Chapter 5 – The Rankings Mean Nothing
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*Chapter 5 – The Rankings Mean Nothing**
The hallway outside the training rooms was unusually loud today.
Not from excitement.
From tension.
Every month, the agency conducted **performance evaluations**—a ranking system that determined who moved forward, who stayed behind, and who was eliminated.
Trainees buzzed with anxiety, comparing notes, rehearsing routines under their breath.
Except for one.
He sat alone in the far corner of the hallway, back against the wall, hood low over his face, eyes closed.
Like he didn't care.
Because he didn't.
---
> "That's him, right?"
> "Yeah. The new guy. Ghost-boy."
> "He's not even practicing…"
> "What's he trying to prove?"
They whispered like he wasn't there.
But none dared approach.
---
The studio doors opened one by one.
Trainees went in. Came out.
Some were sweating. Some were crying.
He didn't move.
Not until his name was called.
Not until everyone else had gone quiet.
---
He stepped inside **Studio Zero**—the main evaluation room.
Five instructors waited.
Vocal. Dance. Performance. Stage Presence. Expression.
All of them top-tier. Unimpressed by hype. Focused only on skill.
He stood at the center, under the lights.
The youngest judge adjusted his mic.
> "We've heard the rumors," he said. "Now we see if you're worth them."
He said nothing.
---
He pressed play on his phone.
No one recognized the track.
It wasn't popular. Not commercial.
It was complex. Heavy with rhythm switches, vocal layering, and rapid choreography.
And yet…
The moment the music began, he was **flawless**.
---
Every movement was like a code being cracked.
Steps executed with the precision of a machine—yet somehow alive.
Vocals layered over the beat, matching pitch and breath with uncanny control.
High notes held without falter.
Low notes deep and textured.
No autotune. No edits.
Just raw, impossible perfection.
---
Three minutes later, silence.
He didn't look at them.
Didn't wait for feedback.
He just stepped back, bowed once—sharp and clean—and left the room.
---
The judges sat there.
Still.
Unblinking.
The oldest finally said,
> "He broke the evaluation scale."
The vocal coach nodded slowly.
> "He scored full marks on every category…"
> "Without expression," the stage coach whispered. "Without emotion."
> "He doesn't need it."
---
The results were posted the next morning.
Large white screen.
Digital display.
**Top Rank: Unnamed Trainee – 100/100**
The hallway erupted with noise.
Everyone already knew who it was.
He stood at the back.
Didn't flinch.
Didn't glance at the board.
He pulled up his hood and walked past the crowd.
---
Someone reached out to him—a trainee with too much curiosity.
> "Hey… what's your name?"
He stopped.
Turned slightly.
Then said in a voice colder than winter,
> "Irrelevant."
---
That night, a thread trended quietly on an underground trainee forum:
**"Who is the Ghost Trainee? And why does he look like he walked out of a dream?"**
No answers.
No photos.
Just one blurry video clip of him leaving the studio.
But even that was enough to stir whispers beyond the walls.
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**End of Chapter 5.**