Hard Mode Idol

3:30 AM.

I woke up to the alarm and first checked my stamina. Thanks to getting a good night’s sleep yesterday, it was around 80% full. Yoochan hyung, who was sleeping right next to me, showed no signs of waking up despite the loud alarm.

“Hyung.”

When I shook Yoochan hyung, his tightly closed eyelids opened halfway. His unfocused gaze wandered around before landing on me.

“It’s 3:30.”

“Ugh, I’m so tired……”

His voice was still heavy with sleep. After confirming that hyung was sitting up, I gathered clothes to change into. I should wash up first before it gets hectic.

While brushing my teeth, I adjusted the temperature and let the hot water hit me. This feeling of my body loosening up felt so good.

The schedule seems more packed than I thought……

Starting today, we have six music show appearances in a week, radio and YourTube filming scheduled in between the weekday music shows, and even a W Live broadcast squeezed in.

Is this really the schedule a newly debuted rookie group can take on? I didn’t know if this was normal or if our agency was just really good at booking schedules.

In my past life, having one music show schedule a week was considered a lot, and variety shows happened about once a month, on unpopular cable channels at that. Radio appearances were maybe once or twice… I did a lot of local events back then.

Will I have enough stamina?

I knew that established idols had packed schedules during their active periods. But I didn’t think this would be my reality right after debuting. I thought I’d have time to level up my skills and prepare.

Oh? That’s right. I got a new skill yesterday.

I had completely forgotten about it. After lathering up with body wash and scrubbing it all over, I checked the skill.

Salvation (F): A pass necklace given to you for saving someone’s life.

It recovers status abnormalities of others.

Using the skill requires stamina, and if you lack stamina, you will suffer a status abnormality.

The required stamina varies depending on the severity of the abnormality you wish to recover.

It recovers others’ abnormalities but not my own? It’s a heal but not self-heal. Doesn’t seem like I’ll have much use for it. If it was a skill to recover my own stamina, I would have gratefully embraced it!

With a tinge of disappointment, I also recalled receiving a random box as a sub-mission reward. System! Where’s my reward? Tell me!

It doesn’t tell me what’s inside? The system remained silent. Just based on the strong random box vibe from the name, I thought as I dried myself off with a towel.

Alright, let’s use it.

A window popped up in front of me. It was a very cute roulette wheel. When I clicked on it, instructions kindly appeared. There were a total of 13 items listed: 3 types of flat stamina recovery potions, 3 types of percentage stamina recovery potions, 3 types of point random boxes, and 4 skill rank up items.

Wow, it really has everything. I didn’t expect the game system to be implemented so thoroughly. The item types and acquisition rates were similar to typical gacha games. I should ask Deus if he has a ransel the next time I meet him. It wouldn’t be surprising at all if the gods were all playing an MMORPG together at this level of detail.

At a glance, I’ll probably get a ‘Measly Vita300’ or a ‘Measly Bakkas’. There’s no way I’ll get a big point box starting from 5,000 points or a premium skill voucher. I shouldn’t even hope for those.

I should just be satisfied that I have a way to obtain stamina recovery items. With a lively noise, the roulette wheel began to spin rapidly.

Since I had no expectations, I used the towel to dry my hair in the meantime. When I saw the spinning wheel start to slow down at the edge of my vision, I checked, and as expected:

It was an item that recovers 20 stamina. I’ll have to eat it when I really need it…… I wonder if I’ll get another sub-mission? This time, I hope it’s an easier one.

But how do I use this? System, tell me!

I immediately tried it, and felt a cold sensation. The ‘Measly Vita300’ was gripped in my hand. It was a small, opaque brown glass bottle. When I shook it, the sound of the liquid sloshing around was perfectly realistic.

However, I can’t take it out in front of people. Since I don’t know when I’ll need it, it’s awkward to take it out in advance. Looks like I’ll have to consume it in the bathroom again. It’s a bit unsettling, but I can’t help it. After storing the Measly Vita300 in my inventory, I left the bathroom.

Why is no one else here……?

Did Yoochan hyung fall back asleep? When I went back to the room to check, he was sitting on the bed, continually yawning.

“Are you, ahh, done washing up?”

Hyung asked while wiping the tears streaming down his face.

“Yes. Is the other room completely out?”

“Yeah. I woke them up, but everyone couldn’t get up…… I’ll have to go check again after washing up. Ah, I can’t get my mind together.”

Yoochan hyung repeatedly slapped his own cheeks with both hands, making a loud noise as proof, his cheeks flushing red. But he still didn’t seem fully awake as he sluggishly got up and gathered his clothes.

As soon as I entered the dorm yesterday, I immediately laid down on the bed to recover my stamina. That was a little past 10 PM, and until just before I fell asleep, everyone had gathered to check the music charts. I don’t remember when exactly I slept, but it makes sense that they all couldn’t get up either.

It was already 4 AM. Since the manager hyung said he’d pick us up at 5:30 AM, we only had an hour and a half left. If there were two bathrooms, I could have slept a bit more, but with only one, there’s no choice. We’d barely make it on time taking turns showering in a relay.

Three people…… No, two people besides Seoho. I should wake up at least one of them so that when Yoochan hyung is done, I can send them in right away.

I immediately went and opened the door to the other room. Come to think of it, this is my first time in here.

In the darkness, the outline of a bunk bed facing a single bed became visible. It was deathly quiet, either because no alarm was set or it was turned off unconsciously.

It was too dark to see who was sleeping where. Since I had to wake them up anyway, I turned on the light. The single bed belonged to Seoho. He was sprawled out with his belly exposed, having kicked off the blanket. After picking up the pillow rolling on the floor and putting it back, I checked the bunk bed.

Kanghyun hyung was on the top bunk, and Jung Ilhan was on the bottom. I gently shook Jung Ilhan, who was lying on his side hugging a pillow.

“Mmm……”

Stirring, Jung Ilhan opened his eyes.

“Hyung, it’s 4 AM.”

“Mmm……”

He seemed to be having a hard time getting up, groaning. After tossing and turning a few times, Jung Ilhan suddenly reached out towards me. A warm hand landed on my cheek. After pausing in that position for a moment, as if checking something, Jung Ilhan rubbed his eyes and stirred. Huh? What’s going on?

“Hyung?”

“Mmm. I’ll get up……”

As I scratched the back of my neck and looked up, I heard a creaking noise. It seemed Kanghyun hyung had woken up.

“Already……”

That single word encapsulated everything. With his eyes still closed, Kanghyun hyung rose unsteadily and swayed. Meanwhile, Jung Ilhan, who had been stirring, fell back asleep. What do I do? They all seem so exhausted.

Suddenly, a loud thud made me jump. Kanghyun hyung groaned while rubbing his head. It looked like he had hit his head on the ceiling due to the upper bunk.

“Ah, again.”

But at least the groan sounded a bit more awake. When hyung came down, I moved to make space for him. He roughly finger-combed his messy hair and gathered his clothes.

“What time is it?”

“4 AM.”

Kanghyun hyung stretched as he went into the living room. I’ll have Jung Ilhan shower after Kanghyun hyung, so I’ll let him sleep a bit more. I followed hyung out.

Slumped on the sofa hugging his clothes, Kanghyun hyung’s eyebrows were raised high, and his eyes were slowly blinking. It was pitiful seeing him struggle to wake up.

“Haon-ah.”

“Yes?”

“Aren’t you going to dry your hair?”

“I should, shouldn’t I?”

Bleary eyes looked at me. Kanghyun hyung waved his hands and said,

“Dry it quickly. You’ll catch a cold.”

I lifted the bangs sticking to my forehead and said,

“I’ll dry it and come back.”

“……Okay.”

The tranquility of dawn ended after 5 AM. Unable to wake the dead-to-the-world Seoho, Yoochan hyung and Kanghyun hyung carried him out. After placing him on the bathroom floor, Yoochan hyung grabbed the shower head. He turned it to cold water, blasted it at full force, and mercilessly sprayed Seoho, who flailed around screeching, “Aah! I’m drowning!”

After grasping the situation, Seoho complained to the hyungs that they went too far. But with no time to spare, they both shut the door and left.

“Hurry up and wash up. We’re out of time.”

“Aaah!”

Poor guy. From now on, I’ll never wake up Seoho again. I munched on a green plum, shuddering at the tart taste as I quickly ate to fill my stomach. Ugh, so sour.

Still, after finishing preparations and resting on the sofa, my stamina gradually filled up nicely. I leaned against Jung Ilhan next to me, and the efficiency was great.

“Ilhan hyung.”

“Yeah?”

“Let me know if you’re uncomfortable.”

“I’m not uncomfortable.”

“Really?”

“Really, really.”

That’s a relief then. Jung Ilhan occasionally touched my face to check my temperature. My complexion must be good right now. Was that time I was rushed to the hospital that traumatic? I need to manage my stamina well.

“Good morning, kids!”

The manager hyung entered the living room in a lively voice. When I checked the time, it was precisely 5:30 AM. Did he count down in front of the door before entering? There’s no way to be this accurate otherwise.

“Ah! Hyung! Sorry! I’ll be right there!”

Seoho hurriedly rushed out while drying his hair.

“Seoho! Don’t run around! It’s early morning!”

“Got it, got it!”

“Sheesh.”

The flustered Seoho. Yoochan hyung sighing. Jung Ilhan sitting next to me. Kanghyun hyung watching cover videos.

Will mornings like this become familiar now? That is, if this time can even be called morning.