After the first competition round of 'Kingdom' aired, netizens gathered on various online communities to discuss the unfairness and difference between the quality of stage sets.

One netizen pointed out that the stage set quality difference between groups can be clearly seen and stated that only three teams from the show were informed they could use a budget above 5 million KRW (~$4,477.90) for the set design. The netizen who created the post criticized the show for showing unfairness to the groups competing on the show.

In fact, certain groups adorned the stage that was decorated with various props such as styrofoam sculptures, while other groups appeared on the stage with just simple panels behind. Some groups even performed on a bare stage with no set design.

Netizens joined the online community discussion and shared their thoughts on the matter, and expressed their anger toward the show. Netizens commented, "What's with Mnet," "This is clearly intentional," "This is nothing less than what is expected from Mnet," "I can't believe they forgot to tell three out of the six teams. It's not like there are 100 teams," "This is so unfair," "What's wrong with Mnet, they're so bad," "Wow, you can so see the difference," "This is so unfair for the other teams," "I would have complained so much if I were their manager," "How can they forget to tell three out of only six teams?" "Wow, the difference is too much," and "This is wrong."