Top Girl Group Scenario Rewritten with My Own Hands - Chapter 68

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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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Episode 68
Lee Su-bin, the team leader, believed she had a good eye for people.
When she insisted on bringing Go Hyun-seo instead of a trainee with school violence allegations when forming the debut team at Instew, when she moved to another agency and personally handpicked the other trainees to debut with her, when she searched far and wide for the last puzzle piece of the debut team and commented on a video from Seo Ji-on’s band club—she had thought the same thing every time.
And truthfully, Lee Su-bin did have an excellent eye for people. The team called Evergreat would never have come into being without her.
Go Hyun-seo was a trainee Lee Su-bin had brought with her when she transferred; casting the youngest members at the Youth Music Festival and the figure skating rink, personally contacting PN to bring Hyun Jae-yi on board, and even counter-offering to make Kang Su-ah an idol after seeing the portfolio video she’d sent to Music Proof—all of it was Lee Su-bin’s doing.
And Seo Ji-on, who now played a pivotal role in the team, was here because she had replied to a desperate comment Lee Su-bin had left in a moment of grasping at straws.
So, why had she dwelled on this so long?
“…I want to challenge the widespread perception in the idol industry that ‘idols succeed without talent if they have visuals, large corporate backing, and proper marketing’—or conversely, ‘talented artists can’t succeed if their company is small.’ Our team has confidence in our abilities, and as the CEO suggested, we want to lead with our identity as singer-songwriters…….”
What on earth had made her bring someone like that here?
Not in a negative sense, but in a positive one. That was what Lee Su-bin thought.
Trainees in their teens and early twenties typically grew intimidated the moment a CEO was mentioned. It seemed they often felt smaller than usual, aware that this person held their future in their hands.
But Seo Ji-on was different. Whether it was because her idol career hadn’t quite taken off and she had other ways to make a living…….
Even the good-natured Lee Su-bin had to admit that Lim Gyeong-taek, despite being someone she occasionally found to be an old-fashioned jerk, had a real gift for explaining the idol market at a level he could understand and steering the conversation toward positive responses.
To put it crudely, she had a way with words. Born with the mouth of a fighter…….
Again, Lee Su-bin knew she had a good eye for people. She was well aware of it herself.
But what she hadn’t anticipated was just how multitalented the member she’d cast herself would turn out to be.
Well, it made sense.
Because the current Seo Ji-on was trapped in the insane fantasy of a Regression Event—her third one, no less!
If one could avoid regression and death simply by speaking well, then she could absolutely do it. No, she would pull it off. Bring it on, anything at all.
That was Seo Ji-on’s resolve right now!
***
Objectively speaking, Lim Gyeong-taek was not a good CEO—not as an indie label head, nor as the leader of an idol company.
Music Proof had started as a one-man agency for the singer Lim Gyeong-taek, which was why he held the position of CEO, but given his indifferent and old-fashioned nature, she couldn’t say a single kind word about him even if she tried.
And yet…….
“…This is the title track for our June comeback. What I played you before that was a song for the single album.”
“You produced all of it yourself?”
“Yes, that’s right. I worked on it.”
“You’ve got instinct. The song is good. I’ll be honest—I can’t always keep up with trends these days, but I know a good song when I hear one.”
‘Even this old-fashioned guy has his uses,’ I thought. He really did have a good ear. This was a track that had topped the Lemon Chart daily rankings many times over.
Well, I’d actually bet on this in the PowerPoint because I believed in it. Since this place operated on the principle that available budget rose and fell based on the CEO’s decision alone—this was that kind of mess of a company—if Lim Gyeong-taek saw potential, he could easily pull more budget. We might even get additional investment from VC E&M.
“But self-produced content? Do you really have to do that? Recent variety shows don’t really impress me.”
“Yes. As you mentioned, these days the reach of YouTube personal channels has grown stronger than broadcast variety show impact. To show the fans what they want, we need professional personnel involved. Until now, our dedicated team members have put in a lot of hard work……, but I don’t think we can keep going this way indefinitely.”
I barely stifled a hollow laugh and put on my professional smile instead.
Just as I had once done at a meeting before, I’d emphasized the importance of original content throughout my presentation. But this man with his outdated worldview seemed to have trouble grasping the concept of “original content” itself…….
It felt like talking to a parent whose mind you couldn’t sway no matter how much you tried to convince them. Then again, at least Lim Gyeong-taek was making an effort to try to understand, so maybe it wasn’t quite that bad? Anyway.
“Do you agree with that assessment, team leader?”
“Ah, yes. If it weren’t for budget constraints, we’d have already been reaching out to outsourcing companies. Professional personnel……, we really need them.”
“Then I’ll leave that side to you to handle. So you’re saying you need more activity budget?”
Lim Gyeong-taek’s gaze turned back to me.
Now that I thought about it, it really was a funny strategy. Betting everything on the fact that the CEO had a good ear, and then just throwing a budget request at him during a presentation…….
But fortunately, the strategy seemed to be working. Lim Gyeong-taek had shown positive reactions to the short demos of “Now’s the Time” and “Blue,” which had let me carry the presentation this far.
“Do you have a goal, Seo Ji-on?”
“…Pardon?”
“You need more activity budget, and you’re bringing a next album demo to your activity plan to secure it—that suggests you have some kind of goal, doesn’t it? I’m asking what that is.”
“Ah……. A goal.”
I paused for a moment.
What would make Lim Gyeong-taek happiest to hear……. Something impressive-sounding, with a touch of confidence or audacity, the kind of goal you could actually achieve and build trust from.
I smiled, trying my best to look guileless.
“I want to win the Rookie of the Year Award for Female Artist at every awards ceremony we attend. A clean sweep of Rookie of the Year at every single ceremony—that’s my goal.”
Bingo.
Maybe because this old-fashioned guy was how he was, he genuinely seemed to like ambitious declarations like this. It meant I’d successfully read his character type—something I’d observed over not just my original life, but across all three of my lives.
“To make that happen, we’ll need a bit more activities and quite a bit more budget. ……Is it possible?”
The answer I got back was peppered with plenty of old-fashioned phrasing, but the conclusion was yes.
This was how you were supposed to use a Regression Event. Though I’d certainly squandered the last cycle pretty badly…….
***
“So, our June comeback is confirmed. We’ll comeback early to mid-June with the song I just played for you. Any questions?”
“Wow, Ji-on. By the way, when do you actually sleep?”
This woman. I’d just given her the activity plan, and……?
I was a little annoyed with Kang Su-ah, who didn’t even seem interested in hearing the results after having worked so intensely all of April, including the shooting for “That Time, That Song.”
“I’ve slept enough. It’s just been a bit…… hectic lately. Next question.”
“You’re lying, unnie. We didn’t know you’d been sleeping in your bed recently.”
“Jae-yi. If you yielded the first floor to me, you should at least go upstairs to sleep yourself…….”
“No, unnie, that’s not the issue here!”
I laughed deliberately and nudged Hyun Jae-yi, but she made a whole fuss over nothing. Wait, never mind all that—these are important announcements. No one’s even focusing on the comeback news…….
A sigh escaped me without thinking. At least Go Hyun-seo was staying quiet, but lately Hyun Jae-yi and Kang Su-ah had been nagging me more and more.
“Aren’t you guys working on your comeback? No feedback on the demos? Are you just going to follow along without thinking if I say to do it this way?”
“There’s nothing to fix in the demos! You know that, so why are you saying it?! And you’re the producer—of course we follow your lead?”
“No, it’s not that it’s strange…….”
“Then we’re good!”
“Good how…….”
At this rate, I really did feel like I might get irritated. Everything the members were saying probably came from concern, but I seemed to be losing the emotional capacity to accept it.
I’d bought fatigue recovery items with System Quest Points, so my exhaustion level itself was manageable……. But was I simply running out of mental energy? I’d have to think about that.
But that’s neither here nor there.
“Pay attention. I went straight to the CEO and asked for more budget.”
At the sight of their attention suddenly focusing on me, I finally felt a smile forming.
“…Unnie, what exactly have you been doing all this time?”
“I naturally thought you’d been in meetings with our team…….”
Go Hyun-seo and Kang Su-ah both spoke up, their expressions quite shocked. Actually, it would probably be pretty surprising to them that I’d confronted the CEO directly like that.
“Well, that’s partly right. We did have meetings, but the conclusion was budget shortage, so I just made a PowerPoint and did a presentation to the CEO asking for more budget.”
“S-so what happened?!”
“He approved it. By late May at the latest, we’ll start shooting the self-produced content. We’re looking for outsourcing companies now.”
“Wow…….”
Hyun Jae-yi’s mouth fell open in genuine surprise at my words. To be honest, if another member told me they’d managed to secure budget like this, I’d be just as shocked……. It wasn’t a particularly strange reaction.
“So that’s what’s been finalized for now—the comeback schedule. I’m taking questions about related matters. No wild theories, please.”
Looking around the room, there didn’t seem to be any atmosphere of pending questions.
***
Making a demo doesn’t mean the music work is finished. Even if the basic structure is already locked in my head, the actual production still has to be done by hand, so I couldn’t just kick back and relax after that.
The evening we told the members about the finalized comeback schedule was no exception. Since Go Hyun-seo hadn’t mentioned going to work out lately, I’d spent the whole afternoon holed up in the studio working on song arrangements.
Well, that was the plan, anyway…….
“Unnie, do you happen to have some time… available?”
“Time? I’ve got time. Why?”
“Today’s the broadcast day for that song of ours……. We’d like to watch it together with the other unnies. What do you think?”
Swayed by Lee Han-byul’s characteristic careful tone, I now found myself in front of the TV in the dormitory living room…….
The living room TV had never been particularly large to begin with, and it was usually hidden behind a laundry drying rack that always seemed to have towels hanging on it, but someone had cleaned it up—the rack was nowhere to be seen now.
I was pretty sure when we first appeared on “That Time, That Song” we didn’t suggest watching it together like this……. What could have changed her mind? Winning first place? Or was it because I’d expanded Lee Han-byul’s screen time this time?
“We did well, I think, and we even got first place. So I……, I wanted to watch it with you unnies. …I know you’re busy, Ji-on unnie…….”
“No, it’s not like I’m too busy to monitor. You did good.”
Sharp girl……. I guess my worry showed more than I realized.
I wish Lee Han-byul paid a little less attention to others’ feelings. …Well, I suppose that’s just her personality.
“Unnie’s here! Oh, Seo Ji-on!”
“You here. What’d you bring?”
“Chicken!”
Ju Hye-rin, laden with bags of chicken behind Kang Su-ah, beamed widely.
“But why does it feel like it’s been forever since I’ve seen Seo Ji-on at the dorm?”
“Right? Ji-on unnie really being at the dorm at this hour…….”
“Han-byul asked me to come. But why are you all acting like it’s such a big deal?”
“It’s the youngest member effect, they’re saying.”
“That’s not it…… If you’re all going to monitor together, tell me in advance. I could make time for that…….”
The living room suddenly got loud, and when Go Hyun-seo and Hyun Jae-yi came out too, the small space felt completely packed.
The apartment already felt cramped, and now it felt even smaller……. I’d have to make sure we succeed and move soon.
My Hand Rewrites the Top Girl Group Scenario
Author
: Nam Seo-rang
Production Date
: March 4, 2026
Publisher
: AcesMedia Inc.
Editor-in-Chief
: AcesMedia Editorial Team
Address
: 4F Urban Bench Building, 325 Teheran-ro, Gangnam District, Seoul
Email
: [email protected]
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The contents may not be used in any form or by any means without permission from the company and author.
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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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