#16. Our School Prince (5)
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Let me think about this for a second. Could that be the very thing Poni's higher-ups were so wary of?
'The reason they created that ridiculous "gift certificate coin" system to prevent me from using the coins I earned through ability missions.'
Not only that, but they might have desperately tampered with my terminal to halt my growth because they feared I'd acquire this "special power" I'm talking about now.
Whatever this special power was, it seemed like something a "human" wasn't supposed to have.
'Then why did they leave the shop accessible?'
Poni's higher-ups probably had no idea I was accessing the status window directly. If Poni was who I thought it was, it would've been too scared to report that I'd taken control of its own system.
'If Poni had been managing my status window as usual, it probably wouldn't have told me even if I developed abilities.'
I had a rough idea of their scheme now. There were all sorts of missions, but the rewards for achievement-related ones were disproportionately generous. They'd dangled the carrot of the shop, hoping I'd get hooked and pour all my time into missions.
'The items in the shop are so damn useful that once you start buying, you can't stop. I might've started with other missions for coins, but since they control mission updates, they could've manipulated them however they wanted.'
Humans are terrible at knowing satisfaction. Once you get a taste of something good, your eyes naturally wander to better things, and desire sprouts up. I doubt I could've resisted it either.
Even now, wasn't I seriously considering selling the status window to buy stuff?
"So, what's this special power exactly? I don't feel any changes in my body."
Was my strength surging or something? Could I shoot lightning now? My heart was pounding like I'd suddenly become the protagonist of a fantasy story.
'What if I end up having to kill people and stuff? I don't think I could do that.'
It turned out to be my overactive imagination and nonsense delusion, proven not long after.
Obtained new ability: Pleasure Amplification
"...Pleasure amplification?"
Wasn't that an embarrassingly awkward combo of words to say out loud?
"What exactly does it do?"
Where was my lightning? My fire? No flashy sparks or anything?
For something the higher-ups were so guarded against, it felt way too modest (?).
But the AI mercilessly smacked me with the facts.
During sexual intercourse, you can amplify pleasure for both yourself and your partner.
Higher proficiency levels allow for greater amplification stages.
"......"
Conspiracy my ass. This was reality, after all.
I'll take what they give me, but I doubt the higher-ups went through all that trouble just to block this kind of ability.
"Hyung!!! You pooping?"
Lost in thought, I snapped back at Jun's sudden voice from outside and checked the time. Already 20 minutes had flown by.
'No way I can claim I didn't with this much time.'
I hurriedly straightened my clothes and rushed out of the bathroom.
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Lately, my biggest dilemma was whether to sell the AI status window.
It was too damn good to pass up, but I clearly couldn't utilize 100% of its potential anyway. Plus, thinking about all the coins I'd get from selling it—and what I could buy—made me lean even more toward doing it.
'The stuff I could buy with those coins is exactly what I need right now.'
No helping it; selling the new model and buying an old one seemed like the smart move.
"Hoo, I'm nervous."
"Want some water?"
"Nah, I'd just wanna hit the bathroom."
Kang Jun and I had arrived early at the meeting spot to see Director Choi Youngji of Our School Has a Prince and writer Choi Heemin.
They'd suggested seeing our faces before finalizing casting, and we had no reason to refuse.
Kang Taeho, the actor cast as Prince Candidate No. 2 from the baseball team—Yoon Daehwa—was also supposed to show up. And Han Minyeong, cast as the female lead via secret audition, too.
In short, this was the day everyone involved in shooting Our School Has a Prince—main cast, writer, and director—would gather.
So naturally, Jun couldn't help being tense.
"Aren't you nervous, hyung?"
"Of course I am. What if they ask for an acting demo?"
"Hyung, you're good enough at this point. Don't you think your confidence is too low?"
"Wish we had a bit more time. It's a shame."
I'd scraped together every last coin to boost my stats, so I had nothing left to raise acting further. My acting stat was still sitting at 28.3%.
But thanks to spacing out the upgrades, it looked like I was improving daily, as if I had real talent—just like Jun said. The trainer teacher was baffled watching my sudden actor-like demeanor emerge, trembling with mystery.
'"How half-assed were you in my classes before?! You!! Pay attention properly!!" she yelled like crazy.'
She'd thought I had no talent, but now that I did, she had no choice but to blame my previous attitude—which led to some unfair misunderstandings.
"Oh? Someone's here."
Dr-r-r-uck—
"Hello."
"Hello, sir!"
"Hi."
The guy who entered was huge—massive build, solid muscles at a glance.
'Kang Taeho, cast as baseball ace Yoon Daehwa, Prince Candidate No. 2!'
His unique trait? He was a real former baseball player. Shoulder injury ended his career, so he switched to acting. Only bit parts so far, a rookie like us.
"W-Wow... you guys are really handsome."
Kang Taeho eyed Jun and me alternately, his deep voice booming.
"Ah! Thank you."
"Looking forward to working with you."
All rookies, we were tense as hell.
We sat, and silence naturally fell.
"......"
"......"
"......"
Our eyes darted around, wondering what to say, when Taeho broke the ice first.
"Um, I'm a fan. If it's okay, could I get an autograph?"
"A fan?! Really? Oh man, sure! Of course!"
Taeho couldn't actually be a real fan of ours. But if it broke the silence and started a conversation, great—we both eagerly offered.
If he hadn't pulled out that CD from his bag, anyway.
"...Y-You're a real fan."
"Yes. For real."
He proudly presented our debut album, proving it wasn't just polite chit-chat.
A tall, rugged guy like that into male idols? Don't judge a book by its cover, huh.
We signed the CD carefully, and he tucked it away like treasure.
Then the door flew open, and people poured in.
"So I told them straight up. That kid! That kid's the one who can bring the vision I imagined to life...."
Whoosh!
We shot up automatically, bowing to the newcomers.
"““Hello!”””
"Whew~ What's this, flowers blooming in the office?"
Three people entered: two women and one man. The man was probably the writer, and one woman the female lead.
"Nice to meet you. Seeing you in person puts my mind even more at ease. I'm Director Choi Youngji. This is my little sis, writer Choi Heemin. And this is Nam Sora, cast as our web drama's female lead."
"Pleased to work with you!"
"Whoa... what skincare do you use? How are you all this handsome? Insane, insane."
Writer Choi Heemin boldly plopped down right next to us—practically glued to me—staring shamelessly.
The problem? Director Choi Youngji was doing the exact same thing.
"Hey, Heemin, move over. Let's check our male leads' angles."
"No way! I'm staying here."
"Sis is working right now. Scoot! And even if you stay, you're just squid at best?"
"Tch!"
Despite her grumbling, Heemin got up at Youngji's words.
"Okay, you three—sit nice and tight?"
"Yes."
With Taeho beside us, Director Youngji framed us with her hands like a camera viewfinder, twisting and turning.
"Whoa~ Insane. Totally insane. See? I have an eye for this. Exactly the picture I wanted. You three look perfect together. This angle—what're we gonna do? Fans'll lose their minds the second they see it. Nam Sora, what do you think? Three super handsome guys all yours."
"...An honor."
The writer and director fawned excessively over our visuals. But the female lead, actress Nam Sora, seemed utterly unimpressed.
Too busy with their own excitement, they missed her subtle vibe.
I kept a close eye on her while chatting more with the writer and director. They stayed consistently upbeat and fun.
Then Director Youngji suddenly hardened her expression.
"Anyone here who doesn't know what people are saying about our project?"
"......"
"......"
All the actors went quiet at her words. Hard to admit we'd heard nothing good.
"Your silence tells me you all know. Yeah. 'Rookies with no clue throwing money around—it's doomed to flop,' they're saying. But you accepted casting offers anyway, right? Each with your own motives?"
Idols starting acting is always dicey. That's why we'd taken the roles despite the flop rumors.
Not just us—everyone had their reasons.
"Isn't living exactly as others predict boring as hell? They all think it'll tank and are praying for it, but I have no intention of flopping. My sis has talent, and so do I. I want our actors to think the same."
Even Team Leader and Manager Noona said the industry saw this as doomed. Rookie director, rookie writer, rookies and idols cast—people assuming failure made sense.
Everyone must wonder what gave them the confidence to cast untried idols and actors.
'Thought the investor being the writer's husband meant they'd shrug off a flop, but apparently not. Seems they were grinding their teeth over it instead?'
I reconsidered my initial impression of the bubbly writer and director.
Director Youngji continued her speech. The gist? Let's all hustle hard and prove the doubters wrong.
'Now that's how you make it fun.'
Hearing "flop" chants wasn't pleasant as an actor committed to the project. But what could we say?
We all cheered "let's do this!" now, but who knew how things would shift on set?
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