Chapter 7
Chapter 7
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 7
Chapter Title: Genius Idol's Entertainment Conquest Strategy
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Oh Hyun-jin, who had glanced at me, stepped onto the stage.
"He's gotta be amazing, right?"
While Oh Hyun-jin exchanged brief words with the mentors and prepared for his performance, Kim Jun-woo, who had been muttering lyrics under his breath in nervous anticipation the whole time, asked.
Was Oh Hyun-jin that famous that he had to point it out like this?
I wish I could see other people's status windows too.
"Probably, yeah?"
I didn't know anything, but I could pretend.
"Oh, you didn't know?"
Did he catch me?
"When On Raon the trainee first entered earlier, right before it said independent trainee, it showed 'Former True' on the screen."
What?
My head spun at this new information.
Even though my pathetic Intelligence and Wisdom were constantly mocking me, I was still a genius who had cleared all the riddle games with the professor in the mortarboard without hints back in my gifted class days.
Of course, like most geniuses, I'd turned average as I grew up.
There had to be more than one or two trainees who switched agencies, but mentioning the previous one specifically meant True Entertainment was one of the big agencies.
And according to the setting, the player character had come from there.
Learning about my character's past that even I didn't know was proving to be quite entertaining. I could die happy.
In an industry where one wrong word could spell disaster, why not tell me this stuff from the start?
I didn't forget to politely smile and thank Kim Jun-woo for the valuable info.
"I didn't know. Thanks for telling me."
"No problem."
He must have heard the favorability ding from earlier.
Anyway, now I got it.
Why my turn was so far back.
Why Oh Hyun-jin's favorability started off in the dumps.
Why I was paired with Oh Hyun-jin in the lineup.
And I'd gone and stirred up that mess over the number one spot without knowing... The PD must be grinning ear to ear with perfect editing material.
'He's good.'
On stage, Oh Hyun-jin was practically flying, with just a touch of exaggeration.
The fact that the stage didn't feel empty even with him solo spoke volumes about his skill.
No wonder a major agency let him go. They were grooming him straight for debut.
When his about 1-minute-30-second performance ended, this popped up, which said it all.
So I'd stolen first place from a guy like that...
His favorability was -36...
I didn't know what happened in the past, but it was clear things had gone south.
I didn't ask for much—just please no trashy backstory for 'On Raon'.
While I fretted over that, the mentors were showering him with praise.
"Great stage."
"You're good. So good, in fact—why haven't you debuted yet? You don't even need to be here."
"Good power. That's why your dancing looks so forceful. I'm really curious if you can still move like that in 5 or 10 years."
The last one came from Muk Hye-seong, the sharpest of the mentors.
Wow, I need to learn how to start with compliments and end with shade like that.
He followed up with a long, detailed, specific critique.
How did he spot so much in that short performance? Is it true that you see as much as you know?
Listening to that advice would help, but anyone with a fragile mentality would be tormented for a while.
Sure enough, Oh Hyun-jin's face was subtly stiff as he came down after Han Ji-hee's selection.
"Next trainee, please come up."
Now it was my turn.
I received the trainees' ritual applause as I went on stage and bowed at a perfect right angle.
What is an idol? A greeting machine.
"Hello! Independent trainee On Raon here! Please take care of me!"
"Unique name. On, that's rare too—reads the same forward and backward."
"I hear that a lot. I like it because it's easy to remember."
I was suddenly glad my nickname was the plain 'Raon'.
If it'd been something like '9thGradeBaldingStart' or 'DogThatBarksAtTrolls', how embarrassing every time they called my name.
Everyone planning to get isekai'd into games, choose your nicknames carefully.
"He takes to the camera really well."
"Pretty eyes. Like from a comic."
Was this player-exclusive flattery, or did this not-so-great face actually look good on camera?
I turned to check the screen showing my face.
"No, now you're just showing the back of your head."
The mentors and trainees burst out laughing at my dumb move.
Damn. I really need to raise my Intelligence fast. This was all because it was a measly 11.
I ignored whatever that meant—this timing meant I was dumb, right?
I quickly buried my anger-twisted face in my hands before it showed.
Cute reactions popped up here and there, so to others it probably looked like I was hiding embarrassment from my blunder.
Fine... think what you want...
"And it says you trained at True Entertainment for 3 years."
Three whole years? That meant he'd started at least at 15. Longer than me.
"With Oh Hyun-jin going so strong before you, expectations are high for our On Raon trainee too."
You shouldn't. I'm about to embarrass True or whatever today.
"Alright, let's see your prepared performance."
The staff had prepped it since I'd requested, so they brought the mic stand to center and I slotted in my handheld mic.
Hello, World! was a fast, refreshing melody that somehow sounded wistful and tender.
The lyrics expressed a child's excitement and subtle fear upon entering a strange, fantastical world—coincidentally overlapping a lot with my current situation.
Of course, I wasn't a pure child but a rotten adult, and right now I was filled with anger rather than excitement, so emotional immersion was iffy.
The song itself wasn't technically demanding, but singing it with feeling could easily score bonus points.
The surroundings quieted, and the intro I'd heard all night poured out.
Reality, which hadn't felt real before as if blocked, suddenly crashed down cold and hot over my head.
Only then did I vividly feel everyone's focus on me.
Wasn't this the exact situation my younger self had dreamed of?
Damn it, my heart was pounding.
...No. This is a game.
Focusing on the names floating over the NPCs' heads calmed my briefly shaken mind.
I lightly gripped the mic and sang the first verse.
"The world has fallen asleep for us for a moment" "I don't know why" "But seeing your face, I suddenly felt it" "Now you smile dazzlingly"
⟨ Hello, World! ⟩
Since I'd memorized it once, the lyrics flowed without conscious effort.
Beyond that, I instinctively knew how to sing this song.
It's our first meeting, but I know you. We're alike enough to be twins.
Yet we can't be together, and our brief encounter ends in a fleeting brush.
...Done.
Not doing the full song made it feel over in a flash.
A subtle mood settled, like when a cool breeze tousling my hair suddenly stopped. I bowed my head.
"Thank you."
The trainees nodded and clapped. Their expressions told me I'd done pretty well.
The mentors' faces weren't bad either. Except for Muk Hye-seong, the cool city guy whose thoughts were unreadable.
Maybe thanks to silently repeating it in my mouth whenever I could, pushing comprehension past 70%.
Better than expected. Way better. I'd thought I'd bomb, but it went well—so well it was disorienting.
Even at just 76% comprehension, it was this good. What if I'd practiced to 100%?
Truth be told, progress had slowed sharply after 70%, so hitting 100% wouldn't be easy.
No way. Was she the original singer? I suddenly felt like I needed to be five times more polite.
Thankfully, with favorability up by 10, Jena spoke in a pleased tone.
"Great song."
"Thank you!"
Jena said just that and set down her mic.
Han Ji-hee followed with a smile.
"First off, technically, there's room for improvement. Quite a bit, actually. But that's why I see potential."
Even with memorized song and decent comprehension, low stats led to comments like this.
"You picked a song that suits your voice well. I could really feel you understood it. You must have thought a lot about this song. Doing this well in front of the original artist isn't easy—I want to praise you."
Sorry. That was all the system. I learned she was the original after singing. No nerves because it's a game.
Of course, I didn't show it and just thanked her.
Still better than getting trashed.
"The problem is you didn't dance at all, so we couldn't evaluate properly."
Right. I'd just stood still holding the stand mic and sang.
Didn't want to break immersion. Truthfully, only the song was in my head while singing.
"But we can't just skip it, right?"
The moment had come.
As for this Dancing Catalena, it was a dance from one of Korea's top iconic girl group hits, credited with drawing one, two, three strokes in the bizarre comedy music scene.
The reason I knew this revolutionary dance was simple.
I'd practiced it to the bone to win the high school retreat talent show.
Having been unusually introverted since childhood, I initially balked at dancing in front of the whole school.
But "With your face, first place is guaranteed," a totally obvious statement in hindsight, plus three seasoned chickens, and I caved.
We weren't even that close. I was the sucker for falling for it.
Three? Should've gotten at least ten.
Selling that face for three cheap chickens.
I regret every moment of being a pushover.