harder and debut so I can meet these girls again. Thank you!

Somi nods at the speech as she takes the microphone back

❛ SOMI ❲ n. representative ❳
The person who ranked ninth is... Bae Eunhwa with 2,899,357 points!

Eunhwa hides her face behind her hands for a second to wipe her tears off her face from disappointment, she still takes the microphone but she's obviously sad over not debuting

❛ BAE EUNHWA ❲ 9th ❳
I'm very disappointed, actually, but I try my best not to get sad about it. It's okay; there'll be another chance for me. Thank you to everyone who has supported me until now. I can't do this without you all. Please keep supporting me in the future. Again, thank you so much, and I love you all. Bye-bye!

Somi softly nods her head at the girl, a frown on Somi's face as she takes the microphone

The remaining girls who haven't had their rank announced seem to happily look between one another, realizing they'll debut together, yet at the same time, a few of them look at their friends who haven't debuted and seem to frown or tear up over the circumstances

❛ SOMI ❲ n. representative ❳
Now, it's sad to see these talented young ladies go. I imagine they'll all be successful in their own path, and please keep a close eye on them all after the show and give them support!

❛ SOMI ❲ n. representative ❳
Now, this episode will come to an end. Our final episode will feature a celebration for the debuting trainees!

Somi says, smiling at the camera and to the debuting girls who're excited over the fact they'll be in a girl group together

❛ SOMI ❲ n. representative ❳
Please stay tuned for our next episode! Let's all celebrate the participants who performed as trainees and see the final rankings of our debuting members! Goodbye!

The crowd watching the show erupts into many loud noises, the camera eventually begins to fade to black as the episode comes to an end

A/N

Hey there... surprise update? Sorry for taking so long on this; it's been in my drafts for months now since I was really unmotivated by this story as a whole. I rushed this, and I'm sorry if your trainee got eliminated. I wanted this story done honestly.
I have a continued story for Astrea that I wanted to publish that only involves the debuting lineup of Astrea, so I rushed this chapter and eliminated more trainees than necessary. There's still one more chapter to publish in this book, and it'll be done! There's also a continued book for Astrea that'll showcase their albums and maybe a few moments between the members as they navigate the idol scene, but otherwise, I want Astrea to have an end, and I want to complete it. I hope those that are still active will still take the chance to read through it all, and thank you so much for reading and/or participating in this applyfic!