The next morning, Damien arrived at Starlite Media's headquarters for the orientation. He woke up early out of habit and quickly got ready.
As he entered the sleek lobby, he went straight to the receptionist who then guided him to a conference room where other fresh-faced trainees sat. He wasn't the only newcomer. He took a seat next to a boy fiddling with the hem of his hoodie and offered a small hello. The boy gave a nervous smile back.
Clearly, everyone was a bit on edge.
Well, it was expected.
Soon, a training coordinator entered—an energetic woman with a tablet in hand. "Welcome to Starlite Media," she began, flashing a courteous smile. "And congratulations on passing the auditions. I'm Choi Hana , the trainee development coordinator. Today's orientation will cover what's expected of you as trainees, training schedules, and performance evaluations. In the end, we'll do an in-depth tour of the premises."
Damien straightened in his chair, giving her his full attention.
Coordinator Hana continued, glancing occasionally at her tablet. "First, your schedules. As you may have been informed during your signing, your schedules are different from others around you. It's catered to your needs and other priorities such as school. Every month, your schedules will change depending on your evaluation results and weaknesses."
She swiped her finger across the screen and continued, "However, some things will be the same. An example of this would be that there are no classes on the weekends. Weekends are generally used for self-training or for extra practice or if you want, taking a break. But—you should use this day off wisely." Hana gave a tiny smirk that suggested trainees did not, in fact, spend Sunday resting as they should.
"Another example is that every trainee has rotating classes. This means that each day is spent on focused on one or two specific classes, whether that be vocal training, dancing, language lessons, physical fitness, or acting. This will rotate and change every month, so be aware. You'll recieve a timetable through our trainee portal." Choi Hana tapped a few times on her tablet. A moment later, Damien's phone buzzed in his pocket—likely a new notification with login details for this portal.
Another trainee raised her hand. "What about the evaluations, Ms. Hana?"
Hana nodded, seemingly pleased with the question. Every month, there will be an evaluation where you perform in front of the training staff—And occasionally company executives—to assess your progress. You may be asked to sing, dance, rap, or even do a prepared performance in a group or solo. These evaluations determine if you get to continue as a trainee. Her gaze swept across the room, and her tone turned serious. "Any trainee who does not show improvement or potential..." She didn't finish the sentence, but she didn't have to. The implication was obvious—those trainees will be cut.
Damien felt a chill despite wearing a jacket. He stole a glance around and saw the other new trainees shifting slightly in their seat. The boy next to Damien bit his lip. They all understood—getting in was only the first hurdle. Surviving and rising was the real challenge.
"The evaluations results are separated in vocals, rap, dance, and overall rank so each trainee has a chance to excel in their strengths. The evaluations are posted on the cafeteria for all the trainees to see, so we'll come across it during our tour." Hana explained.
The orientation moved on to cover rules and regulations: dating restrictions, strict social media guidelines and restrictions, curfew for those in dorms, and confidentiality clauses about company secrets. It was a lot to digest, but Damien kept absorbing everything like a sponge.
By the early afternoon Choi Hana had finished her explanations. Quickly, they were ushered out of the room and into the hallway to do the tour. Damien stood at the back of the small cluster of new trainees. Then, Hana lead them down the hallway lined with framed posters of Starlite Media's past idols and achievements.
Starlite Media's headquarters spanned eight tightly managed floors. The main (or first) floor was open to everyone. It had a cafe, small merch stores, and a security checkpoint for staff, idols, and trainees alike.
The second floor belonged to the trainees—dance studios, vocal rooms, gyms, and a cafeteria exclusively for trainees were all there. He had also seen the monthly evaluation board. One couldn't help but drift their eyes to it, it was literally placed in the middle of the wall. But with a crowd in front of him, he couldn't get a clear view of it. So he made a mental note to visit it again whenever he could.
Also, he had noticed that every hallway smelled faintly of citrus—a common scent diffuser. Locker rooms with labels sat across from the nurse's station, while the main practice rooms buzzed with speakers and yelled out instructions from instructors.
Floors three through five housed the administrative side—staff offices, staff lounges, and departments. It was similar to how a regular company office looked like. Trainees weren't exactly banned from these floors. But they didn't belong there either.
The next two floors were reserved for idols. Seperate practice rooms, recording booths with soundproof walls, wardrobe storage, and even a styling room! Trainees never went up there unless summoned.
Lastly, the top floor was reserved for high ranking staff members like company executives and the CEO. The building might as well have even a pyramid—all of them clawing their way upward, step by step, while the ones who'd already made it never looked back down. Damien didn't need to be told twice. Heck, the elevator buttons for floors six to eight required a keycard. He hadn't earned that key yet.
After the tour was done, the orientation finally wrapped up. Choi Hana handed each of them a branded Starlite Media tote bag with some papers and items. When she was done, she gathered everyone again for a final goodbye. "Next week, you'll start your first training. Be prepared and get some good sleep. Also, you're free to roam around the main and second floors if you want to familiarize yourself with the layout of the building."
And with that, she had said a final goodbye and departed, leaving the small group of trainees. Damien had wanted to go back to the cafeteria to check out the monthly evaluation board. So, he took the elevators back up to the second floor. There in front of him was a white bulletin board covered with names arranged in columns beneath bold headers—the monthly evaluation board. Each header was named after a specific category: dance, vocal, rap, and overall rank.
His eyes scanned the names on the board:
[Dance Category:]
1. Li Xingyuan
2. Amano Eiko
3. Kim Sewon
4. ...
[Vocal Category:]
1. Kang Nari
2. Choi Hajoon
3. Park Eunjin
4. ...
[Rap Category:]
1. Park Kian
2. Kim Jeonghui
3. Hasegawa Daiki
4. ...
Overall Category:
1. Li Xingyuan
2. Choi Hajoon
3. Kang Nari
4. …
This, being in the cafeteria where everyone was present, felt like an opressing force. If someone were to eat here, this board is all they'd look at.
System: [Perhaps, host, it's their way of motivating their trainees.]
But a brutal way... They really don't play around. Everyone can see the ones who stand above the rest. Look system... They even post terminations!
Damien's eyes shifted to the small printed list attached to the right of the board.
[Terminations:]
Trainee Go Seok - Terminated (---)
『Showed no progress. Failed to meet minimum requirements.』
System: [Host will just have to try his best! Please work hard to complete the main mission!]
Damien stayed silent, then gave a nod.
You're right. I have to complete the main mission.
Then, placing his eyes on the number one spot, he steeled his resolve.
I'll be near there. I'll make sure of it.