episode_0203

I wonder if I’m relying too much on the status window.

… that was actually natural.

Before I distributed my stats, I had no talent for dancing or singing.

The reason I was able to win in NaaA and become an idol was all thanks to the status window.

So it’s only natural that I tend to rely on the status screen… .

So then, am I a being that can’t do anything without a status window?

“Sigh… .”

… I wanted to say no, but it seemed right.

With complicated thoughts, I opened my status window after a long time.

[Ha Ye-rin]

[Age: 19]

[Characteristics: Heavenly Demon, Extreme Demon (Locked)]

[Body Detail Stats]

[Intelligence Detail Stats]

[Art Detail Stats]

“… Cheonma.”

My trait Cheonma stands out.

Cheonma. The leader of the Demonic Cult that appears in martial arts novels.

The demonic cult members of martial arts novels rapidly increase their power through evil methods called magic.

However, abnormally grown powers have side effects, and those who use magic ultimately fall apart.

Even though Cheonmado became stronger by using magic, he was unable to defeat the protagonist at the last moment and was defeated.

The trait of Cheonma…, could it be that it is predicting my appearance like that?

He grew quickly by relying on the magic called the status window, but was ultimately defeated… .

Isn’t that what my future looks like?

Anxiety breeds anxiety.

It got to the point where I even imagined myself being unhappy because I failed the quest and received the penalty of ‘emptiness’… .

“Eight…! What unlucky thoughts are you thinking… .”

I covered my head with the blanket and forced my eyes shut.

‘Everything will be okay, just like Seol said… .’

When I checked again recently, my MBTI was INFP.

I found it funny that I couldn’t sleep over such trivial things, wondering if anyone would think I was an INFP.

‘Go to sleep quickly… Go to sleep quickly… ‘

When I looked at my phone clock, it was already well past 2 in the morning.

I was surprised at how quickly time passed and tried to quickly go to bed to prepare for tomorrow’s schedule… but I couldn’t fall asleep because I forced myself to sleep.

Ssuk-.

“… Uhm, sis?”

“Sorry, I woke you up. Go to sleep, Eugene.”

Hug.

Then I went over to Seo Yu-jin’s bed and held her close to me like I did every night.

Luckily, I fell asleep quickly while holding her, who was as soft and fluffy as a teddy bear.

‘Forget it, don’t think bad thoughts.’

So, I decided not to have negative thoughts about starting the activity for no reason, and went to sleep.

**

Little by little, our concerns became reality.

During their last promotion, reached number one on the Top 100 chart in less than 24 hours, but this time, it hasn’t reached number one even after a week.

So naturally, they didn’t even get first place on the music show for the first week.

No… , in the first week, we weren’t even in the top 3 candidates.

Actually, this is a natural situation… , the last activity was great, but the atmosphere wasn’t that good.

“Let’s all cheer up, okay? The fans are cheering us on a lot too.”

“Yes, we’re working hard!”

However, it is not as if we were discouraged and frustrated because our grades were not good.

The more difficult the situation, the more we came together and cheered each other on.

And that time when I appeared on the 2nd week of music show.

“Oh…! We got first place!”

“Huh? Really?”

“Yes! We won first place!”

We finally reached number one on the music charts just 16 days after releasing the song.

This time, it might have been difficult because it overlapped with other popular groups’ activities, but in the end, we made it.

“Sigh… .”

“ and thank goodness… .”

The members who were worried that they might not get first place in this promotion finally breathed a sigh of relief.

At that moment, Seo Yu-jin, who had been observing the situation for a while, raised a topic.

“Then, can we…, win first place on this week’s music show?”

“… … !”

Yes, it didn’t end with just reaching number one on the music charts.

In order to say that you have truly won first place, you must win first place on a music show.

In the last activity, our Rookies took first place on both cable and terrestrial channels from the first week and continued their dictatorship for several weeks.

‘I can do it this time too!’

I clenched my fists in secret, believing without a doubt that I could do it this time too.

however….

“It’ll probably be hard.”

“… Yes?”

“We won’t be able to win first place on a music show in this promotion.”

The negative answer came from an unexpected place.

It was Yoo Seol.

When she, who had always cheered up the members whenever they showed negative behavior, shook her head, we were taken aback and had no choice but to ask her.

“… … Why?”

“You got first place on music charts, so why can’t you get first place on music shows?”

Yoo Seol answered our earnest questions with a firm face.

and….

“It can’t be helped. Our activity this time is a single, not an album.”

“… Ah.”

The moment I heard her words, I couldn’t help but flinch.

‘By the way, is a digital single… .’

Several indicators are added to the music show music source rankings.

Among them, it is true that music source performance is a very important indicator… .

Album sales also account for a significant portion.

However, since digital singles have no album sales, we are essentially at a huge penalty compared to other groups that promote albums.

“Of course, there are very few cases where digital singles win first place on music shows… but it can be seen as extremely difficult. So let’s not expect too much.”

“… Yes.”

“Digital singles have their own merits, so don’t be too discouraged.”

The advantage of digital singles is that they can be launched quickly because the preparation period is short.

The reason we did our second activity as a digital single instead of an album could be seen as a result of the group’s characteristics.

Because Rookies is a limited-time group for one year.

From NAS’s perspective, they had to quickly launch themselves and make money within a short period of one year, so it would have been a shame to waste time preparing another album.

“Yeah, I guess I can’t help it.”

“But it still ranked first on the music charts.”

The members nodded as if they understood the current reality and the company’s circumstances.

“Rookies, let’s go on stage now~”

At that moment, a staff member came into the waiting room and announced that it was our turn to announce the first place winner.

“Let’s go, guys. But we still have to see who gets first place.”

“Yes.”

So, we headed to the stage, giving up on our dreams of winning first place on a music show, as per Yoo Seol’s words.

and….

[Now, let’s take a look at today’s Music Run number one candidate.]

[Breaking Bad! – The Rookies]

“… … !”

“Hey, us!”

Maybe it was because of the influence of the music chart ranking, but when Rookies were nominated for first place, my members and I were a little excited…

Chorus.

[Album sales: 0]

“Ahh… .”

Perhaps because of the lack of album sales, the Rookies’ run quickly came to a halt.

[Congratulations! Wise Seniors’ ‘Look into My Eyes’ is #1 this week!]

In the end, the number one spot on Eumboong went to a boy group from JJ Entertainment.

‘Yeah, well… that’s what I expected… .’

It was expected, but is it because I was nominated for first place?

The regret didn’t go away easily.

In addition to that, the frustration that had been inside me since the release of the music source was added on… .

I felt like there was a stone on my chest, and it didn’t go away easily.

I desperately wanted someone to help me relieve this suffocating feeling.

**

After the music show, we went to the NAS headquarters.

Suddenly, we heard there was additional filming, so we tilted our heads and went to the company, and what greeted us was… .

Phew!

“Congratulations on 150 days since debut of Rookies!”

“Congratulations on reaching #1 on the music charts!”

“Waaa-!”

It was a surprise party with staff wearing cone-shaped hats and a pretty cake.

“Wow-! I’m really surprised!”

“Oh my…, my heart….”

150 days since debut.

We were really surprised because we had no idea about this unexpected event and our manager had no idea what was going on.

And that look on our faces… .

Jiying.

It was captured on camera.

I heard later that it was a video they were going to use when they were doing the Rookies self-con.

“150 days is already the halfway point. Congratulations.”

“Now you’re a proper idol.”

“Hey, Han Si-woo!”

Even Han Si-woo, who was already busy, came to the surprise party.

So we filled up our portion with Q&A and 150-day event for 2 hours.

And after filming was over, a leisurely break followed.

“Okay, take one cake each.”

“Wow-!”

Director Jeong, who usually strictly controls snacking, also gave each member a piece of cake today.

“It’s delicious… .”

After a long time, I felt like my mood was lifted a little after eating something sweet.

We ate cake and heard about the Rookies’ future schedule from Director Jeong.

“I plan to only do this activity on the music show until this week.”

“… Yes? Why? It’s only the second week?”

“In fact, these days, music shows don’t have as much influence as they used to, and is a single, so it doesn’t have much merit on music shows.”

It seems that the company also recognizes that it is nearly impossible to win first place on a music show with a digital single.

Instead, Director Jeong declared that he would fill his time with entertainment shows and other filming.

“So please work hard on the music show until this week. Oh, there are shorts collaborations with other idols, so I’ll announce it later.”

“Yes!”

That was when we were eating cake and listening to Director Jeong’s story.

“I’ll leave for a moment.”

When Director Jeong was almost finished speaking, Han Si-woo got up from his seat and went outside.

I looked at Han Si-woo’s back for a moment… .

“I need to go to the bathroom for a minute, too.”

I followed him.

Han Si-woo, who reached the peak of his idol career, often served as a mentor to me since I was a child.

It was because I believed that Han Si-woo would be able to solve my problems this time too.

but….

“… Where did you go?”

No matter how much I looked outside, I couldn’t find Han Si-woo.

I waited in front of the men’s bathroom for a long time, thinking he had gone to the bathroom, but I didn’t think he would come out.

I was confused and wandered around the floors, and the place I found Han Si-woo was….

“Producer Han Si-woo?”

“Yerin Yang?”

It was a small terrace leading outside.

“What are you doing here…, ah….”

Han Si-woo was smoking a cigarette there.

And the sight of him smoking that cigarette… .

It overlapped with the scene where Black Night’s Shin Si-woo was smoking marijuana.

Since YW, which Han Si-woo belonged to, was a place that was very noisy due to drug incidents, it was inevitable that he would be even more nervous.

but….

“Yerin, wait a minute. Don’t come here. You smell like cigarettes.”

While Han Si-woo hurriedly put out his cigarette and sprayed some deodorant, I could see what he was smoking.

It was a domestic cigarette that could be easily purchased at convenience stores.

Feeling relieved, I cleared my mind and asked Han Si-woo.

“Producer Han Si-woo smokes too.”

“Yeah, well… , sometimes when I’m having a hard time and have a lot of worries… .”

Han Si-woo answered like that, looked up at the sky with sad eyes for a moment, then smiled bitterly and said.

“It may seem like celebrities are living comfortably, but what you see isn’t everything…, doesn’t Yerin know that now?”

“… … .”

Nod.

When I slowly nodded my head to his words, Han Si-woo smiled faintly and gestured.

“It doesn’t seem like you followed me around for no reason… . You have a worried look on your face like mine right now. Go ahead, I’ve been an idol for 15 years and I’ll answer anything. ”

When he realized that I had a problem, he offered to consult me first.

So I approached him and… .

“I actually… .”

I began to pour out my heart’s pent-up feelings, one by one.