The Goal is the Ending Fairy

Chapter 5

Translator: Iris
Proofreader: Floor

‘What’s with the Self PR…?’

Perhaps they plan to release it early.

The idea of pre-releasing the trainees’ faces to the public was quite an excellent choice.

Even if Hon is a major agency, it’s not easy to draw high viewership from the first episode.

Most viewers rarely care about the agency itself.

Therefore, the intention is to greatly attract public interest by pre-releasing the participants.

It seems like they are aiming for high ratings while simultaneously revealing the process of an idol debuting from Hon…

I also thought it was much better than forcing out a few heavily edited previews.

According to the subsequent explanation, the total evaluation would be out of 110 points.

“…That is, 100 points from the judges for the ‘Individual Capability Mission’ and 10 points converted from the number of recommendations for the ‘Self PR Mission.'”

Furthermore, the PR video would be uploaded to MeTube, but that would only be for promotion and wouldn’t count toward the score.

The score would be calculated based on the number of recommendations uploaded to the official website, and only for one week.

For the first time, I opened my mouth to speak towards the CEO, who had been rambling on.

‘Huh… but this is a bit much.’

No matter how I calculated it, the ‘Pre-Debut Group’ was at an advantage.

The Pre-Debut Group referred to trainees that Hon had deemed highly likely to debut and managed more intensively.

They sometimes even enjoyed benefits such as being pre-revealed as backup dancers for signed artists, which says it all. (This was information I overheard while practicing.)

In other words, they were already more familiar to the public than I was. They even had a small existing fanbase.

Still, since the debut members for this survival show would be largely determined by the CEO’s intention, that part was somewhat reassuring.

Even the Pre-Debut kids would be eliminated if they didn’t impress the CEO.

In fact, I looked at some of the trainees who were recently rumored to be in the Pre-Debut Group, and none of them stood out like Yoon Heejo.

They weren’t pre-scheduled debut members like her.

However, regardless of that, setting such a format for the first mission felt like crossing a line.

I noticed more than one person whose expression had darkened at the CEO’s words. Everyone seemed to be thinking the same thing.

“Now, I’ll introduce the people who will be judging with me on this broadcast. They should all be familiar to you.”

After finishing the explanation of the mission and evaluation method, the CEO then introduced the judges one by one.

They were all famous choreographers, composers, producers… In addition to rap and vocal trainers—people who had flashy careers even by name alone.

Afterward, they briefly asked broadcast-friendly questions to some of the more recognizable trainees…

In any case, the filming with the CEO came to a mundane end.

Once all the explanations were finished, the CEO and his party left the practice room, and a manager I hadn’t seen before stormed in.

“As you all heard from the CEO, our HON is launching a new girl group this time.”

The manager was also nervous in front of the camera, continuously fiddling with the scrap of paper she held.

“Those who counted will know that for an in-house survival show, the number of participants is by no means small. There are 30 of you in total.”

I could almost hear the unspoken message: ‘So be nervous and do well.’

A survival debut show is naturally more disadvantageous to individuals the more participants there are and the fewer members debut.

‘No matter what, I’m the most desperate one here.’

No matter how many participants there were, I was going to debut, so what was the point?

The manager quickly finished various explanations, such as the future filming schedule and precautions.

In summary, she ‘pleaded’ with us to be careful because the venue would be filled with hidden cameras starting next week.

And since there would be no lessons or interim evaluations for this mission, we were told to prepare on our own.

Additionally, there was a mandate that all trainees must move into designated dormitories, which included me.

Just like that, I was suddenly forced to live in a dorm, leaving my perfectly good home.

“And… uh, I think that’s about everything. Does anyone have any questions?”

After a brief Q&A session, the first official filming concluded.

I moderately bowed my waist among the trainees who were politely greeting the manager.

Just as everyone started to disperse to their own duties.

“Now that we’ve received the notice for the first mission, it’s starting to feel real, right?”

Yoon Heejo trailed behind me, who was getting ready to leave.

“Uh… I guess so.”

“What about the dorm? Have you been assigned separately?”

“No, not yet.”

“Oh, I see…”

Oops.

I should be getting close to her, but a dry answer slipped out without thinking.

Yoon Heejo, hearing my cold tone, pursed her lips with an awkward expression, perhaps thinking my words were too cold.

“Um, excuse me…”

I lightly tapped her somewhat dejected shoulder, and Yoon Heejo looked up with a drooping expression.

“……Want to practice together?”

“!”

Yoon Heejo nodded her head quite vigorously.

She must have been skilled enough to debut. Wouldn’t practicing with someone like her be beneficial for me too?

Get close to Yoon Heejo and raise my stats.

It was a suggestion I made to kill two birds with one stone

However, we couldn’t start practicing together immediately.

“We need to get some interview cuts from the trainees, so please wait a moment~!”

The staff blocked the trainees who were packing their bags.

And the first person abruptly notified for the interview was…

“Shall we start with the trainee standing here at the front?”

It was me, who was just about to step outside the door.

“The rest of you, please line up in order~”

My plan to quickly leave with Yoon Heejo was complicated like this.

I was dragged away by the staff with my bag still on my back.

“Dana, good luck!”

Yoon Heejo’s vigorous cheer accompanied me.

The interview that began as soon as I arrived was nothing special.

Since interviews weren’t new to me due to the nature of my former job, it didn’t feel difficult.

Of course, this was my first interview being filmed for a broadcast with my face visible to the public…

But the questions themselves were simpler than expected.

They were mostly about how I joined Hon to become a trainee, my commitment to appear, and what my goals were.

Questions aimed at uplifting Hon’s status and introducing the trainee.

“What is your family structure?”

“……”

This question was somewhat troublesome.

Still, I knew a question like this would come up, even in passing.

“I am an only child. My parents are currently in the US.”

I quickly moved past the family history part, relying on my preliminary research. All the complicated details were omitted.

‘It was worth the effort of memorizing the family registry information yesterday and today, just in case.’

Investigating the text messages with my family was also good preparation.

Among the things I deduced from the texts, there was one detail that bothered me slightly…

It was that this character’s older brother was a criminal who constantly gambled.

Given that he was doing God knows what and couldn’t even be properly identified… it was better to treat him as non-existent than to call him my brother.

That was why I answered that I was an only child.

However, there was an unexpected challenge that was more difficult than the family question I had navigated well.

“What is your MBTI?”

“…Uh.”

It’s here. The trending pseudoscience.

This ‘personality type test’ is a fundamental question that is never missed in any recent entertainment industry interview.

However, I had never cared much for such things, so I had only taken the test once in real life.

Besides, the result always came out differently, and I couldn’t remember it well anyway.

As I hesitated for a brief moment to answer, a new window popped up at the bottom of my vision.

‘This is…’

>What is that?

>I don’t believe in that kind of thing.

It was a choice window out of the blue.

‘I didn’t think it was possible, but the choice window is implemented exactly the same way?’

It was a screen that was too bewildering for me, who had only just barely adapted to the system.

If I didn’t have the 『Mental Resilience』 passive, my dumbfounded face might have been perfectly captured by the camera right now.

And what’s more… These are my only options.

“……”

Even if I tried to say a different answer, only a faint voice came out. None of the words could form a proper answer.

I’m going crazy. Both answers are bad.

It would be better to give the correct information to increase the buzz.

‘Oh lol, we have the same MBTI.’

‘Look at the difference between T and F reactions lolol.’

‘↳Seriously, the contrast is hilariousㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ.’

……Mentions increase through such comments.

This hyper-realistic game was important because it gave ample rewards and penalties based on community reactions.

Thinking, ‘Well, it’s just about a personality type…’ would be a mistake.

The moment the choice window appeared, it signaled the start of this game’s machinations.

I had failed several times spectacularly in my past playthroughs because of such trivial questions.

The cost of choosing the wrong option in this game was incredibly dire.

It was so bad that the butterfly effect could completely ruin a character… I’d say it’s on par with any political simulation game.

Therefore, I had to be cautious with every single choice.

“Trainee Seo Dana-nim?”

“Ah, I…”

Did I stall for too long? I have no choice.

What more can I expect when my stats are so low?

I can’t afford to antagonize the believers of pseudoscience…

>What is that? (Selected!)

“What is that?”

This is the best I can do.

***

Leaving the interview, which I can’t quite remember how I finished, I am now alone in a corner of the practice room.

I was waiting for Yoon Heejo, the one I had agreed to practice with earlier.

“I’m sorry, I’m a bit late…”

“No. You’re not late at all.”

Despite me sitting in a small corner of the practice room, Yoon Heejo found me without difficulty.

She hung her bag and jacket on a chair and hurried over to me.

“Did you wait long?”

“I just got here, and I was practicing beforehand, so it was fine.”

It might seem a bit unfamiliar that I’m using formal speech (존댓말) with her, but the reason was simple.

‘Well, because she was older than me…’

As it turned out, she was one year older than ‘the current me.’ It was a simple mishap that occurred because I mistakenly thought she was the same age since we looked close.

A younger person who’s been using formal speech suddenly switches to informal speech overnight?

If I were her, I would have had more than one question, but she managed to endure it for a long time.

However, she eventually felt the need to speak up and hesitantly opened the conversation.

‘But, you know…’

‘Hm?’

‘Did I do something wrong? I was a little surprised when you suddenly started using informal language… which you never did before.’

…The conversation that started like that ended with my thousands of apologies: ‘I’m sorry, Unnie. I’m a little out of it lately….’

Haa… That was truly harrowing at the time.

Fortunately, the good natured Yoon Heejo managed to smooth things over.

Although she later told me to go back to informal speech or that she liked hearing it, I stuck to the formal speech I was supposed to have been using.

It was clearly her teasing me.

I wish I had acquired ‘that’ earlier so that this kind of incident wouldn’t have happened.

‘Hmm.’

I don’t have the relevant authority yet… but should I try anyway?

Without further ado, I quietly spoke out in my mind toward Yoon Heejo, who was slowly stretching.

‘Opponent Profile.’

>>The relevant passive skill has not yet been acquired….

…Of course.

I tried it just in case, but it seems it won’t pop up without acquiring the 『Opponent Profile Viewing Pass』.

I was about to let go of the lingering thought, but another message popped up consecutively, making me look up again.

>>Due to an unreasonable attempt, 1% of Life Force is deducted….

>>Current Player Life Force: 99%