⚠️THESE TRANSLATIONS AREN'T MINE BUT FROM A FRIEND. I JUST UPLOAD THESE TRANSLATIONS AND ALSO EDIT THE MTL'S ERRORS⚠️

CREDITS TO: Lynn8 (TYSM BTW)

The intro to a song the whole country was familiar with played.

Suddenly, an animated voice reached all ears. Just like the iconic beginning of the song that was remembered by the judges, which made one of them, who was drinking water, stop.

Oh, me too! I like you a lot~

My heart beats so much! It feels like... popcorn!

My heartbeats sound like pops

It is a feeling that fills my heart!

YoungRin, the judge who asked me to dance, was the only one who seriously nodded seeing the simple movements I made with my feet. At that moment, she seemed to be the only professional on the stage.

The time came when even children could perfectly dance to this song.

You are my

My heart

You are in

Burst out like

That song was also very famous for the number of dance covers it got, even though its level of difficulty was the same. To tell the truth, it was such an easy dance that even elementary school children could dance it perfectly.

If I had danced to this song ten years ago when it was all the rage, I would have been criticized. But now, I chose this song because you will like to remember it and you will also find it funny.

Of course, I'm dancing with all my might and reflecting seriousness on my face...

Even if the others considering that I am playing a prank on them, they would not like me to smile at them, they would think that I make fun of them and stop liking them. I had to give the impression that I had prepared myself a lot to the point where I could dance to at least this song.

It is true that I did work very hard. I leveled up while practicing this choreography and got the "" and "" achievements.

It seemed that I had made a mistake when I saw the judges clapping and laughing, but... I don't know, they will judge me themselves.

After doing the last movement of the first chorus, I stopped dancing. I bowed my head and tried to catch my breath, when suddenly, a round of applause rang through the air and I was brought back to my senses.

-Thank you.

YoungRin grabbed the microphone, but the choreographer judge beat her to speaking. His eyes were reddened, maybe he had cried with laughter when he saw my presentation.

-Wow, boy... I never thought I'd see a cover of this song today. Weren't you 10 years old when the song "POP☆CON" was released? Did you prepare for a talent show?

-It's not like that, I prepared this song because I'm a fan of Soft & Sweet sunbae-nim [1].

-Ha!

Although Soft & Sweet's last album was released four years ago, even after it was past its prime, it seemed unusual that a 20-year-old would still consider himself a fan.

But there would be no problem because he is an idol, right?

As expected, the choreographer who had asked me laughed again. Beside him, Mudi muttered under his breath.

-Oh so cute~

-He tried very hard and that's the most important thing!

The judge who was also an idol helped cheer me up like that. He had lost his doubts about whether or not I knew how to dance when I claimed that I had no other experience in dancing.

YoungRin finally spoke.

-But that doesn't mean you did well.

I knew this would happen.

It was a situation where close-ups and sound effects could be included in the video editing. In fact, I think the publishers will put big red subtitles with the funeral chime onomatopoeia "Dudung" to highlight my sorrow.

I had already anticipated several possibilities of how I would be used in the edition of this chapter of the program, I only needed to hear the final result of my evaluation.

-I noticed that you are not very talented in dancing after looking at your body movements. Even if you get good reviews now, future missions will be very difficult for you.

-I will prepare a lot for that.

Well, not exactly me, my status window will be ready when those times come.

YoungRin refrained from giving me any more criticism and just nodded regretfully.

-Very well.

She then added with a smile.

-Anyway, I can see your efforts. You did a great job.

-Thank you.

I think I've said "thank you" about ten times today...

Will I continue to thank this often in the future?

The judges exchanged opinions to evaluate me, of course I couldn't hear them because they had moved their microphones away.

At this point, the cruelest element of this program emerges.

In this case, the results of the first evaluation will be classified from position 1 to 77, the assigned seats were in that order.

For today, the temporary classification will be used according to the result of the first evaluation that the judges are taking, but if the next contestant does better when the seats are full, the classification will be altered and the affected participants must drop one position and change positions. seat.

The program has patented the property of filming scenes in which low-ranked participants are pushed further down the ranking until they sit crying in the last places.

Fortunately, I don't think that affects me much in my case.

My ranking... I think I'll be close to 24th.

-Park MoonDae's ranking is... Rank 17!

Considering that they will surely want to film some scenes where I am sad that 17th place will be replaced and I will have to move back a few places, then the reality was similar to what I predicted.

"I think I've gone up a few positions because of the good atmosphere I created."

If the judges happen to forget me for the following contestants, I may have to give up my seat for middle and high school students who haven't been judged yet.

It was kind of funny to bow my head while thanking the judges, while my mind was full of uncomfortable thoughts.

-Thank you.

-I will teach you a lot, so I hope that next time you will rank higher.

Said the choreographer judge smiling. That means that if I don't improve, he will stop being interested in me and will immediately change me for another participant. I have a status window, so I'm definitely going to improve.

"I wish they could film a scene where the choreographer is moved by me sometime."

Once again, I bowed my head in thanks and made my way to the seats, which grew larger, fancier, and more colorful as you moved up the ranks. The difference was very superficial and obvious.

The seventeenth seat was a leather chair ideal for a corporate executive to sit on. I sat down and the contestant ranked 15th greeted me, he seemed to be the same age as the real Park MoonDae.

-Hello~

-Hello.

-You sang very well!

-Thank you. I think you did a good job too.

-Oh yeah? Hahaha!

I couldn't say for sure since I didn't see his presentation, but probably because he was in 15th place, so I congratulated him and I think it worked out well because the young man smiled and pointed to his name tag on his chest .

-My name is Lee SeJin!

I almost let out a sigh. I responded with the most immutable face possible.

-I am Park MoonDae. I will be under your care.

-Thank you, I will also be under your care~

I ended the conversation and looked ahead, the next contestant had entered the stage at the right time. I sank into my thoughts after hearing his name.

Lee SeJin.

He was one of the boys who debuted thanks to this program, so making friends with him would be a victory card.

But there is a problem.

Next year this bastard will be involved in a drug distribution and consumption scandal. I remember seeing his name on the 9 o'clock news while eating rice soup at a restaurant near the goshiwon [2] I lived in.

I won't talk to him from now on.

Timing is important, so I'll take advantage of another participant's presentation to check my status window.

First of all, I got a point for leveling up during my introduction and managed to complete the "First Scenario" quest. It also looks like my Dance and Charm stats just got graded from that submission.

Those stats were disabled in my essays. Do they have to be officially evaluated? I don't know the exact criteria.

Anyway, I felt it while he was practicing, but... Even if my Charm grade is fine, Park MoonDae seems to have no talent for dancing.-

If Dance's grade is D, then he's like a normal person. I think I will have to invest two or three points in Dance to improve even a little.

On the other hand, the Appearance option showed a new possibility in the status window. Although I didn't invest points, my grade increased because I cared about my actual appearance.

It meant that I could increase my stats regardless of the level up effect in the status window. That's a pretty positive factor.

Finally, an unusual little popup appeared right next to the status window.

You have impressed most!

Select: Special Attributes ☚ One Click!

"There's something strange again."

Still, given the words "success" and "impression," the tradeoff must be great.

I pretended to touch my hair and clicked on the highlighted option, then something quite interesting was displayed.

The image of a silver colored slot machine. The reel was spinning because it looked like the lever had been pulled by selecting the "Special Attributes" option.

The spinning rate of the roller gradually slowed down and I could see the contents it carried, some of them were gold-colored titles, but most of them were silver.

No, it's good to know what the properties of each title are, but... why do they have such bad names?

I looked at the slot machine with little expectation. It would finish spinning soon anyway.

Du-dung~!

The slot machine ejected confetti because the title it had stopped on was gold in color.

When this special attribute is activated, you won't feel tired even if you don't sleep.

During the hours 00:01-04:00 am you will receive a 30%

increase in your experience acceleration.

Duration of a week, a single use.

I unexpectedly gained an attribute that seemed very useful, although the name is...something like that. Still, it's fun to have a core game affected by my luck.

I checked that "Sleep will be after death" was in the list of attributes at the bottom of the status window and it was inactive, I'll think about when it will be the most effective time to use it.

-Kang MinJo's ranking is... Rank 56!

The evaluation was underway but the final members who debuted have yet to appear, except for the drug-involved suspect next to me.

I saw the next contestant enter.

A slender figure with long arms and legs stepped onto the stage. Seeing that he was alone, he was a participant who had no connection to any of the other trainees. Murmurs spread among the participants who were seated according to their positions. Of course, they weren't mumbling about the fact that he was alone on stage.

-wow!

-He's awesome.

This is because the contestant was too handsome. I could even hear the judges openly admiring him.

-You look like a deer~

From my point of view, with that appearance that he has, there is no need to worry about debuting. He shouldn't have competed on this survival show, I'm sure he must have done something important by the end of the show.

But looking at his name written on the tag on his chest, I realized that it was an unknown name.

If he couldn't debut with that face, he may not have very good skills, but he looks more handsome than any active idol I've followed for photos and videos in the past.

If I analyze it with status window stats... Wouldn't all skills except appearance be between F and D ranks?

"I would know for sure if I could see someone else's status window."

Surprisingly, as soon as I thought about it, a status window appeared on the side of the participant.

-...!

Can other people see it too?

Singing: B- (A)

Dance: A (EX)

Appearance: A+ (S+)

Charm: B (A+)

Property: Resistance (Off)

State abnormality: Lack of self-esteem.

It was a beautiful and admirable window of status. I think it will be in the top 10 in this evaluation.

Will the grades in parentheses be his if he develops them to their fullest? In that case, he will have a bright future.

But the last feature stands out among all.

With that face? It would have been better if another abnormality like "arrogance" appeared.

Anyway, it was great to confirm that I can see other people's status windows. If he was in a bind, he could join an entertainment agency to select the best candidates so he wouldn't starve.

As I watched the stats with interest, I heard the MC's voice.

-Please introduce yourself!

Seon AhHyun took the microphone with her trembling hands.

-H-h-h-hello...

-...

It's not that he stuttered because of nerves, I knew because I noticed how uncomfortable he was.

A clear symptom of stuttering disorder.

Also, I felt that he was very aware of his speech disability. His anxiety and shame must have reached a crippling level.

I immediately understood the reason for Seon AhHyun's status abnormality.

Still, with this kind of appearance and skills, he could have used stuttering as a feature, so... why didn't he get to debut?

Also, is the status anomaly called "lack of self-esteem" a problem? I would like to know a little more...

He despises himself.

All stats are reduced by two tiers.

-...!

Suddenly another popup appeared. I didn't know that he could verify the details just by thinking about it.

"This is very useful".

I'll have to check my status again and see how long I have left to live. I know I'm being sarcastic, but I'm a little surprised that the content of that condition is more radical than I thought.

If I had that handicap in the game, I would be stuck and give up. I have my life on the line so I can't restart it even if it gets really annoying.

-AhHyun... when you talk... Is it really hard for you to talk?

-I-I-I... Uh... w-when I was a-kid... I had an acci-accident...

-Oh...

He began the personal storytelling on stage.

To be precise, Seon AhHyun seems to be trying to explain his condition and the production team seems to be trying to make it into a story.

There were also random reactions from the participants around me.

In particular, there were boys who showed sad expressions on their faces. They will surely use those reactions in the video editing of this episode of the show.

I also heard sad words.

-Poor him... What can he do...?

That is not the way to approach this delicate subject. Even if the edit is done correctly, some will judge it as a "type of backlash".

I looked ahead with an 'I see' expression without much fuss.

The judges said some obvious words of encouragement and carefully inquired about their performance.

-AhHyun, can we see what you have prepared for us?

-Y-yes.

His performance wasn't that bad.

He was just at the point where he was viewed favorably, although truth be told, taking into account the information in his status window, his abilities were in the worst state of his.

-Seon AhHyun's ranking is... 18th!

This happened because he did not have a better mindset or strategy. I can't believe that even though he has those high stats, he was ranked lower than me.

The judges gave him good reviews, either because his skills are good or because they didn't want to say bad things that would affect him more.

-Good job~

-I will be waiting for your presentations in the future.

The judges spoke to him in warm, comforting voices. There were also people who gave the thumbs up. However, Seon AhHyun's face turned sorrowful as he bowed his head profusely in thanks.

He walked off the stage trying to hide his expression and was guided by the MC until he reached the seat next to me.

-...

I think I should greet him, but... Seon AhHyun looked at me and didn't speak to me either.

I shouldn't make a scene that is misunderstood as me ignoring him. It was hard for me to say anything, so I just greeted him by bowing my head towards him.

Surprised by my action, Seo AhHyun responded to me in the same way.

-5 contestants will be judged next! Choi Jin Soo, Hong Seong...

I sighed weakly after counting the number of participants who hadn't introduced themselves yet.

There was a long way to go.

T/N NOTES