Prologue: Ended Before It Began
Was this what people meant when they said something was over before it even began?
The debut lineup had been finalized a mere week earlier—and then the company went completely under.
By the time Ye-chan saw the familiar building on the news and ran over, the office he had come and gone from like a second home for seven years was already plastered over with red foreclosure notices.
It felt like the air had been punched out of his lungs. Whether it was hyperventilation or something else, his consciousness started to blur.
Again. I want to do it again!
In that instant, a vivid holographic window bloomed in front of Ye-chan's eyes.
Would you like to try again?
— RESET —
A&D Corp.
As if entranced, Ye-chan pressed the single button.
In an instant, the world rewound.
When he opened his eyes, he was inside a familiar practice room. The face in the mirror belonged to seventeen-year-old trainee Ha Ye-chan, freshly entered into the company.
From that point on, the Ye-chan who had returned to the past rose through the ranks in the truest sense of the phrase. He went from being just another mediocre trainee to the company's ace. He got ahead of a staff member who had been spying and had them thrown out. He secured a debut track from an absurdly successful composer, and even managed to stop the company from going bankrupt.
It hadn't been a one-shot success.
I want to do it again.
Whenever he hit a wall he couldn't climb, the thought alone would summon a holographic reset button before his eyes, as if by magic. Once became twice. Twice became three times. Going from three to four was even easier.
After six resets, Ye-chan skimmed an entertainment headline with indifferent eyes—a two-timing scandal starring a member of his own group, plastered across the front page. In the previous run, the guy had juggled a full eight partners, so in a twisted way, this almost counted as growth in idol self-awareness.
Of course, the rest of the world would never see it that way.
Ye-chan took in the thousands of downvotes stamped across the article, set his phone down, and closed his eyes.
Why can't they just get it through their heads?
Fix one problem, and another one popped up to take its place. For seven long years of grinding trainee life, these had been the members who propped each other up more tightly than anyone. Right after the resets began, when they had clawed their way to a hard-won debut, every single one of them had been sincerely grateful to the fans around them, striving day by day to become better people.
But once Ye-chan started leaning on the experience stacked from previous runs and debuted with ease, the members gradually changed into different people entirely. Gambling. Drugs. Affairs. Drunk driving. Illegal speculation. Every time he turned the clock back, they manufactured endless new disasters.
Outside problems alone are enough to give me a headache. I'm so damn sick of this.
Ye-chan pressed his thumb hard into his temple. Just a little. If he changed just a tiny bit more, he felt certain he could nail it perfectly this time.
I want to do it again.
Would you like to try again?
A&D Corp.
The button that always appeared without fail—Ye-chan was about to press it out of pure habit when he hesitated. Unlike every other time, when there had only ever been Reset, a new option had appeared: Stay.
After a brief moment of deliberation, Ye-chan reached for the familiar button the way inertia always pulled him. Whether it was his imagination or not, the reset window seemed to tremble.
The instant he pressed Reset, the familiar dizziness washed over him.
When I go back this time, do I actually have to replace the members…? We never make it past year six.
But unlike every other time, Ye-chan did not return as a seventeen-year-old.
"Beeeeeeeep—."
"Wh-what?"
A hideous mechanical alarm tore through Ye-chan's skull.
All reset attempts have been used.
Player 'Ha Ye-chan' will be discarded.
The holographic window that had once been split evenly between blue and red flooded a sinister, solid crimson.
Shattered holograms and broken strings of text flooded the entire room. Ye-chan clutched his head as if it might split open. The red window blared its alarm and shook violently.
What the hell is going on…
Ye-chan couldn't finish the thought.
An eternity seemed to pass.
Ye-chan opened his eyes.
"Ha Ye-chan, could you leave us with one last self-introduction?"
"Huh?"
It wasn't the familiar practice room. Ye-chan had opened his eyes in front of a camera—and a selection window, now blue, floated before him.
You've joined Choose My Prince 99!
Claim the cute concept first!
① "Princesses, please watch over Ye-chani forever♡"
② "I'm Ha Ye-chan, the cutie the Earth itself birthed—dehet☆"
③ "If you don't make Ye-chani your one-pick, I'll hate you~"
If no selection is made within 10 seconds, one will be chosen automatically.
A Co.……
Is this thing trying to ruin me on purpose?
Former top idol Ha Ye-chan thought.