Chapter 14
Translator: MarcTempest
Editor: NicoleTempest
Chapter 14 Life is Not a Game
[Name: Son Seong-won – Age 22]
[Skill]
[Buff: – Activates a stable vocal correction effect at the level of a sound source when singing]
-Usage point 30pt
[Attribute]
Visual: S
Vocal: S
Dance: B
Performance: A
Charm: B
Speech: B
As expected from his skill, Seong-won was the main vocalist who specialized in vocalization.
‘His face is… well, he’s pretty handsome even though he has no manners.’
Seong-won had fairly long hair that he dyed blond and tied in a half ponytail.
He had a rather flashy hairstyle, but he didn’t look cheesy or awkward. He was a beauty.
The reason why his charm didn’t reach above A grade was surely because of his disastrous mouth.
‘He should calm down when he speaks. They say you can pay off a thousand debts with words.’
At least his visual was S, so his charm went up to B.
If he was ugly, he would have been an E grade because of his personality.
It was surprising that his speech was B grade.
It was probably because…
He had the ability to talk back without hesitation when he picked a fight.
‘Now the only one left is Na Seon-woo.’
I pulled the last remaining profile closer and looked at it.
[Name: Na Seon-woo – Age 21]
[Skill]
[Buff: – Activates a 0 calorie intake effect for one meal after activation]
-Usage point 10pt
[Attribute]
Visual: C *(SS)
Vocal: A
Dance: B
Performance: B
Charm: B *(A)
Speech: D
[*The grades in parentheses are the grades before correction.]
Huh? Seon-woo had a strange explanation that was hard to understand at once, along with parentheses.
“What does correction mean?”
[It means the grade reflects the temporary physical condition.]
Woof-!
Pposili barked as if he agreed with the explanation on the status window.
‘It’s not woof, ah…’
I shook my head as I thought of the fat lumps that were swollen all over Seon-woo’s body.
Of course, being fat is not a sin.
But as long as the fans had expectations for the appearance, he needed to meet those expectations to stand on stage.
‘Idols are people too, but they are basically jobs that provide the fantasy that fans want and make money.’
Rather than talking about other people’s business, I should start with myself…
I was in a situation where I needed to work hard to show the fans a certain level of stage.
“I’m curious, what is the average level of a normal person?”
Maybe D.
I asked with a generous dream, and the system answered coldly.
[The level of being slightly better than the average person is C grade.]
Squeak-.
Pposili scratched the floor with his feet and expressed his regret with his whole body.
That meant…
I had a miserable dance skill that was below average.
“Can I distribute two crystals to dance right away?”
As soon as I made a decision without thinking, a small pop-up window popped up.
[You can’t undo the crystals you used once.]
[Do you want to distribute two crystals to the attribute?]
[Yes/No]
I pressed the yes button without hesitation.
Then the screen flashed for a moment, and my attribute grade changed in an instant.
[Profile]
[Name: Cheon Ise (Lim Hyun-seong) – 24 years old]
[Attribute]
Visual: S
Vocal: D
Dance: C
Performance: E
Charm: A
Speech: A
‘Only two levels up to C…’
I had reached the level of being a little better than a normal person.
Well, I guess it’s better than a normal person who dances like a tourist bus while making a noise…
‘The way is too long.’
I needed a way to solve his vocal and performance.
There was nothing I could do right now… I had 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 because my body was fresh.
‘I have to fall asleep quickly…’
When I was over forty, I was tired from work and physically weak.
I habitually repeated overwork and less than four hours of sleep.
If I had to make an excuse, I couldn’t manage that big business by myself if I didn’t do that.
Thanks to that, I could fall asleep as soon as I lay down anywhere.
‘Why can’t I sleep?’
I tossed and turned for a long time, but only a faint feeling of tiredness followed me like a shadow.
I didn’t feel the dullness of my brain being worn out by fatigue.
It was not an old body that I had used for over forty years, but a young and healthy body of a young man.
I didn’t have time to realize it properly because everything was so hectic.
Now that I was alone quietly, I started to feel it.
‘Even if I search… I can’t do anything right now.’
I looked at the ceiling and searched for Lim Hyun-seong, three letters.
There was a chrysanthemum sticker on the profile with my portrait.
Even if it was unrealistic, it was a fact that the real Lim Hyun-seong’s body died physically.
As long as it happened in reality, what I had to do was decided.
Why did this happen to me? Why was it me?
I didn’t have time to knock on the window and find the answer that wouldn’t come out.
‘What I have to do right now is… to distinguish what I can do now.’
First of all…
I had to ask for dance lessons to improve my dance skills and stage sense. And I had to help Seon-woo with his diet.
This was my short-term goal.
In addition, I had to study the overall idol entertainment industry.
‘Let’s think that Jo Young Food is investing in the entertainment industry and analyze it seriously.’
Cold market analysis and realistic strategy formulation were my specialties as a businessman.
‘Good. The direction is set, so I have to sleep now.’
I closed my eyelids tightly and heard the sound of waves from afar.
My body sank heavier and heavier toward the floor. An unpleasant pressure that choked my throat seeped in.
‘But I’m alive.’
Even though I’m in someone else’s body. I was lucky enough to survive in this reality.
I couldn’t collapse here, and I didn’t want to.
The moment I clenched my fist with my fingertips together, my consciousness faded and I fell asleep.
***
The next morning, I contacted the management office and found out Cheon Ise’s car number.
A resident suddenly called and asked for the car number registered in his house.
The security guard must have been dumbfounded by this.
Thanks to that, I was able to find the location of the car with a fancy logo of a foreign car.
‘I’ve never driven a car like this, even when I was the CEO of Jo Young Food.’
When I was the CEO, I had no ambition other than growing the company and donating to the foundation.
Expensive houses and nice cars, they were all uncomfortable for me like clothes that didn’t suit me.
Some people tried to tempt me with cars worth hundreds of millions, but…
An old Grandeur and a 21-pyeong apartment were enough for me.
That was also because the employees below were uncomfortable when the CEO drove an old Sonata.
‘Anyway, I spent most of my time at the company.’
It wasn’t all fun to load the trunk with clothes and head to the dorm.
‘Don’t worry. There’s no way I’ll get caught.
I muttered to reassure myself and grabbed the steering wheel and left the parking lot.
It didn’t take long to get to the dorm.
Seon-woo greeted me warmly from the entrance, which was cute, but…
‘When will I make him… the same level as the others?’
I couldn’t help but feel dizzy.
“I’m so happy to have a roommate! I’ve been using the room alone since Jeong-hyeon hyung left… It was pretty boring.”
Who is Jeong-hyeon hyung?
I tilted my head at the name I heard for the first time.
One of the seven members who debuted but withdrew was a foreigner… and the other one had a different name.
“Don’t be too happy. I decided to share a room with you because I was afraid you might eat something secretly.”
I was embarrassed and coughed instead of saying something nice.
“Uh…! I’m still happy. I was so jealous of Yi-jun hyung and Kyunghwa hyung sharing a room.”
He must have not dared to ask that bastard Son Seong-won to share a room with him.
Or maybe he already asked and was rejected.
That’s how the dorm life that I never thought I would experience in my life began.
***
“Wow… The new song update is out? Anyone want to play Let’s Dance for the first time in a while?”
It’s been about a week since I joined the dorm.
A lot of things happened during that time.
First of all, I turned the dorm from a pigsty into a corner of a human house.
I told the company that I wanted to participate in producing and preparing Seon-woo’s diet plan in earnest.
‘If I think I only have 180 days left, I can’t waste a day…’
One day, Yi-jun brought a game console and connected it to the living room TV and asked.
“Ah, that’s what Ise hyung liked.”
Seong-won was away for a while because he had something to ask for help from the agency.
Kyunghwa collapsed on his bed after being dragged to a sports entertainment show on an unknown cable channel.
He spent the whole day climbing with the veteran actors from the 80s.
He seemed to think it was a relief that he got such a job.
“Ise hyung will definitely do it. You do it too. This is aerobic, so it helps with dieting.”
I took the game console that Yi-jun handed me without hesitation.
What is this? I couldn’t ask in this atmosphere.
“Okay, I’ll do it!”
Seon-woo hesitated and pondered for a while, then picked up one of the consoles on the living room table.
‘I don’t know what it is… but dance…? Does it mean moving your body?’
I quickly picked up the phone that I still wasn’t used to and searched the internet for ‘Let’s Dance’.
Looking at the pictures that came up, it looked like a game where you move your body according to the movements that appear on the screen like DDR.
‘I’m in trouble.’
The emergency bell rang in my head. I should have done anaerobic exercise instead. This kind of dance game was rat poison since I was ‘Lim Hyun-seong’.
How bad was it that I was chased away by someone who was waiting for me to stop because I couldn’t do it anyway at the arcade.
Now I’ve raised it to C grade, so it won’t be as extreme as when I was ‘Lim Hyun-seong’…
But seeing that Seon-woo remembered it as a game that Ise hyung liked, I could guess what the reaction would be.
“I’m… feeling a bit under the weather today…”
As I tried to get out of it with a health excuse, Seon-woo blocked me in front of me.
“What are you talking about, hyung? You told me earlier that I had to work out for three hours at the fitness center today. Can you say such a weak thing, hyung?”
I can’t die alone, can I?
I ended up standing side by side in front of the screen with Seon-woo’s water ghost strategy.
“Then, let’s try the new update first. If Ise hyung teaches us the choreography, we’ll get a full combo in no time.”
With Yi-jun’s confident expectation, the beat started with a majestic intro.
‘I’m screwed, how do you do this?’
All I had to do was follow the movement marks that slowly flowed from the right end of the screen to the left.
I understood it in my head, but my body didn’t follow at all.
“What are you doing, Ise hyung! You keep getting Miss!”
While I was stumbling, five marks disappeared from the left side of the screen in an instant.
I looked around at how they did it.
They were ready to follow the next movement before the mark even appeared.
‘How is that possible!?’
Fortunately, I had good stamina, so I didn’t run out of breath. But the squeaky body was only able to get Nice at best.
“Hyung, do you hate doing this?”
The song ended soon.
Yi-jun looked puzzled as he saw the miserable result of Player2 YS.
I glanced at the other players’ results.
Yi-jun was almost perfect, Seon-woo was above average except for missing five.
‘No, why are they both so good at dancing? They’re not even in charge of dancing!’
“No. It’s just been too long…”
Then Yi-jun frowned as if he was weird and answered.
“Is it because of your back pain?”
Seon-woo’s face also quickly darkened.
I was in trouble.
I had to come up with a way to get out of this situation.
