Became The Leader of a Girl Group Destined To Fail - Chapter 94

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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 94.

Truthfully, I wasn’t surprised—we’d been planning to seek them out anyway.
Not long after Lee Sol joined us as a producer.
All five of us gathered our heads together and began crafting our group’s concept.
It wasn’t easy.
Each of the five of us wanted a slightly different concept.

“Girls’ hip-hop with its storied history is the truth, isn’t it? Something that feels independent and confident.”
“Kitschy high-teen, teen crush concepts are the most trending right now! I want to lead the trend with something refined and sophisticated. Something unique but only possible at our age! These days, millennial-end and retro vibes are trending too!”
“I’d prefer to focus on pop, but not lock ourselves into one specific concept. Personally, I think any concept works as long as the song is good.”
“I think a conceptual, dark fantasy feel would be nice. I want to try a strong concept. It’d be cool to have a warrior vibe too… I’d love tight, sharp choreography.”

Honestly, at first I felt nothing but bewilderment at how to form a group with these girls.
I was the only one maintaining neutrality.
After the four of them debated enthusiastically, it always ended like this.

“So what do you think, Yun Chung?!”
“I don’t know, you guys.”

Don’t ask for my opinion now after you’ve all been arguing excitedly without me.
There were more than a few moments when I was genuinely frustrated.
They all had surprisingly strong convictions despite their appearances.
What was particularly unexpected was that Seo Baek-young, who always gave in to others, absolutely refused to compromise this time.

“I hate passive, delicate concepts.”

Fortunately, all five of us agreed on this point.
Except for the days we had schedules, we didn’t step foot outside the Dormitory for a week.
In the end, we reached a consensus.

“Is this the conclusion you all came up with?”

We submitted the proposal directly to Lee Sol.
After all, she was our producer, and this was the assignment she’d given us.

“Let me take a look.”

Lee Sol stared at the proposal we had created for quite some time.
The worldview we had built ourselves, each member’s direction, and the group’s overall vision.
All of it was now contained within the tablet PC in Lee Sol’s hands.
We had even gathered reference images along with things we had drawn and photographed ourselves.

“Hmm….”

All the members watched Lee Sol’s expression with anxious eyes.
But I alone remained composed.
Why, you ask?

“You guys.”
“Yes?!”
“This is really….”

I was confident.

“The best, isn’t it?”

Absolutely.

“I’m genuinely moved by this.”

Lee Sol looked utterly astonished.
Well, it was hard to believe this quality came from a rookie, after all.
…Though I’m not actually a rookie….

“Do, do you like it?!”
“It’s not just that I like it. Honestly, I want to steal this concept and use it for ourselves.”

That was the highest praise possible.
I told you I was confident.
Do you know how hard it was managing these newborn giraffe-like kids on a group project?
Honestly, it was a million times harder than making my solo album.

“Gasp.”
“Oh, we can’t do that….”
“…There’s no way we’d actually do that.”

I was genuinely beginning to feel ashamed of Yeon Ju-hong and Kim Geum.

“So… we can proceed like this?”

Ryu Bora broached the main topic.

“What you’re all hoping for is to start with this first, right?”

Lee Sol pointed to one of the screens.
It was the first schedule of the grand plan.

“Yes.”

And only with this could our concept gain credibility with the public and our fans.
If there was a problem, that is.

“We’re going to burn through a ton of money.”

This was precisely it.
Just looking at the roughly sketched synopsis, the scale was enormous.
Even I could tell we’d blow through hundreds of millions in no time.

“If you do everything you’re asking for, a billion won seems like pocket change….”
“W-we do have quite a lot of hopes….”

Seo Baek-young’s spirits immediately deflated as she spoke.
No. Don’t lose heart.

“I believe the senior members also had that level of investment when they debuted.”

Colors has plenty of money.
Of course I presented the plan with their circumstances in mind.
If this were my agency from my past life, I would’ve said it was natural that we couldn’t spend this much on rookies.
But Colors is different.

“Yun Chung, you know quite a bit, don’t you?”

Lee Sol smiled wryly and nodded.

“That’s right. The Company would probably be thinking about this level of budget anyway.”

Colors was no ambiguous major label.
It was one of Korea’s top-tier entertainment companies, and the girl groups they’d debuted before hadn’t just been hits—they’d been massive blockbusters.
There was no way they’d skimp on funding for a girl group after such a long time.

“But there’s a problem.”
“?”

Here comes the real issue.

“Director Kim would never fund a concept that isn’t even his own idea.”

…Right.
This was what had been nagging at me all along.
If it had been Director Kim’s idea, it would have been approved long ago and we’d already be shooting.
But the concept differs significantly from the excessively provocative direction Director Kim wanted.
Where else could Kim Ryeo-yu’s obsession with the sexy concept have come from?
It came from Director Kim.

“What should we do?”
“Hmm.”

Lee Sol paused briefly before setting down her tablet.

“Girls. Are you really confident about this?”

I turned around to look at them.
Confident?
They all nodded.
There was no doubt or anxiety in those four pairs of eyes.
Compared to how anxious I’d been throughout Make a New Color, this was tremendous progress.
Or perhaps they were simply confident about this one.

“Yes.”

I answered on behalf of the members.
Moments like this made me truly feel like a leader.
Though I couldn’t shake the feeling of being a fossil-generation student forced into being group project leader.

“Then let’s try to make a deal with Director Kim using that.”

***

And so.
I found myself face to face with him.

“I’ve seen the proposal Lee Sol sent.”

Director Kim let out a soft chuckle and set down a stack of papers.
It seemed he’d printed out the entire thing to review it.

“There’s no point in wasting each other’s time, so let’s get straight to the point.”

Director Kim crossed his legs and fixed his gaze upon us.

“It’s not impressive.”

His face was suffused with derision.

“Your ambitions to aim for the Rookie Award are quite evident. Debut by year-end, two albums next year.”

I neither denied nor affirmed his words.
After all, it was true that we were aiming for the Rookie Award.

“But you should know this.”

What was he getting at?
For the first time, I felt an inexplicable unease wash over me.
Director Kim appeared far more confident than I had anticipated.

“Our company will soon be split into three separate labels.”
“…!”

Everyone’s eyes widened.
I too felt a jolt of surprise.
In my past life, Colors had also been divided into three labels.
I knew this story.
But… that wasn’t supposed to happen for at least five more years from now.

“Hong President’s label that he leads directly, Sung Director’s label that currently oversees All Colors and Burnash, and….”

The rest was predictable without even hearing it.

“My label.”
“But I heard this time it’s a pilot operation, so they’re not planning a full separation.”

That’s when Seo Baek-young spoke up.
So Seo Baek-young had heard something about this.
…I’d ask her later why she hadn’t shared that information.

“Right. This time, each of you will divide groups and handle both production and marketing. And we’ve decided that the producers with the highest profits will get to choose their desired groups.”

This wasn’t good.

“We’ll look at the profits from this fourth quarter through next year’s third quarter. The total revenue across four quarters will determine the decision.”

This was very not good.

“As you wish, we’ll pump out albums constantly. We need to maximize profits in the short term. We’ll make repackages and album specifications incredibly diverse.”

Our expressions hardened in an instant.
I’d expected them to push for more active promotions, but this was….
How was this any different from treating fans like ATMs?
Even in games, excessive monetization tactics only breed resentment.
Sure, you might extract more profits in the short term.
But long-term, it’s the worst possible route for a group’s lifespan.
This was absolutely unacceptable.

“And this isn’t just about looking at revenue—we’re properly examining operating profit too.”

In other words, they wanted to minimize investment while maximizing returns.
They were just dressing up the low-budget approach in fancy language.
Irritation surged through me.

“The shareholders will object. This isn’t the company’s long-term benefit but short-term—”
“They will, of course. But humans are always blinded by short-term gains.”

Director Kim’s face was now completely expressionless, devoid of any emotion.

“And who said I was only extracting short-term profits? I’ll use you all to prove my capabilities by securing short-term gains first, then receive the artists I want as dividends and establish a long-term plan.”
“…!”

In other words, he was planning to use us as nothing more than disposable cash cows.
He was going to slit open the belly of the goose that laid golden eggs to see what was inside.
At this point, it was becoming difficult to even hold back my anger out of sheer absurdity.
Hold on.

“There’s something you’re all deeply mistaken about.”

Confidence gleamed in Director Kim’s eyes.

“When launching an idol, it doesn’t matter who that ‘idol’ is. What matters is ‘who’ creates the idol. With just songs, planning ability, and capital, launching an idol is child’s play. Talent is overflowing in this industry anyway.”

Hold on.

“Frankly, if I just ran open auditions right now and debuted five new people, you don’t think they’d fail to become as successful as you?”

I had to hold on.

“I don’t even understand what makes you think you’re so special that you’d present such a proposal to me. I’ve been in this industry for 30 years. You’ve been around for what, just over a month? Know your place.”

Should I… hold on?

“If you’re scared, then back out.”
“!”

I unconsciously touched my own mouth.
I wondered if my thoughts had somehow spilled out on their own.
But those words hadn’t come from me.

“It’s a line I really love.”

It was Ryu Bora.
Ryu Bora smiled brightly with an angelic face that rivaled anyone else’s.

“Director Kim. If you’re really so much better than us, why are you hesitating?”
“Ryu Bora.”

Kim Geum grasped Ryu Bora’s hand with anxious eyes.
But Ryu Bora’s gaze remained fixed on Director Kim.

“Bora, you… have you become rather sharp-tongued?”

Director Kim appeared momentarily flustered, but quickly recovered his poker face.

“What do you mean I’m hesitating? I don’t hesitate—”
“Let’s make a wager.”
“!”

This time, it was me.
Thanks to Ryu Bora’s boldness, my spirits lifted, and I too regained my composure.
The other members seemed to feel the same way.

“I understand you perfectly, Director Kim. You’re saying you’ll squeeze money out of us and then discard us. Regardless of what we want.”
“It’s not quite that harsh. I’m simply trying to maximize the company’s profits.”
“But.”

Yes, Director Kim can control our albums and activities.
However.

“If we take turns canceling on you, won’t that put quite a dent in your grand plan? And if we all threaten to quit one after another, what then?”

No matter how powerful Director Kim is.
He can’t control people’s choices.
Am I insane?
If it weren’t for the mission, I’d file a lawsuit and walk out right now.

“You wouldn’t dare—”
“They’re all silver spoon kids. Except me. You know that, don’t you?”

I felt the members’ gazes on me.
It’s a bluff, guys.
A bluff.

“I’m the only one here who can’t afford to back down for the sake of survival. Honestly, I think I’d rather choose to starve.”

I felt the members’ pupils trembling wildly.
A bluff.
Please, just stay still.

“I’m sure Producer Lee Sol has already briefed you on everything. We’re confident in this proposal. And we’re very confident about that promotion listed at the top of the proposal as well.”
“….”
“We’ll make our debut album a success. From start to finish, with our own hands. We’ll plan it ourselves and prove we can succeed.”

Director Kim let out a laugh as if finding it absurd.

“You think I should approve this just because of such ridiculous threats?”
“In exchange, if we fail, I’ll do whatever you tell me to for the rest of our activities.”
“…!”

Finally, sincerity began to kindle in Director Kim’s eyes.

“Choose.”

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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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