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Chapter 5
It wasn’t a misunderstanding.
The thing waving seven legs around on the stage was, in fact, a squid.
Lezef Krakenus
Contestant No.: B-07
Planet: Aegir
Traits: Ink, Seven Legs
Age: 139
Height/Weight: 374 cm / 325 kg
Preferred Position: Vocalist
Special Skills: Hiding with camouflage, bare-handed rock climbing, skincare
His pointed head rose into a triangular shape, almost like he was wearing a crown, and beneath his flexible, constantly moving legs were rows of suckers.
He looked twice as tall as an average adult male Earthling. Every time he moved, his moisture-filled, aurora-colored skin shimmered beautifully, making him seem mysterious, but still…
‘He’s just a squid, though?! Isn’t calling him handsome going a little too far…? Is there something wrong with my eyes?’
The countdown began.
The giant squid, no, Lezef, had been looking down with his eyes lowered, but he suddenly stared straight into the camera and began moving his body.
It was a kind of movement I had never seen before.
His smooth legs moved dynamically to the rhythm, and as he flowed into wave after wave, his legs seemed to number in the dozens. When Lezef spun rapidly in place, his legs fluttered around him like the hem of a dress.
Just as I was completely mesmerized by his dazzling movements, Lezef leaped high into the air and spread all seven of his legs wide like a starfish.
‘That is…! The Idol League symbol…!?
Because of the purple suckers growing along the insides of his legs, their shape and color looked just like the seven-pointed star that represented the Space Idol League.
It was a clever performance that perfectly understood what the program wanted.
The mechanic cameras moved busily around him, capturing Lezef’s performance from various angles.
*’Wow… He has seven legs, and he can control them that delicately…?’
He had complete control over all seven of his legs. Even though one fast choreography followed another, every single movement was clean and elegant, without any unnecessary motion.
The beautiful choreography, created by delicately controlling the speed and strength of his movements all the way to the very tips of his legs, was almost breathtaking.
Two seconds, one second…
Just before the countdown ended, Lezef shot a sparkling purple liquid into the sky, glittering like the Milky Way.
‘Ink…?!’
The enchanting ink flowed down over Lezef’s smooth skin. His wet, glistening eyes looked deep and alluring.
“Lezef of Aegir… It is a pleasure to meet you all.”
His deep, low voice instantly made the place feel like a cave.
His gaze was slightly lowered shyly.
“He’s… handsome…!”
Suddenly, my vision seemed to become crystal clear.
Lezef’s breathtaking gaze and graceful posture, along with his seven elegantly swaying legs, looked so superior and dignified that they couldn’t even be compared to those creatures that walked on two legs.
-If you do this, Lord Lezef, you’ll have no choice but to marry me…
-The fact that he did everything he needed to do and then got shy is the best partㅠㅠㅠ The Crown Prince must be embarrassed.
-The Crown Prince’s face is literally glowing…
-How is even his voice so handsome? I’m becoming a fan starting today. Yep, yep!
Apparently, I wasn’t the only one who felt that way, because the comment section was going crazy too.
On the screen, stars poured down like a waterfall.
‘Compared to Lezef, I’m the squid here… No, am I even worse than a squid?!’
The realization that there were still more than seventy contestants like these monsters left filled me with a deep sense of helplessness.
If I was going to lose to them in both dancing and looks, then what on earth was I supposed to do?
“The mecca of robot technology! Titan Zeke from the dwarf planet Urbos! As a former cheerleading captain, he’s full of fighting spirit!”
Titan was a dwarf who looked about as tall as my knee.
Despite his small body, he had a sturdy build. True to his background as a cheerleading captain, he performed sharp, refreshing, powerful choreography with every movement precise to the degree. Then he spread his mechanical wings wide and shot up into the sky.
“Next is Yuse from Harpyia, the kingdom of the bird beastmen!”
It was the turn of a beautiful young man with sparkling feathers growing from his ears in the shape of wings and pale blue skin.
He had outstanding looks, but compared to the contestants before him, he seemed fairly ordinary.
‘Oh…! That person doesn’t seem all that different from me!’
His body type was similar to mine, and he didn’t seem to have any particularly eye-catching trait either, so I felt a sense of kinship with him.
“His tail, brighter than any jewel, is capturing everyone’s attention!”
At that moment, something moved behind Yuse.
A tail covered densely with sparkling crystals suddenly spread wide like a fan.
As the light reflected off the crystals scattered in every direction, the tail seemed to glow, and fragments of light beautifully illuminated Yuse’s innocent face.
His already beautiful features seemed to shoot straight up into the realm of the heavens.
“Hahaha. This is insane…”
As I watched the contestants continue one after another, my confidence had dried up and withered away. Eventually, all that remained was a hollow, bitter smile.
Standing before aliens with transcendent traits, whatever talent I possessed looked utterly insignificant.
‘No, in the first place, do I even have anything that could be called talent?’
I had worked tirelessly for the past ten years because I wanted to become an idol, but I felt like I had absolutely nothing I could proudly put forward.
My heart wavered uneasily, like someone who had stepped onto a stage without preparing at all.
No matter how well I could sing or how well I could dance, could I even reach the toes of those monstrous aliens?
Maybe giving up and going home right now would be the wisest way to avoid humiliating myself.
My heart felt heavy, as if I were carrying Earth itself on my back.
By now, everyone must be watching only me.
Dad must be watching the live broadcast too, waiting for me to appear.
I thought about the hopes of all the Earthlings watching the broadcast, waiting for even a glimpse of me on camera.
Maybe at this very moment, I was their dream itself.
A dream launched from the small, remote planet called Earth.
Hope that even an ordinary human could accomplish something.
‘That’s right. I can’t give up without even trying!’
If I had one talent, it was my stubbornness to never give up until the very end.
So think.
Calm down and think this through.
There must be some way for me to achieve something of my own, even in this disadvantageous situation.
“We’re down to only two contestants left in the boy group!”
What!?
I raised my head, and before I knew it, the mechanic camera had moved in front of the contestant right beside me.
I really was running out of time.
“Introducing him! Acan Argo of Moonscania, the planet of the strongest warriors in the universe!”
It was the guy who had looked down on me.
So he’s from a warrior planet.
No wonder he had such an incredible presence even when he was just standing still.
With looks and a physique like that, he’d probably get Stars pouring in just by swinging a sword a few times.
With a mixture of slight envy and anticipation, I waited for the performance of this guy named Acan.
“As the commander of Moonscania and a descendant of the Great Chieftain, he is about to show us overwhelming charisma!”
A large number, 5, appeared on the screen, and the countdown began.
But Acan on the screen didn’t move an inch.
What?
Thinking the screen had frozen because of some technical problem, I turned to look beside me.
But he really was just standing there with his arms crossed.
The mechanic camera also seemed puzzled. It made a mechanical sound and zoomed in, but all that appeared larger on the giant screen was Acan’s expressionless face.
What kind of attention-seeking stunt is this?
Surely he would suddenly change and show some insane performance at the last moment, right?
“Now, show us your charisma!”
But something was strange.
Even as half the countdown passed and precious time slipped away, Acan showed no sign of moving.
Even when Fury, sensing that something was wrong, urged him on, the guy stubbornly remained exactly the same.
“P-Please, show us!”
“……”
“You’re supposed to… show us…”
The countdown ended so pointlessly that it looked like a broadcasting accident.
A few stars weakly rose beside his face on the holographic screen before stopping.
*’Is he crazy…?’
Or was he so confident that he didn’t need to do anything at all?
I wondered if it might be some kind of sophisticated strategy I couldn’t predict, but if that were the case, his number of Stars hadn’t increased very much, and the atmosphere at the venue was completely dead.
As for Acan himself, he didn’t seem disappointed at all. He still had the same blunt expression as he casually blew air from his mouth, pushing away his bothersome bangs.
Watching him from the side, I was the only one getting increasingly anxious and breaking into a cold sweat.
Then my turn came.
“Next is the final contestant in the boy group! Tamina from Earth!”
The spotlight shone down from directly above my head.
“She has spent ten years as an idol trainee, dreaming only of the day she would debut! Aren’t you curious to see just how good her skills are?”
I was so nervous that Fury’s introduction sounded distant and hazy to me.
Bzzzt.
A red light came on in the mechanic camera in front of me, and it pointed directly at my face.
Tamina
Contestant No.: B-76
Planet: Earth
Trait: None
Age: 19
Height/Weight: 174 cm / 57 kg
Preferred Position: Main Dancer
Special Skills: Taekwondo, basketball
I can do this.
I have to do it!
You’re Earth’s representative, the face of eight billion Earthlings!
“Then, Ina, Show Me Your Charm~!”
As expected, the countdown began.
Beyond the camera lens, the entire universe was watching me.
