Genius Idol’s Strategy to Conquer the Entertainment Industry

Chapter 257

Despite the short duration, it took some time to gather, and by the time I stepped outside, it was already late, with the surroundings pitch-dark. Instead of heading straight back to the dorm where the members were waiting, I chose to go to the company.

“Are you really going to practice? Aren’t you tired?”

“No, I’m wide awake.”

“You’re not even in good shape. Wouldn’t it be better to rest a little more?”

“For me, this is resting.”

There was a time in my childhood when I would get annoyed hearing that moving my body would relieve stress, wondering what kind of nonsense that was.

But that was a long time ago.

Now, I had reached a point where I acknowledged that practice was a more suitable way to relieve stress than endlessly growing distrust in my own team every minute and every second, or the savage games involving inquiries about my parents’ wellbeing. You never know how things will turn out.

“Phew, the ones who need to take care of their health the most are the most indifferent.”

Speaking of the kids…

“Did Hyung Gyeol go to practice too?”

“Yeah. He asked to be taken to the company to practice, so Da-hyun dropped him off. That kid is quiet but surprisingly stubborn.”

Gwak Sang-hyun grumbled about how the quiet ones were the most difficult to deal with.

“Haha, I’m sorry.”

“Nothing to be sorry about to me. Call me when you’re done. Let’s go home together.”

“Yep.”

In preparation for our comeback season, Gwak Sang-hyun had settled in our dorm’s living room.

By the way, Im Dae-hyun was our new manager, hastily hired right before the comeback.

Maybe because he was hired in a rush, I had a feeling he wouldn’t last long as our manager…

I just hoped my sad premonition would be wrong.

Anyway, Gwak Sang-hyun disappeared towards the brightly lit office, hoping someone was still working at this hour.

I changed my shoes into indoor sneakers and opened the practice room door, which was also brightly lit like the office.

As I entered, I saw Seo Moon-gyeol leaning against the wall, quickly scribbling something in a well-worn notebook.

He looked up as soon as he noticed me.

“You’re here?”

His sharp gaze softly examined my complexion and then moved on.

There was a dignified calmness to his composed face, like a sheer cliff, without any sign of agitation or even the slightest movement.

And knowing that beneath that seemingly cold exterior was a hidden small cavern filled with things he liked or found joy in, I couldn’t help but feel my previously sunken mood slightly lift.

“Yeah. How long are you going to practice?”

“About two hours.”

“Hmm, okay.”

It seemed he had been here much earlier than me and had been practicing all this time. Yet, he planned to stay another two hours; his stamina was impressive.

“I’m going to change clothes.”

“Okay.”

I went into the vocal practice room, which doubled as a changing room among the members, and quickly changed into clean and comfortable practice clothes I kept in my personal locker for times like these.

I lightly used divine favor over my entire body to recover somewhat from the fatigue that was trying to drag me down, then left the vocal practice room.

During that time, Seo Moon-gyeol had put away his notebook and was warming up.

Judging by the looks, he must have been practicing rap or vocals alone before I arrived.

“Are you going to practice dancing?”

“Yeah. But don’t worry about me and feel free to play any music.”

I added while loosening up from the ankles.

“Today, I’m just going to go over acrobatic basics again, and if I have time left, I’ll do some vocal practice.”

I planned to practice acrobatics, which I had wanted to do but postponed due to the comeback preparations, starting from the basics.

And also clear a quest while at it.

With the number of incomplete quests gradually increasing, it felt somewhat unpleasant.

Even when playing games, I was the type to clear every quest visible on the map to be satisfied.

Especially now, after having composed a piece I was more than satisfied with, yet the composition quest showed no signs of completion, leaving me uneasy.

Naturally, I thought of quickly finishing the relatively clear-cut one.

[▶ Achievement Condition: Collect 5 Acrobatic Skills]

Collecting 5 acrobatic skills wasn’t a particularly difficult condition.

I had already completed 2 skills during practice for the Idol Athletic Championships, and I planned to fill the remaining ones with easy ones without pushing myself.

I specifically mentioned going over the basics again to alleviate any potential worries Seo Moon-gyeol might have.

There was a big difference between trying something for the first time and doing something you’ve done before again.

As expected, Seo Moon-gyeol, without any particular comment, went through the basic routine smoothly with me, after which I accessed WeTube on the company tablet.

### Chapter 257

Let’s see.

I had subscribed to it in advance…

“Ah, found it.”

I entered the channel run by a foreign dance academy that I had watched beforehand whenever I had some spare time.

I briefly checked other domestic and international channels, but this one provided the most detailed and easy-to-understand tutorial videos.

As I stretched, I listened attentively to the foreign instructor on the screen, who repeatedly emphasized that one must become completely familiar with each exercise before moving on to the next and should never overexert themselves.

‘Wait, is he from my country?’

Who cares?

The Earth is round, and the global village is one.

While I was doing that, Seo Moon-gyeol asked.

“Shouldn’t you be doing this with Sae-bom hyung?”

It seemed he still couldn’t fully set aside his worries.

I answered nonchalantly.

“That hyung isn’t good at this kind of stuff.”

Jung Sae-bom was, of course, good at dancing since he taught us, but from what I had seen, he didn’t seem to have any expertise in acrobatics.

“It’s dangerous to do it alone.”

“I won’t. I’ll properly learn the difficult techniques I messed up last time later, and today, I’m only doing the really easy basics.”

Still sensing his unease, I added another word.

“If what I’m doing looks dangerous, you can tell me to stop. I will.”

“Okay.”

Only then did Seo Moon-gyeol calmly nod and return to what he was doing.

So, I thought the issue was resolved.

A little while later.

“Hey, this isn’t dangerous at all!”

“It’s dangerous.”

“What nonsense….”

“It looks dangerous to me.”

“Seriously, if you call something that’s not dangerous at all dangerous, what am I supposed to do?”

“You said you’d stop if I said it was dangerous.”

Good grief.

Earlier, his appearance had given such a serene sense of stability like a cliff, but now, no matter what I said, he seemed like an unyielding rock that wouldn’t listen at all. What was this?

I replied, being careful not to raise my voice.

“So you’re telling me to just do forward rolls and backward rolls? I came to the company instead of the dorm even though I was tired just to do this.”

In response to my plea, Seo Moon-gyeol replied unnecessarily kindly.

“Then let’s stop practicing and go back to the dorm.”

“…”

This wasn’t going to work.

“What’s wrong?”

“Wait a moment… I left something while changing clothes.”

“Why are you playing music?”

“Just… it’s the song of the day, so sit down and listen.”

“Okay….”

Seeing the sullen look on Seo Moon-gyeol’s handsome face as he realized that I was avoiding him was somewhat endearing, but I didn’t look back and went into the vocal practice room where I had changed clothes.

Confirming that the door was firmly closed and the loud music outside couldn’t be heard at all, I took a perfect diaphragmatic breath, a skill I had perfected through 《Advanced Breathing》.

And then I screamed.

Again!

…Just kidding.

“Waaaah!”

This stubborn fool!

I had often felt it while spending time with him.

Seo Moon-gyeol had a considerable talent for provoking or annoying me.

And the most annoying part was that he didn’t do it with any ill intent. Even if he had some intent, it was purely out of good will.

If he were a sneaky type like Ban Yo-han, I could at least curse him out as a sly fox, but Seo Moon-gyeol’s exceptionally decent personality didn’t allow for any more harsh criticism than calling him a blockhead.

Otherwise, I’d be the jerk!

In the end, I chose to vent my frustration by screaming alone.

“Waaaah! Aaaaah!”

If our vocal trainer, who always promoted herbal medicine good for the throat, saying I wouldn’t easily lose in singing unless I met someone like Kang Ji-woo, heard my uninhibited roar, they would have clapped like a seal with satisfaction.

* * *

In the end, I couldn’t break the stubborn will of the foolish Seo Moon-gyeol, who had endured listening to unbearably loud music until I came out.

As a result, I ended up completing the quest with absurdly simple skills like forward rolls, backward rolls, and side rolls to fill the remaining three.

‘Going the easy way is good. Sure, it’s good, but isn’t this too…’

Isn’t this too pathetic?

Even the automated system, apparently not expecting this, judged my performance of these trivial skills as the most remarkable.

That automated system even tried to negotiate with me, saying that things like forward rolls and side rolls were too basic to be considered acrobatic and should count as 0.5 skills instead of 1.

When I asked if it wanted to get hit like its owner, it promptly completed the quest.

‘…Isn’t this thing just like Larry?’

Naturally, since there was much more practice time left than expected, I had to practice something else to make the trip to the company worthwhile.

That something else was rap.

Of course, the one who helped me practice rap was Seo Moon-gyeol, the best rapper in our company.

His passion for teaching me was no less than Kang Ji-woo’s passion for vocals.

‘Ha….’

If Seo Moon-gyeol could see the affection gauge I had for him like I could for myself, it would have definitely dropped by 1 during those two hours.

Anyway, despite using divine favor, my mental fatigue didn’t go away, so I decided to check the rewards for the completed quest and the newly appeared related quest later when I had more time.

Seo Moon-gyeol and I returned to the dorm with Gwak Sang-hyun.

‘I’ll just wash up and go straight to bed.’

Tomorrow, or rather, today since it was past midnight.

Anyway, I planned to rest without doing anything else to prepare for today.

If only I hadn’t felt a creepy sensation like dozens of large, black eyes rolling and glaring at me fiercely the moment I stepped into the dorm’s entrance.