Assistant Manager Kim Hates Idols

‘If there’s a system that increases ability points, wouldn’t there also be a system that restores stamina?’

 

I thought while chewing on the cold noodles that I couldn’t taste at all, as if my nose was clogged.

 

If a person’s physical functions could be artificially increased, then a similar mechanism should be possible.

 

The system surely knew how much intense practice was required to become an idol.

 

After all, the way the system awarded points and the processes it followed were focused entirely on nurturing idols who could debut.

 

Then, there should be measures in place for when idols faced situations where they couldn’t fulfill the required amount of practice due to physical limitations or they encountered difficult situations.

 

They brought a perfectly alive person back to the past with their memories intact, so they must have prepared countermeasures to this extent.

 

As I waited for the system to appear while slowly finishing the chewy noodles, the system that had been quiet appeared, as expected.

 

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[SYSTEM] ‘Subordinate’ is being notified of ‘Additional Work Support Service’

 

▷ If you wish to continue working but feel physically unable to achieve your KPIs due to physical limits, this service will assist you in continuing work smoothly.

 

▷ Upon activation of the support service, fatigue is reduced by 20 points, and the reduced fatigue will be returned to ‘Subordinate’ when the support service is terminated.

 

▷ ‘Subordinate’ may specify the start and end times for the service.

 

▷ Physical side effects may occur due to various reasons such as prolonged use of the service, excessive accumulation of fatigue, or if the temporarily reduced fatigue exceeds a certain level.

 

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It was exactly the function I needed.

 

Compared to the ’breach of confidentiality’ which mentioned that it could lead to death as the worst consequence, these side effects were hardly a concern.

 

At least this service didn’t mention the possibility of death.

 

After the service guide appeared, a familiar resume showed up.

 

However, this time, a new category called ‘Total fatigue’ was added beneath ‘Total exp’.

 

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― Attendance aanagement: 18/20

 

― Organizational adapatability: 10/20

 

Total exp: 0

 

Total fatigue: 40%

 

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Thanks to the medicine I took, my accumulated fatigue wasn’t too high. If I could reduce it by 20%, I’d feel almost normal.

 

I imagined pressing the service activation button without hesitation.

 

Then, the system window lit up brightly once more.

 

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Total fatigue: 20% (Work Support Service Activated)

 

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The fatigue level decreased as soon as the service started.

 

The effect was immediate. My fever subsided, and my tense shoulders relaxed.

 

“Hyung, is that cold noodle dish that delicious?”

 

“Yeah. Why?”

 

“No, it’s just that your complexion suddenly improved after eating the cold noodles.”

 

“Did you sprinkle protein on the noodles or something?”

 

Lee Cheonghyeon and Choi Jeho started talking nonsense about my face, which had apparently improved in color.

 

“Choi Jeho, I didn’t know you had the brilliant idea of mixing protein into food. I’ll keep that in mind when toasting bread.”

 

“That’s not what I meant.”

 

Despite my kind consideration, Choi Jeho just got annoyed. It seemed he got sick of people chiming in positively.

 

Now that I thought about it… I could adjust my condition by monitoring the system, but what about these guys?

 

Looking at these guys who’d been on low-sodium and low-calorie diets for longer than me, an ominous thought crossed my mind.

 

While their vascular health might be better than mine, at this point I couldn’t help but worry about malnutrition.

 

Wasn’t it not too long ago that Kang Kiyeon got caught dancing hard while hiding his injured ankle?

 

If UA had been thoroughly checking the members’ health conditions while recommending weight loss or practice, I wouldn’t have had to do this.

 

But in the idol market where the only feedback you got was ‘lose as much weight as possible and practice as hard as you can’, expecting such care was absurd.

 

Out of concern, I asked them.

 

“Do you guys get health checkups?”

 

“We get health checkups every year at school.”

 

Kang Kiyeon, currently a high school student, answered.

 

“I mean besides just measuring height and weight. Wait, don’t tell me you all got your teeth laminated too?”

 

“I didn’t. As far as I know, none of us did.”

 

“I’ve heard it’s common to get them done as trainees…”

 

Jeong Seongbin and Park Joowoo spoke in turn. It was a relief that everyone’s dental health was at least good.

 

Since the group was quiet, there were more than one or two things to pay attention to. I was starting to wonder if we need a suggestion box in the dorm for them to voice their concerns.

 

Wasn’t the national health check-up age set at 20 and above? We should probably get some basic measurements done as a group at the gym soon.

 

Just as I was recalling the time at the Hanpyeong Industry when I was busy scheduling health check-ups for the employees, Lee Cheonghyeon asked me.

 

“Why the sudden interest in health check-ups?”

 

“Just because. I’m saying this just in case, but take good care of your bodies. Your bodies are your assets, got it?”

 

“Did you hear that, Kang Kiyeon?”

 

“Why me?”

 

“Iwol hyung is worried about our Kiyeon’s ankle!”

 

“Is that what you heard from what he said?”

 

They had a talent for misunderstanding perfectly clear statements.

 

That wasn’t exactly my intention, but as long as they got the message.

 

After saying all this, it would be pretty ridiculous if I started skipping practice because I wasn’t feeling well.

 

I forced myself to finish the stiff, almost dry noodles. I didn’t forget to clean up the empty bowl afterward.

 

* * *

 

“Everyone, what content are we going to film today?”

 

“‘Introducing our members!’”

 

With an enthusiastic response, we all clapped our hands.

 

Today’s final schedule was filming self-produced content.

 

It was a project planned by Kim Iwol, supervised by Kim Iwol, and sponsored by UA. Considering UA’s pattern of not properly promoting the group after debut, we filmed it before our debut.

 

‘I nearly fainted when the company suggested going with a no-makeup look to make it look natural since it’s before debut.’

 

Regardless of whether we were well-groomed or not, it wasn’t acceptable to show that little effort when filming something that fans would watch.

 

I’d seen them film themselves removing their makeup during live broadcasts later on, so there was no rush. We could reveal our bare faces then.

 

“We filmed ourselves taking profile pictures last time, right? Well, those pictures are finally out!”

 

This meant that the final versions of the concept photos for the debut album’s title track, which would also be registered as profile pictures on portal sites for a while, were out.

 

Unfortunately, I heard it took quite some time to edit because the photos didn’t capture the real-life appearances of some members, like Lee Cheonghyeon, very well.

 

‘I briefly considered joining as support staff when I heard the news.’

 

I ultimately decided against it because if I had touched the mouse, the kids might have turned into sparkling, shining princes.

 

Apparently, subway advertisements were made by polishing and refining people’s faces.

 

Anyway, to commemorate our first profile photos being released, we decided to film content where we introduced each other while looking at these photos.

 

I strongly pushed for this, citing that it would be suitable for showing what you would call a ‘close relationship’.

 

If I let them introduce themselves, they’d probably be too embarrassed to speak for even a minute, so I had them introduce each other instead.

 

In Korea, where humility was a virtue, it was easier to praise others than to promote oneself

 

As idols, they’d need to get used to showcasing themselves, but for now, I planned to nurture them with the mindset that it was good enough as long as they didn’t run away before debut.

 

“We decided to write and introduce the profile of the person next to us in age order, but who should we start with for the presentation?”

 

“I think it would be good to start with the leader.”

 

“Me…?!”

 

“Yes, you.”

 

Jeong Seongbin was startled by my words.

 

He had to spend the next seven years with these reticent guys.

 

If he was going to lead them, it wouldn’t hurt to practice first.

 

“Take your time preparing. Since it’s self-produced content, we can take our time editing it.”

 

I gave Seongbin time to prepare and neatly arranged the materials in front of me.

 

We had decided that everyone would make the profile for the person they were introducing in a creative way.

 

Not just writing the content but also preparing visual materials.

 

‘T-Then do we have to make panels like the ones that appear on TV?’

 

‘I don’t expect anything that professional. If you really want to make a board, search for foam board. You can also search for wood rack.’

 

The more we prepared by making it up ourselves, even if it looked amateurish, the better it would be to evoke the image of realistic students. We could always use professional editing techniques later.

 

‘The point is to find a way of explanation that’s familiar to you. Whether you write in your school notebook or draw in your practice notebook. Just make sure anyone can see that you’ve done your best.’

 

Though I said I’d nurture them, I didn’t plan on not making them experience PR.

 

If they were destined to enter the era of self-PR anyway, it was much better to make mistakes in a small, not-so-cute self-produced content than on TV broadcasts.

 

It seemed they understood, as they spent the past few days in the dorms racking their brains and groaning, but not complaining. It was an admirable attitude.

 

“Then I’ll go first! I organized my notes on cue cards like this.”

 

Having steeled himself, Jeong Seongbin took out a small bundle of yellow paper, cut into the shape of music show scripts. Lee Cheonghyeon asked.

 

“Hyung, do you usually write in those?”

 

“I’ve been writing them to practice scripts since we decided to film self-produced content…”

 

Seongbin laughed bitterly. Flustered, Cheonghyeon gave two thumbs up to Seongbin, who was lifelessly flipping through the cards.

 

The ‘5 Questions and Answers about Same-aged Friend Joowoo’ that Seongbin prepared was quite informative.

 

Jeong Seongbin’s introduction consisted of exactly the kind of content I had requested—trivial yet wholesome introductions that wouldn’t break their image.

 

To summarize roughly…

 

“What was Joowoo’s childhood dream?”

 

“Didn’t he say he originally prepared to be a singer?”

 

“I mean his dream from when he was much younger. Like kindergarten age?”

 

“Answer: Dinosaur!”

 

“Good confident attempt, but wrong answer!”

 

These were the questions.

 

By the way, the correct answer was a shooting star.

 

Apparently, Joowoo wanted to make a wish upon seeing a shooting star, but because they were so rare to see, he wanted to become a shooting star himself. Since no one got it right, Park Joowoo ended up revealing the answer himself.

 

The member introductions proceeded smoothly after that.

 

Park Joowoo, who often left post-it notes, brought a whiteboard with several post-its describing words associated with Lee Cheonghyeon and the reasons.

 

One particularly impressive expression was ‘Prince of the Forest.’

 

“Did I get the prince title because I’m good-looking?”

 

“More like Sleeping Beauty in the forest… Cheonghyeon, you’re the Sleeping Prince of the Forest.”

 

“He does sleep like a log once he’s asleep.”

 

Cheonghyeon created what he called ‘A Compilation of Kang Kiyeon Algorithms for Quick and Easy Personality Analysis’.

 

There were four different types.

 

“Isn’t that your composition notebook?”

 

“Ah… The inspiration came too suddenly, I couldn’t help it.”

 

We were all impressed by the divinely organized chart that seemed to perfectly capture Kiyeon’s thought process.

 

Especially useful was the part that said, ‘Kang Kiyeon likes it when you show interest in the games he’s playing!’ It was a presentation that showcased their friendship.

 

Next, it was Kang Kiyeon’s turn to introduce me.

 

‘Is it something like a list of a practice routine? Practicing is all I do.’

 

Contrary to my low expectations, Kiyeon’s expression was a bit more serious than usual.

 

He rustled around and pulled out a large white piece of paper.

 

Seeing the large table drawn on it, it seemed my prediction was correct, but…

 

‘What is that?’

 

I doubted my eyes for a moment.

 

When I saw the phrase neatly written next to my name.

 

“Then I will introduce Iwol hyung.”

 

I couldn’t just let this slide. I immediately raised my hand and asked.

 

“I have a question. Why is there a scary phrase like ‘Gentlemanly Ruffian’ written next to my name?”

 

Ruffian?

 

What did I do to deserve that!