Translator: MarcTempest
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Editor: NicoleTempest
Chapter 193 Their Own Ways (3)
Did you fight? I suppressed the reflexive retort that almost came out of my mouth.
âNo, I just came up too.â
âThen whyâŠâ
Hwijin looked around anxiously, unable to understand the situation.
Yu-geon shook his head as if he had a clue.
âHe packed all his stuff. He probably wonât come back.â
Hwijin asked with a tone of certainty.
âDo you know something?â
âUmâŠâ
Yu-geon hesitated for a moment, then quietly pointed to the camera with his chin.
âOh.â
It meant that he couldnât talk about it while the camera and the recorder were on.
Hwijin wasnât so clueless that he couldnât catch his drift, so he quietly closed his mouth.
âWe donât need to⊠tell the producers or anything, right?â
He must have notified them of his departure himself. He had to get his phone before he left.
How could he leave without a car here⊠I unconsciously looked down and moved to the window to pull the curtain. Then I learned a new fact.
ââŠâ
When I pulled the curtain, I saw a wall. Not the wall of the next building, but the wall of this room.
The frame that looked like a window was attached, and it was covered with a curtain. I thought it was a window for sure.
âThis is fake.â
It was a decoration made to look like a window on the broadcast.
âSighâŠâ
Everyone started to get ready quietly in the awkward situation.
Tick tock. The sound of the clockâs second hand was loud in the silence.
And finally, at 10 oâclock, the sound of the camera and the device turning off was heard. Everyone got up from their blankets and sat up straight.
âHyun-seong, it must be uncomfortable. Do you want to come down?â
Hwijin pushed his blanket to one side of his bed on the opposite lower floor and made room for me.
âAh, yes.â
As I came down the ladder with a short answer, Yu-geon opened his mouth.
âYou might not have known if you were in the upper ranks, but the stage arrangement changed on the spot as people dropped out from the lower ranks.â
Hwijin nodded at Yu-geonâs words.
âAh, I heard that. So some trainees went to less visible positions to adjust the arrangementâŠâ
âYeah. And An Juhyeon was one of them. I almost went down too, but⊠There were too many trainees in the lower ranks who didnât master the choreography, so they had to have one person who could do it properly in each position. So I stayed in my original place.â
âAhâŠâ
A sense of powerlessness that nothing would change here. A sense of resignation that no matter how hard he tried, he was just a screw holding up the system and could never be the main product.
He had hoped that he could get some spotlight if he tried hard enough in the lower ranks, but that seemed to have collapsed.
What was Juhyeon thinking as he looked at the stage that seemed so high from the 90th rank?
The debut was a feast for only those at the top.
I realized that their debut was nothing but a headcount filler to create a grand ânarrativeâ of how amazing it was.
I might have felt ashamed of my humble dream of just showing my face a little bit, like an egg in front of a rock. freewebnÏvel.cŃłm
ââŠâ
I was a bit embarrassed that he snapped at me, but there was someone else who should be held accountable for Juhyeonâs behavior.
Adults who sell the dreams and desperation of young kids in their teens or early twenties.
Holding on to your dream is not the only skill.
I couldnât think of what to say. Hwijin seemed the same.
As the top-ranked ones, we risked looking like liars to Yu-geon no matter what we said. Hwijin didnât open his mouth either, maybe thinking the same.
Yu-geon, sensing the awkward atmosphere, suddenly burst into laughter.
âWhat, what is it? Why are you laughing?â
Hwijin asked cautiously, looking surprised. Yu-geon flopped down on his bed and answered.
âYou donât have to mind me so much. Well, you probably know already, but I was marked by the production team. I thought it couldnât get worse than this anyway.â
Did he give up on himself? I asked with a worried expression.
âWhat are you going to do from now on?â
I knew that Yu-geon would debut in the future, but⊠No, this was also something I was curious about. Anyone could see that he was an A-grade who was dumped into F-grade.
How did he manage to get the final debut? I was left with nothing but questions.
âWell⊠I have a card too, you know. I donât know if theyâll take me, but they didnât drop me in the pre-audition, so I think they still see some value in meâŠâ
He didnât seem to want to tell me what it was. Then I didnât need to bother asking.
âSo youâre not quitting, right?â
Hwijin finally opened his mouth, sounding a bit hesitant. He wanted to confirm that first.
âYeah, Iâm not. I canât help it if they cut me off first.â
That meant⊠Yu-geon also considered the first re-evaluation as a crucial crossroad.
If he didnât get a good evaluation there, it would mean that they just gave him a spot to fill the headcount.
âEveryone has a different situation⊠Thereâs nothing I can say.â
Hwijin muttered weakly. Then Yu-geon smirked.
âDonât worry. Even if it wasnât for this, there were some agencies that wanted to take me, but I didnât go.â
Hwijinâs eyes widened.
âYouâd have a better chance if you had an agency⊠Why didnât you go?â
Dude, are you digging into his personal stuff without any care? I looked at Hwijin with a slightly uneasy expression.
Yu-geon hummed⊠He pursed his lips for a moment, as if thinking. Then he answered after a brief silence.
âBecause of my pride.â
âPride?â
âUhâŠâ
Should I stop him from saying more? While I was watching him, Yu-geon opened his mouth first with an awkward smile.
âJust. Pure arrogance that I wanted to start with my own strength?â
Then Hwijin and I tilted our heads in the same direction.
âAre you some kind of chaebolâs son or something?â
I was caught off guard by Hwijinâs words, which he threw out like a joke.
No, not all chaebol sons are successful. I had to suppress the urge to say that it wasnât as easy as they thought.
âItâs not like that⊠There are quite a few companies that want to use me, even though I donât have a very impressive background.â
That meant⊠It was probably his fatherâs business. I finally figured out why Yu-geon got an F grade.
Yu-geon also received a pre-contract offer, and they probably put a condition that he would use his fatherâs story in his storytelling.
And after he refused, he came back with an F grade, 87th place⊠I didnât need to hear more to picture it.
The producers must be thinking that theyâre giving Yu-geon a âlast chanceâ.
Think about it. Itâs something that will be revealed sooner or later anyway. Why not use it well and debut with an advantage? Your father in heaven would be happy too.
They must be spouting nonsense like that.
The atmosphere became awkward, and Yu-geon laughed heartily again to end it.
âAnyway, even if I get cut, Iâm not going to give up and be ignored. Donât worry too much.â
My image of Yu-geon until then was a pro-runner who had a shitty life.
He was talented, but⊠I didnât get the impression that he was using a good strategy. I had no idea what he was trying to do, and I was a bit anxious.
âWe all⊠have to do our best.â
Hwijin nodded as he tidied up his blanket, and the ceiling lights went off as it was time to sleep.
âLetâs go to bed. We have to assign groups and prepare tomorrow. Itâll be busy again.â
We had finished the first hurdle, the opening stage, and now the remaining people had to prepare for the first group mission.
The group mission was⊠a cover battle. My head was already throbbing.
âYeah. We all worked hard, and letâs do our best tomorrow.â
âYeah.â
We each covered ourselves with our blankets and got ready to sleep, but I couldnât fall asleep.
Come to think of it, had I ever closed my eyes on time since I came here?
I was stressed out too, of course, since the situation was like this.
âOnly one week left.â
I clenched my fist and sighed. This was already half over, I just had to do a little more.
The next morning, we ate breakfast by grade and went down to the auditorium, where the MC was standing on the stage in a neat suit.
âShooting will start soon! Please gather by group.â
We followed the instructions of the production team and scattered to join the A-grade line with Yu-geon and Hwijin, and the air felt awkward in an instant.
Do you think theyâll film with the losers? I smirked at the blatant rejection and confrontation. And I felt a bit annoyed when I saw Naru, who was at the center of it.
[Hello, trainees! Are you all running towards your dreams with enthusiasm?]
The MCâs comment prompted a response from everyone, who looked at the stage with soulless expressions and raised their voices.
âYes!â
âYes!!!â
They all blinked their eyes, hoping for a chance to be caught on camera.
[Today, finally, you must be looking forward to the first group mission that makes your heart flutter. To encourage you to challenge yourself, I prepared a small gift for you.]
What is it? Did they bring something for PPL again? I looked at the box that the production team brought with cloudy eyes, and my eyes widened.
âThatâsâŠâ
I blinked my eyes, wondering if I was seeing things wrong. But no matter how many times I looked again, the scene in front of me didnât change.
âHoly cow, itâs chicken!â
Crispy chips, sweet chili sauce, and a special cheese dip. A perfect balance of sweet and salty, a masterpiece called âCrispy Cheese Chili Chickenâ.
âThat came out of nowhere as a PPL?â
I tried to recall my memory. The brand had done PPLs all over the place, so it must have appeared in some variety shows⊠Was it here?
I didnât know what it was like in reality, since this was a virtual world. But seeing something familiar after a long time made my eyes moist.
It made sense. I have been involved in this product since the development stage.
As I looked at the box with teary eyes, the other A-rank trainees around me whispered to each other.
âWhatâs wrong with him⊠Itâs not like heâs risking his life for chickenâŠâ
I didnât care. I waited for the MCâs comment with a grateful expression, looking back at the trace of my hard work.
[Well, well, but it would be too boring to just give it to you, right? Letâs make teams first, and then have a mini-game with side dishes as the prize.]
The chicken would be cold by then. How mean.
âWow!!! Chicken!!! Chicken!!!â
âChicken, chicken, chicken!!!â
The F-rank trainees who had suffered from kimchi, rice, retort, salad without dressing, ramen, etc. for a week screamed like zombies.
[Okay, calm down a bit! Letâs start with the team formation for the mini-game!]
The MC, who had been relaxed all along, urged the progress with a face of genuine horror. It was total chaos.