Chapter 16
Chapter 16
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 16
Chapter Title: The Class Leader's Burden
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In the end, along with that notification, a red "Class Leader" sticker ended up plastered on my chest.
The trainees clapped happily.
Since the camera light was on, I gave an awkward smile and managed my expression.
Waaah, this is great.
"Alright, let's start with warm-up exercises!"
The staff told everyone to do warm-ups together, so we did.
I wondered if the national exercises here were the same, and unconsciously did the ones from my high school days—the last time I'd done them—and the trainees followed along pretty well.
And then practice began.
'What a mess.'
The trainees who'd come to the practice room yesterday and practiced for at least an hour or two were somewhat decent.
Among them, the members of Room 312—including me—managed to get through it okay, except for the miraculously quick learner Jing Xiao.
Even Nagase Ritsu, who'd been harshly criticized by the mentors during the evaluation, seemed spurred on by watching Ban Yo-han and me practice last night. He was somehow keeping up at the slow tempo.
But more than half the trainees were honestly at a level you couldn't watch with your eyes open.
'What was all that yesterday when I taught—er, showed—you guys until my bones ached? Did only I get it and none of you? I wouldn't even ask for the second verse; at least half of the first. Why'd you all reset?'
I was standing there dumbfounded, hit with a bit of post-nut clarity, when a quest arrived without warning.
<Listen to the Class Leader and Your Rank Rises Even in Sleep>
📍 Description: You've become the class leader of the low-rank class with overwhelming support. As class leader, you've witnessed a shocking sight. At this rate, the Comet Class is doomed to stay low-rank forever. Do your duty as class leader and ensure not a single F-grade comes out of the Comet Class trainees.
🎁 Confirmed Reward: Trust from Comet Class trainees and mentors, modest EXP, Wisdom +10
❌ On Failure: Wisdom -10, ???
I skimmed the half-nonsense quest description and checked the penalty first.
The question marks were a bit concerning, but nothing seemed particularly problematic.
Losing Wisdom would sting, but it was my highest stat anyway.
It wasn't a main quest, just a sudden one, so the hidden penalty was unlikely to be as extreme as death before.
That said, the weak failure penalty meant the rewards were modest too.
Nice to have, but not worth the anticipated suffering.
How am I supposed to keep those guys from getting an F? And how bad is their singing gonna be?
But my Korean gamer temperament—complaining about content shortage after bingeing a massive update in three days—won't go away, so I decided to clear this quest with no appealing rewards or penalties.
And now, 15 minutes later, I was in the midst of the self-inflicted disaster I'd summoned.
'The more I watch, the more shockingly novel and dire it gets...'
With it showing like that in the quest window, it meant only 10 trainees in here were barely at D-level right now.
Of course. They didn't practice.
Yeah, it's natural they can't. If they could master choreography in a day, why would they be in the low-rank class?
'Evaluation's in two days, so if I grind them hard for those two days, D should come out. Right?'
Judging it impossible at full speed, the music in the practice room was playing at about 0.75x speed.
I left the trainees who were at least trying to match it alone and dragged the ones just standing in the corner staring at the choreography video straight into practice.
Fortunately, since I'd gone beyond memorizing and now somewhat understood the choreography, I could give more detailed and precise advice than yesterday.
Of course, some felt the skill gap widen overnight and were more demoralized than yesterday, hesitating.
I coaxed those kids too.
"The instructors like kids who try hard even if they suck more than ones who just stand there. You saw yesterday. We totally bombed, but they didn't say anything too bad. Let's just do it slowly up to what we can manage."
"...Okay."
Before I knew it, it was almost time for Muk Hye-seong to arrive for the lesson.
My throat was sore from talking so much, so I slipped out before the lesson to rest it.
I was getting water from the dispenser.
Ban Yo-han followed me, blew into a paper cup to shape it, and said,
"Aren't you pushing too hard?"
"What?"
"This is an individual competition."
He kept it short, probably mindful of possible cameras, but clearly had more to say.
Like, what's in it for you helping others so hard?
You wouldn't get it, but it's a quest.
"Wouldn't it be nice if we all did well?"
"Yeah?"
I smiled like I hadn't seen his inner thoughts.
"Let's head back in."
"Yeah."
Muk Hye-seong was coming from the end of the hallway in the distance.
Ban Yo-han and I hurried back to the practice room ahead of him and alerted the trainees—who were practicing or sitting around however they pleased—that he was coming.
Thanks to that, all the trainees were lined up straight before Muk Hye-seong arrived.
The practice room had floor-to-ceiling glass on the hallway side, so everything inside was visible from outside.
Muk Hye-seong glanced at us before entering and came in with two men who looked like backup dancers.
He wasn't dressed up specially, but he exuded celebrity aura all by himself.
"Hello!"
"Have you practiced a lot?"
"Yes!"
"Then let's see the first verse first."
"Yes!"
Muk Hye-seong skipped the small talk, substituting it with "Have you practiced a lot?" and gestured to the staff to start the music.