The midterm evaluation ended and the day of the main competition quickly arrived.
The stage order for Yoo Seol and me was third.
And just now, the second performance was concluding.
“The previous team will exit, and you will enter in one minute.”
“…Yes.”
“I’ll be going for a quick sound check. Please wait a moment.”
The production team in charge of us left briefly, and in the bustling backstage, Yoo Seol and I had a moment to discuss to avoid the eyes of others.
“Are you nervous?”
“……”
At Yoo Seol’s question, I nodded for a moment and asked.
“…Of course. Aren’t you nervous?”
Even as I asked, I felt it was a silly question.
Haven’t I seen Yoo Seol’s skills firsthand over the past week?
There was no way she would be nervous before going on stage.
I thought so, but….
“…Of course I am.”
“……”
“I’ve never been on stage without feeling nervous.”
…Thinking back, Yoo Seol was still a trainee who hadn’t debuted yet, just like me.
Even Han Si-woo, who had debuted over ten years ago, said he felt nervous every time he went on stage, so there was no way Yoo Seol, still in trainee status, wouldn’t be nervous.
As Yoo Seol candidly shared her feelings, I asked in a small voice.
“…Why are you telling me this?”
“……”
I could tell.
Right now, Yoo Seol was honestly expressing her inner thoughts as a way to ease my tension, despite her usual cold demeanor.
In response to my question, Yoo Seol gazed into the air for a moment and then spoke.
“…I guess it’s an apology for being cold all this time.”
“……”
“I never hated you as a person. It’s just that… I was envious of you, someone who could do things I couldn’t after nine years of practice.”
Yoo Seol’s face was expressionless, but it held deep regret.
“It must be the feeling of jealousy.”
“……”
“When I first saw you, I felt intrigued, but when you started doing well, I got ugly with jealousy.”
I realized why Yoo Seol was saying this to me.
Before our important stage, she probably wanted to clear her feelings towards me.
I leaned my head against the wall and calmly spoke.
“I might have hated you too.”
“…What?”
At my sudden remark, Yoo Seol’s eyes widened in surprise.
Seeing that, I continued in a soft voice.
“The moment I saw your rank evaluation performance… for some reason, every time I saw you, I felt simmering anger. I wanted to beat you, suppress you, trample you.”
“……”
“You told me I was pretending to be a good kid, right? Maybe that’s true. I’ve been like that since I was little….”
At that moment, a now blurry memory from the past popped into my head.
“Mom, I cleaned the room!”
When I was three or maybe four years old.
Not long after I was reincarnated.
With small hands not fully grown yet, I had desperately cleaned and tidied up, craving more love from my parents.
The reason I reached out to Seo Yoo-jin and Lee Hye-jeong was probably the same.
If I showed them love, they would love me back.
“…Yes, I’ve always been like that.”
“……”
“But when it came to you, I couldn’t help but act nice. Maybe that’s why I treated you more harshly and behaved like a child.”
Over the past week, I had shouted harshly at Yoo Seol and thrown tantrums, acting like a kid.
Even as a child, I had pretended to be mature, a good kid, while now I was acting like a spoiled brat.
“Was that because I hated you?”
“…Well, it doesn’t seem like you really hate me by the way you’re looking at me now.”
“What could it be then? Is it rivalry, or maybe jealousy like you felt towards me? Or….”
I noticed Yoo Seol pause for a moment and chuckled.
“Love and hate? Is it love? Did I fall for you at first sight?”
“……”
“Just kidding.”
Upon hearing my joke, Yoo Seol blinked in surprise.
Just then.
“Alright, it’s time for you two to go on stage!”
The production team, who had gone for the sound check, returned to inform us about our entry.
“Let’s go.”
“……”
“Today, let’s forget all the emotions we’ve built up and focus solely on the stage.”
Yoo Seol, who had been momentarily zoned out, nodded after returning to her usual demeanor.
“Okay… at least for this moment, let’s forget everything.”
Tap.
With that, we lightly bumped our fists together and headed towards the stage.
“Ha Ye-rin—!!!!”
“Yoo Seol—!!!”
Fans were excitedly shouting our names as we stood on stage together.
“Ha Ye-rin—!!!!”
“Yoo Seol—!!!!!”
The cheers from the fans made my ears ring.
No matter how much experience I had, stepping on stage always made me nervous.
With smiles on their faces, those hundreds of pairs of eyes were all on me.
Could I truly meet their expectations?
That sense of pressure weighed down on me and made my head spin.
But….
♬♬-! ♩♩♩♩-!!
Boom!
“Ahhhhh—!!”
The moment the intro hit my ears, my body moved automatically, having practiced it tens, hundreds, or even thousands of times.
-I’m no longer a child
-We must move forward
The song had a low pitch, so even raised into a female key, the live performance wouldn’t be a burden, but the dance would add several times more pressure.
A power dance with continuous breaking.
The intense movements persisted, but I couldn’t draw too much attention.
The key to this song was ‘harmony.’
-Logic and emotion, two paths diverge
-What should we, what should I choose?
Yoo Seol matched her stable rap skills with my dance.
Whisper, Slide.
As we swayed back and forth, it felt like we were fighting… or embracing each other as we gradually became one.
Yoo Seol was in white.
I was in black.
Dressed in contrasting colors, we danced the same choreography.
Like a mirror, we moved flawlessly in sync, eyeing each other with precision in our gestures and breaths.
Two…, hearts.
As my once racing heartbeat slowly calmed, I began to ease into the rhythm.
And as my tension released, joy started filling my body.
Grin.
From this moment on, it was just about going with the flow.
The moment I surrendered to the rhythm… my body moved on its own.
Yoo Seol felt the same.
Whisper, Clash.
We moved like one body. Like a mirror.
When I reached out with my right hand, she extended her left.
When I bent my body, she instantly swept my back.
What Han Si-woo wanted to show in this piece.
The clash of two different emotions.
The harmony that arises within.
And growth.
We displayed this unapologetically to the audience.
As our excitement grew, the pleasure consuming my body intensified.
I activated it.
‘Sky Demon Enchantment.’
Sky Demon Martial Arts first skill, Sky Demon Enchantment.
Honestly, if I had used the newly acquired second skill, Sky Demon Moon Shadow Step, it would have made me stand out more and easily garnered votes.
But I chose not to.
The most important thing in this piece was harmony with Yoo Seol.
I had never used Sky Demon Moon Shadow Step in front of such a large audience.
If it showed a more significant effect than I expected, I could shine, but it could also harm the overall quality of the stage.
So I only used the first skill, Sky Demon Enchantment.
Of course…
‘This is enough.’
I was confident this alone could outshine Yoo Seol.
Sky Demon Enchantment is a skill activated through my emotions.
It was hard to predict how impactful the Sky Demon Enchantment would be if I used it now, with my feelings at their peak.
[Casting Sky Demon Martial Arts first skill, Sky Demon Enchantment!]
Successfully casting Sky Demon Enchantment…
Whoosh!
I could feel the enchantment successfully taking hold in my body.
I couldn’t explain it in exact numbers, but if I were to compare it…
‘This will do it.’
I felt as if I could show the audience a dreamlike illusion.
‘This is my victory.’
Shoosh!
But then it happened.
“……”
‘…Huh?’
Based on what I had seen so far, those affected by Sky Demon Enchantment usually exhibited slightly dazed eyes.
And right now, Yoo Seol had those dazed eyes.
…As if she were under the effect of Sky Demon Enchantment.
‘Why is she…?’
Well, since Yoo Seol was within range, she could be under the enchantment.
So what scene is Yoo Seol witnessing through the Sky Demon Enchantment right now?
I wasn’t sure what it was, but…
Grin.
…A smile had unexpectedly appeared on Yoo Seol’s face.
A smile so happy that I’d never once seen on her before.
And then….
Ding!
Seeing the ominous sound effects as a status window appeared above Yoo Seol’s head…
[Yoo Seol (Protagonist) has met the conditions.]
[The hidden effect of the protagonist trait ‘Awakening’ is activated.]
The status window labeled ‘Protagonist’ told me something.
The winner of this competition wouldn’t be me, the Sky Demon, but Yoo Seol, the Protagonist.
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