Became The Leader of a Girl Group Destined To Fail - Chapter 166

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

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Chapter 166.

“There’s one more thing I’d like to suggest.”

After wrapping up our discussion about Moment.
Han Jae-i looked at me and asked.

“I have a PD I’m close with at WBN.”

WBN.
A comprehensive general entertainment channel.
Among the general entertainment broadcasters, it was the only one with a similar feel to MEN.
It was a place any idol fan would know.
Because they produced many idol-focused entertainment programs.
However, this one was….

“Isn’t that affiliated with All Season?”

It was also a broadcasting station under All Season, the entertainment company that served as its parent body.
All Season was called one of the Big Three entertainment companies alongside Colors and Moment.

“That’s right.”
“Why are you bringing them up all of a sudden?”
“They’ve made a proposal. They want to do a music entertainment program by gathering idol groups.”
“A music entertainment program?”
“Remember when you appeared on Shin Hyung-yun’s Live Cafe? The response was great. They want to break prejudices by properly showcasing idols’ real abilities that way.”
“So you’re saying we’d have to prepare another special stage?”
“That’s right.”
“I refuse.”

I’m swamped preparing the next album.
And now they want me to prepare a special stage out of nowhere.
Absolutely not. Absolutely not.

“At least hear them out.”
“I collapsed from illness not long ago. And you’re asking someone like me to prepare a special stage? Do you have a conscience, senior?”

That Han Jae-i.
I knew she was cunning and vicious, but I never expected it to be this bad.
How can idols from the same industry have such little professional ethics?

“Is there anyone in this industry who hasn’t collapsed from exhaustion? Both I and Dan-ha live with IV drips whenever we’re active.”
“Why are you even saying that?”
“Shut it, seriously. Don’t manage your image even here.”

There’s not a single idol who hasn’t suffered from illness.
She hit a nerve, but that doesn’t make it right.

“If it were just her going alone, I wouldn’t mind, but you’re saying the group would participate as a unit. Are you asking us to collapse too?”
“It won’t be that grueling. It’s only a six-episode short program anyway.”
“Then we’d need to prepare at least three stages.”
“No.”

Han Jae-i shook her head.

“StillBlue only appears in exactly two episodes. The rest will feature senior groups.”
“…So how many stages do we need to prepare?”
“Two. One is a cover of the rival group’s song. The other is a collaborative stage. Each position from every group performs together. We’ll minimize the recording.”

That actually seems doable.
….
I shouldn’t waver.

“Hmm.”
“It’s manageable. That much is. You know from experience, right?”

I know from experience.
Just how brutally exhausting it really is.

“Why are you pushing this so hard? What does our participation in that program have to do with you seniors?”
“We’re participating too.”

Oh no.
I stared at Han Jae-i in shock.
Now I really don’t want to do it.
I don’t want to be grouped with them.

“A mixed-gender group? I’d rather decline. What kind of program is this, pairing rookies together like that?”
“The Big Three Entertainment Special.”
“!”

Wait, what?

“You’re getting it now, senior. This is going to be huge.”
“….”
“Colors, Moment, and All Season. Groups from these three entertainment companies will compete to prove which company is the best.”
“….”
“We’re competing in episodes one and two. Moment is sending Enliven and NextGen. And Colors will obviously have StillBlue and BurnAsh.”

My ears keep perking up at this.

“Don’t you want to crush Moment when they come out acting so pathetic?”
“…I don’t really have that kind of personal grudge against Enliven.”
“Why? Don’t you have confidence in winning?”
“I have confidence I won’t lose. I’ve already beaten them once. There’s no real reason to go out there again.”

This person keeps trying to provoke me.

“Then let’s do it. This is an entertainment company battle. Viewership? Guaranteed to skyrocket. Buzz factor? Controversy? Absolutely massive.”
“…I’m still not interested. If it’s a company team battle, even if we win, BurnAsh will take all the credit anyway, won’t they? Everyone knows how powerful BurnAsh’s core fanbase is. We’ll just be supporting actors.”

Dan-ha fell silent for the first time.
She knows I’m right.
Girl group and boy group fandoms differ significantly in their nature.
BurnAsh in particular is famous among boy groups for having an exceptionally loyal and hardcore fanbase.
Their international fanbase is also uniquely massive.
And they want me to team up with BurnAsh?
Even if we win, all I’ll hear is that it was thanks to BurnAsh.

“I see it differently.”

That’s when Dan-ha spoke up.

“As you know, Moment has NextGen.”
“….”
“NextGen’s popularity isn’t falling behind ours. Right now we’re practically on equal footing. That’s why we can’t predict the outcome.”

That’s a fair point.
NextGen, being a boy group that Moment invested heavily in developing, boasted tremendous popularity and an incredibly devoted fanbase.
In some ways, their fanbase showed even stronger cohesion than BurnAsh’s.
BurnAsh was in their third year.
NextGen was in their fifth year.

“All Season is sending X Days and Wick Start. For major labels, both groups have rather ambiguous track records. They’re both rookies from Moment or Colors—meaning they’re performing slightly below our level. So through this program, they probably want to establish the perception of ‘the big three entertainment companies.'”
“….”
“In my opinion, this program isn’t really controlled by boy groups—it’s the girl groups holding the key.”

I can’t deny it.
Either way, BurnAsh and NextGen would pull in similar votes.
All Season was slightly weaker.
…This.
The girl groups wouldn’t be supporting roles….
They’d actually become the swing vote.
They’d definitely end up with comparable roles.

“StillBlue. Your overseas fanbase is still weak, right?”

Han Jae-i, sensing we were almost there, threw a counter-punch.

“A special featuring the big three entertainment companies. It’s a topic that’s bound to become quite the talk among overseas K-POP fans. The promotional effect would be tremendous.”
“….”
“You must have felt during your activities that your overseas influence is weak. Haven’t you?”

She’s right.
That was precisely what I’d been most concerned about.

“WBN is usually very aggressive about exporting programs. Actually, this program is essentially made for export. They’ll distribute it across various overseas OTT platforms.”

Hearing it put that way, there seemed to be no reason to refuse.
But.

“Still, we… we have to make our comeback in July. We only have three months of preparation left. On top of that, Baek-young and Geum have already committed to appearing on a survival show. It’s too much for those two.”
“What if those two want to participate? Would you allow it then?”
“…Why are you asking that?”

Something about this feels unsettling.
Han Jae-i wore a deeply sinister smile.

“Actually, I just sent a text. I compiled all the advantages we’d gain by leaving, just like that.”

Han Jae-i waved her phone.

“I got replies already. Let me see. Seo Baek-young said, ‘I could, but Yun Chung would have to approve.’ And Kim Geum said, ‘Why are you texting when I’m in the room next door? If the leader approves, I’m in.'”
“….”

These members really weren’t helpful.

“For six episodes, we’d be filming for about two weeks. I’m counting on you. We’re going out under the Colors name—we can’t afford to lose, right, junior? Right?”
“No.”

I pretended not to see Han Jae-i’s outstretched hand.

“Colors doesn’t matter to me. I simply can’t lose under the StillBlue name.”

Since I was going anyway.
I had to win for StillBlue’s sake.

***

After establishing this strange cooperative relationship with BurnAsh, I entered a different studio.
It was the room across from Kim Geum’s studio—a workspace I used frequently.

‘First, let me try using 【Detective Mode】.’

[
Detective Mode
:
Do you want to uncover someone’s misconduct?
Then the 【Detective Mode】 item will be of help to you.
We don’t provide answers. Instead, we only give hints.
Required Points: ?,??? points
(The more extensive the misconduct of the target you’re investigating, the higher the cost.)]

It’s an item I used during the last MidBless incident.
Back then, I’d spent a whopping 900 points on it.
What bothers me is not knowing how much it’ll cost this time.
But I could guess it would be extremely expensive.
Until now, I’d avoided using the 【Detective Mode】 item against Moment.
Da-hwin’s situation is unfortunate, but the item was simply too costly.
I had to conserve points in case something happened to StillBlue.
I couldn’t justify spending a fortune on another group’s problems.
But now it had become my problem.
The audacity to pin the bulk-buying scandal on us.
Truly original trash, aren’t they.

[
【Detective Mode】
Would you like to purchase?]
[First, please specify the target you wish to investigate.]
[Points will be calculated based on the target of investigation.]

“Moment.”

[Measuring….]
[Points have been calculated.]
[Required Points: 1,900 points]

“Insane.”

1,900?
I opened my points balance to check.
I’d accumulated a decent amount of points recently from releasing an album and becoming a hot topic on the Philip Show and OTube….

[Current Points: 2,300 points]

It’s ambiguous.
If I spend everything except 400 points, I have no idea what might happen down the road.
This is too risky.
Let me wait until I’ve saved at least 3,000 points before using it.
In the end, I decided to forgo using 【Detective Mode】.
Not on Moment, anyway.
There’s no reason I can’t use it elsewhere.
I searched for the name of the company operated by Ryu Bora’s father.
Hmm.
Purple Love.
How blatantly obvious.

“How much is Purple Love?”

[Measuring….]
[Points have been measured.]
[Required Points: 200 points]

200?
I can easily afford that.

“I’ll buy it. Spill everything.”

[Purchase Complete!]
[Current Points: 2,100 points]

Now then.
It was time to pull Ryu Bora free from that family’s grasp.

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

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