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Join the ServerThe drama’s ratings trajectory wasn’t supposed to be this good.
At least, not according to what Eunchan remembered.
It wasn’t just good.
It was too good.
And that made it difficult for him to celebrate without reservations.
“Eunchan-ssi, are you finished changing?”
“Ah, yes. I’ll be right there.”
“Oh my. No, no. There’s no need to rush. I must’ve sounded like I was hurrying you.”
The photographer smiled at him.
“By the way, the clothes fit you beautifully. Your poses are great too. Even professional models don’t always pull them off this naturally.”
“Oh? Really?”
Eunchan raised his eyebrows and flashed an innocent smile.
The people around him immediately realized he was joking and burst into laughter.
“I’m kidding. That’s too much praise. It’s because you’re directing me well and taking such good photos.”
He waved his hands with a laugh.
“Shall we continue?”
“Yes.”
He was a little tired, but not enough to postpone work and take a break.
Perhaps because the drama’s ratings were soaring, magazine photoshoots had begun flooding in for him as well.
Among the main cast, Eunchan had the smallest role.
If magazines were contacting him, then there was no need to ask how busy the actual leads were.
He had already heard that numerous media outlets had reached out to Kim Hyuin, while Park Yoonwoo—the lead actor—had received so many interview requests that they couldn’t even be counted on two hands.
Opportunities had to be seized while they existed.
He couldn’t afford distracting thoughts.
A camera could tell when someone wasn’t focused.
Thankfully, they weren’t shooting at that moment.
Going from a flop idol to someone who had only just begun making a name for himself thanks to a successful drama…
If he appeared absent-minded during a shoot, that would be a serious problem.
No.
It wasn’t merely a problem.
It was unacceptable.
“Get it together.”
Muttering to himself, Eunchan faced the camera.
He kept his gaze sharp but relaxed the corners of his mouth naturally.
Click.
One shot.
Click.
Another.
Today’s schedule included eight different outfits.
He needed to move quickly if he wanted enough time left over for dance practice.
Pushing aside unnecessary thoughts, Eunchan focused entirely on the shoot.
By the time he finished the photoshoot that had started early in the morning and headed to the practice room, it was already five in the evening.
Since he had arrived late, he threw himself into practice with the determination to make up for lost time.
Even during breaks, he stood alone before the mirrored wall, repeating steps.
No matter how much he practiced, one particular off-beat move refused to feel right.
He didn’t want his individual schedules affecting the team’s activities.
Nor did he want anyone to think he was slacking because of them.
While he was biting his lip and practicing alone, Moon Sebyeol approached and began giving him advice.
Despite being tired himself, Sebyeol stayed to help.
Eunchan was deeply grateful.
In the past, he would’ve been overwhelmed by guilt.
He would’ve felt sorry for causing trouble.
As he followed Sebyeol’s explanations and repeated the movements, Eunchan suddenly reflected on how different his mindset had become.
“Yeah. That’s it. You got it now.”
“…You’re right. I should do it again before I forget.”
And finally—
He succeeded.
The troublesome choreography clicked into place.
Sebyeol clapped as if it were his own achievement.
Eunchan couldn’t stop the smile spreading across his face either.
Just as he got into position to try again—
[Your diligent efforts have borne fruit!]
[A stat has ranked up.]
▶ Performance has ranked up: B → B+
…What?
Eunchan’s eyes widened at the sudden system notification.
“Eunchan!”
“Ah—yes! Sorry, hyung!”
“Focus.”
Sebyeol’s stern voice immediately brought him back to reality.
“You finally succeed and your mind wanders off somewhere?”
“Sorry. I’ll do it again right now.”
He desperately wanted to inspect the system message.
But that could wait.
Curious as he was, practice came first.
Perhaps because he’d already succeeded once.
Or perhaps because of the stat increase.
Either way, the move felt noticeably easier this time.
Sebyeol patted him on the shoulder and praised him repeatedly.
After finishing group practice and returning to his room, Eunchan reread the notification.
A stat ranked up?
Rank up?
Was that possible too?
He immediately opened his status window.
Name: Shim Eunchan
Star Quality: A
Vocals: B
Performance: B+
Appearance: A
Mentality: SS (Original Rank: F)
Traits:
Just as the notification had stated, his Performance stat had definitely increased.
Eunchan narrowed his eyes.
Apparently, practicing enough and improving his skills could raise his stats naturally.
He’d never really considered it before.
Still, it would’ve been strange if stats remained permanently fixed forever.
The frustrating part was that he had no idea how much effort was required for a rank increase.
If only he knew the exact amount of practice needed, he could compensate for weaknesses through sheer hard work.
Apparently, stat growth didn’t jump directly from B to A.
Instead, it progressed in half-steps.
B → B+ → A− → A.
That realization made him appreciate even more how efficient the system quests were.
Those quests often granted entire rank increases at once.
It also gave him another reason to work even harder at completing them.
Personally, Eunchan was simply relieved.
Performance had always been one of his weaker areas.
Being able to improve it this way was fortunate.
Especially before their comeback.
Now that he knew stat growth was possible through effort, there was only one thing left to do.
Keep working.
And honestly, that had always been the answer.
He had just leaned back in his chair for a moment of rest when Do Junseo burst into the room.
“Eunchan! Did you see it?”
“See what?”
“Peanut Music!”
“Peanut Music?”
Junseo rushed over and shoved his phone into Eunchan’s hands.
The moment Eunchan looked at the screen, his eyes widened.
A B the 1 song was sitting inside Peanut Music’s Real-Time Top 100 chart.
#95.
Their most recent release—
“from.S”
—was right there on the chart.
Peanut Music had fewer users than Watermelon Music, but it was still one of Korea’s three biggest streaming platforms.
Eunchan stared.
Speechless.
Junseo grinned from ear to ear.
“Crazy, right?”
“H-How did this happen?”
“The fans told me. No matter how I look at it, it’s because of Moon Blossoms.”
“Uh…”
Eunchan couldn’t form a proper response.
He knew the drama was popular.
But a B the 1 song climbing back into the Top 100?
That felt impossible.
Yet it was happening.
Actually happening.
Still unable to believe it, he stared at the chart.
Then he hurriedly took a screenshot.
Watching him, Junseo looked oddly disappointed.
“Hey. What’s with that reaction?”
“Huh? What’s wrong with my reaction?”
“I don’t know. I expected more of a ‘What?! Seriously?!’ kind of response.”
“You’re way too calm.”
Eunchan burst out laughing at Junseo’s exaggerated gestures.
“I am surprised.”
“Doesn’t look like it.”
Junseo grumbled.
Then he left the room, saying he needed to tell the others.
When Eunchan opened Cosmos, fans had already filled the app with screenshots of the chart.
Messages of congratulations flooded in.
Several familiar usernames had posted nothing but long chains of crying emojis and comments saying how happy they were.
Junseo said Eunchan seemed calm.
But the truth was that he was genuinely shocked.
At the same time…
Even Eunchan felt that his reaction was strangely subdued.
To be honest, he’d imagined something like this before.
More than once.
“What if one of our songs suddenly climbed the charts?”
Wouldn’t every idol who debuted but failed to find popularity dream about something like that?
He had watched senior groups experience miraculous chart reversals.
He had envied them.
He had wished that someday the same thing would happen to him.
He had even imagined himself crying tears of joy when it finally happened.
But now that it actually had—
He wasn’t crying.
He was happy.
Excited.
Disbelieving.
Yet strangely calm.
It wasn’t that he took it for granted.
Not at all.
But he wasn’t jumping around the room either.
And that felt odd.
Eunchan tilted his head thoughtfully.
“…Maybe it just doesn’t feel real yet.”
Muttering to himself, he blinked a few times before abandoning the thought.
Instead, he opened Cosmos and started typing.
[FamFams! Are you having a good day? I checked the chart after you all told me about it. Wow… what’s going on? I still can’t believe it.ㅠㅠ It’s all thanks to you, FamFams. Thank you so much. I’ll continue working even harder from now on.]
As soon as he sent the message, the fans’ responses became even more enthusiastic.
While reading them, Eunchan noticed a new message from Kim Hyuin.
He switched screens.
Hyuin: Eunchan, the wrap-up party date got finalized. Did they contact you yet?
You think this chapter was thrilling? Wait until you read Illusionary Dream! Click here to discover the next big twist!
Read : Illusionary Dream
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