Chapter 9
Chapter 9
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 9
Chapter Title: Episode 3. Happiness Level (2)
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Kang Han-do quickened his steps toward the café where he had agreed to meet Choi Ye-hee.
He paused briefly at the crosswalk where the light was red. While waiting for it to turn green, he closely examined the flyer posted on the streetlamp nearby.
“This is…”
It was a flyer announcing open auditions for rookie singers.
The moment he saw the company name, Kang Han-do’s brow furrowed instinctively.
“VQ Entertainment…”
A bad feeling washed over him. He peeled off the flyer and stuffed it into his pants pocket.
Just in case, he decided to keep it.
“But more importantly, time…”
Their appointment was at 5 p.m.
Since Choi Ye-hee was attending a nearby university, the meeting time had been set for when her classes ended.
Cutting through the university campus would be faster than skirting around the outer walls.
“Let’s hurry as much as possible!”
He put strength into his legs and sped up his pace.
As he passed by, happiness levels popped up wildly above people’s heads.
They weren’t visible 24/7. Conveniently, the Viewer function that displayed these happiness levels could be toggled on and off.
When deactivated, the numbers vanished.
When activated, they appeared above people, animals, and plants alike.
Having weird numbers floating over everyone’s heads all the time was visually distracting. So Kang Han-do frequently toggled the function on and off.
The activation condition was simple.
Just visualize in his mind whether he wanted to see the happiness levels or not, and it would switch on or off automatically.
Right now, there was no need to check passersby, so he switched to deactivate mode.
He then cut across the university campus.
Along the way, he spotted a memo stuck to a bulletin board.
“Recruiting study group aiming for BLT 16th Public Recruitment Comedian acceptance!”
“Is this… posted by the broadcasting and entertainment department here?”
This was one of the perks of university life.
Young people with the same dreams could gather in the same department, share goals with like-minded students, and exchange all sorts of information.
Professors often played a key role as guides.
In short, students in broadcasting and entertainment departments had mentors, making it relatively straightforward to prepare for comedian exams or other public broadcasting recruitment tests.
But for non-majors like Kang Han-do and Oh Min-tae, the situation was different.
They had to prepare individually on their own. That made it all the harder.
However.
‘Don’t get too complacent with a stable life. You never know when those rock-bottom nobodies will stab you in the back.’
He was determined to pass this public recruitment exam no matter what!
He reaffirmed his resolve.
* * *
Thanks to his hurried steps, Kang Han-do arrived at the meeting spot right on time.
“Over here.”
Choi Ye-hee, who had arrived first and was waiting inside the café, raised her hand to signal her location.
Kang Han-do swiftly took the seat across from her.
At the same time, he wiped the sweat from his forehead with the back of his hand.
“Sorry. I should have come earlier…”
“No, it’s fine. But something seems to be sticking out of your pocket. What’s that?”
“This?”
He slowly pulled out whatever was peeking from his pants pocket.
It was the exact flyer from the streetlamp pole before he’d arrived.
“It’s a flyer from VQ Entertainment announcing rookie singer recruitment.”
“Oh, I have one too.”
“…What?”
Another VQ flyer appeared in front of Kang Han-do.
“I haven’t told my parents yet, but I’m thinking of auditioning there.”
“…”
Kang Han-do shook his head slowly, at a loss for words.
He had to stop Choi Ye-hee from auditioning at VQ Entertainment somehow.
Because.
The shady company that tormented her in the future was none other than VQ Entertainment.
* * *
Choi Ye-hee had ended up in a lawsuit with her agency over contract issues.
Because of the conflict, she wasted her most crucial years as a singer—her twenties in her prime.
The fault lay entirely with her agency at the time, VQ Entertainment.
But because of it, Choi Ye-hee frequently became the subject of negative public gossip and had to endure immense mental stress in her daily life.
‘VQ Entertainment. I have to stop Ye-hee from going there no matter what!’
If she applied and became a singer under VQ Entertainment now, she’d get dragged into another lawsuit dispute later.
It would be a vicious cycle all over again.
But now, Kang Han-do had the power to change the predetermined future.
“Ye-hee!”
He called her name with as much emphasis as he could muster.
But instead, she turned the question back on him.
“How did you know my name when we first met at the PC bang, Han-do?”
“…”
“I’ve been wondering about that. I wasn’t wearing a name tag or anything, and there was nothing at the PC bang that would reveal my name to outsiders. But you got it exactly right on the first try. And you even knew my dream had to do with music.”
Unless you knew Choi Ye-hee well, those were things no one would normally know. For Kang Han-do, who was meeting her for the first time, to nail it immediately—it must have been surprising and amazing.
“…”
Kang Han-do fell silent.
Even he had to admit it was suspicious when he thought about it.
They weren’t in the same department, and he had no connection to her.
Yet he acted like he knew everything about Ye-hee.
He pondered what excuse to make.
At that moment.
“I have… a divine skill.”
“A divine skill???”
“Yes.”
“…”
The response was far removed from anything scientific.
Choi Ye-hee’s face went blank.
But Kang Han-do thought that if he played up this ‘divine skill’ setup right, he could talk her out of applying to VQ Entertainment.
“You mean… like something hard to explain scientifically? A supernatural phenomenon?”
“Yes, exactly.”
But with the divine skill claim, trust was draining from Choi Ye-hee’s eyes.
It was like some stranger on the street approaching her with, “Do you know the way to enlightenment?”
He had to convince her he was different from those types. He needed to win her over.
Just then, the large wall-mounted TV inside the café began airing a special on a famous celebrity’s marijuana scandal.
Seizing the moment, Han-do pointed at the TV with his finger.
“Do you know the truth behind that incident?”
“No, I don’t.”
The TV showed authorities raiding and searching locations tied to celebrities involved in the marijuana case.
Having always been interested in entering the industry, Kang Han-do remembered the incident clearly.
“Hold on a sec.”
He went to the counter, borrowed some paper and a pen, and jotted something down.
Soon, he listed exactly six celebrities’ real names and showed them to Choi Ye-hee.
“What’s this?”
“The list of celebrities involved in the marijuana case. In three days, these exact names will be on the news, all in handcuffs heading to the prosecutor’s office.”
“Is this… for real?!”
Choi Ye-hee’s eyes widened.
A few were major stars whose names anyone would recognize.
She wondered if Han-do was scamming her, but like it or not, the truth would come out in three days.
“If it’s hard to believe, I’ll give you one more to verify.”
He gripped the pen again, and his hand moved busily.
Finally, he showed her the name of a certain movie actor.
“This actor will suddenly announce tomorrow evening that he has a secret girlfriend and that they’re getting married.”
“What?!”
Choi Ye-hee let out a sharp yelp.
The café staff and other customers all shot her looks.
“S-sorry.”
She apologized profusely, but then stared intently at the famous actor’s name Han-do had written.
This actor had been her favorite since she was young, so the shock hit even harder.
“By the way, this is your favorite actor, right, Miss Ye-hee?”
“H-how did you…!”
“I told you earlier. I possess a divine skill.”
“…”
Of course, whether these claims were true or false remained to be seen.
But one was supposedly tomorrow, the other in three days… The truth of Han-do’s words would reveal itself soon enough.
Meanwhile.
‘Looks like all that pointless monitoring of the entertainment industry for 22 years is paying off.’
Kang Han-do had never reached the top in his 15 years in the industry, but no one knew more about its groundwork and info than he did. He’d done it as a hobby or out of curiosity.
That habit was proving hugely helpful now that he’d returned to the past.
“If this turns out true… I’ll see you in a new light, Han-do.”
“Haha, no need. I’m just a comedian hopeful scraping by with a convenience store part-time gig.”
“So your dream is to be a comedian?”
“For now, yeah.”
“I heard the BLT public recruitment exam is coming up soon. Planning to take that?”
“Probably.”
“Wow, I’m jealous. Living while chasing your passion seems so amazing.”
But Choi Ye-hee’s expression quickly turned glum.
Her dream wasn’t one that got support.
But that was only because she hadn’t shared it with the people she cared about.
“Don’t you think it’d be good to muster some courage and talk seriously with your parents or friends, Ye-hee?”
“…Do you think they’d support my dream?”
“Even if they don’t, I’ll support it as much as I can, so don’t worry too much.”
Kang Han-do gave her encouragement.
Was this what it felt like to have someone cheering her on?
“Thank you.”
Choi Ye-hee expressed her gratitude to Kang Han-do.
* * *
The day of the BLT 16th public recruitment exam.
After passing the first round document screening, the morning of the long-awaited second round open audition dawned.
Finally facing the decisive day, Kang Han-do and Oh Min-tae met in front of the lobby entrance to the BLT broadcasting station building.
“Did you sleep well?”
Kang Han-do checked Oh Min-tae’s condition just in case. Oh Min-tae patted his shoulder lightly, signaling not to worry.
“Sir Oh Min-tae’s condition is at MAX today. Worry about yourself, not others.”
“Reliable as ever.”
Having a solid friend as a teammate naturally bolstered Kang Han-do’s resolve.
“Alright, let’s go!”
“Okay!!”
The two 23-year-old youths’ challenge for the comedian public recruitment exam had finally begun!
Kang Han-do stepped forward with vigorous strides, harboring his wish to become the greatest star today.