Chapter 63
Chapter 63
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 63
Chapter Title: Am I Actually a Genius?
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“One tadpole by the stream, wriggling and swimming~”
“……”
“Heh heh…”
The song from the little girl right in front of them.
Watching her cutely sing a children's song perfectly suited to her age, the judges could only muster wry smiles.
“Well… that's pretty much normal, isn't it.”
“Some of them have only just started elementary school…”
People said kids these days grew up fast, but when you peeled back the lid, plenty of them were just plain 'kids.'
Most of their voices still carried that childish slur.
Normally, you'd coo 'aww, so cute, so cute' and let it slide, but this was an audition hall.
It was a ruthless world that didn't cut you slack just for being adorable.
“You're out.”
“Waaahhh!!!”
The girl who'd been belting out the nursery rhyme with such glee burst into tears and retreated.
The sight of her mother soothing her as they left was starting to feel all too familiar.
“Are we expecting too much?”
“We've seen nearly 50 kids, and only four passes…”
“Well, prodigies aren't exactly growing on trees.”
The judges took a breather, exchanging those words.
With the cameras rolling, they kept up a calm conversation, subtly expressing their quiet disappointment.
Meanwhile, one person among them quietly stuck to his guns, judging without a word amid the scene.
Park Chan-su let out a small internal sigh.
'With standards like that, no wonder only four passes…'
Still, there were kids who at least tried to mimic singers.
They hadn't fully bloomed yet, but you could glimpse potential in them—kids who fit the whole 'child star' vibe.
But the judges were even stricter with those, wielding their criteria mercilessly until they flunked.
They slashed without pity, whether the kid bombed or shone.
At first glance, they seemed like true artists hunting for genius, but look at those first three passes out of the four, and the story changed.
'And yet they passed those kids who bungled nursery rhymes at the start… It got buried since it was early on.'
Rumors swirled that they were some company president's daughter or a director's niece.
Honestly, their skills were the kind that wouldn't fly even in a karaoke room, let alone as singers.
But the judges pushed them through anyway.
Slotting those passes right at the beginning, when standards were still fuzzy—it was obvious what they were up to.
They tossed in one decent normal kid for appearances, then shot down everyone after.
A few parents had protested, but the production team shut it down hard, forcing the complaints underground.
And so the audition rolled on, leaving a trail of tears in its prepared wake.
That's when Chan-su spotted another kid climbing onto the stage.
A girl with a sparkling impression, dressed in flashy idol-style clothes.
Seo Han-sol.
As she, one of the older kids here, took the stage, the judges' bored vibe shifted abruptly.
It wasn't because she radiated talent or anything like that.
The tension on their faces stemmed from the pressure of that kid…
More precisely, the 'shadow' looming behind her.
'The SG Group chairman's granddaughter… right?'
She exuded princess vibes from the get-go.
To be exact, Seo Han-sol openly radiated an arrogance that looked down on everyone else.
With her pass—and even the win—already locked in, the judges' expressions stiffened inevitably.
'Please, just… don't bomb worse than average.'
'At least make it editable… please…'
No matter how rigged it was, they couldn't salvage total trash.
That's why they'd snuck that first pass in at the very start.
But her bold frontal assault, rejecting that setup, only brought hassle and burden to the judges.
In the already volatile atmosphere, if she straight-up tanked it, things would spiral into a mess.
So they prayed desperately inside, listening to her song with rigid faces.
But then.
-“You suddenly said you're going far away tonight. The story that started as I send you off in pain.”
“Hm?”
“Oh?”
Her voice rang out sweetly.
Way better than they'd braced for…
Objectively solid singing had color returning to the judges' faces.
-“Shine on me, my sun. So I can sleep, on this weary path!”
'She's pretty good.'
'Among the kids so far, she's the safest bet…'
A bit older than the others, so her voice had some polish.
Plus, it sounded like she'd been singing a while—clean technique all around.
For judges braced for tone-deaf disaster, this was a godsend.
Sure, as music pros, they spotted flaws, but it was all fixable in editing.
“Thank you.”
Clap clap clap clap.
The song wrapped better than expected, and the judges applauded without thinking.
Chan-su, among them, sighed softly at their blatant relief… but clapped too.
Setting aside the BS, he could clearly sense musical talent in Seo Han-sol.
'Not top-tier, but… at least they're not totally ignoring their conscience.'
With that cool assessment, Park Chan-su gave her a 7 out of 10.
High compared to the others so far.
Though he'd slapped 1s on those first three passes.
The girl descending from her seat with the highest score.
Seo Han-sol.
At 12 years old, she wore an arrogant smile as she returned to her spot, head held high.
As if saying, 'What, that was a breeze.'
But behind that facade,
out of sight, her fist clenched tight, hand trembling faintly.
'Phew! I passed!'
The judges had been brutally picky.
They'd passed kids early on without much fuss, then hammered rejections after.
Seo Han-sol had been drowning in dread inside.
Especially since some seemed to sing even a tad better than her—right up to her turn, her mood had sunk.
But those fears proved unfounded; the judges' warm reaction and pass verdict filled her with deep relief and joy.
'The other kids seemed good too, from what I saw. Is it that I can't tell… and I'm actually a genius?'
Brimming with newfound confidence, she lifted her head again.
By now, most of the kids here had auditioned.
Just two more passes added.
Their familiar faces rang a vague 'slightly worse than me' bell, yet they'd gotten the nod.
'There were kids mid-way who seemed better… Do the pros really see different?'
As that odd doubt mixed with 'maybe I could even win' excitement,
Seo Han-sol's eyes caught the final contestant taking the stage.
'That kid… the one who came in right at the end…'
Numbers assigned by entry order, so last in line.
And she knew exactly who this was.
'Han-seo Big Brother's daughter…'
The drama The Queen Dowager, Sovereign of Deception that she'd enjoyed.
Seeing its lead actress, Chae Soo-jeong, in person had thrilled her—even as a fellow Han-seo fan, she'd wanted an autograph if not for the audition.
Now her daughter was on stage.
Seo Han-sol, along with the remaining parents, naturally fell silent, eyes glued to the stage.
'Mom's an amazing actress for sure… but how's the kid's singing?'
She'd seen her a few times on the show, so despite first impressions, she felt oddly familiar.
But acting and singing were different beasts,
so Seo Han-sol brimmed with curiosity about what song she'd pick.
Then.
“!”
“...Huh?”
The atmosphere shifted abruptly.
No song had even started yet.
Just standing there with the mic, and the air thickened mysteriously.
Seo Han-sol swallowed dryly without realizing—
as the girl's song began to fill her ears.
“I'll soothe the pain of all the suffering people~!”