We Are Dreaming Idol
"Is that her?" The crowd murmured.
I wasn't thrilled that the parents who'd been about to lecture me had completely flipped and glued themselves to my side… but checking the video came first.
This was the moment I'd be introduced to the public for the first time. What kind of figure would I cut on screen?
With a slightly trembling heart, I pressed play.
Click.
Woooong—!
The instant the video started, a grand BGM swelled, and appearing on screen was….
Han Siwoo: Hello, everyone! I'm Han Siwoo, main MC and overall producer of My Idol Academia.
…Han Siwoo himself.
Han Siwoo was still a top-of-the-top celebrity in South Korea, after all. His mere appearance would have massive ripple effects.
But he continued the intro swiftly and smoothly, as if to make clear he wasn't the star of this video.
Han Siwoo: One hundred trainees dreaming of becoming idols of South Korea. Still incomplete, still learning—we'll show you their vigorous first flight of wings… to all of you watching.
Swoosh—.
As Han Siwoo said that and gestured behind him, the screen transitioned smoothly… revealing a dark stage and several black silhouettes.
Flash—!
Lights came up, and the figures on stage were revealed.
They were… the final four A-rank trainees, myself included.
♪♫♬—!
As the intro began to play, the camera zoomed in on each of our four A-rank faces in turn.
When my face filled the screen right after Yu Seol's, the parents beside me jolted in shock.
"Ye—Yerin, that's you…!"
"H-holy… our daughter is so gorgeous…!"
As if they'd already forgotten the scowls they'd been giving me moments ago, the two of them gasped at the me on screen.
I ignored them and kept watching.
We always dream.
The opening portion belonged solely to the A ranks. As a result, the first thirty seconds or so of the video were monopolized by us four.
Mostly group shots, but each of us also got a solo close-up. My face, wearing its characteristic blank expression, appeared for about two seconds.
Two seconds might sound incredibly short, but considering the number of people involved, it was an enormous amount of screen time. It made perfectly clear why the contestants had been so desperate for the final rank evaluation.
A dream of standing before you.
As the part transitioned, the lower stage gradually brightened and the remaining rank contestants began to appear.
First, the B ranks. They received the next most screen time after the A ranks, but the gap with A was still stark. Some contestants got solo shots, but they were mere flashes.
I checked to see if Lee Hyejeong had gotten a solo shot… but no such luck. She only appeared occasionally in the group shots.
Then came the B and C ranks, followed by the D and E rank contestants' stage….
We are like this~
With Yu Seol's solo bridge, the chorus began.
Flash—!
We are dreaming!
The moment you saw us.
We opened our eyes!
At the chorus, all the contestants finally appeared. During the chorus, an aerial cam captured the group choreography of all one hundred trainees.
Then the chorus ended.
Next came the dance break. From here on, it was purely A-rank time.
A new dream unfolds before our eyes!
The four of us A-rank contestants, myself included, executed high-difficulty technical moves with razor-sharp precision. Watching just this, you'd think the four of us had always been one group—our chemistry was that tight.
Thinking about how hard we worked for this…
Still, seeing it on video made all the suffering feel worth it. Because the me on screen… looked cool even to my own eyes.
We are dreaming!
The moment you saw us.
After one more chorus, the song ended.
In the process, Yu Seol and I each got a few more seconds of solo shots. The so-called ending fairies.
"H-how many times does our Yerin appear in this video…?"
"R-right? And how many times does she appear with that cute-looking girl…."
Yu Seol's and my screen time was so generous even my mom and dad were calling it excessive.
…From this video alone, I could tell exactly who the production team was pushing hardest—myself included.
Anyway, the video ended….
"Ye—Yerin! Quick, check the comments too! Hurry!"
Mom and Dad, sensing something big was happening, shouted urgently. Curious about the reactions myself, I quickly scrolled down to the comments section.
Overall, the comment reactions weren't bad. The most visible comments at the top belonged to Han Siwoo's fandom.
Next, a flood of comments about Yu Seol.
And, surprisingly, the person racking up the most mentions alongside Han Siwoo and Yu Seol was….
…Me.
Since my info hadn't been released yet, they were calling me things like "the pretty one," "the black-haired girl," "the one who can dance," and so on.
Scroll. Scroll.
I slowly scrolled down, checking the rest of the comments as well. Every so often there were compliments for Seo Yujin, Na Hanna, or contestants from other ranks, but…
Among comments that actually named contestants, the vast majority were about Yu Seol and me. Even the newest comments flooding in were almost all about the two of us.
No… if I had to be precise….
My mention count… might have been higher than Yu Seol's.
That was when I remembered the trait I possessed, and its effect.
You are the heretic of the entertainment industry, the Heavenly Demon of the idol world—a devil of talent sent down from the heavens. The moment you appear, all others are mere mortals. Go forth and conquer this complacent industry; cover the whole of South Korea in your name, together with your fanatics.
Apparently my trait effect was working overtime even now. Combined with my Appearance stat of 100, the trait was driving my recognition up at a genuinely terrifying rate.
"Haa…."
I let out a small sigh at the comment section still burning with mentions of me.
Gaining recognition this early had its upsides… but the downsides were just as clear.
I'm going to get a lot of haters going forward.
The higher you climb, the more hate you inevitably eat. And sure enough, as my mentions climbed, the venom aimed at me was already starting to appear.
Among them were comments already comparing Yu Seol and me.
Looking at overall stats, Yu Seol's total was vastly higher than mine. I was still significantly weaker skill-wise, so the more popular I got, the harsher the comparison attacks from viewers would become.
Great… even high recognition is a problem.
Broadcasting was… a lot more of a headache than I'd expected.
I sighed and sank down onto the living room floor, and Mom and Dad immediately swarmed me in a panic.
"Yerin—! What, what is it! Are you hurt?"
"Our breadwinner—! What's wrong all of a sudden! Want me to get you some water?"
"If your body's hurting, tell us right away!"
"Our daughter's going to be a top star! If anything's hard, tell Mom and Dad everything! Got it?"
"……."
The same parents who'd been about to scold me moments earlier had flipped their entire attitude the second they saw the view count and the comments about me.
It was thoroughly, thoroughly disgusting.
One week after the We are dreaming idol! group theme song video went up.
A lot had changed in that time.
First, the view count had climbed even higher….
It was closing in on a staggering 7.2 million.
Apparently the highest view count of any idol audition program's group theme song video in history—and it had only been a week.
As if in answer, my parents' smiles only kept growing.
"Haha, Yerin! Eat breakfast! Dad made it for you!"
My dad, who didn't even know how to cook, had started making breakfast….
"Yerin, could you look over here for a second? For Mom's memories, if we just take a few photos…."
Mom kept trying to take pictures with me.
And it wasn't just at home. School had changed too.
"Sunbae-nim!"
"…Huh? Me…?"
"Yes! I watched the video!"
Underclassmen I'd never even seen before were seeking me out….
"Yerin, I saw you on My Idol Academia."
"What's Han Siwoo like? Is he actually that handsome?"
Kids I barely knew were sticking closer to me than before.
If that had been the extent of it, I would have written it off as no big deal.
But the real problem started the moment I stepped outside the school building.
Murmurs.
Murmurs.
The second I left the building, I flinched at the sight of the male students gathered beyond the school gate.
"Hey, hey, the kids are coming out."
"Look for her. Where is she."
They kept scanning the crowd of students leaving school, searching for someone.
Come to think of it, a post like this had gone up on the community boards yesterday….
"Hey, is that her?"
"Yeah, that's her. Holy shit, she looks exactly the same as on screen."
"She was already famous. Plenty of guys at our school liked her too."
"She's seriously so pretty…."
Damn it.
Startled by all the eyes on me, I froze right where I stood. Walking out the front gate like this felt like it would only lead to trouble.
Should I use the back gate?
But there was no guarantee the people looking for me wouldn't be at the back gate too.
What do I do…?
I could only stand there, shifting from foot to foot, unable to go forward or back.
That was when it happened.
Screech—.
"…Ah."
A familiar black sedan pulled up in front of the main gate, and….
"…What the hell are these guys."
Just like always, Kang Hyeongman in his black suit stepped out of the car, eyeing the male students at the gate with open irritation.