Hard Mode Idol

“Hey, hey. Jinsu. Violence is……”

A man with a gentle appearance that contrasted with his large physique hesitantly cut in. His features resembled a teddy bear.

“Hey, Park Jeong-tae. Are your eyes just for decoration? Does this look like violence to you? I just grabbed him, that’s all. If this is violence, then every handhold would be a beating, not a hold.”

I don’t know about that, but Gomchi (TN: he’s calling him a moray eel). My stamina is draining. Can’t you adjust the sensitivity of the stamina system? Why is it draining so quickly like this? Is it because I had physical contact with someone else without consent, so it drops twice as fast?

“That’s not what I meant……”

“Shut up.”

Gomchi looked at me again. It seems Gomdori(bear-like-man) is backing off as it is. He then looked at me with pitiful eyes. Why is he looking at me like that? I never asked for his help, nor did I expect it.

There is only one thing I want to avoid right now.

It’s a status abnormality erupting. Two days in a row would be troublesome. If that happens, my debut might be ruined. If it happens too often, wouldn’t that just make me a bomb? The director might just give up on me. I don’t want that.

I just want to avoid physical contact. Even if my stamina still drains, it will drain more slowly. Plus, there’s a home buff, so it might end up being a net zero. It recovers relatively quickly at home. At least here is also considered home, so I could hope for that.

“How about we discuss this while letting go?”

I spoke gently. Really gently. But for some reason, Gomchi got even angrier. His grip tightened. Ah, it hurts!

“Should I do what you say? Who the hell are you? How did a cheeky brat like you worm your way into the debut team? Do you even know who Jaehyuk is?”

“I don’t know. I was just cast, so it’s unfair for you to take it out on me.”

“Look at your attitude, you brat! Not a shred of remorse, acting all cocky! It’s not me taking it out on you, it’s righteous anger, you asshole!”

His language is too vulgar. Why is he cursing like that? Someone trying to become an idol shouldn’t talk like that. You’ll end up having to write an apology letter if you debut as an idol. There are always cases like that. People who curse without realizing they’re on air, and then get scolded just as much as they cursed. Or assault rumors spread.

Ah, my stamina is dropping. This is bad. I have no choice but to kneel down here. First, I need to avoid contact. There’s no good in two guys clinging to each other. It’s just draining my stamina.

“Alright. I’m sorry. So, could you let go of this?”

Ah, that’s good enough. I knelt down extremely well. Come on, let go! Let go! Let go!

“You son of a bitch!”

With a thud, my waist crumpled. Ah, I got punched in the stomach. The intended goal was achieved, I was released, but in exchange, I took a hit to the stomach.

My stamina dropped by 10 at once. The damage is significant. But it didn’t hurt as much as the stamina drop indicated. Just a slap. Yeah, I’d rather take one hit than have my stamina drain bit by bit like a damage-over-time debuff.

“Jinsu!”

Gomdori came running. Gomchi glared at me with menacing eyes. But I’m not scared, what can he do? No one who threatens to kill someone actually tries to kill them. Everyone values their own life too much. So, no matter how much he glares, this won’t be my grave.

Look at that. Gomchi can’t do anything more either. He’s pretending to restrain himself from Gomdori who’s stopping him. He’s just scared of getting kicked out if he goes any further. He can’t touch a debut team member who’s in the director’s good graces. This is enough. Let’s call it even between us. Okay?

I staggered up and went back into the room with my bag. It was a simple room with two bunk beds side by side. Do four people share a room, with twelve people in total? No wonder it’s so crowded.

They said the empty bottom bunk on the left would be mine. This time, no one grabbed me until I set my bag down. I urgently needed to recover my stamina. If I went out to wash up and got caught up in something again, a status abnormality might erupt. My remaining stamina was a mere 5.

That was too close. I should just sleep.

I’ll shower either in the morning or at the company’s shower room. I’ll recover my stamina after a good night’s sleep.

As I lay down and closed my eyes, sleep gradually came over me. Just as I was about to doze off.

“……Is this okay? Shouldn’t we stop Jinsu?”

“Jaehyuk really liked Jinsu. He said we should listen to him.”

“But honestly, isn’t this reason enough to get kicked out? They wouldn’t kick someone out for no reason.”

“Hey, could you say that in front of Jinsu?”

“……No, I couldn’t.”

“Then just stay quiet. Keep your mouth shut, we didn’t see anything.”

“Yeah……”

I could hear a few sprouts whispering amongst themselves after entering the room. This level of noise couldn’t disturb my sleep.

Stamina 120!

I smiled contentedly at the fully replenished number. It seemed like the others were all lazy, as it was already 7 AM, but they were still sound asleep. Luckily, when I checked in the shower in the morning, there were no bruises or marks from yesterday’s hit. It didn’t hurt either.

If a stamina drop of 10 was from that, a proper hit would probably trigger a status abnormality right away. I need to be more careful with my body.

Even though I moved leisurely, not a single person was waking up. When I went down to the first floor of the apartment, I saw a few female students loitering by the common entrance. When our eyes met, their faces flushed red.

“Are you an oppa trainee too?”

She boldly approached and asked me. A completely different boldness from the female student who had cautiously asked me at the cafe. And an assertive attitude, as if it was natural for me to answer.

“Am I an oppa to you?”

“How old are you?”

“Eighteen.”

“Oh! Then I’m the noona, I’m nineteen.”

“Ahah.”

So it seems. I obtained some useless information. After dismissing it from my mind, I headed towards the bus stop. I’ve heard there’s a shuttle for the trainees in the morning, but everyone’s being too lazy and sleeping in.

Since I don’t know when it departs, it’s more comfortable and better for me to go alone. I didn’t want to get dragged into posturing fights and lose stamina first thing in the morning.

“Hey, what’s your name? I’ve never seen you before. Is today your first day? Why aren’t you answering? Are you being standoffish? Or are you ignoring me?”

No, God. You said there’d be no reason for them to dislike me. But it’s no different here. Everyone except the director and the vocal coach is my enemy.

“I’m shy. Sorry, noona.”

“Oh? Really? You’re shy? Okay then, I can’t help it. Will you be uncomfortable if I’m next to you?”

“……A little.”

“Alright. Then I’ll go, so have a good day. When will you be back?”

“……I don’t know.”

“Okay, got it! I’ll wait for you!”

What does she mean she got it, and why is she waiting for me? The female student waved her arms energetically and went back to her friends.

“Aww! So cute! ‘I’m shy, noona.’ How adorable, being all awkward like that! I want to pinch those cheeks………”

“So is it true he just arrived? Is he a trainee?”

“I don’t know. I couldn’t hear.”

“Why? Isn’t that what you went to ask?”

“But the baby said he’s uncomfortable, what can I do? I had to back off.”

“……Did you get a crush on him?”

“Yeah. Totally.”

Am I the baby? There’s only a one-year age difference, but calling me a baby is a bit much. Even though I lived 27 years in my previous life.

It was a quiet morning, but their voices were so loud that I could clearly hear their conversation as I walked silently. That doesn’t mean they won’t pick a fight. That’s better than outright disliking me, I suppose. Let me rephrase. It seems they don’t dislike me for no reason.

It only took one bus ride, about 10 minutes, to get from the dorms to the company. The short travel time meant more time for practice, which was nice.

Starting today, I plan to practice dancing for the weekly mission. And in the afternoon, I need to be with the vocal coach until 10 PM. I need to keep focusing on vocals to gain experience points since my main mission is stuck. It’s the obvious choice.

Getting an A- slowed the experience point gain to about a third of the rate for B. The point requirement difference was about three times higher, so maybe that’s the concept? The balance seems to be well-designed.

I looked around the clustered practice rooms on the 3rd floor. The debut team is assigned practice room 3. It was still empty. I turned on the lights in the dim practice room and selected a song. Thanks to the vocal coach and my stats, I had already achieved an S-rank for singing a while ago. Dancing was still a headache, though.

If it really doesn’t work out, I’ve decided to give up on the double-point bonus and just aim for a B-rank in dancing first. For now, I’m working through famous dance songs one by one, considering that I might appear on variety shows later.

As I was diligently practicing the choreography with my earphones on, I noticed a presence and turned to see the sculpted guy who had been watching videos on his phone that first day we met. What was his name again?

I opened the main mission and checked. Baek Kanghyun. And as I was about to casually close it, I noticed that Lee Seoho’s fondness level had changed from ‘Strongly Dislikes’ to just ‘Dislikes’.

When did it change? I had no idea.

It’s changing to neutral faster than I expected. No point in getting my hopes up baselessly. I refocused on my dancing practice. Since he’s a stranger, there’s nothing to say. And he doesn’t seem inclined to talk to me either.

As I practiced as usual, my reflection in the mirror looked so unbecoming. At home, there’s no mirror, so I could just sigh after finishing, but now I’m documenting my embarrassing moments in real-time. And right next to me was Baek Kanghyun, dancing in a much cooler and more powerful way. The comparison is not flattering.

Ah, that’s right. Just like my singing improved through coaching, of course my dancing will too, right? The main dancer I’m standing next to right now is highly skilled. It should be fine to ask him for a few pointers.

“Excuse me. Sir.”

Once I made the decision, I acted on it right away and approached him. The sullen Baek Kanghyun glanced at me and narrowed his eyes. Quite prickly.

“Could you give me some advice on my dancing? Just a few comments would be great.”

“……Why should I.”

“There’s no real reason. I just asked since you’re so good at it. If you don’t want to, that’s fine.”

I’m as quick to give up as I am decisive. If he doesn’t want to, then there’s nothing I can do. I’m used to being rejected. It’s not the first or second time.