READ NOVEL ONLINE Chapter 4
Chapter 4
To get straight to the point, the game gave me crap.
[Song: Hello, world – Attempt to memorize!]
[Failed to memorize the song!]
[Tip! The success rate of memorizing depends on the difficulty of the song and the intelligence stat. If the intelligence and wisdom are significantly lower than the song’s difficulty, it might be impossible to attempt.]
If I had known that intelligence and wisdom stats would be used like this, I wouldn’t have put all my points into strength, stamina, and agility.
Sure, there must be a reason they exist, so I’m the fool for not thinking and blindly assigning my stats.
I opened the character info. window and gazed nostalgically at the stats poured into strength, stamina, and agility.
Luckily, the game had a conscience, and I could attempt to memorize the song from start to finish each time I listened to it.
However, the probability was so low that it wasn’t until the pale morning light spread across the dark sky that I succeeded.
[Successfully memorized the song!]
“Crazy, crazy, finally!”
And then my words were filtered out for another three hours.
Damn it. This is why intelligence and wisdom at 10 are useless. It’s not me who’s stupid; it’s the character. No doubt about it.
[Song: Hello, world! – Added to the song list.]
I could vividly recall the overall melody and lyrics of the song I had just heard.
This possessed buff was quite nice.
Honestly, it would be weird not to memorize it after listening to it repeatedly… but let’s move on.
[ – Achievement reward for registering the first song has been given. Keep up the effort!]
So, there’s an achievement system too.
With the reward, I gained some experience points and money, leveling me up to 3.
I decided to delay the stat allocation, thinking I should be more careful, and checked the song list.
[Song List]
– Hello, world!: 23.17%
Having just one song felt quite pathetic.
But there was something even more pathetic.
[You stayed up all night with a frail body. Fatigue +10 Current Fatigue 70]
[Your fatigue is nearing the limit. When fatigue reaches 100, HP will start to decrease.]
It was my HP.
Seeing my fatigue about to hit 100 and my HP already at nearly half, I panicked and invested all my points into stamina.
When I raided as a healer, I’d leave our DPS barely alive, begging to be saved, and coolly ignore them because they wouldn’t die. But when it’s my life, even half HP feels unsettling.
Another notification appeared.
[You spent your first night in another world bravely. Willpower +1]
[Tip! Additional stats can be generated based on the player’s actions. This game promotes free play.]
Willpower? Willpower is good.
‘I’ll definitely get out and grab the boss by the collar.’
Looking at the schedule displayed on the calendar app, I had to head to the first recording location soon. I looked quite haggard.
Would I look like a weed among the typically flower-like trainees with this appearance?
In many ways, I’d stand out.
I left the unmanned cafe and went into the public restroom I had seen earlier, washing my face thoroughly with ice-cold water.
Seeing my face properly in a mirror instead of through the phone camera felt quite complicated.
It wasn’t the shock of my face becoming unattractive again.
No matter how realistic it seemed, this was a game, and it was my ‘character’s’ face.
Like many users, I too valued having a good-looking and pretty character above all. Whether it’s a male or female character, if they’re not attractive, it’s not fun to play.
So, in games with detailed customization, I’d spend all day on it, and in games with limited avatars, I’d spend money to make my character shine from head to toe, leading to my bank account suffering the consequences.
One day, this character would be handsome again, right?
Determined to become handsome again, I took the bus to the vicinity of the recording studio.
Even on the shaky bus, I kept listening to the song through the old earphones in my pocket.
Just because I memorized the song didn’t mean it was over.
‘Memorizing’ only involved understanding the lyrics and melody, so singing with a low understanding percentage felt like a robot singing.
This game truly sucked.
Fortunately, listening to the song gradually increased my understanding.
Humming along rather than just listening seemed to increase the percentage faster.
[Hello, world!: 55.27%]
After getting off the bus, I walked to the studio.
I guessed right when I saw a lot of black mid-sized cars gathered early in the morning.
I trudged to the place where the camera was filming the trainees who had arrived early.
Everyone carried a large bag as if they were on a trip, except me.
And fittingly for a game, the character names floated above their heads for identification.
[Jing Xiao] [Ok Do-yoon]
The kid on the left seemed to be a foreigner. From the Chinese-speaking region. True to an Idol game, both were good-looking even in 3D.
Feeling bitter, I remembered my original, much more handsome face when a staff member noticed me and gestured for me to wait.
Humming “Hello, world” softly enough only for me to hear, I waited until the trainees in front disappeared inside, and the staff called me.
As I walked over, the camera started filming me.
Politeness is a must for idols. I gave a quick bow.
“Hello!”
“Hi there. You sound lively, but you look really tired. Did you sleep well last night?”
She was so sweet. I almost fell for it.
But since everything in this world was like 3D-like 2D, my heart didn’t race.
This was all happening inside a monitor.
No matter if it’s people or scenery, it’s all just data made up of 0s and 1s, and I had no intention of getting overly immersed in the game.
“Yes. I walked from the front, so I know I look a bit tired.”
The staff chuckled as if she was letting it slide.
She smiled at the weak attempt of aegyo from a not-so-handsome boy… this is the player’s privilege.
“Why don’t you have any luggage?”
The quest reward that had a suitcase came to mind.
“I ran into some issues on the way, so someone I know will bring it before the shoot ends.”
The system would take care of it, right? Right?
The staff looked like she understood my hastily concocted story.
“How are you feeling right now?”
“I’m very nervous.”
Because of my anger towards this game.
The staff nodded as if she understood, thinking my brief responses were because of nervousness.
“Say one last thing before you go in.”
“I feel a bit lonely coming here alone…. I want to get along with the other kids.”
It’s a truth that NPCs treat player characters well. Some rebel, but usually, they either die, get defeated by the player, or join their side.
The staff chuckled, finding something funny, and nodded.
“It’s cold, so hurry inside. Since you don’t have luggage, you can go straight over there.”
“Thank you!”
“Why are you so happy?”
“Because I’m happy!”
Ah, finally, I could get into the warm studio!
As I stepped happily into the large studio, a system window popped up.
[As a reward for entering the studio for the first time, you have received a ‘student ID card’.]
Holding the student ID that turned up in my pocket, I approached the staff at the desk to confirm my entry.
“Hello. I’m On Raon, an individual trainee.”
“Please show your ID or student ID…. Yes, that’s correct. You look a bit different from your photo.”
My charm stat is reset to 10, you see.
“No one looks exactly like their ID photo!”
“Usually, ID photos look worse than in real life. This photo looks much better, though?”
The truth hurts. I know I’m less handsome.
Gathering all the souls, both in and out of the cyberworld, I laughed it off, and the staff laughed too, saying it was just a joke.
But my favorability towards you is already negative. I’ve remembered your name. Choi Eun-jong.
“On Raon… here it is. Verified. Please give me your phone. You’ll get it back after the shoot.”
Following the instructions, I turned off my phone and handed it over. They even searched me with a metal detector.
I could already guess how tough it was going to be.
“Wait in the waiting room over there and follow the staff’s instructions. Oh, hang your coat on the hanger over there before you go in. Hmm, if you’ve seen the previous season, you’d roughly know what to do…. Do you have any questions?”
“Yes, I do.”
The staff looked at me, somewhat surprised by my serious affirmation.
“Will there be meals?”
At my earnest question, he burst out laughing.
Funny? Do you think I’m funny?
Am I, who nearly froze to death as soon as I possessed this game, whose stomach was about to stick to his back after only having a chocolate latte in the early morning, and who has to shoot without any guarantee of a meal, funny?
What calmed my uncontrollable anger was the staff’s warm words.
“Although there are no meals, we will occasionally provide snacks.”
“Thank you so much.”
This program is my lifesaver. Honestly. It might be the root cause, but as a man, I won’t argue.
“Why are you so happy about that?”
“I’m at the age where I should eat well.”
“Oh, dear.”
Leaving behind the staff,
Who said I reminded him of his son? I entered the waiting room. I put the student ID back into my coat pocket, afraid of losing it.
There were about forty to fifty trainees already in the waiting room.
Among the polygons, there were few as good-looking as the kids I saw earlier.
Many had appearances that made me wonder why they joined an Idol program.
Recalling the trainees from my former agency, it wasn’t surprising.
Wanting to fill my stomach, I drank five cups of water from the water dispenser, mixing hot and cold water in a 1:1 ratio.
“Ah.”
It tasted sweet. It was like nectar.
This made me crave alcohol, but judging by the student ID earlier, I was 18 here, meaning I couldn’t drink for at least two years.
I just hoped I could get out of here within two years.
Rubbing my water-filled belly, I found an empty spot to sit. The warm heater made me sleepy.
Receiving a notification that my fatigue had only slightly decreased, I dozed off, nodding off until the staff came and started attaching microphones one by one.
“You’ll be entering in 10 minutes.”