TGFTE 65

Chapter 65…

Lee Pil-jae was simply happy.

To him, the existence of Lee Ji-han was more than just a promising idol trainee.

Singing? Dancing?
It may have started small, but the end had grown grand.

Of course, saying he was more than just a trainee wasn’t limited to his specs alone.

A lucky charm.
What was about to scatter and be discarded—his masterpiece—was tied together again by this lucky charm called Heart Boys.

And indeed, these past few days, the practice room had been filled with tremendous heat.

Pow! Bang!
Whoosh!

“Chewing, chewing, into your heart, baby!”

[Chewing, chewing!!!]
[Baby!!!]

“Pinch, pinch, my heart~”
“Pinch, pinch!”
“Pinch, pinch!”

[Pinch, pinch, pinch, pinch!!!]

Ryu Si-woo had stopped resisting, and Geum Tae-hyuk had joined in.
In other words, as a five-member boy group, they were finally attempting full-member training for the very first time.

“Make it cuter! More alluring! Think of it like you’re chewing, chewing, devouring every fan alive!”

Lee Pil-jae’s sharp voice rang out.

[Wait, shouldn’t you not eat the fans?]
[Fans: (crunch, crunch, being devoured)]
[LOL is he even allowed to say that?]

“Pinch them! The fans! Grab them and twist them up!”

[KYAAAA!]
[They’re twisting! Twisting away!]
[No, no, not there, Pil-jae-hyung! If you pinch there…!?]

Lee Pil-jae was utterly ecstatic.
He clapped his hands, circling around them, driving them like a madman.

No, was it really “driving” them?
It was more like leading them with the heart of a parent, cheering “Well done, well done!” at the kids.

“Pinch, pinch! Jab! Burst it!”

…Actually, it didn’t sound much like cheering at all.

[Do you think Pil-jae-hyung actually hates us?]
[Not us—he probably hates the fans…]
[LOL this is killing me]
[First time I’ve ever seen him so excited;;]
[Well, of course, Heart Boys are finally whole again;;]

Anyway, the complete Heart Boys twisted and contorted their bodies in sync with Pil-jae’s encouragement.

The weakest underdogs, patched together from flaws.
That was the Heart Boys of Rhythm Poten that Lee Ji-han was playing.

Compared to other streamers’ Heart Boys, they were much more broken as people.
Viewers often wondered why every game Ji-han touched turned out like this.

But in the end, as long as it squeezed dopamine out of them, they were satisfied.

Of course, seeing them sweating and twisting their whole bodies for it… strangely gave off the emotional weight of a human drama.

Creeeak!
Crash!
Bang!

“Ugh, these kids! Messed up the choreography again!”

[LOL;;;]
[Are they gonna be okay;;;]
[I feel like solo debuts would happen faster;;;]

Due to system limitations, their stats were fixed.
But of course, those would gradually improve—
thanks to the points Ji-han earned.

“Look at Ji-han and Tae-ho! They’re doing so well!”
“Fufu, my destined rival☆! Dance with me, in the endless waltz of death!”

[…LOL]
[I like Tae-ho, he’s always entertaining]
[Doesn’t he get embarrassed?]
[Not being embarrassed is literally his character lol]
[But the others do look embarrassed tho?]
[That’s also part of their character lol]
[Why are we even stating the obvious lol]

“Tae-ho can’t sing though!”
“That’ll get better with practice! Use that time to dance more!”

Regardless of Si-woo’s grumbling, Pil-jae just laughed.
Whatever the case, he finally felt like this project was running properly.

“Alright! That’s it for today’s practice! Head back to the dorms! Stick to your diets! No messing around!”

It was only after a good sweat that practice came to an end.

Ji-han simply enjoyed this kind of training.
Dancing to his heart’s content, singing as much as he liked.
He loved the fact that he could relieve stress in such a wholesome way.

“And Ji-han, you stay behind.”
“Yes?”

Just as he was about to practice more, Pil-jae stopped him.

“You need a makeover. Go wash up at the dorm, change clothes, and come with me.”

With that, Pil-jae left the practice room first.

[???]
[Is this… a date with Pil-jae-hyung?]
[LOL what date]
[That’s the shop tutorial lol Ji-han has to go]
[Even if Pil-jae-hyung is scary, you gotta go]
[A dangerous hyung, but also a safe oppa lol]
[No, Pil-jae-hyung’s not into that!]
[But you sound like you are?]
[…That’s true.]

Ji-han checked chat and figured out the situation.
The shop tutorial—it was probably where he could buy clothes or stats for the members.

[Yeah, you just buy stats and traits for the kids there]
[LOL you can even “mod” them, it’s fun]
[But knowing Ji-han, he probably won’t mod them]
[Balancing is fine, but even just covering weaknesses is enough]

Seeing the flood of advice, Ji-han realized his guess was right.

So he changed clothes at the dorm and headed to the parking lot, where Pil-jae was waiting.

“Good, you look like a person now. Get in.”

A shiny bald head.
And sunglasses.
He looked dangerous at a glance, but Ji-han got in the passenger seat without much thought.

VROOOOM!

And with that, the sports car sped out of the agency parking lot.

Department store.

A pretty big building.
The moment they entered, a toggle button activated, leading directly to the store.

The shop has opened!
You can purchase necessary items with points!
If you lack points, you can earn more through training, performances, or busking!

Ji-han checked the floating message.
Then naturally tapped through buttons, reviewing the items for sale.

Clothes, hair, accessories—items to decorate avatars.
Lyrics, songs, remix tapes—items to unlock rich in-game content.
And lastly, options to adjust the stats of party members.

“This one?”

Ji-han tapped the last option to view the stats of Heart Boys.

[…Hmm]
[…Wow, seeing it for real, they’re terrible…]
[Balancing those to average might be impossible…]

As chat pointed out, their stats were abysmal.
Extreme highs and lows.
Clear strengths, but also glaring weaknesses.

Trying to make them “balanced hexagon idols”—and doing that for five people—looked like it would eat up too many points.

[No no, you can balance them fast]
[?? what are you talking about, how do you know the cost?]
[LOL look at Ji-han’s points right now]
[???]
[He just sat down and already has that many points??]
[He always full-combos everything. Trains like crazy, too]
[Lately he just streams singing and dancing nonstop lol]

Indeed, Ji-han’s points…
were absurdly maxed out with rows of zeroes.

[Wait, how many days since he started?]
[Today’s like… day 3?]
[Ji-han, are you secretly playing off-stream?]
[Are you singing and dancing without streaming?]
[Ji-han, did you lie to us? You said you’d always stream it…]

The points were so outrageous that suspicions of “backdoor Rhythm Poten” even came up.

[But seriously, you guys are wild. Shouldn’t bug abuse be your first suspicion?]
[LOL are you a newbie?]
[Newbie, just watch him more. His existence itself is a bug;]
[He’s just insanely good at games.]
[Conceptually and physically, so just sit back and watch lol]

Regardless of the noisy chat, Ji-han calmly scrolled through the stats and traits.

“But… do they really need to be balanced?”

[Huh?]
[????]
[Balanced idols are the safest, no?]
[Ji-han? You’re doing something weird again?]

“Before starting Rhythm Poten, I researched real idols a lot. Wouldn’t it make more sense to just cover the worst flaws, and then amplify their individual strengths instead of forcing balance?”

A pure question.
One only someone outside the idol industry could ask.
But even those who knew the idol world best often said similar things.

[Yeah, Ji-han has a point]
[There are idols who make you wonder how they debuted at all;;]
[That’s just because you’re a face stan lol]
[Fine, I admit I am, but even so, charisma alone can carry a career in this industry]
[So you’re saying you’ll only invest in fixing clashing weaknesses?]

“Yes. Just cover the conflicting flaws, and then strengthen their individual fortes.”

A direction focused on strengths.

“Hide the flaws, emphasize the strengths.”

Ji-han’s method was clear and straightforward.
As if confident, he instinctively began remodeling his teammates.

[LOL this is gonna be crazy]
[But what about group synchronization, like sharp choreo?]
[Perfect group performance affects how many points you earn, right?]
[And chorus parts too—they need to move together, which is hard…]

Worries began flooding chat.
Ji-han smiled faintly at the concerns.

“Thank you for worrying.”

Even so, he spent the points without hesitation.

“But if I can carry them myself, doesn’t that solve it?”

Carrying like a log.
Ji-han threw out the phrase he’d picked up from chat,

[LOL that’s the Ji-han we know!]
[So you’ll solo-carry the whole team?]
[Put everyone on the bus, huh?]
[LOL are you insane!?]
[Physical ability doesn’t solve everything!]
[No, if your body’s good, your brain doesn’t have to stress]
[LOL okay Ji-han, we’ll count on you!]

His shocking words set chat ablaze.

But the one who lit the fire simply bought a few extra traits, then calmly ended the day’s stream.