Save a Failed Idol’s Life

Translator: MarcTempest

Editor: NicoleTempest

Chapter 15: C-Grade Main Dancer

There were two ways to explain it.

Either I had forgotten how to dance like a lie after the accident.

Or my movements had stiffened because of a herniated disc.

The former was an awkward and strange excuse that anyone could see through, and the latter was a health problem that might be acceptable for now…

‘What? Then you’re not ready for the comeback?’

I couldn’t bring myself to make a body excuse when I thought of Seon-woo and Yi-jun, who would be surprised.

‘Maybe… it’s better to mix the two.’

I casually put the console on the table and said.

“I told you I’m not feeling well today. I’m going to take some lessons and practice separately after I get rehabilitated.”

As expected, Yi-jun reacted with a shocked expression.

“That’s not just a drop in condition! You missed the beat, you didn’t understand the moves at all, and what’s with that reaction speed? Manager hyung is faster than that!”

I get that you’re surprised. But your words are too harsh.

I felt each word piercing me like a dagger and answered.

“I’ll get my feel back by the time we start practicing for real. Don’t worry.”

I felt a sense of crisis that I had to raise my dance grade by polishing the system.

Of course, I expected them to be surprised. But they weren’t easy opponents to brush off.

Yi-jun raised his eyebrows as if he didn’t know how high the sky was.

“Isn’t it because your back hasn’t healed yet?”

Then he shouted at Seon-woo.

“Hey, Na Seon-woo! Hold his arm for a sec.”

‘What?’

I backed away at the sudden turn of events. What are you trying to do by grabbing me?

I tried to run away to my room, but Seon-woo was faster.

To be precise… his bulky physique naturally blocked me.

“Good job!”

Yi-jun ruffled Seon-woo’s black hair and suddenly ran towards my waist.

“What are you doing!”

It was the first time I yelled so loud since I moved in.

“Are you really okay enough to perform?”

While Seon-woo held my arms, Yi-jun slapped my lower back with his palm.

Reflexively, I bent over to the other side.

You crazy bastard, who wouldn’t fall forward if you did that?

I resolved to treat him like a kid and not try to reason with him, and barely got up.

“I’m fine! I’ll get my condition back in two weeks and get tested, so stop doing this weird stuff!”

Then Yi-jun glared at me with a doubtful expression.

“Ise, you can’t be like this just because of your condition! Are you really okay?”

As I struggled, Seon-woo let go of my arm and blinked his eyes.

“You should focus on your diet and do well.”

I pulled his finger and lightly slapped his forehead.

“Ow! Our center, Ise, is… the choreography for this comeback is centered around Ise’s dance break… I can’t help but worry…”

No. That was something I was determined to stop.

If we had done the same thing as before, we would have hit it big already.

We had to change everything except the strengths that made up the identity of Climax.

I was still in a position where I had to learn a lot about the idol industry.

But it was simple if I thought of the center as the main promotion line.

‘This is my specialty.’

As long as the product wasn’t completely excluded from the promotion, it would do well even if it was a sub-line.

So, Oh Yi-jun was out of the center for now. Ryu Kyunghwa was a model type, but he had no outstanding talent.

It would be hard to expect the best effect if you put him in the lead and he didn’t have a punch that would capture the customers’ attention in an instant.

It was either Na Seon-woo, who had a confident visual, or Son Seongwon, who had a vocal that couldn’t be criticized for his personality.

‘I’ll have to see how far Na Seon-woo can pull it off, then.’

It wasn’t something I had to decide right away. It was a matter that I had to consult with the planning department of the company.

And I had to find out how much Ise could decide before I thought about it.

“You don’t have to worry about that already. When did I ever make you worry about this kind of thing?”

I comforted Seon-woo, who looked like he would cry if I touched him, and said to Yi-jun.

“You too. Don’t be too harsh. You’ll see if I’m okay or not.”

I calmly sorted out the confusion and headed to the kitchen.

“Where are you going?”

Seon-woo followed me anxiously.

“I’m going to prepare lunch and dinner in advance. Don’t go anywhere else since you’re starting PT today.”

Seon-woo decided to take PT separately from me today. I carefully chose a place that had no snacks in the building.

It was pointless to exercise and then eat a bunch of fries at the hot dog shop on the first floor.

I agreed to share the PT curriculum. The instructor was also a famous male specialist, so I trusted him.

“Okay! I won’t go anywhere else and just work out hard and come back!”

Seon-woo, who had shaken off the shock of seeing my dance-like something, nodded his head.

“Are you going to do more of that?”

I looked at Yi-jun, who was in the living room, and asked. He shook his head.

“No. You said you’re not doing it either, it’s exhausting. I’ll stop here.”

The company said they would provide manpower for the comeback preparation next month.

It was still a grace period.

“Do you have anything else to do today?”

Son Seongwon said he would come in after dinner, and Ryu Kyunghwa…

‘Can he eat dinner properly in that state?’

I thought I should boil some stew or something and fill his stomach. It wasn’t a problem, it was just a whole body muscle pain.

“Ah~. I’m going to eat and come back. Don’t worry about me.”

Yi-jun, who looked like he had lost his steam, put away the game console and went back to his room.

“Where are you going?”

I asked him as if I was his guardian.

Then, contrary to my worry that he might feel bad, he smiled.

“Secret-.”

What a secret. You’re disgusting.

I was speechless, but I didn’t show it and turned my head.

“Don’t come back too late.”

They were essential for my success as an idol and… ultimately, for my revenge.

It would be a big deal if anything went wrong.

“Don’t worry. I won’t get into any trouble.”

Even if he didn’t get into trouble… I couldn’t help but worry if he was lying down all day like Kyunghwa.

Especially that guy… he said he was close with the rappers.

The only member who had some recognition would cause a disaster if he got involved in any scandal that would make the headlines.

“Be careful of people at all times!”

I warned him as I tapped his shoulder.

“Yeah, yeah, you sound like our parents.”

We were not parents, but we were of the same age as them. I was a bit younger than them, though.

Soon, Yi-jun went out as he pleased, and Seon-woo did the same. And then there were only me and Kyunghwa left in the house.

‘It’s quiet now that the loudest ones are gone.’

I checked that the doors of the rooms that Kyunghwa and Yi-jun used were firmly closed and went into my room.

“System, come out.”

As I crossed my arms and glared at the air, a translucent status window popped up.

Wow-!

Bbosil greeted me as if he had been waiting for me, spinning around in his place.

“Can I only raise my attribute grades with crystals?”

I had to raise my dance and performance grades to B or higher within two weeks.

I couldn’t make any excuses about my condition once the official comeback preparations started.

[Tutorial 2 > Sub Quest – ‘Dance Grade Improvement Training’ Do you want to start?]

[Yes/No]

I didn’t have to think any more and chose ‘Yes’. With a simple gesture, the status window that was flickering in front of me disappeared.

Something might suddenly pop out again…

As I waited with my arms crossed, unable to shake off my doubt, the phone rang.

“I answered the phone, this is Cheon Ise.”

As I brought the phone close to my ear, the caller’s name was [Manager Hyung].

-Hey, Ise. How are you getting along with the kids? Is there anything uncomfortable?

I gave him a reassuring reply and checked what I was curious about.

“Yes, I’m fine. It’s fun to be with the kids. I wish we could start the concept meeting for the comeback song soon, but it’s still taking more time, right?”

-Well, until the end of this month, it’s Flows’ activity period, so all the manpower is attached to them. I’ve already asked the planning team to hurry up and give me the schedule.

I didn’t know how much Cheon Ise’s position was in the company.

There was no company that would assign the project to the group that only messed up everything.

It would have been the same even if I was the head of the company. Business is not a child’s play.

“Okay. And, hyung.”

This was the real point.

“Can you get me a personal dance trainer? Someone calm and quiet.”

What I needed now was not a star trainer with a flashy resume, but someone who could teach me the basics.

And someone who was careful and quiet and wouldn’t blabber around.

-Well, that’s not hard. When do you need it?

“The sooner, the better.”

I made a deadline of two weeks. I had to raise it to a better level than average.

***

“Wow…! The first digit, it changed!”

Seon-woo shouted as he threw off his pajamas and got on the scale after going to the bathroom as soon as he woke up.

Seon-woo did his own thing, and I did mine.

The two weeks of hard training passed in an instant.

For the past two weeks, I had to listen to and dance to the noisy singles of Climax for six hours a day.

Thanks to that, I became a soulless dancing robot.

Not that I danced perfectly like a robot. But I listened, watched, and danced so much that my body moved faster than I thought.

‘Hmm… This is a bit serious. Is your body really recovered?’

On the first day of the lesson that I started secretly from the members, I couldn’t forget the shocking expression of the instructor.

‘Your level right now is… You can’t even go on ‘My Idol Stage’ with this. You can’t even get an F grade.’

‘My Idol Stage’ was a survival audition program that hit the jackpot on a cable channel.

The group that the company’s manpower was focused on right now, ‘Flows’, also debuted through that program.

But I raised it by two levels to C.

I didn’t even want to think about what would have happened if I had stayed at E.

The instructor’s sigh and my personality that ran hard for the given task saved me.

‘Good! Now that you’ve memorized all the moves, let’s practice the points a little bit.’

At first, the instructor only sighed, but by the end of the two weeks, he started to compliment me a little bit.

I thought I could easily complete the sub quest and raise the grade.

It seemed like I had to move my body and learn it myself, as if I shouldn’t expect a stroke of luck.

‘Your dance line has improved a lot. Don’t forget to practice. You’re still far from your full condition when you compare it to the video.’

As soon as the sub quest was over, my dance grade rose to B, and my performance grade rose to D.

[Congratulations on clearing the sub quest – ‘Dance Grade Improvement Training’. Achievement reward point +100]

It wasn’t a low point, but… It was too stingy for the hard work I did for two weeks.

I turned the performance grade with the new crystal without hesitation.

[Profile]

[Name: Cheon Ise (Lim Hyunsung) – 24 years old]

[Attributes]

Visual: S

Vocal: D

Dance: B

Performance: C

Charm: A

Speech: A

I still had a long way to go, but I was much more improved than the beginning.

“Ise hyung! I, the first digit, it’s 8 now!”

This guy, if he lost another 10kg here… I thought I could be a little relieved.

Then, what’s left in the short term…

“Two weeks. It was until yesterday, remember?”

As soon as he came out of the living room, Yi-jun had a game console and a controller in his arms.

[The wild Oh Yi-jun has challenged you to a dance battle! What will you do?]

What do you mean, what will I do?

It was time to prove the results of the two weeks of training.