Chapter 31: The Idol Transformation, Part 2

Tch, no matter how you look at it, this was supposed to be a magical girl transformation story where she defeats monsters and saves the world. Why did she feel such a helpless urge to complain? After thoroughly understanding the situation of this world, quite a lot of time had passed. Her stomach let out a rumble, reminding her that she hadn't eaten a single thing all day since being discharged from the hospital.

So, she walked out and went to take a look at the kitchen. That's right, there was a kitchen here, though nobody usually used it. After all, everyone entering this place was a prospective idol, someone who would at most whip up a few dishes or pastries just to show off for their persona, which meant there were hardly any ingredients in the kitchen at all.

Mu Yin couldn't help but fall into deep thought as she surveyed the kitchen refrigerator, which contained nothing besides milk and eggs. Speaking of which, this recent incident had finally infuriated her family, prompting them to dock her allowance for the next three months. The original owner's monthly allowance had been quite substantial, as the expenses at the idol academy were naturally very high.

However, she hadn't participated in any of those classes that required extra fees. Yet, upon checking the original owner's accounts, she found that all the money had been spent on secretly enrolling in martial arts training. As a result, not only was she completely broke, but her ranking in the idol academy was also at the very bottom, leaving her with zero opportunities to earn extra cash through performances.

Holding her head in her hands, it looked like she needed to make money as quickly as possible to resolve her current predicament. For now, she might as well buy some ingredients and seasonings to cook for herself. After all, although the cafeteria food was exquisite and healthy, it was also far too expensive.

Even though idols had strict body management to maintain, they were still growing children. With all kinds of daily dance training classes consuming massive amounts of physical energy, there were no strict limits placed on the amount of food they could eat.

If this were a magical girl setting, they wouldn't need to control their diets at all, because no matter how unattractive they looked before transforming, they would become super handsome or gorgeous afterward. Tch, of course, anyone whose appearance changed too drastically wouldn't end up in an idol academy; those types usually went to the film academy.

One must remember the definition of an idol: an idol is someone who serves as an object of imitation for others.

It could be said that idols needed to maintain a positive and proactive image across all aspects. Without a good image, it was impossible to become an idol. In this world, idols were not merely pretty-faced vases, but a professional identity on par with singers and actors.

Getting off track, she went to the supermarket outside the campus to buy ingredients, vegetables, and various seasonings, and then began preparing a grand feast for herself. "What are you doing?" At that moment, her roommate returned.

Upon coming back, Cheng Xiao noticed sounds coming from the kitchen, so she walked over to take a look. Opening the door, she was surprised to find Mu Xi—who usually vanished during broad daylight—back in the room, and judging by the looks of it, actually cooking. She instantly frowned.

"Isn't it obvious?" Mu Yin thought to herself that humans could be quite strange, always loving to ask questions when the answer was already obvious.

"You're going to cook in here? That won't do at all. The cooking fumes will fill the dormitory, and the smell is terrible." Cheng Xiao considered Mu Xi to be a freak. Clearly possessing great talent (within the transformation department), she stubbornly refused to push herself. If the school didn't have a policy against expelling students, someone slacking off as much as her would have been kicked out long ago. And now, she was actually cooking inside the dormitory; she really couldn't bear this anymore.

"If you close the door, it won't be an issue." Mu Yin desperately wanted to roll her eyes, but managed to hold it in.

"No way. This is a dorm for the both of us, and I won't let you run wild by yourself." Cheng Xiao refused to leave, and even prepared to walk in and turn off the stove.

"I'm sorry, but as you said yourself, this is a dorm for two people, and the school hasn't banned the use of the kitchen. You don't have the authority to do this." Mu Yin pushed her right back out, locked the door, and continued preparing her grand meal.

"Mu Xi, you get out here right now! I'm definitely going to report this to the school administration. A student like you should have been kicked out of our school ages ago!" Cheng Xiao shouted from outside, never expecting Mu Yin to pull such a stunt.

"Do as you like, if you can actually pull it off," Mu Yin replied nonchalantly.

After finishing her meal and thoroughly enjoying it, she resumed browsing through the data of this world, trying to guess the plotline for this iteration and wondering what route this story would take.

A few days later, she was summoned to the administrative office. The headmistress was waiting for her, alongside four other students. Upon arriving, she noticed they were all students whose academic performance ranked at the very bottom of the school.

The idol academy was different from other institutions; classes were not divided by grade levels, but rather by individual ability. Thus, a 13-year-old might be a senior student, while a 17-year-old could still be a junior—take her, for instance, at 16 years old, she was still in the beginner class. As for the upper limit, regardless of whether they were ready to debut or not, students had to graduate from the idol academy once they turned 18.

Of course, academic classes were still assigned by age—idols couldn't possibly be illiterate, after all. However, the most important metric in the idol academy was their idol rank, which ranged from Level 10 to Level 1, with Level 1 being the highest. The grading criteria were determined by the ratio of likes to dislikes on their monthly stage performances published on the internal school network, combined with their usual participation scores.

The original owner and the four individuals beside her belonged to the bottom five trainees in the entire academy, excluding the newly enrolled preschool class. They were the only five Level-10 students in the school. However, within Level 10, the original owner wasn't even ranked at the very bottom; she was second to last, with one person performing even worse than her.

The original owner had no desire to become an idol, yet her innate talent was actually quite exceptional. She possessed a striking appearance, a wonderful vocal range, great musicality, excellent rhythm, and superior body control. Even though she didn't study diligently, her singing and dancing were both quite good. Furthermore, because of her martial arts training, her dance movements carried more power than those of ordinary people. The only issue was that she rarely executed her routines properly, having never practiced with sincere dedication.

As for the person at the very bottom, her name was Luo Qing. Her appearance was the epitome of pure innocence, practically the textbook definition of a campus belle. She also had a lovely singing voice, resembling a lark. However, her physical coordination was atrocious; she could trip while walking on flat ground. When dancing, she was either ahead of the beat or lagging behind, and she would stumble at the slightest hint of difficulty. Her sense of balance was fundamentally flawed from birth, so despite her immense effort, her scores remained lower than Mu Yin's.

"The reason we've called you here today is to notify you of a new policy. The school has revised its regulations and formally applied to the Education Bureau, and the bureau has approved it. From now on, any Level 10 student in the academy who remains at Level 10 for more than two grading periods—meaning two consecutive months of dance performances—will face expulsion." The headmistress looked at the five individuals standing before her, her eyes devoid of any warmth. She held zero regard for any of them.

Not only were these students low-ranked, but they were also among the very few whose dislikes heavily outnumbered their likes. In her view, people like this were utterly unworthy of being idols; how could someone who was disliked by others possibly become an idol?

One had to understand that students at other ranks—even Level 9—never suffered from having more dislikes than likes, because the vast majority of people wouldn't bother going out of their way to downvote someone. At worst, people would simply neither like nor dislike them. Yet these few individuals accumulated far more dislikes than likes, which was a testament to just how widely disliked they were.

Now that the school had altered its regulations, she felt it was simply wonderful. People who were disliked to this extent had no business being idols.