Our week of training came to an end. Rose taught me various different dances during those days, but I have no idea how far that will actually take me.
Lily wasn’t feeling well at the end, and even when I went to her room to play, she didn’t do anything to me and just sent me away as is.
The first round of judging will begin tomorrow. Today is Sunday, and I thought it would be a short break for us, but instead, everyone was gathered together early in the morning at the capital’s central park.
Chairs and tents for shade are lined up in a long line on the park’s vast road. Decorations are also scattered throughout the park itself, making it feel like we were about to put on a festival.
“Wow! They’re going to give us a festival too!?”
Melia was looking around at all the decorations with sparkling eyes.
“It’s not like that. Weren’t you paying attention to the explanation yesterday?”
Peony was looking at at Melia with an exasperated face. But I didn’t hear what we were doing today either. Since it was our last day together, we had a feast at Rose’s shop. During that I might have gotten so absolutely wasted I needed the reporter girl’s shoulder to make it back after the day was already done.
“Well because I was drinking late……”
“And I finished my training early, so I took a nap and overslept……”
Peony didn’t say anything, but I could tell from her eyes she was thinking, “This why you two are in last.” However after a sigh, she began to explain. Peony is gruff, yet somewhat kind too.
“So we need people to vote for us right? Today is an opportunity for us to listen directly to what people have to say. We’re going to meet people, have a conversation with them, and shake their hands.”
“Isn’t that just a handshake event?”
“The whole point of shaking hands is to attract other people to you. So we need to win people over and get more supporters.”
Peony sincerely explained what the point of today was.
I wonder, how serious will everyone take something like this? At last year’s all male hero audition, the other girls in the village didn’t participate in the event, but they were all talking about who was the coolest and who was paired up with who.
In the end, we’re going to an event that makes it fully clear we are supposed to be mascots. I can’t say how many people will make it to me in the first place though.
At Heath’s command, we lined up in order of our rankings with Lily at the front. The girl herself sat down and straightened her back. She stared straight ahead without moving. Not letting your guard down even at a handshake event eh?
I was guided to my own seat while running my thoughts through my head. It is last in line, so I am far back away from the entrance. I was able to barely make out the opening from where I was, so I could see when things finally began. A huge number of people rushed in as if there were a big sales event.
The wave of people weakened at around the 30s, and nobody was able to reach my or Melia’s seat. I suppose this is what people mean when they say the lone bird sings.
“Nobody is coming…..”
“Ahaha……well, we are buried back here aren’t we?”
It’s not that we aren’t popular, but we are buried among everyone else. We have yet to sprout yet. Those are the feelings behind Melia’s words, and it did make me feel a little better.
“You’re right…..we’re just buried right? If we could only dig ourselves out somehow…..”
“That’s right! So no need to be depressed!”
With Melia’s encouragement, I started to notice the people slowly dispersing to this end after speaking with and shaking hands with the girls in front of us. I guess people want to get through the popular people first before spending any time talking to the lower ranks.
People ranked in the forties started having their own lines formed in front of them, albeit small ones. Those curious enough to visit me haven’t made it this far yet though.
“I’m heading to the bathroom for a minute.”
I told Melia where I was going and left my seat. I walked behind the other competitors on my way to the bathroom, and each one was taking on the visitors in their own different way. Little efforts like this will go a long way I’m sure. Maybe it would be better for me to take action instead of just sitting back and waiting.
While I was thinking about how to stand out, I arrived behind the seats of the upper ranked group. There were still long lines in front of Lily, Nerine, Peony, Ran, and Ren who were the highest ranks.
You’d never be able to get through everyone without a time limit, so a strong-looking guy was standing next to the girls and directing the flow of people. Each visitor had about ten seconds of time available. They shake hands and exchanged a word or two before being immediately kicked out. If you came down to my tent, I could talk with you for an hour.
I don’t get jealous. Just depressed. I visualized the number of supporters and the amount of people who will be watching me. The overwhelming difference in quantity is soul-crushing.
This can be a good indicator of how likely my life is going to change in the future. As of right now, it’s not. It will be back to the countryside and spending my days dancing in dingy taverns.
I can at least console myself by remembering that I wasn’t supposed to be here in the first place. Better to have participated and lost rather than never participated at all.
Dejectedly, I took another look at the upper ranked contestants.
Overall, there are a lot of guys, but Lily has a good mix of men and women. She just seems to have a ton of supporters overall. She is also showing them all a refreshed smile, something I’ve never seen from her before.
Conversely, Nerine’s line is made up almost entirely of men. I guess she is the type of girl men generally find appealing. I wonder if I could get more votes if I put on that kind of character. “Here I am! Everyone’s little sister, Liffy!”
The high male ratio does mean there is a large portion of votes that aren’t here and remain untapped. Women. I might still have a chance if I narrow my focus on them.
♠
By the time I got back to my seat from the bathroom, there were several people waiting in line at my station. Surprised to actually see someone, I ran back the rest of the way.
“Excuse me! I’m sorry for making you wait! I’m Liffy Ruhuna.”
A middle-aged man was at the front of the line. He was wearing a nice set of clothes and looked wealthy.
When I held out my hand, he grabbed it with both his and started stroking my wrist. It was honestly gross, but this is also for votes, so I endured it with a smile.
“Does the young miss do grassroots?”
That’s a word I’ve never heard before. Is it a popular game in the capital?
“Grassroots…..? I’m sorry. I don’t know……”
I shook my head and glanced over to Melia who seemed to have some free time. She apparently heard us talking, but she didn’t know what it was either.
The middle-aged uncle left immediately, probably because that was all he wanted to ask. But the same thing ended up happening with everyone else in line. When we shook hands, the men would ask if I was involved in any ‘grassroot’ activities, and some of them even clicked their tongues when I told them I didn’t know what that was.
I decided to talk to Melia about it when other people were out of the way.
“Melia, do you know what grassrots is?”
“Sorry, but I don’t. Do you know Dahlia?”
Melia asked the person on the other side of her. So forty-ninth place. I recognized her face. During the buffet party on the very first day here, she was the one who made fun of me in front of all the other commoners.
Her loosely curled brown hair and the mole at the corner of her eye gave off an adult appeal. I don’t know how old she is, but she’s at least older than us.
“I do know. Are you interested? We’ll be doing it later tonight actually…..”
Dahlia looked me and Melia over with a discerning eye.
“What exactly will we be doing?”
Dahlia made an eerie smile.
“Just enjoying the night. You two should join us. I’m Dahlia Gyaru. Nice to meet you, Dancer-san.”
Our week of training came to an end. Rose taught me various different dances during those days, but I have no idea how far that will actually take me.
Lily wasn’t feeling well at the end, and even when I went to her room to play, she didn’t do anything to me and just sent me away as is.
The first round of judging will begin tomorrow. Today is Sunday, and I thought it would be a short break for us, but instead, everyone was gathered together early in the morning at the capital’s central park.
Chairs and tents for shade are lined up in a long line on the park’s vast road. Decorations are also scattered throughout the park itself, making it feel like we were about to put on a festival.
“Wow! They’re going to give us a festival too!?”
Melia was looking around at all the decorations with sparkling eyes.
“It’s not like that. Weren’t you paying attention to the explanation yesterday?”
Peony was looking at at Melia with an exasperated face. But I didn’t hear what we were doing today either. Since it was our last day together, we had a feast at Rose’s shop. During that I might have gotten so absolutely wasted I needed the reporter girl’s shoulder to make it back after the day was already done.
“Well because I was drinking late……”
“And I finished my training early, so I took a nap and overslept……”
Peony didn’t say anything, but I could tell from her eyes she was thinking, “This why you two are in last.” However after a sigh, she began to explain. Peony is gruff, yet somewhat kind too.
“So we need people to vote for us right? Today is an opportunity for us to listen directly to what people have to say. We’re going to meet people, have a conversation with them, and shake their hands.”
“Isn’t that just a handshake event?”
“The whole point of shaking hands is to attract other people to you. So we need to win people over and get more supporters.”
Peony sincerely explained what the point of today was.
I wonder, how serious will everyone take something like this? At last year’s all male hero audition, the other girls in the village didn’t participate in the event, but they were all talking about who was the coolest and who was paired up with who.
In the end, we’re going to an event that makes it fully clear we are supposed to be mascots. I can’t say how many people will make it to me in the first place though.
At Heath’s command, we lined up in order of our rankings with Lily at the front. The girl herself sat down and straightened her back. She stared straight ahead without moving. Not letting your guard down even at a handshake event eh?
I was guided to my own seat while running my thoughts through my head. It is last in line, so I am far back away from the entrance. I was able to barely make out the opening from where I was, so I could see when things finally began. A huge number of people rushed in as if there were a big sales event.
The wave of people weakened at around the 30s, and nobody was able to reach my or Melia’s seat. I suppose this is what people mean when they say the lone bird sings.
“Nobody is coming…..”
“Ahaha……well, we are buried back here aren’t we?”
It’s not that we aren’t popular, but we are buried among everyone else. We have yet to sprout yet. Those are the feelings behind Melia’s words, and it did make me feel a little better.
“You’re right…..we’re just buried right? If we could only dig ourselves out somehow…..”
“That’s right! So no need to be depressed!”
With Melia’s encouragement, I started to notice the people slowly dispersing to this end after speaking with and shaking hands with the girls in front of us. I guess people want to get through the popular people first before spending any time talking to the lower ranks.
People ranked in the forties started having their own lines formed in front of them, albeit small ones. Those curious enough to visit me haven’t made it this far yet though.
“I’m heading to the bathroom for a minute.”
I told Melia where I was going and left my seat. I walked behind the other competitors on my way to the bathroom, and each one was taking on the visitors in their own different way. Little efforts like this will go a long way I’m sure. Maybe it would be better for me to take action instead of just sitting back and waiting.
While I was thinking about how to stand out, I arrived behind the seats of the upper ranked group. There were still long lines in front of Lily, Nerine, Peony, Ran, and Ren who were the highest ranks.
You’d never be able to get through everyone without a time limit, so a strong-looking guy was standing next to the girls and directing the flow of people. Each visitor had about ten seconds of time available. They shake hands and exchanged a word or two before being immediately kicked out. If you came down to my tent, I could talk with you for an hour.
I don’t get jealous. Just depressed. I visualized the number of supporters and the amount of people who will be watching me. The overwhelming difference in quantity is soul-crushing.
This can be a good indicator of how likely my life is going to change in the future. As of right now, it’s not. It will be back to the countryside and spending my days dancing in dingy taverns.
I can at least console myself by remembering that I wasn’t supposed to be here in the first place. Better to have participated and lost rather than never participated at all.
Dejectedly, I took another look at the upper ranked contestants.
Overall, there are a lot of guys, but Lily has a good mix of men and women. She just seems to have a ton of supporters overall. She is also showing them all a refreshed smile, something I’ve never seen from her before.
Conversely, Nerine’s line is made up almost entirely of men. I guess she is the type of girl men generally find appealing. I wonder if I could get more votes if I put on that kind of character. “Here I am! Everyone’s little sister, Liffy!”
The high male ratio does mean there is a large portion of votes that aren’t here and remain untapped. Women. I might still have a chance if I narrow my focus on them.
♠
By the time I got back to my seat from the bathroom, there were several people waiting in line at my station. Surprised to actually see someone, I ran back the rest of the way.
“Excuse me! I’m sorry for making you wait! I’m Liffy Ruhuna.”
A middle-aged man was at the front of the line. He was wearing a nice set of clothes and looked wealthy.
When I held out my hand, he grabbed it with both his and started stroking my wrist. It was honestly gross, but this is also for votes, so I endured it with a smile.
“Does the young miss do grassroots?”
That’s a word I’ve never heard before. Is it a popular game in the capital?
“Grassroots…..? I’m sorry. I don’t know……”
I shook my head and glanced over to Melia who seemed to have some free time. She apparently heard us talking, but she didn’t know what it was either.
The middle-aged uncle left immediately, probably because that was all he wanted to ask. But the same thing ended up happening with everyone else in line. When we shook hands, the men would ask if I was involved in any ‘grassroot’ activities, and some of them even clicked their tongues when I told them I didn’t know what that was.
I decided to talk to Melia about it when other people were out of the way.
“Melia, do you know what grassrots is?”
“Sorry, but I don’t. Do you know Dahlia?”
Melia asked the person on the other side of her. So forty-ninth place. I recognized her face. During the buffet party on the very first day here, she was the one who made fun of me in front of all the other commoners.
Her loosely curled brown hair and the mole at the corner of her eye gave off an adult appeal. I don’t know how old she is, but she’s at least older than us.
“I do know. Are you interested? We’ll be doing it later tonight actually…..”
Dahlia looked me and Melia over with a discerning eye.
“What exactly will we be doing?”
Dahlia made an eerie smile.
“Just enjoying the night. You two should join us. I’m Dahlia Gyaru. Nice to meet you, Dancer-san.”
