Chapter 188:

Chapter 188:

“I’ve seen your vocal skills. Can you also show me some dance moves? Do you have anything prepared?”

Then, a twenty-something idol next to me chimed in.

“Can you do freestyle?”

I couldn’t say no here.

It would be a problem if I was the only one who went back in time from the timeline. But this place is not reality, but a virtual setting space.

I quickly made up my mind and answered.

“Yes, I can. Please play the music.”

Even if I did well here, they would say I was just following a pre-made choreography. But it was better to have something to say than nothing.

The re-evaluation grade was determined by the judges, not by the participants.

“Let’s start right away.”

As if they were waiting, a beat that I had never heard before started. I just had to match the speed.

I drew the sketches that I had discarded while making the choreography for Boys Be Ambitious in my head and calmly followed the rhythm.

I was not Cheon Ise, the S-grade dancer, right now, so I couldn’t be the same as the state where I had raised my dance grade with the points I had collected.

‘I should pull my foot back here.’

But even though all the memories of working as Cheon Ise were confiscated, my body reacted as soon as I recalled the order in my head.

‘And then turn around like this...’

That’s how I filled the 30-second interlude with a hip-hop feel of crumping mixed with an improvised but not improvised choreography. And then a fact popped into my mind.

‘I don’t have a back injury right now, do I?’

Then I could also try the martial arts moves that the choreographer who collaborated with me at the planning stage suggested, but I couldn’t use them because of health problems.

Whether I could succeed in them without making a mistake was another matter.

But I thought I could at least do the sidekick move.

The song was already heading towards the highlight of the chorus. It was now or never.

‘They’ll edit it out if I fail.’

I was originally a non-existent being. The ones who were decided to be aired on the broadcast would go out anyway, and I would be edited out.

With that conclusion, I jumped neatly to the spot with both arms on the ground, matching the end of the song.

“Huh.”

I unconsciously made a face that said ‘I did it!’ without knowing it.

The applause and laughter poured out without regard to the judges’ seats, the waiting room, or the ranking chairs.

“Wow, he’s really good. For a freestyle, that’s impressive.”

“I saw him at the audition, he was picking up the choreography really fast.”

With a short buzz, the judges went back to their own discussion.

I couldn’t guess what grade I would get.

The grades were A, B, C, D, F, five in total. I expected to get C if I did well, or D to F if I did poorly.

But I did better than I thought, and there was a hitch.

‘No. It’s more like they’re too bad...’

The climax itself was very obscure compared to the skill that was hidden. And the other groups that I saw while filming Boys Be Ambitious, except for one group, were all skillful ones that were counted as representative K-pop groups.

My eyes were so high that I was not satisfied with the level of the trainees.

‘This is not... real anyway.’

I couldn’t believe that Kang Yu-geon, a trainee who got an F, and I, who got an A, were in the same reality show. It was ridiculous enough that I had to compete with a trainee, but the real Kang Yu-geon had already debuted and become a superstar, even running away from his agency.

Did I have to sacrifice my advantage in the first re-evaluation for the sake of the virtual Kang Yu-geon, who was hated by the production team?

Why do you call my name? Just tell me the grade and the evaluation. I complained inwardly and smiled as brightly as possible on my face.

“Do you have the confidence to work hard?”

Why do you ask me that here? It’s obvious that I’ll answer that I have confidence to do well. I opened my mouth with a lot of questions, unable to figure out his intention.

“Yes, I’ll work hard.”

As if he believed my answer, the choreographer in his thirties burst into a chuckle and nodded his head.

“I really... I’m looking forward to how great an idol Hyun-seong will be. You have such a charm that catches people’s eyes even now, and I’m curious how much more cool you’ll be if you polish it.”

He suddenly tested my will and poured out compliments. I reflexively blushed.

It was partly because it wasn’t a compliment I earned with my real skills. I dropped out of high school after finishing middle school.

When I worked as an employee, I was treated like a replaceable incompetent worker, except when I worked under a boss who recognized my diligence and talent.

It was natural to be quick and quick. I lived in an environment where it was hard to hear a word of praise even if I did something extraordinary, and when I finally became a representative, there was no one left to praise me.

So I wasn’t used to a situation where I was bombarded with such praise in other areas than the taste of food.

‘If I cook so deliciously that I get rave reviews, I’ll accept it without any hesitation.’

I couldn’t answer anything because my face was red, and he laughed again.

“I’ll use this card for you, Hyun-seong. Congratulations.”

What he raised at the same time was a small card with a diamond drawn on it.

“Huh...?”

‘Why is that here?’

It was none other than the super pass card. It was a pass that could be used only once by each judge during the five grade evaluations that proceeded until the final debut.

The grade was basically given based on the average of the grades submitted by the four judges.

However, if the super pass was used, only one judge’s opinion could be reflected to give the grade.

‘That means he used it on me now...’

[Congratulations, Lim Hyun-seong, trainee. Receive the A-grade badge and take a seat in the rank you want.]

The badge that was only given to A-grade was in my hand.

The number of people who could enter A-grade was nine, the number of debutants. The grade didn’t prove the rank, but it was unlikely to be in the lower ranks if it was A-grade.

But wait a minute. I was a little better than the previous ones, but. Can I really take A-grade? I was an A-grade who had been active for more than six months and used the skills and abilities I had gained to produce a good output, and Yu-geon, who was a real trainee and showed the skills of a dropout trainee, was F-grade. It felt unreasonable.

I don’t mean to lower myself to C, D, F. I was bothered by Yu-geon getting F.

I couldn’t help but worry more if I got an A like this.

I turned around with a stiff expression and looked at the flashing alphabet A.

‘...’

I reflexively raised my hand and said this was not right.

It was almost 3 p.m. when the six-hour-long evaluation finally ended.

The hundred or so participants started to follow the production staff to have lunch.

“I guess we have to eat separately by grade.”

I turned my head to look for the staff holding the A sign and said to Yu-geon.

“...”

Yu-geon was staring at the floor with a stiff expression, as if he couldn’t get over the shock of the grade evaluation.

He wasn’t the only one. The other participants also looked shaken by the last-minute change in the rankings. There was no one with a normal face.

‘They all seemed out of their minds.’

When the MC announced the final rankings after the last round of grade evaluation, everyone was confused and didn’t understand what was going on. It was a mess.