Chapter 63
Chapter 63
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 63
Chapter Title: A Strategic Proposal
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The main producer of RED CUBE was swamped, immediately diving into planning a new program.
Having tasted failure once and fought his way back to this position, this moment was more crucial than ever.
If things went awry now, RED CUBE's success would surely be dismissed as a mere stroke of luck.
“Didn't we reach out to W Entertainment yesterday? What did they say?”
“They're very eager to join, but they have a concert scheduled. They asked if we could adjust the schedule a bit.”
At the writer's words, the producer crossed his arms and tapped his foot.
“Ha… This is a tough one.”
The male idol group from W Entertainment was his top casting choice, deepening his dilemma.
*Bzzzt.*
Just then, his phone buzzed.
“Ah, who is it now? I'm busy.”
[Hello, Producer. This is Seo Yoon-seul. I hope you've been well. I'm texting you because I have a proposal I'd like to make.]
The producer, who had picked up his phone just to glance at the message, quickly typed a reply upon seeing the sender.
The person who had texted him was none other than Seo Yoon-seul.
Seo Yoon-seul.
He was a valuable figure who had played a significant role in creating content for RED CUBE.
[Yoon-seul. I'm surprised to get a text from you out of the blue, you must be busy. But a proposal? What's it about?]
*'What kind of proposal is he going to make?'*
Figuring he would find out when the reply came, the producer put his phone down to focus on the more pressing issue at hand.
*'They're talented, and from what I've heard, they're good people too...'*
He needed to find a rookie idol group that lacked nothing in terms of skill, visuals, or character, but such groups could hardly be called unknown.
*'Well, I guess that's to be expected.'*
*Bzzzt.*
Before he could think any further, his phone buzzed again.
Curious about what Seo Yoon-seul was proposing, the producer immediately picked up his phone again.
[It's about the new survival show you're working on. I'd like to recommend a group for it.]
Startled by Seo Yoon-seul's reply, the producer looked around nervously.
“What's wrong?”
“No. Has word already gotten out about our new survival show?”
“What?”
The writer asked, as if to say, what do you mean?
“No. I just got a text from Seo Yoon-seul, and he knows we're doing a survival show.”
The producer turned his phone screen for the writer to see.
“Huh? No way. How could he possibly know?”
The writer furrowed his brow in confusion.
“Even in our meetings, we've been deliberately lying, saying it's just a show where rookies play games to build recognition. We said they'd get to perform, but only if they won the games.”
If he had just said he wanted to recommend someone for the new program, they could have brushed it off. But he had specifically called it a 'survival program,' which was startling.
They were, in fact, preparing a survival program featuring rookie idols.
'Twisty Puzzle'.
It was meant to be something of a spin-off to RED CUBE.
However, one key difference from RED CUBE was that there was no elimination system.
Instead, they had decided to give benefits to the first-place winner and penalties to the last-place contestant.
*'Where did he hear this? We haven't leaked anything to JR's side... I did mention it briefly to his former agency, LM, but there's no way Seo Yoon-seul would know. A kid who was kicked out for no reason, staying in touch with his old agency? That's ridiculous.'*
The LM that the producer knew was the kind of place that would have no qualms about telling Seo Yoon-seul they'd "forgive" him and let him come back, even now.
The idea of him still being in contact with a place like that was unimaginable.
“You don't think our show's format was leaked, do you?”
“Don't say such horrible things.”
The producer shuddered at the mere thought.
“Let's just ask him directly.”
He sent a reply to Seo Yoon-seul, asking how he knew.
*Tick-tock.*
The ticking of the second hand on the office clock seemed unusually loud.
The producer, his eyes fixed on his phone, started biting his nails.
*'Why isn't he replying?'*
Less than a minute had passed since he sent the text, but to the producer, it felt like an eternity, as if more than thirty minutes had gone by.
*Bzzzt.*
At the long-awaited reply, the producer quickly checked the message.
[I just happened to find out. It wasn't leaked or anything, so you don't have to worry.]
"Just happened to find out."
The phrase was unsettling, but he decided to believe the latter part about it not being a leak.
*Bzzzt.*
His phone buzzed once more.
[More importantly, aren't you curious about the person I want to recommend?]
The producer, whose mind had been elsewhere, let out a short "Ah."
Then, his fingers moved busily.
[Who is it?]
A reply arrived almost instantly, as if he had been waiting for the producer's text.
[Creatin. Since we're from the same agency, they could appear on the show with us naturally. Wouldn't that be great?]
A slow smile spread across the face of the producer, who had been pondering how to naturally invite RE-V to the new survival show.
*'An opportunity just fell right into my lap.'*
[Creatin? I'll consider it.]
The producer didn't give a firm yes.
He couldn't add them to his show based solely on Seo Yoon-seul's recommendation.
“Do you know Creatin?”
“I know the name. JR Entertainment put out a ton of press releases saying they'd poured their heart and soul into producing them. The lineup of composers and choreographers was impressive too, so they got some attention even before their debut.”
Information about Creatin flowed from the writer's mouth as if he had prepared it in advance.
“Then why does it feel like I've never heard of them?”
As a producer, he usually kept an eye on promising rookies, so he tilted his head at the unfamiliar name.
“Because they flopped when they actually debuted.”
“What? They got attention before their debut, had an impressive lineup, and full backing from JR. How did they flop?”
“There was nothing special about them. You know how it is. Dozens of idol groups debut every week, and the competition among existing groups is already insane. Something ordinary isn't going to stand out.”
The writer was right.
Something special that draws people in.
A song, a concept, choreography, or if not that, at least some kind of story.
Without something like that, it was hard to survive in the entertainment industry.
“You said the lineup was good, right? Shouldn't they have at least been moderately successful?”
“Their timing was bad, too. That was around when GANGSTER-M was emerging as a hot new rookie group, and right after that, a bunch of popular girl groups made their comebacks all at once, as if they'd planned it.”
“Ah, so it was then.”
The mention of the wave of girl group comebacks helped the producer place the timeframe.
“Yes. So, bad luck was also a big factor.”
“True. The competition was so fierce back then it was called the golden age of girl groups. But they're still rookies. There's no need to get discouraged by one failure, right?”
The producer said, as if it were no big deal.
In an industry where many people struggle for ten years without success, giving up after a single failure in their first year just seemed like a lack of grit.
“Well, the story is a bit complicated.”
“How so?”
The writer's words piqued the producer's interest.
“I don't know the full details, but from what I've gathered, the composer who gave them their song supposedly fell into a slump. A weird rumor spread like a jinx, and now no other composers want to give them songs. On top of that, RE-V debuted, so they just got pushed down the priority list.”
“If you looked into them, why didn't you add them to the list of candidates? Is there a problem?”
“Not exactly. I heard they were originally supposed to have a comeback around now, which is why I didn't mention them. I happened to overhear a meeting when we were there for RE-V and JR Entertainment. It seems they postponed the comeback because of RE-V.”
The producer nodded, seemingly in agreement with the writer.
“So he probably feels bad that their comeback got pushed back because of him and reached out to us while looking for ways to help. Alright, let's take a look at some of Creatin's videos.”
* * *
I hadn't received a definite answer from the producer, but he probably wouldn't be able to just ignore this proposal.
As I'd already texted him, it was a very simple way to conveniently use RE-V.
Feeling like all the problems were now solved, I stretched and put my phone in my pocket.
*'I should get some sleep, too.'*
And with that, I closed my eyes in comfort.