"Did they really just convert this field into a replica of that stage we had back in the first set?"

Yujin gasped as she looked around the mentioned place, seeing how the pyramid-like structure was situated before them.

Somi chuckled, "Looks like it."

"Woahh..."

"Alright!" Aeri punched up the air, "Ya gals think we'll rank higher this time?" she asked cheerfully.

"Ranking average is fine too," Jimin casually answered.

Minjeong only shrugged.

Today was the day all of the participants will receive their new assigned ranks. All were gathered by the field where each was instructed to wait for the others earlier this morning.

It was 6:30 a.m when everyone eventually arrived. The camera was already rolling but the senior staff did guide everyone to stay in their seats and wait for a certain someone to appear.

Mentioning this certain someone caused a lot of conversations to occur. Some were curious and talked about who this person may be, while the rest may either be talking about something else or just sat in silence.

Minjeong was one of those quiet participants, though would answer the three sunshines' questions just to shut them up from talking more. They're not that bad, really. It was just because she was in the middle of exploring the system and wouldn't want to be bothered.

And there was someone interesting in front of her too. Shin Ryujin was seated in front of her, talking with the other contestants. So she couldn't let this opportunity pass and immediately looked up various kinds of information regarding the top ranker.

The further she looked into the information about her, the more she questioned the system. Well, in her thoughts. She didn't actually want to question it since the possibility of it giving her immense pain like the other time when she asked who created it would be unavoidable.

But there's just this specific part of Ryujin's status window that caught Minjeong off guard.

[ Question ]
What is the attribute Black Hole and status effect, Perfectionist?
- Black Hole: (Passive: High Stage Presence) When performing, holder will act as a magnet, attracting any person who takes sight of her existence.
- Perfectionist: Holder won't stop on a certain subject until satisfied.

But why is there a heart?

Minjeong couldn't help but ask that herself multiple times as she closed the floating windows before her and comfortably lay her back on the chair's backrest, sighing.

She and the top ranker has never interacted. So it was a marvel to find out how one of the five hearts was filled. Just what are affinities? She always thought how it's connected to the chemistry between her and that subject, so there's no way this one worked like the one in dating sims.

That was the only reasonable answer. Thus, when turning her head to steal a glance at the four friends who sat near her, she opened their status windows and saw how each one of them had at least one heart filled.

It was weird how the profiles changed when she progressed so much within the system. Heart bars would automatically appear in anyone's windows and the information she would ask was getting more in-depth.

That does mean the more she progressed, the more the system would give her the desired information? Would it be possible to someday ask... Who created the system?

Many thoughts came by and Minjeong felt determined to win this competition even more.

Right right... everything is normal.

Then there's Jimin, she had the highest affinity level, three hearts were filled. Minjeong would often think about how the heck she raised three hearts in such a short amount of time.

Whereas the other three girls who she's been with the same time as Jimin was stuck to a single heart. Minjeong groaned silently at the thought and scratched her cheek in perplexion.

At the same time, she felt a soft tap on her lap which came from Jimin.

"You look confused, are you okay?"

Minjeong raised a brow. She was sure that she didn't have any expressions displayed and pulled out her phone to check the reflection, confirming that she did have her poker face on.

"I know, it's weird." Jimin chuckled, "I just noticed a few things. Sometimes you randomly scratch your cheek, when you're confused or flustered— right?"

Minjeong wasn't sure how to react, "How- Are you... watching me?"

Jimin widened her eyes in realization and rapidly shook her hands denyingly, "No no no! I just- You were next to me and doing it a lot back in the apartment when we were watching with everyone else..." she lowered her head to hide her visage.

"So you were watching me," Minjeong stated rather than a question.

"There's this thing called peripheral vision, okay?"

Even though Jimin's head was lowered, hiding the expression on her face. Minjeong still saw how the taller puffed her cheeks, seemingly pouting.

At that moment, Minjeong couldn't hold her poker face and slipped into a smile, then a hand covering to suppress the laughter that was starting to overtake her.

Quickly, she remembered the cameras and fixed her composure. Minjeong whispered how she was only teasing in revenge for what she did back at the apartment and apologized.

Jimin calmed down with the c