Chapter 2

Chapter 2.

-The day the wishes contained within the bead reach exactly one thousand,

Only then will you finally be reborn as a nine-tailed fox.

That was certainly how the legend went.

The story was that the power of the fox bead could grant him one more tail.

For Hwan, whose every attempt to prove himself had only been met with rejection, it was his sole means of salvation.

- How ridiculous. Who would have thought that one, who was supposed to become a more perfect nine-tailed fox than anyone else, would end up as a defective eight-tailed fox?

- Never set foot here again. You'll bring bad luck!

- If I were you, I would have bitten my tongue and died on the spot. How could you possibly have the nerve to come back?

-...

-...Pathetic creature.

All because of that one damned tail.

He ground his teeth. All the humiliation he had endured came rushing back up his throat.

Most fox spirits grow their ninth tail and become nine-tailed foxes on the day they complete their thousandth year of life.

But Hwan had remained an 'exception' to the very end. No matter how long he waited, his final tail never grew.

A fox that possessed only eight tails even after living for a thousand years was considered an impure and lowly existence by divine spirits, practically on the same level as an evil spirit.

For Hwan, who had never dreamed that he would become such an eight-tailed fox, it was an unbearable injustice.

It was as though he had suddenly been dropped straight into the depths of hell overnight.

And yet.

Now the lifeline he had grasped was telling him this was a 'trial.'

And on top of that, it was telling him to do it himself.

How was he supposed to manage that? It wasn't even something that could be finished quickly!

It was absurd. He stopped his hand just as he was about to place it on the bead without thinking and narrowed his eyes.

[Place your hand on the bead.]

The sentence remained exactly as it was, without so much as a flicker.

He uncrossed the arms he had folded defensively, vigorously rubbed his head, and silently writhed in frustration.

...I can't even maintain my dignity.

All the strength drained out of him, and he lightly bumped his forehead against the glass door.

'This was supposed to be exactly the thousandth one.'

How delighted he had been when he first obtained it.

A special 'fox bead' containing the power of a divine spirit.

Although the way it granted wishes differed somewhat from a magic lamp, when the consequences were taken into consideration, nothing could have been more straightforward.

To someone who was not particularly struggling financially but wished to become rich, he had once revealed which stocks they absolutely needed to buy over the next few years.

To a student whose goal was admission to their first-choice university, he had revealed the thoughts of the people responsible for setting the national college entrance examination questions.

And to an aspiring actor, he had shown a way to naturally encounter a certain film director and catch his attention.

If the path shown directly by the bead became the answer that fulfilled a human's wish,

The power used to fulfill that wish would emerge together with the desire and be stored entirely within the bead.

And when those wishes reached one thousand, just once.

'It will unconditionally grant the wish of whoever possesses the bead.'

Rather than merely offering assistance as usual, this meant that even a tail that had never existed could truly appear with a pop.

...Though he had never heard anything about it possessing a will of its own or imposing trials.

He quickly pulled himself together after his sudden mental collapse.

He also swiftly concluded that this must have been how it worked all along, and that no one had known because no one had ever made it this far.

Well, it was a sacred object, after all. There ought to be variables like this.

He did not deliberate for long.

The body's original owner would certainly be rather shocked later, but Hwan had no room to consider the repercussions that would follow.

For, selfishly enough, Hwan cared only about fulfilling his own wish.

Still, he did make one promise to himself, with what little conscience he had: he would thoroughly impersonate Yuseong so that neither Yuseong nor the people around him would be confused when he eventually returned.

He had merely failed to fully become a nine-tailed fox. Transformation and acting were among Hwan's many specialties, just as they were for other foxes.

So there should be no problems.

Let's just give it a try.

Whether it succeeds or fails, surely things can't get any worse than they are now.

He took a deep breath.

From now on, he would become Soyuseong.

He would become Soyuseong and fulfill the dream of becoming an idol.

'I' am Soyuseong,

I am Soyuseong...

'Soyuseong' finally placed his hand on the bead.

An invisible wave spread outward, accompanied by a faint vibration.

[You have one opportunity to receive assistance.

You may borrow the power necessary to achieve your goal.]

[However, it must not violate the purpose of the trial.]

Immediately after displaying those sentences, the bead vanished like smoke.

By 'purpose,' it probably meant achieving the goal purely through his own efforts rather than getting everything handed to him.

He had expected it to simply abandon him with an attitude of 'Why should I care?' so this seemed rather generous.

Yuseong picked up the items that had been left scattered on the ground, now covered in dust, and put them back into the bag.

'I suppose I should go home first and make plans for what comes next...'

“...Ah.”

Come to think of it...

...Where is home?

_____________

Yuseong arrived home a few minutes later.

That had been enough time to remind himself that nine-tailed foxes were still foxes, and foxes belonged to the canine family.

He had found his way by tracking the faint traces of his own scent left along the road.

It seemed that some of 'Hwan's' abilities had followed him into his new body.

'Though having to call someone because I couldn't get past the door lock was a bit of a drawback.'

He had called without giving it much thought, but if he had known that a late-night service call would cost more than 100,000 won, he might not have done so.

Perhaps it was fortunate that he had enough money to cover such an unexpected expense.

His home was a semi-basement room in a residential building.

It was a space that plainly showed he lived alone.

From what he could tell, he seemed to have neither parents nor even a single friend he kept in contact with.

He had discovered this while going through the phone's records, hoping to find at least some clues about what kind of person Soyuseong was.

He had also learned that Yuseong had quit the part-time job he had been working at last year.

Then he found this message.

[If you leave a time when you're available, I'll call you first! I look forward to hearing from you:)]

It was a message sent by someone who was an assistant director.

Even if it was a coincidence, wasn't this the kind of situation that could only be called fate?

His fingers moved quickly.

[I'm sorry for replying so late.]

[I'm available anytime, so please contact me whenever it's convenient for you. I'll answer right away.]

Would a reply come in the morning?

He stretched his arms high, then lay down on the bed and opened an internet app.

He wanted to find whatever information about Soyuseong might still remain somewhere, whether on YouTube or elsewhere.

'Catch Your One Soyuseong'

When he searched those keywords, posts from various websites appeared.

「 Catch Your 1/Contestants/Soyuseong

[1] Eliminated [2] After his elimination, it was revealed that his agency, MXM, had gone bankrupt and his contract had been terminated. His subsequent whereabouts are unknown...」

「 Soyuseong's 90-Second Appeal Time!

#Catchyour1 #CY1 #CatchYourOne #CatchOne」

「 [Photo] 'Catch Your One' Soyuseong's Chic Charm

...Trainee Soyuseong is participating in a photo session. The first broadcast is scheduled for August 13...」

He had searched to find out whether Yuseong possessed the skills necessary to become an idol, but there was far less information than he had expected.

It had been three years ago, when Yuseong was twenty-five, that he appeared on the audition program.

He was eliminated at the first ranking announcement, and his contract was terminated when his agency went bankrupt.

Afterward, he appeared to have completely given up his trainee career.

He continued scrolling through the search results.

'I wonder if he's completed his military service.'

When he played a video uploaded to YouTube, Yuseong appeared, looking a little more lively than he did now.

Unfortunately, he seemed to have been completely edited out of the actual broadcast, because the comments were filled with remarks like 'There was a guy like this?', 'Poor guy,' and 'I wonder what would've happened if he'd gotten proper screen time.'

[I'll show you your 1 light

I'm a first-magnitude star that will never disappear

The one, one, one

Can you catch, catch, catch]

The sight of him wearing practice clothes, sweating profusely as he energetically sang the signal song, revealed his desperation and earnest longing.

Anyone could see that he was a hardworking and talented trainee, nothing more and nothing less.

He was not exceptionally skilled, but neither was he so lacking in ability that he deserved to be ruthlessly edited out.

Although his voice trembled considerably, perhaps because he was nervous, his movements were crisp and well-defined.

His visuals were also quite excellent.

If he had to be specific...

'He's handsome, but... he lacks charm. Does he lack star quality...? Even at a glance, I can tell he lacks confidence. Perhaps that's why he doesn't catch the eye, and because he's so intimidated, all his movements feel heavy. Some people might even think he's not a good dancer...'

He must lack star quality.

Though that was only his subjective impression.

'...Hmm. Subjective?'

He rolled his eyes around for a moment, then sat up and opened his palm.

With a soft whooshing sound, the bead appeared.

“...I need help.”

The bead responded with a flash of light.

“I need a way to see, at a glance, both my own abilities as an idol and the skill levels of the other competitors. In a very... objective manner.”

There was a reason he was using his one and only chance on this.

Even if his abilities did not look particularly bad from the outside, there was no telling how the people judging him or his future fans might perceive them.

Furthermore, he was not exactly young to be attempting an idol career, so he would need exceptional abilities to compensate for his age. And without even an agency backing him, it was all the more important to accurately understand his own standing.

In other words, he needed to eliminate subjective judgment.

It would be even better if he could learn roughly how skilled his competitors were as well.

Trusting the instincts that had led him to this decision, he stared intently at the bead.

[Permission granted.]

Only after several seconds did the permission come.

'Right, this is the least you can do.'

After he waited a moment, a translucent window unfurled vertically in a rush.

[Soyuseong (28)

Vocals B+

Rap C

Dance A

Appearance

Appraisal Required

Charm 50

Reputation -

※Upon appraisal, the results will be the average of the abilities possessed by 'Soyuseong' and 'Hwan.'

Special Skill: Enchantment Lv. 1

-Seduces others with the beauty of a fox.

Has a 65% chance of captivating anyone who makes eye contact.]

The results were even more neatly organized than he had expected.

'Aha, so this is what they call... a status window.'

Until now, several humans had wished for status windows to be created specifically for themselves.

To think it had imitated those. He wasn't sure whether to call that clever or not.

More importantly...

As Yuseong slowly examined the status window, his eyes stopped on the special skill, 'Enchantment.'

'...Is the probability low because I'm in a human body?'

Originally, it was something that could be called a passive ability.

A basic power possessed by every fox.

Eating human livers might be an old folktale, but the fact that foxes could bewitch humans remained unchanged.

Judging by the level attached to it, this ability also seemed capable of growing...

He had no idea how to improve it, though.

He scratched between his eyebrows. For now, he ought to finish looking at what he could already see.

When he lightly touched 'Appearance Appraisal,' the letters rapidly cycled past like a spinning roulette wheel before gradually slowing.

C, A, B, A-,...

B+, S

...

[Appearance A]

An A.

A respectable result.

With that result, there was no way he could resist checking.

He immediately switched his phone camera to selfie mode and turned his head this way and that.

Distinct facial features characterized by black hair, in contrast to 'Hwan,' and a mole beneath his eye.

His basic facial structure itself had not changed, but the eyes that had been tinged yellow until just moments ago had somehow turned light brown.

Not only that, his overall appearance had been neatly upgraded, as though he had received professional grooming.

At this level, one could easily believe he was already a debuted idol...

'It's actually fortunate that I ended up in this body. If I'd become an idol in my original body, I would have conquered the world long ago.'

Aside from his tails, he had nothing that could even be called a complex.

Just as his shoulders rose toward the heavens and he chuckled smugly, another change occurred.

[Charm 70]

'...It went up.'

Apparently, his appearance had contributed additional points.

'But what is this... If 100 points is the standard, this is slightly above average, yet not outstandingly high either. What is this ambiguous number supposed to mean?'

As he frowned and clicked his tongue,

[Charm 65]

“Why?!”

[63]

It was dropping in real time...

Yuseong quickly composed his expression and smiled brightly.

[72]

The number rose in an instant.

'Good grief, I don't really need a function like this.'

On the other hand, it also seemed to be telling him to pay more attention to how he appeared to others.

An idol naturally ought to do so.

'Well, the more advantages I have, the better.'

He dismissed the window.

Now all that remained was to wait for a reply from the assistant director.

It was then that his eyes fell upon the strangely messy state of the room.

Since he wasn't sleepy anyway, he seized the momentum and began cleaning.

As he took the opportunity to look through various things, time quickly passed again-

Morning.

[Not at all, it's fine! Thank you so much for replying!]

[When would be the earliest possible time for you?]

The reply arrived as soon as it turned eight in the morning, almost as if the sender had been waiting. Yuseong responded without delay that he was available right now as well,

“...Huh...”

...And the moment the little '1' beside his message disappeared, his phone rang.

- Hello, Yuseong! It's Pyo Junseong. Um, thank you for being so willing to hear me out even though I contacted you so suddenly.

“Ah, no, not at all. Even though it took me several days to reply... I'm the one who should be thanking you. May I ask what this is about...?”

He cautiously began speaking, inwardly worrying whether his manner of speech matched what the other man remembered. But the response was a strangely hesitant pause, as though the other party was too preoccupied to notice.

-...Um, well... Did you happen to check the link I sent you before?

“Ah, yes. Play ON... Is that what you're referring to?”

- Yes! The thing is... It's a new audition program that's going to start filming in about two weeks, and, um, I was wondering if you might be interested in participating.

As he listened, he tapped his chin lightly.

Wasn't two weeks really soon?

“...But I've already quit being a trainee, so I'm not sure if it would be all right...”

- Of course, I know that...! To be frank, an unexpectedly large number of contestants who had already been accepted have dropped out... I'm sorry because it does feel a little like we're asking you to fill an empty spot...

“Ah, so that's why...”

The other man paused briefly.

-...A lot happened back during Catch One, and even though we didn't spend much time together... Ah, do you remember back then? When I got completely chewed out and dressed down...

The man rambling on the other end of the phone let out a short laugh that sounded almost like a sigh.

- Wow~ That was really rough. But you were the only one who understood what I was going through, Yuseong. And you were a trainee, of all people.

“...”

-...I really hoped I'd get another chance to meet you. That's why you were the first person who came to mind, and why I contacted you. Actually, when I heard you'd quit, I was really disappointed. You're such a good person, and you've got more than enough ability...

His voice trailed off before he suddenly spoke with renewed firmness.

- So, if you're still interested, could you please give it just one more try...

Although he did not know exactly what had happened between the two of them, he could tell that the other man's excessively humble attitude stemmed from his high opinion of Soyuseong.

It was not an attempt to coax him into filling a vacant spot, but a sincere wish for him to return to the world of idols.

You've lived a good life, Soyuseong.

How many more times in one's life could someone hear such an untainted, sincere wish?

Yuseong opened his mouth.

“...Yes, I'll do it. I'll give it a try.”

-...!

He had never had the slightest intention of backing out in the first place, but how could he possibly pass up such a heartwarming opportunity?

The assistant director, Pyo Junseong, thanked him repeatedly.

It seemed the call was about to end.

- Um, but... It feels a little strange for me to be the one to bring this up, but... You seem pretty unbothered by it...? The producer is the same one from Catch One, you know.

So what?

The instant that thought crossed his mind, an exclamation of realization escaped him.

...The producer was the same one who had completely edited Soyuseong out of Catch One?