The Maknae Has to Be an Idol

[You’ve reached the mission’s turning point.]

[It is now possible for you to change your final mission of ‘reaching 100,000 sales in the first week of album release’.]

[Upon accepting the change, you will have the opportunity to meet with the first regressor.]

[Upon rejecting the change, you will continue with the original mission.]

My mind became muddled with numerous thoughts. What did it mean by the mission’s turning point, but above all—

‘A meeting with the first regressor…?’ The compensation for accepting the change was huge. Of course, there were too many things I didn’t know to properly judge whether this reward was big or small. However, from my deduction, I thought the first regressor was probably Do-Seung. After all, it was Do-Seung who hugged me and cried in the parallel world that I saw through the regression’s secret.

While the others were flustered, not knowing what was happening, Do-Seung was the only one who was crying his heart out. Thus, this probably meant that he knew that me from another world died due to the system’s failure penalty. In other words, there was a very high possibility that Do-Seung was the first regressor.

‘A meeting with Do-Seung from another world?’ If I thought of it like this, it was quite an enticing reward. By meeting the first regressor, I could dig up more information about the system and gain valuable information that I needed for the missions.

Moreover, I wanted to ask him various questions like what kind of life he’d lived, what he had gone through, and how he was doing. While my goal was to exchange information about clearing missions as a fellow regressor, I was also genuinely curious about Do-Seung from another world.

‘I’ve never experienced a loss following the system’s orders.’ While the system felt like a villain at first, it all came back as profits if I just followed its order. However, I couldn’t choose this option right now, as the shooting was about to come to an end.

One of the hosts said, “We look forward to seeing original performances where five groups will show their creativity in the upcoming final competition!”

I decided to answer the system’s voice again later and focus on the shooting for now.

“Then we’ll end the third round of The Showcase 2 with this.”

“Thank you!”

“Thank you~”

After we finished shooting the closing comment, the production crew said, “Everyone besides Siren can go home now~”

Other groups disappeared off the stage except us, and it was obvious why we were the only ones left behind.

“Mr. Tae-Yoon! Please give us a good order!”

“Please consider the friendship we have built over the past two weeks as Kang Hyun-Sung’s team…haha.”

It was because we now had to decide the order of the performances for the final performance. People made their pleas one last time before leaving the stage. My members and I sent them off with a warm smile. Soon, all the groups left, and even the hosts left. Then, once the name tags and order numbers were set on the stage, the members became excited and put our name tags for the ending stage without hesitation.

“Let’s put ours in the ending stage!”

“Yeeeeesss!”

I could feel how fervently they wanted to do the ending performance. Even though we were simply attaching our name tags, I felt a strong sense of excitement.

“We’re doing the final ending!”

“Really…I’m really glad we won first place.”

“Dude, why am I getting emotional?”

The members seemed to think they’d already achieved enough just because we got the final ending performance. However, it was not over yet.

“Let’s choose the order of the other group now.” It was good that we were doing the ending performance. It was basically an established rule that the ones who received the authority to decide the group order always put their group in the ending performance.

However, our next action was just as important; we needed to keep the other groups in check while not incurring criticism. Thus, we needed to look reasonably fair while giving us the spotlight at the same time.

Frankly, in order to achieve both of these goals, I thought, ‘We need to do something about Only One.’ Only One was the main problem. If we put them right before us, it could get dangerous for us. Depending on the quality of their stage, we could look worse in comparison.

However, if we put them in the middle instead, we would get insulted to the heavens by Only One’s fans.

‘We’ll get heaps of insults.’ In the end, I thought, ‘Is it here again?’ The only order I could assign to Only One was the opening performance.

“Why don’t we put Only One for the opening?”

My members seemed to have the same thoughts as me.

“Hmm, yeah.”

“I think they could raise the energy as soon as they start performing.”

“Since they always wanted the ending or opening.”

Everyone agreed with my opinion as it was true that Only One liked the ending or opening performance. Whether they decorated the grand finale or cut down the other group’s morale from the very beginning, it was impossible to do without skills. After deciding on Only One’s order, the rest was easy. Bleshu was number two, third was OnebyOne, and fourth was Luminin.

After we finished setting the order, the production team approached us and retrieved the order board. “This is your final decision, right?”

We were able to quickly decide the order of the groups without much trouble.

“Then Siren, you can go home now.”

“Thank you~”

“Thank you for your hard work!”

“Thank you!”

The members and I bowed to the production team and left the studio. After we changed into our normal clothes, we approached Ms. Seung-Yeon and Ms. Hyuna, who were waiting for us in the parking lot. The two of them smiled as soon as we approached them.

“Congratulations on winning first place!”

“You’ve worked really hard!”

The two were happy that we won first alone as they were not usually this hyper. Their usual energy was that of a salaried worker who had to work all day and night-so, basically a living corpse.

“Thank you.”

“It’s all thanks to both of you. I mean it.”

The members also thanked Ms. Hyuna and Ms. Seung-Yeon and got into the vehicle. I didn’t know if it was because we won first place alone, but the atmosphere was good the entire time.

“What do you think will be good for our original performance?”

“Hmm.”

“Shall we think about it tomorrow?”

“Yes! Let’s just enjoy ourselves today~”

On the car ride back home, the members were more in favor of forgetting the burden of the next mission and enjoying the joy of their celebration for the rest of the day. Since we won first place, I didn’t want to start working right away either. Moreover, they were also the type of people who would work hard on their own.

Dong-Jun suggested, “Then shall we order chicken, pizza, and mala hotpot~”

However, Do-Seung sharply said, “No, you can’t do that, Park Dong-Jun.”

“What, why?”

“We can’t go up on the final stage while being chubby.”

Dong-Jun’s appetite needed to be stopped. Do-Seung took Dong-Jun’s phone and erased the delivery application.

“Wow, you’re crossing the line.”

“You should be thankful that I’m helping your diet like this.”

“But we won first place alone…,” Dong-Jun said with disappointment but secretly installed the delivery application again. However, he was caught by Do-Seung, and it was erased again. I began to think that it might be faster for Do-Seung to throw Dong-Jun’s phone out of the car when—

[You’ve reached the mission’s turning point.]

[It is now possible for you to change your final mission of ‘reaching 100,000 sales in the first week of album release’.]

[Upon accepting the change, you will have the opportunity to meet with the first regressor.]

[Upon rejecting the change, you will continue with the original mission.]

Sigh…

The system kept urging me to make my decision. I had been relaxing while watching the members scuffle for a while, but the system gave me a headache again.

I pressed my throbbing head and thought, ‘I can’t choose right now.’

How could I choose, not knowing what would happen in the car? I thought I should at least choose after reaching the dorm and turned my gaze outside the window.

‘Shall I accept it or not?’ I had a headache. If I didn’t accept it, I would lose the chance to meet the first regressor, but if I accepted it, I had no idea what the mission would change to. While the members continued to scuffle and chat in the car, I sat in the back seat and continued to worry alone.

* * *

The inside of Only One’s van was especially quiet today. Was it because they were disappointed in not getting first place? No, it was all because Only One’s manager began talking while driving the van back to their dorm. TH Entertainment, which Only One belonged to, was the epitome of a company with bad management.

Although it had a few A-class celebrities due to the CEO’s good connections, the company did not have a proper system to foster and grow debuting idols. Moreover, the CEO was excessively greedy and expanded his business too far, and as a result, TH was also famous for scolding, pushing, and treating their trainees harshly every day.

It was to the extent that when Kang Hyun-Sung debuted as Yours after Select Your Idol, many fans urged him to terminate his exclusive contract with TH Entertainment and debut solo. However, terminating a contract was a long and tough road, and Kang Hyun-Sung was forced to return to TH Entertainment in the end.

However, Kang Hyun-Sung didn’t just stand still and signed up to appear on The Showcase 2 with the debut group he met at TH Entertainment. Of course, he did this on his own without notifying the company and because of this, there was still bad blood with him and the agency.

On the agency side, they wanted Only One not to win the final championship so they wouldn’t transfer to a joint contract, but Kang Hyun-Sung argued that they should win first place no matter now that they joined the show.

“Since you guys didn’t win first place this time, let’s finish this show by narrowly ranking second in the final round.” This was the manager’s position.

“I’ll take care of it on my own.” This was Kang Hyun-Sung’s position.

“A contract transfer to a joint contract? Everyone knows that’s just a fucking trick to steal promising idols. Hyun-Sung, think about the agency’s side. You should give back to the agency for all the training you’ve received so far.”

“All of the promotional expenses for The Showcase have been paid with my own money.”

“Yeah, you paid the activity fees at your own expense, but the training fee is different. Everyone’s been practicing at the agency for years.”

“Ha, seriously. Training fees?”

When Kang Hyun-Sung glared at him, the manager’s voice shrank for a moment. “…Well, it wasn’t a great training environment but…”

“Please be quiet. The other members need to get some rest.” With this, the winner of this verbal fighting match was Kang Hyun-Sung.

The manager shut his mouth and concentrated on driving. However, he glared back at Kang Hyun-Sung through the back mirror instead. The way they looked at each other showed clear hostility. Now that it has become like this, Kang Hyun-Sung firmly decided once again that he could never debut in TH Entertainment.

* * *

We came back to our dorm.

“Aghhhh~”

“Sighhh.”

“Wow, I’m tired.”

The members spread out on the living room couch and made groaning noises. I had forgotten about it until now because of the joy of winning first place, but we had woken up from dawn to work and came back home only at night. In terms of working hours, we must have worked about 16 hours just today. We worked twice as much as ordinary office workers, so of course, it was natural that we were exhausted.

“Let’s all go to bed early today and see each other in the morning.”

“Since we have to prepare for the final stage starting tomorrow, let’s all write down one idea tonight~”

“Yes~”

We all quickly went into our rooms.

“…Can I wash up first?” Woon took off his clothes after entering the room and asked. Usually, it was very rare for him to take off his clothes outside the bathroom, so I thought he really must want to quickly wash up and sleep.

“Yes, wash up first. I’ll lay the blanket down.”

“Thank you so much. I’ll buy you coffee tomorrow.”

While Woon took a shower, I laid the blanket on the ground. In the meantime—

[You’ve reached the mission’s turning point.]

[It is now possible for you to change your final mission of ‘reaching 100,000 sales in the first week of album release’.]

[Upon accepting the change, you will have the opportunity to meet with the first regressor.]

[Upon rejecting the change, you will continue with the original mission.]

‘Ha, are you kidding me? They’re seriously pestering me.’ This damn system kept repeating the same lines again and again. It was an alarm at this point. When I laid the blanket and finished organizing the room, Woon came out after taking a shower.

I said, “You go to bed first. I’ll take a shower and go to bed.”

“Thank you…” As soon as he said this, he lay on the blanket as if he was fainting and immediately closed his eyes. I turned off the light so he could sleep comfortably. I finished showering as quietly as possible, changed my clothes, and came back to my room. When I checked up on Woon, he was already asleep.

‘He’s really sleeping.’ I opened the door carefully so as not to wake him up. When I came out of the living room, all the lights in the living room were turned off. I stood in the middle of the living room and tried to see whether I heard anyone else.

‘Everyone’s sleeping.’ Judging by how I couldn’t hear any loud sound, everyone seemed to be fast asleep. I was finally relieved and sat on the sofa. I didn’t know what would happen after I made my choice, so I thought it would be safer for me to be in a soft place.

[You’ve reached the mission’s turning point.]

[It is now possible for you to change your final mission of ‘reaching 100,000 sales in the first week of album release’.]

[Upon accepting the change, you will have the opportunity to meet with the first regressor.]

[Upon rejecting the change, you will continue with the original mission.]

Then, the system alarm went off just in time again. I had pondered whether to accept or reject this message the whole time I was in the car. The conclusion at the end was—

‘Accept.’ It was to accept it. The system had never requested things from me for no reason so far. When time passed and I looked back, I realized that following the system’s direction was often the best direction.

There was probably a good reason why the system wanted to change the mission now. This was the conclusion I made based on past experiences and reasoning rather than simply because I wanted to meet the first regressor. As soon as I said accept—

[The mission has changed.]

[The mission of ‘reaching 100,000 sales in the first week of album release’ has been changed.]

[A new mission has been delivered.]

[Become the final winner of The Showcase 2.]

The mission changed immediately.

‘Final winner?’ But the change in mission was a bit of a mystery to me. Since I thought they were changing the mission, I thought the mission might change to reaching 200,000 sales instead of 100,000 sales. Rather than an increase in difficulty, it felt like the timing of the mission’s success had been accelerated.

[Your reward will now be given.]

[Meeting with the first regressor will begin.]

[The worldline will collapse.]

[Please prepare for incoming shock.]

My long-awaited reward—to meet with the first regressor—was finally about to begin.