Become A Music Monster Overnight! [EN]: Chapter 94

One day, seemingly overnight, a music monster was born! 85

That day, Sumire returned home and slept the entire day.

It wasn’t unusual.

After releasing all her pent-up emotions through tears, the accumulated fatigue from her struggles finally overwhelmed her.

The past month, whether it felt short or long, had been a very tiring yet enjoyable experience for her.

Unlike the first and second preliminary rounds, the third preliminary round involved a team mission that required them to live together.

They lived together for a month, and none of the girls disliked this arrangement.

They were provided with decent living facilities and, more importantly, they experienced the life of Korean idol trainees.

There were over 30 trainers from Korea, including the choreography trainer of Blue Rose, a group that was a hot topic among Japanese teenagers and those in their twenties.

Of course, managing a thousand people made it difficult to receive personalized guidance.

However, even a short period of instruction from an expert was invaluable compared to learning on their own.

Sumire felt this difference acutely.

And it wasn’t just her. The beginner class trainer who was teaching her also took notice.

“Wow. Not bad?”

The trainer’s initial interest was piqued by Sumire’s striking visuals, even among the carefully selected girls, but now her talent was capturing her attention.

Her skills were improving rapidly, as if she were relearning something she had previously known. This wasn’t solely due to her natural talent.

It was because Sumire dedicated herself to practice, even sacrificing sleep.

The beginner class trainer recognized this dedication and felt a pang of regret for her.

“This is a really good opportunity. It’s a shame.”

If Sumire had recognized her talent and worked this hard even six months or a year earlier, she might have made it to the finals and achieved significant results.

However, the trainer considered it a miracle that Sumire had even made it this far given her late start.

Perhaps her natural beauty had carried her to the third preliminary round, but progressing further seemed unlikely.

And as predicted, Sumire failed to pass the third preliminary round.

“The weekend is gone.”

Sumire was stunned that she had spent the entire weekend sleeping, when she had planned to go out, shop, and have fun.

She felt refreshed after sleeping so much, but her head was still foggy, perhaps from oversleeping.

Regardless, she had to prepare for school.

Sumire changed into her school uniform, ate the meal her mother had prepared, and left the house.

-Thud, thud.-

-Ring, ring.-

The loud sound of a bicycle bell rang behind her as she walked listlessly. Sumire turned around at the familiar sound she hadn’t heard in a while.

“Sumire~ Good morning!”

She saw the energetic Rikka, who had been eliminated with her the day before yesterday.

Rikka, who had a sturdy build from playing tennis since she was young, looked particularly good with her short haircut and slightly protruding buck teeth.

“You seem more okay than I thought? I expected you to be a tragic heroine.”

“Tra-tragic heroine!”

Sumire was taken aback by the unexpected words, but Rikka shrugged.

“You looked like you were about to collapse back then. I was watching you from behind, and I felt so bad for you.”

As she spoke, Rikka got off her bicycle and hugged Sumire tightly.

“W-what are you doing?”

Sumire struggled against the sudden hug, but she couldn’t escape from Rikka, who was toned from exercising.

Eventually, Sumire gave up, and Rikka patted her back, saying,

“I know how you feel. Actually, this is my fourth time.”

“Fourth time?”

“Yeah. I mean failing the audition.”

“??”

Rikka, seeing Sumire’s eyes widen in surprise at her secret, pointed to her bicycle and said,

“Get on first. I’ll tell you on the way.”

“Oh? Okay. Thank you.”

That’s how Sumire learned the secret, or not-so-secret, from Rikka, her neighborhood and school friend.

Rikka, who originally aspired to be a tennis player, had to take a forced break three years ago due to an injury, and she discovered K-pop while recovering at home.

From then on, she dreamed of becoming an idol.

In middle school, she was busy watching YouTube and trying to imitate the artists, but since starting high school this year, she had begun to learn more seriously.

Her initiative was impressive. She used the money she earned from part-time jobs to travel to Korea alone and audition for idol groups since middle school.

However, the level of K-pop idol trainees was higher than she had imagined.

Also, unlike now, her skin was too tanned at the time, so she didn’t make a strong impression and had no choice but to fail.

She failed three times in a row, but she didn’t leave empty-handed.

Each time she failed the audition, the judges told her what she needed to improve.

That’s why, since becoming a high school student, she started focusing on skincare and makeup, and also looked for academies to learn vocals and dance.

Then, as if by fate, the NEW DAZE Contest was held, and she applied.

Of course, she unfortunately failed this time as well, but Rikka didn’t feel a sense of loss because she was recognized for her potential just by reaching the third preliminary round among so many applicants.

Sumire understood Rikka, but she also didn’t understand.

She thought that Rikka should be used to it after the fourth time, but she also wondered why Rikka looked so happy even though she had failed.

When she asked what was strange about it, Rikka replied casually, as if it were nothing.

“Why wouldn’t I be happy when I’ve gained a friend who shares the same dream as me?”

-Fwaaa-

Sumire, who didn’t expect such a cheesy answer, blushed.

“Hehehe.”

Rikka seemed embarrassed to have said such a thing, so she laughed and started riding her bicycle faster.

After that day, Rikka and Sumire stuck together like close friends.

They were together whenever they had time, not only during breaks and lunchtime, and there was one main reason for their closeness.

“An audition announcement is out. It’s from Alex Entertainment, which is a promising small to medium-sized entertainment company.”

“Didn’t you say that small to medium-sized entertainment companies are a bit risky?”

“That’s usually the case, but this place is a bit different.”

Rikka happily answered Sumire’s question. Sumire didn’t have as much information or access to quality information because she hadn’t been interested in this field for very long.

“First of all, YC [likely referring to a specific producer or executive] owns a whopping 34% stake in this place, and it’s also where Lala Land, who dominated the idol market in the second quarter of this year, is affiliated.”

“!!!”

Lala Land was a girl group that Sumire had learned about during the audition process. She had heard that they were a girl group that had become a big hit with a song written by YC, so she had looked them up and was plunged into self-doubt for a while because of the incredible difficulty of the song.

It was a moment when she realized how high the bar was for K-pop.

Anyway, now that they had a goal, Rikka and Sumire spent even more time together.

They needed to assess each other’s skills and teach each other.

Most of the time, Rikka taught Sumire, but Sumire also had something to offer Rikka.

Sumire, who had built a solid foundation in vocals while going through the basic class, was helpful to Rikka in this area.

As they were preparing to pass the audition, on the fourth day…

Sumire and Rikka had to revise their plans.

-You are hereby notified that you have been additionally accepted into the finals.-

This was because news of additional acceptances into the NEW DAZE Contest had been announced.

At first, they were confused because they thought only they had been accepted, but they were overjoyed to learn that they had both been additionally accepted.

“Eek! This isn’t a dream, is it!”

“Pinch me. Aaaagh!”

“It wasn’t a dream.”

“Hey! If you pinch me this hard… Hey! Rikka!”

Rikka, who had played a prank, quickly ran away when Sumire tried to get revenge, and Sumire couldn’t catch her in the end.

It didn’t make sense to catch her in the first place, since Rikka had been exercising since she was a child.

They were happy in many ways, but their cheers soon turned into groans.

Because they were trained twice as hard as the other finalists, as they were late additions and had many shortcomings.

“Nicori. Have you ever exercised before?”

“Huh? No.”

“Liar!”

Sumire couldn’t believe Nicori’s words. Nicori was as lively as Rikka, unlike Sumire, who was exhausted.

Unlike Rikka, who was joking about Sumire’s appearance, Nicori, who was like a typical calm Japanese woman, came to her and wiped her sweat, saying,

“Really. But, my house was in a remote area, so I guess my stamina naturally grew.”

“Really? I didn’t know because you don’t have a dialect.”

“Ah~ I lived in Tokyo when I was young.”

After that, Nicori calmly talked about herself, and Sumire and Rikka couldn’t help but become solemn at her story.

The reason why she, who had been in Tokyo, went to the countryside was because her father had passed away in an accident.

After that, her mother, who had no way to make a living, moved to the countryside where her maternal relatives lived, and Nicori had a hard time going to school there.

Her mother had to earn money, so she was raised by her grandmother, and her grandmother’s influence was significant in her calm demeanor, typical of traditional Japanese women.

Then, her grandmother passed away last year.

After that, her mother cleaned up her grandmother’s house and returned to Tokyo.

Now that she had a knack for work, she knew that it was easier to earn money in the city.

Nicori respected her mother’s decision, but she couldn’t adapt easily. She had lost her beloved grandmother after her father, and it wasn’t easy to adjust to the environment after growing up in the countryside for so long.

What gave her strength at that time was K-pop.

She fell in love with the confident and cool appearance of K-pop idols, and she wanted to be like that. When she learned that the NEW DAZE Contest was being held, she decided to attend.

She had applied earlier than Sumire and had talent, but unfortunately, she fell just short of the standard.

Sumire and Rikka, who had lived ordinary lives compared to her, didn’t know what to say, but what was certain was that a deep friendship began to sprout between them, who had been underachievers, from that day on.

* * *

-The talk of the town, the NEW DAZE Contest! A grand group dance performed by 1,000 girls!-

-YC’s composed ‘pick up!’ is a hot topic! YC sama!’s song worked this time too.-

-Currently, the archipelago is in a NEW DAZE Contest! craze!-

-The NEW DAZE Contest was hot from the preliminary rounds. YC is scheduled to appear ahead of the third episode of the main competition!-

“The response is more amazing than I thought.”

“Of course. Isn’t it something that the CEO, who is the protagonist of Billboard’s 14th week at number one, has led?”

“Hahaha…”

Youngchan nodded awkwardly, smiling at Ichiro’s words.

After all, the buzz surrounding Painkiller was still going strong, so much so that it was embarrassing that he had entered a break.

To be precise, the momentum seemed to be waning in the United States, but apart from that, the buzz surrounding Painkiller seemed to be starting in Europe, and it was being updated day by day.