Chapter 10

The time Lee Haewon and I finally left the practice room after turning off the lights was around 2 a.m.

“…It’s already this late?”

I had prepared myself to stay up all night, but honestly, I did not realize so much time had passed already.

We left the main building and walked using only the streetlights to guide us when Lee Haewon, walking beside me, suddenly stopped.

“What’s wrong?”

When I turned around, I saw him staring up at the night sky.

“There are so many stars out tonight.”

Just like he said, countless stars were shining overhead.

For reference, in the place where I used to live, you could barely see stars. Partly because I was always too busy to even look up at the sky.

‘I feel like I’m experiencing a lot of things here that I never did before.’

I was about to start walking again when Lee Haewon suddenly spoke beside me.

“Wonwoo, we really worked hard today. Let’s do our best again tomorrow too.”

Even though he looked exhausted, his voice sounded much brighter than before.

‘Looks like he recovered a little.’

Maybe the words I told him earlier in the practice room had helped at least somewhat.

When we finally returned to the dorm, Kwon Hakjin and Na Jaehyun were already asleep.

Careful not to wake them, I quietly climbed into bed.

The familiar ceiling came into view.

‘I somehow survived another day.’

Listening to the sound of insects chirping outside the window, I closed my eyes.

I must have been more tired than I realized because I fell asleep almost the moment my head touched the pillow.

* * *

Morning started with me stuffing dry bread and cereal into my mouth.

The cafeteria was full of trainees eating with similarly exhausted expressions.

‘Still, I’m holding up okay for now.’

I was tired, but I still felt like I could manage.

Just like the original story said, Do Wonwoo really was the hardworking type. Even under this brutal training schedule, his body was somehow enduring it.

‘I used to stay up all night studying anyway, so this level is nothing….’

While eating, I heard giggling nearby.

‘What now?’

I looked up and saw Na Jaehyun walking toward us from across the room.

He was wearing a T-shirt with the words

“Let’s live lazily.”

‘Don’t come over here.’

My body instinctively rejected it.

“…Please don’t come here.”

Maybe because of the ridiculous shirt, trainees kept glancing at him and laughing as he walked by.

Think.

Despite my desperate prayers, Na Jaehyun placed his tray directly in front of me.

“Let’s eat together, Wonwoo hyung.”

Honestly, was it really appropriate to wear a “Let’s live lazily” shirt in front of someone who had stayed up all night practicing?

That thought crossed my mind, but I reluctantly nodded and continued eating.

“What time did you guys come back last night?”

“Around 2 a.m.”

“Wow, you practiced for a really long time. We tried waiting up for you guys, but you took too long, so we just slept first.”

I already knew that.

When we arrived last night, both of them were sleeping like the dead.

“Oh, it’s Haewon, hyung.”

At that moment, Na Jaehyun waved excitedly toward Lee Haewon approaching from the opposite side.

“Hyung! Over here!”

Lee Haewon walked toward us half-asleep with unfocused eyes.

“Are you tired?”

“Yeeaah….”

Sitting beside me, Lee Haewon ate cereal while looking so dazed that I could not tell if he was eating with his mouth or nose.

For someone like him, who had spent his peaceful countryside life casually playing guitar, this kind of intense effort was probably completely new.

Meanwhile, Na Jaehyun stared at the two of us with fascination.

“How do you guys even practice like that?”

“We just repeat things endlessly.”

“Wow, I seriously respect you both.”

Honestly, hearing that from someone wearing a “Let’s live lazily” shirt felt strange.

Still, talking with Na Jaehyun made me curious about something.

Since Lee Haewon and I were independent trainees, all we could really do was repeat choreography over and over.

But maybe trainees from agencies had different training methods?

“How do you practice?”

At my question, Na Jaehyun shrugged.

“We basically do the same thing.”

So there really was no special shortcut.

In the end, the answer was still just working yourself to death.

“Oh, but there is one thing.”

“What?”

“When we trained at our company, we had to sing while running on treadmills.”

“Treadmills?”

“We had to dance and sing at the same time, so if your breathing wasn’t stable, the performance quality dropped hard. Our trainer made us sing while running on treadmills. Honestly, after doing it a few times, it really felt like my breathing capacity improved.”

I see.

That actually sounded like useful advice.

“Thanks.”

“Ah, it’s nothing.”

I made a mental note about singing while running on treadmills and continued eating.

* * *

Then the hellish training began again.

“You missed all the details there.”

“Do you realize you’re the only one rushing the beat?”

“Can you please do it properly?”

“Haa….”

Today too, dance training ended with me getting endlessly criticized by Raise.

At this point, the other trainees had started looking at me with pity.

Their expressions practically asked:

What did you even do to get targeted this badly?

‘Honestly, I’d like to know too.’

Race kept repeating the same thing.

That my rank was too high compared to my actual skill level.

It looked like he fully intended to drag me down to D or even F during the final evaluation if I failed to improve.

Of course, I could not say he was completely wrong.

I was lacking.

‘Still… There’s no way I can catch up to trainees who’ve practiced for years in such a short time. Honestly, I’m not even expecting to catch up. I just hope I can improve at least a little….’

That was when it happened.

Ding!

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

I immediately opened the status window to check the change.

‘From C- to around C+?’

It was not a dramatic jump, but it still felt rewarding after practicing myself to death.

[Title Acquired: “Dance Beginner”]

‘Finally.’

I already had the Vocal Beginner title, so I had been wondering when the dance version would appear.

Just as I was about to check the title details—

Ding! Ding! Ding!

Several system notifications rang out in a row.

[Collected 5 Titles]
[Quest System Unlocked]
[Inventory System Unlocked]

It looked like unlocking enough titles had activated new systems.

‘So now I have quests and an inventory too?’

When I opened the system window, I saw brand-new tabs for quests and inventory.

A red notification mark blinked beside the paper airplane icon, meaning a quest had arrived.

[Quest]

• Help a trainee (0/1)
• Reward: 1 Draw Ticket

The first quest was unexpectedly simple.

‘Help a trainee?’

I read through the quest details.

Since it did not specify who or how, it probably meant I just had to help any trainee who seemed to need it.

“…But I’m hardly in a position to help anyone.”

I looked down at the demotion candidate badge attached to my chest.

I was the worst trainee here. How was I supposed to help someone else?

If I offered help, it would basically look like a 50-point student trying to teach a 70-point student.

‘No, help doesn’t always have to mean skill-related help. Maybe emotional support counts too.’

But if someone asked whether I was good at comforting people…

Absolutely not.

‘Maybe bringing someone water counts as helping?’

I had no idea, but the only option was to try.

‘Someone who looks like they need help….’

While looking around, I noticed Kang Inhyuk dancing in front of the mirror drenched in sweat.

Even though he was only an extra with almost no screentime this episode, Kang Inhyuk was practicing desperately.

His determination to survive and rank up was obvious.

“…He looks like he’s about to collapse.”

His entire body looked soaked, like he had just taken a shower.

Thinking he seemed like someone who needed help, I grabbed a bottle of water and walked over.

“Are you okay?”

Kang Inhyuk stopped dancing and turned toward me.

“Drink this while practicing.”

“Huh?”

He looked genuinely startled by my sudden kindness.

Like he was wondering why someone who had barely spoken to him before was suddenly acting like this.

“Sorry. It’s because of the quest.’

“…Thanks.”

After his brief confusion, Kang Inhyuk accepted the water bottle and gulped it down immediately.

“There’s plenty of water around here, so drink more often. What if you collapse?”

“Yeah. I will.”

Kang Inhyuk set the bottle down and returned to practice.

“So this is how normal people are. Making friends isn’t supposed to happen as easily as it did with Lee Haewon or Na Jaehyun.’

That was the normal reaction.

Friends were not supposed to form after just a few conversations.

Just as I was thinking that—

Ding!

[Quest Complete]

The system notification rang, announcing the quest completion.

At least the first quest was relatively easy.

[Reward has been distributed.]

‘Let’s see.’

When I opened the inventory, I saw the reward item: a Draw Ticket.

Apparently, it could be used to obtain random items.

‘No idea what I’ll get, but I might as well use it.’

I pressed my hand against the system window.

[Would you like to use the Draw Ticket?]
[Yes / No]

The moment I pressed the button, a giant gift box on the screen started shaking dramatically.

‘Please give me something useful.’

The box burst open with flashy effects.

[Inner Power Recovery Orb]

‘What’s this?’

I immediately checked the description.

[Inner Power Recovery Orb]
▶ Can partially restore the reset inner power of the possessed character.
▶ Randomly restores 25%, 50%, 75%, or 100% of inner power.

‘Oh… this is actually good.’

If I could restore even part of Do Wonwoo’s reset “inner power,” my abilities would definitely improve compared to now.

No matter what percentage I got, it was still a gain.

[Would you like to use the item?]
[Yes / No]

After taking a deep breath, I pressed the button.

The orb inside the inventory glowed, and I felt something flowing into my body.

[50% of Do Wonwoo’s dance inner power has been restored.]

So my dance’s inner power recovered by half.

‘Only fifty percent… it’s a little disappointing that it wasn’t one hundred, but still….’

At that moment, sudden pain shot through my body.

“Ugh… what is this…?”

A splitting headache hit me alongside ringing in my ears.

At the same time, countless memories flooded into my mind.

‘These are….’

They were Do Wonwoo’s memories.

The endless nights spent practicing in the studio.

The times he danced in his cramped room until his body nearly broke apart.

All those moments played vividly in my head like they had happened yesterday.

The effort I had only vaguely imagined from short descriptions in the novel was far beyond anything I expected.

“…Ah.”

When I finally regained my senses, tears had somehow gathered in my eyes.

‘What… why am I suddenly crying?’

Maybe it was because I could now genuinely feel all the years Do Wonwoo had spent struggling.

Just as I hurriedly tried fixing my expression—

I made eye contact with Kang Inhyuk, who had turned around.

He looked startled.

“Hey. Are you crying?”

I immediately shook my head.

But because of that single sentence, every trainee in the room turned to look at me.

“Wonwoo, what happened?”

“Are you okay?”

“Why are you crying?”

The trainees looked both worried and unsurprised at the same time.

Since Raise had been criticizing me nonstop, everyone seemed to assume I finally broke down from the pressure.

Honestly, some of them probably found it stranger that I hadn’t cried until now.

‘I get that they’re worried, but….’

I never even said I was crying because of practice.

Yet everyone acted like they already knew the reason.

Honestly, I wondered if this was even something worth crying over.

For me, seeing years of Do Wonwoo’s memories all at once was overwhelming enough to cry over.

But why were they acting emotional too?

“Wait… are they getting emotional just because I cried? What is this, some kind of contagious disease?’

Just as I hurriedly wiped my tears—

“What’s going on here?”

The practice room door opened and Raise walked in.

“Why’s the atmosphere so weird?”

The trainees immediately scattered away from me the moment. A raise appeared.

Raise looked around before noticing me and instantly understanding the situation.

“Did you cry?”

“……”

I lowered my head.

Honestly, this was the one person I absolutely did not want seeing me cry.

“Do, Wonwoo trainee.”

“Yes.”

“Crying won’t solve anything.”

‘…Harsh.’

Normally, even the harshest people offered at least a little comfort when someone cried.

Especially if the person crying was someone they themselves had harshly criticized repeatedly.

But Raise clearly had no intention of going easy on me at all.

“Instead of crying, spend that time practicing more.”

After saying that, Raise turned around and walked away.

Watching his back, something burned inside me.

‘Fine. Then I’ll just practice more.’

If I wanted to stop being treated like this, the only option was climbing higher.

As long as my rank stayed low, people would continue treating me like someone at the bottom.

Still, one thing had changed now.

Did Wonwoo’s inner power partially return?

‘I’ll prove that all the years Do Wonwoo spent struggling weren’t meaningless.’

With that determination, I clenched my fists tightly.