How to become an ACE of a top boy group

I remember that each dormitory floor had several soundproof karaoke rooms and small dance studios that could be used freely. When Luo Xi was going downstairs, she passed by and thought of opening the door to take a look.

But every door was locked, and when you knocked, someone was there.

Luo Xi was astonished by the level of competition among them: "It can't be that every room is completely full, can it? Aren't classes still in session? Is everyone this competitive?"

[After the standardized basic courses ended at the beginning of this month, the current course content is all informal, free lectures. The teachers change frequently, and after the class attendance was cut off, those trainees scrambled to occupy these small practice rooms! They keep them all to practice and won't let anyone else use them! It was clearly stated that we can't occupy the practice rooms!] 041 followed Luo Xi toward the elevator, speaking indignantly.

Luo Xi didn't react much, only saying, "Then let's go practice in the big classroom."

Classes in the large classroom are held from 8:00 AM to 12:00 PM and from 3:00 PM to 6:00 PM. Vocal lessons are held on the fourth floor in the morning, and dance lessons are held on the third floor in the afternoon. When there are no classes, students can practice freely in the large classroom.

"Actually, there are advantages to going to class," Luo Xi said as 041 entered, pressing the elevator button. "I remember that the judges for the qualifying selection occasionally come to class, so you might be able to get to know them."

Luo Xi plans to only attend vocal lessons taught by judges, mainly to become familiar with the teachers, and spend the rest of her time taking dance lessons and practicing dance on her own.

Each time she practices a choreography and becomes proficient, she gets 50 points. However, each time she exchanges an attribute point, she gets 1000 points. Based on her previous level of practice, where she could memorize the choreography for four or five songs in a day, she could get a maximum of 250 points a day. In twelve days, she could get 3750 points. Adding her current 2000 points, that's roughly 5 attribute points. With the attribute points that randomly increase from practice, she should be able to raise her dance attribute to 30.

With the attribute points to support her, and by practicing the performance content for the qualifying selection to the extreme, that was the most preparation she could make.

She didn't know exactly how many points she could get, or whether reaching 30 attribute points would make her stand out among her peers; it was all a gamble. However, Luo Xi felt full of energy.

"Now, it's time to sprint."

With a "ding," the elevator doors opened, revealing the door to the large classroom at the other end of the corridor.

As Luo Xi entered the large classroom through the main entrance, he discovered that the classroom was divided into several sections by the winding mirrored walls. The section he had entered through the back door was just the larger one. There was another space there containing a bunch of freely accessible camera equipment, learning tablets, small speakers, and even unopened sports headphones.

Luo Xi grabbed her tablet and speakers and found a well-lit spot. It wasn't time for get out of class to end, but the teachers had already left, and there weren't many trainees left either; they'd probably all gone to eat.

Classes are out of the question, but since Luo Xi is already here, how can we not practice a bit?

After stretching her body, Luo Xi stretched out her arms, lowered her hips, and jumped a few movements rather clumsily.

Not right.

This was the choreography for her debut song that she had been practicing repeatedly before her death. She knew the choreography of this song by heart, but her actual body movements did not follow her ideas at all. Her arms were very stiff and did not hit the right points as she had planned. Her hip-twisting movements looked like a maggot wriggling.

Was it because his body hadn't practiced for too long and had become rusty? Luo Xi tried to jump through those movements a few more times, but his body felt like it was encountering resistance and he couldn't get it right. No, where was the resistance coming from?

Good, good, good, this is the power of the dance attribute in Blackjack!

"041! Explain yourself!" Rosie turned to the system beside her and demanded, "Isn't this attribute point restriction a bit too outrageous? If it's like this no matter how well I practice, what's the point of practicing at all?!"

[Oh, dear, the performance of this dance isn't limited by dance attributes; it's only related to your dance proficiency. Once you're proficient, you'll be able to perform it smoothly! Dance attributes only affect how quickly you increase your proficiency when learning the dance music!]

041 said, opening the dance music proficiency page for Rosie.

"Breeze" 94% proficient

87% proficient in "here"

"To You" is 76% familiar

Red Castle 75% proficient

47% unfamiliar with "Flashing"

"A Declaration of Love" (0.01% Strangers)

[The dance you just practiced, "Declaration of Love," is only 0.01% mastered yet! You can only perform it smoothly when you reach 100% proficiency!]

"...So their basic dance skills are nothing compared to your proficiency, huh?"

Despite her complaints, Luo Xi reluctantly accepted the premise and pointed to the five dance tracks on "Declaration of Love," asking, "Did Luo Xi practice these before? I've never heard of these songs before, but I can dance them perfectly if I practice them to perfection?"

[Yes! Also, if you haven't practiced a dance for a long time, your proficiency will decrease. When it drops below 10%, you'll completely forget it, the "familiar" tag will change to "unfamiliar," and the attribute points you gained from practicing that dance will disappear. 041 suggests practicing familiar dances first to get your proficiency back to 100%!]

"Okay, then I'll practice these first."

Luo Xi picked up the learning tablet, a device used exclusively by trainees at Mo Ri Entertainment Company. It contained an extremely rich music library, with high-definition singing and choreography tutorial videos for almost every song. She logged in using her memory, entering her username and password, and found the dance tracks in the previous host's practice records.

The first four choreography pieces were simple, consisting of basic, relatively slow-paced steps. She memorized the moves after following the videos three or four times. However, the fifth piece, "Flashing," was several levels more difficult. This is a highly rhythmic pop song, and the choreography features large movements, numerous variations, and many details. While it may seem simple and casual, it requires a solid foundation in hip-hop dance to perform successfully.

After mastering the first four choreography routines to 100%, Luo Xi was exhausted. She only briefly danced through the fifth song before realizing that the choreography was too difficult for her at her current level.

Don't take it too seriously; switch to something lighter and start with something simple.

She took a bottle of water from the water tank shelf and, while drinking, glanced at the group of people practicing around her. She secretly compared herself to them and realized that her current level was not as good as most of them, especially since there were many people who were already very good at jumping and were now practicing constantly.

How can you even compare these?

Luo Xi sighed silently, her stomach rumbling in response, and she realized how hungry she was. She had no choice but to leave the large classroom and go to the cafeteria to get something to eat.

The restaurant is on the second floor. Meals are free, but they are purely low-fat meals: vegetable salad, fruit, boiled meat, porridge, and steamed buns. The boiled meat is salty, and the salad is bland. Fortunately, Luo Xi doesn't care much about her diet; she's happy as long as she's full.

The restaurant wasn't crowded at this time, partly because quite a few people were ordering takeout. Although it's in a remote location, they can still deliver if you pay the delivery fee. There's no shortage of wealthy second-generation kids here.

The restaurant was self-service, so Luo Xi grabbed a few steamed buns and left, eating them as she walked.

"Ronxi?"

Luo Xi thought she heard someone calling Luo Enxi's name, but she didn't really want to respond. With her current bad character, contacting her was definitely not a good idea.

The man called her name again and ran up to her.

The boy was quite tall, with a handsome face, thin cheeks, a clear jaw, thin lips, and slender eyebrows and eyes that exuded a subtle charm. He wore a simple white T-shirt with a clean and innocent student vibe.

"It really is you! I thought you were really withdrawn from the competition. What happened? Did you really lose your wrist? I was so scared when I saw you being taken into the ambulance. I heard you were back just now, and I didn't believe it. But it really is you. Are you okay now? I called you earlier and you didn't respond. I thought I called the wrong person, haha."

This person is quite outgoing.

After a moment's thought, Luo Xi found his information. This person was named Liu Jibai, who loved gossip. Most of Luo Enxi's negative information came from him, and he would encourage Luo Enxi to post the negative information online.

041 also whispered in Luo Xi's ear: "[Luo Xi, let's go quickly. That person is Liu Jibai. He's the one who schemes against people with Luo Xi. He specializes in digging into other people's private lives, especially their competitors. He doesn't spread the information himself, but he tells Luo Xi, and Luo Xi posts the information online. That way, he can eliminate his competitors without losing anything. He's very good at causing trouble!"]

Sure enough, nothing good happened.

Luo Xi casually said, "Sorry, I'm hard of hearing. I have something urgent to attend to, so I'll have to go now. We can talk later."

Before Liu Jibai could say anything, Luo Xi walked out of the restaurant. All she wanted to do was get back to practice as quickly as possible.

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Luo Xi danced "Flashing" again with great difficulty. Looking at the measly 0.003% increase in her proficiency score, she decided to stop struggling with it until her dance attribute value improved.

"To be honest, it's really not easy for Ronxi to reach 47%. Even at my previous level, it would take me a while to practice before I could perform like that," Ronxi exclaimed, scrolling through the practice records on his learning tablet.

041 Refutes any positive comments about Ronxi: 【He practiced that 47% while slacking off for three whole months. He wanted to do this in the qualifying round, but he got frustrated because he didn't practice well! He's just an impatient person! He only knows how to run away!】

"I think he sets his sights too high, and he's easily discouraged when he can't achieve that."

Luo Xi is not a talented person, but five years of practice have taught her that the less capable you are, the lower you should set your goals. This way, you can achieve things step by step, accumulate a sense of accomplishment little by little, and persevere.

"So let's start by doing the simplest thing well."

She connected the speakers and played a song with simple choreography that she had just chosen, then started dancing along with the movements in the video.

This song has a youthful and energetic style, with simple and lively movements and transitions, which is the same style as the group that Luo Xi debuted with. Therefore, she knew very well how to dance this kind of dance well, how to turn around to look the best, the angle of her neck tilting up, and when to show a smile. She designed small details for herself while dancing, and slowly perfected the movements.

She tried to add a wink to the memorable spots, but her body clearly wouldn't cooperate.

"His face looks like it's been glued shut."

Luo Xi finished another jump, panting as she pinched her stiff cheek in front of the mirror.

[But 041 can feel Rosie's energy!]

Two virtual flower balls, one pink and one yellow, appeared on either side of the system, waving them around.

[Go, Luo Xi! Go, Luo Xi! You've practiced nine times already, and you're 54% complete. A few more practice runs and we'll master the choreography and get 50 points! You can do it!]

"Go! Go!" Luo Xi also pumped his fists a few times, then pulled the music playback progress bar back to the beginning and played it again.

She listened again and again, gradually becoming immersed in the experience, unaware that the number of people in the classroom was gradually decreasing.

In the dance studio late at night, the only remaining figure was still practicing his steps in front of the mirror. Under the lights, sweat soaked through his shirt, giving the unremarkable person a special glimmer.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

The song titles are all randomly generated combinations. If such a song actually exists, it has nothing to do with this article.