Grinding Is My Specialty!

I took a sip of the coffee I'd ordered. Slurp.

Kang Ho-yeon sat across from me, staring so hard it felt like she might bore a hole through my face. She clearly had no intention of speaking until I did.

Left with no choice, I set the cup down with a clink.

"So? Why did you come looking for me?"

"First of all… I'm sorry."

Kang Ho-yeon bowed her head without any preamble. I had no idea what this was about. I just blinked at her.

"I didn't follow you here because I wanted an apology. I simply want to know why you sought me out."

Even after that, she didn't lift her head. Nothing I could do about it.

"It's all right, so please just explain. My parents will be home soon, and I need to be back before then."

"I came because I wanted to apologize like this. And… I've got no shame left, either."

"No shame, as in…"

It clicked. The reason she was apologizing like this was obviously that rejection message I'd received a few hours ago.

"It's fine. Failing an audition isn't going to ruin my life. Well…"

This wasn't my first time bombing an interview. Back when I was a man I'd failed more times than I could count. Getting cut from an audition? That couldn't even leave a scratch on me.

There was just one condition.

"As long as it isn't a case of I should have passed, but someone's interference wrecked it… that's all that matters."

Kang Ho-yeon's face slowly went sour.

Huh…? For real?

The kind of hiring corruption you heard about at huge corporations… happening in the idol industry?

Idols had only ever looked glamorous from the outside. Was the inside already rotten to the core? My illusions about the whole business shattered on the spot.

"It's fine. I only showed up to this audition because my parents shoved me into it anyway. I'm still young, right? I can just look somewhere else."

"Th-that won't do!!"

Kang Ho-yeon slammed the table and shot to her feet.

A murmur rippled through the cafe. Customers and part-timers all turned to stare.

I felt a flicker of embarrassment and almost hid my face — but if I was going to work as a VTuber, all kinds of things were going to happen. A few stares like this were nothing. I had to shake them off without breaking a sweat.

I lifted my chin instead of ducking it and soothed her down.

"Please calm down first. I understand what a judge came all this way to tell me."

She wanted to apologize. Shame at having done something unworthy of an adult, and guilt over a process that hadn't been fair.

But that wasn't hers to carry. The one in the wrong wasn't Kang Ho-yeon. It was her boss.

"Judge… Ah. Come to think of it, I haven't introduced myself."

She pulled a business card from her pocket and held it out.

The rank printed on it made me freeze. A team leader had bowed her head and apologized in front of me?

Apologies were supposed to be dumped on the people underneath you. That was the textbook move. No matter how badly the people upstairs screwed up, they fixed it by pinning the whole mess on some junior.

I almost got that treatment more than a few times myself.

Just thinking about the past still made my teeth clench.

"That's enough. What's someone at team-leader level doing coming here to apologize? I'll just pretend this never happened, so I'll be going now."

I stood. Kang Ho-yeon's face went frantic as she caught my arm.

"W-wait! We haven't even started talking yet! What I'm about to say is the actual point! Please, just hear me out a little!"

"The actual point… so you didn't come to apologize after all."

I'd thought it was strange. If you were going to apologize, you did it on the company website, or to everyone who'd auditioned. Coming to find one person in private to say sorry? That didn't happen.

"I really am sorry, Jiwoo. That's the truth. And I've had it with this kind of agency anyway. So I want to make you a new offer."

"An offer… don't tell me you joined a new agency?"

"That's right. I could tell at the audition — you're quick on the uptake. I like that. I quit a few days ago and took a job at a new company… here's my new card."

Kang Ho-yeon tore up the Zero Entertainment card and held out another.

This one had Department Head printed on it. Going from team leader to department head took more than hard work. You needed outstanding ability and the luck to match the moment.

No matter how good you are, if the people above you pin you down, you never get promoted.

Kang Ho-yeon didn't look like that type, though.

Every company had ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠its factions. Ride the right line and you shot up the ladder. Miss it, and you ate every kind of pressure and dirty look in the building.

"Department Head… I see."

"It's still a startup — just me, the president, and one celebrity. A three-person company. But if we add you, Jiwoo… we can definitely make it."

I looked her in the eye. Conviction sat there, plain as day — the certainty that we would succeed. Being someone people pinned their hopes on wasn't a bad feeling. The problem was the other side of it.

If you fail, the looks that come back at you are brutally heavy.

I slid the card back across the table.

"I don't think idols are for me after all. And… I have a dream I want to chase."

"Can I ask what that dream is?"

"I want to be a VTuber."

The look on Kang Ho-yeon's face after that was… complicated.

Thirty minutes later, I was home. I'd run later than expected. Had my parents already gotten back? I checked.

Good. They're not home yet.

I'd told them I had a part-time job, but if they found out I was wandering around this late, the worry would come wrapped in a fresh round of restrictions. The pressure had eased up lately, but give it enough time and it would start again. People don't change that easily.

Not having to go to cram school is nice. Still… I should do at least a little, right?

I crushed the urge to flop onto the bed and picked up one of the workbooks stacked neatly on the desk. The cover looked clean enough, but inside it was a graveyard of writing and erasing.

Naturally, it was a high-school workbook.

High School Complete Conquest!!

I tilted my head at the title. Something about it was familiar.

"What is this…? I feel like I've worked through this before."

I flipped it open and skimmed the pages, and then I remembered. Back when I was a man, I'd ground this thing into dust.

I checked the others too. Every last one was something I'd already finished, or something I'd meant to.

"No… she's a kid just starting high school and they're already handing her CSAT prep? What are they trying to do to her?"

No wonder the body had given out and collapsed.

Just like that, every shred of motivation to study evaporated. Maybe I should just sleep.

I'd slammed into my stamina limit more than once today. People said stamina was essential for streaming — and not just streaming. You needed it just to live a normal life.

I called up the status window under my breath.

"Status window."

I folded my arms and studied the one thing that had actually changed — the point.

"How am I supposed to use this? Can I put it into other stats?"

Thinking about it wasn't going to spit out an answer, so I reached out and tapped a stat.

Highest one first. Appearance.

The new line that popped up in front of me left me staring. It had clearly said the point was usable. Now it was telling me I couldn't use it.

It was so absurd I almost laughed. I poked the other stats one by one.

Same message no matter how many times I tapped. Same thing on ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠every other stat.

And then—

"Don't tell me… no way."

I looked at Stamina, the only one written as a number instead of a letter grade. Was ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠that the only place I could spend it? I pressed it with a fingertip.

A different message at last. I almost cheered — for about a second.

"If that's how it works, just write Stamina only from the start!"

Was I going to skip raising Stamina over that? Not a chance. Right now, stamina was the most important thing I had.

I didn't hesitate. I dumped the point into Stamina.

Stamina ticked straight to 2. Had it actually applied? I checked my body at once. And then I knew.

"Oh… ohhh!! My ass — it's the same!"

There was a tiny sense that my stamina had gone up. That was it. I couldn't feel any real difference.

"Is it because it was only one point? How am I supposed to get more of these?"

If another Sudden Mission would just pop up like last time, that would be perfect. But sudden meant you never knew when it would show. Sitting around waiting for one…

"Doesn't fit my personality."

I had to move first. And for that—

I pulled my wallet from my pocket and checked what was inside.

Cards leave a trail. Cash it is.

Three thousand-won bills.

I thought of the karaoke sign I'd passed on the way home.

"Whoa…"

To skip to the result: there was a way to earn points. I went to karaoke and sang and danced while conserving as much stamina as I could. Three songs per thousand won should have gotten me nine clears.

For whatever reason, the owner was in a good mood and threw in a free track, so I hit ten without a hitch.

That made two points in all.

I poured them into Stamina on the spot.

When Stamina was 1, I couldn't even finish a single song. At 2, if I rested in between, I could finish ten.

And that's not even the end of the achievements.

I scrolled down and the list had no bottom. Every last one was tied to entertainment or streaming.

In other words.

They want me to grind, huh?

Sorry, but that's my specialty.