Level Up (5)

"...It's even better than yesterday."

Rose finished the song and gave her critique.

"Did I do well?"

"You're a real mystery case. Your tone just keeps getting better and better. How is this even possible? How does a person's voice change in real time like this? And getting more pleasant to the ear with each passing moment."

Pouring coins into singing was paying off steadily. Even I could tell my vocal skills had become quite respectable, and Rose, who was leading the lesson, couldn't help but marvel at it.

Now, if someone asked me to sing, I felt confident enough to do it without hesitation.

"It's all thanks to your great teaching, teacher."

"Don't get cocky. You've still got a long way to go before anyone calls you a pro."

My skills were rising thanks to coins, but the constant praise from those around me made my mood soar like I had wings. It was obvious how much my abilities were shooting up with every coin spent, so even from my perspective as the student, it was enjoyable. I'd gained interest in singing, which I hadn't cared about before, and dance practice no longer felt like pure drudgery.

'Anyone would get hooked once they see their skills skyrocket like this after just starting out.'

Back when I first started dance practice, I was so focused on catching up quickly that I was just blindly mimicking others. But now, I was beginning to grasp what real dancing was about. I wasn't stopping at imitation—I was pondering how to make the moves even more delicious.

Even the exact same dance feels worlds apart between a pro and an amateur. Right now, I figured I'd reached the entry point of breaking free from amateur level.

'Switching coins from dance to singing boosted it big time. Singing's actually fun now that it's clicking.'

Unfortunately, this growth rate couldn't last forever. The coins I'd stockpiled during my two-week vacation were gone.

It stung that the coins from cleared missions couldn't boost abilities.

"Your technical side is progressing at an insane speed—no worries there. But why can't you infuse emotion into your singing?"

"Hasn't it improved at all?"

"It's at a level where you could probably skate by if we glossed over it. But with your kind of talent, we need to look to the future, right? To sing songs people truly recognize, you have to know how to put emotion in. Red bean-less steamed buns are just bland."

"But even when you tell me to infuse emotion, I don't know how."

"As your teacher, it's awkward to say this, but teaching how to put emotion into singing is always tough. Explanations end up vague, and my method doesn't work for every student. It's not like rote education. The student has to awaken it themselves."

How to infuse emotion into singing... A warm sense of pride washed over me at how far I'd come, but weak thoughts followed about whether coins could solve this.

'Weirdly, coins don't boost the emotional side well.'

Coins improved technique markedly, but emotion didn't seem to budge. And since infusing emotion isn't as visibly tangible as technique, it was even harder to tell.

As the saying goes, even a monk can't shave his own head—technique improvements were obvious, but with emotion, I couldn't distinguish progress from stagnation.

"How do you infuse emotion when you sing, teacher?"

"I focus on the lyrics. Before singing, I fully grasp them and ponder what emotion or mindset the song was made with. Then I create a story connected to the lyrics."

"A story?"

Was she talking about concepts?

"Wanna try it? It's easier to understand by doing if ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠it doesn't click."

"...Shall I?"

"Not sure if you'll nail it. Hehe! I heard you're terrible at acting."

Rose smiled meaningfully.

"??"

Acting needed for attaching stories to lyrics? With no clue, I just tilted my head.

"Didn't know singing needs a proper build-up like a movie?"

Right then, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Rose felt like the perfect teacher.

The moment I got back to the dorm, I pondered which member sang the best.

'Gotta be Kang Jun, right?'

I hadn't directly compared our skills, but among those I knew, if I had to pick who truly loved singing, it was Kang Jun.

'Kang Jun, you're it!'

Knock knock knock—

"Kang Jun. Mind if I come in for a sec?"

"...Hyung?"

"Yeah."

"Come in."

He opened the door, and Kang Jun was lying on his bed.

"Heading to sleep?"

"Nah, just gonna watch some drama."

Kang Jun's hobby was dramas and movies. He seemed quietly ambitious about acting too, taking classes diligently. As the second best-looking after me, he'd make a fine ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠actor.

"Got a minute?"

"Of course."

"Nothing big, but you're the best singer in the group, so I wanted to ask you something."

"About singing?"

"Yeah."

"Huh, outta left field. Hyung asking me about singing. Not sure if it'll help, but I'll share what I know. What's up?"

I knew my rapid improvement had sparked competitive drive in the members—they were all working harder. A prickly guy might've shown annoyance, but these pure souls seemed thrilled by my request.

"How to sing with emotion. Teacher says mine isn't improving. You seem like you get it, so I figured I'd ask."

"Ah~."

Kang Jun set his phone down and sat up on the bed, like he got the gist.

"Hmm, mine might not be the answer, but is that okay?"

"Totally fine. I heard teacher's method, but it didn't click for me. Curious about yours."

"What's teacher's method?"

"Check the lyrics, build your own story from them. Then sing acting like the protagonist of that story."

"Whoa~ Gotta try that sometime. Sounds fun."

Instead of sharing his, he got interested in Rose's. I prodded him.

"C'mon, spill yours."

I didn't want to waste coins on acting when singing needed them more. I suspected emotion issues tied to acting stats, but with singing not fully satisfied yet, no dice.

'Don't even have coins for acting anyway.'

"For me, it's less lyrics and more the melody? Rhythm? I focus on the notes and breathing. Follow the flow of the melody, and emotions build naturally. Then release them through breath."

"Breathing, huh..."

It overlapped subtly with Rose's advice. Kang Jun controlled emotion via breath; Rose via air and voice intensity—his breath akin to her "air" concept.

"Sometimes the melody vibes perfectly with my voice. Singing those feels electric. Emotions flow right in. Teacher's way isn't bad, but personally, I see lyrics as just one instrument dressing the song. So my tip for you is focus on rhythm. If that doesn't click..."

Kang Jun went off. I knew he loved singing, but the quiet guy turning motormouth was scary.

'Better not ask others for tips. This is it.'

Poni said coins could buy anything, but could emotion in singing not be bought via vocal stats?

I thanked him for the tips, headed to my room, and shot him a gift con.

'Gotta dig through the status window.'

Experience taught me the status window was like a pearl necklace on a pig—barely utilized unless poked often. Poni wouldn't explain nicely to her thief anyway.

"Oh, there it is?"

These were the gems I unearthed after rummaging.

"The shop's the answer after all."

Nothing came free when I wanted results. Solution found, but at a hefty coin cost. They looked like plain paperbacks but worked like game skill books—open and knowledge auto-implants.

'Music knowledge ain't bad, but nickel-and-diming like this? When'll I hit 110k points?'

I vowed no more buys. But impulse spending would drag out the 110k grind forever.

'Just hold off. More vocal levels should sort emotion somehow.'

Worst case, pump acting stats to cover.

"......"

Fine, cart 'em for now. Shook off regrets, closed the window.

'Emotion, huh.'

Shelved my issue; pondered Ahyun's meetup in a few days.

Thankfully, Ahyun didn't reject till the end. It wasn't new—we often met late nights.