Two girl groups stood in a straight line on the stage. As active idols, the girls looked at Kang Rojun and whispered without making it obvious.
“Wow—look at No. 1. He’s handsome, but pretty too??”
“Right. I could only see No. 1 too.”
Perhaps because they hadn’t put on their microphones yet, they had more freedom to whisper.
“How can handsomeness, prettiness, and masculinity all be mixed into that tiny face??”
“Just going by his face… out of all the trainees and boy group members I’ve seen, he’s number one.”
Even to them, who spent every day among boy groups, he was No. 1. In other words, Kang Rojun’s visuals seemed jaw-dropping. With so many cameras and eyes watching, they were only whispering; if not, they likely would have made a much bigger fuss.
Just then, PD Woo Hanseok signaled to the cameras with his eyes, and several cameras swept over the ten girl group members on stage. Of course, by that point, all ten of them had closed their mouths. After capturing enough footage of the girl groups, PD Woo Hanseok picked up the megaphone again.
“From now on, we’ll call the girl group members one by one, so please stand with your assigned team. First, Hayoung, please stand with No. 1 and No. 10…”
Once PD Woo Hanseok finished the briefing, the ten girl group members on stage began moving. A woman with fox-like features joined Kang Rojun and contestant No. 10.
“Hello, I’m Hayoung.”
The girl group member who introduced herself as Hayoung wore a tight short-sleeved shirt, and her sharp nose stood out. Her hair was long enough to reach her waist. Kang Rojun, looking at her, simply found it fascinating.
‘A girl group—I’ve never seen one in my life. They definitely do feel different somehow.’
The judges were celebrities too, but this was his first time seeing idols. On top of that, Rojun was at an age full of hot-blooded energy. It would have been stranger if he had no interest when a girl group appeared. Still, Kang Rojun suppressed his curiosity as much as possible.
“Yes, hello. I look forward to working with you.”
Rojun’s greeting was short and clear. Hayoung, a rookie girl group member, found herself staring intently at Kang Rojun without realizing it. Then she gasped inwardly.
‘I almost reached out and touched his face without realizing it… Is that visual really human?? And seeing him up close, his physique is good too?’
Then No. 10, with his crimson hair, finished greeting her as well.
“I look forward to working with you! I saw you on TV, Hayoung!”
The other teams also exchanged simple greetings. Ten choreography teams and ten girl group members. Watching the teams fit together perfectly, PD Woo Hanseok stepped in.
“The girl group members were informed in advance, so they’ve already familiarized themselves with the evaluation song and choreography. As I explained earlier, the girl group members will take on the female parts of the evaluation song choreography, and the contestants will each perform the choreography for either the first verse or the second verse.”
At that moment, the square box appeared again.
As soon as Kang Rojun saw it, he understood.
‘They’re going to use that to split the choreography parts between the first and second verses.’
He was right. However, since this was a survival show, both members didn’t necessarily have to draw. In Choreography Team 1, Kang Rojun went up first and drew.
‘I got the second verse part.’
Naturally, No. 10 took the first verse part. The other teams also decided their choreography parts in the same way, and once everything was more or less settled, PD Woo Hanseok spoke again.
“We’ll send the choreography video for the evaluation song to your phones. How you practice is up to you. Of course, the choreography trainers won’t help you with the evaluation choreography. What they’ll do is tell you about your basics, strengths, weaknesses, and so on.”
A defining feature of PD Woo Hanseok’s direction was the high degree of freedom. Since the very concept of this “Geubaekpeu” was to show the viewers something completely raw, that was all the more true.
“You’ll have about a week to practice. Starting tomorrow, the 14th, through next Tuesday, the 21st. After that, on the 22nd and 23rd, each of you will have time to coordinate with the girl group members. It won’t be long—about half a day.”
In other words, they would switch partners depending on whether they were doing the first or second verse part.
“After that, from the 24th to the 26th, we’ll film the second evaluations for vocals, choreography, and rap over three days. In between, the first episode of our program will air as well.”
PD Woo Hanseok then explained how the choreography evaluation would work. To summarize, the girl group members would perform both the first and second verse choreography during filming. However, the contestants in charge of the first verse would leave once their assigned part ended, and the competing contestant in charge of the second verse would take the baton and complete the stage.
Listening to the briefing, Kang Rojun felt slightly nervous.
‘Mm—if it goes on like that back-to-back, we’ll definitely be compared.’
Afterward, the ten girl group members exited, and two choreography trainers entered. Both were famous choreographers who also had their own dance teams. PD Woo Hanseok explained future choreography training matters, then wrapped things up.
“All choreography practice rooms will be open twenty-four hours a day, so use them whenever you want.”
With that, filming for the choreography team was concluded. Afterward came a Q&A session for the contestants. Thanks to that, the staff became busy. Around then, the two choreography trainers were talking with PD Woo Hanseok. The topic of conversation was Kang Rojun, who was looking toward the stage.
“He’s the one? The only contestant who isn’t receiving training?”
“That’s right, No. 1.”
“His face is ridiculous. Is he even the same species as us? He’s so handsome it’s way over the line. Is that why he passed on training? Trusting in that face alone?”
“Well, no one knows until we open the lid.”
“What did you say No. 1’s evaluation song was?”
“‘brake.’”
The two choreography trainers nodded as though they knew it well. One of them answered.
“If he dances well with that face, it’ll be killer. The choreography for ‘brake’ is really sexy but powerful.”
A short while later.
Kang Rojun left the hall with the stage alone. The other choreography team contestants, including No. 10, were still busy asking questions. When he checked the time, it was already 5 p.m.
‘That took almost two hours.’
When Rojun arrived at the dormitory building, he headed not to his room but to the communal bathroom. The reason was simple.
‘Now I should start using “AI Simulation” in earnest.’
Now that he knew the song he would be performing choreography to in the next evaluation process, it was time to begin Kang Rojun’s own training. Fortunately, there was no one inside the bathroom, and Kang Rojun entered the stall at the very end and took out his phone.
The first thing he checked was the message sent by the production team.
“This must be the video they mentioned earlier.”
An attached choreography video. No. 10 had probably received the same thing. It was the full choreography for their evaluation song, “brake.” When he looked it up, “brake” was a song released about ten years ago. It was the title track of a solo album released by the rapper of a girl group.
‘A duet choreography with a boy group member who did the featuring. I think I’ve seen this.’
It was also a song that idols often covered these days.
After searching for information on “brake” for a while, Rojun opened the “AI Simulation” app. The familiar Kang Rojun character and buttons appeared.
The one Rojun touched among them was—
-[AI Automation]
It was the first time he had activated “AI Automation” since “Bereavement.” A message he had seen before appeared on the phone screen.
-[Through “AI Automation” analysis, the desired result can be derived. What would you like to derive? (Only things related to the desired occupation of idol are possible)]
But Rojun suddenly tilted his head.
“Mm?”
Because he saw a message he had never seen before.
-[tip: The more detailed the request, the more precise the analysis will be, allowing a perfect result to be derived.]
Kang Rojun rubbed his chin.
“A detailed request?”
Thinking back, during “Bereavement,” all he had written was, “I want to learn it perfectly.” Did a detailed request mean adding various conditions? Kang Rojun roughly understood it as telling him to make the instructions more specific. After searching the internet for a few minutes, he returned to “AI Automation” again.
-Swipe.
He wrote the instruction he had decided on in the blank field.
-[AI Automation: I want to perfectly learn the male part choreography for the second verse of the song brake, and I’d like the dance lines to be relaxed and smooth while also having clear control over intensity.]
Would this do? Then he paused. What Kang Rojun was looking at was “second verse.” If he was going to do it anyway, wouldn’t it be better to just learn the entire first and second verse parts?
‘Of course it’ll be a bit more expensive—but if it’s only half, it’s a little hard to call it purely mine.’
There could also be an unexpected situation.
‘For example, in a situation where I can’t use “AI Simulation,” the production team might suddenly change me to the first verse part.’
Well, the possibility was slim, but it was still better to be prepared. He could earn more coins anyway, and everything he learned like this would become Kang Rojun’s asset. Therefore, Rojun changed his instruction to the entire male choreography for “brake.”
When he pressed confirm, the familiar loading circle spun round and round. The answer was displayed in an instant.
-[AI analyzing… Analysis complete!]
-[36 coins are required to derive your desired result.]
-[※The number of coins may vary depending on the difficulty of deriving the result.]
The required coins were 36. During “Bereavement,” it had been 30.
‘Not bad.’
Satisfied, Kang Rojun permitted the use of the coins. Then the message quickly changed.
-[Using 36 coins.]
-[Applying… Application complete!]
At the same time, he felt the familiar tingling sensation. Of course, on the side where he wore the smartwatch. He waited for a moment. Since this time it was choreography rather than singing, he wondered if there would be anything different. But—
‘It’s the same.’
He couldn’t feel anything different. It had been the same during “Bereavement,” but it was truly a simple process. Then Kang Rojun, who had been sitting, stood up.
“Phew—”
And closed his eyes. He was checking the performance of “AI Automation.” The toilet stall was cramped, but it didn’t matter. He only needed to try it briefly. Rojun gave orders to every corner of his body. Start the male part choreography for “brake.”
In that instant, a beat that made him nod along on its own seemed to come from somewhere.
-♬♪
No, it was something only Kang Rojun could feel. Then came a woman’s rap in a husky tone. At that point, Rojun realized that both his arms and legs were slowly loosening.
Goosebumps naturally rose on his forearms.
Right now, he was both flexible and rough.
The first move was a swaying walking motion. Next, as the beat abruptly sped up and grew stronger, the movements of his arms and feet grew larger. Though he moved in short motions suited to the cramped space, Kang Rojun stopped the choreography and laughed in disbelief.
“I felt it during ‘Bereavement’ too… but the fact that this works is insanely fascinating.”
The next morning.
It was the second day since the “Geubaekpeu” camp began. The morning schedule started at 9. The current time was 8. Exhausted from the grueling filming, the seventy contestants were still dead asleep. The production team had long since woken up, but they hadn’t begun moving in earnest.
However—
‘Running, go.’
Only Kang Rojun had started up early. He had to complete his daily missions. He began with running. For reference, the running mission had increased to 60 minutes and stopped there. That was a relief for Rojun. In any case, Kang Rojun, wearing a simple short-sleeved shirt and training pants, began to run.
-Swish.
The place he ran was a park beside the dormitory building within this vast campus. A few staff members spotted Rojun.
“Wh-what is that? That’s No. 1, right? Is he exercising right now??”
“Wow—damn, with that face, he even works out? Is he going for the concept of being diligent with exercise too?”
“But when you look at No. 1, his body does seem good. Whether it’s a concept or not, we can keep watching. If anyone’s finished eating, we should send a camera over right away.”
While Kang Rojun was in the middle of running, one camera attached itself to him. It didn’t run alongside him, but filmed Rojun running in a wide shot. Covered in sweat like that, Kang Rojun finished the five daily missions, including exercise and singing.
‘Ugh—I’m dying.’
His entire body was screaming, but he felt refreshed. Since he kept repeating it, it was even fun. Rojun had even deliberately done a bit more than the amount of exercise set by the mission. Since he was doing it anyway, he had a strong desire to properly build his body too.
In any case, Kang Rojun arrived at Room 105 around 9:30.
His roommates had all gone to eat, so no one was there.
Before going to the shower room, Rojun opened the “AI Simulation” app first.
-[Title: Side Job Rich]
-[User: Kang Rojun / Age: 24 / Height: 182.8 / Desired Occupation: Idol / Side Job: [1]Screenwriter +1 / Coins Owned: 281]
He had used some coins through “AI Automation,” but he was still fine for now. After washing up, Kang Rojun went straight to breakfast. The menu was bulgogi. After eating his fill and coming out, it was past 10.
Soon, the staff began their briefing.
“From now on, training will begin for each vocal, choreography, and rap team.”
It seemed they were starting the first lesson with the trainers introduced the previous day. The contestants gathered by team and were guided by the staff. Before long, only Rojun, who had passed on training, remained in the dormitory. Of course, Kang Rojun had already decided where he would go.
He wore the same comfortable outfit as in the morning, and brought his phone and laptop.
A few minutes later, Rojun opened a glass door.
“Is this the place??”
The place he stepped into was a choreography practice room. It was quite spacious, and the front and back walls were all covered in mirrors. Perhaps because it was his first time coming to a practice room, Kang Rojun awkwardly scratched his chin for no reason, but—
-Thud.
He set his laptop and phone down on the floor. Then Rojun tapped his phone a few times. A song began to ring through the practice room.
-♬♪
It was “brake.”
Kang Rojun intended to perform the choreography properly in the wide space, and once he quickly got into position, he entrusted his body to the beat.
A few minutes later.
The song ended. Bent at the waist with both hands on his knees, Kang Rojun was breathing heavily. It was only natural, since he had danced the entire male part of the first and second verses of “brake.” After catching his breath a little, he raised his head.
He looked at himself in the mirror ahead.
Then he smiled.
‘I’ve escaped being a hopeless dancer.’
Of course, for now, it was only limited to “brake.”