NOVEL NEXT Chapter 88 - Job Skills Improvement Training (2)
Jeong Seongbin laughed heartily for a long time.
Then, wiping away tears and sniffling, he said to me.
“Hyung.”
“What?”
“If you ever decide to sell it, I’ll buy a bottle of that octagonal ionic carbonated water.”
“Try buying that stuff, I dare you. I’ll make you clean the bathroom with it.”
I firmly warned him and left the emergency exit with Jeong Seongbin.
A few days later, the ‘Double XP Week’—a name Jeong Seongbin came up with, saying it was a popular term in PC cafes—arrived, and we all trained like maniacs.
I expected someone to question why we needed to push ourselves so hard, but they all agreed without hesitation when I told them about it.
Was it because they would diligently practice on their own even if I left them alone?
Or maybe they just didn’t feel the need to question me.
Ah, the student group did seem a bit disappointed, though.
‘Can’t we just skip school and practice?’
‘Kiyeon, don’t raise my blood pressure, go to school.’
Still, I managed to talk them into going to school. This must be the hardship of parents.
Because my schedule was tight, I also had to split my 24 hours into ultra-efficient five-nanometer units.
Here was my daily routine to raise my skill proficiency by three points:
3:30 Wake up
4:00 Wash up and plan work
4:30 Make toast and go to the practice room
5:00~10:00 Dance practice (1)
10:00~16:00 Vocal practice (including shower, lunch, and meeting)
16:00~19:00 Dance practice (2)
19:00~21:00 Exercise
21:00~23:00 Dance practice (2)
23:00~00:00 Wash up and monitor after returning home
00:00~00:30 Worry about the future
00:30 Go to bed
Thanks to the perseverance I honed at the Hanpyeong Industry and the system’s work support function, I was pushing my body to the limit. Who knew I’d ever feel grateful to those two?
Of course, I didn’t subject the members to the same lifestyle. They didn’t have a work support system.
Thanks to that…
“If you’ve filled up your practice time, everyone go home.”
“What about you, hyung?”
“How many times do I have to tell you, Cheonghyeon? I still have a long way to go, so I’ll stay a little longer.”
“No, hyung, if you keep this up, you’ll collapse!”
…This kind of argument had been going on for a week.
Did they really think I was that fragile? If this were enough to make me collapse, I would have collapsed already at Hanpyeong Industry.
“Cheonghyeon, look around.”
I put a hand on one of Lee Cheonghyeon’s shoulders as I spoke.
It was currently 10 PM. Everyone had finished their dance training and five hours of practice.
At this point, I was the only one still standing upright.
The rest were sprawled on the floor… No, Choi Jeho was sitting down.
Anyway.
“Aren’t I the only one who’s still fine? That’s why you guys have to go home.”
“Where on earth does this hyung get his stamina from?”
“I’ve already given up on understanding.”
Kang Kiyeon shook his head as he listened to the dumbfounded Lee Cheonghyeon.
Regardless of what they said, I hurried them to pack up and head back to the dorm.
Just then, as Choi Jeho was picking up his bag, he asked.
“Can’t we leave together? What if Yoo Hansoo passes by?”
“No need to worry, that guy left work at 4 o’clock earlier.”
I’d always had a knack for knowing when my boss left work.
I pushed Choi Jeho out the door, telling him to hurry and take the others back to the dorm, then closed the practice room door behind them.
As soon as the guys left, the practice room became quiet as if there had been no noise at all. Only then was I able to let out a small sigh.
I resisted the queasy feeling in my stomach and wiped the corner of my mouth a couple of times.
To be honest, my condition wasn’t all that good. I was just less tired ‘than those guys’.
I turned on the system and checked my accumulated fatigue level.
+
.
.
.
Total fatigue: 35%
(Work Support Service Activated)
+
The base fatigue was 35%. Adding the 20% discount provided by the work support service, my total fatigue was around 55%.
I got a nosebleed when it got over 40%, so I had to be careful not to let it go any higher.
I definitely didn’t want to draw attention by collapsing and getting a nosebleed in front of everyone.
In order to avoid such a case, I had to rack my brain to find the most efficient way to rest.
But the more I thought about it, the more annoyed I got. How great would it have been if I’d had this kind of support back at the Hanpyeong Industry?
Of course, Manager Nam didn’t even blink when I crawled out of the bathroom on all fours after vomiting.
‘If I don’t want to end up back at Hanpyeong Industry, I better just shut up and keep working…’
I drank water in a half-resigned state.
At least, that the members hadn’t caused any accidents recently.
If those guys ran away from home, had a fight, or got sick, like they used to before the debut, my fatigue level would have increased by 20% due to stress.
So yeah, it was nice that they were quietly practicing.
I applauded their ability to recognize when not to cause problems.
However, as if to mock this brief period of peace, the next day, a boulder was thrown into the calm lake of my heart.
* * *
“We need to postpone our comeback?”
Jeong Seongbin asked. It was because of what Min Jukyung had just told us.
It was literally a bolt from the blue, telling us the news that the release of our second album, which was scheduled for early to mid-May, would have to be postponed.
“Why?”
Unable to hold back his impatience, Choi Jeho blurted out.
“Newri is scheduled to make a comeback in June, but if you guys made a release in May, we won’t have enough company resources to support us within the company. If that happens, both sides will lose out.”
This meant that the comeback of a renowned ballad singer under UA overlapped with our schedule.
It wasn’t wrong. But there was more to it than that.
“But Mr. Jukyung, may I ask why this is being brought up all of a sudden?”
If they were going to tell us this, it should’ve been much earlier—definitely not now, when we already had estimates for the album cover.
At my question, Min Jukyung hesitated, avoiding eye contact. Then Min Jukyung carefully opened his mouth.
“Actually, Newri’s album was supposed to come out in April, but it got pushed back a lot.”
“I see.”
“Since it’s Newri’s first comeback in three years, the company wanted to make sure everything was perfect. So…”
Min Jukyung trailed off.
It must have felt awkward to have to explain this. I could understand.
Delays happened all the time in companies.
A two-month delay was frustrating, but it was not unheard of. There were probably five managers somewhere pulling their hair out over it, but it was not impossible.
But something kept bothering me.
Would a company that put so much effort into a three-year comeback handle the schedule so poorly that it would delay things by two months?
Even even delaying a group work that was just about to start?
Moreover… they knew the concept of our next album.
My head was filled with questions.
But at the same time, I also thought of one keyword that would answer all these questions.
“Mr. Jukyung, I feel like I might be overstepping here, so I’ll say this carefully… May I ask one more thing?”
“Huh? No, it’s fine, ask away!”
“By any chance, is PD Yoo involved with Newri sunbaenim’s project?”
At that moment, I heard a small gasp. Glancing over, I saw Lee Cheonghyeon covering his mouth.
Min Jukyung smiled awkwardly.
“Iwol, you’re quick-witted. That’s right, PD Yoo is currently in charge of that project.”
“Thank you for telling me. Oh, could we still hold the regular meeting we had scheduled for this week?”
“Of course. I’ll notify everyone.”
Then Min Jukyung looked at each member one by one and said.
“But don’t worry too much, guys. This kind of thing happens a lot in the industry, and it’s not a big deal. The company is not neglecting you, so don’t feel anxious. Got it?”
It was a warm word of comfort. At moments like this, I could feel that Min Jukyung was a good person.
Min Jukyung was right. At the Hanpyeong Industry, Manager Nam delayed approvals for three months, and nothing happened.
But this time was different. This was a big deal, and we were screwed.
If Spark didn’t make a comeback at the scheduled time, there was a high possibility that we wouldn’t be able to go on the survival program that would start casting in June. We still lacked recognition.
In terms of quick exposure, nothing could gather popularity as much as a survival program, but we needed a minimum level of recognition to be cast there.
It was like hiring experienced newbies—dirty and unfair, but that was the reality. There was no other way to hit number one quickly.
No wonder things had been so peaceful lately. It seemed my days of getting sleep were over.
* * *
I lay down on the bed and summoned the system.
And I thought.
‘Is there something like an employee loan program? Maybe some stamina support guarantee?’
Then the system popped up.
+
[SYSTEM] Work instructions from ‘Superior’ have arrived.
▶ Employees these days are so entitled. They don’t think about working like everyone else but expect to receive everything that others get?
+
So unfair. What work have I not done?
I held back my anger. Right now, the important thing was to coax the system into giving me whatever it could.
Then, suddenly, I remembered that I had previously brought forward the debut date.
I immediately took out the scheduler. The schedule I had set for our next comeback was clearly marked on the hologram scheduler.
‘How far forward can I move it?’
As I made a rough motion of pulling it forward, the schedule moved forward a few spaces and stopped at a date about a week ahead. It was very early May.
So that meant the date could definitely be brought forward.
The question now was—what kind of incident would arise this time?
Hey, Manager Nam bastard… no, hey, system bastard. Is someone going to run away again?
+
[SYSTEM] Work instructions from ‘Superior’ have arrived.
▶ It seems our department has reached a stable period these days. At times like this, let’s all try not to let the atmosphere get the better of each other and do our best in our respective positions.
+
It was still a snarky tone, but I had learned to extract hints from the system’s words by now.
In conclusion, no one would suddenly run away or get into a huge fight.
If it wasn’t a relationship problem, at least that was less of a headache. Without hesitation, I decided to move the comeback date forward.
And then, all the tasks that had appeared before came back to haunt me.
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[SYSTEM] ‘New task’ has been assigned.
▷ Securing manpower for the comeback
▷ Reward: Increased probability of stable comeback
[SYSTEM] ‘New task’ has been assigned.
▷ Improve job skill
▷ Reward: Increased probability of stable comeback
[SYSTEM] ‘New task’ has been assigned.
▷ Share secrets with members
▷ Reward: Increased probability of stable comeback
+
All of them, threefold.
Oh, f*ck. I shouldn’t have moved the date after all.