Chapter 14

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Translated by Sylph

Read it only at Novelbyu.com & Utoon.net

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After the most hectic and hopeful discussion time of the past two days ended, I talked to Seon Ahyun during a short break.

“Are you tired?”

“Ah, no…….”

Seon Ahyun shook his head with a tense face. He seemed nervous that he might be scolded, perhaps because he also thought his own condition was quite bad.

Should I approach him like this? I started the conversation as gently as possible.

“Then is it because you’re worried about the feedback from the choreography check earlier?”

An apology came back immediately.

“……I-I-I’m sorry…. I’ll, I’ll work hard…….”

He’s really like a sunfish. My heart becomes grand.

“It’s not something you should be sorry to me for. And I’m telling you this so you don’t misunderstand.”

Let’s try to gently convey the message that ‘the choreographer has a personality problem and used personal attacks for motivation.’

“The dance trainer didn’t say those things because he really thinks I’m better than you. He probably said them to stimulate you.”

To create a comfortable atmosphere, I sat down near Seon Ahyun as I continued speaking.

“He probably did that because he felt it was a waste since he thought you could do better. He’s originally someone who speaks strongly.”

“…….”

Seon Ahyun couldn’t bring himself to answer, perhaps because he couldn’t even say the nonsense that ‘No, you are better.’ Do you also think my words are plausible?

“D-Do you really think I-I can do w-well……?”

“Hmm?”

Is he asking me?

He probably didn’t calculate that I wouldn’t answer, ‘The choreographer is the choreographer and I don’t think so’… wait, no.

I crossed my arms and replied calmly.

“Why would I lie?”

“……!”

Seon Ahyun swallowed hard, then asked back with a slightly hopeful voice.

“Th-Th-Then… how can I, d-do w-well……”

“…Are you asking for my opinion?”

“Ye-Yes!”

Seon Ahyun nodded vigorously.

‘Are you even asking for advice from a newbie who started his career through an audition?’

I tried to hide my cooling mood and gave a standard answer based on Seon Ahyun’s status window.

“In my opinion, you seem to think too much unnecessarily.”

Seon Ahyun seemed shocked.

“U-U-Unnecessarily…….”

“It’s not that your thoughts are useless. I mean, you seem to think too much even about things you don’t need to. How about emptying your head?”

Let’s add a more specific example.

“Just think something like ‘I’m going to pull this off.’”

“…….”

Seon Ahyun seemed lost in thought. For someone who just received advice to discard his thoughts, it was a truly contradictory reaction.

Anyway, the words that followed were positive.

“O-Okay. I’ll… I’ll try.”

It didn’t seem like empty words since his will was also visible on his face.

But isn’t he burning with more passion than expected? Strength also went into his shoulders.

Furthermore, he was even muttering something or other… it seemed to be something like ‘I’m pulling this off.’

“…….”

Hmm, did I have this much talent for giving advice?

Just as a doubt arose, a status window popup appeared.

[‘Now that I hear it, you’re right (C)’ activated!]
– Target: Seon Ahyun
– Effect: Trait activated by successful persuasion

I see. It seemed that this 35% probability had triggered.

I didn’t know it could be used in this way… it seemed quite useful given the nature of this program. Assuming, of course, that it pierces the 35%.

First, I also opened Seon Ahyun’s status window to check the exact changes.

[Name: Seon Ahyun]
Vocal: B- (A)
Dance: A (EX)
Appearance: A+ (S+)
Talent: B (A+)
Trait: Grit (A)
!Status Abnormality: Lack of Self-Esteem deactivated

The status abnormality was deactivated?

The popup earlier said some trait was activated, could it be because of that?

Let’s check the trait.

[Grit (A): One’s mindset is made by oneself. Burns concentration to suppress negative states.]
– When activated, one status abnormality (highest priority) is offset.

Isn’t this a cheat-level trait?

If I had this trait, I would have already deactivated this ‘status abnormality where I die if I don’t debut’ and quit the audition.

I was so annoyed that my brain wouldn’t work.

I was able to organize the situation calmly only after some time passed and vocal practice resumed.

Anyway, can Seon Ahyun use his skills as they are in that status window now?

Coincidentally, Mudie praised Seon Ahyun’s voice.

“Ahyun-ah, you just made the right sound!”

“Th-Thank you…!”

Even to my ears, it was better than during practice. He would probably gradually produce sounds that match his B- stat.

‘Hmm.’

It was a good thing that Seon Ahyun regained his senses and the quality of the stage increased. However, I shouldn’t let him stand out too much alone.

‘No matter how much our positions don’t overlap, it’ll be troublesome if that guy takes all the buzz by himself.’

I had to create stage screen time where I could appeal for myself.

Something was needed that could contribute to the quality of the stage while at the same time making the impact all mine.

“So, horror? If you guys do it well, I think that direction would be good even in my view. How are you going to do it?”

At Mudie’s question, I raised my hand along with the team members who were chatteringly talking about the direction of the arrangement.

“I have an opinion on my part’s arrangement, would it be okay if I spoke?”

“Oh, Moondae~ where?”

“This part.”

I put my finger on the lyrics sheet.

“The bridge.”

I saw Choi Wongil beside me gaping.

Thanks for the part, Wongil-ah. I’ll use it well.

* * *

Season 3 was burning on the internet, using ridicule and criticism as fuel.

At this point, only the participants’ profiles and their first stage had been revealed. The production presentation hadn’t even been held yet, but a recruitment for the audience for the first team battle had already appeared on Tnet’s broadcasting station website.

It was due to problems with the filming sequence, but anyway, thanks to the overwhelming buzz, there was quite a lot of competition to be selected as an audience member.

And here, there was someone who had proudly come to watch the recording after piercing through that competition rate (27:1)!

‘I won’t get caught, right?’

Now that I see it, she doesn’t seem very proud.

Inside her backpack, a small white lens, which was relatively easy to carry, and a camera were hidden under a cardigan she had draped over as a smoke screen.

There was a certain reason why she specifically hid her camera while coming to watch.

The moment she saw the first stage of this season of Ajusa, , she had an intuition.

This might work!

‘This atmosphere……, clearly they’re being criticized now, but once the broadcast starts, all this could turn into interest. As long as the kids who come out are okay!’

Then the value of the photos taken now would skyrocket!

It was half a gamble. However, the thought that high-growth stocks were originally gambles was dominating her mind. Moreover…….

‘…If there’s someone really good, it’s also good to settle down as a fansite master early on.’

Since her (former) idol was making a dirty entry into the social section of the news and making her lose all affection, she also wanted to take this opportunity to launder her account.

So today, she had to take as many pictures as possible. She didn’t know which participant would explode on which stage.

She calmly waited for the filming to start.

The filming began after the MC, who had transferred from a public broadcast announcer to an actor, came out on stage and delivered a few words of caution.

“This stage is a match between two teams that covered songs of senior idols from the same agency. A huge benefit awaits the winning team. Please check that benefit… on the broadcast!”

The people had agreed to a pledge not to post spoilers until the broadcast.

Still, since there were plenty of people talking on the internet, they seemed to be trying not to reveal anything as much as possible except for the stage.

“Idol Inc. Season 3, the long-awaited first team battle begins now! Shine Your Star!”

After the voting method was announced, the first stage began immediately after checking the stage settings.

The first stage was two teams covering songs by idols from QuZ agency, which was famous for producing popular idols.

‘It’s a bit boring?’

It wasn’t too bad, but it was unavoidable that overall it was worse than the original song.

Even while secretly taking a few cuts, she didn’t have much expectation. What mattered was the team with participants who were mentioned a bit on the internet.

Only after the second team match passed blandly did a team worth watching appear.

The match featuring Cha Yujin, who had the most cuts on the stage, appeared.

“Heol, Cha Yujin!”

“The kids are okay~”

As it was a team with many familiar participants, there was a difference even in the initial appearance cheers. Someone was already seen holding a placard.

Above all, they were good at the stage.

‘Wow, those guys are really good?’

With skill at a level where it would be believable even if they had already debuted, the arrangement was also good.

They had sophisticatedly and cutely digested an old song that was consumed like a top-goal meme on the internet due to its excessive sexy concept.

In addition, not only Cha Yujin but also a participant in charge of rapping from the same agency stood out.

‘Those two will make it.’

She worked hard to leave data centered on the two. While cleverly avoiding the eyes of the security guards wandering around from time to time.

The next team that competed with this team was also interesting in a different sense because there were many participants with recognition.

‘Perhaps this will be organized as the very last one in the broadcast?’

She thought slightly interestingly but felt it was a pity.

Because from the next team onwards, it seemed it wouldn’t be interesting at all.

Since more than half of the participants worth watching were concentrated in the previous team match, it seemed it would be dull from then on.

And as expected, the next stage wasn’t very interesting.

Perhaps it was formed with team members who remained after not being chosen, as only one team was evaluated in an absolute evaluation method, but honestly, I can see why they weren’t chosen.

It was the most miserable stage so far.

“What’s this.”

“My legs hurt.”

There were even people in the back who were starting to sneak out.

Since it was tedious and their legs hurt, they didn’t want to bother watching the later stages.

In that distracted atmosphere, the MC shouted.

“The 1st team battle, which is gradually heating up, this turn is…… participants who covered the song of LeTi, the agency of VTIC, the global trend group that recently won the Grand Prize!”

The MC didn’t even mention ‘SoftSweet’.

It meant it was bait for the audience.

But the effect was great.

“VTIC?”

The audience began to buzz.

VTIC was the hottest male idol currently.

At the words that they covered the song of a Grand Prize idol who sold 1.2 million copies in the first week, even people who were about to leave paused for a moment.

In that atmosphere where some expectation was recovered, the MC shouted cheerfully.

“Then, here is the team that will go on stage first, October 31!”

It was a team name that brought to mind the name of an ice cream shop.

And it wasn’t a name that stuck to the ear at once.

Since it was common for the participants’ own sense to be poor, everyone let the team name flow by without much impression.

‘Never mind that, what VTIC song did they cover?’

“The song the participants covered is…… Ah, these people debuted as Flower Fairies, didn’t they? It’s by the girl group ‘SoftSweet’, who were active as a national girl group!”

“…!?”

People were flustered.