Top Girl Group Scenario Rewritten with My Own Hands - Chapter 80

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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 80
Even in the second round where many things had gone awry, the GaeTaeSseom stage alone commanded considerable attention.
First, there was Evergreat’s consistently high stage quality.
At the time, the appearance on “That Song Then” had fallen through, so our recognition was lower than it is now, and we’d managed to build both domestic and international awareness mainly through the May Japanese stage.
Even after our comeback with “Do It Now!”, the response hadn’t exploded immediately, so we were positioned as a skilled rookie girl group known mainly through word-of-mouth domestically, though that single GaeTaeSseom stage proved our existence to international audiences too, I suppose?
Back then, we really only had that GaeTaeSseom stage to count on. We pushed through practice and work with sheer determination, with pure grit, with willpower alone……. It’s a painful memory.
And then, right after that, Han Jeong-yeon found out about my Regression, which made it exponentially harder to keep my head on straight……. But that’s really making my blood boil, so I’ll leave the rest for another time.
The important thing is that even five minutes before that mental breakdown of a state, the stage came out beautifully.
You could call it a ‘constant’—I confirmed in the second round that we could pull off a solid stage with our current team’s ability.
Well……. At that time, maintaining normal mental health in many ways was difficult, so I thought we’d already lost the Rookie Award early.
The November comeback was also a hastily pushed single activity with almost no preparation time, so it was hard to make up for the album gap. In the meantime, the identity of the person suspected of spreading deliberately planted rumors turned out to be a current Idol…….
No, let me stop thinking about this. The more I dwell on it, the more my own mental health suffers.
The key point is that the QBS Song Festival Summer becomes the perfect turning point for Evergreat to establish itself as a ‘rising rookie girl group these days.’
When there are multiple eye-catching rookie girl groups, to reliably aim for the Rookie Award, image has to back up the results.
Of course, an awards show with a strong PN lean like the VMA is a different matter entirely…….
This has been somewhat resolved this time with Music Proof (or rather, just Evergreat as a single group) receiving investment from VC E&M.
PN is simply close to V.net and the VMA awards ceremony that they host.
But VC E&M is the parent company of V.net. Thinking about it—there’s a boss above the friend, and a friend above the boss nowhere—it’s a simple calculation.
When the parent company VC E&M has invested in a group that has sufficient results and image to potentially win the Rookie Award, they can’t simply push that award through on company friendship and profit relations alone.
From the start, it was right that we planned and secured the budget investment with this goal in mind…….
Fortunately, everything seems to be flowing as I’ve envisioned so far. The October comeback preparation is also progressing smoothly enough.
So, what’s really important here is this:
“Hello. I’m Seo Ji-on, Leader of Evergreat.”
I offered a professional smile and looked at the PN manager before me.
I could see Jo Eun-bin stiffening uncomfortably beside me, but I can’t afford to pay attention to her right now.
We need to seize the advantage here. We need to show an ability that won’t be swept away even if a Public Opinion War is attempted.
Hyun Jae-yi burning with desire to prove something to PN, Go Hyun-seo who doesn’t half-ass anything no matter what, and me with my life on the line. We have to pull something off here, no matter what.
I have to twist several things around and use the variables I remember to create a situation as favorable as possible for Evergreat.
…Honestly, it’s not work I particularly want to do. This kind of politics really doesn’t suit me.
But there’s no choice. I have to survive.
***
“As you’ve received word from QBS, the broadcasting station wants us to use AR for safety precautions but prefers we do it as a Live Performance, so we’re planning to use a Hand Microphone on our end.”
“We only received notification about AR use, so could you double-check this with us?”
“I already verified it with QBS. If different information was conveyed to both teams, should we coordinate here?”
This time, there was no need for me to stand at the front.
– PN seems like they’ll probably avoid Hand Microphone Live if possible, so should we at least bring it up and see their reaction?
– Don’t worry about that. I’ll handle it. That’s what company staff are there for—to coordinate things, Ji-on.
– Ah.
– You don’t need to do everything yourself. Manager Park Joo-young is here, and so am I.
– I’m sorry, I think I was too much in my own head.
– No, it’s fine. The problem is that we haven’t earned your trust.
Lee Su-bin took the burden for us.
Before this, we didn’t even have the chance to properly discuss the Collaboration, so Team Lead Lee Su-bin didn’t even attend the meeting.
The PN manager’s presence was for a similar reason.
Opinions about the Live Performance hadn’t been coordinated between staff in the short time, and so the most powerful person among the operations people ended up coming to the meeting directly…….
“Evergreat is planning to do the group performance that day with Hand Microphones as well, so we should align everything to Hand Microphones for us too.”
“Wouldn’t Pin Microphones look cleaner overall? For a Collaboration stage, you should consider those kinds of details.”
“You’ve received the Cue Sheet, but since Evergreat goes straight into the group performance after the Collaboration ends, it’s difficult to change microphones in between.”
Well, in truth, the biggest thing this time is trying not to be led by PN’s opinions.
Even as the PN manager’s tone lost some courtesy, Team Lead Lee Su-bin calmly appealed to our position.
– They probably really want to avoid Live, from their perspective. So……, if we just don’t get pulled along on this point and stick to our stance about doing Live, I think that should be enough.
– Is AshCode okay with not doing Live?
– Yes. Even with AR laid down, you can tell the difference between Live and Lip Sync. Just keep them from forcing us to Lip Sync too. And…….
– Right. And?
– PN does the AR recording, and when we do group practice, we’ll bring the Self-Content team to film the behind-the-scenes. Nothing’s more vivid than practice room footage. We need to emphasize that we’re a team that does Live well…….
– Then let’s do it that way.
– …Is it really okay to just go with my opinion?
– You’ve given it thought. It was you who told the CEO you’d sweep the Rookie Award.
Before coming to the PN Building, Team Lead Lee Su-bin accepted my suggestions outright.
Ever since I asked the CEO for a bigger budget, it feels like Team Lead Lee Su-bin has been trusting me completely…….
She seems to think I have some kind of plan. Which is true, but when opinions are accepted as-is without any feedback, that in itself gives me a lot to think about.
“…Then let’s not unify the microphones. We have to use AR anyway.”
“Let’s do that. And the content team is scheduled to come in during practice…….”
Oh, the agreement is roughly finished.
It seems like Team Lead Lee Su-bin’s resolve won the day. I mentally applauded the team lead enthusiastically.
It’s easy to say not to be led along, but when you face a counterpart who’s openly saying “just follow us, we don’t want this,” it’s actually difficult. Honestly, it’d be easier to just go along with PN.
After that, the meeting continued to stretch on, but Team Lead Lee Su-bin and I had no intention of ending it quickly.
It was mostly Lee Su-bin speaking and me backing her up.
I really did feel sorry for Jo Eun-bin, watching with the expression of someone sitting on hot coals…….
But if I give way here, I can’t even guarantee my own survival, so I couldn’t afford to consider others.
Eventually the meeting ended well past the scheduled time, with us holding our ground on what we needed to hold, and compromising on what we’d come prepared to compromise on.
And after the meeting ended, I exchanged light greetings with Jo Eun-bin.
“Hello, Noah.”
“Ah, uh. Yes, hello, Senior!”
What, did I bite someone……?
Jo Eun-bin, with all her tension wound tight, was like a robot that outputs a response every time you nudge it.
It’s honestly a bit absurd, but……. thinking about Jo Eun-bin’s personality from the few times I’ve encountered her after Regression, she must have been very nervous about the situation…….
“I’m Seo Ji-on, Evergreat’s Leader. We’ll be practicing together for several days starting tomorrow, so let’s work hard together.”
“I will do my very best……!”
“The members on our side, as we mentioned during the meeting, are me, Hyun Jae-yi, and Go Hyun-seo. Let’s give it our all.”
“Yes, I will work very hard!”
Looking at Jo Eun-bin with her tension wound so tight, it does feel a bit pitiful…….
I don’t know. I gave up thinking further, finished my greeting with Jo Eun-bin lightly, and headed back to the company.
***
“What, huh.”
“You bastard……. Did you throw away your manners? Writing stuff online about character controversy?”
“Why is Producer Shim Yu-jeong here? What brings someone so important to this place?”
“You’re driving me crazy. Your team lead said the meeting might run long and asked if I could direct the GaeTaeSseom audio in your place. So here I am. What of it?”
Ah, that’s the reason…….
When I opened the Recording Studio door, someone completely unexpected popped out, so I was startled and just…….
“The team lead didn’t tell me. I was really surprised…….”
“So what were you planning to do about directing the GaeTaeSseom audio today?”
“Our team’s AR is just a backup in case of emergency, and the chorus I can just record myself, so I was planning to wrap it up quickly. We can do it another day.”
Shim Yu-jeong looked at me with a distinctly unhappy expression.
No, I’m not trying to make excuses, but what can I do about the meeting running late……. The team lead and I even skipped dinner coming back from PN.
“Look at the time, you. What time is it now—it’s almost ten. You came at this hour planning to direct all the members?”
“No…….”
“What do you mean no? You’re one thing, but the members are suffering even more, dammit. Think about it.”
“It’s AR that’s barely going to be used, so recording it another day would’ve been fine. Anyway, thanks for doing it…….”
“That’s enough. I get paid for this kind of work anyway.”
“You can’t just erase help someone’s given by saying you got paid for it.”
“Then you know better now.”
Really, she’s a sister you can never quite figure out. Even seeing her after a while.
“So what’s left is just you.”
“Recording?”
“Yeah. You in good condition?”
“I’m fine. No reason not to be…….”
“Your face looks dead tired. Don’t lie and say you’re good. You skipped dinner again, didn’t you? Your condition looks pretty rough.”
“No, the meeting ran long so there’s nothing I could do about it……. How did you know in the first place?”
I was honestly flabbergasted. The tiredness is real, but…….
I’m an Idol in my own way, so this is how I manage my condition, and I put a lot of thought into my expression too. You can tell all that at a glance?
“You guys have been busy lately. You’re doing the Comeback with a full four-week activity schedule, lots of fan meetings. Isn’t this supposed to be your downtime?”
“Uh……, you’re right about that.”
“But you’re still not resting, preparing for GaeTaeSseom.”
“Mm…….”
“You’re also working on October album tracks at the same time.”
“If I don’t do it now, I’ll pay for it later…….”
“Between your expression and everything else, I have way too many reasons to judge that you’re exhausted. You’re still going?”
“There does seem to be a lot going on…….”
I have to admit what’s true. I was doing more than I’d realized…….
All my attention has been focused on survival—that is, the Rookie Award—so I hadn’t really registered it, but hearing it laid out like this, yeah, there’s quite a lot.
“Ugh, fine. Just make sure you eat well and sleep well. If you end up with dark circles, only the makeup artists suffer.”
“That’s true.”
“Just go in and sleep today. Your members all finished recording and went home.”
“Anyone seeing this would think you were a guardian…….”
“What?”
“No, thanks for worrying.”
In the end, after this, I could only endure what felt like another hour of Shim Yu-jeong’s nagging, and she semi-forcibly dragged me back to the Dormitory.
Man……. It was a tiring day.
Rewriting the Top Girl Group Scenario with My Own Hands
Author
: Nam Seo-rang
Production Date
: May 21, 2026
Publisher
: AcesMedia Co., Ltd.
Editor
: AcesMedia Editorial Team
Address
: 4F, Urban Bench Building, 325 Teheran-ro, Gangnam District, Seoul
Email
: [email protected]
※ This work is published by AcesMedia Co., Ltd. in accordance with a contract with the copyright holder,
and the contents cannot be used in any form or by any means without permission from the company and author.
This e-book is protected by copyright law, and unauthorized reproduction or duplication may result in legal liability.
UCI
: G720:N+A129-20260102083

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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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