Chapter 58: Cider Bomb

“Phew….”

To calm her nerves, Natsume took a deep breath.

A few days after Ren’s assault incident.

Thanks to the swift actions of the two, Ren’s name began to appear in entertainment news articles again.

Now that public attention was once again focused, it was the perfect time to expose the said information.

“……”

Looking around, an old camera and microphone came into view.

A studio whose facilities were so outdated that the company didn’t manage it well.

Moreover, since they had secretly picked the lock to enter, the filming quality was markedly poor.

‘Still, it doesn’t matter.’

The image quality wasn’t important anyway.

As long as their faces showed and their voices came out clearly, it was a success.

And that was a fact already proven through the test shoot just moments ago.

“Hey, Natsume. Are you really going to be okay?”

Yui, her usual tone gone and replaced with seriousness, asked her.

“If you’re nervous, maybe we can split it…”

“No, it’s fine.”

With Ren gone and Hikari missing, the pillar of Cornelia was now her.

Which meant.

Other parts could be different, but the opening, at least, had to be started by her.

‘It’s okay.’

Surely, I can do it just like Unnie.

Natsume endlessly repeated to herself.

“Alright, I’m pressing it? It starts in 3 seconds?”

Hina, who was in charge of pressing the recording timer, shouted to everyone.

Since there were no accompanying staff, everything had to be done manually.

“….Yeah, okay.”

At her words, all the members rose from their seats and moved in front of the white background.

“Everyone ready? One, two, three!”

The incident that would later be called the ‘Cornelia Great Exposé’ by people around the world.

Its beginning was a small YouTube live stream.

---

The 2020s, like a storm.

As an epidemic spread from a country on the continent.

And as tensions between various nations began to escalate.

Japanese society was burning hot with another incident.

[Former Idol R, Assault Incident Occurs]

[Attack by a Thug Armed with a Blunt Weapon]

[“I was just trying to punish the demon who betrayed her fans….”]

[“I hated her because I liked her too much…” Distorted Fandom, Is This Okay?]

The rising popular rookie idol group, Cornelia.

It was content related to the former leader of that very idol group, Sakamiya Ren.

A stalker, imprisoned by her, had attempted to take her life with a weapon but failed.

It was enough content to attract people’s attention.

-Serves her right for always causing trouble.

ㄴ Right, it would be better if she just died!

-What, this is boring.

ㄴ She didn’t even die, why make such a fuss?

-I bet she’s sucking d*ck at her boyfriend’s house right now.

ㄴ ? : Stop…! I can’t eat anymore!

ㄴThis is driving me crazy.

-But wasn’t her mom a prostitute too?

ㄴ So there was a reason she was selling her body.

ㄴ But honestly, a hostess isn’t really a prostitute, is she?

ㄴ All they do is pour drinks and chat.

ㄴBut if she met a guy there and had a kid, then she’s a prostitute.

ㄴ It’s all the same anyway, why bother nitpicking lol

ㄴ The fact that she was conceived there means she’s out.

Thwack-

“…..”

The woman, watching people instantly start tearing Ren apart, typed on her keyboard.

‘If it were me, I would have taken a knife and stabbed her.’

Pressing the enter key, the post was successfully registered online.

-But no matter what, someone almost died, isn’t this a bit much?

ㄴ I know, right… Why is everyone like this…

ㄴ The internet is so scary.

“Seriously, what are they saying?”

Occasionally, clueless comments also caught her eye, but there was no need to pay attention.

Many people were already criticizing them through replies.

No matter what, watching other people fight was the best spectator sport.

“Who does she think she is, worrying about a celebrity?”

Originally, she had no interest in the group called Cornelia, and whatever Ren did was none of her business.

She just needed an escape to vent her anger from her arduous company life.

Countless celebrities had been the target so far.

This time, the target was just Cornelia.

‘Everyone’s cursing her anyway, right?’

I heard she mocked her fans and even slept at another man’s house.

If so, then isn’t it okay for her to be cursed?

After finishing writing the post, the woman quietly looked at the calendar.

Cornelia’s new song release, which she saw on the internet, was not far off.

‘I wonder what the agency will say.’

Since she’s an idol who completely left the group, they probably won’t care much.

Tiring-

At that moment, the woman’s cell phone rang, sending her a message.

It was an alert for a related keyword she had set up.

[Cornelia’s official channel started a live stream, what’s this?]

What kind of reaction will they show?

The sasaeng fan, him, accessed the official YouTube channel to watch again.

Standing at the front was Natsume, Cornelia’s former second-in-command during Ren’s time, and now the leader.

The number of viewers gathered in such a way was enormous.

-What’s this?

-Where did Hikari-chan go?

-Is it bullying again?

-Looking at her like this, her face is seriously ugly.

-But isn’t this their first live here?

-The company hasn’t said anything.

-No, who do they think they are, starting a live?

-Idols, how dare they now.

-Wow, the set is so crappy.

The other members who appeared soon after.

The shabby background spread out behind them clearly didn’t look like a studio supported by the company.

The moment the number of gathered viewers surpassed 30,000.

Natsume opened her mouth, her voice trembling.

“—Hello, everyone?”

Though a rookie who was just starting to make a name for herself, Natsume, like Ren, was undeniably a professional.

The number of times she had performed live was countless, and she had also done several acting gigs as an idol.

However, thinking that many people were watching her announcement in real-time, she began to tremble.

Herself and Cornelia, Ren and Sion.

Not only them but also the sibling groups from the same agency.

As the lives of countless people were at stake, a tension incomparable to a concert venue overwhelmed her.

There was no editing to prepare for mistakes.

Her every action.

Was being broadcast to those watching this stream.

“Some of you may be surprised by this sudden live broadcast.”

“But the story we are about to tell today is about our agency, UFO Entertainment.”

“First, regarding the rumors about our group’s leader, Ren-unnie, we will clarify them.”

She couldn’t properly remember the script she had prepared beforehand.

Just convey the sincere thoughts that come to mind.

That was what her idol—her role model—

had given her as an answer.

“—Even if an affiliated artist caused a problem, what kind of company deals with it this way?”

Without a single formal clarification, they even condoned the actions of malicious commenters.

They just didn’t hold the knives themselves; weren’t they planning to bury the other party from the beginning?

“We can no longer stand by and watch this issue, nor can we trust such a company any longer.”

At Natsume’s words, the eyes of the artists watching the live stream from beyond the screen changed.

The early days of its establishment.

Even Ren, who had helped build the company together, was disgracefully kicked out of the industry without a single word of clarification.

Was there any guarantee that they themselves would be safe?

Everyone must have harbored such anxieties inwardly.

That too was one of the things aimed for in this live broadcast.

No matter how small the crack.

Once it occurs, it spreads quite rapidly.

Although there was nothing more they could do for Ren beyond this, that wasn’t the important part anyway.

“With this incident as an opportunity, what we hope for is contract termination.”

“Not just for me, but for all of our members.”

With Natsume’s concluding remarks, her face hardened, the live broadcast for that day ended.

Simultaneously.

As if a bomb had exploded, panic spread throughout the entire internet.

---

“What a mess.”

That was the one phrase Ren uttered upon seeing the completely chaotic state of the internet.

[Famous Entertainment Agency UFO Entertainment, Accused of Power Abuse Against Affiliated Artists…]

[Idol Culture Gone Mad, Are Fans Not Responsible?]

[Queen of Rookies Cornelia, Expresses Intent to Terminate Contract with Agency….]

“So, how do you feel?”

“Honestly, it’s refreshing.”

The arrows that had been solely directed at me were now divided towards the company.

That simple fact alone seemed to lighten my heart considerably.

“You were right, Sion. Our kids have all grown up now.”

Well, it’s an obvious story, but.

Detailed accounts of this stalker incident didn’t appear on the internet.

The main content was primarily about the agency’s internal corruption and unfair contracts.

And the issue of treatment towards affiliated artists.

The stalker incident had fulfilled its role simply by gathering people’s attention.

Now, the internet conspiracy theorists will piece together the rest.

Given the previous Mayuri incident, it would be difficult for the agency to dismiss this easily either.

“Oh, there’s talk about unfair contracts too.”

This wasn’t mentioned in the live broadcast.

Let’s see, an insider exposing contract details……

“……”

“…It wasn’t me.”

As I quietly looked at Sion, a denial came back as if expected.

‘Actually, mine wasn’t an unfair contract.’

Until then, I was scheduled to leave at the time of the original story, so my contract terms were quite poor.

I was okay with just receiving a salary comparable to a large corporation employee, so with the mindset of reducing the penalty fee I’d have to pay upon leaving, I just conceded on salary-related matters to the agency.

Therefore, strictly speaking, it wasn’t that the terms were poor due to company coercion as the article claimed, but…

‘Ah, whatever.’

What do I care about that?

They didn’t step up when the s*x scandal controversy about me broke out anyway.

Let them get a taste of their own medicine this time.

In the first place, the fact that several such articles came out openly probably means there are other cases besides mine, doesn’t it?

Let’s see, what kind of expression is that person making right about now?

It’s obvious he’d have an incredibly angry expression.

Dopamine, felt after a long time, spread through Ren’s mind.

So this is why everyone looks for those satisfying “cider” scenes in novels.

‘If possible, I’d like to see how it ends….’

The desire to down this refreshing cider to the last drop was immense, but.

Unfortunately, I didn’t have the time for that.

Because I have a very busy schedule right now.

“But, Ren.”

“Hm?”

“Are you really planning to go?”

Suddenly.

Sion asked me with a worried expression.

The reason he was like this was because of the future plans I had told him about a while ago.

“Why, are you worried?”

Well, it’s understandable.

From Sion’s perspective, ‘that place’ would be a land with absolutely no connection to me.

“No, I was just wondering if it’s too early.”

Thinking rationally, it was certainly true.

I don’t even have a proper foundation there.

To others, what I said would sound no different from saying I’d go live abroad without proper preparation.

From the perspective of acquaintances, a hundred worries wouldn’t be enough.

“….Well, still, I feel like if it’s not now, it won’t happen.”

They probably wouldn’t believe me even if I told them the paths between countries will soon be blocked.

Before the Corona that started on the continent fully engulfs the world.

I plan to move to Korea.