From Skid Row to Superstardom: An Idol System Novel-Chapter 124: Black Swan (1)

"Seriously. I am so sorry! If you want to use me like a servant, you absolutely can! I deserve it!" Despite Ari’s best effort to restrain him, Mathew tried to slam his head on the ground once more.

"No! No! Absolutely not! I don’t know why you’re apologizing, but whatever it is, it’s fine! Stop this." Ari strained as he tried to hold Mathew back with all of his strength, but surprisingly, the tall, skinny boy wearing oversized clothing was stronger than he looked.

"No! It’s my fault! Please forgive me!" Mathew slammed his head back down, and Ari quickly stuck his leg in the way so he wouldn’t hit the ground.

Wincing as his ankle jolted at an awkward angle, he wrestled Matthew up before pointing at the cameraman, "Enough. I said it’s fine, so stop. I don’t care."

"But-but I pushed you down and caused you to get injured. Your future career could be over!"

Ari: ಠ_ಠ

It’s just a sprain? Why would you curse me like that??

Holding back a sigh, Ari rubbed his head before replying in a neutral tone.

"You passed out from being overworked by a crazy bast- I mean, lovely, amazing director, and had to be rushed to the hospital. If anything, I’m glad I was in the way since I’d rather sprain my ankle than see you crack your head open in front of me. If that happened, instead of my future career, the entire program would have been instantly over."

At Ari’s blunt words, Mathew blinked before trying to bow in apology once more, but cold, slender fingers grasped his head and began squeezing it like a stress ball, and he felt a chill climb up his back as he stared up at the sea-green eyes glaring at him out of the strange green mask.

The eyes seemed to be saying that if he dared bow one more time, his head would be squeezed until it popped.

"Enough, I accept, so let’s move on since we have things to do and you’re holding us up," Ari replied while slowly rotating Mathews’ head to the side.

Matthew’s eyes widened as he glanced between Leo, who was standing up, and everybody else sitting and staring at him strangely.

Slowly, he turned red from the top of his forehead down to his chin, and he jumped to his feet and began bowing while rotating in a circle.

"I’m sorry! I didn’t mean t-"

"Stop it." Ari quickly cut him off while pointing to Leo, "Welcome to the team. He’s our leader, so tell him your name, room location, specialty, and ideal position so he can figure out where you fit in."

"Yes! I’m Mathew! Age 20! Room is F(2)! I was previously the main dancer and center of the Savage Love team! I’m fine with any part you want to give me, but my vocals are terrible, and my specialty is dance! I would like to audition for the main dancer role here as well and take the lead on the dance break!"

As Mathew stood still like a soldier while listing off his information like he was reading bullet points, Ari covered his mouth to whisper status and check his stats.

[Mathew Bennett]

[Age: 20]

[Vocals: F-]

[Dance: A+(S+)]

[Visual: B-]

[Rap: D]

[Charm: B-]

[Contemporary Dance: A (S+)]

[Ballet: A (A)]

[Choreographer: B (S+)]

Well, he clearly wasn’t lying.

Seeing the completely skewed stats toward dance with the addition of a choreographer stat, Ari took a second look at Mathew, noting the long, slender limbs hidden by his oversized sweatpants and sweatshirt.

He looked like a dancer, and that choreographer stat was something their group needed if they were to utilize his concept idea, but that vocal stat...was a bit rough considering that the only part they had to give was Caleb’s vocal portion.

Ari turned to Leo, noting that he had a stressed look on his face when he heard that Mathew preferred to rap.

"Mathew, can you sing at all?"

"Nope! My voice is terrible, if you would like, I can give you a demonstration." Mathew replied while still standing at attention like a soldier. freeweɓnovel.cѳm

"Please do. The only part we have right now is a vocal part."

"Sure! Once again, I apologize in advance!" Mathew gave fair warning before closing his eyes and singing a short verse.

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̵̡̡̹̖̙̘͔̙̩̳̫͔̼͑̂͒̌̈́͛̊̓̓̍̚͝W̵̧̨̡̰̲̭͍͔̞̭͇̾͠h̶̝̲̬̹̱̥̹͎͙͚̀͆̈̇̓́̏͋͐̚̚͠͝͠ȅ̵̢͎͍̖̘̱͔̝̍̎̀̒̓͂̌̒̂̂̈͋͝n̵̡̢̪̺̞̹̲̹̑̾͆̿̚ ̵̛̤̟̱͙̤͎͙̪̮̻͈̫̞̃̄y̴̯͙͍̤͑̇̇̌͋̔͝ó̵̞͓̗̮͎͔̪̙̹̮͓͎̐̏̋̈̈́͜u̴̠͎͇͉̼̓͗̔̈́̀͊͋̑̈́͊̚͠ͅ ̵̡̡̛̠͍̤͈̫̫̟͖̖̈́̽̾̽͂̏͘̚͜ẇ̶̨̡͙̱̳̼̎̐͘͝á̴̧͎̜͓̘̟̠͕͖̩̭̱̙l̵̨̩̼͈̜̞̻̤̼̝̖̖͈̆̈́̒͌͋̆̽̇͗̆̊͊͗̚k̵̢̛͓̬̹͔͎͊̉̇̅̂̄̇̀̈́̉̃̊͝͝ẽ̸̮̭̥͈̥͔͙͇͉̲̠̺͚̗͂̄̿͂́̈̚͜d̵̠̘̝̻̺̜̲̪͓͔̬͚̫̗̊̃̒͊̒͗̃̕͝͠ ̴̛͖̩̰̻̣̝̏̽͌̈̿͌̒͛͛͊̆̕i̸̳͙̖̺͉̥̟̯̙̱̼̥͙͌̀̈́͆̅̚͝ͅn̵͈̑͌ͅt̸̟̞͚̜̰̪̝͓̺̙̖̫̏̿͌ö̵̡̙̖̥̱̼̗͜ ̵̢͙̣̮̯̙̘̬̟̝̱͕̖̯̭̂͒̓͐͑͋̓̒̕͝ṭ̷̛̱͓͕̋͛̀̌̓͛̃̕̚ͅh̶͓̩͈̩̯̤̲̹̪͕̣̉̄͆̓̔͌̔͗̇̆̈́̉̓́̕ę̵̧̛̦͖͇̤̎̆́̎͊͐̓̚ͅ ̸̼͇̭͓̙̼̤̲͓̈́̄̎̏̓͜ͅṛ̴͛͒͑͘͠ǫ̶̰̮̳̫̤͓̎̎͆̓͜͠ỡ̶̧̢̝̙̫̱̮͚̣̠͙̲͕̈́́̈́̂̎͋̽̈m̸̢̘̗̬̆̑̇͑̾̋̓̀͒̎͋͜͠

̴̬̬͆̌́̌́̂̽͂͋̕P̶̨̢̹̰̬͚̤̪͚̮͕̣̖̈̎̀̂̈́͋́͂͐̏̿i̵͚̘̱̝͓̫̪̝̬̹͐̒́c̶̟̪̦͉͕͌̎͋̂̈͌̇̍́k̸̨̨̘̯̯̫͔̙̘̭̀̾̓̋̓ ̷̧̛̠͚̱́̌̓̓͒͊͗̉̿̍̑͠͠͝m̵̢͉͈͉̤͖̪̣͇͚͎̄͗̒͒̓̓͒̌̏̿͜͠è̷͉̾,̶̨̼͖̙̺͇͓̯̜̘̘̗͚͒̄̉̃̉̾̒͛̓͂̅͊̎̚͠ ̵̧̧̺̯͎̲͍͔͉̥͚̝̐̽́̉̿͐̌̇̇͌͜͝l̷̨̮̝̻͙͎̬̜͕̤̬͚̳͖̄̄̓̿̈͛ͅŏ̷̱̻̩̫̫͆̄́͆̕v̵̢̖̖̥̣̿̑̐̆̉̓̚̚͝͠ȩ̸̨̧̠̭̟̟̼̠̭͎̥̓͆̉́̌̊̍̾̾̀̆̍̍͂͜͜ ̸̨̰̦̯̹̻̝̺̜͈͎̟̚m̷͚̻̭͔̮̥͖͉̮̣͔̂͌̾̕͝ë̶̯̣̰̠̰͓̩̉̈́̈́̆͂͊̎̿̄͊̿̾̈́̚,̶̧̺̘̲͇́̚ͅ ̶͚̲͈̜̩̽̊̽̈̾̂͒̀̋̎̒̍ç̶͙̹̪͓̯̻̝͇̤̪̜͎̱̄̏̈́̔̈́͑̉ḩ̴͕̲̬͖̠̙̭̦̯̮̈́̅̾͛ͅǒ̵̹̺̯́̔̃̇̀̓͋̑̕͝͝ǫ̵̝̭͖̻͓̤͙͈̳͖͓̹̓͑̌̔͋̿̒̎́̔͌̋͠͝s̴̡̹̲̮̲̬̗̥̳̬̟̋͑̇͌͊̂̈͋̄̄̅̽͛͂e̴͚̙͈̝̞̰̭̦̾̈́ ̶̨͖͕̞̝͎̗͓̜͖͈̺̣͂͐͌̅̇͛̈̑̈́̑̅̌̄m̷͇̣͚͍͆̓̑͋͛́͂́͊͋̃͛̅͝e̷̝͕̞̰̬̺͈͛̉̇

̵̪͇͎͌͝C̷̢̛̺̻̺̯̱̪̺̹̬͍̈́́̈́̂̂̑̄̐͒̓̌͘̚o̶̩̼̪̣̩̤͕͎͇͊̃̐͝͝ṵ̷͚̥̠͓̟̖̻̥̥̈́̅̐͑̔̍̒̔͘̚͝ĺ̴̛̲̬̥̟̝̗̘͙̜̻͒͠d̷̛͇͈̰̪͔̗͚̘̻̯͈̮̬̜͛͌̀̅̐n̴͎̣̗̺̜̠̫͕͖̣̬͔̮̗͋’̵̱̞̜̱̈́̆͂͠ṭ̴͈͖̂́̂̓̌̍̊̈́͊̈́͘͜ ̶̼̓̃͑̏̃̒̎̊͆̎̈͗̕h̷͙͖̤̭͔̰͔̙͔̺̥͌͒͐̅ȩ̸̡̖͍̗̘͇̲̪͔͈̅̅͗l̴̡̹̻̗̹̟̭͉͛̿̐͂͝͝p̵̨̧̯̜̥͓̪̉͂̍̉̀̆̌͆̉͜ ̸̡̣̱̮͗͊̏̈́̔̔̏̈̐̕͝ͅm̷̢̳̲̭̩̤̫̜̤̰͚͕̘̈́̉͒͂͒͒͑́͗̀͑̓̆̚͝ͅy̸̰̲͓͍̝͉͖͇̒̐̑͐͛̏̕ͅş̴̛̭̦̄̓̊̈́̉͐̀e̴͖̣̰̬̦̝̅̆̌̂̃͐͐͠͝͝ļ̸̗͎͎͇̪̺̲̺͍͒̍̓͂̓̈́͂͘͝ḟ̶̪̥̻̙̳̼̗̺̦͔͓̥͂͊̈́̋,̸̲̺̭͉͌̌̎̓͗͑͗͛͠ ̶̠̝͉̇̀c̶̻̯͕͈̮̑̀͋͊̉͌̓̊̒̐̎̒̔͘͜͠ō̴͙̱̯̥̤͇͍̙̩̈́͒̔̈̇͌̔̈́̍͝ͅu̵̳̪̗̓͊l̶̰̪͔͓͓̙̞̇̽͌̏̉͐͊̔͜ͅd̷̯̙͚̯̦̏̄̈́̏͛́̔̕n̴̪̖̗̈̍̃̓͂́’̸̨̫͖͖͚͈̳̘̣͋̔̉̍͜͝͠ͅt̷̮̥̙̱͈̯͆͒̈̋̎̀͋̀͗̓̕ͅ ̵̧͚̱̙̥̱̩͙̼͛͐̕͜l̵̡̨̡̢̘̦̱͚͕͕̩̓̐͌̀̾͜͜͝͝o̵̧̤̰͈̖̱̣͉͕̮͕̻̫̙̽͌̓o̸̡̞̦̮͈͆̆͛͒̋̄͛͂̇̂͗̽k̵̡̏̓̉͒ ̸̤̪̮͇́̾́̄́͌̀̅a̴̧̹͉͂̅̾̈́̈́w̷̘̣̞̣̥͓̒͂͊̊̃̆̏̈͗͑̓͘a̷̧̘͙̯̱͚̙͊̚ý̶̤̜̮̰̬̣͓̞̫̀̀͘͠

̶̨̱̱͎̰̤̰̼̟͚̹̺͚̃́̈́̏̅̎͋͗͗̈̇͒͝P̴̛̺̟̱̗͕͚̣̈́̎̇̂̅̈́͊̾̀͊͛̑̄̚͜i̵͉̪̺̫̳̊c̴̳̘͓͎̣̪̥̠̓͋̀̆́́ͅk̴̖̄̿͑͊͂̍͘ ̴̧̨̢̠̱̼̗̼͉͇̼̭̈͐͗̃̐͂͛͐̊͋̎͜͠ͅm̵̢͓̮̺͚̠̩̣̪̟̦̳̼̓̽͒͐̑̈́̾̏͗͜ȅ̷̛̞͎̰̆̏͂̀͗̾̕,̶̣̬̊͆͛̓̉̃͗̒̑̈͂̈͝ͅ ̷̧̥͑̐͌̿̐̈́͋̀̐́͝l̸̮̩̲̭̂͊̇̈́̃̌͆̏̿ó̸̧̼̤͖̪̦̳̙̹̠̟̳̙̩̊̓̆̔̑͌̕ͅv̴̠̌͌͒́ȇ̵̢̟̖̳̭̹͚͚̹̠̮͔̙̀͒ ̴̛̱̞̗̐̍̂̅̓̐́̚m̸̡͍͎̝̭̒͛̌͋̔́͂͆͌̿̉̄̄͊̚͜ė̴̼̣̤̱̼̼̫̦̻̫͇͎͍̔̾̋͊̈́͋̒̋̓̂͒́͘͜͝,̶̢̢̬̗̙̮͕̻̼̞̳̮͙̤͈̃̈́̾̊̽͝͝ ̴̬̭͓̂̊͊͋͊̈́̒̚c̵̡̛͌͊̌͌̕h̵͍͕̭͚̐̉̈́̆͆ơ̸̡̞̦͂̈͆̔͗̑̇̈́͝͝ö̸̜́͝s̶̪̯̮̙̜͙̪͓̗̣͓̠͔̥̈́̃̋́͊̔̑͂e̷͍̖̭̖͗͆̅͊͠ ̴͈̟͓͔̦̤͚̃̊̚m̸̭̣͎̟̮͎̈ḙ̷̩̄͊͒̋͂͆̍͑̏̓̾͐̈͂͠

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At the cursed sounding lyrics that vaguely reminded them of the signal song, every team member and the cameraman stared incredulously at Mathew.

At the same time, Leo looked as if he wanted to cry.

[This sounds oddly familiar.]

[I sense a portal to the underworld opening up in the vicinity.]

Ignoring NOVA’s sarcastic words, Ari could only applaud Mathew in his mind.

He had thought his F-rank vocals were bad, but seeing F-rank was truly an eye-opening experience.

"Uhm...okay. Minjun and I will discuss how to divide the rap lines to include you. I think it would be better for Suzuki Rei to continue to keep Caleb’s vocal part."

Minjun and a few other people looked disgruntled at the permanent change, but nobody in their right mind could say that they would let Mathew take Caleb’s part because his singing was currently at a level that couldn’t be fixed without extensive practice.

And since the cameraman was here after they got scolded, they didn’t want to be caught on camera fighting over parts.

"As for the main dancer position and center, we’ll decide that once we figure out the concept that we’re going with. Does anybody have any ideas, or should we just go with the original concept? Raise your hand to speak, please."

Immediately, all the hands in the room shot up, and Leo pointed to Alfonso.

Alfonso whipped his long hair back before answering, "I don’t mind doing the original concept. It’ll be easier than coming up with a new one. If we use the costumes, people might think it’s funny and cute."

"One vote for the original concept." Leo put a tally mark on a whiteboard under Original.

"I refuse to do the original concept! It’s g*y and I’d rather die than be caught in a pink tutu or shaking my hair around like that." Ian raised his hand to complain, and Leo put a tally mark under the Other while opening and closing his mouth.

Seeing him stare at the cameraman, Ari spoke up.

"Let’s be mindful of our words and how we label things. Also, to have a more productive meeting, I think that if you refuse the original concept, you should come up with an alternative. So what’s your alternative idea?" Ari interrupted, and Leo nodded gratefully.

Ian: "...."

How was he supposed to know?

All he knew was that no matter what the judges said, he didn’t want to be seen wearing a pink tutu or doing girly choreography like a loser.

Angry at being put on the spot, he glared at Ari before muttering, "You’re making all these rules and don’t even have a good idea."

"I do, but I’d rather let everyone else go first."

"I’ll circle back to you, Ari, and I think it’s a great idea. For everyone who is against it, you have to come up with an alternative."

Immediately, all the hands dropped down, but Leo intentionally went down the line, calling everyone by name.

"Minjun? Minho? For? Against?"

"....We don’t want to do the original concept either. But-"

"We don’t have an alternative."

The twins finished each other’s sentences while shooting an irritated glance at Ari for causing Leo to press them to give more details.

"Noted. Gale?"

"...against, no alternative."

"Rei?"

"I’m fine with the original concept, but I’m curious to hear what...Ariel has to say." Suzuki Rei gave Ari a curious glance before quickly turning his head away as if he couldn’t bear to look at him.

"Okay. I’m also fine either way, so the floor is yours, Ari."

"Thanks."

Ari carefully stood up before limping to the mirror, pulling out the stack of Post-its from his pocket.

He spelled out Swan and Black Swan with individual Post-it notes at the top of the mirror, and began sticking everything on the mirror in a way that made sense to him and using the colored whiteboard markers to draw connecting lines between Post-it note sections.

About 5 minutes passed in silence as Ari scrambled around until the wall of mirrors was covered in the square notes with a large number of connecting lines.

Camera man: (ㆆ_ㆆ)

Team: (ㆆ_ㆆ)

Why did they suddenly feel like they were going to be watching a presentation given by a mad scientist green alien on how to use random clues to track down a killer?

Not paying them any mind, Ari clapped his hands while pointing at the title with his marker.

"Swan - a bright, cheery song about being a swan after going through struggles. It’s graceful, it’s pink, it’s pretty, it’s not us."

"Thank you, Captain Obvious," Ian muttered, but Ari ignored him and continued.

"So, let’s make it a horror instead. Black Swan - the darkness that infects that pretty pink experience. Think of it like that darkness sludge villain from that one movie that latches onto the good guy and slowly corrupts him, turning him to the dark side. From white to black, from graceful to aggressive, from rising up to sinking down into the darkness and madness. All the while, you’re singing a cheerful, happy song. Wouldn’t that be a bit creepy?"

As Ari began selling the picture, pointing out costume details, makeup ideas, choreography, and lyric changes, the faces of everyone in the room slowly shifted, from suspicion to a hint of excitement.

People even began giving suggestions, and Ari wrote them down on post-it notes and stuck them on the mirror in the appropriate places.

After about an hour of discussion, it seemed like a consensus had been reached, and almost everyone was satisfied.

"That seems like a lot of work, and I doubt the dance trainers are going to help us that much. And it’s not like we have anyone here who’s made proper choreography before and can make good changes." Ian muttered again.

"Yeah, we do. He has professional choreography creating experience, right, Mathew?" Ari pointed directly at Mathew, who was staring at the post-it notes with bright eyes.

Truly, Ari didn’t know if it was professional or not, but with that many dancing-related stats, it should be somewhat accurate, right?

"Eh? Yes sir. How did you know?" Mathew looked completely shocked, and Ari immediately held his hand out in disgust.

"First, don’t call me sir. You’re older than me."

"I am?"

"He is?

"What?"

"Yes, I’m 17."

"Eh?"

"Eh?"

"Ehhhhhhhhhh?"