"Eight members, and their age range seems similar to ours."

"I thought, since it’s been a while since MYTH launched a boy group, their ages would trend higher... isn’t that right?"

Jeong Seongbin and Lee Cheonghyeon spoke in turn.

MYTH was a major agency far bigger than UA.

Their trainee pool was that much larger. Even if they only picked the youngest and most skilled, there would be more than enough talent.

The image of a pedigree idol house didn’t come from nowhere, and even the usually unflappable Park Juu looked fairly serious.

So this is what big-agency name recognition feels like.

True, most groups have a hard time getting their name out in real time before debut.

Dozens of idol groups are born and disappear within a single year.

In some years, over a hundred teams debut.

The market was that saturated, and within it, a generational turnover would inevitably come—one of the quirks of the K-idol scene.

In a market this cutthroat, a group from a major label—one that clearly looks like the most likely to spark a generational shift among their peers—makes its debut?

Of course you’d keep them under watch.

According to the article, they had already revealed the soon-to-debut members’ photos and stage names.

Their profile shots and everything else were fully in place—it wouldn’t be strange if they already had a fandom.

It’s not like there aren’t companies that promote trainees pre-debut.

And a company like MYTH, which has been in the idol business a long time, has a distinct identity and set of values—those become part of the marketing as well.

So the fandom that follows not just the group but the company itself was thick.

In other words, they start out with people who root for “any idol that carries on the MYTH lineage.”

Judging by the mood, everyone had thought this far.

It wasn’t bad that there wasn’t a single kid blurting something naive like, “Debuting at a major—so jealous!”

I scrolled the article and said,

"First off, we’re outnumbered."

"Huh?"

"They’ve got eight."

The “there’ll be at least one to your taste among them” strategy was a win on the other side. The risks of manpower management are their problem, so set that aside.

"Then what do we win with?"

"Win...?"

"If we lost on headcount, we have to find another way. If it’s by height, Team We Have Choi Jeho probably wins."

I memorized the article and closed the browser.

"I know exactly what you’re worried about, and I get that it’s a very important, realistic issue."

"..."

"But let’s not be cowed before we’ve even faced them."

I’m the type who says you should set realistic goals, but considering about half the team had their self-esteem dented, I changed course to stoking motivation with some warm encouragement.

"If you’re going to do anything, you need to be thinking about winning."

"True. Hyung, should we put together individual talent bits then? If each of us practices just three, we could even do an individual-talent medley!"

"Brute-forcing with volume isn’t a good method. If they practice three each too, Parte shows up with twenty-four."

"Gasp, true!"

"Why did the conversation veer over there...?"

Watching the tiki-taka between me and Lee Cheonghyeon, Choi Jeho made a queasy face.

From a strictly objective standpoint I was evaluating the team’s suggestions, so I had no idea why he looked so puzzled.

"The best way, in my opinion, is to build skill. If you have skill, there’s always something you can make work."

I knew very well how Spark, whose skill became the lightning rod for controversies, stayed standing for seven years.

And if a moment comes where Spark has to choose one thing to focus on, they’ll probably choose skill to the end.

And the next most important thing is the “controversy-free clean zone” title.

Well, saying that now would just waste breath, so we’ll tighten discipline step by step.

"Anyone object?"

It’s group activity, so I figured I should hear opinions—but there were no objections.

"Then, to beat them not just on tallest member but on average height too, everyone go sleep. We’ll get up early tomorrow and improve our skill..."

...was as far as I got when a chill ran down my spine.

Something felt ominous. Very bad vibes.

Like when Deputy Manager Nam doesn’t tell you the meeting time changed, so you show up to the conference room at 4 only to find the meeting started at 3:30...

Monthly calendar!

I hurriedly pulled up the hologram calendar I’d forgotten about since we pulled the debut date forward.

On today’s square it said “Parte debut plan announcement,” and on tomorrow’s square...

[(???) Press release: debut team confirmed]

In the past, because these were blasted out as early as two years before debut, they sucked up all the heat and had nothing left when it actually mattered—that very “press release distribution” was written down.

Good grief.

Of course I should have assumed this would get pulled forward too. I’d been complacent.

Had the discipline slackened just because Deputy Manager Nam wasn’t around? If that was the case, I needed to fix my mindset.

"Hyung! Manager says we’re putting out a ‘debut scheduled’ press release tomorrow too!"

"Tell them to stop immediately."

"Huh?"

"Tell them we’d rather hold a banner that says ‘Congratulations on UA’s First Idol at Debut.’"

After that, we burned about an hour going back and forth with Manager on PC messenger.

Manager Chanyeong

[Why? Once you debut you’ll get way more articles^^ If you’re already shy about this, how will you handle things later lol]

The manager interpreted our “the press release is premature” stance as the humble bow of ripe rice.

I was so frustrated I nearly fell backward, and Park Juu caught me. A sight to make you cry.

I thought I’d at least earned a Level-1 certificate in “If you don’t have the seniority, keep your mouth shut,” but not even close.

If we let this pass, we’d be smacking the floor in regret right before debut. ✧ NоvеIight ✧ (Original source) There was no way I was keeping my mouth shut even in a situation like this.

Me

[Manager, I’m offering this with extreme caution, but if our side’s debut schedule isn’t firmly set, I think it’s too early to go to press. In Parte’s case, they’re slated for next month, so ...]

[See more]

[Manager, since we probably need supporting materials, I’ve compiled a brief of promo articles and debut timelines for groups debuting in the past year. I couldn’t do a full census due to time and instead did a sample survey ...]

[See more]

[20XX Debut-marketing articles by group — sample survey.png]

Manager Chanyeong

[I’ll talk to the company about it......!]

Of course, since the web spreadsheet add-on still wasn’t installed, I had to work in an online shared sheet and send capture images.

The work environment is way too poor. I should’ve used this chance to ask for a software account.

"So you stayed up all night waiting for the reply?"

"Yeah. They said we won’t distribute the press release."

"You’re relentless."

Relentless, huh.

If the company had insisted on distribution, they would have seen truly relentless. A pity.

If push came to shove, I was ready to stand next to the person’s desk for two hours asking for sign-off, like when I begged Deputy Manager Nam for approval.

"If you save the impact by pulling one all-nighter, that’s not a bad trade."

"Ruthless guy."

"I’ll take it to mean high survivability."

Everything turned out the way I wanted, so the result was perfect.

For reference, a hidden task popped as well. This godawful system.

 [SYSTEM] ‘Hidden Task (Stop the press release)’ has been completed.

▷ Reward: EXP (5)

▷ Total EXP: 65

▷ Total Points: 0

 Looks like stopping the press release at all costs was the right call.

Honestly, on conscience, shouldn’t they just tell you about things like this? Even if I had two hearts, both would’ve dropped.

And it directly ties into hitting KPIs. Are you kidding me?

Besides, I’m the nervous type; I’m weak to sudden incidents like this. Spare a thought for a worn-down office worker.

Mimicking management-king Kang Giyeon, I mechanically chewed a slice of plain bread with no jam and said to Choi Jeho,

"You and Juu head to the practice room first."

"Why?"

"I’ve got a place to stop by."

Today I had to go to the Artist Management Team.

With UA liable to pull who-knows-what at any time, it was time to make the first move.

Assistant Manager Kim Iwol—no, Intern Kim Iwol’s first project.

Of course, considering my narrow perspective that knows no idols but Spark, I checked with an expert in advance.

"Concept?"

"Yeah. I’d been organizing my thoughts anyway, and it seems like it would fit Cheonghyeon’s song."

"What kind of concept?"

"One I think would suit you guys."

"A real youth drama...?"

Jeong Seongbin pulled a queasy face.

Fair enough. In the past Spark debuted with a straight-up youth concept and nearly got buried without a sound.

They seemed to have a sober take on their visuals. None of them really had “youth” in their faces.

But my primary goal was to fool UA, which clings to orthodox idol conventions, and push my own concept through.

To do that, it was best to tweak the original Spark debut concept’s trajectory just a little.

Thankfully, I got the assessment that while my idea was very classic, depending on how we dialed in the details it could work.

"Judging by the nature of the task, you should probably go to the Planning Team... but for now we should go to Joo gyeong, right?"

For trainees, the only ways to communicate with the company were through the manager or by talking to Min Joo gyeong.

Skipping that would look like ignoring the chain of command, so I decided to do it by the book first.

Being told I’d crossed the line five times a week by Deputy Manager Nam was plenty.

The saving grace was that UA valued proactive trainees.

Min Joo gyeong, thankfully, listened to my cheeky proposal without acting put out. A rare talent in our times. I only hope UA pays her generously.

Flipping through the printed proposal I’d brought, Min Joo gyeong said,

"You put a plan together?"

"Yes. But I don’t know who I should ask for advice."

"Normally you’d go to Production HQ. They’ve got the Planning Team and the Record Production Team over there. But well... I’ve got a meeting with the CEO this week, so I’ll bring it up then!"

The speed at which items moved up was no joke. UA really was a small-to-mid.

"How did you decide to make something like this?"

"I wanted to try doing something—anything."

"I’m not planning, so I don’t know well, but it looks like you’ve got all the pieces. Must’ve been a lot of work."

I’d pulled all the basic fields from UA’s concept proposal template, so if it didn’t look complete, that would be its own problem.

But I couldn’t exactly say, “I got a precious form from somewhere,” so I decided to make a quick bow and take my leave.

"I’ll be in your care."

"Yup. Keep up the practice."

Thankfully, the busy modern worker Min Joo gyeong didn’t keep me any longer. Thanks to that, the morning’s scheduled planning report wrapped without incident.

After that, it was practice as usual.

"Sorry to interrupt practice—can Iwl step out for a moment?"

That is, until I was called out by Min Joo gyeong the moment lunch ended.