Genius Idol’s Strategy to Conquer the Entertainment Industry

Chapter 8

Anyway, I still couldn’t understand why they had summoned a “face genius,” someone whose mere presence filled hearts with joy, only to make him perform a dance that resembled some cutesy magical girl routine rather than a cool dance.

After the retreat, a video of the talent show was uploaded on YouTube by someone and spread widely. It became so popular that our high school name started appearing as a related search term after the original song title. Despite my exceptional appearance, I had been living a quiet life at a normal high school, but suddenly, I received multiple casting offers.

It was also the point in time when I first fell in love with performing on stage.

Though it doesn’t mean much now.

So, what I want to say is,

I am confident that I can dance to this routine better than anyone else, especially since it is not that difficult and I understand it almost completely without much effort.

The music would be randomly chosen from the ones prepared by the production team, so I had no idea what would come up.

Regardless, this is the only dance I can do. Whatever comes up, I have no choice but to dance to it.

As I placed the microphone on the floor and turned around as if to show something, I could feel the people’s expectations clearly.

I would gladly meet those expectations. Though it might be in a slightly different direction than they anticipated.

Not knowing anything, Lee Chang-yeon shouted enthusiastically.

“Music, please!”

What flowed out was, fortunately, an upbeat and exciting EDM track.

Hearing the music that somewhat suited the dance, I could throw away any hesitation that came from my introverted personality.

“Ha!”

As I turned around with a crisp cheer, which could be considered the killing part of the song, bending and then straightening my arms, the trainees and mentors went wild. Even the angle of my elbows was, in my opinion, artistic.

I danced with a bit more power and bounce than the original to make an impact.

However, I did not exaggerate to the point of trying to be funny.

That’s for comedy shows. I’m an Idol right now. An Idol!

I just did my best to capture the whimsical and fresh charm, the liveliness of this choreography, which is like a freshly caught fish flopping about.

By the time I finished with my arms fluttering like waves, the scene was in complete chaos.

“Puhahahaha!”

“That dance line is insane. Wow, I teared up.”

Despite receiving a bigger response than any of the outstanding and skilled performances so far, there was a serious problem with my dance.

It was that the music and the beat were completely out of sync.

Of course, I could confidently say that hardly anyone would have noticed the music by the time my dance ended.

Just look at these people who are so captivated by my fantastic dance that they can’t think straight.

“On Raon trainee.”

In the middle of everyone sobbing, Muk Hye-sung, who maintained his characteristic stoic expression, called me in a low voice. Here it comes.

“The sync was amazing. Are you playing around with this dance?”

“Absolutely not.”

I simply had no choice but to ignore the music’s beat because I couldn’t abandon the prepared dance. Truly, I had no choice.

The most earnest person here is me. Please, just believe in me once.

[Due to the effect of the trait ‘Born to be pitiful’, you appear as pitiful as a puppy caught in the rain.]

Can’t I control the trait effect? Despite my intentions, the atmosphere became solemn. Even Muk Hye-sung couldn’t continue speaking. Ha….

After a while, as the trait’s effect either disappeared or lessened, the atmosphere somehow settled, and Han Ji-hee asked curiously.

“This can’t be called freestyle… You must have prepared this in advance, thinking ‘I’ll dance this no matter what comes out’, right?”

As I expected from seeing the mentor lineup, it seemed that none of the celebrities I knew existed in this world.

There wouldn’t be a single person in the entertainment industry who didn’t know this dance.

“Yes.”

“Did you choreograph it yourself?”

“No.”

“Really?”

I took a deep breath and steeled myself.

“Last Christmas, a mermaid appeared in my dream and taught me this dance.”

“What?”

Facing the mentors who looked at me as if I was spouting nonsense, I spoke as seriously as I could.

“I didn’t create this dance. Absolutely not. After I pushed a mermaid who had been washed ashore back into the sea by splashing water on her, she came to me the next day and taught me this dance.”

“Mermaids… don’t have legs, though?”

“Of course, she borrowed them from a witch.”

The reason I deliberately spun such a ridiculous tale was that not knowing the character “On Raon’s” past, I couldn’t answer appropriately.

And I couldn’t claim that I had choreographed it myself when I hadn’t.

[Note this. My nonsensical stories have complex backstories. I don’t spout nonsense for the sake of it.]

Additionally, I apologize to the unnamed choreographer who became a mermaid out of necessity. If I return to reality, I will not forget this favor.

“Is this dance so embarrassing that you want to deny it seriously?”

“With all due respect, saying nonsensical yet somehow meaningful things like this in front of the camera…”

I trailed off naturally. Would I be embarrassed by just performing such a dance?

“That’s true.”

“It really doesn’t make sense, but it does…”

“It’s convincing…”

“I think he’s very smart.”

“Yes, even with the song earlier, he picks out exactly what’s crucial for him.”

These are words too high for someone with an intelligence of 11.

This feels like a player adjustment.

“Which mentor do you think you will end up with?”

“Respected Teacher Muk, please accept me!”

My fearless appeal made the trainees gasp. Even the mentors seemed surprised.

They probably hadn’t seen a trainee so boldly approach Muk Hye-sung, who would be overwhelmingly voted the scariest mentor by the trainees.

Though my courage isn’t much different from others, I wasn’t scared of Muk Hye-sung at all.

Setting aside the fact that this is a game, and he’s an NPC who assists the player,

[Muk Hye-sung is paying attention to you. Favorability +1 Current Favorability +1]

It’s because since I started singing earlier, notifications of favorability increases kept appearing.

The system even gave a tip saying that “decimal favorability points are rounded down,” and indeed, Muk Hye-sung’s favorability change had been +0 until now.

Goddess Jeana increased my favorability by 10 each time, but this guy, despite his tough exterior, raises favorability so stingily that it’s only now reached 1.

Anyway, what I was aiming for was the dynamic between a crispy-on-the-outside, soft-on-the-inside mentor and a hardworking student.

As everyone knows, the story of a trainee climbing up with the help of a strict mentor is quite appealing.

Though I wondered what I would do if I found only crispy parts and no softness inside….

It’s just a game, so I’ll give it a shot. It won’t kill me, right?

“Let’s have a brief meeting.”

At my answer, Jeana smiled and spoke.

The mentors gathered their heads, tapping on the desk as they talked.

“Seems like he has basic skills… Has charm… But not enough to go to Hye-sung’s class…”

“Has star quality and talent for sure…”

“If he shows no signs of nerves, his mental strength must be…”

They put down the microphones connected to the speakers, so I couldn’t hear what they were saying at all. I was curious. Would it come out on the broadcast?

But I could roughly guess the result.

With my current skills, it wouldn’t be strange to join Muk Hye-sung’s lower class.

It wasn’t like I asked to join an overly prestigious class, and given how directly I stated it…

“Trainee On Raon will be taught by Mentor Muk Hye-sung.”

“Thank you!”

“By the way, why on earth did you choose Hye-sung? Aren’t you scared?”

Jeana asked as if she was genuinely curious, and I, who was heading off the stage, stopped abruptly and rolled my eyes.

“He’s my role model!”

[Jeana finds a promising junior adorable. Favorability +2 Current Favorability +12]

[Muk Hye-sung is paying attention to you. Favorability +0 Current Favorability +1]

Sir… Your favorability is stingy….

I stepped off the stage and attached the “M” sticker symbolizing “Muk Hye-sung” to my name tag.

Then, a staff member led me to a temporary set for an interview.

A writer was waiting for me with a camera.

“What did you think of trainee Oh Hyun-jin’s stage earlier?”

“He did well. He felt like a complete trainee.”

One wrong word here could lead to bad editing.

I kept my wits about me and answered softly and gently.

“Did you know each other beforehand?”

“Yes.”

That must be why his favorability was so low. Thinking about the disastrous favorability again made me feel complicated.

“Do you see trainee Oh Hyun-jin as a rival?”

“It would be too much to call him a rival since I’m lacking. But could you tell me what trainee Oh Hyun-jin said?”

What are you trying to tie together here? I smoothly shifted to a subtly different topic.

“It’s a secret.”

“Oh, I’m curious…”

I wasn’t particularly curious but pretended to be.

“Good job, and just wait over there until Wes Music is finished, then you can return to your seat.”

“Yes. Thank you!”

I stood awkwardly beside Oh Hyun-jin in the narrow space and then returned to my seat.

That guy seemed like he had something to say to me from earlier.

But I didn’t dare to ask someone with a favorability of -36 what it was, so I just stayed quiet.

“Raon, you were amazing.”

Back at my seat, Seo Chan-bin greeted me with both thumbs up.

Seo Chan-bin’s favorability had somehow exceeded 20. Such a generous guy.

He laughed the hardest earlier when I danced, and now he found my face amusing, too.

“Hyung, just speak casually.”

“Should I? Then you call me hyung.”

While we were chatting softly, new trainees took the stage.

“Wow, amazing. How can someone look like that?”

“Right. Amazing.”

Seo Chan-bin murmured in awe as he looked at the trainees. I nodded in agreement.

For someone like me, who had become insensitive to looks from seeing my own face all my life, to find them handsome, they must be truly handsome.

“Hello. I’m Yohan Ban from Seed Entertainment.”

“I’m Seo Moon-gyeol.”

“Nice to meet you.”

Ban Yohan and Seo Moon-gyeol. Just from their names and appearances, they didn’t seem like extras.

They would definitely make it big. No doubt.

Whether it was manipulation or anything else, from a meta perspective, those guys wouldn’t be dropped. They weren’t characters who would just appear briefly without significance.

Ban Yohan, with his soft brown hair, had round and gentle deer-like eyes and features and seemed destined to attract many fans with his kind smile and charm.

On the other hand, Seo Moon-gyeol, with his particularly sharp eyes and jawline, looked like a sculpture, and his somewhat delicate features made him look like a gorgeous beauty with three-dimensional foreign-like features.

Only people like them should be told they were photogenic, not someone like me, who was not that good-looking.

And I would like to emphasize once again that, with a little exaggeration, my face was better than theirs combined.

Give me back my face…