The Goal is the Ending Fairy

—– —–

>>SECRET Task: You have succeeded in ‘Being Mentioned by People’! As a reward, your ‘Likability’ stat experience increases by +10! [Collect]

>>SECRET Task: You have succeeded in ‘Making Your First Fan’! As a reward, your Charm stat experience increases by +10! [Collect]

>>You have achieved simultaneous rapid increase in ‘Likability’ and ‘Charm’ stats! As an additional reward, your ‘Vocal’ and ‘Dance’ stat experience increases by +5! [Collect]

—– —–

Well, well.

The way the game is throwing around rewards, you’d think it was celebrating something.

Even though the stats’ experience points were still low, I liked how they were being given just in time before the first mission.

[Shall I collect them for you?]

Nod.

With a slight movement of my head, the helper clicked ‘[Collect All]’ to receive the rewards.

After all, I was at the set with other trainees for the first mission.

It was better to avoid making suspicious gestures in the air.

>>These rewards have been successfully granted!

[I’ve applied all the rewards too!]

Nod nod

To the pop-up window and helper’s explanation, I moved my head again.

“Hey, Dan-ah, stay still~”

“Yes.”

This time I had nodded a bit too much, earning a playful scolding from the staff.

Only after getting my outfit checked again by the nearby stylist was I able to head to the waiting room.

I was at TBQ broadcasting station’s filming set. That’s where I was right now.

However, even while walking through the filming set’s corridor, I didn’t feel particularly nervous. Probably thanks to the “Mental Stability” passive and the anxiety medicine.

Soon after arriving at the waiting room, well… the usual faces were waiting.

That’s because there were many familiar trainees in the team that had been pre-arranged for the first mission.

For reference, I’m first in line for Team 3.

Though the broadcast would end up editing the order anyway… the current order didn’t mean much.

At least for people who weren’t too nervous like me.

“Unnie!”

With Lee Jinyu’s “unnie” call that was becoming tiresome enough to form calluses in my ears, I resigned myself and approached the kid.

Making eye contact, Jinyu was patting the seat next to her as if it was obviously mine.

With a face saying ‘I did well, right?’ for saving my spot.

Not only that, but Yoon Hee-jo who came in after also quickly sat down next to me.

And she did it immediately upon spotting me.

All of this felt so natural that I alone was dumbfounded.

Lately, whenever trainees gather, we somehow end up sitting in this combination.

With me in the middle, right ‘Jinyu’, left ‘Hee-jo’.

Somehow we even always sit in this same order.

“Since there’s no elimination in the first mission, I feel a bit more at ease~”

“True. I want to finish well and get my phone back quickly.”

“Right! I can’t even sleep because I’m so curious about the reactions to my intro video…!”

The two chatted amicably while I sat quietly in the middle.

But I agreed with what they were saying.

About a week ago. After our self-PR videos were released, we couldn’t see our own videos except for just that one day.

Why? Because the company took our phones away.

They seemed to be starting to manage us, probably worried trainees might do something silly with the broadcast coming up.

As a result, we had to practice songs using MP3 players given by the company.

While it made sense that the young ones didn’t know how to use them, the problem was that even I, who wasn’t that young, didn’t either.

I hadn’t been particularly interested in music, and by the time I thought about trying MP3 players, music apps were already everywhere.

Because of that, I ended up listening to usage instructions from staff along with the kids.

So what I’m saying is, I also don’t know the reactions to my video except for the first day it was posted.

Not knowing public opinion helped me focus on practice, but conversely, there were times when I couldn’t focus because I was too curious about it.

Still, if I had to choose between the two, not being able to check at all was more peaceful.

Thanks to that, I could focus solely on practice, and my skills improved a lot.

I leaned my upper body against the backrest, avoiding the two chattering people. And internally called out.

‘Main screen.’

—– —–

>Vocal: 45/100

>Dance: 40/100

>Charm: 20/100

>Likability: 15/100

>Passive Skill 1: “Mental Stability”

>Passive Skill 2: “Steel Stamina”

—– —–

This was my current stats window.

And below that, still….

>(Currently locked slot)

…was there, meaning there were still many stats and passives I could gain.

However, right now it was better to raise the experience points of my current stats rather than trying to acquire new abilities.

After all, new abilities would be given as rewards anyway, so it wasn’t something I could control.

Still, one thing I was satisfied with.

At least I was maintaining a similar balance between vocal and dance.

First, thanks to Kim Se-i’s help, I was able to master the song faster and almost perfectly than expected.

I heard that Kim Se-i also found it quite educational to practice while teaching me singing.

So I didn’t hesitate to fully accept her help, bringing my vocal abilities to quite a high level within my current capabilities.

After that, I gradually reversed the ratio between dance and vocal practice, allowing me to balance the two skills.

Actually, I wanted to keep improving vocals more, but for now that would be pointless.

Because now I was in ‘that zone’ where it’s hardest to raise ability points.

Whether intended by the game developer or not, strangely, characters hit a ‘plateau’ as dance and vocal stats get closer to 50.

In other words, there’s a limit to how much the character can improve through self-practice.

So from here, it’s better to get experience points through task rewards to break through ‘that zone’, then go back to practice-based improvements.

But regardless, I can’t skip practice.

Especially since I already have the ‘Negligent’ title among other trainees.

So I can’t give the impression of being lazy with either vocals or dance.

Therefore, even in periods where practice doesn’t reflect much improvement, getting complacent could be dangerous.

“Hey guys.”

Suddenly, something was thrust in front of me.

“Want some water?”

For something that came so suddenly and randomly, it was quite ordinary.

“Yes!”

“…Yes.”

After accepting a bottle of water at Yoon Hee-jo’s offer and taking a sip, I passed it to Lee Jinyu beside me.

Maybe because filming was approaching, everyone seemed to be getting thirsty.

For me, it wasn’t so much nervousness as just taking care of my throat.

While we were loosening up our mouths and throats and chatting, finally one of the busy staff members approached our waiting room.

“Trainees, the cameras here will be turning on now, okay? Just watch the monitor and give proper reactions, that’s all you need to do.”

“Yes!”

The trainees responded brightly to the staff’s friendly explanation despite their bothered tone.

Soon the monitor would show Team 1 being evaluated, meaning we should provide reaction footage for the broadcast on our own.

This also meant that filming was about to begin in earnest.

Because of this, a slightly tense silence settled in the waiting room.

How long had we been like that?

The waiting room monitor automatically turned on and showed the stage being filmed.

Lights started turning on one by one on the small stage without an audience, then focused their beams on one spot.

And there was…

“Oh my?!”

“Hi-Attack!”

“Isn’t that Senior Han Yul…?”

A member of our company’s senior boy group was there.

I knew him. I had seen him in the character selection screen when I first started the game.

‘Hi-Attack’.

In the game, he was the only character whose playthrough started after debut.

If things had gone wrong somehow, I might have been possessing that person right now.

“Wow…!”

“Amazing….”

Following that, reactions of genuine surprise came out without even being conscious of the cameras.

From the monitor came the relaxed voice of a seasoned professional.

“Who will become the new ‘Light’ that will burn their ‘soul’ to shine as HON’s newest girl group!”

The man, holding a cue card in one hand and a microphone in the other, energetically shouted while emphasizing certain words.

Some trainees even covered their mouths with both hands as if they got goosebumps from that simple sentence.

“Hello everyone. I’m Han Yul from Hi-Attack, and I’ll be your MC for the show.”

As he politely bowed 90 degrees, the waiting room filled with cheers and applause.

“Today finally. Trainees who have earned the chance to become true lights will showcase their first stage on broadcast.

Thinking about my own trainee days… how should I put it, it feels strange to now be in a position to support my juniors as a senior.

Time is cruel…. Haha.”

He still looks young though, what’s he talking about….

Anyway, like all survival shows, Han Yul added various comments and naturally moved on to introducing the CEO.

Only after completing the CEO’s greeting, introducing the judges, and explaining the first mission did the filming get to the main point.

“…Well then, without further delay, let’s bring out Team 1!”

And with Han Yul’s cue, ten people appeared.

They all stepped onto the stage looking quite tense, but having received more elaborate styling than ever before.

The filming format for the first mission was like this:

Each team comes out and waits seated on a small stage on one side, then when it’s their turn, they perform in front of the judges and return to their seat.

Once a team finishes, they return to the waiting room to become reaction bots again.

The next team moves to the largest waiting room and gets some time to practice before going on stage…

In this way, after all three teams complete their performances, only then are the total scores and rankings revealed.

We still don’t know what they’ll do with those rankings. They probably plan to tell us only after announcing the rankings at the end.

I watched the monitor while imagining these predictable scenarios.

Of course, I didn’t skip the reactions either.

I appropriately expressed amazement when impressive high notes came out, and enthusiastically acted disappointed when someone made mistakes in choreography or went off-key. As if it were my own performance.

Team 1 passed by in an instant and wasn’t anything special.

The good performers were just ‘okay’ level, but honestly, most trainees were poor performers.

It seemed they deliberately grouped all the low-expectation trainees together in Team 1.

Still, Team 2 was at least worth watching. No, more than just worth watching – they had quite a few skilled performers.

First of all, Kim Se-i was overwhelmingly good in vocals.

By the time this broadcasts, her performance video’s comments will probably be flooded with ‘she killed it’. Her singing was that excellent.

Her dancing, while not as good as her vocals, wasn’t bad enough to detract from it. Pretty decent, in other words.

Won Chaeseo? She did well too.

They said she made it to the semifinals of a famous audition program in middle school, and it showed.

Dance and vocals came naturally to her, plus relaxed facial expressions – she came down after fully showing her experience as an audition veteran.

The surprise was Chae Seonha.

Since I’d only seen her prickly side and she used a separate practice room, this was the first time I’d properly seen her skills.

That’s how I just found out that rap was her main position.

“Rap is definitely Seonha’s strength. She was the runner-up in ‘Student Rapper’, is that right?”

“Thank you!”

What’s more, I learned from the CEO’s evaluation that she was also a survival show veteran.

While she did have a look that suited rap… I never would have guessed she was a runner-up in a survival show.

She was definitely skilled, as even I, who doesn’t know much about hip-hop, found it entertaining to listen to.

At the same time, I felt a slight worry thinking ‘what if we meet in team missions since our positions are so different.’ 

Hmm…. I think she might dislike me because of the rumors, but even if I wanted to clear up the misunderstanding, she makes it impossible to even approach her…. 

Anyway, filming alone is exhausting enough and this is giving me a headache.

SLAM!

“Now about half of Team 2 left, let’s move to the waiting room~”

After spending quite some time analyzing the trainees like this, it was time for our team to move too.