Assistant Manager Kim Hates Idols

‘It’s over.’

 

Thank goodness I hadn’t gotten up from the sofa yet. Otherwise, my legs would have given out and I would have collapsed.

 

So could I recover my memories of my sister now?

 

Could I prevent my sister’s accident?

 

Did this mean I could get a job at a company other than the Hanpyeong Industry?

 

My mind went blank. I blinked, wondering if I had misread the text, and read the text written in the system over and over again without missing a single word.

 

No matter how many times I checked, the text in the system remained the same.

 

+

 

[SYSTEM] ‘Subordinate’s’ KPI ‘Debut as a 6-member boy group’ has been confirmed.

 

+

 

My heart pounded faster.

 

At the same time, I began rapidly planning my next steps in my head.

 

First, let’s tell the company that I wanted to resign before the next content came up. That way, they could edit out my parts in the upcoming videos.

 

I should be able to pay the penalty somehow if I sold all the stocks I had been holding onto.  If not, I could always take on three part-time jobs or even sell my hair.

 

The sooner I left, the sooner that punk Lee Cheonghyeon could use my space for his laptop or luggage. I should find a small apartment quickly.

 

Just in case, I planned to send the next concept plan, list of ideas, and handover report that I had been organizing little by little to the planning team on a USB.

 

‘I’ll just tweak the keywords from today’s live broadcast and hand them over. And then…’

 

I glanced at the members who were watching their stage videos with shining eyes.

 

I should tell these guys as soon as possible.

 

It felt right to let them know before telling the company. They were the ones who suffered the most because of my involvement, and they would continue to suffer a lot of damage to their image.

 

It would be better for the team if I left early rather than dragging things out and holding the members back, it made me feel a little more at ease.

 

As I was deciding the right timing, thinking ‘Once I finish this part…’, ‘Once this section is over…’, the system lit up again.

 

Already on edge, I irritably checked the system, wondering why it had to act up now.

 

What I saw on the screen was absurd.

 

+

 

[SYSTEM] Work instructions from the ‘Superior’ have arrived.

 

▶ I saw the results this time, and it looks like Assistant Manager Kim did his share of the work, huh? Well, I suppose he should at least earn his salary. Next time, put in a bit more effort.

 

[SYSTEM] The new KPI ‘Achieve 1st place on a music show as six-member group Spark’ has been assigned to ‘subordinate’.

 

+

 

What kind of nonsense is this?

 

The KPI has already been achieved, so why is there another one?

 

Staring blankly at the system, I quickly checked the ‘Performance Reward’ section I had seen before.

 

+

 

[SYSTEM] ‘Performance Reward’ will be assigned to ‘Subordinate’ for meeting final KPIs.

 

+

 

So, it clearly stated that a reward would be given once the KPI was met…

 

At that moment, my eyes were fixed on one particular word.

 

‘Final?’

 

To my recollection, there was no word ‘final’ before the KPI of ‘Debut as a six-member boy group’.

 

A horrible thought struck me, and I hastily summoned the system. A feeling of being f*cked over sunk in.

 

Sure enough, the system screen changed again. It was a window with information related to the KPI that I had never seen before.

 

+

 

[SYSTEM] ‘Subordinate’ is being notified of the ‘KPI progress status.’

 

▷ Stage 1: Debut as a six-member boy group.

 

▷ Stage 2: Achieve 1st place on a music show as SPARK’s six-member group.

 

▷ (Further stages are undisclosed)

 

.

 

.

 

.

 

+

 

F*ck.

 

F*ck, does this make sense?

 

You’re telling me you’ve been toying with me using ridiculous wordplay?

 

I was so stunned that I couldn’t even speak. My mind went completely blank for a different reason this time.

 

My body trembled with a mix of futility and frustration.

 

So, I had to complete all these KPIs—however many there might be—just to finally receive what they called the ‘final’ KPI.

 

And only after completing every single one would I receive the so-called final KPI reward?

 

And I hadn’t known that and had been busting my back getting ready to say goodbye?

 

Rage surged within me. I wanted to tear the system apart and throw it in the trash.

 

“Hey, what’s wrong?”

 

While I was spitting out all the curses I knew in my head like a machine gun, someone shook my arm and asked.

 

It was Choi Jeho.

 

“Hyung, are you okay? You don’t look well.”

 

Jeong Seongbin followed up with a worried expression.

 

Now that I thought about it, the living room was quiet.  At some point, the stage video had been paused.

 

“Hyung, were you trying to go to bed first because you were tired? Did I hold you back?”

 

Lee Cheonghyeon scratched his head, looking guilty.

 

“You must be tired. We’ll wrap things up here and head in soon, so go ahead and rest if you need to.”

 

“We’ll turn off the lights in the living room right away…!”

 

Kang Kiyeon and Park Joowoo added each.

 

The system should make sense too.

 

I’ve been nothing but a burden on their debut path. If it weren’t for me, they would have packed their routines with difficult choreography and gained a reputation as a ‘rookie boy group with insanely hard group dances’ or they would have been hailed as a ‘vocal powerhouse boy group with heavenly voices’ destined for success.

 

But how many times had I ridden along on the same bus with these guys without paying anything? With no end in sight?

 

I forced my way into the debut group, knowing it wasn’t right. Just because I hated the Hanpyeong Industry and desperately wanted to save my sister.

 

But I didn’t have the confidence to keep using these guys for my own selfish desires.

 

The lives that were hanging over this team weren’t just these five guys’.

 

My chest felt tight. I didn’t have the confidence to meet the five pairs of eyes looking at me.

 

“…Sorry, I guess I’m just a little tired. Don’t worry about me, you guys just keep watching.”

 

So I ran away.

 

I pulled the blanket over my head, trying not to hear the sounds of the guys quietly tidying up the living room as I forced myself to sleep.

 

* * *

 

Of course, I couldn’t sleep a wink.

 

It was at least a small relief that Choi Jeho and Lee Cheonghyeon were sleeping in, taking full advantage of the end of our activities.

 

I spent the whole night listing the pros and cons of staying with Spark.

 

There were two pros.

   

On the other hand, there were countless cons.

     

.

 

.

 

.

 

And most of all, I was concerned that it would be an insult to future fans who would come to love Spark as a five-member group.

 

Even without looking in the mirror, I could tell my dark circles were worse than ever.

 

I trudged out to the living room.

 

Then, I was going to toast bread as usual, but I realized that even bread was a luxury for someone like me, so I sat down at the table and opened my laptop.

 

At that moment, I received a call from my manager on my PC messenger.

 

Manager Chanyoung

 

[Hey guys, make sure to send in your ideas for personal content by today~]

 

It was about the personal content videos we’d been preparing to showcase each member’s unique charm during the inactive period.

 

Back when we were planning it, I’d only come up with example topics for the other five members. I hadn’t even bothered thinking about my own. The plan was for my content to be released after I’d announced my departure from the group.

 

“Ha…”

 

I let out a deep sigh and ran my hands over my face.

 

If I wanted to achieve my original goal, I had no choice but to stay with this team. And I’d have to aim even higher.

 

Time wasn’t infinite either.

 

Spark achieved their first win in their fourth year after debuting. Their performance improved a lot after that, but up until then, they had struggled.

 

Considering that I had to prevent my sister’s accident a few years later, I had to secure as much time as possible. Who knew when the system might pull some other stunt to throw me off.

 

The conclusion was that I had to make this group win first place as soon as possible and finish all the remaining undisclosed KPIs.

 

If I was capable of that, I wouldn’t have lived as Manager Nam’s lackey in the Hanpyeong Industry.

 

My head ached, probably from all the anger I’d been bottling up since yesterday.

 

‘1st place… .1st place.’

 

I mechanically searched ‘Idol first place’ on a portal site.

 

News about idols who recently took first place on music shows appeared. The lineup was impressive.

 

For Spark to break through all this and took first place. With a sandbag like me?

 

Hmm, absolutely impossible.

 

I couldn’t help but laugh. Helping those five get to first place was one thing, but imagining Spark winning with me included? I couldn’t even picture it.

 

My gaze shifted back to the manager’s message.

 

This was more urgent than worrying about some distant dream of winning first place. I hadn’t even thought about what my personal content would be, too preoccupied with the idea of leaving.

 

But honestly, was there even anyone who’d want to watch my content?

 

Who would be interested in a live stream of a useless idol who piled on foundation to cover his dark circles, spent his early mornings making name headbands, and whose only talents were memorizing subway routes and guessing job ratings? Even I wouldn’t tune in.

 

I tried to recall any entertaining content from monitoring Spark’s self-produced content.

 

And I failed spectacularly. I momentarily forgot that even the fans acknowledged them as boring.

 

‘Study With Me… Can’t I just do something like that?’

 

I thought about doing something like a ‘Let’s study together for midterms!’ kind of concept, but since it’d been ages since I graduated high school, it was obvious that this wouldn’t be fun, so I gave up on the idea.

 

I was confident in writing material for other people’s videos. If it were for Spark, I could write twenty things for each member to do.

 

But if you asked me what I should do on my own, I couldn’t mention anything.

 

While I was racking my brain, I heard the sound of the door opening. I turned around and saw Kang Kiyeon yawning and coming out of his room.

 

“You’re up early. I thought you’d sleep in.”

 

“I just woke up early. You’re up early on Saturday too.”

 

“It’s a habit.”

 

Seeing that my laptop was on, Kang Kiyeon asked what I was doing in the morning. I closed the internet windows and answered.

 

“Manager asked us to submit ideas for our personal content, so I’m brainstorming. Have you decided on anything?”

 

“I thought of a few ideas after looking at the list you gave me. I was actually going to ask for your thoughts later. Do you have time?”

 

“That’s fine. But I’m the problem.”

 

“Why?”

 

Kang Kiyeon asked, pulling out the chair across from me.

 

“I can’t think of anything.”

 

“Didn’t you come up with ten ideas for each of us?”

 

“When it comes to me, nothing feels right.”

 

Listening to me, Kang Kiyeon said without much hesitation.

 

“You can do that one, hyung.”

 

“Do what?”

 

“Ask Me Anything.”