Chapter 30 - 30: Kneading (pt.3)

The first week of training flew by so fast the trainees collectively developed emotional whiplash. The program stayed painfully true to its promise: most of them crashed face-first into their beds every night, unconscious within seconds. Others dragged their exhausted bodies to the spa or hot springs, taking full advantage of the facilities provided to keep them from mentally combusting. A few deranged souls coped by heading to the gym to work out more or swimming laps like they were fleeing their problems. Everyone found their own way to stay sane as they survived the brutal, beautiful hell that was training.

Vocal classes drilled the basics — technique, breathing, proper warmups — into their skulls until it became automatic, the goal being vocal longevity. If their voices were instruments, the instructors were determined to make sure none of them snapped a string by week two.

Dance classes were even more intense. They tackled every genre imaginable, teaching the trainees not to get trapped in a single style. Creativity came easier when you had a library of movement to pull from. But nothing — nothing — humbled them like ballet. Ballet battered them in places they didn't even know muscles existed. During those sessions, their screams reportedly echoed down the halls of Jenga Tower like a haunted mansion.

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