Grab the Manual and Debut!-Chapter 32: ✦Impression Roulette✦

The air in the Starline practice rooms had changed. The heavy, clinical atmosphere that usually surrounded Kang-joon had evaporated, replaced by something warmer, albeit a bit awkward. For the first time in ninety-seven lives, Kang-joon didn’t feel like he was wearing a suit of armor made of logic.

He sat on the floor against the practice room mirror, watching Jae-hyun try to master a difficult isolation move. Usually, Kang-joon would have broken down the physics of the movement—torque, center of gravity, foot placement. Instead, he just tilted his head.

"Jae-hyun-ah," Kang-joon called out softly.

Jae-hyun stopped, panting, his hair stuck to his forehead. "Yeah, Hyung?"

"You’re overthinking it. Just... imagine you’re a cat trying to shake water off its paw. It’s a flick, not a push."

Jae-hyun blinked, then giggled. "A cat? Since when do you use animal metaphors?"

"Since I realized that humans are just animals with better clothes and worse instincts," Kang-joon replied with a small, lopsided smile.

Gun-woo, who was stretching nearby, let out a snort. "Look at him. The ’Ice King’ is thawing. It’s actually kind of disturbing. I preferred it when you were a robot, Joon-ah. At least then I knew why you were staring at me."

"I was staring because your left shoulder is consistently three centimeters higher than your right during the chorus," Kang-joon said, his tone calm but with a new, teasing edge.

"See! He’s still doing it!" Gun-woo laughed, throwing a sweat towel at him.

Kang-joon caught it effortlessly. He felt lighter. The "Evergreen" leak had been his greatest fear—the thought that being an orphan would make him a pariah. But the internet had responded with a tidal wave of empathy that he still didn’t quite know how to handle.

He pulled out his phone and scrolled through a popular idol forum. A "short" video of him from the previous night—just him walking into the building and bowing to the fans—had already hit 2 million views.

[Short Video Title: The Moment the Nation’s Architect Became the Nation’s Son ToT]

[Comments:]

* User_Cloudy: Look at his eyes. He looks so tired but he still bowed 90 degrees to everyone. My heart is breaking.

* Kpop_Stan_99: Can we talk about how he’s not wearing his ’genius’ glasses? He looks so soft and cute without them.

* Starline_Watcher: The way he patted Jae-hyun’s head in the lobby... I’m officially adopting this boy.

* RealityCheck: I used to think he was arrogant. Now I realize he was just lonely. Kang-joon-ah, let’s debut!

Suddenly, a transparent window flickered in Kang-joon’s peripheral vision. It wasn’t the usual red "Error" or "Narrative Breach" warning. It was gold.

[System Update: Personality Synchronization Complete.]

[Persona ’The Professor’ has been archived.]

[New Feature Unlocked: The Impression Roulette.]

Kang-joon’s eyes widened. He stood up and walked toward the corner of the room to get a better look at the screen that only he could see.

[Impression Roulette]

* Description: For every 100,000 people who form a distinct, positive emotional impression of you, you receive one ’Spin’.

* Current Impression Count: 4,200,000 (Calculated from: Live Broadcasts, Social Media Viral Hits, and Internal Trainee/Staff sentiment).

* Available Spins: 42.

Positive emotional impression? Kang-joon thought. In all his previous lives, the system had only measured "Survival Probability" or "Vocal/Dance Proficiency." It had never cared about how people felt about him.

"Hyung? You okay?" Jae-hyun asked, walking over. "You’re doing that ’I’m talking to ghosts’ face again."

"I’m fine," Kang-joon said, turning back to the younger boy. "I just... I think I just got a bit of good news."

He looked back at the gold screen. Forty-two spins. In his 97th life, he was already talented—he had the muscle memory of a hundred years. But to debut in the Top 3, he needed something more than just "technical perfection." He needed the "Idol Aura"—that intangible quality that made people unable to look away.

He tapped the screen. Spin x1.

A digital wheel appeared, spinning with a blur of colors. It landed on a purple wedge.

[Reward: Skill - ’Stage Presence: Star’s Gravity’ (Level 1)]

* Effect: Passive ability. Increases the likelihood of the camera lens focusing on you during group shots by 15%. Your movements will naturally draw the eye of the audience.

Kang-joon blinked. That was a game-changer. In a group of fourteen talented boys, half the battle was just getting the cameraman to look at you.

Spin x5.

The wheel whirred again.

[Reward: Attribute - ’Honey Vocals’ (Temporary Buff - 24 Hours)]

[Reward: Skill - ’The Idol’s Wink’ (Passive)]

[Reward: Trait - ’Reaction King’ (Increases the charm of your candid reactions by 30%)]

[Reward: Skill - ’Effortless High Note’ (Level 1)]

[Reward: Attribute - ’Natural Aegyo’ (Level 1 - Dangerously Cute)]

Kang-joon winced at the last one. Natural Aegyo? He was a nineteen-year-old man who had lived for a century. The thought of doing "Aegyo" made his stomach turn.

"Joon-ah, the PD wants us in the main hall," Min-soo called out, popping his head into the room. "They’re announcing the ’Roulette Mission’ for the finale."

"Coming," Kang-joon said. He dismissed the system windows and followed the boys.

The main hall was set up for a broadcast. The remaining fourteen trainees stood in two rows, the tension in the room palpable but different than before. Since the scandal, there was a sense of camaraderie that hadn’t existed during the cutthroat early rounds. They had all watched the world try to tear one of their own down, and it had unified them.

PD Na stood on the stage, a mischievous glint in her eyes.

"Welcome back, everyone," she said. "The hiatus is over. In exactly forty-five days, 5 of you will stand on this stage as the final members of a group. But before we get to the finale, we have one last test to determine your starting positions."

A giant digital board behind her flickered to life. It was a roulette wheel, but instead of skills, it was filled with the names of legendary K-pop songs—everything from 1st-generation classics to modern-day hits.

"This is the ’Genre Roulette’," PD Na explained. "You will be split into two teams of seven. The leaders of the two teams will spin the wheel. Whatever song it lands on, you must recreate it—not just cover it. You must rearrange the music, the choreography, and the concept to fit your team."

The room buzzed. This was a "Producer" mission. It wasn’t about following directions; it was about creating a brand.

"Our current Rank 1 and Rank 2 will be the leaders," PD Na continued.

Min-soo stepped forward as Rank 1. Then, for the first time, Kang-joon stepped forward as Rank 2. His jump in the polls after the scandal had been astronomical.

Min-soo smiled at Kang-joon. "I guess we’re rivals again, Joon-ah."

"It appears so," Kang-joon said. He felt a strange flutter in his chest. It wasn’t fear. It was... excitement?

Min-soo spun the wheel first. It landed on a powerful, dark-synth pop song from a legendary boy group. Perfect for Min-soo’s sharp, masculine image.

Then, it was Kang-joon’s turn.

The wheel spun. The other trainees held their breath. Jae-hyun was crossing his fingers, praying for something "cool." Gun-woo was hoping for Hip-Hop.

The wheel slowed down... and stopped on a bright, pastel-colored wedge.

[Song: ’Shiny Day’ - The Nation’s Sweetheart Group (2012)]

The room went silent. ’Shiny Day’ was a bubbly, high-energy "cute" concept. It involved sailor outfits, bright smiles, and a lot of heart-shaped hand gestures. It was the polar opposite of the "Monster Unit" image Kang-joon had cultivated.

Gun-woo let out a loud, bark-like laugh. "Oh, you have got to be kidding me. Joon? In a sailor suit? Doing ’Shining-shining’ eyes?"

Kang-joon stared at the screen. He felt a cold sweat breaking out on his neck. He looked at his system window, which was still open in the corner of his eye.

[Trait: ’Natural Aegyo’ (Level 1) - Automatically Activating...]

As the camera panned to Kang-joon for his reaction, he didn’t give his usual stoic, analytical stare. Instead, his eyes widened slightly, his cheeks puffed out in a momentary, instinctive pout of confusion, and he tilted his head like a bewildered puppy.

The cameraman zoomed in. The staff in the back went, "Awww!"

"Look at his face!" a writer whispered. "He’s actually adorable."

Kang-joon realized what he had just done. He quickly covered his face with his hands, his ears turning a bright, vivid red.

"PD-nim," Kang-joon said, his voice muffled by his palms. "Can I trade? I’ll give you my soul. Just don’t make me do the ’Shining Heart’ move."

"No trades!" PD Na laughed, clearly delighted by the content. "I think you’re about to find out that building a cute concept is much harder than building a dark one."

Later that night in the dorms

Kang-joon sat on his bed, staring at the lyric sheet for ’Shiny Day’. The words "Sparkle," "Sweetheart," and "Forever Love" were highlighted in pink.

"Hyung," Jae-hyun whispered, crawling onto the end of Kang-joon’s bed. "I think you’ll be good at it. You have a small face and big eyes. If you just smile like you did when you saw that cat in the alley, the fans will go crazy."

"Jae-hyun-ah, I am a man who has lived through a century of struggles," Kang-joon said seriously. "I cannot ’sparkle’."

"You already are," Gun-woo called out from the bottom bunk, looking at his phone. "Check the trending topics."

Kang-joon opened Twitter.

[Trending: #PoutyJoon]

[Trending: #SailorKangJoon]

[Trending: #TheCute]

A fan had already made a GIF of his reaction to the roulette. It had 500,000 likes.

[Comment: I never knew I needed a cute Kang-joon until today. Look at his ears! They’re so red! He’s so shy! ToT]

Kang-joon sighed and lay back on his pillow. He looked at the ceiling, thinking about the Impression Roulette. He still had 36 spins left.

"Fine," he whispered to the empty air. "If the world wants ’sparkle’, I’ll give them the most mathematically perfect sparkle they’ve ever seen."

He tapped the system. Spin x10.

[System: Processing Impressions...]

[Warning: High probability of ’Cute Overload’ detected.]

Kang-joon closed his eyes, praying for a skill that would let him keep his dignity.