Technically, Park MoonDae's dance was not that wonderful. It's like he doesn't want to stand out. However, seeing him caused pleasure to the others who watched him because he had the potential to improve and be part of the group dance.

"If he debuted with the song he's performing right now..."

He didn't think there would be someone to shock him. But that boy had such an amazing development!

The choreographer was a bit excited by the unexpected situation, but he soon calmed down.

"He can't show that he's talented all of a sudden when it's only been two days since I last trained him."

Perhaps he had thought about it and planned to create an impact by showing an improvement in his dance skills at the beginning of the song.

"He will soon dance again as he did before...".

But he didn't come back.

Park MoonDae started dancing the chorus with the same level that he started with. No, rather, he was able to control the speed of his movements better in the choir.

His limbs did not tremble like the other participants who had poor dancing skills did. His joints didn't crack either, which meant he was moving them at the right angles.

It's me who shines on stage today!

Also, he sings honestly without missing or skipping a single part of the song. It lacked some technique, but it sounded clean and resonant without any flat or out of tune notes.

Next to the choreographer was the judge, Mudi, who was tapping her pen lightly without noticing it, that meant that she was really liking the performance she was seeing.

Even in the ears of all the people who don't know much about singing, Park MoonDae was the best among the contestants so far.

Look at me, right now~

The brightest is me!

No, that was great.

He sang with a tone so clear and clean that he caught all ears.

"How much effort should someone give to be able to dance and sing in such a good and stable way?"

The choreographer thought as he admired him.

He treated "good, promising, and full of good potential" people with a clear distinction from those who were not. Now, within the choreographer's reasoning, the evaluation of Park MoonDae, whose grade had been lowered because he previously lacked dance skills, was readjusted.

"Since his strength is singing, he seemed to be in a hurry to learn the choreography because he was worried about singing steadily while he danced."

However, the feeling of discomfort did not fade.

"... But it's hard for him to suddenly know how to dance in two days for no reason."

Park MoonDae managed to finish the song without missing a beat and strength until the end of the second verse.

The judges were silent. Apart from their doubts, they felt a sudden surge of positive emotions in their minds. What they had just seen was something worthy of praise.

-Ah-haah... Thank you.

Immediately after finishing the song, Park MoonDae was breathing heavily, as if he had used up all of his strength.

Instead of the shamelessness of his first evaluation in which he boldly selected his songs and didn't show any change in his facial expression, this time his face was seen to be full of enthusiasm.

It was a face that made you feel like he really worked hard. Such a gap had the effect of making viewers cry for no reason.

Beside the choreographer, Mudi looked at him as if she was going to shower him with compliments at any moment. The choreographer assumed that the same would happen with the other judges, although perhaps to a lesser extent.

But he couldn't give a strong impact on other people as much as on him. He is the one who changed his dance skills that he didn't show in class in less than half a month.

So the choreographer pretended not to notice that the staff was implicitly asking YoungRin to give him the first evaluation, so he grabbed the microphone.

-MoonDae-ssi.

-Ahh, yes.

-Nice job.

-...

It was a simple and accurate compliment.

Instead of replying, Park MoonDae smiled.

A smile confident enough that he looked mischievous, unlike the participant who had been indifferent and silent all the previous days.

***

As expected, the change in my ability was a nice twist.

This formula couldn't have worked on an idol survival show.

Even though I was out of breath and felt like my heart was about to jump out of my throat, I felt relieved and calm because there was a good reaction from the judges.

-Oh my gosh, that was so wonderful.

-MoonDae-ssi, you didn't make any mistakes~

-He did a great job.

I felt one step further from sudden death.

"As I thought, allocating my three points to the Dance option moments before the shoot was the right answer."

Now, my status in the Dance category is C.

To be honest, the feeling I got from leveling up in this category felt much better than when I leveled it up in Singing. I felt that I learned in an instant what my body could not understand before even though I knew the steps by heart and had an idea about what it was.

The feeling of suddenly being able to use muscles that I previously couldn't use was also very clear throughout my body to the point where it felt pleasurable.

Perhaps this is similar to how the participants of the Intermediate Dance class feel, although they cannot go to the advanced level.

During the first week I dedicated myself to memorizing all the choreography without sleeping, so that I was able to master it enough to excel. If we just compare the skills with the performance of this song, I'm probably better than most of the participants who took the intermediate level classes.

"I beat all of them even though they didn't promote me to Intermediate Dance classes."

In case my submission isn't going to be edited, I'm sure I'll make it past the first round of elimination, as all indications are that I'm making good progress on this survival show.

Then the questions I had been waiting for began.

-By the way, MoonDae-ssi, what did you do in these two days?

Faced with the question, the surprised judge Mudi asked the choreographer the reason for such a strange question, to which he did not take long to answer to clarify the reason.

-Suddenly you can dance well. It's been two days since I last trained you.

-Oh that's...

I held my breath and deliberately combed my hair showing a dazed expression. He must have appeared somewhat embarrassed.

-It's because I asked a good friend.

-A good friend?

-Yes, it's Seon AhHyun.

I had prepared a "smokescreen" to speak.

I couldn't tell that I leveled up to the Dance category in my status window, so I tried to move on by touching his emotions.

It was a perfect coincidence that my roommate, Seon AhHyun, was in the advanced level dance class. It was not strange to receive practical advice from your classmates, so I took advantage of that to try it on myself and have the best excuse ready.

-Do you have some time?

-Y-yes... W-why?

-Uh, excuse me, but I have this problem... Can you help me...?

-Oh y-yes! If I can!

-...Good, thank you.

To tell the truth, I was very lucky that Seon AhHyun taught me even though he was very strict. He taught me so much that I would have regretted asking him for help if I hadn't improved.

I was a little embarrassed because he passionately taught me every move for almost two hours, when I just wanted some tips to get an idea of ​​how to look better in my dance...

In any case, the image of Seon AhHyun teaching an ordinary participant how to improve is very cool. It's not bad to show the public that side of him.

Let's make the situation a little stronger. It will be better to add more verbiage.

-...AhHyun is very kind.

-Hey... Are you saying I'm not nice?

The choreographer immediately intervened. His face was happily smiling mischievously.

I feel that he has done well for me. There was a warm atmosphere among the judges.

-Do you remember what I told you in your first evaluation?

Judge YoungRin, from the idol group "Saint U," asked softly. It didn't seem like a real question, but a sentence with which she would start a conversation.

-Yes, you told me that I am not talented in dancing and that future missions would be very difficult.

YoungRin smiled slightly.

-I think I was wrong to say that. Park MoonDae-ssi will be able to clear the missions even though they become difficult.

-Thank you.

-I really enjoyed your presentation today. I hope you have more time to improve even more next time.

-I will try to make that happen.

There's no way he can relax me after answering like that, but I had to answer like that to keep my image on the show. That's funny.

Anyway, I was successful. I also received rave reviews from the other judges.

So, I think I'll get a "Gold".

***

Just like other idol audition shows, on "Idol Reincorporation," the theme song will be the first content exposed to the public.

And, of course, the amount of time that they will appear on camera while recording the theme songs goes to those who are good at it. It was this grade that determined the "good participant" standard.

As you may have guessed from the class division badge, the Advanced, Intermediate, and Basic tiers were divided in the order of Gold, Silver, and Bronze.

-However, contestants who do not meet the requirements to be part of the Bronze rank... They will be eliminated!

There has been that announcement in the previous seasons, but it has never been made, so there was nothing to worry about.

And one more degree was added above the three previously mentioned...

-"Idol Reincorporation" has returned with a new look. Who will receive the "Platinum" rating for this reincorporation season?

It was the Platinum grade.

On the internet, people used to use all sorts of metaphors to make memes of this classification, from multi-level games to games that required parental permission to play.

Honestly, I'm a little relieved that the production team didn't make such an exaggerated sense to name the new grade as "Diamond".

In any case, all the other contestants were stiff waiting for the MC's announcement.

In front of each was a colorful metal box containing an insignia symbolizing the grade.

Since I had already guessed what my new grade would be, I had an idea about what my new grade would be.

Taking into account that my position was among the first 25, I could not obtain the silver degree since it started from the 26th position. I do not think I can obtain the platinum degree either because it is limited to the first 10 positions. So, surely I got the Gold grade.

-Participants You can now open your qualification boxes!

I opened the box being careful not to show any negative emotion on my face.

But my expression stiffened.

Inside the box was a shiny platinum badge with a holographic reflection.

It was a Platinum grade badge.

-...

As I was paralized, Seon AhHyun, who was holding his golden badge next to me, leaned over to see what I saw and was shocked.

-W-w-woo-wooow!

-What's the matter? Wow, awesome! Waaah, that's great!

Similarly, the boy named Lee SeJin who was (previously) ranked 20th and also holding his golden badge, yelled when he looked at the contents inside my box.

So, he patted me on the back and continued shouting excitedly

-You are amazing! A Platinum grade!!

I don't know since when we have been so close for him to behave like this with me.

Doesn't he remember that we just said hello? Well, he was the one who started it, I was reluctant to start conversations.

After taking a deep breath, I took the badge from the box. The other participants may think that I am excited, but in fact, my mind was full of complicated thoughts.

"Why did they give me the Platinum degree?"

I knew that in the first two seasons the top ranks were awarded to two or three contestants based on their development and improvements, not their skills.

I didn't think that was so bad. But then I realized.

"...The ranking order!"

Because of that, there are fewer people who will rise from the intermediate and basic ranks. So compared to them, I think I stood out relatively more.

I was familiar with the dance to that song thanks to my time regression and sleepless night practices, so that's why I think my status window outranked the other guys in my Dance level.

-Hmm...

I looked at the badge in my hand.

I was sure I had impressed the judges, but somehow the aftertaste of my achievement felt bitter and uncomfortable.

If I make mistakes, I'll be in serious trouble.

I didn't know what kind of editing the show would show if I made a mistake on the next test.

In the first season, there was a participant in the same situation as me who was defeated after showing his edits with a negative approach.

No, now that I think about it, there was no need to wait until the next evaluation. Even if the editing approach is a bit different thanks to my current Platinum rating, no matter what I do, I'll be criticized.

For example, I would be the main prey if they got to interview Choi WonGil, who is looking at me right now. He would probably say something like "Honestly, I didn't fully understand how he got to that degree and position."

But it's crazy to make a fuss over something I don't like or agree with.

"It is unavoidable".

I slowly picked up my badge and placed it on my clothes. When I turned my head, I saw other participants with platinum badges.

As expected, the first and second place in the evaluation had the Platinum badges. In addition to them, most of the people who had sat in the best seats had also received Platinum badges.

Some of the top ten contestants seemed to have broken through the cracks of a few contestants who had lowered their grades and dropped to the Gold rank.

I was the only one who had been in the top 20 before. Damn.

"If so, I'm going to get a lot of camera panning."

...No, let's think positively. In fact, it's a good thing.

"That will be a lot of footage."

Regardless, it's going to be a footage battle until the stage fancams show up.

I was steadily getting closer to my goal of "debuting within a year", so I had to avoid being eliminated in the first stage of the show.

"I'll be fine, I'm just not to be madly hated here."

I made a firm commitment. I have to reduce all the things that can get me in trouble.

I will level up like crazy and improve my Dance grade.

-Platinum grade contestants, please come on stage!

...And first of all, let's avoid standing next to the contestants who got A grades in the Dance category in their states when we perform on the theme song stage.

Because it doesn't suit me to be compared to them.