Eleuthernemis System

Chapter Eight

Three days later …

Park Junho's apartment was bigger than I'd expected and was comfortable. Clean hardwood floors, plants on the window sill, mismatched furniture that somehow worked together. It was a place that truly felt like home.

He'd insisted I stay with him instead of sleeping in a storage room in the store.

Given how I could barely walk from the couch to the bathroom without my side screaming in protest, I hadn't argued.

“Alright.” Park Junho said, setting three bottles of banana milk on the coffee table and settled into the arm chair across from me.

“Let's see it.”

I pulled out the business card Kang Sujin had given me and placed it on the table.

Woo rim, who’d been in the kitchen making sandwiches, appeared so fast, with a plate in hand, he nearly dropped the sandwiches.

He snatched up the business card, eyes going wide.

“Star🌟lit Entertainment,” his voice shook. “The Star🌟lit Entertainment. Seonbae, do you know what this is?”

“A business card?” I offered.

“This is a golden ticket.” Woo rim looked like he might faint.

“People spend years trying to get Star🌟lit attention, some pay thousands to get to the audition but still never pass the initial screening, but with this, you don't have to go through all that. This is an automatic jump to the final stage.”

Park Junho picked up the audition card, examining it carefully. “When did you get this?”

“A woman visited me in the hospital, her name is Kang Sujin, she happened to be a talent recruiter. Her son was the student from the store.” I shifted on the couch, trying to find a position that didn't make my stitches pull.

“She said she wanted to thank me by offering an audition slot.”

“An audition at Star🌟lit isn't a thank you.” Park Junho said. “It's a life changing opportunity.”

“Yeah…for some people anyway.” I looked down at my hands. “I can't sing or dance to save my life and a five year old could act better than me.”

“That doesn't matter.” Woo rim interrupted, with fire in his eyes.

“Everyone started somewhere. It's not like the greatest idols or actors woke up one morning with the insane ability to act, dance or sing. You just happen to be in your starting somewhere phase.”

“Great job Woo rim.” Park Junho said, giving Woo rim a slap at the back. “You should go look up their audition process.”

“Okay. I'm on it.” Woo rim said, typing away at his phone.

The apartment fell into a quiet calm except for the occasional hum of the refrigerator.

“Found it.” Woo rim turned his phone towards us.

“Star🌟lit holds bi-annual mass auditions. They scout for everything, actors, models, idols, even hosts. But each category auditions separately.”

He pulled up the official website. It looked really nice actually, their top artists dominated the home page.

Actors audition at the main headquarters in Gangnam,” Woo rim read. “Models at a separate studio in Cheongdam dong. Idols at their training facility in Apgujeong. All on the same day but different locations.”

“So I have to choose?” I asked.

Park Junho flipped over the audition card, squinting at the small print on the back. “Category: open.” He looked up. “Shw didn't specify, that means you get to decide.”

“That’s actually rare.” Woo rim said. Most recruiters have a specific path in mind when they give out invitations. This means…” he trailed off.

“Means what?”

“You get to pick the path that actually suits you.”

“What do the auditions actually involve?” I asked.

Woo rim's thumbs we're already moving. “Okay, breaking it down…actimg requires two prepared monologues, one comedic, the other drama.”

“They do cold readings where they hand you a script you’ve never seen and you have to perform it on the spot.”

“Modelling is mainly about physicals.” Park Junho said, reading over his shoulder. “Height, proportions, walk, ability to take directions and embody different concepts. You'd need a portfolio though. Professional photos aren't cheap.”

“And idols need everything.” Woo rim's voice dropped.

“Vocal assessment, dance evaluation, visual ranking, personality interview. They're looking for the complete package, someone who can sing, dance, look good on camera and handle variety show appearances. The training period is usually two to five years minimum and most trainees don't even debut.”

“So it's the hardest option,” I said.

“By far.” Woo rim looked up from his phone. “But it's also the most visible if you succeed. Idols are everywhere, music shows, variety programs, endorsement deals, fan meetings. If you make it, you're basically a celebrity.”

I thought about the system’s mission rewards.

[+4 Charisma, +2 Courage, Body Coordination(Lv 1)]

It was so painfully obvious at this point. The system was pushing me towards the path of an idol.

“There's another factor with idol auditions,” Park Junho said. “They're gender separated. Male and female trainees audition separately, with different standards. Boy groups and girl groups are basically different industries.”

“Why does that matter?”

“Because it means you're only competing against other guys for boy group positions. But it also means the standards are more specific.”

Woo rim nodded. “Korean boy groups have specific role distributions. Main vocalist, lead dancer, main rapper, sub-vocalist, visual, leader.”

“I don't think I fit into any of those,” I said, rubbing the bridge of my nose wearily.

“You don't know that yet.” Park Junho stood up and started pacing. “We have two weeks. That's not enough time to make you a professional, but it's enough to help you figure out where your strengths are.”

“You want to help me train?”

“We want to help you not embarrass yourself.” Woo rim said with a slight smile. “There's a difference.

“What about the store?” I asked.

“It's closed for now, it's under renovation. The security needs to be tighter.” Park Junho said.

“Oh.”

He stopped pacing and turned to me. “What do you want Ireum? Forget what you think you can't or can do. Just pick the one that feels more like you.”

I thought about it for a while. I mean I had to pick becoming an idol. It was obvious the system was pushing me to that path.

The big question was if I could actually become an idol? I wasn't so sure about that.

“I think I want to try for the idol audition.”

Silence.

Then Woo rim's face broke into a grin.

“Really?”

“Yeah”

“Alright then. Now that that's settled. We need a plan.” Park Junho said, glancing at Woo rim.

“Already on it.” Woo rim was scrolling again.

“Okay, we need to focus on vocals, dance and appearance. We have two weeks. That's fourteen days.”

“Can't exactly make him a professional singer in fourteen days.” Park Junho pointed out.

“No, but we can find out what part he sings and help him prepare one song that suits him really well. Same with dance, we’ll focus on one routine he can execute cleanly.”

“Then what do I actually need to do?”

They exchanged glances.

“Tomorrow morning.” Park Junho said. “We’ll start training. You're going to hate us by the end of this.”

“Your stitches come out in four days.” Woo rim added.

“Until then, we focus on things that don't require much physical movement. Vocal exercises, learning basic musical theory, watching performance videos and picking what suits you best.”

“And after the stitches are out?”

“After that,” Park Junho said. “We’ll teach you how to dance.”