A translucent hologram appeared beside Cha Eugene.
[Name: Cha Eugene]
Singing: B- (B+)
(Rap: B+)
Dancing: S- (S+)
Physical attractiveness: A (S)
Charm: S (EX)
Trait: Black Hole (S)
I almost swore out loud.
Fuck, is this bastard even human?
Apparently his dancing had improved yet again in the meantime, because he now had two stats in the S range. His vocal parts had been increasing recently too, and in the end, his Singing had finally entered the B range.
And the finishing touch was…
his Trait.
[Black Hole (S): A gravitational force that draws in everything, an impulse that captivates]
- Stage immersion +180%
When the Trait rose from A to S, 150% had become 180%.
So Traits could evolve too.
Is that why his Charm went up even further?
I was actually breaking out in a cold sweat.
Feels like anything I do with that thing is going to end in disaster.
For the first time in a while, the sensation from the Idol Inc. survival show came rushing back….
My survival instinct.
Did I push this forward too hastily just because the fans liked the idea?
No.
Stay calm.
It wasn’t as though I would have to leave the group just because doing one unit stage with this guy ruined my form.
I’d just end up a little embarrassed.
It’s not like I was trying to overpower Cha Eugene somehow, like Big Sejin did.
Though I could already vividly picture fans desperately trying to push the narrative that both of them did well, while Cha Eugene’s solo fans laughed and said things like, That bear-headed bastard really got cockyㅋㅋ.
And in the end, Park Moondae’s image as someone who was good onstage would probably take a hit too….
I can’t tolerate that.
No.
I needed to check everything again so that, even in the worst-case scenario, something like that wouldn’t happen.
“Eugene.”
“Yes!!”
“Tell me every stage device you wanted to use for the unit performance.”
Cha Eugene, who had been looking at his smartphone, immediately sprang upright.
His eyes were sparkling.
[Water! Fireworks! Lights and dancers! And a giant moving structure!]
In other words, he wanted to use absolutely everything he could.
“You know using all of that was impossible because of the budget anyway.”
“I know! But we use a lot! I like it!”
“Yeah.”
That was true.
The choreography draft and stage devices had already been approved.
And quite a few of the elements Cha Eugene had mentioned were actually going to be used onstage.
In the behind-the-scenes footage, it would probably look like I had good-naturedly accepted Cha Eugene’s demands, but in reality, it was something I had been aiming for as well.
I wanted all the flashy surrounding devices to spread the audience’s attention across the entire stage.
But after checking Cha Eugene’s stats, I understood.
That had probably been too shallow a trick.
Their attention won’t spread.
People would undoubtedly focus on Cha Eugene.
The stage devices might even end up helping them do exactly that.
I needed a way to forcibly steal that focus back.
The simplest method was…
messing with my own stats after all.
Status Window.
This time, let’s check my own Status Window.
[Name: Park Moondae (Ryu Gunwoo)]
Level: 18
Title: None
Singing: S-
Dancing: B+
Physical attractiveness: A-
Charm: A-
Trait: Infinite potential, Now That You Mention It, You’re Right (A), Bacchus 500 (B), Snatching Ear (A)
!Status Abnormality: Audience or Die!
Points Remaining: 2
I had thought my own Status Window had become quite respectable by now, but checking it right after Cha Eugene’s did dull the shine a little.
Nothing particularly unusual, for now.
The things worth looking at were…
My Level had increased by one.
And my Dancing stat had risen naturally.
Probably because I had repeatedly learned and performed impromptu choreography throughout the tour schedule, it had naturally gone up one grade.
Then, under normal circumstances, what I would do was obvious.
Raise Dancing from B+ to A-.
It was an efficient way to cross a grade boundary, and it seemed like the obvious way to keep up with Cha Eugene in his specialty, dancing.
But…
It was ambiguous.
Even if I raise it that way, Cha Eugene is still in a different digit.
Cha Eugene’s Dancing was S-.
Since this was a unit stage, even if I pushed mine to A-, the result might simply look like I was barely managing to stay on his level.
Even if I invested both Points and made it A, it would be the same.
I was already behind in Charm and Traits to begin with.
And that would be true no matter where I invested the Points.
…Should I just push Singing all the way to S+?
A method that would make people’s eyes watch Cha Eugene while their ears focused on Park Moondae.
That would be a little desperate.
For now, I put the idea aside and examined the remaining variables.
Hmm.
I pulled up the pop-ups that had accumulated from the concerts and the reality show increasing our recognition.
[Successful Performance!]
You impressed an overwhelming majority!
Including reputation-update notifications, I had collected several pop-ups like this.
Most of them had given me ordinary Trait draws.
As a result, I had accumulated a ridiculous five draws.
And the fact that something useful in the near future always came out of these had been proven often enough that it almost felt embarrassing to keep doubting it.
At this point, I was practically certain.
Let’s blow them all.
Come on.
Spit out something useful.
I’d start with the lower-grade ones.
I used all the draws labeled “Treasure” and “Hero.”
Those were the ones that normally produced Traits between C and B grade.
The lever spun, and the slot machine flashed.
Pa-pa-pang!
[Acquired Trait: ‘Soft, Squishy Cutie (B)’!]
[Acquired Trait: ‘Certified Angel (C)’!]
[Acquired Trait: ‘Crocodile Tears (A)’!]
[Acquired Trait: ‘Unshakable Mind (B)’!]
Don’t need it.
No.
Doesn’t suit the situation.
Not a single one of these is stage-related.
Only Traits connected to public-facing activities were pouring out.
Is it telling me to handle the stage myself?
Was this a hint that even if I screwed up the unit stage, it wouldn’t cause much damage?
I skimmed the pop-up windows with a thoroughly unimpressed expression.
Then, abruptly, an extremely unpleasant possibility occurred to me.
Or maybe it’s because… the time is almost here.
Naturally, my Status Abnormality was about to end.
[‘Audience or Die!’]
: If you fail to meet an audience of at least 200,000 people within the designated period, you will die.
Audience Reached: 199,997 / 200,000
Only three people remained.
Once the encore concert ended—
No.
Even if some natural disaster kept the concert from happening, it didn’t matter.
All I needed was one performance with an audience of three people, and this Status Abnormality would end too.
And… I have a feeling that fucking “Truth Confirmation” thing is going to appear again.
Judging from previous cases, it wouldn’t be strange if it showed me another scene of someone dying this time too.
…Meaning it could shake me emotionally.
So these Traits related to public-facing activities were appearing to protect me from an attitude controversy afterward…
That theory is convincing enough to make it even more irritating.
Don’t give me the disease and then the medicine.
Just don’t fucking show me useless shit in the first place.
I clicked my tongue, but decided to act rationally for now.
Meaning I swapped out a Trait.
[Trait: ‘Now That You Mention It, You’re Right (A)’ has been removed!]
In its place, I inserted the comparatively useful Trait, “Unshakable Mind.”
Its grade was lower, but it was a Trait with applications in a wide variety of situations.
…For reference, the A-grade “Crocodile Tears,” which had briefly tempted me because of its grade, let me cry pitifully enough to evoke sympathy…
Basically, it was an upgraded version of that faucet Trait.
In other words, garbage.
Done.
I cracked my neck.
All right.
Empty my mind.
Only one remained.
The draw with an unusually impressive name.
[Legendary Trait Draw ☜ Click!]
It was the final draw I had received after finishing the tour.
Whether it was some mass-produced shitty game or a masterpiece, the universal rule was that anything labeled Legendary was good.
Then this vague game-like System should be the same.
I’m expecting at least A.
Please, let me add a stage-enhancement Trait too!
The lever on the holographic slot machine was pulled, and slots filled with platinum light began spinning rapidly.
Dararararak—
Countless impressive-looking Trait names flew by.
Then—
Click.
The slots slowly…
stopped.
It was a slot glowing with rainbow-colored light, something I had never seen before.
Pa-pa-pa-pa-pang!!
[Acquired Trait: ‘Time of Indulgence (S)’!]
Fuck.
S!
Without realizing it, I punched the bed.
Fortunately, Cha Eugene had already gone back to his smartphone and didn’t notice.
Is this for real?
No matter how little I usually cared about draws like this, getting something this high-grade sent a thrill straight down my spine.
Wait.
Calm down anyway.
I needed to check what kind of Trait it was first.
Still, just from the name, it sounds like a stage Trait.
I opened the Trait’s details.
[Trait: Time of Indulgence (S)]
- Up here, I feel that I am alive.
: Stage immersion (self) +180%
That’s insane.
Wasn’t this basically Black Hole with a different name?
“Phew.”
I let out a long breath and sat down on the edge of the bed.
Stage immersion +180%….
At this level, if I just distributed my Points efficiently and coordinated the practice properly, I might actually be able to compete with Cha Eugene—
Wait.
Hold on.
Looking again, there was something attached at the end.
Stage immersion (self)
Self?
Meaning it wasn’t increasing the audience’s immersion…
It meant the performer himself became more immersed in his own stage.
“…….”
You fucking bastard.
What, am I supposed to get drunk on my own performance?
If this Status Window had been an actual game, I would already have demanded a refund and left a one-star review.
Where the fuck did you sell off your business ethics?
I stared at the Status Window through gritted teeth for a moment before cooling my head.
…Compare it with Unshakable Mind.
Let’s calmly weigh the pros and cons.
First, since this Trait was S-grade, its effect would definitely be strong.
It really would make me deeply immersed in the performance.
Then what was I normally like?
Did I lack immersion?
Performing is… fun.
It was rewarding too.
And no matter what the concept was, I thought I did a decent job matching the atmosphere without showing embarrassment.
In other words, I was at least average.
Then what would I gain from becoming even more immersed than I already was?
I’d look more natural.
If the performer himself was deeply immersed, it was reasonable to expect that it would, to some extent, help the audience become more immersed as well.
And if unexpected distractions intruded during the performance, I would probably be able to keep the flow from breaking and carry the stage more smoothly.
And… it might be more fun too.
…That wasn’t a consideration.
Skip it.
“Hmm.”
Anyway, after organizing my thoughts, it did seem like it would be fairly helpful, even if it wasn’t as blatantly broken as “Black Hole.”
Especially given how concept-heavy this group was, being able to perform while personally feeling less awkward about it was an advantage too.
It would probably affect how well I embodied a concept.
And there would be fewer comments like, Watching this is making even me embarrassed.
It’s a little different from simply being better at performing, but it means I’ll be able to do it with absolutely shameless conviction.
The instant I reached that conclusion—
“……!”
An extreme idea suddenly struck me.
But… I can make good use of this.
It was going to be all or nothing anyway.
I had already revealed every variable I possessed, and there were no other options left.
Should I just try it?
I immediately manipulated the pop-up.
[Trait: ‘Unshakable Mind (B)’ has been removed!]
I placed the newly acquired Trait, “Time of Indulgence,” into the slot that “Unshakable Mind” had occupied only briefly.
Then I poured all my remaining Points into Charm.
Charm: A+
Good.
I was going with this.
“Cha Eugene.”
“Yes??”
“Want to make the unit stage even more fun?”
Cha Eugene answered immediately, without even asking what I meant.
“Yes!”
Right.
I knew you would.
Read only on MUGEX
And so, with less than fifteen days remaining until the encore concert, Cha Eugene and I made a slight adjustment to the structure of our unit stage.
Both of us were satisfied with the revised direction.
“Are you sure this’ll be okay?”
“I really like it!!”
“Well… if both of you say so….”
Ryu Chungwoo asked us several times, but Cha Eugene merely raised a thumb.
Understandably so.
We were each going to do what we did best.