NOVEL NEXT Chapter 12
Chapter 12
Hyesung gritted her teeth and continued practicing. Due to the recent class and the newly formed motivation, she quickly achieved 1% proficiency.
[Dance Chance! (Proficiency 1%) achieved!]
[Quest successful! Reward: 1 Luck Roulette Ticket]
‘I’ll use it later. For now, I need to practice.’
She kept the reward and alternated between individual and group practices. Before she knew it, it was past midnight.
“Ah… I’m so tired. I can’t go on. I need to go to bed.”
“Me too. I’ll sleep now and wake up early to practice.”
By 1 AM, most of the trainees in Class F had returned to their dorms. They seemed to think they had practiced enough to avoid being scolded in tomorrow’s class.
“Hyesung unnie, aren’t you going to sleep?”
Na Yeonwoo asked as she handed over a water bottle after opening it.
“Oh, thanks. I need to keep practicing until I drop…”
Hyesung, who was essentially a complete beginner at dancing, found it difficult to keep up with other trainees who, despite being in Class F, had previous training experience.
“What about you, Yeonwoo? Are you going to bed now?”
“Yes… But I want to practice a little more.”
Na Yeonwoo stood beside Hyesung.
“I’ll practice ten more times and then go to bed.”
“Oh? Okay.”
The two continued to practice without a break. They sweated so much that their already wet T-shirts became soaked again.
Although she said she would practice ten more times, Na Yeonwoo didn’t head to the dorm even after twenty attempts.
“…Got it! I did it, Yeonwoo!”
On the 21st try, Hyesung finally managed to keep up with the beat through the first verse.
Although she missed almost all the details, just maintaining the beat was a significant achievement.
“Unnie! You did it! Just keep doing it like this!”
The clock was pointing to 3 AM.
“Can we go to sleep now?”
Na Yeonwoo glanced at the time and asked.
“Oh… Is it okay to sleep now?”
[Dance Chance! (Proficiency 10%) achieved!]
‘Wow, my proficiency suddenly jumped since I did it without mistakes!’
Seeing her proficiency jump, Hyesung felt greedy and forced her drooping eyelids open.
“I’ll practice a bit more. You go ahead and sleep, Yeonwoo.”
“But we have to get up at 7 AM. Will you be okay?”
“Yeah. You go ahead.”
Just as Na Yeonwoo was about to leave the practice room, the door burst open, and someone walked in.
“Still practicing?”
“Yae-in unnie! Weren’t you going to sleep?”
Lim Yae-in hadn’t been seen since after 1 AM.
“Oh, I was practicing my singing alone in the vocal room. You know, vocals are my biggest problem.”
“Is your singing better now? My dancing has improved a bit.”
Feeling proud of her mere 10% achievement, Hyesung spoke confidently.
“I’m not sure. I’ve been listening to my own voice for so long, I can’t tell if it’s right or wrong…”
“Unnie, why don’t you try singing now? Hyesung unnie and I will listen.”
Lim Yae-in, who had started speaking casually to Hyesung, brightened up and played the music. Holding a water bottle instead of a microphone, she seemed ready for a dance live performance.
“…Huff… The one who will shine, huff, has been decided, huff.”
‘It’s almost 90% air, 10% noise.’
“…How was it?”
Lim Yae-in asked, panting. Her oddly expectant look made Hyesung uneasy.
“Well, you barely…”
“Barely?”
“You barely sang…”
Thud!
Shocked, Lim Yae-in dropped the water bottle.
“Why don’t you try just standing and singing?”
“Okay.”
The result was disastrous. The voice was loud, but the pitch was all wrong, making it painful to listen to. Realizing they had a big problem, Hyesung suggested practicing together a bit more.
“By the way, I noticed that more than half of the trainees in the Ace class are still practicing.”
‘Even the top trainees are still practicing?’
“Yae-in unnie, Yeonwoo, can you teach me the dance break part now?”
Feeling a mix of achievement and stimulation, Hyesung asked.
“Now? Are you sure you can handle it?”
“I just want to try.”
“I haven’t perfected the moves yet, but… just watch for now.”
Na Yeonwoo and Lim Yae-in stood in front of the mirror and played the music. The steps, breaking into infinite pieces, continued with doppelganger-like moves, jumps, and turns.
“Jump at ‘Ddan, Ddadadadad Ddan!’, then turn.”
“Just think of it as being in the air for a moment.”
“In the air…?”
Hyesung’s resolve quickly crumbled.
“Jump at ‘Ddan, Ddadadadad Ddan!’, then turn…”
Thud!
Trying to follow the complex steps and turns after the jump, Hyesung’s feet tangled, and she fell.
“Unnie!”
“Hyesung!”
“I’m okay. It’s really hard. I could get hurt if I’m not careful.”
Hyesung stood up, rubbing her knee where she hit the floor.
“It’s better to try again after tomorrow’s class. Your legs have lost strength, right? You’re exhausted, and it’s dangerous to keep going, Hyesung.”
As it was already past 4 AM, the three decided to return to the dorm.
The dorm was a four-person room with two bunk beds, assigned by grade, but since the numbers didn’t match perfectly, Hyesung had to share the room with trainees from a different grade.
‘…I wonder if they’re sleeping.’
The door was slightly ajar. Hyesung tiptoed in. Including herself, there were three people in the room.
‘I feel awkward sharing a room with Ace-grade trainees…’
Hyesung turned on the lamp at the bedside.
“You’re back? Wash up and go to bed quickly.”
“Gah!”
Thinking they were asleep, she was startled by the voice from the back bed.
“Oh, did I scare you?”
“You weren’t asleep…”
“We just got back and washed up too. You must be tired, so wash up and go to bed.”
“Yes…”
* * *
-♪ Take a Chance!
Chance! Chance! ♪
At 7 AM sharp, the loud wake-up bell resounded through the building.
“Ugh…”
Hyesung rubbed her sleepy eyes and stretched.
“Are you awake?”
Turning her head, she saw a trainee with a towel around her neck. She had already washed her face.
“Oh, good morning. You’re up early.”
The trainee sharing the room was Lee Joo-ha, who was ahead of Hyesung in the class evaluation.
“You must be tired? You’d want to sleep more, but wash up quickly and let’s go for breakfast.”
“Yes…”
Hyesung got up with a heavy body, washed her face, and came out to find the remaining person in the room putting on socks.
It was Han Youngwon.
“Good morning. Did you sleep well? I hope I wasn’t noisy at night…”
Hyesung greeted her first, feeling slightly intimidated by Youngwon’s cold demeanor.
“It wasn’t noisy. I used earplugs.”
Youngwon answered nonchalantly and stood up. Then she asked Hyesung.
“Shall we go down if you’re ready?”
Unexpectedly, Hyesung found herself heading to the dining hall sandwiched between two Ace-grade trainees, and not just any trainees, but the top ones.
The meals were quite good. Fresh salad, an omelet topped with pork cutlet, clear miso soup, and even her favorite chocolate milk from H Company for dessert.
‘…I can’t tell if I’m eating with my mouth or my nose.’
However, even while eating the delicious meal, Hyesung felt awkward sandwiched between Lee Joo-ha and Han Youngwon. Despite being closer in age to them, she felt uncomfortable.
“Hyesung unnie!”
Na Yeonwoo, holding a tray, called Hyesung from the opposite side. With her were Lim Yae-in, Rurika, and other trainees from Class F.
‘Rurika is in the same room. She must have whined a lot to Yeonwoo, who must have endured it all. Oh, dear Lord, why do you give my sweet baby such trials?’
Though she wasn’t religious, Hyesung found herself lamenting.
“Can we sit here?”
Lim Yae-in asked.
“Of course, please sit.”
Lee Joo-ha smiled and welcomed Na Yeonwoo’s group, and Han Youngwon gave a light nod.
As they continued their meal in this strange combination, something even stranger appeared before Hyesung’s eyes.
[Traveling Merchant Visit!]
[Ding dong♪ Hello, customer. I’m the all-purpose merchant who only visits on special days.]
‘…What’s this? I thought it was a delivery.’
[It’s the visit of a merchant who sells items.]
‘Is this a princess-raising game? If so, give me a butler too, why don’t you?’
[The all-purpose merchant only visits on special days. Don’t miss this chance, or you don’t know when he’ll come again.]
‘This status window is ridiculous. Just show me what you’ve got.’
As soon as she finished thinking, an endless scroll window unfolded. Most of it was gray, indicating it was locked.
‘Was there a currency system? What do I have to pay to buy something? Not my lifespan, please.’
[You can purchase items with stat points. You can convert half a star into 50P.]
‘How greedy. No thanks, I can’t buy anything.’
[You can also convert the proficiency of registered songs and dances into points. 10% per 1P.]
[Available conversion points: 7P]
Song: Love is… Lilac Scent (Proficiency: 67%)
Dance: Chance! (Proficiency: 10%)
‘Absolutely not Chance. If I convert Love is… Lilac Scent to 6 points, I’ll have 7% proficiency left… I worked hard for a week to achieve that.’
But there would be no need to sing
‘Show me the item list again.’
[Lucky Four-Leaf Clover (Common) 5P]
[Refreshing Blue Pill (Common) 5P]
[This and That Potion (Common) 5P]
[Master Martial Artist’s Elixir (Common) 10P]
.
.
.
Except for common-level items, everything else was locked and couldn’t be bought.
‘And I don’t have enough points anyway.’
After checking the detailed information, she found that the [Refreshing Blue Pill] was a mental digestive aid, and the [This and That Potion] was a fatigue recovery item. However, the effect lasted only three hours, and the ingredients listed were arginine, taurine, and 20 kinds of amino acids, making it no different from a real-life fatigue recovery drink.
‘It’s better to just buy something from the pharmacy.’
After some thought, Hyesung decided to go with the first item on the list, the [Lucky Four-Leaf Clover].
[Lucky Four-Leaf Clover (Common) 5P]
[Description: Lucky Cha-Cha-Cha! Brings luck. Always active. 20% activation chance.]
‘This seems useful. I wish it worked when buying lottery tickets.’
Forgetting that minors couldn’t purchase lottery tickets, Hyesung was filled with unrealistic dreams.
After converting the points, she bought the [Lucky Four-Leaf Clover (Common)], and a clover-shaped metal brooch appeared in her status window, floating like a ghost through walls.
‘This looks real. What if others can see it?’
Startled, Hyesung quickly pretended to swat a mosquito and grabbed the brooch, shoving it into her pocket.
“What is it, unnie? A bug?”
“Oh? Yeah, I guess.”
“Rurika hates bugs!”
Hyesung glanced at Rurika, who was using Na Yeonwoo as a shield, and quickly finished her meal.