Episode 152: Public Recruitment (2)
Even before regression, MyWay’s audition was quite famous.
An audition held only once a year.
Compared to the three major agencies that held open auditions every month or even every week, it was on a completely different level. It was so closed-off that it could even be called extreme, unlike other agencies that at least kept their doors wide open online.
‘And that wasn’t even the only thing.’
The truly insane part was that it was not uncommon for this carefully held audition to produce not even a single successful candidate.
That was MyWay’s audition.
‘Quite a few kids who got scouted by other agencies and debuted were discovered in MyWay’s final interview room.’
It wasn’t particularly rare in this industry, but it happened quite frequently at MyWay.
Even without those stories, the notorious reputation of MyWay’s public recruitment audition could be proven in another way.
“Shall we stop here for today? You’ve been practicing hard even while I was away. One thing I want to say is don’t get too obsessed with English pronunciation. It feels like you’re trying so hard to be perfect that the delivery of the lyrics gets a little blurry.”
“Yes! Thank you! Thank you for your hard work!”
“Yeah. Do well on this month’s evaluation too. Go home safely.”
Just like the trainees who bowed politely and left the room.
The trainee pool here consisted of kids who could debut right now without raising any doubts, yet their numbers were abnormally small.
In fact, including the trainee who just left, most of the kids I met today had faces I still remembered from before regression because they had all debuted somewhere.
‘Of course, it was with other agencies.’
Anyway, MyWay’s trainee pool was made up entirely of kids who would easily receive at least a B-Class rating if sent to Project Trinity.
In other words, if someone wasn’t at that level, they couldn’t pass MyWay’s audition.
The aspiring idols who went around chasing auditions knew this fact very well.
That was why, during the merger with Jooyul, even the kids who had auditioned with Soyoung gave up on MyWay’s audition despite being told they would pass the document screening.
‘The threshold is high, and the exit is narrow.’
No matter how thirsty you are, you can’t just drink seawater.
Kids who know they don’t have the skill to refine that seawater understand from the start that it’s a waste of time.
Instead, they prepare for auditions where their chances are a little higher.
Applicants who don’t even know their own level?
Most of them get filtered out at the document screening stage anyway, and even if they somehow pass, they can’t overcome the wall of Seo Yoon-je waiting in the final interview.
The MyWay I knew after regression was a few years later than now, but the situation probably wasn’t that different now.
‘And yet, the number of applicants for that worst audition is at an all-time high.’
It wasn’t just “a lot.” They had to borrow hands from the A&R team because the rookie development team alone couldn’t review all the application documents in time.
‘Of course, this was an expected event.’
No matter how bad the evaluations were, the reason even talented kids avoided MyWay’s audition was because MyWay had no proper output.
Setting aside exceptional cases like Lee Ahjeong, there were several outstanding singers in non-idol genres like Go Yo-han, but the majority of applicants who chased auditions were aiming for idol groups.
In that sense, the pre-regression Hylliy and Oberon weren’t particularly great output.
They were groups with their own charm, but they fell far short of being worth the risky gamble of enduring such a low acceptance rate.
But that was only the story before regression.
The current MyWay had clear output: dominating the first half of the year starting with Mysty and continuing through First Step and Glaze.
Hylliy broke through their limits with the song Mysty, achieved their goals, and began looking toward even higher places.
Orion, unlike their senior group Hylliy, was running on the royal road with the title of strong candidate for Rookie of the Year.
E-GIS was enjoying various support that small agencies normally couldn’t receive, running the royal road alongside Orion (honestly, a little behind them).
‘With this level, the story changes.’
The existence of clear, successful output was more than enough to turn MyWay’s previously worst audition—high threshold and needle-hole exit—into a premium opportunity instead.
‘Worried about debuting?’
Not only in Orion’s case, but just looking at the expansion move of taking in both Jooyul and E-GIS at once was enough to blow away any such worries.
‘There’s also the Team Y case.’
Of course, Team Y itself was formed after the application deadline, but the news that MyWay was participating in Project Trinity had already spread widely around the time applications were being accepted.
Now, no one could call MyWay’s audition the worst anymore.
And it was all because of me.
Because of the futures of the three groups I had changed.
“Pfft.”
A laugh I couldn’t hold back slipped out.
It might be rude to the rookie development team and A&R team employees who had even worked overtime to review the application documents, but honestly, I felt like I now understood the fun Hikaru had with his Three Kingdoms unification game and the fun Jun had with his soccer club management game.
When I thought about the trainees who would debut with various agencies within the next two to three years at the shortest, or five to six years at the longest, and make a name for themselves…
‘How can I hold this in?’
A chance to possibly create the dream group that only existed in internet communities was right in front of me. How could I not smile?
Of course, this could also be me drinking kimchi soup way too early.
Because of my schedule, the only part I could participate in was the final interview, which would be held over the weekend.
Just like with Chae-kyung and Soyoung, there was a possibility that truly promising kids with yet-to-bloom potential might fail to reach the final interview and get eliminated.
‘Not only might they get eliminated, they might not have applied at all.’
Still, I could dream, right?
The two remaining members of Laira, whose identities I still didn’t know.
Or the center of the group that supported Sunshine after Moon Esther—the biggest victim of pre-regression Project Trinity—switched to acting.
Or the juniors of the many groups that had been called “post-Polaris.”
Just the thought that I had no idea who might appear or how was enough to send my expectations soaring through the roof.
“Excuse me… Um… Teacher, you seem to be in a good mood.”
The trainee who poked her head in through the open door said that as a greeting.
“Hm. Yeah, something good happened.”
“Eh? What is it? Can’t you tell me too?”
“Nope. I’m not telling. I’ll laugh by myself.”
“Ehh~”
Looking at the kid pouting her lower lip and making a deflating sound, I decided to put thoughts of the audition aside for a little while longer.
The audition was important, but watching what kind of future this kid would draw for herself was also going to be a new source of enjoyment for me.
‘I should focus when it’s time to focus.’
Ah, come to think of it, that expression she was making right now was something she would later use as a pretty big charm point after debut.
Should I tell her about it or not?
***
The front of MyWay’s headquarters started to become crowded.
Countless kids who had stepped forward to become the protagonists of this event called an audition.
MyWay employees and casting directors from other agencies watching those applicants with hawk-like eyes.
Reporters and YouTubers trying to capture every scene with their cameras.
Now, an unprecedented crowd had gathered in front of the once-quiet building.
While almost everyone’s eyes were sparkling with stars named “expectation,”
“Haah…”
There was one person letting out a sigh with distinctly cynical eyes.
The reason was simple.
“Won-ah. Thank you so much. I’ll grant you any wish you want later.”
Because the owner of the single-syllable name “Won” had not come to this place voluntarily at all.
And,
“You’re not a kid. It’s not like this is your first or second audition. Do we really have to come together like this?”
“But I feel like I’m going to die from nervousness. Who else can I ask for this if not you? Ah, Yu-won~! Come on, don’t be like that. Loosen your expression a bit, okay?”
“I know I already failed at the document stage, yet you still…”
Even while speaking in a voice full of grumpiness that matched his cynical eyes, Yu-won didn’t leave the spot.
Because Yu-won also understood his friend’s feelings—the friend who had dragged him here.
That was natural. Yu-won himself was one of the aspiring idols running toward the shining star called “idol.”
The only difference was that, unlike his friend who brought him here, Yu-won had been completely rejected at the document screening stage.
‘What annoys me more is that this isn’t even a guilt trip.’
Yu-won knew all too well that his friend’s request to come together wasn’t some kind of deception aimed at him.
Stories of people getting cast while accompanying friends to auditions were no longer special.
Moreover, considering that quite a few casting directors from other agencies flocked to MyWay’s audition, the current situation was purely an act of friendship hoping to give Yu-won even a small chance.
Even though he understood all of that, there was only one reason Yu-won couldn’t relax.
“Han Yujin…!”
“Seo Yoon-je is here too…!”
The reason had just revealed itself.
‘Are Han Yujin sunbae-nim and CEO Seo Yoon-je your friends or something…?’
Han Yujin.
It hadn’t been that long since his existence appeared in front of Yu-won.
Yet Yu-won already wished he could stand in front of him as one artist.
Even though he knew his skills were still a little lacking to participate in MyWay’s audition, Yu-won had acted out of pure bravado, hoping that a miracle might happen.
Of course, using that as motivation to push his practice even harder was just a bonus.
But right now, he couldn’t even stand in front of him. He could only satisfy himself with catching a glimpse of his idol passing through the crowd.
That reality was incredibly painful for Yu-won.
‘Ah.’
The finishing blow came the moment their eyes briefly met as he passed by.
The tears he had been desperately covering with cynicism rose up, ready to burst out at the slightest touch.
“I’m going to the bathroom real quick.”
“Why? You’re not running away, are you?”
“I’m not running. I came all the way here, why would I run?”
It was a lie.
The wish his friend said she would grant?
That wasn’t important right now.
Getting cast by another agency?
If it wasn’t MyWay—the place where he was—Yu-won had no desire to join anywhere else.
He planned to slip out of the building right now and run away from his idol’s gaze.
“Wait a moment.”
If that familiar voice he had heard countless times hadn’t caught his ankle, he really would have done exactly that.
“Hey, you heard me but you’re still trying to run? Yeah, you over there without a number tag.”
Yu-won tried to take another step, wondering if the words were really directed at him, but the next sentence made his attempt futile.
Feeling like a broken doll, Yu-won creakily turned his head. In his vision appeared the brightly smiling face of his idol.
“You don’t have a number tag, so I guess you’re not an audition participant. Did you come with a friend?”
“M… Me?”
Just from the gaze directed at him, he could tell, but when the idol-like figure who had pushed through the crowd nodded up and down in confirmation instead of answering the question he had asked, Yu-won froze.
“If you’re interested in this side, can you give me a call? This is our manager’s business card.”
“I… I failed at the document screening though…?”
Maybe because so many eyes were on him.
Yu-won blurted that out without even knowing what he was saying.
‘You idiot, Yu-won…!’
And he immediately regretted it.
Kicking away a golden opportunity that had rolled right to his feet—this would probably go down in the record books.
But the answer that came back blew Yu-won’s mind straight into the sky.
“Really? That’s perfect then. It means you are interested. Make sure you call.”
That wasn’t all.
“Wait, Yujin-ssi, hold on. Hey! Bring one spare number tag over here. And a pen too.”
Seo Yoon-je, who had followed Han Yujin, stepped forward and began sorting out the situation.
“What’s your name, student?”
“Yu-won.”
“Yu-won?”
“No, Yu-won. It’s a single character.”
“Ah, Yu-won. I see, you came with this student?”
“Yes!”
When Yu-won’s friend, who had brought him here, answered Seo Yoon-je’s question in place of the dazed Yu-won,
“Yujin-ssi doesn’t usually do this, so I got curious too and wanted to see once. If there’s no prepared tag, it can’t be helped. Shall we go, Yujin-ssi?”
“Yes. Don’t throw away the business card, keep it safe.”
“Won-ah, it worked out! For real! You did well following me, right? This means the wish is canceled, okay?”
Soon after, the two of them disappeared from Yu-won’s sight.
Only then, thanks to his friend’s excited fussing, did Yu-won snap back to reality. It felt like he had been dreaming, but—
[777]
[Yu Won]
The number tag in his hand with his name and the lucky number written in elegant handwriting, along with the business card bearing a name he had never seen before, proved that it was not a dream.
It was truly… like a miracle.
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[1] The Regressor Who Turns Trash Martial Arts into Divine Techniques
[2] I Descended as the Iron-Blooded All-Master
[3] The Female Employees I Couldn't Eat
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