Chapter 23
Chapter 23
Translator: Penny
Chapter 23
"So, we'll go to that planet and witness the crime scene from the past! Then, we'll return to Earth and catch the culprit!"
I didn't understand anything else, but it was clear the CEO had recently been deeply impressed by Sherlock Holmes and Interstellar.
While this concept—crossing the multiverse to reunite a divided soul—was marginally better than our previous regression concept, I wondered if he'd ever give up on that damn multiverse.
Watching the Planning Director clap enthusiastically beside the CEO, praising his "brilliant idea," I felt the full weight of nepotism in the entertainment industry.
I even began to suspect that the composer who kept giving us garbage songs might be another one of the CEO's connections.
"What do you think? Is this one better?"
The CEO turned to us with a confident grin, and it was time to pour cold water on his enthusiasm.
"We anticipated this, so we've prepared our own concept."
"What could possibly be a better concept than this? A fresh perspective, huh?"
"I'm the original artist."
At my signal, Ryu Jaehee sprang to his feet and strode confidently to the front of the conference room.
Leaning back in my chair, I chuckled, recalling the youngest members' boastful claims about their "absolutely killer" PPT presentation—one that would grab everyone's attention.
Let's see how good it really is.
The PPT Kim Dobin had worked on all night finally appeared on the conference room screen.
...Is this for real?
My jaw dropped at the sight of the presentation.
Gyeon Hajun, Seo Yehyeon, and the rest of the staff wore expressions no different from mine.
The screen was completely filled with a bright blue Bonobono.
High Teen Ha
House Party
Why We Must Adopt This Concept
And there it was: a brutally honest title written in rainbow-colored, 46-point Gulim font.
So this is why they were so desperate to hide it?
Amidst the chaos, Ryu Jaehee, who alone—no, he and Kim Dobin—maintained his composure, smoothly adjusted his glasses and began to speak.
"Let's start the presentation now. As you can see, our topic is why Reve's 2nd Mini Album concept should be a high school house party."
He pressed the spacebar, and the massive title shook violently like an earthquake before transitioning to the next page.
The same bluish Bonobono remained in place, accompanied by densely packed, unreadable gray text in Dotum font.
"First, let's define what a house party in high school settings actually entails."
Unable to endure the title's shaking animation any longer, I slammed my head against the desk.
If it were just moderately infuriating, I might have gotten angry. But this was so utterly infuriating that all I could do was laugh.
"In the early days of their debut, the refreshing concept had already become an established formula in the male idol scene. The combination of high school and house party themes allowed them to showcase a youthful and refreshing image while simultaneously capturing the party atmosphere suitable for dance-genre songs..."
The text was densely packed, with photos that expanded dramatically, spun in circles, and bounced around like rubber balls, displaying a truly insane range of animations.
"Huh? It's not playing? I'll just search for it and play it for you. Just a moment."
They'd simply inserted a black square and were now lying about the video not working.
Every time I turned a page, that fucking Bonobono kept popping up.
Ha ha, I'm screwed.
As I sat there blankly, letting out hollow laughter, I realized Ryu Jaehee had already finished his presentation.
"That's all," he concluded.
Of course, there was no applause.
I was mentally preparing to humbly accept the time-traveling detective concept when I heard clapping from beside me.
Wow, how kind. They're even applauding after that train wreck of a presentation.
Touched by their good nature, I turned toward the sound and saw the CEO clapping with an expression of deep admiration.
Damn it, scratch that "kind" comment.
After a few hesitant claps, one or two people joined in, and soon a full round of applause filled the room.
The CEO, wearing a satisfied smile, praised, "Wow, whoever made the PPT has a real eye for design."
"Not just a concept, but a full PPT presentation."
He truly had an eye for detail, unlike anyone else.
"The concept is a bit less original and creative than the detective theme I had in mind, but since our kids went to the trouble of creating this PPT, I'll have to yield this time. Don't you agree, Director Lee?"
"Of course, CEO. You're as generous as ever."
I glanced at the Planning Director, who was turning his head to exhale a sigh of relief.
If you're relieved, then you should have stopped him. Don't just nod along like a sycophant.
"Alright, let's aim for a comeback around mid-January next year. Everyone okay with that?"
"No."
Every eye in the conference room turned to me. Without wavering, I continued firmly, "We absolutely have to make our comeback this year."
"You know December is practically a dead month for promotions, Eden. Between year-end award shows and holiday festivals, we'll barely get any activity. If music shows get canceled, we'll be lucky to get two weeks of promotion. And it's already September—a November comeback would be too tight, don't you think?"
"Then we have to come back by the end of November. Absolutely."
"Why? Is there some reason?"
Having completely erased the memories of our second mini album promotions, I was jolted back to reality when I saw the charts from before my regression.
Before my regression, Reve had indeed made a January comeback, just as the CEO had predicted.
And that's where the tragedy began.
January wasn't just a comeback war—it was a full-blown comeback hell.
A rookie girl group from a major agency debuted, and an A-list boy group returned with a groundbreaking concept.
A solo ballad singer dominating the music charts.
A second-tier boy group making their first comeback after all members, including the youngest, completed their military service.
The solo debut of the main vocalist from an A-list girl group.
A unit project from an A-list boy group under a major entertainment agency.
Amidst this fierce competition, Reve, a flop idol group, returned with a Black Soul-inspired song and feathered gothic outfits. They failed miserably, never even getting a chance to rise.
Their bizarre concept should have at least garnered some attention, but they received none—utterly and disastrously.
And February is too late.
Six months was more than enough time for newly acquired fans to lose interest and drift away during the hiatus.
Especially since their only promoted song was a single without even a music video.
No amount of variety show appearances or self-produced content could compensate for the lack of proper music promotions.
With our current ambiguous status, there's no way we'd get invited to any major variety shows.
If I tried to insist it was just my "gut feeling," no one would buy it.
And if I told them the truth—that we'd experienced our group's downfall firsthand and traveled back in time—they'd think I was crazy.
So, what's the most effective way to talk about the future in Korea? Shamanism, of course. Shamanism.
"My grandmother had my fortune read a few days ago, and she said my monthly fortune for January next year is extremely ominous. She warned me not to undertake any major activities that month."
"So, just avoid big projects in January?"
"Obviously, our comeback activities are the biggest project. If this comeback fails because of my monthly fortune, how could I ever face the members again? Aish, if we fail, I'll take responsibility and leave the group. Aish."
The members stared at me like I was crazy, but I stubbornly continued my manual attacks.
We had a great song and concept, and I couldn't let a single miscalculated comeback date ruin everything.
Being the only one who knew the past was truly lonely. Why was I the only one burdened with this heavy fate?
As I wallowed in self-pity, the System responded not with words, but by displaying a system window before my eyes.
Project: Regain Your Original Intent for Idols Who Have Lost Their Way!
Required Condition: Having disappointed 30,000 fans, you must now delight 30,000,000 fans! (11,002/30,000,000)
Oh, right. Thanks for reminding me why I'm doing this.
Still, only 11,000 fans so far? When will I ever reach 30 million? I'll manage it before I die, right?
As I stared blankly at the Status Window, the CEO, thinking I was lost in thought, cleared his throat to bring me back to reality. He cautiously began, "Well, it's possible the fortune Grandmother saw wasn't accurate, and relying solely on fortune-telling to set our comeback date..."
"Huh? Are you saying my grandmother is giving money to a con artist? How could you even suggest such a thing?!"
My eyes widened, and I clapped a hand over my mouth. The CEO quietly shut his own.
As expected, the combination of "Grandmother + shamanism" was the ultimate persuasion tactic.
Remembering Grandmother's disapproving "tsk-tsk" whenever she said she'd rather buy beef with the money than waste it on fortune-telling, a sudden wave of guilt washed over me.
Grandmother, I'm sorry for being such an unfilial grandson.
This year's comeback was a success, so I'll visit you next Lunar New Year with a set of red ginseng and Korean beef.
The comeback date was safely set for late November.
The activity concept remained unchanged: a high-teen house party theme.
Considering it was early September, the D-day for the comeback was less than three months away.
Currently, the USB contained three fully completed songs ready for the album without further editing, including the title track, "Come to My Universe."
If I get one more song from Sangeol Hyung and roughly add "One Chance," we'll have five tracks.
These were songs I had been saving for future albums, but with the immediate crisis looming, I had no choice but to use them now.
As I mentally organized the tasks ahead, I frowned at the prickly, persistent gaze that had been stabbing at me since earlier and turned to look beside me.
"What is it? If you have something to say, just say it."
"No, I don't really have anything to say."
Ryu Jaehee, who had been staring intently at my profile, scratched his cheek and awkwardly averted his gaze.
"Then what is it? Are you going to praise my presentation from earlier?"
"Just... I'm surprised you believe in fortune-telling, Hyung. And of course I deserve praise! My flawless presentation moved the CEO's heart, didn't it?"
What moved the CEO's heart was that goddamn Bonobono PowerPoint, which perfectly matched his bizarre tastes, not your presentation.
I clicked my tongue at the clueless youngest member, then blurted out, "I don't believe in it."
"Huh?"
"I said I don't believe in fortune-telling."
Ryu Jaehee blinked, as if struggling to process my words, before his jaw dropped.
"Wait, what about what you said at the meeting? You didn't really push the comeback date forward because of Monthly Fortune, did you?"
I shrugged, unable to answer, and replied nonchalantly, as if it were nothing.
"That month's fortune is just bad."
"Hyung, why are you talking like some kind of ghost story?"
"Can I ask you something?"
Instead of answering, I threw a question back at Ryu Jaehee. He nodded readily, without even frowning.
"When I insisted on a comeback this year at the meeting, what were you thinking?"
I finally voiced the nagging question that had been bothering me since the meeting.
The situation was similar in some ways to when I had pushed for follow-up promotions, but this time, the Original Intent Score hadn't decreased.
Now was the time to uncover the criteria for "fostering discord among members" that would cause the Original Intent Score to drop.
📝 Translator’s Note:
You may notice that certain lines or phrases in this novel appear both in their original Korean (or Hanja) form and in English translation.
This is intentional — these phrases are classical idioms, divine titles, or poetic expressions that carry layered meanings.
To preserve their original tone and authenticity, the raw text has been kept for reference, while the English interpretation is provided right before or after it. This helps convey both the literal and cultural nuance of the original work.
but if you guys dont want tha raw for future chapters or my future other novels u can just text me on discord and say so discord name Mr.Penny