God's Atlantis
The waiting room door swung open, and Pink Love swept inside with confident energy.
Seven women. As the current top idol girl group of District 6700, every one of them was stunning. Of course, none of them quite matched the overwhelming beauty of the Pobitz members.
Despite the name “Pink Love,” their outfits weren’t pink at all. Black and white combinations, sleek and chic—completely at odds with the soft image the name suggested.
“Hello! We’re Pink Love!”
The girls who entered greeted us with bright, lively energy. Their timing was perfect, the kind of seamless harmony that only comes from countless greetings practiced together. Receiving that greeting left me feeling a little pleased.
“We’re Pobitz!”
“…Pobitz.”
“…We’re called Pobitz.”
“…….”
Our Pobitz members, on the other hand, were pure individuality. Mi-ryeong at least managed a lively tone, but Elena didn’t even open her mouth, just staring at Pink Love with a thoroughly unimpressed expression.
I walked over toward Pink Love. More precisely, toward their center—the confident woman with long black hair and a striking cat-like face. She was Yeon Yuri, the leader of Pink Love.
“What brings Pink Love to visit us?”
“Nothing grand. We’re fans of Pobitz, you see. We just wanted to say hello. But… it seems Pobitz isn’t exactly happy to see us.”
“Their debut stage is right around the corner. They’re just stiff from the nerves.”
“Ahaha… Right. Debut day is always nerve-wracking. We couldn’t even eat properly that day. Still, we went around the entire broadcasting station waiting rooms greeting our seniors.”
There was a subtle barb in Yeon Yuri’s words. It felt like she was scolding the rookies of Pobitz for not greeting their seniors. Of course, I casually ignored her point and turned to my members.
“Anyone have questions for the seniors from Pink Love?”
“…….”
Every member kept their mouth shut. Their reactions made it clear they barely even knew who Pink Love was. Which was only natural. None of them had become idols because they actually wanted to be idols.
“…….”
The smile on Yeon Yuri’s face cracked. The atmosphere around Pink Love turned chilly in an instant. They had come looking for the respect due seniors from Pobitz… but our girls had no idea how to give it, and now they’d clearly rubbed Pink Love the wrong way.
In the awkward silence, I stepped forward.
“Pobitz is about to debut… As seniors who debuted first and are already active, could you give us just one piece of advice?”
Yeon Yuri composed her expression. She put her smile back on and answered my question.
“Advice? I don’t think you really need any… Just do it the way you practiced. You’ve practiced thousands of times for this day, right? Hmm, if I had to give advice, it would be to greet people a lot? It doesn’t sound like much, but… it actually helps a surprising amount in the entertainment industry.”
Practiced thousands of times, huh…
I thought about Pobitz’s practice volume. Not thousands—not even hundreds. There hadn’t been time. At best, maybe eighty times?
Compared to other girl groups, the practice amount was ridiculously low and should have been worrying, yet I felt zero anxiety.
They’re not ordinary women. Last practice was perfect, so the stage will be perfect too.
And greetings? I had no intention of wasting time on pointless things.
Knock knock knock.
Someone rapped on the door.
“This is Chocolaz. We’ve come to greet Pobitz. Is it all right?”
David’s voice. I nodded to Samara. She opened the door.
Women in elegant dresses poured in. Also seven, just like Pink Love, they didn’t spare Pink Love so much as a glance. Instead they turned toward Pobitz sitting on the sofa and bowed at a perfect ninety degrees. The difference from Pink Love’s half-hearted head dips was night and day.
“Hello, we’re Chocolaz! It’s an honor to meet Pobitz!”
For reference, Chocolaz was a three-year idol group.
I looked at David standing behind them. David, the manager from Naar Entertainment, bowed to me at a perfect right angle.
“David. Congratulations on Pobitz’s debut.”
“Ah, Manager David. You don’t have to go this far.”
“No. I wanted to greet Producer Seong and Pobitz. I never expected Pink Love would already be here, though…”
“Mm. Rehearsal’s starting soon. We’ve received the greeting, so head out. It’s getting crowded.”
“Yes. I’ve already spoken properly with the Music Kingdom PD and staff.”
“Oh, really? Good work.”
David led Chocolaz out, maintaining perfect courtesy to the very end. The faces of the departing Chocolaz members were stiff as boards. Whatever David had said to them, the eyes they turned on me and Pobitz were full of fear.
Pink Love watched the whole scene with blank, stunned expressions.
“Chocolaz seniors greeting like that… This can’t be real…”
Yeon Yuri especially looked like she thought she was dreaming; she even pinched the back of her own hand.
Just as I was feeling puzzled by Pink Love’s reaction, Samara quietly stepped up beside me.
“The bad blood between Pink Love and Chocolaz is pretty famous. Outsiders don’t know, but… when Pink Love debuted, they didn’t greet properly and ended up fighting with Chocolaz.”
“Verbal fight, I assume.”
“No. Physical. They grabbed each other by the hair. It was no joke.”
I imagined that day and let out a quiet snicker.
Pink Love left the waiting room looking thoroughly shocked.
“Pobitz! Pobitz! Pobitz!”
The fans packing the seats below the stage roared the name.
Managing and supervising Pobitz’s fans was Samara’s job. From backstage I watched her struggling to calm the excited crowd.
Thankfully the gender ratio of the fans is about half and half. No—maybe a few more women?
The worst case would have been only male fans swarming them… but luckily that hadn’t happened.
Pobitz’s visuals are good enough to draw women’s interest too. Honestly, even if I were a woman I’d have to admit how gorgeous they are.
I pulled out my phone and checked online opinion as well.
With Lilith properly pushing them, internet articles were plastered with news of Pobitz’s debut. The word “Pobitz debut” even sat at number one on the real-time search rankings.
Even so, number one on real-time search before the debut stage has even started…?
It reeked of manipulation.
Well, not a bad thing.
Time kept flowing toward the music show’s start at 5 p.m. An assistant director shouted toward me.
“Pobitz! Please take the stage! Two minutes until broadcast!”
I gestured for the members to head up. Pobitz moved toward the stage. With debut right in front of them, tension filled every face. Even Yuria’s expression had hardened, whether she realized it or not.
“Waaaaaaaah! Pobitz!!”
The fans cheered. That roar lasted quite a while.
“Broadcast starting!!”
With the assistant director’s shout, music began pouring from the huge speakers. The instrumental of Pobitz’s debut track, “Date.”
Finally beginning.
They started dancing on stage. Even wearing those ridiculously tacky stage outfits, their beauty didn’t waver for a second. Four fairies were dominating the stage.
I couldn’t take my eyes off them.
Their voices and movements pulled me in deeper and deeper.
“Waaaaaaaaaaaaah!”
The fans’ screams snapped me back to reality.
They came down from the stage. Of course there was no sign of fatigue. Not a single drop of sweat. Yet their faces were more flushed than usual.
I asked Elena, the first one off the stage.
“How do you feel?”
“Not bad.”
Elena answered. The slight flush on her face turned cold and stern again.
I watched the rest of the music show with Pobitz in the waiting room. The final stage of the show belonged to the current number one, Pink Love. Apparently they were on a three-week streak at the top.
We have to surpass Pink Love next week. If we don’t overtake them next week, I’ll drop this whole conquest plan.
Ultra-special rookies, Pobitz.
The girl group that had been the talk of the town even before debut had finally debuted.
Every citizen living in District 6700 watched Pobitz’s debut stage live on the music show. Music Kingdom’s average viewership usually hovered around 50 percent, but for Pobitz’s debut stage alone it soared to 65 percent.
Along with the debut stage, the music video was released online as well.
The view count on the released music video began climbing steeply. It hit 100,000 in under ten minutes, and by the time the music show ended the views had already reached a full 500,000.
Lilith, checking the view count in real time, let out a happy scream.
“Kyaaaaaah! Jackpot! It’s a jackpot!”
Her fingers kept clicking the mouse, checking online opinion nonstop.
The articles she had paid for poured out favorable coverage of Pobitz, and the fan café she had prepared in advance was filling with new members like bamboo after rain.
500,000 views in one hour after MV release! At this rate it’ll hit a million within three hours, right?!
One million views.
In District 6700, with a population of ten million, that was no light number.
Pobitz has no choice but to rise!
She reconfirmed a fact she already believed with absolute certainty.
Bzzzzzzz.
The smartphone she had left beside her laptop vibrated. Checking the caller, Lilith smiled and picked it up.
“Oh my, Bureau Chief. Music Kingdom’s viewership went up to 65 percent? That’s huge. Ah, of course I know. Just this level of impact alone isn’t enough to take over the entertainment industry.”
Pobitz’s presence had been firmly announced to District 6700.
Next came appealing the individual charms of the Pobitz members to the public.
“Program proposals, right? Don’t worry. Pobitz will actively appear on programs. Appearance fees? I’ll take a reasonable amount. Conscientiously.”
Pushing broadcast programs onto Pobitz.
If they appeared on TV often, the public would have no choice but to see them whether they liked it or not. Capturing the public was Pobitz’s job, but considering the members’ personalities and charms, it wouldn’t be difficult.
Lilith recalled Seong Yujin’s words.
That claim about seizing control of District 6700 within a month…. At first I thought it was impossible, but…
Lilith’s gaze turned to her laptop monitor. The Pobitz members inside the music video were dazzlingly beautiful.
It might actually be possible.