Sims - The Real Life.
A game that combines life simulation and roguelike genres.

The unique aspect is that it provides scenarios through various scripts, and there are tens of thousands of possible endings depending on your choices.

But if the process were filled with pure randomness, the player would quickly become bored.
To solve this issue, the game offers perks.

These perks exclude unpleasant events and increase the probability of favorable outcomes.
And the most powerful of these perks is—

“Easy Street.”

Living an easy life can mean many things.
It implies that everything you do will succeed, and you’ll live a smooth life without major hardships.
The most significant factor in this is luck.

Easy Street allows you to artificially manipulate that luck factor.
But I was curious to see how this would apply to reality instead of in the game.

“I can see snippets of the future?”

Even if it’s just a fragment, the fact that I can check it at all doesn’t make sense.
Naturally, my answer to this message was “Yes.”

-[Since your future is set, your future information will be related to ‘acting.’]
-[Here is a photo of your most successful future.]
-[Photo]

With the end of the message, Easy Street sent no further texts.
It seemed that was the limit of what it could tell me.

“What kind of photo will it show?”

Curious, I opened the attached photo.

“Ha.”

A short laugh escaped me.

“Am I really going to go there?”

In the photo, I was at an audition.

“This is High Dream.”

High Dream, a drama that aired in 2011.
It was a co-production between a TV station, an idol agency, and an actor agency.
It was one of the major hit dramas that involved a large audition process and significant investment.

It told the story of high school students in an arts school, and the drama’s popularity was off the charts.
Despite most of the cast being newcomers, the show recorded impressive viewership ratings.

“So many actors became famous through this show.”

Tap tap.

I zoomed in on the picture, curious if I could spot anything else.
That’s when I noticed something odd.

“Are those people standing behind the auditionees all managers?”

Behind each of the kids auditioning, there was someone standing.
Their faces were blurred, but they all looked like managers.

“But I don’t have anyone with me.”

What could this mean?

No way.

“Am I supposed to audition without an agency?”

Why?

“Is it because of my market value?”

A rookie’s market value is pretty much fixed.
No matter how good your agency is, a rookie without experience doesn’t earn much.

The advantage, if any, would be a higher chance of passing the audition.
But that wasn’t something I needed to worry about.

Because—

“I’m handsome.”

It would be ridiculous not to pick me with this face.

So the point was to appear as a complete newcomer in High Dream, raise my value, and then negotiate better terms when looking for an agency later.

“Maybe I’m just overthinking because of a single photo.”

Putting my phone back into my pocket, I left the restroom.
The goal was to pass the open audition and make a profile.
And the first step toward that goal—

“Is to show off my musical talent.”

+++++

Time flew by, and it was finally Saturday.
The day we would start our band activities had arrived.

Ding! Ding!

The agency keeps bugging me to audition for High Dream, so I think I’ll do it.
You have to audition too. There’s an open audition, so you must go.
If you don’t, I’ll be really mad at you.
And text me back right away after reading this!
<I got it. I’ll audition too.

After exchanging contact info, I’d been regularly replying to Kim Sujin’s texts.
Once I responded to her latest message, I looked up.

“Dong-hoo! I found out it’s happening at KBC, and the deadline to apply is next week.”
“Really? Thanks for letting me know.”

As soon as I mentioned that I’d be auditioning for High Dream, Kim Min-hyuk jumped in, offering to gather all the info for me.

Though most of the information he brought was stuff I already knew, I still appreciated the gesture.

“But is it really okay for just the three of us to be practicing on our own?”
“Yeah, it’s fine.”

Shin Ye-rim asked if it was okay for us to be the only ones in the music room.
Usually, the band club would rent an outside studio, and we’d have a supervising teacher, but it was just us for now.

“I got permission for everything.”

I had told the school that I needed to prepare for an audition, and they all nodded, understandingly.
Since the delinquent cleanup, I had earned the teachers’ full trust, so they let me do these independent activities without question.

Of course, part of that trust was because of my good looks.
When a tall, handsome kid says he’s preparing for an audition, most people are eager to help out.

“But Dong-hoo, isn’t that camcorder really expensive?”

Min-hyuk looked nervously at the camcorder, trembling slightly.
He was supposed to film us with it, but it looked so expensive that he was tense about using it.

“Well, uh… my uncle gave it to me.”

Technically, I wasn’t lying. It was purchased with the rent money from my “uncle.”

“Wow, your uncle must be really rich.”
“O-oh, I-I’ll help too.”
“…But Kang-sik, are you really okay skipping the computer club to do this?”

When I joined the band club, Kang-sik quietly followed and joined as well.

I asked him why, especially when he had said he was going to make AAA games. His response was adorably simple.

“I-I m-might make a music game later…”

Well, for a 14-year-old, it wasn’t all about future dreams.
This was the time when friends were more important than anything.

I fully understood Kang-sik’s decision.
And surprisingly, he had a natural talent for playing bass—he even knew how to play it.

“M-my dad… said it’d be fun if we could play together.”

Apparently, Kang-sik’s dad played the guitar.
Why didn’t he teach him the guitar? There was a reason for that too.

“He said bass players are always in high demand, so it’d be easier to get a job later…”

Just like how healers were always in demand in games, bassists were always needed in bands.

“Does he really teach his kid an instrument with that kind of long-term plan in mind?”

It was easy to see who Kang-sik inherited his quirky traits from.

“Anyway, let’s give it a try.”
“Okay, I’ll do my best to film!”
“I’ll take care of the accompaniment!”
“Oh, d-doom, doom, doom… I’ll do it.”

Thus, Shinbit Middle School’s band club #2 was officially on the move.

+++++

KBC Drama Production Office.

“Aaaaahhhhhh!”

Casting Director Shin Young-sook’s screams echoed through the office.

“We need fresh faces! Young, handsome, and, like, dewy-skinned!!!”
“…You’re doing this again. Who are you trying to find now?”
“Newcomers!!! Super fresh newcomers! Vibrant, like seasonal fruit!”

Bang!

Shin Young-sook grabbed her head in frustration.

“Sure, it’s great that the TV station, idol agencies, and actor agencies are co-producing this. But come on! They shouldn’t be throwing their weight around so much!”

High Dream was a drama set in an arts high school, so it needed both actors and idols.
Naturally, they had to co-produce it with agencies, and while it was fine for the agencies to cast some of their own, they were taking it too far.

“Why are they trying to dominate the open auditions too? That’s supposed to be our territory!”

They weren’t just suggesting a few of their trainees. They were trying to fill the cast with their entire agency lineup, which was unacceptable.
It was understandable that they didn’t want to share the spotlight, but still, this was the TV station’s domain.

The problem was that the open auditions hadn’t brought in anyone particularly impressive.

“Arrgh, ugh! Gah! Aaahhh!”

Shin Young-sook was at her wit’s end, not knowing where to vent her frustration.

“The director is ridiculous too! They keep saying they want a fresh, breakout star, but they give us such a small budget for audition promotions!”

Just as she was about to lose it completely—

“Team Leader, new application documents just came in. There’s a video attached too.”

A new applicant!

Suppressing her frustration, Shin Young-sook rushed over to her team member’s computer.

“Do we have a profile? A photo?”
“Yes, but it looks like it’s been heavily edited.”
“…I see that. And he’s only fourteen?”

Seeing the application, Shin Young-sook let out a deep sigh.
This was the kind of thing that made her even angrier.

What’s the point of using amateur Photoshop skills to make your face look incredibly handsome?
In the end, the accompanying video would expose everything.
She couldn’t understand why people did such pointless things.

“Didn’t we set the age requirement for high school students? How did a fourteen-year-old apply?”
“It says he’s 170 cm tall.”
“…Ugh! How many times are we going to get scammed?”

Even though she was complaining, curiosity got the better of her.
The more exaggerated the lies, the more she wanted to see what the applicant actually looked like.

Click click.

Deciding that talking more would be a waste of energy, she played the video.

“I-is it recording like this?”

The first thing that greeted Shin Young-sook was a shaky camera, as if an earthquake had hit.
Whoever was filming clearly had no experience. Despite that, the video quality suggested the equipment was high-end.

“Am I r-r-really being filmed?”
“No, we’re filming each of you before the performance.”

The next scene showed a slightly chubby fourteen-year-old boy holding a bass guitar.
He seemed shy, unable to speak properly.

At this, Shin Young-sook furrowed her brow.

“Is this the guy?”
“No… His name tag says Na Kang-sik. The applicant is Kim Dong-hoo.”
“Fast-forward the video. Why did they send us this?”

She almost remarked that it seemed poorly edited but held back.
After all, how could a fourteen-year-old know how to edit a video?

Suddenly, a thought crossed her mind.

“If he can’t even edit the video, maybe his application is genuine?”

The video sped up, showing a model-like girl awkwardly playing the keyboard and smiling.

Then, finally, Kim Dong-hoo appeared.

“Wow.”

Shin Young-sook uttered a short gasp of admiration.
The wrinkles in her forehead disappeared in an instant.

“He’s in.”