Chapter 24

Chapter 24

Raise Three Idols Well And They’ll Launch a Confession Attack.

Episode 24: It’s Always Fun To Spend Other People’s Money.

In the previous round, I took my first step into the entertainment industry with the title of road manager.

Thanks to that, I had to run around most sites and push my way through.

Even after becoming a team leader and then a director, I preferred to see things in person, so I visited sites whenever I could.

During that process, I had the chance to see many celebrities and check their status windows.

Yet, in over ten years, I had only seen three people with S-rank vocal potential in their status windows.

One was a male singer-songwriter, undeniably called the best vocalist in Korea.

Another was a female vocalist, praised for treating songs as a new language rather than just singing.

The last was an opera singer who was always listed among Koreans who illuminated the world.

Someone who etched their name in the world with a single talent.

A talent destined to shine through any adversity and achieve inevitable success.

That was the meaning of S-rank potential.

But there were no idols with such S-rank talent.

Perhaps it was to be expected.

The talents required for idols were multifaceted.

First, their appearance must be at least A-.

It was the minimum standard for people to consider them idol material.

With advances in mixing technology, even a C+ in vocals could be masked by technology.

However, if you recruit such a person, you must include at least one high-note specialist in the team.

Dance must be at least B.

As precise choreography and flashy performances have become the trend, they must not appear as a weak link in visible aspects of dance.

These were the minimum requirements as I see them.

There were groups that debuted without meeting these minimum requirements.

Especially in an era where the pool of trainee talent was shrinking, it wasn’t easy for a new company to select members who all meet those qualifications.

There were successful examples among such groups.

They either had a very unique concept or hit the jackpot with their issues and made it to the charts.

But there were no cases where individual members had succeeded.

Even if there was a short-term miracle, they must eventually meet the basic conditions to engrave their names in the public’s mind.

Additionally, evaluating talents like variety, rap, acting, character, will, past, charm, and more made the conditions required for idols even more extensive.

Therefore, idols were closer to being recruited as all-rounders rather than specialized talents.

It might be natural that I hadn’t seen S-rank potential in idols, including in the previous round.

Expecting the world’s best talent from an all-rounder was an unreasonable expectation.

That’s why I was astonished by the potential of the part-timer in front of me.

She had all the basic conditions I thought were the minimum, a center-level appearance, and S-rank vocals.

This was truly an incredible talent.

I had the vague impression that if a god were to create a singer, they would have such potential.

“Customer! Are you feeling unwell? Should I call an ambulance?”

The part-timer was waving her hand in front of me to check my consciousness, worried as I stared blankly at her status window with my mouth open.

I came to my senses and immediately spoke.

“What is your name?”

“…My name? It’s Yoo Gaeul!”

Gaeul told me her name without any sign of caution.

I got straight to the point before she could start chatting again.

“Have you ever thought about becoming an idol?”

“…Huh? An idol?”

I took out the business card Cheon Aram had given me and handed it to Gaeul.

“I’m Seon Taeyang, team leader at TwoBear Entertainment.”

The part-timer, who received a simple business card with only my name, title, phone number, and email, scrutinized it as if not wanting to miss a single detail.

“So you’re a team leader at an entertainment agency?”

“It’s probably a name you’ve never heard of. It’s a newly established company.”

I gave the excuse that had begun to take shape through my recruitment attempts.

“You may feel uneasy about the term ‘new,’ but I assure you that our investment, facilities, and manpower are second to none.”

Cheon Aram seemed to be handling the investment and facilities well.

We only had three staff members, but we had the meticulous Cheon Aram and myself, a regressor.

No other company had such manpower.

I couldn’t say it wasn’t exaggerated, but everything I said was true.

“I saw the talent in you to reach the top, Gaeul. I hope you will join us at TwoBear Entertainment on the journey to becoming the best idol.”

Yoo Gaeul listened to my proposal in silence.

Then she spoke, erasing all the dog-like friendliness she had shown earlier.

“Thank you for your words! But it doesn’t seem very convincing.”

In the soup restaurant with no other customers, the chef, who seemed to be the owner, watched with interest as Yoo Gaeul spoke.

“You only saw me four times today while I was working part-time, and that was just for a brief moment while ordering.”

“You’re right, Gaeul.”

“But what about me makes you say I should become an idol? Is it my face?”

She wasn’t unaware of the value of her appearance.

But she didn’t seem too pleased with that high evaluation.

I understood her a little.

“Is being an idol a light field where you can reach the top with just a pretty face?”

First of all, saying Gaeul’s appearance was just a little pretty was a severe understatement.

“Gaeul, your appearance is indeed beautiful. I think you have the charm to be called everyone’s first love. But that’s not the only reason.”

But now was not the time to praise her appearance.

“You like singing, don’t you?”

“…What?”

“Not only do you like it, but you’re also confident, right? To the point where most idols on TV seem trivial.”

Gaeul’s mouth gaped.

She muttered something unintelligible and then admitted.

“You felt that kind of talent in me?”

“I sensed the talent. But I also felt the time and effort you’ve put in, Gaeul.”

The most striking part of her abilities was the S-rank potential in vocals.

But her current ability, reaching A-, was also noteworthy.

Raising a single grade, divided into -, 0, and +, might seem like a slight numerical difference, but it wasn’t.

It takes time and effort for blisters to burst, heal, and form calluses before a B becomes B+.

Gaeul’s current A- ability was also a testament to the time she had built up.

The effort she had to put in to raise her ability to that level, despite not being a professional, couldn’t be described with the word ‘determined.’

It required more than effort.

She probably loves singing.

So much so that the tremendous effort needed to reach that level was seen as enjoyment.

“When you become a team leader at an agency, can you know all that without hearing the singing?”

“Not just anyone can know.”

“You’re bragging, right?”

“Please think of it as self-promotion. I want to make a good impression on you, Gaeul.”

Gaeul gave a vague smile.

“…I understand that you value me more than I thought. Thank you.”

She bowed her head slightly and said.

“And I’m really sorry. I don’t think I have time to become an idol.”

Honestly, I expected that.

But I still wanted to know why.

“For what reason?”

Gaeul pointed to herself in an apron and said.

“As you can see from me working so many part-time jobs, I need money.”

“If you become an idol, you can earn hundreds of times what you make from part-time jobs.”

At my words, Gaeul smiled weakly and said.

“That’s if I succeed.”

I was certain and declared.

“If you become an idol at TwoBear Entertainment, you will definitely succeed. It was so obvious that I didn’t feel the need to mention it.”

Gaeul stared at me blankly.

It was as if she were looking at a strange creature.

Then she covered her mouth and burst into laughter.

“Team Leader Seon, you’re really an interesting person. If we worked together, I think I would feel secure regardless of success or failure.”

“Then…”

“But I still don’t think it will work. I need money right now.”

Gaeul showed a regretful expression, as if it were unfortunate that she had to say this.

“I know a little about the accounting system. I heard that idols need to think in terms of years to get a proper income.”

She was right.

If a large agency like SS achieves dramatic success, they might get their accounting system in a little over a year.

But that was one of the most hopeful cases.

Typically, small and medium-sized companies start getting their first accounting within three to five years.

It wasn’t because they failed or were malicious agencies.

It was just that recovering the invested costs and generating net profit wasn’t easy.

“That’s correct. Even if you achieve a so-called major hit on the music charts, you need to think in terms of years.”

“I can’t endure that time.”

“….”

“I really appreciate the offer. But I’m also thinking of quitting singing. Life is too busy to worry about that too.”

“I suspect that the interest and effort you’ve put into singing have gone beyond the realm of a hobby. Are you really okay with that?”

“In the end, my passion for singing was only that much… enough to easily give up when life gets busy.”

Gaeul spoke of giving up very easily.

But that decision wouldn’t have been easy.

“So I think it would be better to look for another person with more time.”

Gaeul’s determination seemed firm.

Yet, I still had lingering feelings and asked.

“If you need money, how much do you need?”

She asked with a serious expression.

“How much do you think it costs to raise a middle schooler with a dream in art?”

“…I’m not knowledgeable about art admissions, so I can’t give a definitive answer.”

“I know. I’ve calculated it.”

Yoo Gaeul spread her hands and counted off on her fingers.

“Food, tuition, academy fees, material costs, living expenses, applications, exams, model hiring, tuition fees, and other miscellaneous expenses. Even if I cut back and use it efficiently, it costs about 100 million won.”

She nodded slightly and said.

“Yes, the money I need is 100 million won.”

It was too much to promise or guarantee.

So I couldn’t answer hastily.

Yoo Gaeul smiled gently, as if she had expected my silence.

“Do you have anything more to say, Team Leader Seon?”

It was a gentle way of saying there was nothing more to discuss on this topic.

But I still had something to say.

“Can I get two orders of blood sausage soup to go?”

Somehow, I ended up trying to recruit her, but the reason I came here was to buy blood sausage soup.

I didn’t forget my original task.

“Blood sausage soup…? Oh.”

Gaeul blushed and lowered her head as she spoke.

“I’ll get it ready right away! Customer.”

Watching Yoo Gaeul run to the kitchen, I thought.

It was really unfortunate, but I had to give up on that kid.

I had money saved from my military salary and part-time loading jobs, but it wasn’t enough.

I cut off my lingering feelings.

At that moment, a quest window popped up.

[Spending someone else’s money is always fun. Let’s have Cheon Aram pay the money Yoo Gaeul needs!]

[Reward – Memory of Possibility]

No, this was really throwing it out there.

It sounded good.

How great would it be if I could recruit Yoo Gaeul without spending my own money?

If possible, I wanted to do that too.

The reward was also good.

Memory of Possibility was a short-term future foresight that showed the most likely future situation within a close timeframe.

It couldn’t show the distant future, but it had great value because of its high specificity regarding the near future.

For me, who remembered all the major information through regression, it was a better reward than future fragments.

Because I didn’t know the immediate future either.

But Cheon Aram didn’t seem like she would pay the money.

A sane president wouldn’t invest that much or simply contract a trainee with 100 million won.

And Cheon Aram was a sane president.

…Probably.