Save a Failed Idol’s Life

#013. Life Is Not A Game 

[Name: Son Seongwon – 22 years old]

[Specialty]

[Buff: <Play Music> — When singing, activates a stable vocal correction effect equal to the music source]

– The points used 30pt

[Characteristic]

Visual: S

Vocal: S

Dance: B

Performance: A

Attractiveness: B

Speech: B

As I can expect from his characteristic, Seongwon was the main vocalist specializing in vocals.

‘And his face, well…He’s pretty and handsome even if he speaks rudely.’

Seongwon’s hair was quite long, and his bleached blonde hair was tied in a half-up ponytail.

It was a pretty stand-out hairstyle, but it was a beauty that didn’t feel any greasy or awkward.

His disaster mouth must have been a big reason why his charm couldn’t come out above grade A.

‘That’s why they say one word can repay a thousand nyang debt. He’ll kill his character with his word.’ (t/n: 냥/nyang is old Korean currency) 

Still, the visual is S, so it went up to B.

Even if his face was ugly, he was a guy who would have gotten an E grade because of his attractiveness. 

The reason why the speech skill was surprisingly B grade was probably—.

It seemed that it was because he had the ability to shake off a snout without any hesitation when arguing.

‘Is Na Sunwoo the only one left now?’

I pulled up the last remaining profile and looked closely.

[Name: Na Sunwoo – 21 years old]

[Specialty]

[Buff: <If it’s delicious, it has 0 calories> — Zero calories taken during a meal after activation.]

– The points used 10pt

[Characteristic]

Visual: C *(SS)

Vocal: A

Dance: B

Performance: B

Attractiveness: B *(A)

Speech: D

[*The grade in parentheses is the grade before correction.]

Hmm? Only Na Sunwoo had a unique explanation with parentheses that was difficult to understand at once. 

“What do you mean correction?”

[It’s a grade that reflects a temporary physical condition]

Wang–! 

Posil barked as if agreed with the explanation in the status window.

‘It’s not like that, ah….’

I shook my head, thinking of the thick lumps of fat all over Sunwoo’s body.

Of course, being fat is not a sin.

However, as long as there was an appearance that fans expected, it was necessary to live up to that expectation in order to stand on stage.

‘Idols are human too, but they are basically jobs that provide the fantasies that fans want and make money.’

I’m not going to talk like it’s someone else’s business, I’ll start with myself—.

Efforts were urgently needed to present a stage that reached a certain level that fans wanted. 

“I have a question. What is the average level of the ordinary person’s grade?”

I wonder if it’s about D.

When I asked with a wildly generous dream, the system answered ruthlessly.

[Grade C is a level that is slightly better than normal people.]

Kiing—!

Posil expressed regret with his whole body by scratching the floor with his feet.

It means…

It meant that the current me had terrible dancing skills that were not even average.

“Can I distribute the two crystals right away to the dance?”

As I decided without thinking further, a small pop-up window appeared. 

[Once a crystal has been used, it can’t be returned.]

[Shall we distribute two crystals to <Dance> characteristics?]

[Yes/No]

I pressed the yes button without hesitation.

Then the screen briefly shone, and my characteristics grade changed instantly.

[Profile]

[Name: Cheon Yise (Lim Hyunsung) – 24 years old]

[Characteristic]

Visual: S

Vocal: D

Dance: C

Attractiveness: E

Charm: A

Speech: A

‘I’ve barely risen two levels and it’s a C….’

Now, I came up to the level of an ordinary person who was a little good.

Yes, an ordinary person would be better than a man who danced on a tour bus with his butt twitching—.

‘Even if it’s a long way to go, it’s too long.’

I needed a way to solve that punk’s vocals and performance.

There’s nothing I can do right now… So I should go to sleep.

I washed up and lay down on the bed.

Even though I put my head on the pillow, I couldn’t fall asleep right away, probably because my body was fresh.

‘I need to go to sleep soon….’

When I was a man over 40, the work was difficult, and my physical strength was very weak. 

I habitually overworked and slept less than 4 hours.

If I didn’t do that, I couldn’t manage the big business on my own.

Thanks to this, I could snore and fall asleep right away as long as I lay my head down.

‘Why can’t I sleep?’

Even after tossing and turning for a long time, only a slight tired feeling followed like a shadow.

I didn’t feel the dullness of my brain soaked in fatigue.

Not a body that has been used for forty years, but a body that is young and healthy.

In the meantime, things were so hectic that I couldn’t pay attention to them properly.

As I was quietly alone like this, I started to feel it little by little.

‘Let’s search for something…There’s nothing I can do right now.’

I quietly looked up at the ceiling and searched for three letters, Lim Hyunsung.

There was a chrysanthemum sticker on the profile with my portrait picture on it.

Even though it didn’t make sense, it was clear that Lim Hyunsung’s real body had physically died. 

As long as it happened in reality, what I had to do was decided.

Why did this happen to me? Why did it have to be me?

There was no time to knock on the stick, looking for an answer that wouldn’t come out even after thinking about it.

‘What I need to do right now is—to distinguish what can I do now.’

First of all—.

I should ask for dance lessons to improve my dance skills and stage sense.

And helps Na Sunwoo with his diet.

This was my short-term goal.

In addition to that, I should also study the idol entertainment industry in general.

‘Let’s think of Joyoung Food as investing in the entertainment industry and seriously analyze it.’

As a businessman, I was good at analyzing the market with a cool head and coming up with a realistic plan.

‘Great. Now that the direction is set, I really need to sleep.’

The sound of the waves seemed to be coming from afar.

My body slowly sank toward the bottom. I had an unpleasant feeling of pressure all over me as if I couldn’t breathe.

‘But now I’m alive.’

Even though this is another person’s appearance, obviously, I was lucky to have survived this reality. 

I couldn’t collapse here, and I didn’t want to collapse.

The moment I put my fingertips together and clenched my fists, my consciousness blurred, and I fell asleep.

* * *

The next morning, I contacted the management office and found out about Cheon Yise’s car number.

Suddenly, the resident contacted me and asked me for the registered car number of the house.

The security staff must have been puzzled by what this meant.

Thanks to this, I could locate my car with the fancy logo of a foreign car.

‘This car. Even when I was the CEO of Joyoung Food, I had never driven it.’ 

When I was a representative, I had no greed other than to grow the company and support the foundation.

An expensive house and a nice car were all uncomfortable, like clothes that didn’t suit me.

Although I’ve heard someone trying to put hot air on me, asking that shouldn’t I ride a hundred million car, but—.

An old Grandeur and a 21-pyeong apartment were enough.

Even so, if the CEO rides an old sonata, the employees below feel uncomfortable, so I bought it.

‘Because I spent most of my time at work anyway.’

The trip to the lodging, with all the clothes stuffed into the trunk, was not an enjoyable experience.

‘I don’t have to worry. There is nothing to be caught at all.’

I drove out of the parking lot while holding on to the steering wheel and muttering as if to reassure myself.

It didn’t take long to get to the house.

‘When will this…I’ll make it to the level of the other kids.’

I couldn’t help feeling faint.

“It’s so nice to have a roommate! Since Junghyun Hyung left, I’ve been using my room all by myself…I was pretty bored.”

Who is Junghyun Hyung? I tilted my head at the first name I heard.

We debuted together as a 7-member group, but one of the members who left is a foreigner—and the other one didn’t have that name.

“Don’t like it too much. I decided to share a room because I was afraid you might eat something secretly.”

I was embarrassed for nothing, so I couldn’t say anything good and cleared my throat.

“Ung…! Still, it’s good. I was very envious of Yejun Hyung and Kyunghwa Hyung sharing the same room.” 

It seems that he didn’t dare to ask Son Seongwon to share a room with him. 

Or maybe he already asked for it and got rejected.

That’s how camp life, which I thought I would never do in my life, began.

* * *

“Oh…Is this a new song update? Who wants Let’s Dance after a long time?”

It must have been about a week since I joined the accommodation. A lot has happened in the meantime.

First of all, the accommodation was made from a pigsty to a place where people live. 

I told the company that he wanted to participate in producing and preparing Sunwoo’s diet in earnest.

‘If I think that there are only 180 days, it is difficult to waste a single day….’

Then one day, Yejun brought a game console and connected it to the TV in the living room.

“Ah, that’s what Yise Hyung liked.”

Seongwon was away for a while because the agency asked for help.

Kyunghwa was taken to an unknown sports entertainment the day before and was lying on his bed.

They said he went mountain climbing with senior actors from the 80s all day long.

He seemed to think he was lucky enough to have such a thing happen. 

“Yise Hyung definitely does it. You do it, too. It’s aerobic, so it helps you in your diet.” 

I took the game console Yejun gave me while I was momentarily confused.

It was an atmosphere where I couldn’t bear to ask, “What is this?”

“O, okay! I’ll do it, too!”

Sunwoo seemed to hesitate for a moment before picking up a console from the table in the living room.

‘I don’t know what it is, but… Dance…? Is that why you move your body?’ 

I quickly picked up my phone, which I was still unfamiliar with, and searched for ‘Let’s Dance’ on the Internet.

Looking at the photos posted, it seemed like a game where you move your body according to the movements shown on the screen, like DDR.

‘I’m in trouble.’

An emergency bell rang in my head. I’d rather do anaerobic exercise. This type of dance game has been rat poison ever since I was ‘Lim Hyunsung’. 

If I had done it badly, would I have been kicked out by the person who waited for me to stop at the arcade when I couldn’t do it anyway?

Now that I’ve raised my grade to C, it’s not as extreme as it was when I was Lim Hyunsung, but—.

Seeing that Sunwoo remembered it was Yise Hyung’s favorite game, I expected the reaction.

“I… I don’t think I’m in a good condition today…”

When I tried to escape with an excuse for my health, Sunwoo immediately blocked me.

“What are you talking about, Hyung? You told me earlier that you have to go to the fitness center and exercise for three hours today. Hyung, how can you say something so weak?”

Is it something like you can’t die alone? 

I ended up standing side by side in front of the screen due to Sunwoo’s water ghost operation. (T/n : water ghost means something like ‘It’s unfair that I suffered alone! Let’s go together!’)

“Well, let’s start with the new update. If Yise Hyung learns the choreography and teaches me, I think I’ll be able to shoot a full combo soon?”

With Yejun’s confident expectations, the prelude with a magnificent beat began.

‘I’m going crazy, how the hell am I doing this?’

It said I just have to follow the action mark that slowly flows from the right end of the screen to the left. 

Even if I understood it with my head, my body didn’t follow me at all.

“What are you doing, Yise Hyung! It keeps saying Miss!”

While I was hesitant, five marks disappeared to the left of the screen in an instant.

I looked around Sunwoo and Yejun how they do. 

The two were preparing to dance the next move even before the mark appeared.

‘How is that possible?!’

Fortunately, my stamina was good, so I didn’t get short of breath. But the creaking body was just barely good enough to get ‘Nice’.

“Hyung, do you hate to do it that much?”

The song is over before I know it. Then, seeing Player2 YS’ disastrous result table, Yejun asked in puzzlement.

I glanced at the other player’s results table.

Yejun was almost perfect, and Sunwoo seemed to be above average, except for missing about 5. 

‘Why are you both so good at dancing? You said you weren’t in charge of dancing!’

“No, it’s been so long….”

Then Yejun answered with a frown as if it was strange.

“Is it because of your back pain?”

Even Sunwoo’s face began to be darker in an instant. 

Uh, oh. I had to figure out how to get out of this situation.