Save a Failed Idol’s Life

Translator: MarcTempest

Editor: NicoleTempest

Chapter 28 I Don’t Need That Help

First of all, I had to figure out what Kang Yu-geon’s intention was for doing this.

Did he hold a grudge against Climax for being terrorized by their fandom over the schedule issue?

Maybe he felt some kind of guilt and wanted to give me a chance to shine… That was the most reasonable guess I had for now.

‘But I doubt this bastard has such a noble thought.’

Did Kang Yu-geon have any connection with Cheon Ise? I called the system in my mind.

‘System. Can I use the replay service?’

Then, a translucent window that only I could see appeared in front of my eyes, and a short word was displayed.

[NOW LOADING]

It’s not like I’m asking for a favor.

Next to the spinning waiting icon, Pposili was sticking out his tongue and sitting quietly.

‘Hurry up. Don’t dawdle.’

In this urgent situation, I urged the system in my mind, and the system window vibrated loudly once.

‘Don’t be sassy.’

I didn’t expect much from those guys who took minutes to bring one term, but still.

It felt like an hour passed in a minute, and the members next to me kept nagging me.

“What do we do, Ise hyung?”

Why are you asking me that?

Climax had been practically a group by Cheon Ise, for Cheon Ise, and of Cheon Ise until now.

“Can we… reply to this?”

Usually, the live broadcast app account would be controlled by the agency, which would be normal.

But it seemed that they didn’t think Climax was important enough to manage with such principles.

‘Well… that’s not a wrong judgment either.’

What kind of trouble could they cause? It was only the groups with some sense of awareness that caused a fuss by playing with SNS.

Climax, a group that I wouldn’t have known existed if it weren’t for the friction with the Floss fandom…

Even if something like gambling or adult ads came up by real hacking, it wouldn’t have been posted as a single article.

‘Hurry up. Why is it taking longer today?’

As I couldn’t step up and fidgeted, Kyunghwa kept glancing at me with a frustrated look.

Just then, the message on the status window changed.

[There is no available replay service volume.]

‘What?’

It made a sound that lost its momentum after making me wait for a long time.

‘What nonsense.’

I protested in my mind while keeping a poker face so that the members around me wouldn’t be suspicious.

The message on the status window changed again.

[After reviewing all the records of the current causality line, it was determined that there was no meaningful interaction experience between ‘Cheon Ise’ and ‘Kang Yu-geon’.]

What does that mean?

I tried to hold back my expression from frowning.

‘So they’re strangers?’

The status window answered me right away without any waiting time.

[You understood it correctly.]

‘Then there must be some reason why Kang Yu-geon is doing this.’

The status window vibrated again with a buzz.

[There is no record that shows a clear motive or intention from the currently available video records.]

[The independent records of the person who has no meaningful interaction experience with the user (Cheon Ise) are not searchable.]

It was beating around the bush, but the conclusion was one.

The system couldn’t tell me why Kang Yu-geon was doing this right now.

‘Not searchable.’

I thought the system had infinite value for use as it showed me things that Cheon Ise hadn’t experienced.

‘I have to rely on my own experience and intuition for the parts where I can’t get the system’s help.’

Sigh… I didn’t meet this kind of bastard very often in my life.

‘How old is Kang Yu-geon?’

As soon as I asked the question in my head, the system answered.

[He is 23 years old in Korean age as of this year.]

Twenty-three was an age when most people hadn’t even set foot in society yet.

Was it reasonable for me, the king of the food industry, to be swayed by this brat? I glared at the phone in my hand and typed with my fingertips.

[Does liking mean inviting?]

[Picture]

I felt stressed again when I saw the post that Kang Yu-geon sent.

I endured the headache and took a picture of the salad with the dressing dripping.

Then I used Kang Yu-geon’s post to make a new post.

[It would be an honor if I get a chance^^]

[Picture]

And as I was about to press the send button, Kyunghwa blocked me with a horrified expression.

“What, why?”

I made a stupid expression as I couldn’t understand the reason, and Kyunghwa looked at me as if he didn’t know.

“Are you serious? If you pick a fight with Kang Yu-geon, you don’t know how his fans will react?”

What fight? I put ^^ on it. How polite and kind this emoticon is.

“I got it, I can fix it.”

Geez, how picky. I snorted in my mind and typed with a grumble.

[If I get, a chance, it would be an honor^^~~]

[Picture]

Then Kyunghwa snatched the phone from my hand.

“Ah, what’s the problem now!”

As I asked as if I really didn’t understand, Kyunghwa snapped back.

“What’s your concept for that?”

What do you mean?

I really couldn’t understand what the problem was.

“I put the waves to make it look less stiff.”

Then Kyunghwa’s eyes narrowed sharply.

“Why did you put commas?”

“It just looks softer, doesn’t it?”

“Do your concept stuff on your personal account later.”

Kyunghwa’s eyes looking at me seemed to have a hint of contempt.

I was shocked by the treatment I had never received before.

‘Let’s see how trendy he writes.’

Kyunghwa clenched his phone with both hands and entered some special characters, adding a few yellow heads and firework emojis.

‘Nothing special, really. Just a bit crazy.’

He sighed deeply and then about 30 seconds passed.

Buzz, the phone vibrated and a bunch of notification pop-ups appeared on the top.

[I’ll ask the manager hyung. I’ll keep my promise lol]

Everyone who saw the new post was speechless and stiffened.

Why is he doing this?

The inexplicable favor (?) only amplified the anxiety.

Yi-jun, who recovered first among the four, opened his mouth.

“Well, I guess we have to think of this as an opportunity…”

His tone became less confident as he went on.

Well, we had no choice but to go along with it.

“That’s better. It’s not like we can avoid it anyway.”

Before we knew it, Climax’s followers had exceeded 50,000. How far would this go?

Kyunghwa turned off the phone screen and put it down, and everyone sighed in silence.

At that moment, the status window popped up.

[Tutorial 2 > Sub Quest – ‘He Who Wears the Crown, Endures Its Weight’ Do you want to start?]

[Yes/No]

There seemed to be no room for refusal in this situation. I asked in my mind so that the other members wouldn’t notice.

‘What’s the reward for success?’

[Fate > Kang Yu-geon acquired]

That was not enough. I calmly took a deep breath and bounced back.

‘Just that?’

Then the status window vibrated once and a new sentence was added.

[Special Item > ‘Unbreakable Streaming’ to be given]

Hmm… I didn’t know the details, but it was better to have it even if I didn’t use it.

Should I bounce back one more time or…

While I was thinking, the members around me were watching me, wondering what I was thinking.

“What are you looking at?”

I asked in a rather blunt tone, and they all answered in unison.

“What are we going to do about the live broadcast we booked for tomorrow?”

We had to solve this first.

The status window appeared again and blinked.

[Tutorial 2 > Sub Quest – ‘He Who Wears the Crown, Endures Its Weight’ Do you want to start?]

[Yes/No]

I shouted in my mind without waiting any longer.

‘Yes!’

Then the status window shone brightly once and disappeared. I lightly brushed my chest and answered.

“I’ll start working on it now.”

Kyunghwa glared at me with a doubtful look at the sentence that seemed to have no plan, but it didn’t matter.

***

In the end, Climax’s follower count stopped after reaching 300,000 that night.

It was a pitiful number compared to Floss or Kang Yu-geon’s followers.

But considering that the original follower count was around 6,000, it was a huge improvement.

‘It’s too early to be happy…’

I created a new account that wouldn’t cause any problems even if I made a click mistake and looked through the new followers.

About two-thirds of them were Floss’s fans.

The remaining third were fans of other groups who came over here out of curiosity after following Kang Yu-geon.

‘In other words, they’re not our fans.’

Well, they must have some basic liking for us, but…

If we made any mistakes, they would react hostilely right away.

The promotion was good, but it could backfire like poison.

My head was complicated and I couldn’t sleep easily.

I got up and looked for Seon-woo, who was sleeping on the opposite bed, but only an empty bed greeted me.

‘Right. He went home.’

I felt a bit sad that I hadn’t seen him for a few days after being together all the time.

No.

This was more like anxiety that he might be craving something high-calorie that he shouldn’t eat.

‘I have to make a Seon-woo diet until the comeback, and make some self-made content like live broadcasts…’

Before that, there were a lot of things to do, such as recording songs, confirming choreography, and shooting cover albums.

I could feel the pressure, but…

That was better.

I could forget the situation I was in when I focused on work and pushed myself.

‘My life as Lim Hyun-seong is over.’

I muttered softly to myself and closed my eyes.

***

When I opened my eyes again, it was dawn when the sun was just rising.

Maybe it was because I was energetic, but as soon as the morning came, my eyes opened automatically.

I got up from my seat and started working on the script for the live broadcast in the evening.

It was harder than I thought.

‘Well, if this was something anyone could do easily by watching over the shoulder, everyone would make money with this.’

I made a cue sheet by organizing the flow and roles without giving specific lines, and it was past 10 o’clock.

‘I can do this without any problems even if I’m a monkey.’

Seon-woo said he would stay at home until lunch and come back before dinner, so there was no problem with the plan.

I had some experience with various entertainment appearances, but this was my first live broadcast.

‘Ah… I did live home shopping before.’

But it was different from idol live broadcasts where I had to communicate with the viewers in real time.

I was a bit worried, but

‘I have to do well even if I’m not confident.’

Besides, the material for this kind of broadcast was what I was most confident in.

I went to the kitchen fridge and opened the door to look inside.

There were a lot of cooking ingredients piled up.

‘I’m confident in cooking.’

It was time to show a new side of me as a cooking idol Cheon Ise, who danced well but didn’t have a chance to show it in the failed group.