Chapter 21: Stage of Fate

‘Is there a way to fix this?’

[Of course! I have the skills to handle something like this!]

‘What is it?’

Earth looked at Roy with expectant eyes, clearly hoping for praise, but Roy was more desperate to hear the solution.

[Currently, your vocal and dance rankings are C- and D, right? I’ll tell you how to raise both to B!]

‘How?’

The problem was that the survival program wouldn’t wait around for Roy to improve his skills.

[Then we just need to increase your time!]

‘…How do you increase time? You’re not a god.’

Roy had come to understand that, whether noble or commoner, time flows equally for everyone.

It was a universal rule no one could break.

[The answer is “Earth’s Virtual Training”!]

***

“Is Roy hyung in shock? He looks completely dazed…”

“Let’s just leave him alone for now. Even if he’s trying to act calm, he’s probably really hurt.”

To the other team members, Roy just looked like he was staring into space, but he was actually talking to Earth.

After overhearing their conversation, Roy realized he needed some time to be alone.

“…I’m going to the restroom for a bit.”

“Oh, sure. Take your time. We’ll clean the studio floor while you’re gone.”

The practice room floor had gotten slippery from all the sweat during rehearsals.

Jaemin gently pushed Roy’s back, smiling warmly as if to say, “Don’t worry, take your time.”

Roy’s expression didn’t usually show much, so the fact that he needed time to collect himself said a lot.

The team felt a deep pang of concern.

Roy, now the focus of everyone’s worried eyes, left the practice room and headed for the restroom at the edge of the building.

‘What exactly is virtual training?’

He entered an empty stall, shut the door, and sat on the closed toilet seat.

It felt gross, but after all the practice, his body was too drained to care.

[What you really need is more time, right?]

‘Right.’

[This is a method to extend your practice time! A normal day has 24 hours, but in the virtual space I created, time flows ten times slower than in the real world.]

‘So just my consciousness enters that space?’

[Exactly! But if you use it too much, it could cause mental strain or collapse, so I recommend using it for no more than two hours a day.]

‘Two hours would mean twenty hours of training…’

Spending all twenty hours purely on practice wasn’t realistic, but having more time to improve was a blessing.

‘Then I’ll start using it today. I’ll combine it with the experience points I’ve saved and try to raise my dance skills by one rank.’

[Good decision! And if you do well on this upcoming stage, I’ll be able to reward you properly!]

‘You can’t just give rewards on your own? Honestly… it would be so much easier if you just helped directly.’

Roy hadn’t wanted to ask this much.

But seeing how his lack of ability was putting stress on the whole team made him anxious.

[I may seem all-powerful, but I’m still just a creation that follows the rules of this world…]

Earth’s voice sounded a little down.

‘I get it. Honestly, even this much help is already a huge deal.’

[Hehe.]

If Earth were physically there, Roy would’ve reached out and ruffled her hair.

Her laugh was that cute.

He suddenly realized how attached he’d grown to her.

‘I should head back. The others will be worried.’

[Huh…? Hero, your ears just turned red, didn’t they?!]

‘You’re seeing things.’

Earth kept chattering that she didn’t think she was wrong, but Roy quickened his steps, leaving her teasing voice behind.

***

“Hoo…”

Roy and the rest of the team clenched their fists with nervous determination.

Today, Hyeyeon didn’t stop the song midway—she listened all the way to the end.

When Jihoo and Jaemin sang their duet, Roy could almost hear their pounding hearts echo in his ears.

“Good idea. I didn’t expect you to blend your strengths so well.”

Hyeyeon smiled for the first time.

It was a complete turnaround from the harsh criticism she’d given yesterday.

As the team members let out sighs of relief one by one, Hyeyeon pushed her glasses up her nose.

“But that doesn’t mean you’re ready to perform on stage just yet. You’ll need to keep practicing, right up to the moment before the show.”

“Yes, ma’am!”

“At least your voices are loud and clear. Hajun, let’s tweak your rap lyrics a bit. Come here.”

Hajun picked up the tablet with his lyrics and trotted over to her.

“The rest of you, keep practicing. I’ll check on everyone one by one after helping Hajun.”

“Okay!”

The other contestants gathered a short distance away from Hyeyeon and Hajun.

Roy stretched out his hand.

Kim chan grinned and placed his hand on Roy’s, followed by Doha, Jihoo, and finally Jaemin, creating a hand-stack.

“Great job, everyone. Let’s push through until dance coaching time.”

“Fighting.”

“Hey guys, we can hear you. Just say it louder.”

They’d tried to whisper so Hyeyeon wouldn’t hear, but she caught them instantly.

Roy and his team shouted a loud “Fighting!” that echoed through the practice room.

Then, they dove right back into training.

***

“It’s definitely improved.”

Yukay, who was once again about to give Roy a harsh lesson, stroked his chin with his index finger.

The night before, Roy had waited until everyone else was asleep before lying on his bed and closing his eyes.

Then, he entered the virtual space created by Earth and trained all night long.

The weekly mission required at least 20 hours of practice per week to avoid penalties, but the system allowed participants to complete the mission multiple times within the week.

Determined, Roy pushed himself to accumulate extra practice time.

He scraped together all the experience points he’d previously earned and managed to raise his dance rank from D to C-.

Even so, his dancing was still behind that of the other contestants.

But considering the dramatic improvement in just a single day, it was hard to believe.

“Doesn’t seem like he was slacking off… weird.”

To be honest, Yukay had been intentionally tougher on him to create more dramatic footage for the show.

The production team had also pointed out a few contestants who could deliver strong on-screen impact—and Roy was one of them.

With looks that were sure to attract viewers, the idea was to give him a growth boost and see how far he could go.

“Roy, I think you’re the kind of guy who gets better the more you’re scolded.”

That was the conclusion Yukay came to.

Thinking back, he himself had trained under a notoriously strict teacher when he was first learning to dance.

Those days were so harsh that he often ended up in tears, but thanks to that teacher, he was able to reach his current position.

“Yes. I think you’re right. It’s all thanks to your excellent teaching, sir.”

[Oh, Hero… I’m gonna cry.]

The words ‘That’s a bit much…’ almost came out, but Roy wisely chose flattery instead.

“Didn’t think I’d hear something like that in a place like this, kid.”

This was a job he was being paid to do.

In truth, Yukay was exhausted from the constant filming and repeated training sessions.

But hearing Roy say that his improvements were thanks to him made Yukay feel a little better.

“I can’t just sit around after hearing something like that. Today’s a special training day!”

“Yaaay!”

Everyone had already trained so hard that their practice clothes were soaked with sweat.

They’d even skipped lunch to look their best during training time.

Deep down, they were desperate for a break, but they clapped and cheered anyway.

Their eyes as they looked at each other were filled with a quiet, wistful warmth.

***

“I still can’t believe we’re next…”

“Me neither.”

Roy and his team were currently on standby below the stage.

Unfortunately, their turn was last, which meant a long wait.

There were 17 teams total.

Three of them had chosen the same song as Roy’s team.

Each song had two teams competing against each other.

The press conference for the program hadn’t even taken place yet.

So far, only the contestants’ profiles had been uploaded to the official website.

The audition videos would only go up after today’s episode aired.

The live audience gathered beneath the stage had applied through a recruitment notice on the K Entertainment website.

With so many contestants, some of them already had personal fans following them like halos.

Roy glanced over at Kim Chan, Lee Doha, and Han Jihoo.

The three were already known for having large fanbases.

According to Lee Hajoon, if a Hunter was S-rank and had decent looks, they were bound to attract fans by default.

“Let’s just do it exactly like we practiced. We worked our butts off for this.”

As Kim Jaemin spoke, everyone’s mind flashed back to the past few days.

They’d been scolded by trainers, worked together to find solutions, and cut into their rest time to improve the quality of their stage.

Roy, especially, had gritted his teeth and endured it all to raise both his singing and dancing ranks by one level each.

If he hadn’t been through the battlefield before, he probably would’ve passed out from the brutal schedule multiple times.

“Next team, standby please.”

“Yes! Let’s do this, team!”

At Kim Jaemin’s call, they stacked their hands together.

The warmth that passed through their joined palms helped calm their rapidly beating hearts.

“Aja aja fighting!”

As they shouted their team chant, it finally hit them that they were really about to go onstage.

‘I didn’t even feel this nervous giving speeches before battle.’

Roy, in particular, was experiencing the most intense nervousness of his life.

At first, he had thought he had no choice.

He had suddenly fallen into this world and met a mysterious entity called ‘Earth,’ which pushed him to become a Hunter Idol.

Then by sheer coincidence, he’d met Kim Chan and Hwang Guman, signed a contract with Bada Entertainment, and joined this survival program—all of it flowing as naturally as water.

Every time he danced, he thought of his late mother.

He also remembered his younger sister, who once said she wanted to dance freely like their mom someday.

***

“The energy under the stage is incredible! Finally, it’s time for our last team of the night! Performing a cover of UU’s ‘Run’—it’s Hunting’s stage!”

Roy stepped forward onto the stage one step at a time.

The blinding lights and the overwhelming cheers tangled together like a storm, piercing straight into his chest.