Chapter 5
The Street Casting Strategy Guide was surprisingly interesting.
It displayed a map and showed the real-time locations of casting managers moving around the city.
To get scouted, all I had to do was naturally walk around near them.
And now, this was already my fourth casting offer.
“Talk it over with your parents and make sure to call us, okay?”
“Yes, thank you!”
“Haha, you’re so cheerful. It’s nice to see.”
Cheerful?
That was probably the word least suited to me.
Still, if that’s how I appeared, then I guess it was a success.
I watched the casting manager walk away, then glanced up at the sky.
The sunlight was fading from the western horizon.
When did it get this late?
I’d been so busy running around that I hadn’t even noticed the time.
I opened the Street Casting Strategy Guide one last time.
Maybe because it was getting late, all the managers had already finished work.
Their locations were no longer visible.
There was no point wandering around anymore.
That’s enough for today.
Soon, I boarded the subway home.
Since it was Friday evening, the train was especially crowded.
As I stood among the passengers, I quietly organized my thoughts.
I had spent about two hours walking around.
And I’d collected five business cards.
This wasn’t my first time being scouted, but receiving four casting offers in just two hours was a record even for me.
Two of those companies weren’t quite among the Big Three agencies, but they were still considered top-tier.
…Good.
Of course, that didn’t mean I planned to join them immediately.
People often misunderstand something.
A large agency isn’t automatically the best choice.
The timing has to be right.
The executives can’t suddenly decide to chase some weird trendy concept.
And there can’t be any nepotism hires running wild, either.
There were too many factors to consider.
I planned to carefully review everything once I got home.
“…Yawn.”
Maybe because things were going smoothly, I finally relaxed a little.
A yawn escaped my lips.
Yeah.
Let’s keep things going like this.
* * *
“S-Sea!”
“…?”
W-What?
The moment I arrived home, I was greeted by my mother, who looked anything but normal.
Well, this was before I moved out, so it was natural for her to be home.
But why was her hair such a mess?
Why were her clothes so disheveled?
She looked like something terrible had happened.
“W-What’s wrong?”
I asked in confusion.
But instead of answering, my mother suddenly pulled me into a tight embrace.
My shoulder gradually became damp.
…Was she crying?
The realization shocked me.
Ever since my father passed away, my mother had never shed a single tear.
She always said she didn’t even have time to cry.
And now she was crying?
“Why… why didn’t you answer your phone…?”
“Huh?”
“I thought something happened to you!”
My phone?
“Oh… you know I don’t usually check my phone. It’s always on silent too…”
Mumbling excuses, I pulled out my phone.
[Missed Calls – 39]
Oops.
Yeah.
I had absolutely nothing to say.
As I stood there speechless, my mother hugged me even tighter.
“Do you know… how worried I was?”
“W-Well…”
I patted her back awkwardly.
Honestly, I was a little confused.
Was this really something to cry this much over?
Sure, I was at fault for ignoring dozens of calls.
But it wasn’t like I’d disappeared for two days without contact.
I had only been gone for a few hours.
Then—
…Ah.
This was seven years ago.
Back then, I had definitely—
“Get out! Just leave me alone!”
“I don’t want to eat! Just… please leave me alone!”
Old memories flashed through my mind.
…Hmm.
Maybe I should kneel first.
* * *
Objectively speaking, seven years ago I wasn’t mentally stable at all.
I was in an extremely fragile state.
There was a reason I considered it the darkest period of my life.
Even I thought that.
So how worried must my mother have been?
Her only daughter had become a shut-in, locking herself in her room every day.
Then one day she came home to find that daughter gone and unreachable.
…Honestly, it would have been harder not to think the worst.
Once I understood the situation, overwhelming guilt washed over me.
I bit my lip and hugged her back.
“…I’m sorry.”
About ten minutes passed with us awkwardly embracing each other in the doorway.
Then I finally spoke.
“Maybe we should sit down now?”
After my mother calmed down a little, we moved to the living room.
We sat side by side on the sofa.
Then we started talking again.
“So… are you okay now? Going outside, I mean?”
“Yes. I’m really okay now.”
I smiled awkwardly at her worried gaze.
For me, the period of locking myself in my room was seven years in the past.
I’d overcome it long ago.
I’d become a functioning member of society.
I’d just suddenly been thrown back into the past.
…And I’d decided to become an idol again.
I need to tell her.
I’d have to tell her eventually anyway.
Since I was technically a minor again, I’d need a guardian’s consent to sign any contracts.
Still, bringing it up so suddenly felt awkward.
Fidgeting with my fingers, I spoke.
“There’s something I need to tell you.”
How shocked would she be?
Her daughter who had quit trainee life overnight and locked herself in her room…
Suddenly saying she wanted to become an idol again.
If my own daughter said something like that, I’d never allow it.
I’d call her crazy and tell her to focus on school.
…But I couldn’t give up.
I took a deep breath.
Straightened my back.
Looked directly into my mother’s eyes.
As if sensing what was coming, her expression gradually stiffened.
Ah.
My conscience…
The tiny bit of conscience inside me stabbed painfully at my heart.
Ignoring it, I finally said,
“I want to try becoming an idol again.”
“…”
“This time won’t be like before. I promise. I’ll work harder than anyone. I won’t fail.”
I thought I sounded confident.
I wanted to reassure her.
“Sea.”
Instead, my mother’s expression became even sadder.
…What?
A suffocating silence filled the room.
I wondered if I’d said something wrong.
Then she spoke again.
“I don’t know.”
“…”
Yeah.
I hadn’t expected immediate permission.
It’s okay.
I had plenty of arguments prepared.
I was already thinking of ways to persuade her.
But then—
“I don’t want you to work yourself to death… And it’s okay if you fail.”
Those words made me bite my lip.
It’s okay if I fail?
I knew exactly what she meant.
I understood what she was worried about.
“…No, Mom.”
But I couldn’t accept that.
“I don’t want to fail.”
“…Sea.”
“So please let me do this.”
I wanted to succeed.
Enough to completely erase the failure of my past.
Because if I couldn’t…
I’d spend my entire life trapped by it.
I raised my head and looked directly into my mother’s eyes.
Ignoring the worry and uncertainty inside them, I spoke firmly once more.
“This time, I really want to succeed.”
* * *
“Phew…”
I wiped the sweat from my face.
Three full hours of cleaning had finally come to an end.
Of course, I didn’t exactly have spare time.
But honestly, I had no choice.
That room had been disgusting.
How did I ever live in a room like that?
Once again, I realized just how unstable I’d been back then.
Anyway.
After carefully arranging the decorations on my desk, I sat down.
I’m exhausted.
I’d spent the whole day walking around.
Then I’d cleaned the room.
My eyelids felt heavy.
But I couldn’t sleep yet.
I still had planning to do.
“Open Agency Strategy Guide.”
Flash!
Available Agencies
- StarUp Entertainment
- Spaceship Management
- Floric Entertainment
- Miros Management
- Dream Entertainment
Which agency’s strategy guide would you like to view?
Going through them one by one would be inefficient.
There was a lot of unnecessary information.
Reading everything would take forever.
On a whim, I asked,
“Can you organize only the debut-related information and show it all at once?”
—Understood.
…It can do that?
You’re more useful than I thought.
The system paused briefly.
Then information began appearing.
[StarUp Entertainment]
- Expected Debut Group Name: Weekla
- Debut Team Exists: Yes
- Planned Members: 6
- Planned Debut Date: April 20X9
…
Only information directly related to debuting was displayed.
Everything was neatly organized.
Then I noticed something new.
Something I hadn’t seen before.
Dedicated Hidden Mission: X
“…Dedicated Hidden Mission?”
What was that?
I stared at the system.
It felt like the perfect time for it to explain.
—A Dedicated Hidden Mission is a mission that appears if you choose that agency.
Hmm.
There it is.
—Completing the mission grants rewards that greatly influence the group’s future.
Even though its tone was rude, it always explained things properly.
Honestly, it was surprisingly helpful.
“So influence means… good or bad?”
—Obviously good. Are you stupid?
…Maybe not so helpful.
Anyway.
The point was that hidden missions were worth having.
After memorizing that information, I continued reading.
Hmm. But something’s missing.
Before long, I found a flaw in the guide.
It only showed the agency’s current situation.
The most important information was absent.
For example:
Whether the debut group would become a hit.
Whether a member would end up causing a scandal.
Whether the company’s executives would create problems.
Things like that.
Well, those weren’t really part of the agency’s official information.
So maybe it made sense.
It was slightly disappointing.
But not a serious problem.
After all—
I came from seven years in the future.
I didn’t remember everything perfectly.
But I remembered most major events.
And fortunately, several of these company names were familiar to me.
“Let’s start filtering them.”
In other words—
I had more than enough information to choose the right agency.
