Episode 2
2
“Um...”
A strange sense of unease crept up on him.
‘Did I do something wrong?’
The audition, distinctly different from his past memories, kept amplifying Hyunwoo’s anxiety.
Even though the song had completely ended, none of the judges said a word.
Previously, the judges had clearly told him to stop after one verse and show them his dancing.
“Judges?”
“Ah, ah. Hmm. Yes. Thank you for your hard work.”
“Is dancing also possible?”
“Yes. It is.”
As Hyunwoo’s dance continued, this time the judges’ expressions began to grow serious.
Even as they watched his overall dance lines, at some point their gazes turned aggressive, scrutinizing each fingertip and the tip of each foot in detail.
“Huu...”
The dance ended a little faster than the song, and perhaps thanks to what had just happened, this time the judges also realized he had finished.
“Thank you for your hard work.”
Had the audition ended well?
He hadn’t expected this kind of reaction, and since it was a reaction he had never seen before, it was difficult to predict the result.
“...”
“...”
But no matter how long he waited, the words from his memory didn’t come.
The words saying he could leave now that it was over.
A judge spoke to Hyunwoo, who was standing with a slightly puzzled expression, wondering if he had to show something else.
“You may leave.”
“Yes. Thank you.”
A strangely more formal and polite tone.
Only after confirming that did Hyunwoo feel certain that the outcome wouldn’t be negative.
Hyunwoo bowed deeply, finished his greeting, left the room, and a guide entered.
“Next is...”
“Wait, have them wait.”
“How long should they wait?”
“Just about 10 minutes.”
“Understood.”
Soon the guide also closed the door and left again, and the judge seated in the very center let out a deep breath and spoke.
“...What do you think?”
“What do you mean, what do I think? I think we found him.”
“Right?”
The singing was beyond words.
His skills were actually at a level that could already be considered complete.
‘It’s amazing.’
How could someone merely nineteen years old sing like that?
The song he had shown at today’s audition wasn’t one that could simply be dismissed as “he sings well.”
It was one of the most fundamental aspects of singing.
Namely, conveying emotion.
Merely nineteen years old.
Barely nineteen years old, yet he had sung with emotion so naturally, as if he had been singing for ten years.
“The singing is one thing, but the dancing is real too.”
“That’s right. Where did such a talent come from?”
The admiration didn’t end at his singing.
The singing was impressive, but the dancing exceeded imagination.
“The moments to exert strength and the moments to relax, plus subtle changes in expression and delicate expressions even in his fingertips.”
Just like his singing, his dance contained know-how that would normally take at least ten years to learn.
“Then the result is...”
“Do we even need to say it? It’s a pass.”
“I’ll handle the contract personally.”
“The team leader personally? You must like him quite a lot.”
“Hmm, well... he’s a rare talent, isn’t he?”
With the conclusion more or less reached, the next audition resumed.
“Yes. We’ve seen enough.”
“Next.”
“Thank you for your hard work.”
Perhaps because it was an audition where the results were already decided, every applicant looked more or less the same.
‘Hmm... they’re decent, but...’
There was someone who caught his eye among them, but unfortunately, after a massive impact, a small shock couldn’t feel very new or fresh.
“We’ll contact you.”
“You may leave.”
Soon, all the prepared auditions were over.
A gem discovered at the end of a long journey that had spanned several days.
It wasn’t even a rough stone, but a beautiful gem that needed no separate polishing process.
“What should we do about Mr. I Hyeonu?”
“We’re thinking of offering the best possible terms as a trainee; what do you think?”
Team Leader Bak Ihwan, who had been in charge of casting and contracts until now.
Of the talents who had caught his eye, nine out of ten had reached their destination called success.
Team Leader Bak’s contributions were considerable to how JK Entertainment had risen to its current position.
“But there is something I’m a bit worried about.”
“Worried? What...”
“The worry of whether he can debut as an idol.”
“Excuse me? Wasn’t his singing and dancing nearly perfect?”
Idols didn’t operate alone.
From a minimum of five members to groups of more than ten.
They all had to move with one heart and one mind, a unified body where one member’s mistake could become your own.
“The group we’re planning this time also has seven members, right?”
“That’s right.”
“Colleagues with skills that, while incomparable to active idols, wouldn’t be a big problem even if they debuted right now.”
“Team member jealousy...”
“Exactly.”
Nineteen was certainly an appropriate age.
But skills that far exceeded what a nineteen-year-old should possess.
“Then a solo...”
“That needs to be seen first too. Just because someone sings and dances well doesn’t mean they can debut solo and succeed.”
His skills were certainly outstanding, so what remained was to sign the contract and check if he had other latent abilities.
“Very well. You’ll check together with me, so then Team Leader Bak?”
“Yes.”
“I’m counting on you.”
“Don’t worry.”
There was no way he could refuse an offer from JK Entertainment, which had produced and possessed countless stars.
-------------------------
As soon as he received the notification that he had passed the audition, the window from earlier appeared before Hyunwoo’s eyes.
[Quest Complete]
[Reward: Reputation +1]
[Status check available.]
He still didn’t know what this window was, but the status it displayed was clearly his own.
‘...Status?’
[I Hyeonu]
[Appearance: 87 points. You gain basic goodwill from anyone who sees you for the first time.]
[Singing: 67 points. A level of vocal ability where anyone who hears you will say you sing well.]
[Dance: 62 points. A level of skill where anyone who watches will say you dance well.]
[Acting: 43 points. A career in acting is not recommended.]
[Reputation: 3 points. Those who know you are aware of you.]
“What kind of evaluation is this.”
He could understand acting since it was a field he had never tried in his life, but no matter how much he thought about it, the reputation score didn’t make sense.
There hadn’t been anyone who didn’t know him in middle and high school.
“Is that why it’s 3 points? Ah, it went up by 1 point this time.”
Still, each seemed like an objective evaluation in its own way.
He didn’t think he was bad at singing or dancing, but compared to the great seniors who had truly left their names behind, he was far lacking.
And most conclusively, the high score in appearance made it clear that it was indeed an objective evaluation.
“Well, I’m confident in my looks.”
It was awkward to say it himself, but it was one of his charms that he was quite confident in.
More than that, he couldn’t believe that singing and dancing skills good enough to get an immediate pass at JK were 67 and 62 points.
It was a bit lower than he had expected.
And so, Hyunwoo devoted himself to checking the status window for several days.
Wondering if there were other functions since he could check his status.
And thus, he discovered one more function.
[To raise your status scores, increase your reputation.]
[Your reputation is extremely low compared to your status scores.]
The fact that it even gave advice on how to raise his status.
There wasn’t anything else besides this, but this alone was a huge help to Hyunwoo.
“But why haven’t they contacted me?”
He had received the pass notification on the day of the audition and had expected contact soon after.
But during the several days he spent checking the status window, no contact had come at all.
“I can’t just sit still.”
Thanks to that, Hyunwoo had time to think for those few days.
He didn’t know how he had regressed, but about the things that would happen from now on.
He organized and thought again about things that would be helpful just by knowing them.
While organizing, a sudden thought occurred to him.
‘Why do I have to join JK Entertainment?’
JK Entertainment.
It was so huge that there was no one who didn’t know the name JK.
At first, he had thought that if he just became a trainee, everything would work out.
Without even knowing it was a new beginning.
Was there any reason to start again in this place where he had spent ten years only to experience failure?
At the time of the audition, he had prioritized dealing with the immediate situation because of the unbelievable fact that he had regressed, but the more he thought about it, the more questions he had.
Moreover, the lack of contact for several days was no different from before his regression.
Because it had taken a full week for them to contact him back then.
“I should wait about a week.”
If there was still no contact after that, goodbye JK.
He had no intention of letting them hold onto him again.
Hyunwoo had a week of time, and he had already spent several days of it waiting for the audition response.
It was a bit tight to do something else in that time.
In that case, there was a way to most easily raise his reputation.
“Busking.”
Even before his regression, he had occasionally busked during his trainee days, as well as in middle and high school.
Videos had been uploaded to YouTube and such, but because he hadn’t done it often, it had been a brief flash in the pan.
Because there were countless people besides Hyunwoo who could sing and dance well.
If you failed to seize that brief flash, you became a shooting star that twinkled for a fleeting moment before disappearing.
Though Hyunwoo hadn’t even become that shooting star.
“It should be somewhere around here...”
A room that wasn’t very large.
Old, worn-out equipment stuffed in a corner of the boiler room.
There was a time when he had dreamed and nurtured those dreams with these.
He hadn’t known if the day would come to use them again, but now that he was, he felt lighter, as if an old knot in his chest had come undone.
“Ah, aah.”
Even with the volume at its minimum, a grating noise-like sound that made him furrow his brows began for a moment.
If it had been any louder, the neighbors would have knocked on the door.
Fortunately, the noise lasted only a brief moment before disappearing, and when he tapped the connected microphone with his finger, it replied with a clear sound, as if to say it was still perfectly fine.
“It’s in good shape.”
Hyunwoo wiped the dust off the equipment as if caressing something precious he had recovered, and immediately placed it by the door for tomorrow’s use.
Perhaps tomorrow it would feel the most real.
The fact that he had regressed.
He hadn’t felt this way even on the day he returned from the audition, yet for some reason, the busking kept pounding at Hyunwoo’s heart as he lay down.
“It’ll go well.”
If it didn’t go well, he would overcome it; if it did, he would ride the momentum.
Because he had been given an opportunity that no one else in the world would receive twice.
Forcing himself to sleep, which wouldn’t come easily, on a weekend afternoon when the most people were out.
Hyunwoo found the spot where he had performed before and set up his equipment.
Soon, people’s gazes gathered.
At first they were curious about what he was doing, then they seemed surprised by Hyunwoo’s appearance, and stayed for quite a long time.
Eyes that seemed to say, “Show us what you’ve got.”
Was it his imagination that he was more nervous than at the audition?
Even so, he felt fresher and freer than ever.
“Huu...”
With a deep sigh, the setup was completely finished, and as if they had sensed it like ghosts, anticipation soon began to fill people’s eyes.
“Ah, aah.”
A brief noise was heard, then returned again.
Now it was time to meet their expectations.
“Hello. My name is I Hyeonu. The song I’ll be singing is...”
Along with a neat greeting, Hyunwoo’s first busking after his regression began.