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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 4
Chapter Title: A Dream Becomes Reality
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“Yes?”
“Um, your name tag…”
A young girl sitting a short distance away spoke politely, her voice trailing off into a near-whisper, a stark contrast to the booming tone she'd used to stop Hye-sung moments ago.
Following the girl's gaze, Hye-sung saw a paper with ‘Na Yeon-woo’ written on it stuck to the hem of her clothes. It seemed she had sat on it without noticing.
“Ah, um, I think a contestant who already finished must have forgotten it and left it on the seat…”
“Ah… thank you.”
Hye-sung removed the paper name tag and offered a slight smile in thanks.
Looking at the name tag that read ‘Na Yeon-woo’ and feeling a sense of familiarity with the girl's face, the situation began to click into place.
‘Ah, so it's this kind of dream? Okay, okay.’
Leaving the waiting room, Hye-sung found a restroom far down the hall. She thought it would be best if no one was around.
After closing the stall door, Hye-sung bent four of her fingers back with enough force to break them.
It seemed clear that she was in a dream, but she wanted to do a reality check. If this was indeed a dream, something impossible in reality would happen.
As expected, her wrist joint bent as easily as jelly, and her fingers passed through her arm. Naturally, there was no pain.
‘Confirmed it's a dream. Now what? It seems like Yeon-woo's already done, but is she still here? I want to see my baby's face at least once.’
It seemed the setting of this dream was the preliminary audition for Supernova Project Season 5, before it aired. She also remembered the name of the girl who had spoken to her earlier.
‘Kim Da-on… was it? She was the youngest contestant. She wasn't a particularly standout trainee, but as the youngest, she got a fair bit of screen time before she was eliminated.’
Hye-sung found the situation of being a contestant herself a bit absurd, but since it was a lucid dream she could control, she figured it didn't matter.
Just as she was about to leave the restroom to find Na Yeon-woo, a translucent, pale blue window popped up before her eyes.
[You have been caught in the whim of Fortuna, the goddess of luck and fate. Welcome to the dream world managed by System Morpheus.]
‘What is this.’
[Will you accept your dream becoming reality, starting now?]
[Yes / No]
‘This is a bit baffling. It's the first time I've had a plot twist like this in a lucid dream…’
What happens if I press it, and what happens if I don't? Hye-sung took her hand off the doorknob and sat gently on the toilet lid.
‘If I choose yes, will the setting change again? That can't happen.’
[Beep-]
A warning sound rang out, as if to rush Hye-sung.
[Warning. If you do not accept within 100 seconds, you will automatically wake from the dream and return to reality.]
‘Warning? You've got to be kidding me. What's a hologram going to do, warn me? This is my dream, get lost. I have to go see Yeon-woo.’
Hye-sung waved her hand through the air.
‘Why isn't it disappearing?’
[Beep-!]
‘Ugh, so noisy. Be quiet.’
[Beeeeep-!!]
‘What is wrong with you, seriously!’
[Warning. The countdown will now begin. The protection of Morpheus will be nullified. You will be unable to superimpose the dream onto reality. The opportunity to debut Na Yeon-woo will disappear. 100… 99…….]
‘What? What are you talking about! Wait! Stop, stop!’
[…97… 96…….]
‘Ah, why won't it stop!’
Wait, this is my dream, so why can't I control it? Flustered, Hye-sung started to grow anxious.
‘This has never happened before.’
Then maybe this isn't just a lucid dream… Hye-sung's eyes widened. An unbelievable thought flashed through her mind.
“Could it be that? Is it really that? This is insane.”
She was so shocked and dumbfounded that her thoughts slipped out.
‘Uh, what do I do? But is it really that? If not, this is kind of embarrassing…’
While her face flushed at the thought of what to do if she was wrong, the countdown continued.
‘What should I do…’
Accept? Or not? Accept? After a moment of internal conflict, Hye-sung nodded, her decision made.
‘I'm a woman who gets things done. Watch closely, world. I'm going to make my baby debut.’
Just as she was about to slam the accept button, Hye-sung hesitated, her finger stopping in mid-air.
‘Hmph, wait a second…’
In this dream, the setting was that I was also participating as a trainee. Hye-sung broke into a cold sweat.
To help Na Yeon-woo, she needed to achieve a certain rank to survive alongside her. Ideally, it would be best to make it to the finals together.
‘…Is that even possible? At my age, with my skills?’
As she hesitated, faced with this practical problem, another window appeared as if it had been waiting.
Ting.
[A gift has arrived from the system, which was moved by the 'Mother's Heart' that pulled this dream into reality for the sake of 'My Baby'. Please check the contents and press the accept or decline button.]
‘A gift?’
A gift is always welcome. And while it's true Yeon-woo is my baby, the name 'Mother's Heart' is a bit… I feel bad for Yeon-woo's actual mother.
‘Let's open it and see. Just you try giving me something weird.’
Hye-sung quickly checked the contents.
[Starter Pack: Protagonist's Blessing (Normal)]
[Accepting will increase all stats by half a star (☆).]
[Yoon Hye-sung (Age 27/Female)]
Visuals ★☆ -> ★★
Vocal (-) -> ☆
Dance (-) -> ☆
Star Quality (-) -> ☆
[Will you receive the gift?]
[Accept / Decline]
‘Excuse me. What's with that hyphen.’
Is that supposed to be a zero? What is this. Even so, isn't getting zero three times in a row too harsh of an evaluation? Hye-sung grumbled.
The fact that the stats were rated in stars was also strangely annoying.
‘For something called 'Protagonist's Blessing,' the effect seems pretty lame. And how much is half a star, exactly?’
[…….]
‘Isn't it an unwritten rule that when you ask something in your head, it's supposed to answer right away? Is it different because this dream is like another world?’
But if half a star is the *improved* stat, it must be F-rank. At the thought of her stats being rock bottom, Hye-sung's face crumpled like a burst red bean bun.
‘Show me the grade chart. Not star ratings, an intuitive conversion table.’
[…….]
‘Status window. Show me the conversion to ABCDF grades.’
[Stat Grade Chart]
★★★★★★ 6 Stars = SS
★★★★★☆ 5.5 Stars = S+
★★★★★ 5 Stars = S
★★★★☆ 4.5 Stars = A+
★★★★ 4 Stars = A
★★★☆ 3.5 Stars = B+
★★★ 3 Stars = B
★★☆ 2.5 Stars = B-
★★ 2 Stars = C+
★☆ 1.5 Stars = C
★ 1 Star = C-
☆ 0.5 Stars = D
(-) 0 Stars = F
Only after the intuitive grade chart appeared before her did Hye-sung's crumpled expression return to normal.
‘It should pop up right away when I say it once! What is this, an AI speaker with a broken voice recognition sensor…? Anyway, half a star is a truly hopeless stat.’
Hye-sung let out a sigh.
‘But I'm not tone-deaf.’
She had never thought of herself as a bad singer, so she figured if she were to be graded, she'd be about average.
But to only get half a star after an increase.
In ABCDF terms, that was a D. She'd never gotten a grade as low as a D, even in school. At this rate, far from supporting and pulling Na Yeon-woo along, she felt like she'd be eliminated in the first round herself.
‘This is truly hopeless.’
[Will you receive the gift?]
[Accept / Decline]
‘Accept. Thanks a lot for raising it by a measly half a star, you jerks.’
[Gift accepted. As an additional reward for accepting the first gift, the skill is activated.]
[User (Yoon Hye-sung/Age 27)'s physical and documented age will revert to 19. People will perceive you as 19 years old.]
[Visuals have increased by ☆! Current Visuals ★★☆]
‘Is this system nuts? My visuals go up just because I got younger. What, are old people not allowed? 27 is still plenty young… And when Season 5 was filmed, I was 25.’
[Will you accept your dream becoming reality, starting now?]
[Yes / No]
She pressed the 'Yes' button, but no visible change occurred.
‘What, no special effects like suddenly being sucked in somewhere?’
No sooner had Hye-sung tilted her head in confusion than a quest window appeared.
[Main Quest ]
[Chapter 1. Participate in 'Supernova Project Season 5: Sailing to Dream', which Na Yeon-woo is also in, secretly support her, and pass the first ranking ceremony together!]
[Accept / Decline]
‘Of course I accept. That's why I'm here.’
[※Warning. Using reality manipulation skills or excessively interfering with the fate of other trainees will accumulate karma. If your karma exceeds 5, the quest will fail. (No retries)]
“Excuse me?”
Along with Hye-sung's dumbfounded cry, another piece of information was unlocked.
[Additional Stats]
Delusion 1
Karma 1
[(Help) Do not accumulate karma. If karma exceeds 5, a penalty will occur. You will be punished by being trapped on the border between reality and dream.]
[Penalty Duration: Until the end of this universe.]
“What, this is insane…”
Hye-sung was momentarily stunned by the preposterous help text.
‘What is this 'Delusion' stat, and why do I already have 1 karma point? What did I do to accumulate karma already!’
Could it be that swapping the dream with reality was an act that accumulated karma? She thought that might be possible.
‘You should have told me beforehand. That penalty is too harsh… I'd rather just die.’
'Until the end of this universe' meant being trapped somewhere for a period of time close to eternity.
‘…As long as I don't accumulate karma, it should be fine, right?’
She didn't know what level of 'excessively interfering with the fate of other trainees' meant, but she figured she just had to help other people notice Na Yeon-woo's good qualities a little more.
‘Let's not get scared already. I'm a woman who gets things done.’
Steeling her resolve, Hye-sung nodded.
‘Still, I've put out the most urgent fire. I was terrified I'd have to go on a TV audition looking like an office worker pickled from a week straight of overtime.’
Her current visuals were 2.5 stars. She didn't know exactly what level that was, but it didn't seem bad.
‘The rest of my stats are all 0.5 stars… Since I basically have no fundamentals, it might take less time to raise them by one grade in the beginning.’
Yoon Hye-sung was a woman who usually believed that 'for idols, looks come first.' However, she often had the baseless delusion that if she were to become an idol, she would aim for the main vocal role. Of course, in reality, she didn't have a shred of the necessary skill. Hence, the baseless delusion.
‘Being tone-deaf is a definite no in K-pop. For now, I want to settle somewhere around 50th place, barely noticeable. I don't want to attract attention for the wrong reasons, so for the class evaluation, let's just aim not to be called tone-deaf.’
With her current stats, she would probably receive the lowest grade in the class evaluation. It would be difficult to make any meaningful improvement in just a few days, so she had to humbly accept that.
‘To support our Yeon-woo, I have to survive for a long, long time. I've just never tried, so maybe I'll improve surprisingly quickly. The three consecutive zeros must be because that system thing doesn't know what it's doing. Yes, that must be it.’
While Hye-sung was psyching herself up, lost in the delusion that she would gradually improve her skills, the restroom door banged loudly.
