The Maknae Has to Be an Idol

I held back my curse words and listened to the mission’s contents. Seeing that it wasn’t a surprise mission, I predicted that this mission had someone’s life on the line.

[Reach number 1 Triple Crown on Music Charts in three months]

[Upon success, progress to next mission.]

[Upon failure, death of Park Dong-Jun.]

I couldn’t believe they were giving me a mission with Dong-Jun’s life on the line after I just finished a mission with Dong-Jun involved.

“It’s too much.” I knew that the system was void of human emotions, but this was too cruel. Yet, I knew the conditions couldn’t be changed simply because I complained. For missions with lives on the line, I couldn’t even touch the penalty.

‘I wonder if I can add conditions though?’ I wondered but I was in no condition to do that right now. If I used my Insight ability anymore today, I could really fall into a coma. Thus, I thought more about the mission the system threw at me.

‘Triple Crown.’ The title could be interpreted in multiple ways. First, it could mean to reach first place for a song three weeks in a row in a music show. It could also mean to get first place three times in one week from three different music shows. The word ‘triple’ or ‘quadruple’ had a more set meaning in the sports world but in the idol world, the word had a slightly different meaning every time period.

At one point, the title was awarded to a group that won first place in three specific music shows, but these days, the title was awarded to groups who won first place three times in a row. Thus, I wanted to ask the system what the exact standard was.

‘But there’s no way it’ll tell me.’ The system was anything but nice. Thus, the only thing I could do was to make my plans so that I would fulfill both qualifications. My group had to win first place three times in a row in a show and also win first place in three different music shows in one week. In other words, I needed to accomplish not just a Triple Crown but a ‘Triple Crown All-Kill’ to safely succeed this mission.

‘That’s tough.’ Since idols groups with enough fame and fandom easily reached first place in a music show, Triple Crown could appear easy, but there were a lot of tricky parts about this mission.

First of all, we would only be able to reach first place three weeks in a row or three times in a week only if we were the most impactful group in this comeback. We wouldn’t be able to accomplish it unless we stood out the most among all other idol groups. Thus, many of the songs that achieved Triple Crown weren’t just popular to idol fans but the general public. And if we needed to accomplish ‘Triple All-Kill’ on top of that, things got even tougher.

‘It basically has to be the song of the year.’ The song couldn’t just be popular but the hit song of that year. The fact that only about ten groups or singers had accomplished a Triple Crown All-Kill spoke to the difficulty of this task. In short, though this mission appeared similar to the mission of reaching 500,000 album sales, the difficulty was much higher than that.

‘First, it will be impossible to reach Triple Crown for our current album.’

Though our music rankings and our first week of sales were great, it was very unlikely we would reach the Triple Crown. We would probably contest for first place with Only One and neither group would be able to gain the Triple Crown title. Thus, this meant that in three months, we needed to release another song that would become a mega hit among the general public and sweep all music shows’ charts.

‘This is driving me crazy.’ If we managed to do that, we could probably aim to this year’s Daesang[1]. As I felt conflicted over these matters, Do-Seung returned.

“Here, I bought a short-sleeve t-shirt.”

“Thank you.” I checked the T-shirt that Do-Seung brought me. Though I had asked for a white one, he brought me a black T-shirt. Perhaps, he read my face and Do-Seung added, “There was no white one, so I got a black one. I know I didn’t consider your personal taste. Just wear what you are given, punk.”

“I didn’t say anything.”

“…Yeah.”

I took off the shirt I was wearing.

“Hey!” Do-Seung yelled seeing me just throw off my shirt. I thought it didn’t matter since no one was on this narrow side of the alley, yet Do-Seung spread his arms wide to cover me. Of course, it wasn’t like I would be fully hidden with that kind of shabby attempt.

“What are you hiding me for? There’s no one.”

“Do you have no feeling of shame or embarrassment?”

“Of course I do. But the current situation doesn’t warrant it.”

I quickly changed into the black t-shirt and shoved the shirt I had been wearing into my pockets. It was then I realized that the Do-Seung in front of me was someone who regressed fifteen times. I thought I could ask him about the Triple Crown.

“Did you perhaps get the Triple Crown mission?”

“Triple Crown?”

“Yes.”

“Of course, I did. That one…was a serious headache.”

“…”

“Anyways, that’s what you got just now?”

“Yes.”

“…But this is too early.” Do-Seung looked at me worriedly. It appeared that this mission wasn’t one that usually popped up at this time.

“It usually came up after we got a Daesang. That’s too difficult to achieve for a group that just debuted.”

“Really?” I was surprised to hear that he got the mission after receiving a Daesang. Shouldn’t the former be easier to achieve?

“That Triple Crown mission isn’t to get first place three weeks in a row or to win in three shows.”

“Then, what is it?”

“Well…it changes every time. This is the mission that the damn system gives you whenever it wants you to fail a mission.”

“…”

“If you get first place three weeks in a row, it tells you to get first place in three music shows and vice versa.”

“So, it just changes the rules according to its taste?”

“Yes. It’s a mission that came out both in my sixth and seventh regression, and I failed the mission each time after winning three weeks in a row in the sixth and winning three music shows in the seventh.”

“…It really is a bothersome mission.”

“Only after we reached Triple Crown All-Kill in my eighth regression, I got the alarm that I succeeded in my mission.”

“So, I guess All-Kill is really the answer.”

“Yes, it’s the safest way. If you don’t, it will keep finding ways to fail you.”

With this, it became clear. This was the mission where I had no choice but to achieve Triple Crown All-Kill.

“I mean, it wouldn’t go so far to make you get a music chart all-kill in Korea, America, and Japan to get a Triple Crown.”

“…”

If this mission was really requesting me to get a chart-all-kill in three different nations, I would really attempt to use the Insight to kill this system bastard.

“Let’s go for now.”

“Okay, let’s go.”

Do-Seung and I rechecked our hats and masks and called the taxi with our apps. That was how the long and eventful night passed.

***

The Next Wave office was in a festive mood.

“I didn’t think things would be resolved so cleanly and well.”

“They didn’t pull down their articles even after all the fuss we made but now, they are just bringing them all down.”

“People sure are cunning.”

“Sigh. It really is a relief.”

The Next Wave’s staff had been rolling their feet not knowing what to do when Dong-Jun’s controversy broke out, but now that the problems became resolved on their own, they were overjoyous. Yet, in such a situation, there was a person maintaining the same energy from beginning to end.

“Everyone sure is in a good mood.”

“Ah, hello director.”

“There’s no need to be so stiff around me. Just carry on what you’ve been doing.”

It was the Next Wave’s representative, Yoo Won-Dong. After coming to work, he surveyed the atmosphere of the company building and returned to his own office room. His employees were aware that little actions like these that Yoo Won-Dong did was a form of microaggression, and all of the employees who had been chatting in the company’s cafeteria and lounge returned to their own office spaces and began working.

The noisy office building instantly turned quiet and it didn’t take more than thirty minutes for the place to feel like just a normal working space.

Yoo Won-Dong sat in his own seat and searched the news that had delighted his employees.

“…I can’t believe this incident ended just like that…” He should be happy that a problem related to an artist under him was resolved but there was a strange regretful and empty feeling in his chest. Once again, a problem was solved perfectly without his intervention. It appeared that there had been a part of him that wanted to personally take charge and resolve this issue.

Yoo Won-Dong snorted and leaned his back against his chair. What could an old guy like him do in such a young and vibrant market? That was what people under him were supposed to do. Though it hadn’t been a couple of months since he was placed as the representative of Next Wave, Yoo Won-Dong had completely and fully realized what kind of position he was in.

“I’m just a figurehead.” He was only a boss in title and didn’t do much work. Meetings about new businesses, projects, and so on were finished by the hands-on staff; and what could be considered the core of this management business such as album producing and broadcast activities were done by the Siren members themselves. In short, there was nothing he did. The atmosphere wasn’t too different at the Jaeil group’s main branch.

Yoo Won-Dong’s goal was to be one of the heads of the Jaeil Group one day. Though he was a representative of Jaeil Group right now, he wanted to be a head not in a subsidiary company like this but at the main branch such as a director in Next Wave’s mother company, JI Entertainment. Or perhaps, a director at Jaeil Foods or any group that had the name Jaeil Group in it.

At first, Yoo Won-Dong thought he had been placed as the head of Next Wave as a final test.

“Were they actually trying to teach me my place?” Seeing how in the JI ENM, the chemistry between the current boss and the executive staff was great, his transfer appeared to be a trap to keep in the backlines of the entertainment business.

They just wanted him to accept the achievements that his underlings made and build up his career that way. Then, after doing so for some more years, he would probably be given a vice-director role in ENM as an honorable mention of sorts until he was expelled after one or two years.

The passion that had been fueling his career past fifty was finally losing its heat and quickly too. At this point, he was beginning to come to terms with reality and thinking this sort of life wasn’t too bad. He reached a position that the majority of employees wouldn’t be able to reach in their entire lifetimes.

As long as he didn’t get too greedy and covet an important spot in the main branch, he would be able to maintain his position as the head of Next Wave for quite some time. In other words, he would be able to rake in wages on a couple of millions of won while not doing much. It was a destiny he should willingly and gladly accept…

“…But it sure is boring.” Perhaps, it was ridiculous that he was still trying to find joy in his work at his age. But he realized it when he was pushed off from his last position. He missed the vicious political battles, competing for higher numbers, and the pressure of reaching sales at the main branch. Others might be shocked out of their minds to hear this, but this was the kind of person he was.

Yoo Won-Dong pulled himself up and dived into the internet world again. Before he realized it, he was living the same life patterns as a shut-in living in a basement. After surfing the web for a while, his secretary knocked on the door.

Knock, knock.

“What is it?” He wondered if there was anyone he was supposed to be expecting and searched his schedule mail, yet there was no meeting he missed.

He looked at his secretary again, and the secretary said, “Mr. Bong Tae-Yoon came and would like to have a meeting with you, sir. Should I let him in?”

“…What?”

The secretary’s answer was completely different from what Yoo Won-Dong expected.

1. One of the highest awards that an artist or group could receive in Korea ☜