A Blank Slate Regression for the Idol That Lost His Original Mindset - Chapter 137

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Regression Manual for an Idol Who Lost Their Original Intentions Chapter 137

 

 

 

 

 

Since it would be a bit awkward to ask Lee Jiwon directly when he was already swamped, I lightly prodded Kim Junbeom, who had wide connections and served as our information source, and sure enough, the story came pouring out.

 

“Hey hey, I was there at that time too. I got invited by G1 Hyung-nim, you know? I was there for that historic moment!”

 

“Wow, I’m jealous.”

 

I replied with a voice full of sincerity and refilled Kim Junbeom’s empty soju glass.

 

If I had known this would happen, I would have just thrown Seo Yehyeon or Kim Dobin into that damn and gone to the birthday party instead.

 

To think I traded the Combat King title & combat instructor hat for such incredibly entertaining and thrilling blockbuster content.

 

Perhaps moved by my enthusiastic responses, Kim Junbeom started his story, puffing up like he was telling some heroic tale.

 

“Before the party started, G1 Hyung-nim suddenly grabbed the microphone and said he knew everything, telling whoever brought marijuana to turn themselves in?”

 

Wow, could it be because of my warning? The introduction was so intriguing that my regret for making the wrong choice only deepened.

 

“So the atmosphere got ruined for the first time, but in the middle of the party, G1 Hyung-nim suddenly asked where Riburn was, found him smoking marijuana in a room, and threw a punch…!”

 

Kim Junbeom, who was swinging his fist in the air, got cursed out by Sangyeol Hyung next to him and quietly lowered his fist.

 

“And he called the police right there on the spot. Riburn was asking how he could do that, breaking bottles and kicking tables, screaming and cursing back and forth – man, it was absolute chaos, really.”

 

“Geez, from the reactions alone, you’d think he did LSD instead of marijuana.”

 

“Were Riburn and G1 Hyung-nim close? Both of them had reason to feel betrayed by each other. Though one side definitely crossed the line big time.”

 

I listened to the conversation between Sangyeol Hyung and Kim Junbeom while diligently grilling meat. At least today it was pork instead of beef, so I could protect my wallet.

 

“Thanks to that, the police came and everyone there got investigated. Ugh, I had to get a drug test too just for being there, so they pulled out my hair.”

 

Kim Junbeom tilted his glass and shook his head.

 

“Riburn smoking marijuana was already kind of an open secret going around. There were even rumors that he was a dealer.”

 

“Oh, that was already going around?”

 

“Everyone was keeping quiet about it. You know how much influence Riburn has in the hip hop scene.”

 

Sangyeol Hyung shrugged and answered for Kim Junbeom in response to my question.

 

I knew about it because I knew from before my regression that he got a prison sentence for marijuana, but I didn’t know it was already an open secret everyone was keeping quiet about.

 

‘And he said there were no people like that in his network.’

 

Actually, G1 probably had some idea too. That’s why he grabbed the microphone and gave a warning before the party started.

 

“Hey, but how can you smoke marijuana at a friend’s birthday party? That’s basically telling the host to get screwed. If he hadn’t reported it himself, G1 Hyung-nim would have been in quite a bit of trouble too.”

 

Knowing that before my regression, it was actually someone else who reported it and G1’s career as a producer almost collapsed, I nodded in agreement.

 

Even though I’d heard all the stories I wanted to hear, Kim Junbeom kept moving his mouth. It was his usual bragging about connections.

 

I wondered how he maintained his network acting like that, but then I remembered that I had called this guy to hear news too, so I understood.

 

When I glanced at Sangyeol Hyung, he nodded reliably and gave a thumbs up as if to say trust me, then cut off Kim Junbeom’s words.

 

“Damn, do you get thorns in your mouth if you don’t brag about your connections for even one day?”

 

“Yeah, I do! What are you gonna do about it!”

 

Sangyeol Hyung, nice!

 

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

Using song production as an excuse, it wasn’t difficult to set foot in Lee Jiwon’s studio. Of course, this was limited to a select few including myself.

 

The 40-inch monitor I sent as a birthday gift was prominently positioned in Lee Jiwon’s studio.

 

Of course, it cost well over 500,000 won, but I shamelessly pushed forward saying I bought it on discount, so Lee Jiwon couldn’t say anything to me either. What could he say when I spent 500,000 won?

 

“How was the military?”

 

“Come on, what kind of military service is 5 nights and 6 days?”

 

“What did you do there?”

 

“Combat training.”

 

As soon as he heard my answer, Lee Jiwon burst into laughter. Saying I was unlucky as hell while smacking my back was a bonus.

 

When I told him about winning Combat King, Lee Jiwon’s hand touched my back once more.

 

As I twisted my body from my stinging back, Lee Jiwon subtly removed his hand from my back.

 

“You did well not coming to my birthday party. I got a ton of hair pulled out for the drug test because of that bastard.”

 

Lee Jiwon grumbled while showing me the top of his head.

 

“How many strands did they pull?”

 

“I don’t know, maybe about 100 strands?”

 

At those words, I reflexively placed my hand on top of my head. Damn, wouldn’t 100 strands create a bald spot? Come to think of it, Lee Jiwon’s crown did seem a bit sparse…

 

Not going to Lee Jiwon’s birthday party was indeed the right choice. There’s no solution if your hair gets thin.

 

“Ah, this bastard. Look at him being relieved it’s not his hair.”

 

Lee Jiwon chuckled and lightly ruffled my hair. He sat me down next to him and started working on arrangements.

 

The work on the candidate title tracks for our third mini-album was almost finished. It wasn’t full collaboration, just the arrangement work entrusted to Lee Jiwon, but unlike last time with , I also participated in this arrangement process.

 

While the work was progressing to some extent, I casually brought up the topic.

 

“Hyung, didn’t you know about Senior Riburn? From what I heard, everyone kind of knew about it.”

 

Lee Jiwon, who had been staring intently at the monitor, took his hand off the mouse.

 

“I did hear about it… but I just let it slide until now. Ugh, this stupid bastard.”

 

Lee Jiwon looked up at the ceiling once, let out a self-deprecating laugh, took off his colored glasses, and roughly dry-washed his face.

 

“We were in the same crew. That crew failed though. But most of the guys there did well.”

 

The names flowing from Lee Jiwon’s mouth were names you couldn’t help but know if you were in this industry.

 

There were famous label heads and rappers rated as top-tier in the overground scene.

 

“Wait, how is it possible for a crew with this lineup to fail?”

 

Even the crew I briefly belonged to was a gathering of nobodies from the periphery, but it’s still running well without failing?

 

When I asked with my mouth agape, Lee Jiwon chuckled and replied.

 

“Why else would we say we’re the type who die when we stick together and live when we scatter?”

 

Lee Jiwon let out a short sigh while brushing back his hair, which looked particularly sparse after hearing about the 100 strands being pulled.

 

“Anyway, the Park Jongseok, Riburn that bastard I had seen was really passionate, shone incredibly on stage, and enjoyed the stage itself. So maybe I was unconsciously thinking he wouldn’t change…”

 

Everyone has their passionate period. But while some people continue to burn brightly, there are definitely those whose passion wanes.

 

Since I too had memories of that passion turning to ash, I couldn’t easily add any words. Of course, that doesn’t mean I’d do drugs like Riburn.

 

How healthy of a direction my decline was. I just lost the sparkle in my eyes and my fan signing event responses.

 

Isn’t that right, System?

 

 

 

[No]

 

 

 

Now it won’t even give me sentence-form answers, this damn system.

 

“I guess I was dwelling too much in memories.”

 

He smiled bitterly and lightly patted my back.

 

“Thanks for telling me in advance.”

 

All I told him in advance was just a warning that there’s a lot of drug use in clubs these days, but if he wants to think I prophesied and warned about something big with my own filter.

 

I lightly tossed and caught the USB containing the finished arrangement work in the air and called Yongcheol Hyung.

 

Isn’t the relationship between me and Yongcheol Hyung no different from the relationship between Riburn and G1?

 

“Hyung, this would never really happen, but if you ever hear that I’ve lost my mind and gotten into drugs, don’t just brush it off saying there’s no way I’d do that – you have to stop me even if you have to punch me! Got it?”

 

-Eden, have you been drinking in broad daylight?

 

Yongcheol Hyung’s confused voice came through the receiver.

 

“You can’t just remember me shining on stage and being passionate in the past. Got it?”

 

-Even if your attitude was shining, was there ever a time when you shone on stage during your underground days? You were just a guy who tagged along behind us doing three bars of verses.

 

My head spun from the barrage of harsh truths.

 

My underground days, which had been automatically romanticized in my head because my idol days were so difficult, were reviving in my mind without filters.

 

Right, that’s how it was… secondhand smoke was a daily occurrence…

 

When I didn’t respond because I was reminiscing, Yongcheol Hyung bluntly said.

 

-You shine much more now than you did back then, so stop day drinking and go home, wash your feet, and sleep.

 

I could hear him grumbling something while holding the receiver far away, probably embarrassed by his own words. I responded to Yongcheol Hyung with a moved voice.

 

“Hyung, I didn’t day drink.”

 

-Eden, are you having a really hard time…?

 

Geez, this hyung never fails to ruin the touching moment till the end!

 

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

A meeting regarding the 3rd mini album was held at the agency.

 

Until now, I used to get nervous wondering what kind of terrible song the CEO would bring this time, but since I knew what song he’d bring this time, I wasn’t particularly excited.

 

That’s because the composer who had been consistently providing songs to the CEO was the composer of .

 

It was a case of digging only one well and accidentally striking oil.

 

I played just the first verse of each of the three title track candidates in order, then passed the turn to the CEO.

 

I closed my eyes and rested my chin on my hand, thinking I’d enjoy listening to after a long time.

 

What entered my ears was an unfamiliar melody. An unfamiliar melody, an unfamiliar style. It wasn’t that composer’s work at all.

 

Rather than wondering why he brought a decent song for once, I was more curious about the composer who created this song.

 

No matter how drastically someone changes their production style, they couldn’t transform to seem like a completely different person like this.

 

“CEO, did you outsource this to a different composer instead of the person you’ve been getting songs from?”

 

When I opened my eyes and asked, the CEO nodded with a surprised expression. Then he started lamenting to us.

 

“Well, that guy says he can’t give me a song because he’s working with someone else this time. After everything I’ve done for him until now. Goodness. Making such a complete turnaround like this. No business ethics. No business ethics.”

 

There were two possibilities.

 

Either didn’t exist in this cycle.

 

Or someone had stolen .

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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