I’m a Genius Idol but my Passive is Sunfish Chapter 2

Apgujeong Station.

 

Since he’d gotten his own place after graduating high school, it had been a long time since he’d come here. Baekya gazed at the old apartment complex.

 

‘Is it just my imagination?’

 

It somehow looked even more run-down than he remembered.

 

‘The outside may look like that, but the inside was pretty nice.’

 

Tilting his head, Baekya stepped into a convenience store. Even if it was a dream, he didn’t want to show up at his sister’s place empty-handed after so long. Using the T-money card in his pocket, he bought a box of orange juice.

 

But just as he thanked the cashier and turned around, a strange chill ran down his spine.

 

And just as he’d expected. With the sound of the convenience store door opening, a voice filled with emotion was heard. The reappearance of the status window was an added bonus.

 

“Stuuuudeeeent!”

 

It was the man he had met in front of the school.

 

“Wh-what is it, mister?!”

 

As the flustered Baekya took a step back, the ID casting manager was suddenly right in front of him.

 

“To meet you here of all places! We must be destined, I’m telling you!”

 

“Why, why are you here…”

 

“Ah! I’m telling you just in case, but it’s absolutely not that. The company happens to be nearby, so I was on my way back. We don’t just follow people around.”

 

What do you mean, it’s not!

 

Was the person who had chased him at the bunsik restaurant in front of the school someone else then? Baekya’s eyes turned cold.

 

But even more annoying than the man was the status window right in front of his eyes. Baekya was once again faced with a choice.

 

[Q. I want to be an idol! (1): Accept the audition offer]

▶ Okay. I’ll take it.

 

The very choice he had desperately tried to ignore by shouting about elephants.

 

‘Why is there only one option this time…’

 

Baekya’s lips pouted.

 

Faced with a quest that he had to accept, Baekya had no choice but to answer.

 

“Okay. I’ll take it.”

 

It wasn’t like this would ever happen in real life—might as well give it a shot in a dream. And since it wasn’t real, it wouldn’t even become a cringe-worthy black history. And with his answer, a status window appeared. It was a quest completion notification.

 

[<I want to be an idol! (1)> Complete!]

[Level up! Lv.1 → Lv.2]

[Quest reward is being distributed: 1 Star Point]

[Level up reward is being distributed: 1 Star Point]

 

“Star point?”

 

At the sense of deja vu, Baekya muttered quietly, and the status window changed once more.

 

▷ Current Star Points: 2

[You can use the acquired Star Points to ‘Draw a Skill’ or lower your ‘Stress Level’ ٩(ˊᗜˋ*)و]

 

‘I’ve seen that emoticon somewhere before…’

 

Then something suddenly came to mind.

 

“Surviving as a Genius Idol?!”

 

Baekya shouted. In that moment, the ID casting manager, Dongman, was also startled.

 

First refusal. Then escape.

 

Where had that stubborn resistance gone? Faced with Baekya suddenly declaring his determination to survive as a genius idol, Dongman was deeply moved.

 

At this moment, he felt rewarded for stubbornly guarding the entrance while receiving the laser-like glares of the convenience store part-timer.

 

“Yes! A genius idol! Student, you have plenty of potential!”

 

He did look a bit more spaced out than before, but that was actually for the best. What Dongman needed right now was speed.

 

Before the gem he’d discovered ran away again, he had to bring him to the company.

 

“Since we’re already talking about it, let’s go straight to the audition!”

 

“No, wait a minute…! I’m not in a situation to…”

 

Baekya, whose arm was grabbed by Dongman, struggled. He was even more disoriented because of the status window that was flashing before he could even grasp the situation.

 

[A new quest has arrived!]

[Q. I want to be an idol! (2): Pass the audition]

 

“It’s okay! They say you should strike while the iron is hot, and ID is right ahead of us. And today happens to be the day for a private audition, so we just need to go quickly now.”

 

With his arm firmly held by Dongman, Baekya was being hauled off for the second time today.

 

* * *

 

And as a result.

 

[<I want to be an idol! (2)> Complete!]

[Quest reward is being distributed: 1 Star Point]

 

He passed the audition.

 

“You have a good vocal tone and decent vocalization. Have you really never learned to sing before?”

 

“I haven’t…”

 

“Your dancing is very lacking, but your sense of rhythm isn’t bad, so I think you’ll catch up quickly.”

 

Baekya couldn’t believe this situation at all. He knew he was a decent singer, but that was just by a normal person’s standard.

 

In that case, there was only one explanation.

 

“Your glasses… is your eyesight very bad?”

 

So it was his face after all.

 

The atmosphere wasn’t like this when he had first entered the audition room with the man. But as soon as he took off his glasses for the camera test—

 

“Oh my! We have to pass him!”

 

All sorts of praises were poured on Dongman, asking where on earth Manager Kim had found a kid like this. In that moment, Dongman was certain.

 

‘He’s passed!’

 

On the other hand, Baekya was feeling dizzy from the flood of status windows.

 

[A new quest has arrived!]

[Q. I want to be an idol! (3): Debut

※ Passive strengthened upon failure]

 

“…”

 

What even is a passive.

 

How do you even do that.

 

***

 

They had tried to get him to sign the contract immediately, but Baekya had barely managed to escape by insisting that guardian consent was required. That was how he ended up back outside, orange juice in hand.

 

“Isn’t this dream a little too long…”

 

A sense of unease that this might not be a dream was starting to creep in.

 

Seeing the traffic light turn green, Baekya took a step.

 

‘First, let’s go home and then think…’

 

Then a brilliant idea popped into his head.

 

‘Wouldn’t I wake up from the dream if I get a shock?’

 

Baekya, who was crossing the crosswalk, checked the blinking green light and stopped.

 

It was a bit horrific, but there was hardly a bigger shock than getting hit by a car.

 

While he was sorting through his thoughts, the green light turned red. The cars that had been stopped began to pick up speed one by one.

 

‘Still, better to get hit with my eyes closed than open.’

 

Baekya closed his eyes and estimated the impending impact. A car, unable to stop in time, honked its horn.

 

BEEEEEEP!!!

 

‘I’m going to get hit…!’

 

Baekya squeezed his eyes shut and hunched his shoulders. Just then, a large embrace wrapped around his body and they rolled on the ground.

 

“Hey, you son of a bitch! Are you crazy?!”

 

The driver, who had stopped the car by a hair’s breadth, leaned out the window and shouted, while passersby who’d witnessed the accident murmured among themselves.

 

With a distant ringing sound, darkness covered Baekya once again. For a moment, as his vision went black, he was convinced he’d been right—

 

Was it because of the sensation of rolling on the ground before waking up? A wave of nausea surged, overlapping with the ringing in his ears.

 

“Ugh!”

 

“Brother-in-law, are you okay?!”

 

With a familiar voice, someone helped Baekya to his feet. It was his sister’s husband, Jihoon.

 

Baekya frowned as his vision suddenly brightened. His glasses must have flown off when they rolled on the ground, because the area around his eyes felt bare.

 

Jihoon, with a worried face, checked Baekya’s body, who still seemed to be out of it.

 

“Why were you just standing there? You scared me.”

 

You don’t seem to be hurt. Jihoon pushed Baekya’s hair back, asking if there was anywhere else that felt uncomfortable. Even though he himself was a mess from rolling together.

 

“…Brother-in-law?”

 

“Yeah, Han Baekya. Where’s your head at? You almost got seriously hurt. Do you know that?”

 

Jihoon, who had lightly flicked his forehead, got up. He approached the driver who was just getting out of the car and apologized on Baekya’s behalf.

 

Only then did Baekya come to his senses a little and slowly looked around.

 

Though blurry, the yellow liquid around the car seemed to be orange juice. A delayed pain made him lift his hand, and he saw a piece of glass embedded in it. A considerable amount of blood had pooled on the ground where he had been supporting himself.

 

“Oh my, what do we do… Student, your hand is bleeding a lot.”

 

A neighborhood resident who had witnessed the accident from the beginning approached and handed him a handkerchief.

 

“Shouldn’t he go to the hospital right away?”

 

A middle-aged woman said, looking at the wound with pity.

 

Soon, she checked on the dazed Baekya and then approached Jihoon, who was repeatedly apologizing. However, what was important to Baekya was not this petty wound.

 

“I… feel… pain…”

 

I shouldn’t be feeling this, should I?

 

Cold sweat beaded on Baekya’s forehead.

 

***

 

It had been a long time since he’d seen his sister, but there was nothing touching about their reunion. After a brief moment of shock at the two men’s disheveled appearances, she was too busy scolding them once she heard what had happened.

 

“Don’t you dare move from your room!”

 

Baekya, who had been sentenced to confinement, lay on his bed and stared blankly at the ceiling. The status window hadn’t appeared since the <Debut> quest.

 

In fact, he had thought it might not be a dream from the moment he woke up, but maybe he had been pretending not to know because it was more comfortable to think it was a dream.

 

That flimsy mental victory collapsed at the hospital. The pain of stitching living flesh without anesthesia… was something he never wanted to experience again.

 

In that case, this meant he was in a game.

 

Usually, in a game…

 

“End game?”

 

Hmm. No reaction.

 

“Exit!”

 

But the response he got was very different from what he had expected.

 

“Exit where!”

 

His sister’s furious voice declared that he wouldn’t be stepping outside the house even once today.

 

“Oh no. What is this?”

 

Baekya groaned, pulling the blanket over his head. If he really had entered that idol game, the ending was obvious.

 

He couldn’t forget the brutally harsh reviews.

 

The epitome of a trash luck-based game.

 

Raising a sunfish.

 

A 99% chance of a bad ending.

 

“…”

 

Cold.

 

It felt like a dagger had flown straight into his chest.

 

Baekya’s complexion darkened as he abruptly sat up.

 

‘According to the reviews, I’ll die no matter what I do. Unless I succeed as a genius idol.’

 

He needed a plan.

 

“No, then shouldn’t you at least give a tutorial or some info before throwing me in like this?!”

 

This was just too much. much. Even regression protagonists in web novels know their own futures—so why not me?!

 

He shouted under his breath so his sister wouldn’t hear, and a status window appeared before his eyes. The system, which had been ignoring him all along, had responded.

 

Lv.2 Baekya (Synchronizing)

Visual: B

Vocal: A

Dance: D

Talent: –

Stress: 5%

Title: Genius Idol (Inactive)

Passive: R

 

It was Baekya’s information window.

 

“Wow… This is pathetic.”

 

As if to hint at a bad ending, the grades were also BAD spelled in order.

 

‘Is this thing messing with me or what?’

 

If it existed, it should’ve shown up way earlier!

 

Baekya’s fists trembled.

 

‘But the passive looks good.’

 

R stood for Rare, didn’t it? He didn’t know what it did, but it had to be good. It had to be.

 

“Calm down, Han Baekya. Stay calm.”

 

Baekya started to examine the information window again. Baekya placed his hand over the unknown grade. Then, like a tip, an explanation appeared.

 

<When the Nerd Takes Off His Glasses(B)>

: Becomes a handsome boy when he takes off his glasses.

<3 Kkangs a Day(A)>

: Becomes a vocal tone gangster, a pitch gangster, and a vocal range gangster.

<Courtship Dance(D)>

: Moves his body with the energy of the universe.

 

“Wow~”

 

Good. It’s all good, but what’s with the skill names here!

 

Why is the embarrassment always my burden? Baekya felt like he might cry.

 

‘In that case, is the only thing I can trust now the passive?’

 

Baekya placed his hand over the R grade, which seemed to be glowing.

 

By definition, a passive was an inherent trait of the character. If this one was good, then—

 

<Sunfish(R)>

: Very fragile and dies easily.

 

“The f*ck?”

 

He couldn’t help but swear.