Ari glanced between the red-haired contestant and the retreating staff member before confidently approaching and examining him.
He looked to be of Asian descent and was dressed in a simple button-up shirt and black slacks.
His red hair was slightly permed and styled to hang in his face in a slightly disheveled way.
"Hello, I'm Ari, 17 years old. What's your name?" Ari held his hand out politely for a handshake, and the other contestant looked him over strangely before putting a polite smile on his face.
"I'm Jin, 20. I have been a trainee at Azure Entertainment for about 5 years now. That's an…interesting appearance? What agency did you say you were from? Is this some sort of noise marketing technique to hide your appearance for a secret reveal or…?"
"Agency?" Ari looked at Jin in confusion, "I'm not a model if that's what you're asking, and I'm not signed to anyone. I've been training for…a few months?"
Ari increased his imaginary training time, so it didn't sound too bad.
"Ah, so you're a regular kid, here to try your luck while messing around. Understood." Jin gave Ari a cold smile before turning away and going to stand elsewhere.
[Ding!]
[Hi, My Name Is-! (2/100)]
Completely confused at the cold treatment, Ari waited by the door for more people to come inside.
The next group was a group of five Asian men, all led by a tall Korean boy with the tips of his hair bleached platinum blonde.
The boys around him were styled similarly in a hip-hop style, and it was clear that they were a group planning on performing with each other.
With his characteristic boldness, Ari walked up to the man in the lead and held out his hands. "Hello, I'm Ari. What are your names?"
The boy in the lead stared down at Ari with an arrogant expression before shaking his hand and then pointing to everyone in his group and introducing them with a slight Korean accent, "I'm Rex, that's Leo, the twins are Minho and Minjun, and the one with the blue hair is Seobin. We're trainees from ST-Entertainment. What agency did you say you were from?"
"I don't have an agency."
"Oh. Well, it's nice to meet you, I guess." With a polite closing remark, Rex took his group and headed toward Jin while whispering with the others in his group.
"He looks like a weirdo."
"Minjun, shut up before you get us in trouble."
"I know that you were thinking it too, Minho."
The twins glanced back at Ari while laughing before they continued their conversation in Korean.
[Ding!]
[Hi, My Name Is-! (7/100)]
What was their issue?
Ari gave the group a strange look before shaking his head.
He needed to focus.
After mentally reciting their names to memorize them, Ari parked himself by the door, waiting for more people so that he could introduce himself to them.
Some of them rudely ignored him, some pretended to be interested, and some laughed straight in his face before walking away.
Despite that, Ari dutifully memorized their names for his mission and continued the self-introduction.
As more people entered the room, Ari observed how the staff and other contestants treated the newcomers and how the newcomers treated him he himself.
Some contestants were treated politely by the staff who escorted them in and even brought them snacks and drinks, and others were treated rudely, but never to the extent that he was.
What was confusing was that contestants that Ari would consider more handsome and normal-looking than his current appearance would receive that harsh treatment, despite some of them being friendly and knowing the other contestants.
Others that he wouldn't say were the most conventionally attractive were treated very well by both staff members and other contestants.
It was all very strange, and he couldn't understand how or why.
The only constant was that, almost universally, when people found out that he had no agency or that he had only been training for a few months, they completely wrote him off and ignored him.
Some of them even mentioned the words 'sympathy pass', 'gimmick farming', and 'gotta fill in those numbers' as they looked him up and down while frowning.
But it wasn't just him who was subtly ostracized. There seemed to be some invisible hierarchy between those who had agencies, and a subtle tension rose in the room as certain groups stared at each other. The only unifier was that they all seemed to dislike him.
Although he had a slightly different appearance and styling than they did, a little skepticism was fine, but completely dismissing his skills without seeing it all because he looked a bit different was just strange.
'Was this the effect of the lacking charm stat?'
A little concerned, Ari continued introducing himself to everyone who came in, even when Jamie entered the room.
He did not want to miss the moment when the blonde boy who was his enemy would enter.
Unfortunately, when exactly 165 contestants filled the now-packed rooms, a staff member came in, shut the door, and began speaking from the front of the room.
The blonde boy that he was expecting, along with 34 other people, never showed up.
CLAP! CLAP!
"All right, all eyes on me! I have a lot to announce! Let's focus and get rehearsals done so you can all go home and rest!"
The man standing at the front of the room clapped to get everyone's attention, and the room immediately quieted down.
As Ari headed toward the back of the room where Jamie stood with some of the taller contestants, he began whispering the names of the contestants as he passed them, getting some strange looks in return.
Once he whispered the 100th name-
[Ding!]
[Mission Board #3 Complete]
[Mission Board #3 Reward: 1 Gacha Gift Token Received]
[Ability to view the Status of other individuals unlocked.]
[View the status of other individuals by whispering Status while staring at a particular individual.]
[When viewing the stats of other individuals, the upper limit that an individual's stats can reach will be expressed in ()]
[Mission Board #3 Reward: Mission Board #4 Unlocked]
[Displaying your current stats.]
[Ariel Matisse]
[Vocals: B]
[Dance: F]
[Visual: F]
[Rap: F]
[Charm: E-]
[Skills: Picky Listener (B), Pen Pal (C)]
[Surprise Missions: Liar, Liar, Pants on Fire!]
[Current Rewards: 8 Stat Points & 2 Charm Points & 1.15 Visual Stat Point & 1 Gacha Gift Token]
[Ding!]
[Mission Board #4]
1. [Those who can't do, teach! Your skills may be sorely lacking, but your mouth isn't! - Help 10 people improve their skills by utilizing your direct advice! Reward - 1 Stat Point]
2, [Don't Be Quiet! Don't S-S-Stutter! Spit out those words! - Rap a song longer than 2 minutes without skipping a word or stuttering! Reward - 1 Stat Point]
3, [Bzzzz. Bzzzzz. Generate Some Buzz Part(2) - Get at least 1000 people talking about you online. Reward - 1 Stat Point & 1 Charm Stat Point]
As the surge of notifications finished and he confirmed that he gained the ability, Ari immediately turned to face Jamie and whispered, 'Status. '
[James Jones III]
[Age: 19]
[Vocals: A- (S)]
[Dance: D (A-)]
[Visual: B (S)]
[Rap: D- (B-)]
[Charm: B- (S)]
[Composing: B- (S+)]
[Guitar Playing: A (S)]
It was Jamie's stat window.
At the stat window, which was completely different from his, Ari wiped his eyes and looked over Jamie again.
…what in the world?
He knew that Jamie was talented, especially when it came to singing and composing music.
After all, he came from a musical family and had been singing and playing guitar since he was 2 years old.
But this was completely insane.
2 A stat, several B stats, with his lowest being rap and dancing.
What had this kid been doing all his life? How did he even gain a stat for playing the guitar?
In complete shock, Ari turned toward another contestant, a mixed boy with a British accent who was quite popular and had been friendly with even him, and whispered, 'Status.'
[Benjamin Moore]
[Age: 20]
[Vocals: C (A)]
[Dance: C+ (S)]
[Visual: B+ (S+)]
[Rap: A- (S+)]
[Charm: A- (S+)]
[Acting: C+ (A)]
[Beatboxing: B- (A+)]
This stat window was even more impressive.
2 A stats, 3 B stats, and 3 C stats. Wasn't his character completely a cheat code?
In somewhat of a daze, Ari looked around, whispering 'Status toward every student he saw.
[Charm: B]
[Charm: B+]
[Charm: A+]
[Charm: D]
[Charm: C-]
No matter what the combination of the other stats was, those who were popular or were treated well had relatively high charm, and those who were treated poorly had lower charm.
With a despondent sigh at his own low charm, Ari whispered to the system with tears in his eyes.
"Put all my stat points into charm, please."
[So you've come around, I see.]
[Good choice.]
[Your future fans thank you.]
[Charm: E- -> B]
Although this was the kindest the system had been in a while to him, Ari still wanted to cry.
His face! His beautiful face!
Sigh.
He would pretend it was an investment and recoup the losses by completing the new mission board, successfully finishing the Liar, Liar, Pants on Fire Surprise Mission, and continuing to wear his snail mask even more religiously.