Chapter 77

Chapter 77

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

Episode 77: I’ll Give You All My Money.

Faced with Han Gyeoul’s fierce opposition, James Oh apologized for his sudden proposal and promised to follow up later before stepping back.

As if driving away the main judge of “Girl 100” with her own hands wasn’t enough, Gyeoul clung to my shirt, trembling, and said,

“Taeyang ssam. You absolutely can’t leave.”

“Aigoo, don’t worry, where would I go leaving you behind?”

Moreover, if I followed James Oh, I would have to show my capabilities as a composer or arranger, and I wasn’t confident in that.

I had just lucked out with the reward, I didn’t have the genius James Oh expected from me.

It would take him just 30 minutes to figure out my lack of substance.

“If it’s about money, I’ll save up and give it to you. I get allowance from my grandpa!”

“Allowance? I don’t have a hobby of taking kids’ snot money, so keep it.”

Anyway, I already receive money from your grandpa every month.

“…I get this much.”

Gyeoul glanced around the empty room and then whispered in my ear.

“…You get that much?”

“Yes.”

“Annually?”

“Monthly.”

…Gyeoul’s grandpa is insanely rich.

I just vaguely thought he earned a lot as a craftsman, but it seemed to be more than that. Does he own a lot of land or something?

“I’ll give you all the money I get… So please don’t leave.”

Oh, my sweet idiot.

I gently patted Gyeoul’s head and said,

“Did you forget the promise I made? I said I would make you the best. Until I see you reach number one on a music show, I’ll stick around, no matter what. Save that money for when you really need it.”

Honestly, it wasn’t that I wasn’t tempted, but if I took the money, I wouldn’t be able to treat Gyeoul the same way as before. She would seem more like an employer.

My current relationship with her seemed more important than such money. So, I gently refused.

“…Number one.”

“Yes, number one. That’s worthy of being called the best, right?”

“….”

Gyeoul made a gloomy face again as if something was bothering her.

…Why does she still look gloomy even after I comforted her?

…Yes, with Gyeoul, I need to praise her clearly.

Her self-esteem is so low that she doesn’t easily believe my encouraging words.

I made a fuss to boost her spirits.

“Our Gyeoul is so pretty, has genius talent as an idol, is kind-hearted, and comes from a wealthy family. Just perfect! Whoever ends up with you will be so lucky.”

Hearing that, Gyeoul smiled slightly but then fidgeted with my shirt and said,

“…I think I need the luck more.”

…Who exactly are you aiming for?

“Girl 100” required all 100 trainees to live equally in dormitories.

This was one of the ways to give viewers a sense of realism and immersion, as if they were really preparing for debut in an agency.

From another perspective, it was a fierce idea to sell even the trainees’ sleeping moments.

Anyway, Gyeoul was no exception to the new dormitory life prepared by “Girl 100”. So, the time came for Gyeoul to enter the dormitory as well.

“…Can’t you come with me?”

“…How can I go there with you?”

Obviously, I couldn’t follow her there, so she had to endure the group life alone.

Gyeoul, seemingly very anxious about it, clung to me and asked,

“…You’ll come back, right?”

“Yes, I’ll come back on the regular recording day, so don’t worry.”

“You’ll really come back?”

“I said I will.”

“…After a hundred nights?”

“No need to wait a hundred nights; just four days later, when the external recording happens…”

No matter how much I reassured her, Gyeoul kept clinging to me and whining.

Her behavior was like a new soldier clinging to his girlfriend, begging her to visit him again.

Gyeoul felt the helplessness of a soldier who had no way to see his girlfriend except waiting for the next distant leave.

…But why do I feel that from you?

You’re not going to the army, Gyeoul.

Come to think of it, when I watched the previous season, the dormitory structure of “Girl 100” did look like a military barrack.

Not the new type with beds, but the old type where they slept closely packed on the floor.

They tried to make it fresh and girly with pink and white, but painting the entire barrack and floor pink doesn’t eliminate the military vibe.

The devilish idea of making people sleep as efficiently as possible can’t be masked with color games.

Maybe, when the show airs, it will be ridiculed in the community as triggering PTSD.

…Well, that might go viral, so it’s not a big problem.

Somehow, after coaxing Gyeoul and sending her to the production staff, one of the staff members spoke to me.

“You’re Team Leader Seon Taeyang from TwoBear Entertainment, where Han Gyeoul belongs, right?”

“Yes, that’s right. What is it about?”

He looked quite young, but had deep dark circles and a tired impression rather than lively.

He didn’t hide his tiredness as he spoke to me.

“Our PD asked to see you. He said you would know the reason without being told.”

It’s finally come.

Gyeoul’s display of ability must have been quite displeasing to her.

Considering it was completely different from what we had discussed in advance, she must be very angry from her perspective. Her plan to debut the 11 pre-selected trainees must have been ruined.

Especially now that only 3 out of 11 trainees were placed in Class A.

…I didn’t expect it to turn out like this either.

I just thought one would drop out and Gyeoul would fill the spot.

Anyway, the situation had already happened, and it needed to be addressed.

“By the way, she’s busy with something right now, so she asked you to come to the editing room at 12 o’clock… I know it’s not my place to say this, but I feel a bit sorry for conveying this.”

“No, I fully understand. It’s a very busy time for the PD right now.”

In fact, it’s very rare for a rookie manager to have a one-on-one with the PD.

Even getting a phone call would be lucky.

Considering my previous experience, it wasn’t too unpleasant.

“That’s a relief. Then, I’ll tell the PD that you’ll be there at the appointed time. I’ll also inform our people, so no one will stop you from coming.”

“Understood. I’ll see you on time.”

When it was time, I stood in front of the editing room and opened the reward window.

[Memory of Possibility (Available for use)]

There, the Memory of Possibility that Gyeoul received for being evaluated as Class A was present.

I looked at it with a skeptical gaze.

I still had vivid memories of it disappearing into thin air during Gaeul’s incident.

What? It was used on the appropriate target?

Why did it decide without asking me or giving me options?

Even if the usage was meaningful, at least tell me who the appropriate target was.

I still don’t know who saw what.

Is it right for the reward I received to look like this?

“I’ll trust you one more time.”

The Memory of Possibility was a reward I used quite a bit in the previous lifetime.

And each time I used it, it greatly helped my decisions.

It was too valuable to dismiss just because it acted weird once. So, I decided to use it now.

If it showed the same performance as in the previous lifetime, it would help in negotiating with PD Kim Seon-ye.

Also, even if it failed like it did during Gaeul’s incident, it wouldn’t be a critical hit.

It would still be painful, though.

“Please, let the reward be worth it. Use!”

Even though I used it with desperation, nothing happened.

It was a very familiar feeling.

“Could it be… again?”

[Memory of Possibility has been used on the appropriate target.]

…Yes.

From now on, I’ll just consider it nonexistent.

I decided to boycott any quests offering the Memory of Possibility as a reward and checked the time. It was 11:58.

Confirming that the time was near, I knocked. I heard PD Kim Seon-ye’s voice telling me to come in.

As I opened the door and entered, Kim Seon-ye, who was sitting with her legs crossed on an editing room chair, looked at me and said,

“You know the situation, right?”

“I’ve been monitoring the recording from start to finish.”

“Then you must know how upset I am.”

“I apologize for how the situation has changed. But…”

“That’s enough. There’s only one thing I want to hear. How are you going to take responsibility for this? Because of you, my precious ratings are at risk!”

“Once Gyeoul is revealed, the ratings themselves will go up.”

“But they won’t be maintained! Everyone else will look like idiots compared to Han Gyeoul! How are you going to take responsibility for that?”

The situation was indeed tangled, but it was too much to put all the blame on me.

All I did was hide Gyeoul’s abilities.

The situation turned out this way because of the judges’ rampage. But she couldn’t vent her hysteria on them, so she took it out on me.

…How uninteresting.

“Let’s set aside this unproductive talk about responsibility. I’d like to take responsibility if I could, but you know well that a mere manager like me can’t handle the whole situation.”

“Ha, hearing that from you…”

“So let’s make a deal.”

“What?”

I looked straight into Kim Seon-ye’s eyes and said,

“A very, very productive deal.”

I’ll propose a deal you can’t refuse.