The Idol Training Simulation I Messed Up

Chapter 12

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“Then will Monochrome continue as a four-member group?”

└”Yes, there are already articles about it.”

└”Well, would they continue as five?”

└”The original poster didn’t mean anything by it, but you sure are touchy about it.”

└”Given the situation, it’s understandable to be sensitive.”

└”How poorly does Newma manage their artists to let it come to this again?”

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***

Several days had passed since Yunhwan’s departure.

Even though we had gone through such a significant event, cruelly, we weren’t given the time to dwell on our feelings indefinitely.

The one who left had left, and those who remained had to return to their daily routines.

Fortunately, the company employees were sensitive to Monochrome and their managers’ feelings and refrained from mentioning Yunhwan as much as possible.

Although receiving sympathetic glances wasn’t a good thing, at least I could quietly organize my thoughts.

‘Sigh… I need to start thinking about what to do next.’

I carefully opened the door to the studio where Woohyung was.

“How’s it going?”

“Oh, Director.”

Woohyung had grown accustomed to my presence, no longer jumping up to bow at 90 degrees like an employee startled by the CEO’s sudden appearance.

Although it was progress, his weak greeting made him seem pitiful.

Although there were no schedules, I had given the members a break.

I told them to take a few days off without worrying about work and just rest.

But after resting for a day or two, here they were, back in the studio.

All the members were having a hard time, but it was especially tough for Woohyung, who was the composer of the song we were planning to release soon.

‘He has to rearrange the song originally meant for five members to be sung by four.’

He was currently in the studio, reallocating parts.

Removing one person’s part.

Even though Yunhwan’s departure was already difficult, this task was like adding insult to injury.

‘It doesn’t seem like it’s progressing well.’

When I asked how it was going, he nodded with a weak smile, but the notebook on the desk was filled with scribbles.

Although he didn’t show it, his eyes seemed swollen.

I came here to nurture the group, but it felt like things were heading toward the worst possible scenario.

It’s not the worst since the group and the members were still here.

‘Could it be that I’m in human hard mode?’

Maybe instead of the Midas touch, I had the minus touch.

Raising Iris seemed relatively easy, but facing reality was not the same.

I couldn’t let the members remain as sacrifices to my karma forever…

Anyway, I came to Woohyung to talk about the group.

“Do you think you can continue as a four-member group?”

“Of course.”

Although Woohyung’s answer was confident, his eyes were uncertain.

‘He’s making that face again.’

He seemed uneasy because I suddenly brought this up.

I didn’t know what he was thinking, but what I was about to say wasn’t as worrisome as he might think.

It was serious and important, but not that bad.

I broached the topic I had been contemplating for days.

“How about recruiting a new member?”

***

Since it was my playthrough, and I created the group knowing everything, I thought I only needed to focus on future events.

I painfully realized how arrogant that thought was.

So, I asked Secretary Choi for detailed information about Monochrome.

While the members were resting, I decided to go back to basics and thoroughly review the past of this world.

And soon, I discovered I had missed something very important.

“…Oh, Shin Joo-in. Please…”

I grabbed my hair in frustration.

…Monochrome had a member change in the middle.

‘I can already hear the sound of the fandom falling apart.’

Yunhwan’s departure wasn’t the first member change for Monochrome.

I fully understood why the company was constantly criticized by fans.

What was it that Yun-hee said? That Monochrome’s fandom, Colors, was known for being extremely loyal.

Although they weren’t particularly lacking in skills, I quickly realized why Monochrome had faded from the public’s memory.

Due to a series of incidents, most fans had left.

‘The company really messed things up, driving fans away.’

At least they still had some recognition from when they were active and from being seniors to Iris, so not everyone had forgotten them.

However, the number of people interested in their activities had dwindled.

And now, a second member change.

The materials I initially reviewed focused on official activities, achievements, and discography.

There was no way they would have prepared information on people no longer with the company.

Since I wasn’t familiar with the members’ faces, I hadn’t noticed while looking at jacket photos or music videos.

‘I assumed the five members I met were the same ones from the beginning.’

Who would have thought that different faces were mixed in during the early activities?

Until I saw this material, I had never suspected a member change.

The member who joined after the switch was Yunhwan.

It was written that he entered as a trainee with some recognition from a music audition program.

‘No wonder he had a lot of personal fans.’

Thinking back, in the game, a talented trainee joined, so I switched him in, thinking it would generate more profit.

Since he had evenly distributed abilities, I had given him solo activities.

It was a decision made lightly, without leaving much of an impression.

‘I really played the game thoughtlessly.’

The reason I didn’t remember it immediately was largely due to my playstyle, but that wasn’t the only reason.

If Monochrome was in their third year, Iris would have been in their first year.

I had been intensely focused on My Enter, especially on raising Iris.

Reality had been too harsh, and I found vicarious satisfaction in Iris’s success, which made me even more obsessed.

It was one of the most mentally exhausting periods of my life, and my only joy was posting about Iris’s achievements on My Enter’s official community.

I spent so much time on the game, prioritizing it over meals, and the Iris members I styled received pretty good evaluations.

At that time, every gaze felt like a blade, and even strangers seemed to glare at me, making me shrink back.

The online space was the only place where I felt heard and acknowledged.

I was happier as an anonymous user online than as Shin Joo-in in reality.

I wished I were truly overseas, where no one knew me, like in this setting.

‘Here is actually better…’

I was startled and snapped back to reality.

The more I immersed myself in this world, the more confused my basic thinking became.

I exchanged messages with my mom almost every day, though I couldn’t hear her voice, indicated only by “(unknown)” in the message window.

Not knowing what might happen in two years, and no matter what, I couldn’t abandon my family.

‘Stop thinking and focus on work.’

I turned my attention back to the documents.

And I looked up information on the member who had been replaced.

“…”

As I read, my head cooled down.

‘This is…’

Newma, what on earth have you done…

***

“…What do you think about recruiting a new member?”

Woohyung’s eyes widened, clearly not expecting me to bring this up.

“From the trainees?”

Ah, there were trainees in the company.

My Enter also had a separate trainee management screen. In the game, trainees would come and go unless specifically scouted. Other than forming the group or recruiting Yunhwan, I didn’t pay much attention to them.

But that wasn’t what I was talking about.

“No. Someone you know well… I’m talking about Myung Jae Min.”

Upon hearing my words, Woohyung’s already wide eyes grew even larger.

“Jae Min…?”

“I haven’t contacted him yet. I wanted to hear your opinions first…”

Drip. Drip.

Suddenly, tears started to fall from Woohyung’s eyes. I was so startled that I stopped talking and froze.

“Why, why are you crying?!”

“S-Sorry… hic.”

“No, you don’t need to apologize to me.”

Surprised by his sudden tears, Woohyung lowered his head and covered his face.

Even though he tried to wipe them away with his sleeve, the tears wouldn’t stop.

W-What’s going on… I came to ask for opinions, but I didn’t expect this reaction.

I was also shocked, and while Woohyung was trying hard to hide his tears, a sound came from the door opening beside me.

Haerang stood there, frozen with a puzzled expression.

“…Did the Director make you cry?”

“No! I didn’t… I think?”

What kind of question is that?! I was innocent. Or maybe not entirely innocent.

As Haerang furrowed his brow at the tense atmosphere, Woohyung stepped in.

“Hic… No… Director… hic, it wasn’t…”

I guess he was trying to say it wasn’t my fault…

With hiccups making it hard to speak, Woohyung gestured instead.

Seeing this, Haerang familiarly found some tissues and handed them to Woohyung.

“I was going to ask all of you one by one… That’s not it.”

I repeated what I had said to Woohyung to Haerang.

Next to us, Woohyung, now free of his hiccups, blinked his eyes with a tissue held to his face.

Upon hearing my story, Haerang, usually with sleepy eyes, opened them wide.

‘Both are surprised, but I can’t tell if it’s positive or negative.’

Haerang seemed at a loss for words, touching his lips as he fell into thought.

Then, noticing the open door, Han-yi appeared.

His eyes wavered momentarily as he saw the three of us with complicated expressions.

“Is there a problem…?”

Problem? Did I cause a problem…?

I also started feeling uneasy, but I had to tell him the same thing, so I repeated it once more.

Han-yi’s reaction was the same. He froze in the doorway, holding the door.

And lastly, Jun-hae.

‘Why are they coming in one by one…?’

Probably because he saw Han-yi standing at the door.

For the fourth time, I repeated the same story.

“What?!”

Jun-hae looked at the faces of the three who heard the story before him, then turned his gaze back to me.

His round eyes grew even rounder.

“Jae Min hyung… Can you contact him?”

“I haven’t found him yet, but I came to ask you first.”

Upon hearing my story, Jun-hae squatted at the door.

Why? Why is everyone reacting like this? What’s going on?

I brought up the topic, but I was the only one not keeping up with the situation.

“Jae Min…”

Finally, Woohyung, who had been focusing on stopping his tears, took a deep breath and spoke.

“…Jae Min is someone we feel very sorry towards.”

I could finally hear their perspective, not just the summarized information from the documents.

***

The Idol Sports Championship. A program where idol groups gathered for a sports competition.

That was the root of the problem.

Monochrome, in their third year, naturally participated in that major event.

‘…And got injured.’

Jae Min suffered a serious leg injury.

At the time, Iris had just formed, and they weren’t generating significant revenue as rookies.

To keep Monochrome’s activities going and generate income, they had to proceed without Jae Min. The system wouldn’t allow activities with an injured member.

‘And we didn’t pay attention…’

Even after his injury healed, it took time for his severely reduced stamina gauge to recover, making it difficult to keep up with the schedule alongside other members.

Thus began the period of Monochrome’s four-member activities.

I had continued the schedule with the same member settings, not thinking much about it, and only noticed when Yunhwan joined as a trainee.

My lighthearted decision had resulted in a member being replaced, and my information ended with his contract ending with the company.

But Woohyung’s story began from there.