Chapter 5: Boomer System (4)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 5: Boomer System (4)
My mood plummeted straight back to hell.
I had traveled nine years back in time, only to end up boarding the overtime train of my own volition once again. It was miserable.
In exchange for my energy, happiness, and sense of accomplishment, I had gained the "Basic Steps" and 20 EXP.
"What a productive day, fuck."
I felt a profound sense of skepticism toward life.
Still, instead of giving up on everything, I started tidying up. I had to vacate the practice room before midnight, which was when the security guard finished his shift.
I couldn't let my actions cause someone else to work overtime. If that happened, the guilt might actually kill me.
When I turned off all the lights in the practice room, the company building, already deathly quiet, felt even more desolate. The familiar atmosphere of a late-night shift settled over me.
Just as I was about to sink into gloom, I sensed someone in the lobby. Soon, a tall shadow stretched across the hallway.
The owner of the shadow was Choi Je-ho.
Even though he was just standing by the desk, Choi Je-ho looked incredibly ominous.
It wasn't that I was intentionally picking out his negative traits because I disliked him. Really.
As Choi Je-ho walked toward me and our eyes met, he pulled out his earbuds. I looked at him and asked, my voice full of suspicion:
"You haven't left yet?"
"No."
"I'm just asking in case, but... were you waiting for me?"
"Yeah."
Choi Je-ho kept all his answers to a single, curt syllable, as if talking was a chore.
"Why were you waiting?"
"You think a guy who just stepped foot in this company for the first time today could find his way back to the dorm properly?"
"Wait, are you actually being... considerate?"
"Jeong Seong-bin said he’d stay behind, but it’s too late for the kids to be out."
He meant he hadn't stayed because he wanted to, but so what?
Our prospective leader was only eighteen right now. If Choi Je-ho had any conscience at all, he was the one who should stay behind instead of the minors at this hour.
Still, knowing Choi Je-ho’s "lone wolf" personality all too well, I patted him on the back and offered a forced smile as a silent compliment for his consideration.
Choi Je-ho looked extremely displeased.
When we returned to the dorm, Lee Cheong-hyeon—who occupied the top bunk above me—was awake and waiting for us.
"Why are you still up?"
"I was waiting for you, Hyung!"
When I pointed at Choi Je-ho, Lee Cheong-hyeon pointed firmly back at me.
Did the idol world have some kind of archaic hazing ritual for newcomers?
Something like making me go out and buy thirty cups of coffee alone? Or washing everyone's shoes in the dorm?
When I looked at him with eyes that said, 'I didn't think you were that kind of guy...' Lee Cheong-hyeon looked flustered.
"Why are you looking at me with such sharp eyes?"
"No, I was just wondering if you were about to give me a disciplinary session."
If there was any villainous act one could perform at this hour, it would be making me buy convenience store lunchboxes from every different brand, or ordering bone hangover soup from a 24-hour place and demanding I deliver it to the door before it got cold.
Having run errands for cigarettes from Gangnam to Gangbuk in my past life, this was nothing to me.
I braced myself and tried to recall what restaurants were on the way back, but Lee Cheong-hyeon spoke up.
"Who would give a disciplinary session for something like that!"
"You're not?"
"Of course not! Why would you say something so scary?"
I was already simulating the conversation where I'd ask the restaurant owner to pack some extra radish kimchi. If that wasn't the case, then fine.
While Choi Je-ho, who had long since lost interest in us, went to wash up, Lee Cheong-hyeon sat on the floor next to my bed. Naturally, I ended up sitting on the floor beside him.
"They said Kang Gyeon has inflammation in his ankle. I saw him wearing a brace earlier."
It seemed Lee Cheong-hyeon had waited up just to talk about Kang Gi-yeon’s ankle.
He had made the biggest fuss when Kang Gi-yeon said he was hurting, but he seemed to have calmed down quite a bit now.
"Then he should probably rest from practice for a while."
"I don't know. That guy is incredibly stubborn."
That sounded about right. I nodded in agreement with Lee Cheong-hyeon’s words.
"How did you know, Hyung?"
"What? About Gi-yeon’s ankle?"
"Yeah. None of us knew."
"Just... I didn't notice when I was looking up close. I saw it when I stepped back."
I couldn't exactly say...
'I'm from the future, and while I was being a fan on behalf of my shitty department head, I learned that Kang Gi-yeon has weak ankles, which is how I knew I was right.'
I didn't think he'd believe me. And I didn't feel like giving a long explanation anyway.
Lee Cheong-hyeon’s eyes went wide, as if he actually believed my half-hearted answer.
"Hyung, you must have great dynamic visual acuity. It’s not easy to notice something like that just by watching for a bit."
Usually, when someone who doesn't know anything gets something right by luck, people just call it beginner's luck, don't they?
This kid seemed to be the type who was overly generous in his evaluation of others.
"I guess I got lucky. You'd see it right away too if you rewatched the video."
"Actually, I watched the video with Seong-bin Hyung as soon as we got back to the dorm, and it didn't show at all. I think your intuition is just insane, Hyung."
It wasn't intuition; it was the result of years of accumulated big data, but I kept my mouth shut.
It would be one thing to be recognized for improving my skills through practice, but I had no desire to stand out for something strange.
Taking advantage of the moment Choi Je-ho returned from the shower, I stood up, saying I should wash up too.
Lee Cheong-hyeon looked a bit disappointed, but he obediently went back to his spot. He was quick to read the room.
Once I finished my shower and lay down in bed, the reality that the day was finally over began to sink in.
'If possible, I'd like to figure out more about the System at a time like this. I wonder if it'll be difficult.'
There was nothing more headache-inducing than an issue popping up out of nowhere while you were just trying to work.
Just as I was wishing to minimize such mishaps, the System actually appeared before my eyes. I guess it shows up if you pray for it hard enough.
What appeared this time was the text I had seen before.
+
[SYSTEM] Handover Progress
▷ Notification of Work Schedule: February 1X, 20XX (Synchronization complete, cannot be changed)
▷ Check Manual
▷ Check Process
+
However, two items were now crossed out. It seemed to indicate they were completed.
'The manual must refer to the Life Reuse Manual.'
Thinking about that manual only made me angry, so I decided to set it aside.
That left only "Check Process."
I focused on the thought of checking the process in my mind. Immediately, text related to the process appeared. Its synchronization speed with my brain was quite impressive.
+
[SYSTEM] The 'Process' is applied to 'Party B'.
▷ 'Tasks' or 'KPIs' will be delivered to 'Party B' irregularly.
▷ 'Welfare Points' will be awarded based on 'Party B's' performance.
▷ Awarded 'Welfare Points' can be added to 'Proficiency'.
▷ As the handover progresses after the process is applied, the difficulty of 'Tasks' will increase. (Penalties will occur upon task failure.)
[SYSTEM] 'Party B's' job category is set to 'Producing Member'.
+
Fuck, if you were going to make me do something like producing, you could have just hired me as a new recruit for the planning team instead of making me a member.
The fact that penalties would occur was equally annoying.
If I didn't debut, I couldn't save my sister and I'd end up having to rejoin the company. What more of a penalty did I need?
I should have distanced myself from this goddamn Boomer System the moment it started sounding exactly like Department Head Nam.
I considered looking for an option to change the settings, like changing a navigation voice, but I held back. I didn't want to look at the System or whatever it was anymore.
Still, I liked the fact that I could use points to increase my stats instead of just buying ice cream.
I felt a bit guilty, wondering if I was taking the results of others' blood, sweat, and tears too easily, but with my family's lives and a life-long contract on the line, I had to use whatever underhanded tactics I could.
'At least the condition isn't that I have to promote for seven years.'
The condition for completing the task was clearly "debut."
In other words, it could mean it didn't matter if I left the group right after debuting.
I could just take out a loan to pay the contract termination fee and spend the rest of my life paying it back.
It would probably be better for the team if an untalented person like me dropped out early anyway.
Strictly speaking, since this was a fraudulent hiring, I’d have to contribute enough to cover the losses caused by a member's early departure before I left.
Feeling a twinge of conscience, I opened my pathetic hologram resume.
+
Performance Evaluation (100)
— Vocal Proficiency: 4/20
— Dance Proficiency: 1/20
— Self PR: 12/20
— Attendance Management: 18/20
— Organizational Adaptability: 10/20
Cumulative Experience Points: 40
Cumulative Points: 0
+
I saw the precious 40 EXP I had earned through relentless dance practice and overtime.
Wait a minute.
So you're saying... even after dancing like a rabbit at a tiger's birthday party and working voluntary overtime, I couldn't even raise my proficiency by 1 point?
This wasn't an underhanded tactic; it was more like the ultimate condensed life-learning.
I guess I was looking for a conscience in the wrong place. Man, I was so naive, not even realizing my own life was the shittiest of all.
Anyway, my immediate task was clear: gather EXP diligently to earn points.
At that moment, gathering 60 more EXP felt like a daunting, distant goal.
However, the very next day, I would end up filling all that EXP and receiving points in an instant.
The incident began with a new task assignment that screamed for my attention from early morning.
+
[SYSTEM] A 'New Task' has been assigned.
▷ Attend the first dance class
▷ Reward: Experience Points (20)
+
This System didn't even bother hiding the reward EXP anymore, now that I knew it only gave out 20 at a time.
Because it was the company's first time creating an idol group, they were still in the stage of developing a program to train trainees.
Perhaps because of that, instead of having resident trainers at UA, vocal and dance trainers visited once a week.
Today was the day the dance trainer was scheduled to visit.
It was also the day I would perform something resembling a dance in front of a professional for the first time in my life.
In front of the dance teacher, whom I had seen a few times on Spark’s reality shows, I moved as frantically as I could.
As a result, I ended up proving that I was nothing but a very loud, very empty vessel.
The faces of the prospective Spark members were devoid of any smiles, clouded only by shadows.
It seemed they were appalled by my state, which remained hopeless despite their hard work helping me the day before.
It’s because you guys don't smile like that that I had to hear Department Head Nam say every day, 'Our kid wants his lips curled up just a bit more. It’s not a big deal, so you can do it quickly, right?' even after I sent the edited photos. Thinking about it makes me mad all over again.
The teacher, who had been watching me stumble around in a trance, hesitated before speaking.
"I-wol..."
"Yes."
I stood with my hands folded politely.
I could feel the teacher struggling to choose her words.
This silence, this tension.
Everything was perfectly set for me to get wrecked.
A teacher who tries to refine their language in a situation like this is a true saint.
"You need to practice a lot."
"I understand."
"Just doing it 'a lot' won't be enough. You have to do it really a lot, and you have to be the most diligent."
"Yes, I will work hard."
I was confident I could say I’d work hard with more sincerity than anyone else. My sister's life and my future were on the line.
Seeing the desperation radiating from my heart, the teacher didn't say anything more. I was just grateful.
The problem was that the System decided to pop up and open its big mouth.