Chapter 2

2 a.m.

Right now, I am sitting at my desk rereading the same novel over and over again.

Like I was studying for an exam, I organized important details into notes and carefully checked everything.

Honestly, it still did not feel real.

Just a few days ago, I had been solving college entrance exam workbooks, and now I was studying the setting and story of a novel.

I had read it so many times that I could practically recite every character’s lines from memory.

‘I can change it.’

No, I had to change it.

At the very least, if I wanted to survive.

* * *

The world inside a novel is a place where good, evil, and fate are decided by the author.

That was why Do Wonwoo never had a future where he could truly succeed from the start.

No matter how desperately he worked, it was only there to justify why he eventually became a villain.

But I had no intention of quietly being used as a tool and then discarded.

[The novel’s freedom level has increased.]

From now on, everything depended on me.

“So depending on the choices I make, things can change. Even the story and ending of the novel can be rewritten.’

I still did not fully understand why I had to become an idol, but since I had become Do Wonwoo, I had no choice except to accept it.

‘I already passed the document screening, and the rank evaluation is starting soon….’

I reread the rank evaluation episode from the novel.

At this point in the story, public opinion about Do Wonwoo was not that bad yet.

There was even a joke that looks were everything for idols, which showed how important appearance was in the idol industry.

‘So the song Do Wonwoo performs for the first rank evaluation is Zet One’s “No Signal.'”

Since it was a fictional song created by the author, I had never heard it before, but it was obvious that the song did not suit Do Wonwoo.

After the evaluation, there was a scene where the judges harshly criticized him.

Then the protagonist performed a song that perfectly matched him, creating a strong contrast.

“Wow, trainee Lee Haewon, how did you pick a song that suits you so perfectly?”

“You chose your song really well. It highlights your strengths beautifully. That was a very smart choice.”

“He understands his own charm and has an objective understanding of his skills, so I think he has a lot of potential to grow.”

In that scene, the novel briefly described Do Wonwoo’s expression twisting.

The author probably intended to show a villain consumed by inferiority.

‘But honestly, isn’t that normal?’

If your own performance was criticized badly and the trainee right after you got showered with praise, it would be impossible not to react.

Though if it were me, I would have hidden it somehow.

‘Anyway, I definitely need to change the song for the evaluation. I need something that brings out Do Wonwoo’s strengths.’

I opened a streaming app, and the songs from my original world were still there.

Maybe because the worlds had synchronized, not much had changed.

The only difference was that idols from the novel ranked high on the charts, and survival programs from the story were popular in reality too.

‘Let’s listen to some songs first.’

I randomly started playing songs to find something suitable for the audition.

An unfamiliar intro played.

No matter what it was, it was clearly not the type of music I usually listened to.

The next song was the same.

‘I seriously know nothing.’

At the moment, I barely knew any idol songs.

I had spent my school years doing nothing except studying, so I knew absolutely nothing about idols.

It was not that I could not watch them if I wanted to.

I simply never cared enough to.

‘Fine. If I don’t know, then I’ll learn.’

With the mindset of studying, I started watching performances by famous idols.

It had been a long time since I watched an idol stage, and honestly, it shocked me quite a bit.

They rolled across the floor, jumped around, swept the stage, and practically ran from one end to the other.

If I had to do that, I would probably look like an octopus flailing around.

“Is this even possible with my abilities?”

That was when it happened.

[Would you like to check Do Wonwoo’s stats?]
[Yes / No]

Stats?

‘I could see something like that?’

Come to think of it, I had only read descriptions saying his abilities were terrible.

I had never actually seen his exact stats.

“Show me.”

[Displaying Do Wonwoo’s stats.]

[Stats]
Vocal: F
Dance: C-
Variety: F
Acting: D+
Charm: B+

I stared blankly at the stats window.

Just like in the original story, every single one of Do Wonwoo’s abilities was unbelievably terrible.

‘I didn’t even know grades like this existed.’

Seeing an F for the first time in my life made my head spin.

In my old life, getting an F on a report card would have been completely unacceptable.

This was a whole new kind of shock.

“I guess his dance is C because he at least has trainee experience. Wait… even with a face this handsome, his charm is only B+? There were comments saying his lack of skill ruined the impact of his visuals….’

I had a lot to think about.

When people criticized him by asking how someone this untalented could even dream of becoming an idol, I used to think they were being too harsh.

But now that I was in this situation myself, even I wanted to curse.

“Hoo…”

‘Still, let’s think positively for now. At least his charm stat is high, and his dancing isn’t at the absolute worst level….’

The real problem was singing.

Even in the original story, people said his dancing was tolerable, but his vocals were painfully terrible.

The author described Do Wonwoo’s awful singing ability like this:

Even without talent, dance could improve through effort to a certain extent.

But singing was an area where the limits of talent were brutally obvious.

And among untalented people, Do Wonwoo was considered especially severe.

No matter how many years he practiced, he never improved.

“Can I really do this? If these settings stay the same, then there’s no hope.’

That was when—

Ding!

[Do Wonwoo’s “Stat Lock” setting has been removed. It is now possible for stats to rise to higher ranks.

The moment I saw the system message, all the tension left my body.

‘Whew.’

Thank goodness.

I was worried that the cursed setting where no amount of effort could improve his abilities would continue forever.

Thinking about it now, since someone else had possessed Do Wonwoo’s body, that setting had become unnecessary.

‘If the novel’s freedom level increases, then I no longer need to stay a villain.’

The author needed a villain who would feel inferior to the protagonist, so he gave Do Wonwoo those settings.

His skills were cursed to never improve no matter how hard he worked.

Even now, it sounds absurd.

No matter how untalented someone was, if they worked as hard as Do Wonwoo, they should improve at least a little.

The novel never described his efforts in detail, but one passing sentence said that he stayed in the practice room longer than Lee Haewon.

That alone told me enough.

‘Do Wonwoo really work hard. His skills only stayed stagnant because he had to remain the villain who made the protagonist shine.’

Thinking about how his life had been ruined because of the author’s stat-lock setting made me feel a little sorry for him.

Characters who were not the protagonist could never change their own fate no matter what they did.

And characters set up as villains like Do Wonwoo were destined to fall from the very beginning.

‘The world inside this novel is cruel.’

Still, no matter what the original story was, all I had to do was change it.

First of all, if I wanted Do Wonwoo to debut successfully, I had to start things correctly from the beginning.

Right now, his stats were horrifying for someone who had trained for three years.

But since the ridiculous restrictions were gone now, I should at least be able to improve his skills before the audition.

He was destined to pass eventually anyway.

But right now, the most important thing was avoiding the image of being tone-deaf.

“There’s still plenty of time before the audition. I have enough time to practice.’

Who could have imagined this?

A guy who used to spend his days studying for the college entrance exam was now preparing for an idol audition.

* * *

“How are you so good at studying?”

It was the question my classmates always asked whenever I got high scores.

They wondered how I could achieve such grades without going to academies or hiring tutors.

My answer was always the same.

“If you just keep replaying online lectures and sit at your desk for a long time, your grades naturally improve. Can’t you guys do that?”

Honestly, the people asking the question seemed strange to me.

All you had to do was work hard.

Why couldn’t they do what I did?

But now that my situation had changed, I understood them better than anyone.

‘How do people sing like that?’

In the video, the vocal trainer effortlessly hit high notes while jokingly saying, “You can do it too!”

‘No, seriously, how?’

Singing was completely different from studying.

Back then, simply listening to online lectures repeatedly would improve my grades.

But no matter how hard I listened to vocal lessons, my singing skills did not improve easily.

Well, obviously.

Knowing theory and actually singing were two different things.

‘Still, I’m not giving up.’

Some people might say the intelligence I had in my previous life was useless in this situation.

I thought that was half true and half false.

Because at the very least, I still had one thing.

The persistence and determination to keep going until I succeeded.

That was something only people who had achieved something through effort could possess.

‘Sleeping only four hours and studying through the night used to be normal for me.’

Just like studying, I simply needed to pour that same level of effort into singing.

A vocal academy?

Of course it would help, but my situation did not allow it.

Still, that was fine.

In my previous life, I achieved high scores entirely through self-study.

‘There’s about one month left until the audition, so for now I’ll focus entirely on raising my vocal stat.’

My strategy was simple.

Among vocal skills, I would focus solely on vocalization.

If my vocal foundation improved, people would at least think I knew how to produce sound properly.

* * *

After that, I locked myself in the room and practiced vocalization endlessly.

I practiced so much that eventually I could taste blood in my throat.

‘Am I actually improving doing this?’

It felt hopeless, but I had no choice except to keep trying.

Right now, effort was the only thing I had.

And as time passed, the results of that effort finally began to appear.

[Congratulations! Do Wonwoo’s vocal stat has increased.]

I let out a short breath.

‘From F to about D-?’

It was not a dramatic improvement, but it was meaningful because things were already changing from the original story.

Ding!

Just as I relaxed, the system notifications suddenly started ringing nonstop.

Ding! Ding! Ding!

[Title System Unlocked]
[Title Acquired: “Vocal Beginner”]