"How exactly are you going to help me?"
If you're asking how I could say that after asking for help, well, the words just didn't come out nicely.
Realistically, all Super Strong Dragon could do here was watch me dance and nag nonstop, right? That wouldn't be much help to me.
"You said you read RGI, right?"
Watching me make a face full of doubt, Super Strong Dragon brought up RGI out of nowhere.
Seriously, what's it thinking?
"I did. You even thanked me for the money. But why drag that out?"
"Remember how my protagonist raised his dance ability in it?"
"How, my foot! ...... Ah!"
But at Super Strong Dragon's next words, my jaw dropped before I knew it.
Because I remembered the cheat code that raised the abilities of RGI's protagonist, Park Han-seok, who had nothing going for him besides his face and his empathy.
"Virtual reality!"
In the vague space called virtual reality, Park Han-seok had practiced endlessly, using the system to level up the areas where he fell short.
And as a result, every one of his stats became SSS-grade, and after debuting, he established himself as a legendary idol.
"Yeah. That. Its original name was something else, but my editor wanted to change it to that. I didn't love it, but it wasn't bad either, so I said let's go with it."
It said it couldn't help, and yet it can do something like that?
While I was all worked up over whether I could try it too, Super Strong Dragon mumbled in a sullen voice.
Anyway, right now I need to get on its good side, so maybe I'll play along to its beat a little.
"There's another name besides virtual reality?"
"Well....... Never mind. Anyway, want to try it too? If you want, I can open it for you."
"Isn't that obvious? Open it right now."
It was a reaction with a slightly bitter aftertaste, but I couldn't turn down Super Strong Dragon's offer.
But anyone who'd read RGI, not just me, would have done the same, right? Whenever Park Han-seok was in a crisis, he'd just pop in and out of virtual reality and solve everything.
"Then, be careful."
"What?"
What was that last bit supposed to mean? Be careful of what, and how? That goddamn dragon never tells me anything properly!
***
Dan— da-da-dan— dan-dan—
"Hhuh— huff!"
About an hour must have passed since the virtual reality I'd longed for had opened. That was when I finally understood what Super Strong Dragon meant by be careful.
"Stop, stop it already!"
Watching the endless arrows rising on the blue screen floating before my eyes, I yelled for it to stop, but the song booming through the space just wouldn't stop.
I seriously feel like I'm going to die. Besides that, the only words that came to mind were all curses.
"P-Please....... Hah—"
In the end, I couldn't even finish begging and ended up sprawled spread-eagle on the floor.
"Told you to be careful, and you're already wrecked?"
Then, as if it had been waiting for me to end up like this, Super Strong Dragon appeared in front of my face and muttered down at me.
Wrecked? You mean it knew I'd end up like this?
"Who says I got....... Kugh!"
Getting angry was only natural. Not being able to finish what I'd thought in my head felt like a regret that would last a thousand years.
"Tsk, tsk."
Unwilling to lose, I tried to get up out of sheer spite, only to cough and flop back down, and as it clicked its tongue at me, I was thinking about grabbing Super Strong Dragon's tail and shaking it.
"Tough, right? But if you don't go this far, your level won't go up much."
Level won't go up much. Then that means if I just pull this off, my level goes up?
It had acted like it would never show me a status window, so had it changed its mind a little? In that case, I can't just keep lying here either.
"Hoo!"
Once hope began to take root in my heart, strength seemed to surge into a body that had felt about to die, and as I sprang up to sit, the dragon muttered.
"Judging by your complexion, you should rest a bit more."
"I'm fine. For real. Really."
"Well, fine. If you say you're fine, I have nothing more to say."
Though at my firm attitude, it quickly turned its head away.
Now, how should I bring up the system?
"Hey, don't go using your head for nothing."
"Huh?"
At Super Strong Dragon's next words, a sound slipped out of my mouth before I knew it.
Wait, is it really true it can't read my mind?
Just as my brow was about to furrow on its own, that thing rattled off the answer to my question.
"I told you, whatever you're thinking is all over your face? Go on a survival show like that and you'll be the first one eliminated."
"......."
I know. That if I keep going like this, people will talk about it someday, even after I debut.
But hiding emotions or thoughts, how on earth do you even do that?
"If you want to survive evil editing, you'd better do something about that expression first. If you really can't, make a crying face no matter what. Then, if push comes to shove, you cry."
Making a crying face in front of the camera does help win sympathy votes right away. But if you keep whining, it could actually backfire.
In fact, from all the survival programs I'd watched, contestants who did nothing but cry every time the results came out usually ended up eliminated in the end.
"You're telling me to cry, not keep a blank face?"
"Are you confident you can keep a blank face?"
"No."
But once again, Super Strong Dragon cut off my question with a single line.
Too accurate to argue with. It was definitely easier to make an aggrieved face than a blank one.
Because across my trainee life, then and now, it would be harder to name a time I didn't feel wronged.
"Hey, I get what you're worried about, but once you climb up to a certain level, you can just change your approach then. You're human too, so if you get knocked around enough, you'll adapt."
Every word of it is right. Enough that I felt embarrassed for doubting it was a master of idol stories.
Still, it has a knack for tacking on one more line to make people feel bad.
"Fine, I admit it. But the human hearing it feels a bit iffy?"
"Whatever."
"......."
Still a way of talking I didn't like. But I was afraid that if I pushed back any further here I'd lose the virtual reality space I'd barely won, so my urge to argue shrank right back.
As I kept my lips pressed shut, the dragon asked me.
"So, what did you think?"
"What did I think?"
"How does it feel to actually try something you'd only read about?"
What did I think. Was there even anything to think? All I'd heard and seen was nonstop music and arrows flashing on a screen.
Hearing just that, you might dismiss it as some arcade rhythm game, but it wasn't on that level. The arrows didn't just come up from the front; they came from every direction, so I had to keep moving my arms and legs nonstop.
Just like real choreography that uses the whole body.
"Looks like it helped."
The one who pulled me out, as I sat sunk silently in thought, was of course Super Strong Dragon.
There was only one thing I could say in this situation.
"Absolutely, no doubt about it."
The music, so loud my ears rang, was the title track of the senior group I'd kept practicing until recently. The choreography I'd flailed through was by Coach Bae, the stickler for time, whom AP had supposedly spent the most money bringing in.
Jun-hyeok hyung, whose dancing was just a little better than mine, used to look after me separately after lessons, but my miserable skills hadn't improved one bit. I didn't actually miss beats, so from a teacher's point of view, it must have been really frustrating.
But now I felt like I could tell what I'd been doing wrong. And why my dancing never improved.
"Could I try it one more time, maybe?"
If I could go through that experience, gasping until I felt like I'd die, a few more times, that is.
My legs were trembling pathetically, but I could proudly say my eyes were shining brighter than anyone's. It was obvious from how Super Strong Dragon, meeting me at eye level and staring at me, narrowed its eyes.
How much time passed? The dragon opened its mouth in a diamond shape.
"As much as you want. And while I'm being generous, I'll show you your stat window too."
"Really? You said absolutely not, so what's with the change?"
"Simple. I thought you were trying to freeload without even practicing, but now I know you're not."
I can say for sure: this dragon bastard means every word it's saying right now.
In other words, if I'd given up right after one taste of virtual reality, it hadn't planned to do anything for me at all.
"......."
The thought that, in the worst case, I might have had to brace myself to be sent back to the old days made me dizzy.
"Hmph."
While I stood there blinking, Super Strong Dragon snorted and floated a blue window in midair.
Lee Jae-min, age 20
Position - Main Vocal
Visuals B / 175cm, 62kg
Vocals B
Composition/Lyrics/Arrangement B+
Dance D-
Leadership F
Hidden F
"Wow—"
I had nothing to spit out but an exclamation. And that exclamation soon turned into a question mark.
"But why are my grades all such crap?"
"You're not asking because you don't know, are you?"
Glaring at Super Strong Dragon, which was jutting its chin up and looking down at me, I threw another question.
"Nooo! I'll accept everything else, but aren't the Dance and Leadership ranks way too low?"
"Earlier, the score you got in the round right before you were about to give up was 62 points out of 100. For that, D- is generous, in its way."
At the cold reality, I squeezed both eyes shut.
The score from my first attempt, made with a very confident attitude, was 55. At a score even I couldn't believe, I stretched my arms and legs out with all I had. After I'd loosened up a few times, I got 58, and the result of finally imitating my seniors from memory was 62.
For me, 62 was my best result. The number was low, sure, but only a D-?
"If you're unhappy with that score......."
"No! I just need to raise it. Leadership, I don't have what it takes to be a leader anyway, so let's skip it. But what's that Hidden?"
In case talk of calling the whole thing off came up here, I cut Super Strong Dragon off and pointed at the word 'Hidden' floating on the screen as I asked.
The dragon, cut off mid-sentence, swished its tail around for a moment, but soon answered.
"Penalty."
"The penalty's rank is F?"
Then that thing looked at me with an expression of disbelief, its mouth hanging open.
Did I do something wrong again?
"Are you an idiot? I mean that covering up one of your F-grade stats with the word 'Hidden' is the penalty itself!"
Ugh, shit. You could've explained it like that from the start. Maybe it's because it's a dragon— it sure has a set of lungs. It'll be breathing fire soon.
"O-Okay, got it, so calm down. Then when do I get to see my hidden ability?"
"Beats me. But I can at least tell you this: if you could see it easily, it wouldn't be a penalty."
"......Thaaanks."
My lips twisted on their own. Seeing my expression, Super Strong Dragon tilted its head slightly, looked at me, then stretched out its short arms and clapped its hands.
"Right. Then let's start again!"
"Yeah. Let's go!"
No more explanation was needed. Once again, I stretched out my arms and legs with all my strength amid the arrows appearing before my eyes and the music pounding my ears.
"Left, left! Keep that up and you'll throw out your back!"
If anything was different from the first time, it'd be that Super Strong Dragon, which hadn't been there before, was chattering noisily right beside me.
Just you wait. I'm definitely paying back this humiliation!
***
"Hmm— not bad."
After that, Super Strong Dragon joined my dance practice without missing a single session. By the time the nagging that came with every beat was dwindling, a whole week had already gone by.
"What a stingy evaluation."
And looking once more at the window floating before our eyes, we shared our impressions.
Lee Jae-min, age 20
Position - Main Vocal
Visuals B / 175cm, 65kg
Vocals B+
Composition/Lyrics/Arrangement B+
Dance C-
Leadership F
Hidden E
"This really works, huh."
Anyway, my Dance level, which I'd worried about most, had risen all the way to C-.
Honestly, after practicing like a damn dog, I'd have felt cheated if it hadn't gone up. I'd danced for 10 hours every single day while getting cursed at, and gained enough muscle that even my weight went up.
"......."
And the level of that still-unknown Hidden thing also rose from F to E.
What on earth is that thing, that it went up.......
But no matter how much I racked my brain, I couldn't get a feel for it, so I decided to give up thinking. I figured I'd be better off running the dance simulation one more time.
"This much in just a week. Guess your natural talent isn't as bad as I thought?"
My pride must have been showing all over my face again. I looked at Super Strong Dragon and shrugged.
"I know. I was surprised too. It's all thanks to you. Thanks."
"Seems a bit early for you to be saying that."
"You always have to say it like—"
I'm giving it heartfelt thanks, and it reacts like that? Is it getting revenge for me cutting it off the other day?
Having cut me off like that, the dragon waved its short arms and vanished.
"......."
Just as I, suddenly left alone in the huge annex, let out a heavy sigh.
"Jae-min!"
Someone entered the annex and called my name.
"Jun-hyeok hyung?"
It was Jun-hyeok hyung, whom I hadn't seen in a whole week.