Chapter 27

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Translated by Sylph

Read it only at Novelbyu.com & Utoon.net

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I brought up the achievement completion popup that I had turned off.

[Call of Fame!]
50,000 people remembered your existence!
: Rare Trait Draw ☜ Click!

Since it appeared after the 1st episode aired, it was a popup from several weeks ago.

‘I unintentionally held on to it for a long time.’

In fact, not long after the 3rd episode aired, I also achieved the 100,000 people achievement, which gave points as a reward.

So, my current status window was like this.

[Name: Park Moondae (Ryu Gunwoo)]
Level: 12
Title: None
Vocal: A
Dance: C+
Appearance: B+
Talent: C
Traits: Infinite Potential, Now that I hear it, you’re right (C), Look at Me! (D)
!Status Abnormality: Debut or Die
Remaining Points: 1

For reference, the practice points obtained while conducting the team match had already been distributed to Vocal and Dance before the team stage.

Ah, wasn’t it a waste not to put just one more point into the Appearance stat to enter the A range? Especially since there was one point left.

Of course, it was a waste.

‘But… unlike other stats, if Appearance changes rapidly, it is suspected as the help of medicine rather than growth.’

This was especially true if it was a change at the level of the alphabet changing.

Let’s say I rationalized raising it from C+ to B- at the beginning as being thanks to receiving management while preparing for the broadcast. There was no excuse for raising it from B- to A- right away.

Even raising it from B- to B+ was in a state where I had barely made an excuse with a period of one month and a change in hairstyle.

‘Well… I was thinking of strengthening the dog image anyway, so it was good for both.’

Looking at the search rankings, it seemed that Golden Retrievers were the trend among dog breeds these days, so it would be even better if they associated me with that.

Well, the digression has become long. Let’s quickly proceed with the trait draw from the popup.

‘I hope something useful comes out.’

In the new popup, the roulette machine, which had now become familiar, spun around and then stopped. It was a bronze slot.

The silver slot, which looked high-grade, didn’t hit this time either. Just as I was about to think it was a shame, the name of the trait was visible.

[Trait: ‘Look at Me! (D)’ Acquired!]
People pay slightly more attention to your actions.

‘……?’

Why did this come out again?

The popup didn’t stop there and brought up a new phrase.

[Duplicate Trait Confirmed!]
Would you like to synthesize ‘Look at Me (D)’?

“…….”

This was… wasn’t it the ‘Strengthening with the same item’ that commonly appeared in mass-produced trash games?

I couldn’t know where this system popped out from and why it was in this form.

‘Once I debut and avoid sudden death… I should look into it a bit.’

Anyway, since there were no other options, I tried synthesizing.

[Synthesis Success!]
‘I Want to Be Center (C)’ Acquired!
People pay quite a bit of attention to your actions.
– When activated, ‘Talent’ stat increases by one stage.

“…!”

The name was terrible, but the content was impressive.

I welcomed it if it raised my stats. It was a trait that felt like a white elephant, but it felt like it had been brought back to life.

But the ‘Talent’ stat. A truly subtle stat was raised.

To put it vulgarly, it’s the ability not to have a gap in front of the camera, and to put it simply… well, I think it’s star quality.

Coincidentally, the participant with the highest Talent stat was right next to me.

“Like this! The teams have been decided~”

“Uwaaaaa!”

As the team member recruitment was all finished, the MC’s hosting comments were heard.

I also responded appropriately with applause and secretly checked Cha Yujin’s status window.

[Name: Cha Yujin]
Vocal: C+ (B+)
(Rap: B)
Dance: A+ (S+)
Appearance: A (S)
Talent: A+ (EX)
Trait: Black Hole (A)

It was a terrifying status window even when looking at it again.

The triple A-stat was a value that made me think that this kind of guy was indeed an idol.

In particular, for the Talent stat, both the current state and potential of Cha Yujin were the highest among the participants.

Since it was even higher than the judge Youngrin, it meant that it was higher than most current idols.

And one of the lowest stats in my current status window was ‘Talent,’ which just received a correction.

It would be good if I could get a hint while doing this team match about which one would be better to raise first between Dance and Talent.

“Now, everyone, for now, you just need to exchange greetings with your team members! Once the greetings are over, I will immediately introduce the 2nd team match!”

The problem was that the situation itself was questionable whether the team match would end well.

I looked around at the faces of the team members who were sitting together obediently according to the MC’s words and thought silently.

‘Whatever kind of mess happens, let’s not be the one to mess it up.’

* * *

“Ah, I look forward to working with you.”

Ryu Chungwoo, who took the leader position after suppressing the subtle power struggle of other participants, smiled and greeted the team members.

Everyone clapped their hands, but the tension underlying it was felt openly.

‘This… it seems it will be caught even without editing.’

The production team caught such a competitive spirit remarkably well.

“Have you finished exchanging greetings?”

“Yes!”

“Ah, it’s good to see such a heartwarming appearance~ Then, shall we announce the 2nd team match task?”

“Uaaaa!”

Even when the participants clamored at the MC’s words, the participants of this team were in an attitude of maintaining their dignity relatively well.

‘It’s exactly that feeling of playing it safe when you become part of the same group with students from other departments in a general education class.’

Anyway, it wasn’t a problem I could solve, so let’s leave it and focus on the MC’s words.

“There is a content that has been doing consistently for the 2nd team match~ Do you know what it is? Ah! You’re right. It’s exactly the project!”

They were doing that again this season as well.

“It’s the one that was receiving votes among those 50 songs on the homepage, right?”

“Yeah.”

People whispered around. Since other participants already knew, they were only doing conventional reactions.

“Masterpieces that unfortunately didn’t see the light of day for various reasons! It’s a project to re-interpret them in and show them to the public once more. This year as well, our shareholders have selected various idol masterpieces!”

To put it bluntly, they didn’t get popular, but since the songs were okay, they meant they would remake them and use them like their own songs.

‘Since the composition fee will also be saved, there’s no other creative economy like this.’

While I was admiring the production team’s amazing cost-cutting ability, someone suddenly talked to me from the side.

Surprisingly, it was Lee Sejin.

“…Is there a song you want to do?”

“Hmm?”

Even though the person who talked looked like he regretted it, anyway, a question was a question, so I answered.

“I hope it’s a song that’s somewhat addictive.”

It meant that I didn’t want to do a song that didn’t even have public appeal when it was already a song with low recognition.

“What about you, hyung?”

“I… wish we could do .”

It was a good selection. is a title song from a famous idol’s unknown period, just like SoftSweet’s debut song that we did in the last team.

I had actually seen the stage, and I remember that the concept was strong and the melody was addictive.

“That song is good. I think it would be good to make into a stage as well.”

“……Right.”

Lee Sejin nodded and agreed.

Just when I thought he had finally started to look after his social skills, Cha Yujin suddenly cut into the conversation.

“I like that song too. ‘Base~ Uh, the ringing heartbeat~’”

“……Ah, yes.”

Lee Sejin shut his mouth tightly with an uncomfortable expression.

‘This guy is like this every time.’

If he was going to be like this, I wanted to ask why he came out here.

Anyway, since there was a camera, it was better for there not to be a gap. Let’s roughly settle it.

“I see. It would be good if we did it this time.”

“Right!”

Cha Yujin agreed brightly with an expression that showed he didn’t have much thought.

‘He doesn’t have tact or context, but he was a positive guy.’

As I was raising my evaluation of him in my own way, the MC finally announced the song selection method.

“On that~ table visible in the front, 7 items are placed!”

Certainly, a table quite far from the participants was visible.

“These items are the belongings of each different ‘Hidden Masterpiece’ original artist~ You can choose one of these belongings through reasoning and intuition!”

“Heok.”

“Ah~ I’m not good at this kind of thing!”

“The method is~ Ah, it’s traditional. It’s running! Leaders, now, please get ready!”

“Running?”

A situation came where Ryu Chungwoo, who was good at sports, could benefit because he was the leader.

Of course, it would be effective only if one could guess the song selection just by looking at the original artist’s items.

However, this kind of approach was possible.

“That pouch! It seems to belong to a woman!”

“The baseball… is he a baseball fan?”

“Oh, it’s a skull pencil. It’s somewhat unique?”

The sounds of whispering here and there were noisy. Everyone seemed to be using their heads in their own way.

Ah, this team reached an agreement in an instant.

“I hope you bring the item that looks the most expensive when checked from a close distance.”

“Hmm, okay!”

It seemed like a reasoning that if it was someone who put out an expensive item in a place like this, there would be a high probability that they were a currently successful celebrity, and it sounded quite plausible just hearing it.

It seemed to be a judgment that considered not only the song selection but also the broadcast screen time.

At those words of Kim Raebin, Ryu Chungwoo also nodded his head in agreement.

Before long, the MC called the leaders again.

[Now, leaders. Are you ready?]

[Yes!]

[Then, now… start!]

The leaders ran violently and flew their hands over the side table.

‘No matter how I look at it, there doesn’t seem to be any leisure to choose anything there.’

Then isn’t this song selection also just luck?

“Good, I got it!”

However, Ryu Chungwoo snatched something and came back with a broadly smiling expression.

And he slid out the item he held with a face full of conviction.

It was a baseball.

“This, it was an autographed ball by Player Ryu Wanbeom!”

“…!!”

“Wow.”

Everyone opened their eyes wide with surprised expressions. Ryu Wanbeom was a famous hitter who had advanced to the Major Leagues.

Cha Yujin asked immediately.

“How do you know?”

“I also watch baseball a bit. So I recognized it immediately.”

Ryu Chungwoo tossed the baseball and caught it while grinning. With that energy of things going well, the tension within the team was temporarily released, and a comfortable atmosphere was created.

But it didn’t last long.

“The owner of the baseball is… Ah, it’s Mr. Lee Chanwoo, the vocalist of the idol band ‘Sun Island’!”

“…??”

Because the owner of the baseball was… a strange mister whom no one knew.

“Who are you?”

None of the team members could return an answer to Cha Yujin’s brain-clear question.

“Uwaaa!”

Right next to them, Choi Wongil’s team was making a fuss out of excitement.

“Hello. I am Jeong Haim, who is active as a movie actress.”

“Uhhh….”

The owner of the pouch chosen by Big Sejin, the leader of that team, was a famous female actress.

Perhaps because of the 1st team match, a strange déjà vu was felt.

I shrugged my shoulders.

‘Well, it could be like this.’

The most important thing anyway was the song.

Of course, if a currently famous celebrity appeared, it was advantageous for securing screen time.

Moreover, it was also an advantage that one could fundamentally block reactions like ‘They’re even taking away the precious song of a poor unknown idol.’

But in the end, it was overwhelmingly beneficial for the song to be good. Because in an audition program, the stage had to be good.

So if we check the song…….

“The song I will entrust to you is… !”

Oh.

Oh……. Just… what to do about this?

“Ah!”

“I know it!”

The other team members let out exclamations.

“Thank goodness it’s a song I know….”

“Sunbaenim, I’m enjoying listening to it!”

Relief overflowed within the team.

They seemed to have regained vitality at the fact that it had some recognition and was a good song.

The original artist also seemed excited at that appearance and introduced the song diligently.

“ is a song released 7 years ago, but it’s still loved as a cheering song even now. Probably those who like baseball have heard the chorus at least once.”

“Ah, I know it well. It’s a wonderful song.”

As Ryu Chungwoo answered affably, the original artist smiled with satisfaction. Cha Yujin opened his eyes wide and asked.

“How is the chorus? I don’t know baseball well!”

As if he had been waiting for that question, the original artist cleared his throat.

“Ah, ahem. ‘Now, stand up~ like that burning sun~’ This is it.”

“Aha. I see.”

“Haha!”

At Cha Yujin’s clumsy grammar, the team members laughed harmoniously.

Creating a heartwarming atmosphere with the original artist looked much better compared to earlier.

The problem was… the outlook was not good.

That’s right. I thought they would put the ‘Two days later’ subtitle after this cut and show the team atmosphere that was destroyed as a preview.

Because that song is a song that doesn’t fit an idol survival at all…….