The Goal is the Ending Fairy

“Ah~ I’m nervous!”

“I’m so nervous I’m trembling…”

“Right! Don’t you feel the same, Dan-ah?”

“Yeah, sure.”

Two teammates clung to my arms while chattering noisily on both sides. I showed them a smile full of annoyance as I pushed them away sincerely.

“Aw, you’re so cold.”

“Dan-ah unnie doesn’t seem nervous at all.”

“Right! Even though it’s the second mission day!”

Well, unlike you all, I have a passive ability that helps maintain my mental state. And even though it’s the second mission day, isn’t it the same as the first round anyway? Just that I’m not going up on stage alone this time.

Plus, there’s no audience for this mission either. In other words, we just need to show our skills to the judges.

“Next~ Dan-ah-ssi, time for your makeup~”

“Okay.”

I turned around at the staff member’s voice from behind. It was perfect timing to escape from my playful teammates, so I hurried toward the mirror, but…

“…Ah.”

My upper body staggered from suddenly bumping shoulders with someone. 

A teammate who had just finished their makeup had hit my shoulder as they passed. 

Quite intentionally at that.

‘You again.’

The culprit who deliberately hit my shoulder was the 18th-ranked trainee, the lowest in our team.

“…Sorry.”

She just nodded halfheartedly with an insincere apology and sat down on the waiting room sofa. The waiting room instantly turned cold at that sight. 

The other teammates who watched gave her strange looks, but she ignored them and just kept fiddling with her phone.

“……”

Stay calm, stay calm.

She’s probably acting this way because she got scolded by me and the other teammates yesterday. 

Whatever the case, with the main performance coming up soon, fighting between teammates is absolutely not acceptable.

“Baek Ga-yeon.”

As I was about to head to my seat without saying anything, Won Chaeseo stood up instead. 

But when I shook my head at her, she reluctantly sat back down with a disgruntled expression.

I can somewhat guess why the 18th-ranked trainee is acting this way. 

Being the least skilled in the team, she received nothing but harsh criticism during the interim evaluation and yesterday’s rehearsal. 

She even lost one of her parts because of it.

But putting aside skill level, the reason I and the other teammates scolded her was her lack of sincerity in practice. 

The 18th-ranked trainee, seeing herself falling behind during practice, seemed to have lost motivation at some point. 

She kept running away and sometimes didn’t even show up for group practice.

Because of that, the production staff had to search for her, and there were other issues too. 

Whenever I watched survival shows like this, I wondered if there were really people who would act out knowing they’re being filmed…

Who would have thought it would be our teammate.

Above all, I don’t understand why she only acts this way toward me when she doesn’t dare make a peep in front of the other members.

Whatever. 

Let’s just endure it until today… 

Looking at her attitude, she probably won’t last long anyway. 

No point in trying to reform her.

At least I had a good relationship with the other teammates except for her, so that was something.

Thanks to that, they’ve stood up for me several times when that brat acted rudely. (Seems like it was thanks to raising my likability stat.)

“All done~”

“Thank you.”

Not forgetting to thank the staff, I sat down in a chair as far away from the 18th-ranked trainee as possible.

“The real performance is coming up soon.”

Though unintended, it was the seat next to Won Chaeseo. I nodded while accepting the water Won Chaeseo handed me.

Our team was third in order. Until then, we had to react from the waiting room like during the first mission.

“Nervous?”

“Yes. Very.”

And this is what she calls a nervous expression. 

Though I was puzzled by her remarkably calm poker face, her slightly trembling body showed she really was nervous.

“There’s no audience today.”

“Right.”

“So just focus on your performance. Think about how the public views you later.”

“Yes, I will.”

Won Chaeseo nodded quite solemnly. Her first-place obsession probably won’t improve so quickly… 

But seeing how she answered without hesitation, it seemed she was making an effort to overcome it in her own way.

That alone was already halfway there. It meant she probably wouldn’t fail to show her abilities on stage later.

“But unnie.”

“Yeah?”

“Rather than saying ‘your performance,’ I think ‘our performance’ would be more appropriate.”

“……”

Oh, well. Sure…

Won Chaeseo’s expression turned almost serious. 

Her solemnness, as if she was filming some youth drama by herself, made me feel a bit tingly without realizing it. 

Unlike me, she seemed quite pleased with the line she just delivered, showing me sparkling eyes.

“…Alright. Let’s finish ‘our’ performance well.”

“Yes.”

When I deliberately emphasized ‘our,’ she nodded with satisfaction.

Right. 

We need to finish our performance well.

‘After all, my survival depends on it.’

After giving Won Chaeseo a smile, I turned my head.

‘Message window.’

—– —–

>>Main Task: Get your team’s performance into the top 3 in the Team Live Mission! / Success reward: ‘Dance’ stat +5

>>Main Task failure penalty: ‘Life Force -30%’!

—– —–

Fortunately, there was only one main task this time. But that didn’t mean the task wasn’t tough.

To avoid any eliminations we need to be in the top 4, but to avoid losing life force we need to place even higher, in the top 3. 

Still, considering the feedback we’ve received from trainers so far, it seemed quite possible.

However, the challenging part was that the penalty was harsher than previous main tasks. 

Last time it was ‘20%,’ but this time life force would be reduced by ‘30%.’

It seems the penalty intensity increases as missions progress…

Hmm, this was a seriously troubling aspect. My current life force is ‘79%.’ If another ‘30%’ gets deducted from here, more than half of my life force will be gone.

Since my life force was significantly reduced, I could feel my energy getting weaker than before… 

I can somewhat predict what will happen if it drops even more.

That’s why I’ve been unconsciously seeking things to replenish my energy lately – nutritional supplements, plum tea, and such. 

If I hadn’t gotten the 『Steel Constitution』 passive early on, I would have struggled to even complete one practice session properly.

“Okay, we’re turning on the cameras in the waiting room now!”

Then a staff member who had been waiting received a call from someone and started adjusting the cameras. And soon after, the monitor turned on.

“Hello, I’m Han Yul from Hi-Attack, MC of !”

The second mission was finally beginning.

* * *

“The kids just now were pretty good, right?”

“Yeah, they did well. Their balance was really good?”

The trainers were full of praise even after the second team went backstage. The CEO sitting in the center seat also had a pleased expression.

But there was one trainer who tilted their head slightly.

‘Overall it was fine but… the hook dance move could’ve used more detail.’

She was HON Entertainment trainees’ dance trainer and a choreographer who had created many idol groups’ choreographies.

‘But well. This wasn’t bad. It was watchable, yeah.’

The choreographer nodded while slightly pursing her lips. 

Still, perhaps because they hadn’t reached her high standards, the score written on that team’s evaluation sheet was on the lower side.

As the judges were finishing up their scoring, soon the stage lights changed, and the small stage where the MC stood lit up.

After the MC’s brief comments with some personal remarks, finally the next team’s name was announced.

“Yes, next up is… ‘Won Chaeseo Team’ led by trainee Won Chaeseo!”

Five trainees came up on stage with the MC’s energetic introduction. The judges stirred a bit at the sight of them.

“Ah~ This is Chaeseo’s team?”

“They need to do better than yesterday’s rehearsal.”

Except for the CEO who hadn’t seen the rehearsal, the remaining judges all agreed. 

Yesterday, one lower-ranked member couldn’t match the choreography properly, resulting in quite an unstable performance.

“Two, three.”

“Hello!”

As Won Chaeseo quietly counted, the team members bowed in unison. The judges welcomed them with light applause.

“What’s the name of the song your Won Chaeseo team will perform?”

“We’ll be performing our sunbaenim Teenheim’s song ‘___’ (1).”

When Won Chaeseo answered the MC’s question according to the script, he looked at the judges with surprised eyes.

“Oh! Come to think of it, isn’t the choreographer of that song our judge Trainer Ha Song-eun?”

“…Yes, that’s right.”

The choreographer picked up the microphone beside her and answered with an awkward smile.

After some back-and-forth between the choreographer and MC, it was finally time to see their performance.

“Now then! We’ll now see Won Chaeseo team’s ‘Team Live Mission’ performance. Trainees, please prepare for the stage.”

After hearing the MC’s comments, the trainees nodded and responded energetically before taking their positions.

Meanwhile, the stage lights changed once again, illuminating them with diverse colors.

And after a brief silence, Won Chaeseo team’s performance began.

-♩♪♬♬~♩♪♩~

It started with an impressive and addictive intro. 

As the beat played, the trainees positioned around Seo Dan-ah moved slightly.

Then suddenly the bass sound decreased and the stage became quiet.

⟦Shh…⟧

What filled the silent stage was Seo Dan-ah’s voice.

Seo Dan-ah, who had been hiding her body in the center of the members, smiled at the camera as she began her part. 

Then she brought her index finger to her lips and tilted her head slightly.

“Oh.”

“That’s good!”

The judges watching her on the large monitor to one side showed surprised expressions. It meant they were quite impressed.

⟦You don’t know me⟧

⟦Umm, Umm~⟧

⟦Umm, Umm, Umm~⟧

Following that, as Seo Dan-ah raised one eyebrow slightly, the beat started to build gradually. Her high-pitched humming voice matched well with the atmosphere along with the subtle bass rhythm.

The lighting, which had been mixing purple and red, gradually emitted brighter colors as Seo Dan-ah moved to the side.

And with the lights, the song’s atmosphere suddenly brightened.

⟦Ya⟧

⟦Mind what I tell you⟧

In the middle of the team members who had taken formation with exciting steps, Won Chaeseo delivered her part smoothly while tapping near her head in a gun shape.

The following vocalist’s voice was good too. Trainee Lim Yeonseo who ranked 15th in the first round handled the first verse’s melody with adequate skill fitting her rank.

‘It matches well.’

Watching the choreography that started in earnest, the choreographer felt relieved. 

Though there was still one trainee who was slightly bothersome, they seemed to match much better than during yesterday’s rehearsal.

‘Ah. Without that kid it would’ve been perfect knife-like choreography.’

The choreographer continued watching the performance with clouded eyes toward that particular trainee.

T/N:

(1)  ‘___’  : redacted for show purposes.