The Goal is the Ending Fairy - Chapter 6
Chapter 6
Translator: Iris
Proofreader: Floor
Wasn’t it bad enough that what I couldn’t do also led to life force deduction?
“……”
But I had to put the message window that just messed with me aside, and be mindful of my surroundings.
‘I screwed up. I showed too much.’
That small hope that she hadn’t heard was immediately crushed.
Of course, she heard it, that shocked rabbit-eye expression isn’t just for show.
“What’s wrong? Is something the matter…?”
The problem is that nothing is.
This damn system… Thanks to it, I’m going to be misunderstood for no reason.
‘Fucking hell, thanks a lot.’
“Oh, oh, something I forgot suddenly came to mind…”
When I waved my hand at Yoon Heejo, who was approaching me, she stopped.
She tilted her head, not knowing I was sweating bullets internally.
“Oh… really? Is something bothering you?”
“N-no. It’s not that.”
Yoon Heejo raised an eyebrow at my drawn-out, head-shaking reply.
“Hmm… okay.”
She concentrated on her own work again, adding that I should feel free to talk to her if anything was wrong.
Only when I saw her round back could I finally relax.
Anyway…
‘How do I even get the 『Opponent Profile Viewing Pass』?’
I fixed my gaze back on the screen window, which Yoon Heejo couldn’t see.
>>The relevant passive skill has not yet been acquired….
The screen still only showed the message that the relevant skill was missing.
If I had this, it would at least make dealing with key figures easier. Thus, I felt a significant need for it.
Why would an idol game need to know the opponent’s information when I should just focus on raising my stats?
—If you ask that, it’s best to quickly dismiss that thought. At least for this game.
The idol-raising simulation <Happy Idol! Nurtured By My Own Hands!>. The premise is, after all, a ‘simulation.’
Therefore, even when I played it in reality, conversations with key figures frequently appeared. And they included a staggering number of choice windows.
How much a character and their situation changed just by my one choice… only those who have played this game would know.
The 『Opponent Profile Viewing Pass』 was a passive that helped players tormented by such gameplay.
Because it allowed them to make better choices based on the opponent’s information.
Now that I think about it, the memories of struggling with the choice windows are coming back to me…
“Da-na.”
Just as I was realizing the absence of the passive alone.
Following the sound, I looked up, and Yoon Heejo was looking down at me.
“-!”
The problem was that she was bending over right above me, so her face was covered in shadow.
“Ah, sorry…! Did I scare you?”
Uh… my heart just dropped…
“W-why?”
As I was still stroking my wildly beating chest, Yoon Heejo scratched her cheek with her index finger.
“Oh, it’s nothing, but…”
Darn it.
Since I had shown so many strange symptoms in front of her, it looked like it wouldn’t be easy to avoid suspicion.
…However, contrary to that prediction, what I saw was not a face full of questions.
It was a cheerful smile.
“If you were practicing a dance, can I join you?”
“…The one I was doing?”
Seeing that kind expression, she clearly wasn’t preoccupied with what just happened.
‘Then it’s fine.’
More importantly, it’s nice to see her smiling so often… wait, no.
“…Yes, that sounds good.”
Hearing my agreement, Yoon Heejo’s expression brightened up like a flower.
“What were you practicing?”
I showed the video I had been practicing to her, who flopped down next to me.
“I was doing this.”
“Ah…! This is the choreography set to the pop song <Go Away>. I sang this song for the last monthly evaluation. And the dance, too.”
“Hmm, that’s right. I guess you did.”
‘Guess you did,’ my foot.
Since it was before I transmigrated, I had no way of knowing, but I naturally nodded my head.
“It looks like you really like this singer, Unnie?”
“Yeah, completely! I’ve been a long-time fan… I even went a few times when they held a concert here.”
Yoon Heejo’s eyes visibly shone at my casual question.
“Ah ha… I see.”
How should I put it? It was the kind of look that only appears when talking about a favorite topic.
“That singer’s music suits you well, Unnie.”
“Really?!”
“Yes.”
I smiled on the outside, but complex feelings filled me on the inside.
‘What a surprise. She could make that kind of expression?’
The brilliant enthusiasm that rose in her eyes.
That momentary look contained the ‘dream’ she clearly wanted to achieve.
Right, this was it.
This kind of burning passion from young kids. This was why I fell deep into the idol game.
I, too, used to have eyes like that. Even if it was brief…
‘……’
Enough. Stop it.
I quickly erased the unnecessary thoughts and opened my mouth toward Yoon Heejo again.
“Then, shall we start practicing with this?”
“Let’s go!”
Yoon Heejo replied energetically and clenched her two fists.
I followed her, standing up from my seat.
“So… since you were practicing first, could you help me pick up the choreography?”
Pause
As soon as I heard those words, I froze.
‘Emergency.’
I was already overwhelmed just trying to follow the choreography. In terms of the mini-game, I’d often fail to clear the ‘Perfect’ ratio of 80.
So, I hadn’t raised much experience, and now I have to teach someone?
It was a request absolutely beyond my current stats.
“But as you know, I’m not that good either. W-would that be okay?”
“Yes!”
No, it’s not okay to be that cheerful…
Just when I was hoping she’d say she’d learn the choreography alone, Yoon Heejo enthusiastically added
“If you just show me the overall picture, I’ll pick up the details myself and help you.”
Oh.
This is so reassuring. That changes things.
Fortunately, the person in front of me seemed to have been a trainee for a while.
Perhaps that’s why she didn’t seem to have high expectations for my dancing skills.
Good, that’s a very correct judgment.
Moreover, Yoon Heejo looked confident in her dancing, so couldn’t I rely on her help as well?
It was a good outcome all around.
“Understood. But for parts I’m not familiar with…”
“Yes, I’ll help. Don’t worry too much.”
Next to the vigorously nodding Yoon Heejo, I turned my body towards the mirror.
……
How much time had passed since we started practicing together? No, since I had been grinding my body alone?
Through this opportunity, I could confirm one thing.
“Let’s start slowly with the steps here.”
Yoon Heejo. Her dancing skills were truly remarkable.
Before I knew it, she was the one teaching me again.
“And here, your upper body goes like this…”
“…Like this?”
“Yes, yes. That’s it.”
From my fleeting memories, I think Yoon Heejo was the main dancer of her group.
And thanks to her help… I was seeing great results.
>>You are persistently attempting to practice!
>>Flash Passive!: 『Trainee’s Passion』 is activated for a certain period!
[]
>>Concentration Up! Your understanding of choreography has greatly increased!
>>Additional Passive Activated!:『‘Miss’ Indication Deleted for One Hour』
Following this, various other passive skills also began to activate. It seemed that grinding away in the practice room for over half a day was finally worth it.
One skill particularly stood out.
‘Miss Indication Deleted for a while.’
I secretly cheered for the surprisingly generous passive.
The appearance of the passive window, which I often saw in my previous playthrough, was quite important. Especially the latter passive that popped up additionally.
That was an overpowered passive where even if I haphazardly pressed the arrows, it wouldn’t count as a Miss.
In other words, it meant that for at least an hour, I wouldn’t forget or mess up the choreography.
Moreover, if this appeared on stage, I could at least avoid being a dance hole…
It was a total harvest just by its very existence.
>>Achieved bonus EXP 4.5/5.0 → 5.0/5.0
>>Dance Stat Grows by One Level!
> Dance: 10/100 → 15/100
I felt a little relieved by the consecutive positive messages popping up.
‘I’m actually raising my stats before the first mission…’
At this rate, I could match my Dance EXP with my Vocal stat.
There are only about 7 days left until the start of the official first mission.
I need to raise my stats as much as possible in these remaining few days. That way, preparing for the stages later will be easier.
But since I can’t gain much by myself, having Yoon Heejo here is the optimal environment for raising my stats.
So, let’s raise them as much as possible while they’re going up well.
“Da-na, you…”
I turned my gaze, and I saw Yoon Heejo staring intently at me.
“Your dancing has improved so much!”
“Uh… really?”
“Yes, yes!”
She looked delighted and showed a slightly amazed nuance.
For me, it was only natural.
When Yoon Heejo first knew me, my Dance stat was only 5 EXP.
But now it’s different. I’ve raised it to at least 10 EXP or more, and the difference was bound to show.
“But I still have a lot of parts that are lacking.”
“Regardless of that, your choreography learning speed is seriously fast now. You’re not missing any parts either…!”
Yoon Heejo gave me a thumbs-up as if she was genuinely proud.
“Then, let’s try it at 0.5 and 0.75 speed, and then dance it at the original tempo.”
“……”
The next words were too much, though.
‘Doesn’t she ever get tired?’
It had been quite some time since we started practicing together, but she hadn’t lost concentration even once. Not a single time.
Even when she was learning from me, who had lower dancing skills than her, it was the same. Or perhaps, that made her follow the movements with more focused eyes.
And then, she even had the kindness to summarise the final details and teach them back to me.
Indeed, she was worthy of being a trainee from the agency that was once my rival.
Anyway, I was happy about it. Debuting with someone like her would keep my life from being ruined.
‘I want to hurry up, get the ending, and go back to my original world.’
In that sense, I should also put some effort into practicing…
“…Da-na, do you want some water?”
“……Thank you.”
But my stamina failed me before I could even make an effort, so what can I do?
In the end, I was the only one whose breath was completely ragged, forcing us to take a break.
Compared to me, Yoon Heejo just wiped the sweat off her face without showing any signs of fatigue.
It seemed like she could have gone on for much longer, but she appeared to be considerate of me, who was struggling.
The 『Iron Stamina』 passive is even more urgent than the 『Opponent Profile Viewing Pass』.
I sat on the practice room floor as if I was collapsing and fixed my messy hair back into a ponytail.
Yoon Heejo, who brought the water, also sat down next to me, cross-legged.
The stray hairs sticking out all over our heads proved how hard we had been practicing.
However, despite putting in so much passion, I didn’t feel any pride or sense of achievement.
First of all, my whole body was aching, and I felt terrible.
If this was with ‘my real body,’ I might not mind, but this is the character’s trainee body, and I’m still like this.
I don’t know if my stamina is following my original body or if this character’s original stamina is just this terrible.
Moreover, I wasn’t even doing this because I wanted to.
Therefore, I didn’t feel any joy from dancing so hard; it only felt like I was doing obligatory homework.
“I hope I can debut with you, Da-na.”
Yoon Heejo’s murmur broke my weary contemplation.
I took a moment to catch my breath at her words, then leaned back on my hands, touching the floor. As I tilted my head back, the white light bulb on the ceiling greeted my eyes.
The light it emitted was stinging, so I quickly turned my head away.
“……Me too.”
My returned gaze was fixed on Yoon Heejo, who was drinking water.
Her goal stemmed from a genuine desire to achieve something, unlike my goal of survival. Her sincerity and desperation were different from mine.
Even though she was just a game character, the difference between us made my heart uneasy. A subtly strange feeling.
It felt as if there was an invisible boundary between Yoon Heejo and me.
YOU MAY ALSO LIKE
