The Trashy PD Has To Survive as an Idol - Chapter 3

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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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03

I rubbed my still-aching back gingerly, but the Manager continued his tirade without pause.

“What were you thinking? If you get fired, what then? The CEO terrifies me.”
“Yes, yes.”
“You’re still young and don’t understand how the world works, I suppose….”
“Just show me the practice room. Introduce me to the members.”

I cut him off, and the Manager fixed me with a smoldering glare. I dismissed it with the shamelessness honed by years in this industry. I’ve always been thick-skinned, after all.

“Seo Ho-yoon’s acting strange today. He was sick, but now he’s a different person….”

He muttered on endlessly, as if reciting a mantra.
Walking down the hallway, I gazed at photographs of people I didn’t yet know. Ah, this man—I recognized him. A famous actor who’d transitioned from theater to romance dramas.

It seemed the Entertainment Agency at least had some credibility in the acting world….

‘An idol at an actor-focused Entertainment Agency….’

“How many trainees are there?”
“What nonsense are you talking about? There’s only you guys.”
“…What?”
“You all debuted after scraping together every trainee we had. Sigh… I’m genuinely worried.”

‘…Really?’

That was the setting?
While I reeled at this company system more ramshackle than a hole-in-the-wall shop, the Manager broached the subject cautiously.

“Ho-yoon.”
“Yes?”
“The kids might be a bit sensitive. Their recent performance hasn’t been great. So don’t be alarmed no matter what they say.”
“Hazing?”
“Hazing… right, you might see it that way. But don’t worry—I’ve been watching them closely, and they’re genuinely good kids. They’re just under a lot of stress.”

Usually, when people kept saying kids were good, they often weren’t.
As I stared back impassively, the increasingly nervous Manager walked ahead and pushed the door open.

“Hey guys, Seo Ho-yoon is here!”

…Lord, I’ve lived righteously all this time.
Couldn’t you at least pick decent members for me to work with?

“Seo Ho-yoon?”

However, upon seeing the members in the Practice Room drenched in sweat and gasping for breath, I clicked my tongue.

‘This won’t do.’

They were handsome, certainly. And idols naturally had to be handsome. Being attractive and pretty, singing well—it all mattered. But in South Korea’s entertainment industry, where all the handsome and beautiful people flocked, mediocrity was unacceptable.
So what was the method to survive?
Star quality. That’s what it was.
How brightly they shone, whether they exuded charisma without doing anything at all—that was the truly critical element.
I scanned the four members huddled together and made my assessment again.

‘Not yet.’

Star quality seemed like nothing special, yet it was remarkably difficult to obtain. It was an essential element to create fans who cheered at a single gesture, but acquiring it was brutally hard. You needed either a sparkling charm or undeniable charisma.
And with experience like mine, those with true potential revealed themselves at a glance.
But these members lacked it. Without that distinctive spark, I sighed and asked internally.

‘Hey. …Can’t you see other people’s stats?’

[I cannot >_<]

'Useless.'

Just as I was about to lament, a sharp voice pierced my ears.

"So Seo Ho-yoon left?"

The one who spoke was a tall guy. The moment I saw him, a system window naturally appeared with an explanation.

[Kim Sung-hyun, The Dun Leader and Main Dancer
Note: ???]
[He is extremely sensitive about the group's potential disbandment.]

Yeah, I could tell without him saying anything.

"But why are you coming back? What did you do so well?"

Kim Sung-hyun's gaze turned sharp and piercing toward me. The Manager stepped in between us, flustered.

"Sung-hyun, what's wrong with you? Ho-yoon was sick."
"So what? Are we some kind of loser's second chance group? Someone who left without even properly promoting is asking why they're here?"
"Kim Sung-hyun!"

Honestly, I thought everything Kim Sung-hyun said was completely valid. At the same time, I made a reassessment.

'Does a character with no manners actually do better?'

People were usually more drawn to someone who was rude ninety-nine times and kind once than someone who was kind a hundred times. A hundred acts of kindness just made people see you as a pushover or an idiot.

"Sung-hyun, let's stop this."

[Sung Ji-won, Main Vocalist.
Note: ???]
[His nature is kind, but his luck is absolutely terrible.]

'This guy's decent.'

Sung Ji-won stopped Kim Sung-hyun. Then he gave me a subtle signal. I shrugged and stepped into the Practice Room, and Sung Ji-won welcomed me.

"Um… Ho-yoon, welcome back. Are you feeling much better from your illness?"
"Yeah. I'm Seo Ho-yoon. Thanks for having me."
"Who doesn't know your name?"
"I just wanted to start fresh with good intentions."
"You're really shameless…."

Thanks to coating my lips with saliva before leaving home, the lies—or whatever they were—flowed out smoothly.
Kim Sung-hyun's face turned crimson, but I ignored him and looked at the remaining two. The one with black hair widened his eyes in surprise.

"Seo Ho-yoon, are you really all better now?"

[Jung Da-jun, sub-dancer.
Notes: ???]
[The youngest. Hmm… has a bright personality.]

"Yeah. Good."

I had no idea what part of me was supposedly injured, so I answered vaguely. When I glanced to the side, a fox-like fellow smirked.

"Hyung, I thought you were dead since you didn't come back."

[Kang Yi-chae, main rapper
Notes: ???]
[Equally twisted personality.]

'Look at this guy's character.'

This bastard bears watching.

"Didn't die. Came back instead."
"Huh? …Hmm? Haha."

[Quest, 'Greet the members!' has been completed.]
[They all seem displeased that you've arrived!]
[We'll add some charm for you anyway.]

I gave a perfunctory response and examined the Quest window. Main vocalist, dancer, rapper—they'd assembled the basic lineup. Or perhaps they'd scraped together trainees and assigned positions accordingly.
The Manager seemed relieved that I'd at least exchanged greetings with the members, breaking into a broad smile.

"That's right, the kids welcomed you back! Let's do our best again, everyone!"
"…."

…How refreshingly naive.
No one responded.
Yet the Manager pressed on with unwavering optimism and energy. I watched him with a sense of pity—office work truly was grueling.

"Seo Ho-yoon might not know yet, but we're in comeback preparations. We've got a showcase and broadcast activities lined up—just one month left. Let's give it our all. The CEO is really pushing hard for us!"

'That wasn't it….'

As I glanced around the room, it became clear to everyone that I was lying. The anxious faces of the members proved it.

"Ho-yoon, would you like to listen to the comeback song first?"

[Quest Arrived:
'Listen to the comeback song!'
This is The Dun's last chance!
Please listen to the comeback song.
Success: Next scenario begins, Charm +1.
Failure: The Dun members' trust drops significantly]

"Yes, please play it."

Let me hear just how terrible this song is.

***

[Like a pineapple, pop pop pop!
Like an apple, nom nom nom!
Like a mango, flop flop flop!]

"…."
"…."

Silence hung in the air.
It truly was a disaster of a song. A track about confessing to an unrequited love with the refreshing brightness of pineapple, apple, and mango. Even someone with tin ears could tell it was an absolute catastrophe.
When I'd glimpsed their debut single on YouTube earlier, it hadn't seemed quite this bad….

'We're finished….'

Ding!

[Flop flop flop!]

"So? The song's good, right?"

I lay sprawled out, staring at the Manager grinning widely above me.
…Was he seriously laughing? Even though going with this song would be a guaranteed disaster?
I could be mocked on the internet for the rest of my life.

"Pineapple—pop, pop, pop! Man, what a masterpiece. The reactions are already going crazy. Even the Planning Team is raving about how fresh it is."

Never mind the pathetic beat paired with equally pathetic lyrics, but in winter?
It's been half a year since summer ended, and they want to push this concept in winter? Did everyone in the Planning Team lose their minds?
I imagined it.
Me singing while acting ridiculous—pineapple, mango, apple, all of it—and the YouTube video would get maybe three or four comments.

-Wow… that's kind of sad… lol
-lolol now literally anyone can be an idol~~~ Can I debut too~~
-Does an idol like this even have fans? I'm genuinely curious.

I could already see the responses. Trembling slightly, I gave my assessment while subtly matching the hopeful gazes of those around me.

"The song is really fresh."
"Right?"
"I heard the CEO runs an orchard?"
"Hey, Seo Ho-yoon!"

When I spoke honestly, the members around me got angry.

"Ho-yoon, even so, that comment is a bit…."
"Why~? It's the truth."
"Exactly. Fine, pineapple goes pop-pop-pop, but why does mango go mang-mang-mang?"

Kang Yi-chae agreed with me. I rubbed my face and stood up, feeling miserable. There was probably a cigarette in my pocket. I needed to light one.
The Manager misinterpreted my intention and called out to me.

"Seo Ho-yoon, where are you going?"
"Just need some fresh air for a moment."
"Ho-yoon!"

I left the Manager's protests behind and headed outside the Company Building, crouching down on the street to pull out a cigarette. Then I looked across at the building opposite.
The building looked small and run-down. Even I, a complete amateur, could compose something better than that. How did they even get a song like this? It was ridiculous enough that they brought summer concept lyrics as snow was about to fall, but what was with the random EDM? EDM of all things….

[Will you give up?]

"Shut up… I'm thinking."

Give up? There was no way I could give up—my pride wouldn't allow it.
I swallowed my anger, remembering my rookie days when I'd endured endless ridicule. I recalled seniors who'd suddenly demand I fish their business cards out of garbage bags, top stars who'd wielded their power with shameless arrogance. Compared to those days, this was nothing, absolutely nothing….
Whenever rage threatened to boil over, I'd pull up my banking app to check my balance and calm myself down, but damn it—even that wasn't working anymore.
I still had to feed Seo Ho-jin….

"Ho-yoon."

The main vocalist I'd seen earlier approached me. His name was… well.

"…Sung Ji-won."
"Yeah."

My memory was hazy, but I glanced at the system window that had appeared again above and managed to act like I knew him. He was the good kid who'd tried to stop the other members earlier.

'I can't adapt to this….'

Everywhere I looked, some fresh-faced kid was casually calling my name, and it hammered home just how insane my situation had become.

With no answers in sight, I took another drag.

"You okay?"
"Yeah."
"We were… pretty harsh, weren't we?"
"It's fine."

I was simply smoking, but Sung Ji-won seemed to take it the wrong way—his expression darkened.
I caught on quickly. Right, idols aren't supposed to smoke. Seeing an idol who needs to protect their voice smoking was basically the same as saying they'd given up.
What was my position again? Sub-vocalist?
The only singing I'd ever done was at company dinners, spoon in a soju bottle. I was already dreading how I'd manage to get on stage and actually sing.

"Cut the guys some slack. Nothing's been going right for us."
"…."
"We're going under soon anyway. We've already given up. The Planning Team abandoned us, and that song is the only thing the company barely scraped together for us."
'Great.'

My luck had run out. I narrowed my eyes and stared at Sung Ji-won.

"I'll need to think about what to do after we disband. It'll take a while to get back into studying after being a trainee for so long."
"How long have you been doing this?"
"About seven years, I think?"
"Where?"
"Yeah, D.go."

'Not bad, actually.'

D.go was a fairly large entertainment agency, according to Sung Ji-won. They had a group called Today that had gained some recognition recently.
So they might have some real talent? If they did, that would ease my concerns somewhat. Though I couldn't be certain yet.
I took a drag from my cigarette while Sung Ji-won fumbled for words.

"A major agency, then."
"But nothing really worked out anyway. Let's just think of this as leaving behind one last memory. Don't worry about the others—let's just do our best."

I let out a short laugh.

"What's so funny?"

A last memory?
What nonsense. I didn't come here to build memories with you lot.
To decide we've already failed before we've even started is arrogance. Especially when I've staked everything on this.
I can't throw away a game we haven't properly begun.
I stubbed out my cigarette on the ground.

"Who says that?"
"Huh?"
"That it's the last. Who says that?"

They haven't even tasted success yet, just lingering at the threshold. I have to turn these fools into first-tier idols.
And I was confident I could.

"I'm just getting started."

Confident enough to even fill their rice bowls.

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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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