Chapter 43
Subtitle: We will “cast” your dream.
Subtitle: You are our future.
Subtitle: But.
Subtitle: Are we your future too?
Subtitle: The age when idols only get cast is over.
Subtitle: Now idols cast their own future too, <Cast the Future>.
“Wow, those insane Imperials.”
There was a woman here who, for some reason, pronounced “Imperial” as “Im-pyerial,” like “폐” instead of “페.”
“They went and found another topic packed full of aggro again, didn’t they? Again.”
As for this woman, she was a bone-deep fan among bone-deep fans, someone who had followed the genealogy of Imperial idols since elementary school. The purest essence of the purest essence.
Even now that Imperial had been torn into pieces, she was faithfully stanning Blue Royal’s <Twenties>.
And now that Imperial was launching a next-generation idol survival program, she had decided to watch it out of loyalty.
But the moment she heard the MC’s lines, she already felt chills running down her spine.
If I touch this, I feel like I’m going to get dragged into some antlion pit again.
But who was she? An Imperial fan, also known as an Imduk.
Although it was a series of unwanted stan awakenings, that probably didn’t matter.
Well, I’ll at least give it one look…. I can just watch episode one and stop. I only need to check the trainee pool. Just the trainee pool.
It wasn’t like she had anything else to do anyway.
After making that vow to herself, Imduk at least didn’t turn off the OTT live broadcast.
(Translator’s Note: OTT — “Over-the-top” streaming service, referring to internet-based video platforms.)
Subtitle: A place where even the building smells like money. Where could this be…?!
Subtitle: Ah, this is none other than the sacred land of K-POP, Imperial headquarters!
“Damn it.”
The subtitles were already annoying. Should she keep watching this or not?
As someone who had probably paid for at least five pillars of that building, Imduk felt an inexplicable rage.
The subtitles already suck….If you’ve got that much money, upgrade the script quality too, you bastards.
Subtitle: That secretive place hidden away so thoroughly, Imperial headquarters.
Subtitle: We will explore it from now on!
Subtitle: When we opened a suspicious-looking door…
Subtitle: Ah, is this a practice room?
Subtitle: But it’s empty…?
Subtitle: Could Imperial idols maintain their skills even without practicing?
Subtitle: Let’s grab that passing employee and ask!
Production Staff: Excuse me, where did all the trainees and idols go?
???: Ah~ We don’t have any idols or trainees at Imperial!
Production Staff: Whaaat~?!
“Seriously.”
No fake startled reactions.
Absolutely no pretending you didn’t know when you obviously knew.
No <What in the World> tone.
???: We only manage the labels, and all the artists belong to our subsidiary labels~!
Production Staff: Ah!! So that’s what happened!!
Subtitle: Then let’s head to those labels!
She knew it was a friendly explanation for muggles, but….
(Translator’s Note: Muggle (머글) — Term originating from J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series, first introduced in Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone (1997, United Kingdom). Originally refers to non-magical people. In Korean fandom and internet culture, it evolved into slang meaning an ordinary person outside a specific fandom or hobby community.)
This is getting boring….
Just as that thought crossed her mind, the screen suddenly changed and showed a room with emotional interior design.
And sitting in the middle of it was a young man with a face anyone could tell was handsome, looking troubled.
Holy shit.
A perfect Imperial type. His visuals were completely insane.
Seriously, where do those Imperial bastards keep finding kids like this…?
Production Staff: Please introduce yourself.
[Dowon: Ah, should I look here while speaking?]
[Dowon: Hello, I’m Seo Dowon from Imperial. I’m twenty years old, and if you add up my trainee period, it’s about eight months… I think.]
Production Staff: You started fairly late for an idol trainee.
[Dowon: Yes…. My family strongly opposed it, so I couldn’t do it before.]
Production Staff: Then do you have their permission now?
[Dowon: Yes. I’m practically the head of the household now. Haha.]
Dowon gave an awkward laugh.
Sensing that there was something serious behind his story, Imduk pressed pause for a moment.
No. Get a grip.
This is not the time to switch lanes. Not now.
After taking a deep breath, Imduk pressed play again.
[Dowon: My father passed away last year. I thought I needed to take responsibility for my family’s livelihood quickly, so I started working part-time… and that was where I received a business card.]
Production Staff: Street casting?
[Dowon: Yes. It was from Imperial Entertainment’s casting manager. They’re like a benefactor to me.]
Production Staff: Do you have many family members to support?
[Dowon: My mother and… my younger sister. My sister is still only eight. Haha. She’s stuck to me like glue, but I haven’t seen her in a while…. I feel a little sorry about that.]
Production Staff: But isn’t becoming an idol an uncertain field where you don’t know whether you’ll be able to debut or not?
[Dowon: Honestly, that was why it was hard for me to challenge it lightly. But Imperial said they give trainees an allowance too… so I decided to try.]
Imperial’s welfare is insane. Imduk quietly praised Imperial.
So Imperial did have a normal label.
Production Staff: Compared to the other trainees, your trainee period is overwhelmingly short. You must have a lot of difficulties.
[Dowon: Since my skills are still so lacking… I feel very sorry about that. To the producers, and to the viewers too….]
[Dowon: But I’ll still work hard. Harder than anyone. I really mean it.]
After saying that, Dowon gave a refreshing smile that looked completely untouched by any stain.
Imduk felt her heart begin to tremble little by little.
Of course, that trembling did subside a little after she watched Dowon’s stage a while later.
And so, episode one ended.
It had only briefly shown a few trainees’ stories and several stages, but—
The reaction was explosive.
Title: These insane Impe bastards
-When they tore off all the labels, I thought they were closing up shop, but they’re still a kimchi stew master restaurant. Is this for real?
∟Yeah, just keep boiling kimchi stew like this, you insane bastardsㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠ
Title: Seo Dowon is seriously like a revolving door
∟Face appears: stan awakening
∟Story appears: fucking stan awakening
∟Stage: unstanning
∟#Visualswhilelisteningtothejudges’comments: fuuuuuuucking stan awakening
∟#Whentheproducersaskhimtodance once: fucking fucking unstanning......
∟Dowon-ssi..... please just do something about the singing somehow
└The producers seriously need to teach him singing even if they have to whip him into shapeㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
└└Wow, he was seriously so stiffㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
└└└They said he’s only trained for 8 months, cut him some slack, you bastardsㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠ
Title: Isn’t Kim Hyunseo insane?
└Wow, even standing still, he’s a tyrannosaurus-level face god who causes instant stan accidents
└Then I saw him dance and just got hit;
└Same;;;;;
└The moment I saw him dance, I thought he absolutely had to debutㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ As long as those insane Imperial bastards don’t actually go insane
Title: But who is Yeon Se-rang...??
└She came out calling herself a producer, but she’s totally unknownㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
└Does she even have the seniority to be there???
└Ah, they said she’s the Im-pye chairman’s granddaughter~
└She’s a golden-spoon influencer
└└They said she got a free pass because she’s Yeon Big-Head’s granddaughter, shut up
Title: Wasn’t Yeon Se-rang a fashion influencer...?
└I saw her sometimes on Perstagram, but back then she was just a golden-spoon celeb who dressed well;;
└And suddenly she’s a producer?
└I recognize her face too, but she’s someone I know in a weird way, so I’m confusedㅋㅋ
└(Basically “Hyung, why are you there...?” meme)
Title: This feels like that
└???: Which producer do you like?
└Me: Eden, Seungha, and Yeon Se-rangㅎㅎㅎ
└Pleaseㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠ
Title: No but seriously I’m worried about Seo Dowon
└He’s the stiffest one, but he went to the producer who knows the least
└What is he gonna do? He’s fucked
└But honestly, with his skills, he probably wouldn’t have been picked at all if it weren’t for Yeon Se-rang
└22222ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ Unintentionally win-win...
After reading up to that point, Se-rang turned off her phone.
“Mm, the response is very good.”
Wahahaha.
It came out exactly the way I wanted…!
Se-rang gave a sinister smile.
Because from the very beginning, she had asked PD Kim—
“Please convey the facts exactly as they are, but make sure I get hated a lot in episode one.”