Before I could even process the shock of my father being the CEO of a MeTube production company, he became unemployed. Every channel operated by his company had its monetization features suspended.

The On-Sarang Social Welfare Foundation removed the Inquiry category from its website. However, through remaining screenshots, I could see it had been flooded with requests to explain the abandonment of their child and to clarify exactly where the donation funds were being used. There were even reviews saying calls wouldn’t go through, as if the phone lines had been unplugged.

Captions like "The Two-Faced Devil" were plastered over photos of the seemingly "happily married couple". The news that the chairperson of a welfare foundation and a channel dedicated to promoting good deeds had not only sold their child to trolls for money but had actually become the trolls themselves to tear him down became a massive headline.

The fans were seething with indignation. They constantly shared methods for reporting and filing civil complaints, determined to make the parents pay a price equivalent to what they had done.

≫ The monetization suspension usually lifts after 3 months.

We have to remember this and hit them with another reporting rush as soon as those 3 months are up.

They’re probably just waiting for people to forget, but we need to show them it’s not happening so they can never earn a living this way again.

≫ Guys, it’s not like you can’t get your donations back.

If the money was used contrary to the purpose of the donation or if there’s a valid reason, you can request a refund.

How can we trust them when we don’t even know how our money was used and they haven’t shared the usage details?

If anyone donated to the On-Sarang Social Welfare Foundation, even if you don’t get the money back, at least file an inquiry

Just thinking they might have to pay it back will put huge pressure on them.

≫ It must’ve been fun when you were inciting people to bash a kid.

Now that you blew it up nationwide, everyone knows who you are, too.

Hope you enjoy the fun yourselves.

≫ Oh, all the channels and organizations you guys were running made the news~

You set up multiple business branches and dug out several channels to spread the risk, but you got caught, and now all of them are demonetized together, right?

Too bad you couldn’t make it to the mainstream with money earned from selling fake news.

The social welfare world is a small one; I doubt you’ll be able to show your faces around there anymore.

My father’s name was already public knowledge on the internet, and since my mother had revealed her face while causing a scene during my press conference, it seemed difficult for them to even raise a legal issue about their privacy being invaded. I had no idea what they were thinking, stepping out in front of the cameras and exposing their faces like that.

The external support was also immense. The issue had shifted from a "Spark internal problem" to an industry-wide concern for the entire entertainment world.

≫ There have been plenty of cases where celebrity families exploited them, but this is the first time I’ve seen something this malicious...

If there’s an example showing you can anonymously corner someone and extort money, copycats will definitely appear.

I don’t know if there are more people who would go this far, but we have to catch them now to prevent more victims.

└ There’s a reason idols, who usually are cautious about others’ business, defended Iwol when his first personality scandal broke.

└ It’s because that one blew up big, but even back then that level of forced hate wasn’t common... This should never happen again.

└ Calling a kid who’s just taking a headache pill a drug addict and then acting like "oops my bad" when it’s not true is disgusting.

—

Maybe because I felt relieved. My body seemed to hurt less.

But that was a delusion. My organs were still being wrung with pain. It seemed my nerves had just been momentarily distracted while I was reading those shocking posts.

"Did it hurt this much when I had a gastric ulcer before?"

Back then, I didn’t stay bedridden like this. Even if I was crawling on all fours, I could at least move; when the pain subsided, I walked on my own two feet and did my work. I hadn’t even gone to the hospital to get medicine right away like I did this time. I had left it neglected for a week, yet I wasn’t this immobilized like a zombie.

"If it’s ‘synchronization’, it should be at the same level as my previous state. Getting worse doesn’t match the definition."

I protested aggressively to the system. The system responded immediately.

[SYSTEM] Work instructions from "Superior" has arrived.

▶ Assistant Manager Kim, you’ve really grown, haven’t you? Talking back to me now?

Are you threatening me? It’s all over anyway once the synchronization hits 100% and I "resign" from life—is that what you want to see?

The system didn’t respond for a long time. After waiting quietly, the b*stard started making excuses.

[SYSTEM] Work instructions from "Superior" has arrived.

▶ When you work five days a week regularly, it’s manageable. But if you work only four days one week because of a public holiday, it feels harder to go back to five days the next week, right? Same principle.

What kind of nonsense is this? Are you saying I’ve gone soft because I’ve been enjoying the idol life too much? Should I go on strike and show you what real rest is?

Even without a strike, it looked like I would be out of commission for a while. If the stress worsened my ulcer any further, I’d end up in surgery.

If the year-end concert got canceled because of this and I failed to achieve my KPIs...

I wouldn’t let it slide. The system couldn’t claim it held zero responsibility.

I glared at the system with a "if I go down, you’re coming with me" attitude. After a moment, the system returned with a ~Nоvеl𝕚ght~ slightly kinder explanation.

[SYSTEM] Work instructions from "Superior" have arrived.

▶ Assistant Manager Kim, go ask someone who works overtime 300 days a year how they feel about extra work. They say it’s hard, but they accept it. Why? Because they’re used to it.

▶ On the other hand, if you ask someone who’s working overtime for just ten days, they complain like the world is ending. It’s hard because they’re doing something they aren’t used to.

[SYSTEM] Work instructions from "Superior" have arrived.

▶ Also, a characteristic of employees experiencing burnout is that they usually don’t realize their mental state is abnormal. You know those people who don’t notice their bodies are breaking down until they get a checkup or it turns into a major illness? When your mind isn’t sound, your senses become dull. Try being sick every day like I am, Assistant Manager Kim, you wouldn’t even feel this level of pain.

Applying this to myself back when I was at Hanpyeong Industries, it roughly made sense. Certainly, back then, as long as nothing weird came out of the company health checkup, I just lived on. I didn’t even think about going to the hospital for a little pain.

Furthermore, if you asked if I used to get sick often...

Not particularly. I’d long grown used to constant aches.

It was only recently that I had begun to feel the existence of migraines. Because everyone around me took care of me and told me to speak up even if it seemed like nothing...

"Hah."

I got it now. It meant that my pain perception, which had been dying while being overworked at the Hanpyeong Industries, had been resurrected as my emotions stabilized thanks to psychological counseling and the Spark fellows.

Should I view this as a positive signal? Even if it hurts too much to celebrate my senses returning?

[SYSTEM] Work instructions from "Superior" have arrived.

▶ Assistant Manager Kim, you’re still living okay, aren’t you? You have the energy to complain about being in pain. That’s nothing compared to when you were too exhausted to even realize you were hurting.

"So you’re saying: you’re recovering, so suck it up, is that what you mean?"

It pissed me off. But if I got any angrier, I might throw up all over my precious bed, so I swallowed it down.

While I was feeling dejected at the ugly reality of not being able to tear the system apart, a message arrived from the lawyer.

After a greeting asking if I was feeling okay,

Lawyer:

[The defendant has proposed a settlement.]

[I believe this is a case we can win, but I wanted to ask whether you would consider settling.]

...A declaration of surrender had arrived.

Did they actually think there was a possibility I would settle? If they were getting their hopes up, too bad for them.

"That’s your right. It’s your only chance to be properly compensated for the harm you suffered."

I always listen to my sister’s advice.

Me:

[No, please proceed with the case as is.]

As soon as I pressed the send button, I felt I could breathe.

I felt like I would live.

Despite Jeong Seongbin and Lee Cheonghyeon’s best efforts, we were barely able to post any promotional content for Exclusive Report on the official accounts. It was understandable. For a while, the priority content UA had to upload was statements and warnings. We had to refrain from actions that might be seen as "reading the room poorly" and adding fuel to the fire.

However, after the news broke that my mother and father wanted to settle and that those attempts had failed, no one associated with Spark had to walk on eggshells anymore. From that point on, UA and Exclusive Report blew a massive fanfare to promote Kim Iwol’s transformation.

≫ @Exclusive__report

Let’s play a game of truth. with me.

Do you have any secret chaebol heir moments for your favorite former financial district worker and current bassist-in-hiding?

≫ @spArk_official

Saturday evening, 6 PM.

The appearance of the elite eldest hyung, Iwol.

Exclusive Report on TVm!

Check out Cheon Yoonsung’s new look in Episode 5!

#Iwol #CheonYoonsung #Spark #ExclusiveReport #TVm

≫ @TVm_XYZ

To keep you from being bored until the broadcast,

Explosive chemistry between Young Master Yoonsung X Chief Ko!

A collection of still cuts of the two in a mysterious relationship that’s part contract, part trust.

#ExclusiveReport #CheonYoonsung #KoSugyeol #ExclusiveReport

Specifically, the Spark account was...

≫ What is this card news?

ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

Did Lee Cheonghyeon really make this??? ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

└ I wondered what he meant when he said on Bubble Pop that he paid for Miri-sketchbook and Apple-mango-board, I guess it was to make thisㅋㅋㅋㅋ

≫ Seongbin, when did you secretly film this behind your hyung’s back?

└ I’m out of data right now, what kind of video is it??? T_T Just the thumbnail alone looks funny ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

└ He said he’d film a video to encourage watching his eldest hyung’s drama, so he rented a suit and delivered a promotional comment for Exclusive Report in itㅋㅋㅋ

└ Please watch Seongbin pouring grape juice into a flower vase because the dorm doesn’t have wine glasses

└ I can tell Iwol didn’t have a single hand in this.

└ ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

...plastered with the younger members’ antics that were released belatedly. I was so embarrassed I turned off my phone for about 5 minutes and hid under the blankets. I was terrified of the upcoming broadcast date.