Chapter 10
Chapter 10
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 10
Chapter Title: First Day, First Enemies
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“Do you want to learn to be a stylist?”
“Pardon?”
Chae-ron’s eyes widened at Director Lee Sun’s offer.
It was surprising enough that she knew about her family situation, but to even arrange a job for her was something else entirely.
“A stylist unni I know runs a boutique. You can live and work there, learn the trade.”
“Really?”
“Yes. She’ll treat you a little better than a regular junior assistant. Still won’t pay much, though.”
“…”
“It’s tough when you’re starting out, but once you become a full staff member and then a real stylist, the pay is pretty good. Even if that doesn’t work out, if you get good at sourcing from suppliers, you can make money selling clothes.”
A light bloomed on Chae-ron’s face, as if she’d found a ray of hope in the darkness.
“I really could… open my own clothing store.”
“Of course. Why else do you think people fight for these jobs despite the low pay?”
Director Lee Sun said with a wry smile.
“Thank you so much. I will never forget your kindness, Isa-nim.”
“It’s a boutique, so you’ll have to sell clothes too, but I think it will all be a good experience for you.”
“Yes! I’m sure it will be.”
In just a few minutes, Chae-ron’s face had transformed from despair to hope.
*Flash.*
A faint light, similar to the one Lee Yoo-ah had emitted, began to emanate from Chae-ron. At the same time, a vision related to her seemed about to appear in my ‘Third Eye,’ but it vanished with a burst of static.
Damn, just when it was getting interesting.
[Achievement Unlocked: ‘A Good Influence’]
Your meddling has saved another life.
Reward: 3 Stat Points
The notification window popped up for the first time in a while.
I was starting to miss it when it didn’t appear. The more stats I accumulated, the more I wanted to meet the kids I was meant to train.
“I was worried I was overstepping, but I’m glad you like the idea.”
Director Lee Sun said, her expression softening.
“But what did you see in me to…?”
“Our jack-of-all-trades recommended you.”
“He did?”
“Just kidding. He’s a new manager. Min-jun.”
“Ah…”
Chae-ron turned to me and bowed deeply.
“Thank you so much!”
“I’m being serious when I say this, but you’re going to be a success, Chae-ron-ssi. I have an eye for these things.”
I said it earnestly, but they both took it as a joke. I ended up laughing along with them.
“This is all great, but you’ll need to brace yourself, Chae-ron.”
“I can do it! I survived life as a yeonseupsaeng!”
“I’m not talking about the workload.”
“?”
A look of curiosity suddenly appeared in Chae-ron’s eyes.
“From now on, you’ll often come face-to-face with the artists you trained with. You know what I mean, right?”
“Ah…”
Chae-ron and I both let out a small gasp at the same time.
The director was far more thoughtful than I had realized. She was already worried about Chae-ron’s future, where she would have to cater to the needs of her former juniors and colleagues who had become artists.
A sense of respect for the director washed over me.
Chae-ron seemed to tense up for a moment as she pictured her future, but her expression soon relaxed.
“I’ll become so successful they’ll call me ‘ma’am’! Especially after you’ve helped me so much, Isa-nim. And Manager Min-jun looked out for me, too.”
“Good. I’ll let her know you’re coming, so try to call and visit her today if you can. I know you probably want to rest for a few days, but I have to consider my position, having asked the favor.”
“Yes! I’ll call her right after breakfast.”
With a bright expression, Chae-ron bowed again and left the office.
“Chae-ron.”
“Yes?”
“Fighting!”
Chae-ron beamed at Director Lee Sun’s encouragement.
“Yes, yes! Fighting!”
After her energetic shout, Chae-ron’s figure disappeared completely. Director Lee Sun wore a satisfied expression.
“I’ll trust our new guy’s eye, then.”
“You can be sure of it.”
The light that had come from Chae-ron convinced me of her future success. I could vividly picture her as a renowned stylist.
Could the vision that flickered and disappeared have been an image of her success?
Just what were the limits of my system’s abilities?
As I was lost in thought, a few employees who had just arrived for work greeted the director.
“This is Min-jun. He’s starting today. Say hello.”
“Hello, I’m Min-jun.”
The employees’ eyes widened as they quickly looked me up and down.
“Hi… But, aren’t you a yeonseupsaeng? Your visuals are center-level…”
“Thank you for the compliment.”
“He used to be a yeonseupsaeng.”
Director Lee Sun said with a cryptic smile.
“That explains it.”
The employees looked pleased.
*Bzzzt. Bzzzt.*
“This is Lee Sun… What? Why…? Okay. Take good care of the kids.”
After the short call, the director turned back to me.
“The team leader who’s supposed to train you is running late.”
She led me to a table and handed me a stack of files and documents.
“Fill out your employment contract first. And you’ll need to know the public profiles of our artists, right?”
“Understood.”
I carefully reviewed the employment contract for any hidden clauses before signing. It wasn’t that I didn’t trust Director Lee Sun or the company, but I’d been burned badly in my first life.
I opened the heavy, faux-leather binder. In this digital age, there was a strange feeling to seeing a physical file instead of images on a screen.
Was it to prevent leaks?
It didn’t seem like it. It almost looked like it was made for outsiders to see.
The first thing I saw upon opening the file was the face of CEO Park Jae-yong. The kind yet confident man in the photo overlapped with the image of him begging the director in the studio just a little while ago.
The secondhand embarrassment was all mine.
The file detailed the current activities of each artist.
They update all this manually? How tedious.
I was particularly struck by the fact that even the end dates for their regular appearances on shows were marked down.
Photos of artists I’d never seen before.
‘Stats.’
I had a sliver of hope, but just looking at the photos revealed nothing. One girl group, one boy group, and two male soloists.
It wasn’t a small number for a company of this size.
But they look familiar, too.
A four-member girl group named Answer seemed especially familiar, as if I had seen them just a few days ago.
As I looked through each album, I discovered something startling.
The CEO did all this by himself?
With the exception of a few songs by the male singer-songwriters, the lyrics, composition, and arrangement for most of the tracks were credited to CEO Park Jae-yong.
“…”
It was worse than I’d thought.
I listened to the songs on my phone. The tracks themselves were decent, but when I paired them with the artists’ images…
It was a total mismatch.
Well, a company with so many visible flaws also meant it had that much room for improvement…
***
I was practically memorizing the files and looking up the company’s artists online. They looked familiar, but I couldn’t place them.
“I’m back.”
“Good. Is it all cleaned up?”
“Who do you think I am? Handled it nice and clean.”
A familiar burly figure and a young girl entered the office.
“!?”
*Grind.*
My teeth clenched, and my heart instantly began to pound. It was one of Gyeon Sang-jin’s lackeys who had driven me to my death. What the hell was he doing here…?
And the girl next to him was the very person I’d been struggling to remember while looking through the files. One thing was certain: she was the girl who would later debut with SJ Enter. A brat who was constantly embroiled in controversy but was always shielded by the company’s full support, making life miserable for many.
I instinctively felt that the downfall of the future JD Enter was because of these two.
“He’s the new recruit.”
“What?”
At the director’s introduction, the man looked me up and down. I managed a slight nod but couldn’t bring myself to offer a greeting. Scum like him needed to be dealt with quickly.
I might have been naive in my first life, but in this second one, I wouldn’t hesitate. No matter what it took.
“He looks like a little girl… You think he can handle being a road manager?”
He had no qualms saying that right in front of me. What a garbage personality.
My temper flared, and my mouth opened.
“I still think I could knock someone like you around, though.”
“Oh? Think you’re tough, do you?”
The director gave me a strange look, probably because my attitude toward Team Leader Park was so different from how I’d treated her.
“…His name is Min-jun, and he’s a three-month intern. Feel free to use him as you see fit.”
“Then I’ll take him on the kids’ morning run. Hey! Follow me.”
He could have at least called me by my name, or even ‘the new guy’ or ‘the intern,’ but he chose ‘hey.’ Some personality.
A moment later, the three of us were crammed into a small elevator.
“The new oppa is super handsome.”
The girl tried to strike up a conversation with me.
“And you are?”
“Me? Why? Are you interested?”
Her words were laced with an arrogance that went beyond playful teasing. I was about to scoff in disbelief when Mi-ji spoke up.
“Mi-ji. Remember it.”
Mi-ji, who would later debut with SJ Enter, said with a face full of conceit.
“Mi-ji?”
Now I remembered clearly. The thoughtless brat who would stir up trouble at JD Enter with malicious interviews before debuting with SJ Enter.
Was it because I knew she wasn’t one of my people?
Even though she was showing interest in me with a beauty that would make others swoon, I felt nothing at all.
“…Huh? What’s this?”
Getting no reaction from me, Mi-ji turned her head away, looking offended. She probably thought she was being ignored by a mere rookie road manager.
We arrived at the parking garage.
*Beep-beep.*
The headlights of a high-roof Carnival limousine flashed as it unlocked. I quickly moved ahead of them and went to the driver’s side.
“Got some sense, at least.”
Even when Team Leader Park said something like that, he had a way of making it sound irritating.
Better to be proactive.
I’d rather not take orders from you.
But as I sat in the driver’s seat, I started to worry. The car was similar to others I’d driven, yet subtly different.
Which one is the parking brake?
A cold sweat broke out on my brow.
*Ting.*
[Spend 10 PT to acquire the trait ‘Best Driver (C)’.]
[Activate the trait ‘Best Driver (C)’?]
[Yes / No]
This was possible, too?
Best Driver… so it literally improves my driving skills? And the ‘C’ at the end must be some kind of rank.
I love you, System.
I spent 10 points to unlock the ‘Best Driver’ trait. Instantly, a translucent HUD appeared in my ‘Third Eye,’ drawing the route I needed to take with arrows.
‘This is amazing.’
I had less than 20 points left, but there were still plenty of points to be earned through achievements.
“Just follow the GPS.”
“Okay.”
“…This bastard barely talks.”
Team Leader Park propped his feet up on the dashboard. I had the sudden urge to rip off his wiggling toes.
I drove toward the destination on the GPS—or rather, the one indicated by my ‘Third Eye.’ The heavy feel of the brake was definitely different from a sedan, but I handled the vehicle with a familiarity as if I had been driving it for years.
“You’re a decent driver. Did you work as a manager somewhere else before?”
“No.”
“…This kid is really a man of few words. I guess that suits a road manager.”
Just stop talking to me, you bastard.
Rush hour wasn’t over yet, so the roads were still congested. But I managed to shorten our travel time with almost supernatural driving skills, all without inconveniencing others. The 10 points I invested in the ‘Best Driver’ trait were well worth it.
The car headed deeper into Cheongdam-dong.
Our destination was the salon.
Despite the parking lot only having space for five cars, there was an attendant. Following his hand signals, I parked the car in a spot.
“They should be done by now, so go get the kids and bring them out.”
“Answer, right?”
Answer was a seven-member girl group chosen through CEO Park Jae-yong’s public audition program. But for some reason, members started leaving one by one before they could even debut. In the end, they debuted as a four-member group with Seol-ah, Mi-ji, Seul-bi, and Yi-na, but the results were dismal.
“Yeah. Tell them to hurry.”
How could he be so indifferent to the artists he was in charge of? Was Team Leader Park already working for Gyeon Sang-jin?
Gyeon Sang-jin and Park Jae-yong had been fierce rivals since they were young. They were on a similar level in terms of vocal skills, producing, dancing, and looks, and their animosity was public knowledge.
For years, whenever Park Jae-yong released something, Gyeon Sang-jin would put out a similar copycat product shortly after.
To be precise, it wasn’t so much a rivalry as a twisted relationship born from Gyeon Sang-jin’s own inferiority complex, which made him a replica-making machine.
Whatever the reason, Gyeon Sang-jin, who wouldn’t shy away from evil deeds to win, eventually gained the upper hand. Team Leader Park was clearly part of Gyeon Sang-jin’s setup to completely crush CEO Park Jae-yong.
‘Not while I’m watching.’
I’m going to snatch away every one of your shady businesses. No, even if I can’t take them, I’m confident I can make them fail.
I ground my teeth at the thought of the sweet victory to come.