Hard Mode Idol

Their reactions were surprising, and I could guess why all the members thought of me as a parachute. Someone was kicked out, and I came in their place, coming to greet the debut lineup at the same time as passing the audition. It’s a situation that can be misunderstood.

But what’s important now is that I’m in the debut lineup. The fact that I joined the debut lineup with my current stats means I was chosen as a visual member. Because my singing skills aren’t at the level of a main vocalist.

If the existing members resist like this, cutting one visual member is nothing. Especially those four. They’re all good enough to be visual members of any decent idol group.

In the end, skills are what’s needed to survive here. I need to show outstanding abilities in either singing or dancing, but there’s no main vocalist positio, and there’s already a main dancer, so my path is ultimately singing.

I’m confident in grinding. No matter how much they chirp, the debut members are decided from above. It’s over if I become someone they can’t afford to lose. I’ll win.

“Haon, I’m sorry. Let’s go out for now.”

“No, it’s okay. By the way, Manager.”

“Yes?”

“Please speak comfortably to me too.”

“Pardon?”

“You can lower your speech…”

Isn’t this it? Why are you so flustered? The puppy loudly exhaled as if telling me to listen. Doesn’t it get tiring making your breathing so loud?

Anyway, since they said that’s it for today, I diligently said ‘See you next time’ and left the practice room.

*****

“What a bastard!”

Before the door closed, I heard the puppy’s grumpy voice. What did I do wrong?

“Haon, I’m sorry.”

“Huh? For what?”

“The kids were rude. They’re all in a state of shock right now. Please give them a few days. They’re gentle kids, so they’ll accept it soon.”

“Ah! Yes. It’s okay.”

It’s not the manager’s fault, and it would be funnier if they welcomed a kid with no trainee experience joining the debut lineup. There will be trainees they didn’t introduce to me, and there will be plenty of people better than me among them.

But I have no intention of backing down.

“I wish you would speak comfortably to me…”

The manager’s round eyes blinked a few times, then gently narrowed.

“Okay, I will. By the way, I think it would be good for you to practice separately until the kids’ misunderstanding is resolved. Is that okay? Is there anything you want to do?”

“Vocals. I want to receive proper vocal training.”

I’m aiming for the main vocalist position. I will become this group’s main vocalist.

“Got it. I’ll have you receive 1:1 training.”

Since I was called a parachute with no skills, I should clear up that misunderstanding. The parachute part is a misunderstanding, but having no skills is true, so I have to practice hard.

Why aren’t the 500 points coming in? Do they only acknowledge mission completion after I sign the contract? When that comes in, I’m investing in singing first before dance or anything else.

From the next day, I showed my face at the company every day, but I didn’t run into the members. The manager must have done something. Instead, I holed up in the vocal room and received 1:1 private lessons from the teacher.

It was really good.

Because the experience shot up. Receiving training from an expert, the amount of experience gained was different. It went up even from just having my shortcomings pointed out, and it went up drastically when I fixed them.

I only fixed things I theoretically knew too, but seeing it like this, it seemed ‘coaching from outside’ rather than ‘what I know’ influenced the experience gain. Thanks to that, I was really happy just seeing the experience rise.

Like that, my singing stat hit B in just one week. Is it faster than collecting points and raising it because the grade is still low? The dance experience I’m practicing alone at home is rising very slowly, so the difference looked much bigger. Amazing! I respect you, Teacher!

“You’re really rewarding to teach.”

The vocal teacher said, clicking his tongue. I, whose singing stat had just risen to B, looked at the teacher with sparkling eyes.

“I thought you were improving bit by bit, but it suddenly increased a lot.”

That’s because the stat just went up! And one more important piece of information came from the vocal teacher’s mouth. That as soon as the experience rises, it’s reflected in the skills.

It meant B 0% and B 85% skills are different. They’re not the same B. Now, let’s run to B+ like this! is what I lack the stamina for.

“Teacher, I…”

“Yeah, yeah. It’s time to rest, right?”

“Hehe.”

“It’s about time for dinner, so should we eat dinner too?”

“Yes.”

After coming out of the recording booth and seeing the teacher off, I went straight into the vocal room and sprawled on the long sofa inside.

Phew, I’m tired.

I should charge my stamina a bit and go eat. This darn stamina, stamina. I can’t even raise my lacking stamina with points, and it stays the same even if I roll around like this. Please raise my stamina~

At that moment, the puppy’s face fleetingly appeared through the door open about a span. I thought it was a coincidence, but soon my eyes met the puppy’s. At the same time, the face crumpled like a piece of waste paper flung the door open.

Baby, hyung is too tired to play with you right now.

“Hey.”

“…”

Let’s ignore him. In my experience, there are two reactions the puppy will show if ignored. Slam the door and leave angrily or barge in.

“Hey!”

The puppy was the latter. His voice is loud too. He could resoundingly fill a concert hall without a mic.

“What.”

“What? What do you mean what? Did you just say what to me?”

“You called, and I answered.”

“Does everyone know you’re this ill-mannered? In front of the teacher and manager, you act nice, weak, pretty, all sorts of acts, but you’re trash, aren’t you?”

Has he never met real trash? It’s too grandiose to attach to me. And it’s not an act, that’s also me, and this right now is also me. Do you think everyone has only one face? So naive.

I wanted to snap back like that, but I had no energy. I was lacking stamina. I shut my mouth to recover my stamina as much as possible and receive training again. I even closed my eyes while at it.

I hope he just leaves me alone. I don’t want to get along well with the debut lineup members at all. If we happen to run into each other, it’s enough to just pass by. Not pick fights like this.

Then suddenly, I thought I was blessed. The vocal teacher and manager dote on me so much. That’s enough, what more do I want? Even compared to my past life, this is heaven.

It’s not a problem if I can’t get along with the members. The previous members also smiled and acted close in front of the camera. That’s all I want from you. If you can’t even do that, you lack professionalism.

“You bastard! You’re ignoring me? Are you ignoring me?”

When there was no reaction, the puppy whose patience ran out, rushed at me. He suddenly grabbed my collar and pulled me up, then shook me like that. It’s just shaking at the level of a tantrum, but the problem is my stamina is dropping with each shake.

Why?

I’m just being shaken? It’s totally cute! It’s the same as a dog who can’t fight properly acting up. It doesn’t hurt, and he’s just shaking me to get my attention, so why is my stamina decreasing?

Is it judging this as an attack and dropping my stamina? I don’t have much stamina left after training…

Will an abnormal condition trigger like this?

I got scared and firmly grabbed the puppy’s arm. It backfired. When I showed a reaction, he got excited and shook me more.

“Let go of this, and let’s talk. I’m a bit tired right now.”

“Hah! That’s funny. Then you’ll ignore me again!”

“I won’t ignore you, and I’ll talk to you. Just.”

Suddenly, the puppy went, “Huh? Talk? Wait, did I come here to talk?” and got flustered. Meanwhile, I still had my collar grabbed and my stamina was rapidly decreasing.

“I said let go of this first?”

Is he a green frog? He grabs even tighter instead. My stretched-out neckline was grabbed in a fistful by the puppy’s hand.

“No! I came here to get angry at you!”

Ah, I’m screwed. Stamina, stamina!

Damn it. I knew this would happen. I hope it’s not fainting at least. No, no way. Nothing is good. Muscle pain is the most bearable. Please be muscle pain. Please, please!

Life never flows the way I want it to.

“Gasp, huff, cough!”

My chest was completely blocked. The more I tried to breathe, the more my lungs seemed to shrivel up. It’s probably just a feeling, but even if I realized it, the suffocation didn’t go away. Trying to somehow inhale the lacking breath, an unpleasant sound came out.

The startled puppy stiffened, turning pale. It seemed to be his first time in a situation like this, and his fluster was evident.

“Uh, huh? Wh-why, why are you like that? Why are you like that? Does it hurt somewhere? What do I do? Hey, hey! Wh-what…”

He eventually started sniffling, and tears began welling up in his big eyes. I’m the one who wants to cry because I can’t breathe, so why are you crying? Is it because he’s a puppy, he’s gentle too. The sight of someone he hates gasping for breath, flustered and crying.

“Gasp, huff, hey, don’t, huff, make, a scene, gasp.”

I have to quietly let it pass. I desperately grabbed the puppy’s arm while clutching my chest. The puppy was trembling all over. I see, it’s dizzying when you’re out of breath too. As I staggered from my head spinning, the startled puppy held onto me.

“Wh-what, what do I do, hey, hey hey! What’s wrong with you, what’s wrong, don’t scare me, huhuhng, what’s wrooong…”

I told him not to make a scene, but he’s crying in that loud voice. The vocal room with the door wide open had no soundproofing at all.

“The, door, close it, gasp, huff, hurry, the door!”

As I desperately shouted, the puppy instinctively reacted and slammed the door shut. Then he asked, “I closed it! Will you be okay now?” This kid’s brain must be the innocent type.