Cheating way through to Stardom chapter 16- A test

“Being friends with Kang Minjae…”

I smiled and said,

“Is that something to brag about?”

I didn’t know.

Even though I was talking with a smile, he seemed angry.

He tried to get up but, probably due to the hangover, sat back down on the bed.

Tsk tsk tsk.

‘Young guy, you’re doing great.’

You only have one liver, you jerk.

“You bastard, just because you have a mouth!”

Every time he spoke, the smell of alcohol wafted out.

I shrugged my shoulders.

“I’m sorry. But…”

I grabbed my towel and got up cheerfully.

“I don’t talk to dumb people.”

Because it’s a waste of time.

Why should I deal with their crap?

“Hey!”

“I’m going to practice now. See you later.”

He mumbled something behind me, but I closed the door and left.

‘So, this is…’

The famous territorial behavior.

‘It’s not even the military, damn it.’

I shrugged my shoulders and crossed the living room.

I thought no one was there, but someone was awake.

“Oh, manager.”

“Did you sleep well on your first day?”

The plump manager was drinking a soda in the morning.

I shrugged my shoulders.

“You know we have a profile photo shoot in a week, right?”

“What floor? What time?”

“Third floor. Time is not set yet. But didn’t Seoyung tell you?”

I nodded. Who is Seoyung?

“He was supposed to tell you…”

“He didn’t.”

“Did he forget?”

“I think he did it on purpose.”

The manager’s round eyes wavered.

But soon, he smiled awkwardly as if he understood.

“Those guys aren’t bad people…”

“From now on, please tell me important things directly. Don’t ask them to relay it.”

The manager sighed deeply and gulped down his soda.

“It’s stressful. Want some?”

“No, thanks. By the way, manager.”

“What’s with ‘manager’? Call me hyung. Yongdam hyung.”

The manager smiled kindly.

“Is soda allowed here?”

“Of course. Why, worried about getting fat? Ha!”

The manager looked me up and down, holding the soda bottle.

“Are you going to tell Mira?”

Who is Mira?

“Don’t tell her! Mira is so scary! She already banned chocolate bars because my blood sugar levels were borderline.”

Such valuable information. I frowned.

“Manager.”

I sighed.

“I came here yesterday.”

“Yeah, right?”

“I don’t care even if you drink a box of soda.”

The manager hugged the soda tightly. T

he small, precious red drink looked very annoying.

“I’m talking about soda with barley.”

The manager scratched his head.

“Oh, beer.”

“Can we drink that in the dorms?”

The manager’s round eyes quivered slightly.

“Did those guys drink again?”

Again?

‘It must not be the first time.’

They’re real idiots.

“If they get caught one more time, they’ll be kicked out…”

“Why not just kick them out now?”

“So, Dowon? Your name is Dowon, right?”

I nodded.

“You don’t know because you just came, but this industry is tough. They weren’t like that from the start.”

What does that have to do with anything?

“If a hundred people join, ten get into the debut group, and only three debut.”

“So what?”

I walked quietly.

“What does that have to do with drinking?”

I laughed.

“Tell them to give up if it’s easier.”

“Dowon, that’s too harsh.”

“I think the manager is harsher.”

How half-hearted.

“Saying such cruel things!”

Oh, come on.

“Isn’t it crueler to not say it directly?”

I patted the manager’s shoulder and spun around.

“Be kind to the right people.”

Well, good people are needed.

I didn’t dislike such a hyung.

But in times like this, he wasn’t helpful.

‘Don’t be too nice and end up slipping.’

Not my problem, though.

I quietly checked the time.

Precious minutes had passed.

I fiddled with my smartphone in my pocket as I walked.

It was truly, incredibly unproductive.

***

Dance practice was at 5 PM.

I put on my sneakers and started stretching on the practice room floor.

Since it was still early, I was the only one there.

I quietly took out my smartphone.

[cheat mode 0/3]

[Cha Dowon’s HP]

[70/330]

“It’s really worn down.”

Running on the treadmill and learning Chinese and Japanese in real-time depleted my HP.

I quietly activated a cheat.

[Changed to 330]

[Change completed. Your physical state will be altered.]

[Side effect: your toes will itch for 5 seconds.]

I soon felt the itchiness, but my body felt refreshed.

I put my smartphone back in my pocket.

Using it for the past few days, I realized something.

‘Recovery has minimal side effects.’

Cheating my physical abilities came with bothersome and painful costs, but recovery was easy.

“The problem is that the HP itself doesn’t increase.”

However, increasing my stamina slightly boosted my HP.

My initial HP was 300. I smiled bitterly and continued stretching.

At that moment, a group of people came in.

There were some new faces and some I had seen before.

‘Oh.’

I saw my roommate among them.

I smiled brightly and bowed my head.

“Hello. I’m Cha Dowon.”

Despite my smile, none of the five or six people greeted me.

“Oh!”

I checked each of their faces.

“Am I being excluded?”

I asked lightly, and a few noticeably turned to look at me.

“Oh, no. I mean, I’m Lee Youngon.”

“I’m Joo Kihoon.”

Two or three people greeted me.

Ah, I got the vibe.

I didn’t stop smiling.

“Nice to meet you.”

They nodded hesitantly.

Then the instructor walked in.

I kept my bright smile as I looked at him.

“Only one new face?”

I recognized him immediately.

He was the choreographer who created Yumi’s dance for the audition.

I slightly bowed my head.

“For now, sit at the front. Oh, you’re already sitting. Smart.”

The choreographer lightly tapped my head and said,

“What’s your name?”

“Cha Dowon.”

“For now, just follow along. I’ll teach you from the basics and reshape your joints.”

Was that a threat?

“Don’t be too scared. You might survive.”

Half of that sounded like I might not make it.

I raised my hands in a mock surrender.

The choreographer smirked at me.

“Guys, music is coming on! Watch carefully, you have to follow along.”

The trainees lined up in two rows.

As the music started, they danced in perfect sync.

‘Hmm.’

There were some empty spots in the formation.

‘Are those the spots of the guys who left?’

Not my concern. But it was a bit surprising.

‘They’re pretty good.’

Considering they drank last night, they moved well.

When the music stopped, the instructor handed me a tablet PC.

“Here’s the dance. The second one. Learn this for the test.”

I nodded.

“I’ll check in three hours. Do as much as you can. We’re determining your position.”

“If I do well…”

Ah, a test?

I smiled and asked,

“Do I get the best spot?”

The instructor smirked.

“This one is quite ambitious.”

He pointed to a corner.

“Ambitious newbie, practice over there for now. The rest, pay attention!”

Anyone listening might misunderstand, dear respected teacher.

Whether he knew my thoughts or not, the instructor was busy teaching the others dance moves.

I went to the corner, put on my earphones, and quietly watched the choreography.

‘Complicated.’

It wasn’t an easy dance. It mixed basic moves with more advanced ones.

‘I see why they used this for the test.’

I desperately tried to memorize the dance from the video.

Repeating it over and over, I got the moves roughly right, but my angles were off.

An hour had already passed when I checked the time.

‘Damn!’