Chapter 6
“Floric had a boy group debut just last month.”
The first companies I eliminated were those that had recently debuted a group.
“Miros… I’ve never even heard of that company.”
Companies I’d never heard of were eliminated too.
“Spaceship… wow, it’s been a long time since I’ve heard that name.”
According to the Strategy Guide, this company seemed perfect on paper.
It wasn’t a small company.
A girl group was scheduled to debut in eight months, so the timing matched perfectly.
And the group itself had received decent attention.
But reality was different.
Out of all the agencies on my list, this company was the biggest ticking time bomb.
Three years later, a scandal involving embezzled settlement payments would explode.
It dominated the news for quite a while.
Naturally, that made it an automatic rejection.
After narrowing everything down, only two companies remained.
“Hmm.”
I pressed the back of my pen against my cheek and stared at the names written in my notebook.
StarUp
- Mid-to-large agency
- Lots of capital
Dream
- Tiny small agency
- Poor
First, StarUp Entertainment.
Among the five agencies whose business cards I received today, it was the largest.
Not one of the legendary Big Three agencies, but just below them.
A mid-to-large company with a strong track record of producing successful groups.
And about a year and a half from now, StarUp would debut a girl group called Weekla.
Planned Debut Concept: Cyberpunk
Honestly, if it weren’t written in the guide, I’d think it was a joke.
…But they really did debut with that concept.
“Break the familiar world and awaken!”
The sight of them appearing on music shows wearing glossy outfits and metal chains was still burned into my memory.
And somehow…
People loved it.
At first, everyone said the group would fail.
But eventually, the public got swept up in the concept too.
For a while, the phrase “Weekla-ified” even became popular online.
Planned Debut Date: April 20X9
Since Weekla would debut eleven months from now, this was probably the exact period when StarUp was searching for new debut team members.
The timing was safe.
The company was large.
And as far as I knew, there were no issues with settlements or payments.
On the surface, it was the best choice available to me.
But…
“Hmm.”
I couldn’t decide so easily.
StarUp had several issues that bothered me.
The biggest problem was its size.
Large agencies naturally had a lot of trainees.
And as someone who had spent years as a trainee, I knew exactly how those places worked.
The seniority politics must be brutal.
It was different from dealing with adults in society.
Adults at least pretended to be polite.
Immature teenagers could be unbelievably direct.
Sure, unlike before, I could probably handle them now.
But I might still get dragged into unnecessary internal politics.
That was exactly the kind of situation I wanted to avoid.
In that sense, Dream was the complete opposite of StarUp.
Dream Entertainment.
Honestly, comparing it to StarUp was almost unfair.
It was a tiny… very tiny agency.
Yet a few years later, it would produce Radiance, a girl group known throughout the entire country.
Radiance’s journey wasn’t easy from the beginning.
The group only gained real attention in its third year after debut.
The fact that they endured until then was impressive in itself.
Though honestly, it’s weird they didn’t become popular sooner.
Radiance was…
How should I put it?
Unlucky.
The group and its members had plenty of star potential.
But the timing and circumstances were terrible.
They came dangerously close to disappearing into K-pop history.
Then—
Radiance Shows the Miracle of a Small Agency
Tops Digital Music Charts
The headline suddenly surfaced in my memory.
Right. The miracle of a small agency.
By their third year, several factors came together.
Fan cams.
Viral attention.
Growing public awareness.
Combined with the members’ talent, they quickly rose to become a top-tier girl group.
For a while, they even became an internet meme as the ultimate comeback success story.
Still…
Even if they eventually became successful, debuting in Radiance meant three years of obscurity.
That future was practically guaranteed.
Dedicated Hidden Mission: O
But seeing this made me wonder if that future wasn’t fixed after all.
A Hidden Mission.
According to the System, it was a mission that could greatly affect the group’s fate.
Interestingly, only two agencies had Hidden Missions:
Dream and Miros.
The thing those two agencies had in common?
They’re small.
Very small.
Dream eventually became famous.
But Miros?
I’d never even heard of them.
Every year dozens of idol groups debuted.
Only a handful survived.
Countless agencies disappeared entirely.
And it wasn’t difficult to guess why Hidden Missions only appeared for small agencies.
Because no matter what I do, changing the fate of a group in a major company would be difficult.
In a large company with an established system, a single trainee couldn’t influence much.
Which brought me back to the main question.
Dream or StarUp?
It was time to decide.
Though honestly, my heart had already begun leaning in one direction.
No matter how I think about it, Dream seems better.
First of all, Dream’s Head of Rookie Development clearly liked me a lot.
Of course, Radiance’s debut was only three months away.
That made joining them seem rather late.
But…
When she scouted me, she specifically mentioned the group they’re preparing right now. That means there’s still a chance they’ll add me.
In other words, Dream offered a much higher chance of actually debuting.
And Radiance had an incredibly talented lineup.
Their bad luck was the only reason they struggled.
The only real issue was those three years of obscurity.
But if I could somehow solve that—
Then Dream Entertainment would truly become the optimal choice.
…Yeah.
The more I thought about it, the more certain I became.
I could continue collecting casting offers and expand my options.
But no matter how I looked at it, I couldn’t think of a better opportunity than Dream.
“Ugh.”
After finishing my analysis, I stretched.
Then I checked the time.
It was already 2:00 a.m. on Saturday.
Knowing the time only made me feel sleepier.
I headed to the bathroom to wash up before bed.
I’ll contact them on Monday.
Baek Hyun-jung had told me to call as soon as I made my decision.
But calling someone on the weekend was a crime against humanity.
Either way, that meant I still had some time left.
“Hmm.”
I looked at myself in the bathroom mirror.
Thick-rimmed glasses.
Messy long hair.
A tired face.
Even though my natural looks still stood out, it wasn’t enough.
I need to prepare a little.
At the very least, there was basic interview etiquette.
I couldn’t show up looking like this.
And I still had the prize money from the street karaoke event.
Might as well invest it properly.
* * *
Tap. Tap. Tap.
Monday morning.
The sound echoed through Dream Entertainment’s small office.
It was oddly irritating.
Assistant Manager Seo Ju-hyuk, who worked in both A&R and Management, leaned toward a nearby employee.
“…What’s wrong with Team Leader Baek?”
“Why are you asking now? She does weird things every day.”
“She seems especially strange today though… Well, I guess you’re right.”
Despite the constant sound of fingernails being bitten, nobody paid much attention.
Everyone at Dream Entertainment already knew that Team Leader Baek Hyun-jung was unusual.
Whenever something caught her interest, she became completely obsessed.
The staff had suffered because of that stubbornness more than once.
Yet there was a reason everyone still followed her.
She had an incredible eye for talent.
Every trainee currently in the company’s debut team had been personally cast by her.
One of them had recently placed twelfth on a famous survival program.
For a company this small, it was a remarkable achievement.
At this point, her status within the company was second only to the CEO.
BANG!
“Why isn’t she contacting me?!”
Currently, Baek Hyun-jung sat with dark circles under her eyes, desperately waiting for a certain girl’s call.
“Whoa!”
“Team Leader, you’re too loud…”
Ignoring everyone’s complaints, she let out a deep sigh.
Only two days had passed.
But she genuinely regretted not grabbing the girl when she had the chance.
I should’ve dragged her to the office, bought her food, and gotten her number somehow.
Was she really going to lose the main vocalist she’d been searching for all this time?
The regret was eating her alive.
She spent the entire day distracted and unable to focus on work.
Then—
BANG!
Right in the middle of lunch, Baek Hyun-jung suddenly shot up from her chair.
The staff immediately began complaining.
“You scared me!”
“Seriously, Team Leader…”
“Ah, I dropped my fried food…”
But she didn’t hear any of it.
She held her phone high above her head.
Like a scene straight out of The Lion King.
“Oh, come on…”
“Just pretend you don’t know her.”
The staff immediately looked away, pretending they weren’t with her.
Meanwhile, Baek Hyun-jung shouted excitedly.
“It’s here!”
[I would like to inquire about participating in an audition.]
But after reading the message, her expression turned strange.
Hello. This is Shin Sea, whom you met last Friday. After receiving your valuable offer, I would like the opportunity to personally demonstrate what I can contribute to Dream Entertainment…
…Is this a business email?
Was this really written by an eighteen-year-old student?
Baek Hyun-jung remembered the girl she’d met.
She looked incredibly gentle.
And with her bright smile, she left a very positive impression.
Yet this email was so formal and stiff.
Maybe appearances really weren’t everything.
Well, it didn’t matter.
That could become part of her charm too!
At this point, everything about Shin Sea looked positive in Baek Hyun-jung’s eyes.
Among all the trainees she had met, her instincts had never reacted this strongly before.
Right.
This wasn’t the time to sit around.
Baek Hyun-jung immediately grabbed her jacket and rushed out of the cafeteria.
“Team Leader! Where are you going?!”
“To make a call!”
Since the girl had come to her on her own…
Now was the time to grab hold of her as quickly as possible.
