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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 28
Chapter Title: The Gift of Confidence
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Na Yeon-woo flinched as her name was called out with such over-the-top embellishments, while Hye-sung’s hand shot up, aiming to pierce the ceiling like the Tower of Babel.
The team members, their eyes wide, all stared at the ceiling where her fingertip was pointing. It was a bizarre sight, like a scene from an ancient mural.
“I just want Na Yeon-woo to be the center, even just once. Even if it’s only for the first competition. She’s just… so refreshing.”
Hye-sung even pretended to wipe away tears while spouting lines like a politician’s supporter she’d seen somewhere, causing Na Yeon-woo’s face to turn bright red.
“Hye-sung eonni. What are you doing…?”
“Weren’t you fidgeting because you wanted to volunteer, Yeon-woo?”
“Well, yes, but… please put your arm down.”
Na Yeon-woo quickly grabbed Hye-sung’s still-raised right arm and pulled it down.
“What was that just now? When you said, ‘Appearing like a comet,’ I thought you were nominating yourself.”
“Me too. I was thinking, ‘Wow, this eonni is really overdoing her self-promo, is this a campaign rally?’ and then suddenly Yeon-woo’s name came out.”
Seong-bin and Cha Ju-yeon exchanged words, their faces bewildered.
“I recommended her for center because I thought she was the perfect face for our team. Ju-ha eonni, Yeon-woo wants to volunteer too.”
“Oh, uh, a recommendation? Right. I think Yeon-woo would be a good fit too.”
Lee Ju-ha, who had been momentarily dazed by Hye-sung’s strange proxy nomination performance, finally came to her senses.
“Aren’t you volunteering, Hye-sung?”
“No. I’ll sit this one out.”
“Then that makes five people, including Yeon-woo.”
Lee Ju-ha wrote Na Yeon-woo’s name down on the paper she was holding.
“Alright, let’s have everyone perform the center part one by one and then vote. Ju-yeon, shall we start with you?”
“Sounds good.”
Cha Ju-yeon shot up from her seat. Whether she already knew the choreography or not, her movements flowed without hesitation, crisp and clean. Her vocal skills weren’t what you’d call great, but her confident voice wasn’t bad.
‘She’s pretty good. I guess it’s true that confidence is half the battle.’
Cha Ju-yeon’s greatest strength was that she never hesitated, whether she was good at something or not.
‘She’s a trainee from an acting agency, chosen to match Yeon-woo’s image, so her visuals are good, and she has decent potential.’
“Whoa~ You’re good!”
“Cha Ju-yeon for president!”
As the team members clapped and showered her with praise, Cha Ju-yeon responded by blowing a kiss.
‘She has a knack for showing off her charms, too. I get the feeling she’ll be a completely different person in a year or two.’
Hye-sung imagined Cha Ju-yeon’s future, ready to lay out a fortune-telling mat then and there.
Her delusion gauge began to flash and fill up again.
‘She can practice while Yeon-woo debuts once and comes back. Don’t you dare leave Management A, Ju-yeon. Just wait.’
Having arbitrarily decided on her as a member for Na Yeon-woo’s future re-debut, Hye-sung nodded in satisfaction.
Seeing this, Cha Ju-yeon asked with a suspicious look on her face.
“Hye-sung eonni. What’s with that CEO-like expression?”
“I was just thinking you did a good job.”
“What! This eonni must really like me!”
“Please. Stop saying weird things.”
What is her brain even made of for her logic to jump around like that?
Hye-sung sighed and pressed a hand to her forehead.
“Look at her, pretending to be mad because she’s embarrassed she got caught. You’re nice to Yeon-woo just to get on my good side, right?”
“Hey!”
Hye-sung indignantly raised a clenched fist. Cha Ju-yeon had already scrambled to hide behind Lee Ju-ha. But being on the taller side, she couldn’t completely hide even when crouched.
“Yeon-woo. You know that’s not true, right? You’re my only one, really.”
“Huh? Your only one…?”
Na Yeon-woo stared at Hye-sung with a puzzled look as she frantically waved her hands and made excuses for something that didn’t even need one.
“Hey! Cha Ju-yeon! Get over here! You’re making Yeon-woo misunderstand, hurry up and clear the air! Before I trap you in feedback hell!”
“Ju-ha eonni! Hye-sung eonni keeps trying to hit me!”
“I haven’t hit you yet!”
“Girls, that’s enough. I’ll give you time to fight later, let’s decide on the parts first.”
Lee Ju-ha separated the two as if parting the Red Sea.
“Then, next up is Rurika?”
“Ah, yes!”
At the sound of her name, Rurika shuffled to her feet.
What followed was a series of notes that made the listener anxious and some strange dancing. In fact, it could hardly be called dancing; it looked more like a few hastily improvised gestures.
“Wow~ So cute.”
“Good job~”
The responses were soulless.
Hye-sung clapped politely before turning her gaze to Na Yeon-woo.
Perhaps nervous that her turn was approaching, she was blinking her large eyes, her face still slightly flushed.
‘My poor kid. What are you lacking that makes you so timid?’
While part of it was her naturally gentle and delicate personality, it seemed the confidence she’d lost from falling and getting an F grade hadn’t fully recovered, even after rising to the Ace grade.
‘The only thing Yeon-woo lacks right now is confidence. Then I’ll just have to grind myself down to fill it for her.’
That’s why I’m here, after all.
Hye-sung steeled her resolve, her face like a general’s right before heading into battle.
‘Status Window. Transfer Trait skill.’
[Would you like to use the exclusive skill for the title ‘Hardcore Yeon-woo Stan’?]
[You can temporarily transfer a possessed trait to the fixed target, Na Yeon-woo. (Limited to once a day. A random penalty is imposed on the user with a 50% probability.)]
‘A penalty… Doesn’t matter. Transfer the trait to the target.’
[The trait will now be transferred to Na Yeon-woo.]
[Penalty triggered! Within 48 hours, the user Yoon Hye-sung will be affected by the Transform: Pork and Rice Soup Mode. (Random activation time, lasts 30 minutes.)]
‘Wh-what kind of mode?!’
As Hye-sung’s eyes trembled, a sense of bravado began to take over Na Yeon-woo’s body.
* * *
Last night.
‘Why give me something like a Heart Scouter? I don’t even want to know the kids’ affection levels. And even if I wanted to later, the activation method is a vertical V sign? It looks so openly suspicious, how am I supposed to use it? Straight to storage it goes.’
Hye-sung had grumbled, feigning disinterest in the item she received as a special reward.
‘Huh? Wait a minute.’
She suddenly became curious about what Na Yeon-woo thought of her.
‘…Still, since I received it, wouldn’t it be polite to use it at least once?’
In the end, Hye-sung waited for an opportunity and discreetly used the item on Na Yeon-woo. It was during breakfast this morning.
[Heart Scouter (Rare) activated!]
[Affection Level: ♥♥]
[Target Na Yeon-woo thinks of you as a friend she can lean on.]
[By using the Heart Scouter, you have cleared the conditions to acquire the title ‘Hardcore Yeon-woo Stan’! You can now use the exclusive skill .]
And so, upon confirming the two filled hearts of affection, she had obtained the title ‘Hardcore Yeon-woo Stan’.
[ is a skill that allows you to temporarily transfer your possessed traits to a fixed target.]
‘Is this skill name for real? Can’t you analyze my character properly?’
Her heartwarming feelings from earning a title that required a certain level of affection were brief. Hye-sung expressed her dissatisfaction with the status window that kept misinterpreting her character.
‘Just because I call her ‘my kid’ doesn’t mean I’m her actual mother. This is making it harder and harder to face Yeon-woo’s real mother. Not that I’ll ever meet her, but still.’
[Would you like to change the skill name ?]
‘Yes!’
[The exclusive skill name for the title ‘Hardcore Yeon-woo Stan’ has been changed to .]
‘That’s still weird.’
[As has been changed to , a gift tax will be imposed upon skill usage.]
‘…’
[Gift tax for skill usage: A random penalty is imposed with a 50% probability.]
‘At this point, I’m starting to wonder if the status window is friend or foe… Just change it back.’
[Impossible.]
‘…F♡ck.’
The exclusive skill she had acquired could temporarily transfer her traits, but using it came with a 50% chance of a penalty.
‘It’s a temporary transfer, not a gift, so why is there a gift tax… Still, if it’s a fifty-fifty chance, well, I have my four-leaf clover… I probably won’t get hit.’
It wasn’t a guaranteed penalty, so Hye-sung tried to brush it off, achieving a mental victory with the thought of giving anything good she got to Na Yeon-woo.
‘…But I got hit. A penalty.’
The moment she saw the words ‘Pork and Rice Soup Mode,’ she checked the status window notification several times, hoping she had misread it. But unfortunately, the words ‘Pork and Rice Soup Mode’ were not a mistake.
‘What on earth is Pork and Rice Soup Mode? How did I get stuck with such a bizarre penalty… There’s not even a detailed explanation…’
Did it mean she would be possessed by bravado and have to cook pork and rice soup?
It was an unknown entity, impossible to guess its nature from the name alone.
A sense of anxiety stemming from the unknown washed over Hye-sung.
“Well then, is it my turn last?”
After Kim Ga-young and Shin Hyun-ah’s attempts were over, Na Yeon-woo stood up, her face brimming with confidence. It was the complete opposite of the withdrawn girl from before.
‘Oh! It’s working.’
Seeing the confident appearance of her girl that she’d always wished for, Hye-sung’s face began to light up.
But at the same time, a worrying thought crossed her mind.
‘Surely Yeon-woo won’t cause a scene here like I did, right?’
Hye-sung had been all bluster, armed with baseless confidence and zero skill, while Na Yeon-woo had solid fundamentals and overflowing potential that was plain to see.
That’s why she predicted that the trait that had embarrassed her would have a positive effect on Na Yeon-woo. But now, she began to worry about the slim chance that her choice had been wrong.
“Call me, any where, any time. Whether on Earth, or in space!”
Thankfully, Na Yeon-woo didn’t cause a scene and started the center part perfectly fine.
“I’ll run to you right away, just call my name, baby!”
Her lively movements were powerful yet light, and her slightly low-toned voice was clean and crisp. While she wasn’t an exceptional singer, she controlled her dynamics well, blending perfectly with the song’s energetic mood.
“You know I’m only waiting for you~ What you’re thinking, what dreams you dreamt, I want to know it all!”
Her expression was so good that the stage vividly formed before my eyes.
I felt like I was experiencing it in 4D, sensing the lighting… the temperature… even the humidity of a venue I’d never been to. It was as if anyone watching this scene would be unable to imagine a stage where Na Yeon-woo wasn’t the center.
“Gaaah! Yeon-woo! You were amazing!!!”
The moment Na Yeon-woo finished her part safely and perfectly, an emotional Hye-sung screamed and rushed forward.
“Wait, Hye-sung. Calm down, we have to vote first, right?”
Lee Ju-ha stopped Hye-sung, who was charging forward like a fan storming the stage, and nonchalantly moved on to the next step.
“Alright, now that we’ve seen everyone, let’s vote.”
The vote was conducted by the three people who hadn’t volunteered for the center position.
The result was a unanimous vote for Na Yeon-woo.
“Congratulations~ Here, the center sticker.”
“I was so surprised at how well you did, Yeon-woo, considering how shy you were.”
“Guess it’s no wonder you shot straight up to the Ace grade~”
“Wow~ Na Yeon-woo, how are you so good! We did this song together for the monthly evaluation, and you’re way better than back then! Ah, well, I did a good job too!”
The team members fussed over Na Yeon-woo, praising her. Cha Ju-yeon didn’t seem to mind at all, despite having lost out on both the leader and center positions.
Rurika, on the other hand, lowered her head, her face a picture of deep disappointment.
