God's Atlantis
The internet had gone completely insane over Pobitz's virginity verification.
It had started with Pobitz, but the real firestorm was aimed at every other idol in the industry.
No one in entertainment was unaware of the shift. Only the pure would survive. And survival meant securing fans.
Girl groups confident enough to try used unicorn horns to prove their chastity. Fans of the groups that passed strutted around with their heads held high. Fans of the ones that hadn't were chewing their nails down to the quick.
Three days. Even being generous, three days is the limit.
Fail to prove your virginity within three days and the fans would leave. No — leaving would be the best-case scenario. Plenty of them would flip straight into antis.
Couldn't get a unicorn horn? That excuse wouldn't fly for a second. Securing one wasn't hard. You just had to borrow one from an idol who'd already passed.
Actresses might get a pass, but for idols, virginity matters.
Idols were idols. They would step down from that pedestal someday, but while they stood on it, they had to stay clean. That was how fans could obsess in peace.
Your bias isn't a virgin? Instant whore status.
Practically speaking, retirement was the only option left.
In that sense, Pobitz were all virgins. A ship that would never sink. The clueless pig-fans would think exactly that.
That Pobitz you all obsess over? I fucked every last one of them. Yesterday, today, and I've got plans for tomorrow too~
I wanted to scream it at the fans.
The king has donkey ears!
Every last one of Pobitz's pussies belongs to me!
It would've been nice if Pink Love had crashed and burned…
But Pink Love had proven their purity live on air. Every one of them was a virgin. Their popularity only climbed higher.
Let's see. Pobitz's popularity…
As Pobitz's manager and producer, I could check their popularity score and ranking anytime.
★ Popularity:911,005
🏆 Ranking:17th
There's a site that tracks the popularity rankings for District 6700. Last time I checked, Pink Love was sitting at fourth…
2nd — Pink Love
They'd jumped to second.
The direct result of proving their virginity.
I let out a bitter smile. Somehow I'd ended up giving Pink Love a free boost.
Guess I'll just have to settle for the other girl groups crashing and burning.
No need to get impatient.
Pobitz had only debuted two days ago. There would be plenty of chances to overtake Pink Love.
And after we pass Pink Love…
Aphrodite
We had to surpass Aphrodite — the owner of Venus Entertainment, the beginning and the end of District 6700.
Aphrodite was a headache.
District 6700 worshipped her as something beyond a mere celebrity. Well, she actually was a goddess.
Basically brainwashed at this point.
Aphrodite was genuinely beautiful. But to my eyes, there wasn't much difference between Pobitz's visuals and hers.
It's the authority of Aphrodite, the goddess of beauty, warping everything.
One year.
Given that much time, Pobitz would comfortably overtake Aphrodite's popularity.
I was certain of it.
But we don't have that kind of time. Pobitz has about twenty days left. After that, Yuria and Miryeong get reverse-summoned.
We had to settle this within twenty days.
Killing Aphrodite outright would be the simplest solution… but it's impossible.
Aphrodite couldn't die inside District 6700. She was under the System's protection. If she could be killed, District 6700 would have been cleared ages ago.
…Aphrodite comes later. First, Pobitz has to leapfrog Pink Love.
— Dark Song King! —
A popular variety show where contestants hid their identities and competed purely on vocal talent.
Miryeong had snuck onto the program as a contestant.
"I can't believe it! The true identity of Dark Lynx is Miryeong from the newly debuted girl group Pobitz!"
"Miryeong, that was a truly sweet voice. Would you share a few words about winning?"
"I'm just happy I got to sing like this. I wanted to prove that idols can sing well too… do you think I managed it?"
"Haha. Who in this day and age still thinks idols can't sing? We don't look down on idols here."
— Entertainment King! —
Miryeong also appeared on a variety show where contestants competed through games.
"Miryeong takes the win! Congratulations!"
"Ugh… the back of my head hurts so much…"
"I never dreamed Miryeong was the spy… not even in my nightmares."
"I gave her all my coins… I think I'm gonna cry…"
The contestants clapped with gloomy faces. At the center of it all, Miryeong bounced around laughing brightly.
"Yes! Victory! This gold necklace is mine now! I can do whatever I want with it!"
Miryeong beamed.
— Street Karaoke —
A variety show that was exactly what it sounded like — singing on the street. More precisely, singing alongside random passersby.
"M-Miryeong! You're so, so beautiful in person! Way more than on TV!"
"Ahaha. Thank you. So, what song should we sing?"
"I-I'm not very good at singing…"
"That's okay. Whether you're good or bad doesn't matter. Just have fun with it!"
Variety show PDs preferred Miryeong among the Pobitz members.
It was thanks to her lively personality. Through her personal streams, she'd already proven she had better broadcast sense than the others and enough talent to blend into any variety format.
Miryeong was doing extremely well.
— Warrior Lord —
Warrior Lord was one of District 6700's most popular variety shows.
The premise: gather celebrities and put on a sports spectacle. Of course, every contestant's stats were equalized beforehand.
If you compared it to a Korean variety show, it'd be something like Starting Dream Team.
Warrior Lord was considerably more brutal. Not deadly, but a single mistake could snap an arm or a leg.
And yet Ju Seo-hyeon put on a performance so dominant it was absurd.
Even with identical stats to the other celebrities, the way she used her body was on another level. None of them could keep up.
Ju Seo-hyeon is a future Sword Emperor. Her athletic talent is top-tier even by Atlantis standards.
Her runs on Warrior Lord were perfect. So perfect that the celebrities appearing alongside her felt awe instead of jealousy.
"Ju Seo-hyeon, that was incredible! Have you always been this athletic?"
"…Yes. Well, I've never been told I was bad at sports, even as a kid."
"Showing off?!"
"No! I'm not showing off, I just…"
"Haha. Just kidding. And at your level, you're allowed to show off. We'd love to have you back on Warrior Lord next week to keep dominating… is that possible?"
"I'm not sure. I'd have to talk it over with the agency."
"Well now, the main PD's going to be sweating bullets."
After filming wrapped, Ju Seo-hyeon walked over to me. We headed for the car together, and I naturally held out my hand.
"What?"
"Hand it over. I saw that musclehead slip you a note earlier."
"…You were watching that?"
"I've been watching only you the entire shoot."
"……"
Ju Seo-hyeon scrunched her nose. A faint flush rose in her cheeks.
The other members know how to conduct themselves… but Ju Seo-hyeon makes me nervous. Take my eyes off her for a second and she might cause an incident.
And Warrior Lord was a considerably rougher program than most variety shows. Keeping a constant eye on her was necessary just to prevent accidents before they happened.
Ju Seo-hyeon handed me the note she'd gotten from the musclehead.
"Did you read it?"
"No. I was just going to throw it away. What's it say?"
"An invitation to dinner and a phone number. This bastard's hitting on someone else's woman. Should I kill him?"
I'd already decided to kill him.
Doing it right now would draw suspicion, so I'd wait for the right opportunity later.
Ju Seo-hyeon furrowed her brow as hard as she could.
"I'm not your woman."
"What are you talking about. You are my woman."
"How many times do I have to say it… someday, without fail, I'm going to kill you with my own hands."
"Sure, sure. And until then, you're my woman."
I stopped preparing to drive. Right now, it was just the two of us in the car — me and Ju Seo-hyeon. I climbed from the driver's seat into the back where she was sitting.
"…Aren't you going to drive?"
"We've got about an hour of free time. I was originally going to grab a meal, but… I can't. I need to properly remind you whose woman you are."
I closed the distance. Ju Seo-hyeon's body was still damp with sweat from racing across the set.
"Y-You're going to do that here? You pervert…"
"We've done outdoor sex plenty of times. Ah, is this the first car sex, though? That familiar scent of sweat."
"……"
Ju Seo-hyeon glared at me like she wanted me dead. My hands moved regardless, naturally peeling off her clothes.
I kneaded her full breasts, rubbed my cock against her pussy. Despite the murderous look in her eyes, her pink nipples hardened, and wetness began to trickle from between her legs. I savored the smooth, sweat-slick skin of her body as I pressed myself against her.
"Hah…"
Squelch. Squelch.
The parked car rocked gently.
— Secret Cooking Recipe —
A variety show where celebrity guests showed off their cooking skills.
From Pobitz, Yuria was the natural choice. The entire cast was left speechless by her cooking.
"Wow, Yuria's cooking skills… they're incredible. That knife work is… top-chef level."
"You can tell just from watching the process. That dish is going to taste extraordinary."
"A perfect chicken steak made from thigh meat."
The cast each took a sample bite.
"I've never tasted anything like this. Is this chicken or steak?"
"Sniff. It reminds me of my grandfather who passed away recently. He loved chicken so much…"
"Yuria, would you go into business with me? I'm not joking — I'm serious. We could make a fortune."
The cast each had their own reaction.
The MC was the first to recover and tried to get the show back on track.
"Alright, everyone, pull yourselves together. We're still filming. Yuria, please choose one person to serve your dish to. Only the chosen one gets to eat Yuria's chicken steak. Please choose me. Please."
"What happens if I don't choose anyone?"
"Then the person who cooked it eats it herself. I'll even lick the plate clean for you. So please choose me."
"I just need to pick one person here?"
"Yes. And that person should be me."
Yuria smiled quietly at the MC's shameless pitch. She picked up the plate and started walking — and passed the MC without a second glance.
"…Kh."
The MC collapsed on the spot. Hope lit up on the other cast members' faces, only to drown in sorrow a moment later. Yuria had brought the dish to me.
"Producer. Please eat this. I want you to be the one who eats this dish."
"Yuria… this is a bit awkward…"
I glanced at the main PD. He nodded as if to say it was fine. I put on a moved expression and accepted Yuria's plate.
"I'll dig in, Yuria."
I cut into the chicken steak and took a bite. It was so moving it nearly brought tears to my eyes.