Chapter 14

Chapter 14

After the chaotic and hopeful discussion that concluded the previous two days’ hard work, I tried to make conversation with Ahyeon during a short break.

“Tired?” I asked.

“N-no…” he said, shaking his head nervously. He seemed to be aware that he was coming off as out of sorts and appeared anxious that I was going to tell him off.

So how should I approach this? I began the conversation as gently as possible. “Are you worrying about the feedback you got from the choreographer earlier?”

He suddenly turned to me and began immediately apologizing. “I-I-I’m sorry… I-I’ll work harder…” He was truly emotionally very fragile. I was impressed, though not pleasantly so.

“You don’t need to apologize to me. And I just want to make something clear.” I wanted to tell him, in the gentlest way I possibly could, that the choreographer had a character defect that meant he only knew how to motivate people by using personal insults.

“The dance trainer didn’t say those things because he actually thinks I’m a better dancer. He probably just wanted to motivate you to do your best, that’s all.” I sat down next to him so he would hopefully feel a little more comfortable. “He probably thought you were capable of doing even better than you already are. It’s just how he communicates, you know.”

Ahyeon didn’t reply, apparently not having it in him to say that I was actually a better dancer since it so obviously wasn’t true.

I sound pretty persuasive, huh?

“Y-you really think I-I can do a good job?”

“Huh?” Why is he asking me this? I figured he probably wasn’t calculating enough to know that I would never just turn around and start criticizing him in front of the cameras. I crossed my arms and asked simply, “Why would I lie to you?”

He gulped, tone now slightly hopeful. “I-i-in that case… Can you t-t-tell me how I can do better—”

“You’re asking for my opinion?”

“Y-yeah!” Seon Ahyeon nodded eagerly.

You want advice from me, a total amateur who has no experience working in this field? Hiding my annoyance, I gave it to him straight based on what I could glean from his status window. “I think you just think too much.”

Seon Ahyeon looked deeply shocked at my blunt observation. “Th-th-think too much...”

“I’m not saying that your thoughts are worthless or anything, but you seem to worry a lot about even the unnecessary things. How about you just try and clear your mind?” I needed to be more specific about what I was trying to say. “Just think to yourself, ‘I’m going to do this.’ Nothing else.”

Seon Ahyeon seemed lost in thought. It was pretty contrary to my advice, really, considering I’d just told him to stop thinking so much. Regardless, his response was promising. “O-okay. I-I’ll... try that.” He looked resolved to try at least, so he probably wasn’t lying. It was odd, though, just how enthusiastic he suddenly seemed. Even his posture was different as he muttered under his breath to himself… probably something along the lines of “I can do this.”

Hmm. Am I this good at giving people advice? I was suspicious of his abrupt about-face and as I contemplated it, a pop-up appeared.

[“Words of Persuasion (C)” activated!]

- Target: Seon Ahyeon

- Effect: Trait activated thanks to successful persuasion

I see. Apparently, I’d gotten lucky and the special trait that had a 35% chance of triggering, had kicked in. I didn’t know it would be useful in situations like this… Given that this was an audition show, I figured it could be useful to me, assuming that the slim 35% activation chance didn’t get in the way.

I summoned Seon Ahyeon’s status window to see what had changed.

[Name: Seon Ahyeon]

Singing: B- (A)

Dancing: A (EX)

Physical attractiveness :A+ (S+)

Charm: B (A+)

Trait: Fortitude (A)

Status abnormality: Lack of self-esteem - deactivated

His status abnormality had been deactivated? The pop-up earlier had said that his special trait had been activated. Was that why? I decided to take a look.

[Fortitude (A): Master your own mind. Gather your focus and repress negative thoughts.]

- Counteracts one status abnormality (one with the highest priority) when active.

That special trait is completely nuts. If I had that same trait, I’d have already turned off the status abnormality that threatened to kill me if I didn’t debut and ditched the show. Upset, my brain seemed to just shut down.

Only after some time had passed and vocal practice had already resumed was I able to gather my thoughts. So he’s finally going to show off his real skills?

This time, Mewdy complemented Seon Ahyeon on his voice. “Ahyeon, you sang that part wonderfully!”

“Th-thank you!”

Just listening, even I could tell he was doing far better than during our previous practice sessions. He would probably slowly return to a B- skill level. Hmm. It was a good thing that he has his head back in the game since it would increase the quality of our performance. But I couldn’t let him take the spotlight for himself.

Even if we have completely different positions, I can’t let him generate all the buzz by himself. I needed to come up with a way to ensure that I could also make a strong impression on stage. I needed something to contribute to the performance that would bring the focus on me.

“So, horror, is it?” Mewdy asked. “If you guys manage to pull it off, I think it’s a fantastic idea. So how are you going to go about it?”

The team members chattered with great excitement in response to Mewdy’s question, and I also raised my hand.

“I have a suggestion for how to arrange my part. Do you want to hear it?”

“Well, well, Moondae! Which part is that?”

“This part,” I said, pointing to the music sheet. “The bridge.”

I saw Choi Wongil’s jaw drop out of the corner of my eye.

Thanks for the part, Wongil. I’ll make good use of it.

***

Season 3 of “Idol Incorporated” was blowing up the internet, its popularity fueled by mockery and criticism. Only the contestants’ first performance and their profiles had been released so far. The press conference hadn’t even been held yet, but a participation notice had been posted on the TNET website, asking that anyone who wished to be part of the live studio audience apply for the first team battle.

This was a problem that often arose since much of the show had to be pre-recorded, but in any case, the incredible buzz surrounding the show meant it was rather difficult to get a spot in the audience. One person who had successfully come out on top in the competition and secured herself a seat in the studio—with a success ratio of one in every 27 applicants—was currently thinking to herself, I hope I don’t get caught.

Just because she’d managed to win a spot didn’t necessarily mean that she had good intentions. In the nervous girl’s backpack was a small lens case portable enough to carry around easily and a camera covered by a cardigan. She had a reason for hiding a camera in her bag, despite any photo-taking or filming being strictly forbidden inside the studio.

She’d known as soon as she’d seen the first performance of the season, “Shining Star,” that things might actually work out for the show.

This mood… Everyone’s cursing at them now, but people might actually become invested once the show actually begins. At least that will be the case if the contestants themselves turn out to be good!

This meant that any pictures she took now would later skyrocket in value. It was a bit of a gamble, of course, but she believed all good investments were something of a gamble. And that wasn’t the full extent of her plan, either.

If I find someone really good, I can establish myself as their fansite really early. Her favorite—that is, former favorite—idol was on a downward spiral after some rather unfortunate bad behavior so she wanted to take this opportunity to wash herself of them and start fresh. All this to say, she would have to take as many pictures as possible today. There was no knowing which contestant might suddenly blow up at some point.

She waited patiently for filming to commence. The emcee—who’d transitioned from working as an anchorman to a TV personality—appeared, said a few words of greeting to the studio audience, and then the cameras were rolling.

“During today’s performances, two teams will be covering songs by idols from the same agency, going head-to-head against each other. Incredible rewards await the winning team. Those rewards will be… Please stay tuned and find out when the episode airs on TV!”

Everyone in the audience had signed a non-disclosure agreement that stipulated they couldn’t share any spoilers until the episode aired, but there were still plenty of idiots who would spill the beans online. She supposed the production team was trying to keep as many details as they could under wraps for as long as possible.

“Revealing the long-awaited first team to perform in Season 3 of Idol Incorporated! Shine your star!”

After the audience was informed of how the voting system worked, the crew made sure the stage was ready to go and then the first performance began. The first two teams to perform were covering songs from an agency called QuZ, well known for producing idols with a broad appeal.

This is a bit dull. Though the first cover wasn’t too bad, generally speaking, it wasn’t as good as the original. She took a few short videos, but her expectations weren’t high for anyone from the first group. The only teams that mattered were those with contestants that were being talked about on the internet.

The second team match was nothing special, either, but the third finally caught her attention. This round featured Cha Eugene, who’d been the most promising contestant to appear in the “Shining Star” performance.

“Whoa, Cha Eugene!”

“These guys are pretty good!”

Since this team consisted of a few contestants the public was familiar with, the initial response to them when they appeared on stage was much more enthusiastic. Some people were even holding up banners featuring their names already.

Most importantly, their performance was outstanding.

Wow. These guys are really good. They were already good enough to debut, and the way they’d arranged the song was phenomenal, too. They’d taken an overly sexualized, old song that had become something of a meme and rendered it a sophisticated and cute performance. One of the contestants, who rapped during the song and belonged to the same agency as Cha Eugene, also stood out.

Those two will make it. She studiously filmed the two of them while carefully avoiding the attention of security personnel that was patrolling the studio.

The next team, who were competing against the previous one, was also made up of a few already well-known contestants and was interesting in its own way.

I’ll bet this round will be edited in as the final performance once the episode airs, she thought, intrigued but also a little disappointed. The following teams would probably be lackluster.

Since more than half of the notable contestants had already appeared in the previous round, she had a feeling that the rest wouldn’t be worth watching. And it appeared she was right—the performance that followed was monotonous. Only one of the teams was judged based on an absolute evaluation, probably because the team members consisted of people that had failed to be picked. Frankly, she could tell why this was the case. There’s was the worst showing yet.

“Ugh.”

“My legs are sore.”

There were even people in the back of the standing section who were trying to leave, unwilling to stay to the end because they were bored and their legs were hurting.

It was to an increasingly restless audience, the emcee shouted, “The first team battle is still going strong! Up next… Two teams will be covering a song from LeTi. This agency is most famous for managing VTIC—the popular global group that recently won best artist of the year!”

Notably, the emcee made no mention of “Marshmallow” at all. He was baiting the audience. The effect was immediate, however.

“VTIC?”

The audience began to murmur. They were currently the hottest boy group around. Those who’d been about to leave froze when they heard the name of the incredible group that had sold 1.2 million copies of their album in the first week.

Having successfully grabbed the audience’s attention once more, the emcee announced cheerily, “First to perform is the team, October 31!”

The name made one think of an ice cream franchise and was definitely not all that memorable. Nobody made any comment on this, since contestants rarely managed to come up with a good name for their temporary teams.

That aside, what VITC song will they cover?

“The song they will be covering today is… Oh, this group debuted as flower fairies, I believe? It is “To a New World” by Marshmallow, one of the country’s favorite girl groups of all time!”

The audience was stunned.