🔊 TTS Settings
Chapter: 02
Was this what people meant when they said something ended before it even began?
The debut group had only been finalized a week ago, and the company had already gone completely bankrupt.
After seeing the familiar building on the news, Yechan rushed over. It was a place he had been going in and out of like his own home for seven years.
A top-tier idol in Korea, recognized by everyone—
And just an ordinary participant in an audition program.
He had come back boldly, almost like declaring war, but in reality, the gap between Jung Chanyang and Ha Yechan was like heaven and earth.
Using the card key attached to the back of his phone, Yechan entered the house and sat on the narrow bed.
He didn’t know how this was possible, but in this world, Yechan had never become a trainee at Lee Entertainment.
On the desk lay a graduation notice.
It seemed that in this world, Ha Yechan had lived a normal high school life and only later decided to apply for an idol survival program.
Of course, there was no way he had received proper training.
‘But even so… did my stats really drop this much?’
Player — Ha Yechan Lv. 2
- Visual: A
- Singing: A
- Dancing: B
- Rap: F
- Speech: D
- Sparkle: C
- Title: Player Who Finished Reset
- Points: 2
Yechan stared at his hopeless status window, then turned his gaze to the mirror on the wall.
“Ha……”
The most hopeless thing was his visuals.
Objectively, he was still good-looking enough to be called the “visual member” in any group.
But to Yechan, it was ridiculously lacking.
He swore—even in his first life before resets, he had never looked this bad.
‘At 17, youth alone made me shine… but if you go through puberty without any care for three years, do you end up like this? Hard to believe…’
Feeling empty, he tapped on the “Visual” stat. A point usage window appeared.
‘Maybe…?’
He invested the points he got from leveling up into visuals.
<First time using points!>
<Congratulations! You receive a bonus. +1 point added!>
His points increased by one more.
‘Put this into visuals too.’
He looked between the mirror and his slightly changed stats, then shook his head.
Visual: A (3/100)
“…There’s no change at all.”
It seemed you needed to fill all 100 points to move up one rank.
Singing and dancing would come back quickly with practice, but a face ruined by time… what was he supposed to do about that?
Still, he couldn’t live without what he originally had.
‘I need to figure out how to earn points. Is there a quest window?’
Main Quest
— Debut as Rank 1 in Choose My Prince 99
(Remaining time: 99 days)
Sub Quests
— Sing with perfect pitch (0/10)
— Sing with perfect rhythm (0/10)
— Dance with perfect movements (0/10)
<First time opening the quest window!>
<Reward granted! Check your status window!>
…So there was a quest window.
He let out a dry laugh. Better than nothing, but it should’ve told him earlier.
Yechan frowned at the main quest.
‘Win first place with this pathetic civilian body?’
That was easy for it to say.
As he scanned the window, a new message appeared.
<If the main quest fails, the player will be deleted.>
“Fail?”
That one word scratched harshly at his pride.
Yechan laughed.
‘You think I’m that easy?’
Every time he reset, he returned as a beginner trainee.
The first two times were rough, but after that, he always debuted within 9 months.
And not just debuted—
He stayed at the top for years in a battlefield of stars.
And now he was supposed to fail against rookie trainees?
That was ridiculous.
He took a deep breath and decided to think positively.
He had planned to debut through Choose My Prince 99 anyway.
And in Yechan’s dictionary, there was no such thing as second place.
‘This time… I can face him properly.’
There was one person who had always been the hardest obstacle.
Beom Sehyuk.
Even though they had only met a few times across six resets, Yechan remembered him clearly.
The boy who fit the word “idol” better than anyone—
He had always debuted as Rank 1 in every season.
Even when Yechan tried to ruin the show, he still survived like a weed and climbed back up.
A terrifying genius.
‘He was annoying as an enemy… but if he’s mine, nothing is more reliable.’
‘I’ll debut with Beom Sehyuk and take the top.’
Yechan’s eyes sharpened.
Now that he had a direction, all that was left was action.
Since his apartment had poor soundproofing, he needed another place to complete quests.
Remembering a karaoke place he saw earlier, he grabbed his wallet and left.
One Week Later
The first official filming day of Choose My Prince 99 arrived.
As Yechan entered, he saw trainees gathered behind the busy staff.
Many familiar faces caught his eye.
Then—
A hologram window appeared.
<Congratulations on the first filming!>
<Linked Quest unlocked!>
<Failure will result in penalties!>
How could text be this annoying?
Yechan leaned against the wall calmly.
‘Quest.’
Linked Quest
— Memorize all participant names
(Progress: 47/98, Time left: 7 days)
‘You’ve got to be kidding…’
People he didn’t even remember would likely be eliminated early—so why memorize them?
Practicing singing would be more useful.
<Failure will randomly decrease a stat.>
Now he had no choice.
Yechan focused on the set.
The trainees kept arriving, making the place crowded.
“I guess there’s no waiting room?”
“This show must be doomed.”
He glanced at two unfamiliar trainees whispering.
Their badges showed they were from a company that debuted a group six months ago.
‘Didn’t make the debut team, but not good enough for the next one either.’
The program had many problems.
- Overused format
- Cringey concept
- 7-year contract → big agencies avoided it
So most participants were:
- 1/3 independent trainees
- 1/3 former agency trainees
- 1/3 from small companies
It seemed like a weak lineup—
‘But someone like Beom Sehyuk is here.’
In reality, this show had the best talent pool ever.
“Filming will begin!”
Yechan stepped forward.
Half of the show’s success came from talented trainees like Beom Sehyuk.
The other half?
The ruthless production team.
Their editing was brilliant—
But also evil.
They turned trainees into public targets.
Evaluation System
- S Rank → Luxury seat
- A Rank → Soft chair
- B Rank → Hard chair
- C Rank → Plastic chair
- D Rank → Floor
“Which rank do you think you are?”
“B… maybe B?”
“We think A. But since you said B, go sit there.”
Bad choice.
Next trainee:
“S Rank!”
“Overconfident.”
Bad again.
No answer worked.
Low → fake
High → arrogant
Correct → tied to others
A perfect trap.
“Next, Ha Yechan.”
So how do you survive?
Simple.
Be so good that no one can criticize you.
“Nice to meet you.”
Yechan smiled as the music started.
<Choice Appears!>
After the performance, leave a memorable self-evaluation!
- “I’ve sharpened my skills for today. S Rank is mine.”
- “Eh? Of course Yechan is S rank, right? Ppuu—.”
- “S… I want you… you alphabet…”
“…This crazy system again?”
