First of all, as soon as the first day’s concert ended, a pop-up I’d never seen before appeared.
[Successful Performance!]
You have impressed an overwhelming majority!
- Audience: 13,120 (NEW!)
- Percentage impressed: 96% (NEW!)
: Hero Trait Draw ☜ Click!
And I’d also achieved an achievement.
It was the “First Performance” achievement. Thanks to that, I leveled up for the first time in a while too.
‘So it gets counted as a performance, not a stage.’
Apparently one-off stages and solo concerts were counted as separate categories.
‘This is definitely a gain.’
My Status Window had been stagnating, so having another avenue like this to reap benefits from made it easier to manage.
Between leveling up for the first time in ages and getting a Trait Draw, the concert had yielded quite a lot in several ways.
‘…And it was fun.’
It was… not really the kind of fun an ordinary modern person usually got to experience, but the fact that it had been overwhelming was…… undeniable.
Even thinking back on it now made me dizzy.
All those countless lights, voices, heat, and emotions…….
“…….”
I nearly sank into sentiment for a moment, but then I remembered what I’d done at the time too.
‘……I bawled my eyes out.’
…And then I remembered the message on the cone hat I’d worn earlier.
‘Damn it.’
Since the cone hats had been handmade, there weren’t any spares, and I couldn’t exactly act uncooperative on W Live, so I’d had no choice but to wear it.
‘I’m never crying again.’
Next time, that fucking “Crybaby King” message was going to become the title of the bastard who made it.
“Moondae, beer for you?”
“Yes.”
I took the beer can Ryu Chungwoo happened to offer me and drank from it.
It went down nicely.
“Everyone really worked hard!”
“Whew, our promotions are only starting now, but it already feels like they’re over~”
“Strictly speaking, they have not yet begun. Our album’s release date is tomorrow.”
“…The music video isn’t even out yet. Thirty minutes to go.”
“H-How about we watch it before bed later?”
“Sounds good!”
Everyone was properly excited.
I might have to record another video in a little while.
‘Since it’ll be our first reaction to the music video, there shouldn’t be any harm in filming it.’
Instead of my old, cheap phone, I fiddled for a moment with the brand-new latest-model smartphone covered in a yellow puppy case.
…It had been among the birthday presents I’d received.
Its operating system was different from the phones I’d used before, so it had taken me a little while to adjust, but it had plenty of functions, which made it fun to use… and I was grateful.
But after receiving around seven latest-model smartphones as gifts, I started breaking into a cold sweat.
‘Three of them were even the exact same model.’
I’d deliberately made sure they appeared on camera and had shown myself using them a few times, but smartphones weren’t the end of it.
At this point, I felt like I’d received almost every type of electronic device and luxury product as gifts.
‘…They’re way too expensive.’
Just trying to calculate how much I’d have to repay made my mind go blank.
This wouldn’t do.
I was so busy that I didn’t even have time to properly use them anyway.
If I couldn’t even show people that I was using the gifts, then continuing to receive them was nothing more than self-satisfaction on the giver’s part.
‘It’s not like I’m going to sell them, either.’
If I got caught selling them, there’d probably be a public burning at the stake on the internet that very day.
And even aside from that…
They were gifts people had given me to use.
I couldn’t sell them.
‘I should at least post a notice telling them they don’t need to send me any more.’
If I alone suddenly announced that I wouldn’t accept gifts, I’d only be tossing bait to trolls for no reason, so once our settlement money came in, I should at least bring it up with these guys.
But now wasn’t the time.
The drinking atmosphere was exactly the kind where if I brought it up, everyone would yell “Okay!” in the heat of the moment and regret it the next day.
“Oh my, how are our two twenty-year-olds doing? Do you like beer?”
“It’s bitter.”
“There was absolutely no sweetness to it….”
“Th-Then… h-how about this one?”
Some of the guys started offering the drinks they’d been having to the ones drinking legally for the first time, and tasting reviews began flying everywhere.
“I like this!”
“Th-That’s a relief…! B-But don’t drink too much…… uh.”
‘What a mess.’
I gave up on the reaction-video idea.
I think we’d need at least three more years of experience before we could release footage of this disaster.
“Moondae, don’t you have anything to recommend~?”
“Tell them to drink soda.”
“No!”
Fine.
Then keep drinking and pass out.
I opened another can of beer and, on impulse, activated the Trait Draw.
‘If it’s a Hero Trait Draw, the minimum is B-grade, right?’
I hoped something useful came out.
The best-case scenario would be Bacchus showing up again and getting upgraded.
The slot machine I’d grown used to appeared, and the reels—mostly gold with occasional platinum slots mixed in—began spinning rapidly.
[Iron Mentality]
[Focus]
[Soft and Squishy Cutie]
[No Further Explanation Is (omitted)]
[I Need Empathy]
[Bacchus]
[……]
Traits that looked vaguely familiar and phrases I desperately hoped I wouldn’t get flashed past in turns.
Then the reels stopped.
Ding!
One of the few platinum slots.
“……!”
Papapapang!
Confetti burst out as an A-grade Trait appeared.
[Trait: Exchange Student (A)]
- I understand exactly what you’re saying.
: Foreign-language acquisition ability +200%
“…??”
What the hell is this?
Where did this completely random job-hunter Trait come from?
‘Increased foreign-language acquisition ability?’
Why not just make me completely fluent in one language?
I guess even the Status Window can’t create something from nothing?
‘…I wasted an A-grade.’
I was about to throw away the newly drawn Trait with a bitter smile when I suddenly came to my senses.
‘Wait.’
…Let’s think about what happened before.
Immovable Mind.
I threw it away as soon as I got it, and then my past became a controversy.
Faucet.
I threw it away as soon as I got it, and then bawled my eyes out at the concert…… Fuck.
Don’t tell me this thing gives me whichever Trait I’m most likely to need at that moment.
The ominous suspicion I’d had since last time was beginning to look extremely convincing.
“……Whew.”
Calm down.
First, let’s make an inference.
A situation where I would need improved foreign-language acquisition ability.
‘It can only be overseas expansion.’
Unless I was going to be abducted in the near future and sold to some foreign fishing boat, that was about the only plausible future for an idol.
‘It is about time we tried doing a tour.’
Because TeSTAR came from a domestic audition show, our overseas fandom was relatively weak compared to the one in Korea, but that didn’t mean we had none.
Once you became popular domestically, interest tended to follow naturally from overseas too.
Besides, apparently the ONYX cover stage we’d done before had become a fairly hot topic among international K-pop fans.
‘Maybe that’s their kind of thing.’
I’d sold data a few times before to foreigners using translation apps, and the groups with that sort of concept had especially high success rates compared to domestic buyers.
Hip-hop-based dance songs with heavy beats and intense performances.
‘It’s not like TeSTAR is a group centered around that style.’
Not everything followed trends perfectly, but if we were going to target overseas markets eventually, trying one or two songs like that as single title tracks didn’t sound too bad.
Anyway…
Putting that aside, let’s return to the assumption that this Trait appeared because an overseas tour was going to be scheduled sometime this year.
‘…Even then, I don’t think I’d need an ability like this just for a tour.’
My English is at the level you’d expect from a university graduate.
Meaning I can handle light conversation.
And besides, we already have a native speaker on our team.
Cha Eugene…….
“Drink more!”
“Hold on, Eugene, let’s stop now~”
“Y-You’ve had too much…!”
“…….”
Cha Eugene…
Is our only native speaker.
And the only other member who’s studied abroad is Seon Ahyeon.
The communication compatibility between the two of them goes without saying.
It’s disastrous.
‘…This won’t do.’
In the end, I decided to trust induction.
Rather than go through the same thing I had after discarding Immovable Mind and Faucet, it would be better to study foreign languages until I drew my next Trait, if necessary.
That meant I had to delete one of the three Traits I currently possessed…
Well, the choice was obvious.
[Trait: Now That You Mention It, You’re Right (C) has been deleted!]
I hadn’t used this Trait even once since debut.
It hadn’t activated when I persuaded the former division head, nor when I recommended counseling to Seon Ahyeon.
‘It’s the lowest grade too, so getting rid of this one makes sense.’
It’s not like I was still in some insane individual survival competition like <Idol Inc.>, walking a tightrope while doing group projects.
I checked my newly organized Status Window again.
[Name: Park Moondae (Ryu Gunwoo)]
Level: 16
Title: None
Singing: A+
Dancing: B
Physical attractiveness: A-
Charm: B
Trait: Infinite potential, Exchange Student (A), Bacchus 500 (B), Catching Ear (A)
!Status Abnormality: Win an Award or Die!
Points Remaining: 2
The first thing that caught my eye was my Dancing stat, which had naturally grown from B- to B.
‘All that suffering paid off.’
It was an achievement born from preparing for year-end stages and the concert.
Now, even standing next to most people, I’d look pretty damn good at dancing.
And with the two Points I currently had available…
Hmm.
Actually, I had one spare too, so part of me wanted to put a point into Singing.
The grade would change.
‘I want to see how much my sound changes once I enter S-grade.’
But putting two Points into Charm or Dancing and ending up with three A-grade stats also seemed pretty good.
‘What should I do?’
I thought for a moment, then remembered one of our upcoming schedules and made up my mind.
‘This seems right.’
Read only on MUGEX
And just as I distributed the Points, someone tapped me on the back.
“Park Moondae, did you see this?”
“What is it?”
I turned my head, and Big Sejin held his smartphone screen out toward me.
For the first time in ages, there was a new message in the Moon Rabbits group chat from the third team battle of <Idol Inc.>.
[Ha Iljoon hyungnim: Heard your concert went well! Congratulations (crying emoji) Sorry I couldn’t make it even though you invited me!]
[Ha Iljoon hyungnim: Actually, I’m debuting in April! I couldn’t go because I’ve been preparing for debutㅠㅠ Please take good care of me from now on, TeSTAR sunbaenims! (bowing emoji)]
Oh.
Goldie #1 was debuting.
But was there anything to say besides congratulations?
Nothing looked particularly unusual.
“…Ah, hold on. I scrolled too far up.”
Big Sejin checked my expression and dragged the screen of his phone downward with one finger.
Then another new message appeared.
[Ha Iljoon hyungnim: But Wongil is debuting on our team too. If someone asks in an interview or something how things are between him and you guys, would it be okay if I just said everything got resolved between you?]
[Ha Iljoon hyungnim: Not saying you’re close or anything, literally just that much!]
I see.
So Choi Wongil was ultimately debuting in the same group.
More than half of TeSTAR’s members had experienced Choi Wongil’s trolling firsthand on <Idol Inc.>, and all of it had been broadcast, so it definitely sounded like the kind of thing a nasty interviewer might bring up.
‘Makes sense for Goldie #1 to worry about it.’
Big Sejin shrugged.
“What do you think?”
What was there to think?
I didn’t particularly care.
Goldie #1 wasn’t an idiot attention seeker, so he’d really say exactly that much.
Just that things had been settled.
And thinking about Choi Wongil apologizing on the broadcasting-station stairs back then, it seemed he’d at least gotten his head on straight enough not to say anything useless.
“It’s fine.”
“Yeah? Same here, actually. Then I’ll send it.”
Big Sejin smiled and posted in the group chat.
[Me: Gasp, hyungnim, you’re debuting~ Congratulations so much! (sparkling-eyes emoji) Of course that much in an interview is totally fine~ It’s not like we were actually enemies or anything!]
“Let’s go with that. You post a congratulations too~”
“Sure.”
“The other guys, hmm… they’ll probably post congratulations once they sober up, right?”
“Probably.”
He meant Seon Ahyeon and Kim Raebin.
Obviously.
Right now they looked too busy drinking and trying to stop Cha Eugene to think straight, so once they came to their senses, they’d handle it themselves.
“M-Moondae! Do you want some too?!”
“…I’m good.”
The moment our eyes met, he challenged me like this was some kind of PoXmon battle.
Let’s avoid that.
In the end, toward the end of the night, I got dragged into that disaster and even ended up drinking wine, but anyway, I didn’t think this situation would cause any particular problems.
Not until a few days later, just before our first music-show comeback stage, when I discovered a trending video on WeTube.
========================
[Choi Wongil Recording 2]
========================
Even then, it still wasn’t my problem.
But once I pressed play, that changed.
It was just an audio recording over a black screen with no video, but a conversation I’d heard somewhere before came out.
“……??”
Hey, no way.
I scrolled down to the comments.
Someone had even kindly added a transcript interpreting the recording.
- Wrote down what I could hear
Choi Wongil: What’s it like living that way? With the world always going exactly how you want?
Park Moondae (presumed): (sighs)
……
Why the hell am I in this…?