Save a Failed Idol’s Life

Chapter 182:

What kind of reward is this for such a task?

I scrolled down with a frown and saw a short paragraph that looked like an intro.

[Let’s find out what happened two years ago by completing the quest.]

Two years ago, I was in the middle of filming the My Idol stage. It makes sense to use the replay service to see that time, but…

What do they want me to do for the quest?

[This event includes one achievement mission.]

An achievement mission… It was something like those minor goals I saw on the mission tab.

The difficulty varied wildly depending on the mission, so I had no idea how hard it would be…

But the condition was too tempting to refuse.

[Yes/No]

I took a short breath and pressed the yes button.

In an instant, the surroundings darkened and changed to the familiar black and white background. And at the same time, a terrible nausea came over me.

“Ugh…”

It felt like something was rummaging through my head. My skin was also burning as if exposed to the scorching sun. There was no part of my body that didn’t hurt as if it was on fire.

‘What, what is this… Ugh…’

It was a different kind of pain from when I was thrown into the sea alive, a painful burning sensation that made my body twist involuntarily.

‘Ugh…’

I wanted to scream, but my lips only twitched and no words came out. It was torture. I was thrown into pain without knowing why, and I curled up my body and waited for this horrible agony to end.

‘They didn’t say it would hurt this much, did they…!’

Lately, the system has been tough, but it always cooperated with me in a way that helped me in the end, so I was careless.

From now on, I’ll knock on the stone bridge until it breaks before crossing it. I gritted my teeth and tore at my hair without realizing it, when a strange voice rang out from somewhere.

‘Contestant number 100!’

What… What is number 100 and what is a contestant?

I couldn’t figure out the situation and stayed curled up, when the sharp voice echoed again.

‘Contestant number 100! Are you there?’

What the hell is contestant number 100 that they’re calling so loudly? They’ll lose their voice. As I was having a stupid thought, the pain that enveloped my whole body faded.

‘Excuse me, I think they’re calling number 100.’

Someone poked my side with a thud. It was a small whisper, unlike the voice that shouted contestant number 100, as if they were whispering right next to me.

“Yes?”

I was startled and opened my eyes wide.

“Contestant number 100, if you don’t enter the audition hall right now, you will be disqualified.”

I got up from the chair in a daze and looked around. It was a waiting room full of young boys. The chairs that filled the waiting room were big enough to seat 15 people each, and there were about seven rows.

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They had seated us anywhere without any order, and there were quite a few empty seats.

Except for the empty seats, about 40 boys were staring at me.

What the hell is going on? I stumbled with a confused expression, when the boy next to me, who looked like a high school student, pushed my back.

“Number 100, you’ll be disqualified if you don’t go now, you know? Don’t you have to hurry?”

“Me?”

“Yes.”

The high school student next to me pointed to the number tag on my waist.

[100]

As the boy pointed out, I was number 100, and the other students had numbers ranging from one to two digits.

As I quickly scanned the surroundings, I recognized some faces that I had seen while driving through the early part of the My Idol Stage.

‘Could it be… am I at an audition right now?’

Without any time to hesitate in the unbelievable reality, the person who came out of the audition hall shouted again.

“Number 100 contestant disqualified…”

I don’t know what they want me to do. But I can’t be disqualified here. I raised my hand and ran to where the staff was.

“I’m sorry! Number 100 is here!”

As I entered the audition hall, gasping for breath, I felt the angry judges and the chaotic atmosphere.

“Number 100 contestant, what were you doing that you came in so late?”

The words were polite, but they were full of thorns.

There were four people sitting on the judges’ seat.

In order, they were a female idol in her twenties, a solo male singer in his thirties, a male rapper in his thirties, and a famous female dancer in her thirties.

If Floss had formed and then did this program, it would have been a good situation for Kang Yu-geon or Lee Hwijin to sit in the idol seat.

“Number 100 contestant, are you not going to answer? Do the mentors here look funny to you?”

While I was adapting to what was going on, one of the judges snapped at me with annoyance.

I’m going to be disqualified at this rate. I hurriedly answered.

“No, I was a little nervous and the answer was late. I’m sorry.”

The voice that came out of my throat was familiar but awkward. It felt different from Cheon Ise’s. As I doubted and assured myself that it couldn’t be, another judge said a name that I hadn’t heard for a long time.

“Let’s see… Is your stage name Lim Hyun-seong your real name?”

“Huh?”

“Is the name you wrote as your stage name your real name?”

As I opened my eyes wide at the unexpected call, I heard a tsk, sound from here and there.

Before I answered, I glanced at the mirror across from me and checked my face.

“…”

This is crazy.

The ‘me’ who looked about the same age as the kids who were in the waiting room earlier was standing in front of the judges with a stupid expression.

“Yes, it’s my real name.”

And at that moment, pop, a status window popped up as if it had been waiting.

[>Special Event ‘Your Pick My Idol’]

[You have been selected as the 100th contestant of My Idol Stage. If you complete the mission below, you can return to the original service.]

[>Mission]

[>Experience]

[- Survive the first elimination mission of ‘My Idol Stage’]

‘…’

Wait a minute? I was shocked and wanted to check my stats right away, but I didn’t have time.

“How did you apply for My Idol Stage? You look like you have no motivation at all right now.”

I didn’t participate in this because I wanted to, but because I was thrown into it without any warning. I had a lot of excuses I wanted to make.

But I couldn’t do that. I ignored my churning stomach and answered.

“I applied because I want to be an idol who can touch the fans’ hearts on stage.”

I couldn’t say something honest like ‘revenge’. I had to say something that sounded like a model answer.

I barely managed to smile while answering, but they already hated me so much that they didn’t care.

“Do you think an idol who can touch the fans’ hearts can be late for appointments or schedules, or show a lack of enthusiasm?”

The male rapper in his thirties twisted his face and sneered.

He was obviously picking a fight, but no one stopped him. Of course. I had kept the judges waiting until almost disqualification, and I was still nervous and fidgety in front of them.

‘What do I do now…’

It was a situation where they could tell me to get out and it wouldn’t be strange.

“Well, yeah. I’ll improve my sincerity and show you later. But what do you mean by writing something else as your specialty instead of your singing ability?”

What did I write and submit? I had no idea what he was talking about.

I couldn’t hesitate this time either, so I gave a vague answer.

“It’s because I like it the most… If I have a chance to show you, you won’t be disappointed.”

Then, the idol in his twenties couldn’t hold back his laughter and made a sound like a deflating balloon.

“Oh, I’m sorry. I thought you were going to do a dining show or something. You’re so confident in cooking, well, I hope you have a chance to show it.”

I felt a chill in the atmosphere and realized I was doomed. What should I do? They were all looking at the profiles they had submitted beforehand, but they seemed to hate looking at them.

“Yes, you’re an individual trainee, and you’ve worked hard to come to the audition hall today. I think we can end the mentor interview here.”

And in that gloomy silence, the singer in his thirties started to wrap things up.

I can’t let this happen. I have to do something, anything that can turn the judges’ mood around.

What can I do? I couldn’t suddenly challenge them to a vocal battle.

I had practiced the climax song, and at this time, Climax was… a new singer who had barely released a title song.

If I sang a Climax song, they would ask what that was, and what song that was, and no one would understand.

Then…

I had an idea.

What I learned from watching the early episodes of My Idol Stage was that they had revealed the main song ‘Your Pick My Idol’ to the participants for the first time on this first audition day.

‘Yeah… That’s what I’ll do!’

I raised my hand with a sudden thought.

“Excuse me, but I have another specialty besides cooking. Can I show you this too?”

The participant who had been shrinking and hesitating all this time suddenly showed an aggressive attitude, and it looked like a last-ditch effort.

I heard a snickering sound from the waiting room.

“Okay, fine. Go ahead.”

They looked like they were thinking it would be a waste of time anyway.

I didn’t care if I was embarrassed. I moved to the center of the stage and raised my right arm, taking the starting pose.

Then I recalled the melody I had heard countless times in my head.

‘♩~♪~♬♪-.’

“I’m the star of today who will steal your heart!”

I had no accompaniment, only the lyrics I hummed with my mouth. It was the only thing I could rely on, but my body moved first because it was a choreography I learned by myself without much help from the system.

“Your Pick My Idol~!”

My voice was shaky and my pitch was somewhat unstable because I was performing the rough choreography together.

“A brand new me born from your fingertips~.”

But still, as if I had practiced countless times, the choreography continued without a hitch, and everyone started to get a little flustered.

Of course. How much did I practice this song before I went to pick corn?

“Is that… the one they revealed before the audition started? Did it leak or…”

“I finished the draft last night and brought it. I barely finished it and gave it to the production staff an hour before the start.”

“So you’re saying you copied all that in such a short time?”

While everyone was surprised and discussing, I kept on with the choreography and the song.

“I prepared today for you, Tonight.”

‘It’s really hard to sing live without echo or MR.’

Red lights flashed in my head, but I had no choice but to go on until the end.

“I’m shining with you right now, Boom Boom.”

They all gave me such passionate looks. Of course, it wasn’t only for positive reasons, but every time I turned, the back of my head stung.

“Too shine, born from your fingertips. Today’s me~.”

It was almost the end of the first verse. I was relieved that my breathing wasn’t disturbed enough to interfere with the song, and I entered the chorus and the point choreography.

“Your Pick My Idol~! Your Pick My Idol~! Your Pick My Idol~!”

I crossed my hands like taking a picture, then tapped my chest twice and pushed them forward, rolling my feet for the point choreography.

I finished the whole amount of the first verse and chorus, and then I took a breath and bowed my head to finish.

“That’s all I’ll do. Thank you.”

Now, let’s see how you evaluate me.

I stood confidently in front of the judges, with a completely different attitude from before I started.