Genius Idol’s Strategy to Conquer the Entertainment Industry

About thirty underachieving trainees who had been spacing out suddenly had clear minds and felt strength returning to their arms and legs as they began seriously practicing.

The other groups’ trainees looked at our sudden transformation with strange eyes, but none of us cared about such trivial matters.

Once we gathered our minds, we knew we had to practice hard, or else our teacher would give us a hard time.

However, the wall of the choreography was still high for most of Hyeseong’s group trainees.

Even if they tried hard, their brains and bodies didn’t cooperate.

Even with the buff, their average stats must be as low as mine.

Let’s go, our existence!

Fighting!

Amidst all this, as I was able to memorize the choreography and imitate it, the trainees who made eye contact with me came to ask about the choreography as if I were their only lifeline.

“Raon, I don’t know how to do this part.”

“What do you mean, Raon?”

“Raon, save me, bro!”

“I may not have the ability to save you, but I think I can die with you.”

“What? I don’t want to die with you.”

“Well then, die alone.”

Of course, being a genuinely good person, I helped all those bad guys who said such things.

In fact, even though I had memorized the choreography, my understanding wasn’t even 10% compared to Jihui’s group, who were flying around.

Therefore, I was just showing the moves slowly that quickly passed by in the choreography video, but numerous trainees in our group couldn’t even do that.

That’s why even a blockhead like me, who only memorized the choreography, was helpful.

“Raon, help me, please.”

Most of the foreigners who appeared this season were in Hyeseong’s group because they lacked the basics.

There was the Star Production trio and Jing Xiao, whom I saw before entering the studio.

After reading the names floating above the other trainees’ heads during the shoot, it seemed like at least four countries were represented here: Korea, Japan, China, and English-speaking countries.

The high proportion of trainees from different countries made it clear that the language barrier and cultural differences would later make practice difficult.

But then, the Star Production trainees, cautiously observing the Korean trainees, came up to me and carefully asked for help.

“Okay, okay. What part?”

“Now this part… Ah, this dance.”

With strangely good pronunciation and body language, Nagase Ritsu asked questions in Japanese, which I couldn’t understand, and then switched to clumsy English and showed me hand gestures.

But then…

[Skill “Beginner Japanese” acquired.

Restoring part of the character information to acquire the skill “Advanced English.”]

Huh?

[Skill List:

– Language

┗ Advanced English (43.75%), Advanced Korean (56.11%), Beginner Japanese (0.01%)]

Huhhh?

[Tip! Language skills are generated after being exposed to the language several times. Moreover, when a language skill reaches 100% proficiency, its rank can rise to the highest level.]

I remembered the Star Production and other Japanese agency trainees speaking Japanese and the translator translating for them.

I had only heard it a few times then, and now I had just briefly listened to it, so the acquisition conditions must have been met.

But now, wasn’t my English as good as my Korean?

Why are you telling me this now? If I had known, I would have picked Charm instead of Korean.

…After some rational thinking, I realized that choosing Korean was right.

I tried to ask Nagase Ritsu to speak in Japanese, but I could barely understand any of it.

It seemed that the effect of the skill wasn’t immediate.

“Raon, I can’t do this part either.”

After watching the Star Production kids practice, our group’s foreign trainees flocked over.

Trainees from cultures where dancing wasn’t as crucial for idols as it was in Korea particularly struggled with this type of choreography.

Did I look so free and easy to take care of each of my competitors one by one?

“Thank you!”

“No, no. I should be the one saying thank you.”

Damn, I was such a pushover…

But honestly, it wasn’t easy to ignore someone who seemed like a younger sibling from someone else’s family, struggling alone and gathering the courage to ask for help.

Still, it wasn’t a total loss, as my understanding improved bit by bit while teaching.

Why, there was even a saying that teaching was the most effective study method.

As a result of helping them out, I could briefly chat with almost every trainee in the same group.

It was a relationship progression that was too difficult for me, a gaming shut-in and a well-known social misfit, to handle, but I kept telling myself, “This is just a game.”

I was proud of myself, who could boast of having as low social skills as an orangutan.

“Raon, you barely practiced. What are you going to do?”

“It’s okay, it’s okay. It’s not like today’s the only day I have to practice, so it doesn’t matter.”

“Wow. You’re an angel, a real angel.”

“Starting today, Raon is the guardian angel of Hyeseong’s group.”

“Oh, the guardian angel, oh.”

“You guys are crazy! Disgusting!”

[Profanity filter penalty applied because of inappropriate language use.

(Time remaining 02:29:59)]

Don’t filter this out, you damn system.

Wasn’t “crazy” a daily expression?

Urgent measures against the annoying filtering were needed.

[A majority of the group members feel affection for you.

Total group affection +7]

Intelligence wasn’t increasing, but Affection skyrocketed.

I would have asked the CEO for a romance simulation if I knew this would happen.

Couldn’t they just let me choose the game genre once and start over?

* * *

“Has everyone been practicing hard? Let’s have each group come up and give it a try.”

Before I knew it, the practice time had ended.

Jihui’s group took the stage first, and the rest of the trainees moved to the edges.

I hope they do well so that my Wisdom increases.

The trainees in Jihui’s group, knowing that they were chosen by Jihui because they were good and were called up first, had subtle tension on their faces.

These guys were the most noticeable and competitive group in this place.

Nevertheless, Jihui’s group members all did well under pressure.

“Wow… they’re really good.”

“It’s like they only gathered the ones who will receive an A rating.”

But they didn’t increase my Wisdom.

Instead, my understanding of the choreography increased by a fingernail’s width.

When could I learn the song?

It was honestly overwhelming.

Afterward, Suyeong’s, Changyeon’s, and Ju An’s group trainees had varying skills.

There was a mix of bad, good, and average trainees.

Among them, if we were to pick one trainee from each group who stood out in terms of skill, appearance, or something else, there were Ok Doyun from Suyeong’s, Kashima Sora from Changyeon’s, and Seo Munyeol from Ju An’s.

“Next, Hyeseong’s group, give it a try.”

More than 30 trainees, including me, moved toward the center of the stage.

There were so many of us that securing the minimum space needed for the dance was a challenge.

I stood roughly in the middle on the right side, but Ban Yohan and Kim Junwu grabbed one of my arms each and pulled me to the very front, right in the center.

In other words, the center?

The funny thing was that the other trainees stepped aside and looked at me with expectant eyes.

These kids must still be high on their meds.

I had no choice but to respond when they looked so desperate.

“Hyeseong’s group! Are you ready?”

“We’re ready!”

“We! Can! Do! It!”

“We can do it!”

As we shouted “We can do it!” together, some of Mook Hyeseong’s trainees, looking as if they were thinking “What’s with these guys?” blushed and looked embarrassed.

Were you embarrassed? Huh? Were you?

Be proud. You guys have been chosen for this part.

[Everyone in this place is paying attention to Hyeseong’s group.]

[Everyone in this place thinks you’re especially strange.]

The mentors, who were giggling, said,

“Good. This is nice.”

“These kids know something.”

Don’t laugh. You think I was strange, too.

“Give it a try.”

During practice time, the same familiar melody kept playing.

“When our eyes meet,

And when you call my name,

I aim for your heart,

Heart a-ttae-ttae-tack!”

Frankly speaking, our group was much worse than the previous four groups. It was common for us to get tangled up with each other while turning in a tight space or accidentally hitting the person next to us with the back of our hands.

However, nobody gave up in the middle of the dance, and everyone tried their best to follow the person next to them, in front of them, or behind them until the music stopped.

Despite the overall desperate mess that made it difficult to know where to begin fixing, the mentors’ expressions weren’t too bad.

Some mentors even seemed to look at us with pride.

“They have good energy. It’s really difficult for them.”

“Guys, if you can keep this up for the next three days, you might be able to do things you thought were impossible. Work hard.”

“Oh, Senior Hyeseong is smiling.”

From a human perspective, was that really a smile?

Mook Hyeseong’s faint smile raised his favorability by 1, making it 2.

There was still a long way to go to win his heart.

“Raon, you’ve been sitting up there for hours but still have so much energy. Your eyes are sparkling while dancing. Aren’t you tired?”

What the heck was he talking about?

I felt like I was going to die from exhaustion right now.

Couldn’t you see that I was almost kneeling and gasping for breath?

If I didn’t look tired, it was probably because I’d been sitting in the first-place chair, lowering my fatigue level to 20, and eating donuts which replenished my energy.

I quickly got up and responded as an obedient trainee with that thought.

“Yes! I’m still fine!”

“Young people are really something.”

[Jena reminisces about her younger days and nods her head.

Favorability +2

Current favorability +14]

How old was she?

She looked to be in her late twenties at most.

Maybe she’s more experienced than she looked.

Considering that she’s both a mentor and a director, she must have had quite the career.

“Raon seems a bit wooden while dancing, but he almost memorized all the choreography, right?”

“Yes, Raon immediately caught on to the choreography and helped us.”

At Kim Junwu’s statement, Lee Changyeon nodded his head.

It was a case of the blind leading the blind, but still.

If that’s the case, they’re amazing for understanding and learning from such a poor example.

“Anyway, I was most worried about your group, but you seem to be doing well, so I’m relieved.”

Changyeon wrapped up the situation with a warm smile.

After an hour, the group buff was gone, and the members of Mook Hyeseong’s group left with relieved faces.

Now it was time for individual lessons with each mentor.

But was there enough space here for proper training?

It seemed impossible for 100 people to practice at once.

If they all jumped together, the set would probably collapse.

Nevertheless, the production team made us practice here again.

No lunch, no dinner, and no breaks.