"It was a very meaningful time. Please have a safe trip back."

"I trust you understand that our side made many concessions. I hope you will finish preparations quickly."

"We do. However, our schedule is packed at the end of the year as well, so I hope you'll understand that even if we pull the schedule as tightly as possible, January is the earliest we can make it happen."

Haruto nodded as if he agreed with Sanghyeok's words.

"That is enough. January isn't bad timing either. And as I said once again, that one thing absolutely must···."

"Yes. We will make sure to prepare so Miss Yuri's dropkick can be shown in Japan as well."

"Good! That was what mattered!"

Apparently satisfied by Sanghyeok's immediate answer, Haruto smiled brightly and rose from his seat.

Soon after, Manager Yunsik set out to see Haruto, a guest of the company, off to the airport, and Sanghyeok came all the way to the company entrance to send him off.

"The negotiations are finally over."

"You worked hard handling the interpreting and guidance all this time."

"Well, like you said, CEO, I'm a woman who gets incentives. I should at least do this much."

"...Truly befitting the producer with a 500-million-won performance bonus."

"Heh! The results from 'Black Pearl' haven't been reflected yet, so I might break into double digits?"

Certainly, based only on the performance of the existing albums, 300 million had been expected, so once the results of the most successful third mini album were included, it might be possible.

After all, this third mini album had not simply performed well for a rookie girl group; it had produced results that could fairly be called rewriting girl-group history.

'The people at headquarters must be regretting it.'

Among the conditions the newly established KJ Entertainment had offered to recruit Raon, a female solo singer who had once stood at the very top, as a producer, there had also been company shares.

Of course, it wasn't a large amount, and at the time, they had thought it would take KJ Entertainment a long time to get on track, so they had handed over those shares without caring too much.

There had also been conditions attached for Sanghyeok, the figurehead CEO, but the fact that they had handed out shares showed just how generously they had been throwing things around.

However—

"Still, 'heh' is a bit much. PD Raon, you are not exactly young anymore, so using those little interjections the members would use is···."

"CEO?"

"I'm joking."

For now, they brushed it off as a joke, but if Raon had continued her active career, she probably could have earned that kind of money easily.

She had only come to KJ Entertainment because of her dream of producing idols, and because here she could freely unfold her own vision without interference.

"Still, the negotiations ended on pretty good terms. A contract that confirms everything from album promotions to the broadcast programs we'll appear on··· this really means they're determined to push Iam no matter what."

"I think Division Head Haruto was deeply impressed after meeting the Iam members."

"What? After seeing that? No! Even after seeing that?"

"Yes. He said Miss Yuri's dropkick was extremely impressive."

After seeing the Iam members in person, Haruto had made a fuss, saying this would absolutely work.

-Kkieeek!

When Sanghyeok first heard that Kurosawa Yuri had immediately responded with a dropkick to Lee Sion's demand that they get her the author of One Piece's autograph, his head had hurt.

'Because that kind of eccentric behavior from the members is a big risk for the company.'

In truth, the incidents the Iam members—more accurately, Lee Sion—had caused were the kind of things that would not have been strange if they had already blown up an ordinary agency several times over.

Sanghyeok and KJ Entertainment had only just begun to grasp even the tip of the iceberg when it came to what Lee Sion really was, which was why they could handle her. To Unibex, their partner company, it would not have been strange if she looked like a demon capable of destroying the company.

In that situation, if Unibex found out not only Lee Sion but even the other members were uncontrollable, there was a high chance the contract that had been progressing smoothly would be canceled or changed unfavorably.

But—

-Miss Sion acts rude and cheeky on variety, and Miss Yuri, unable to stand it any longer, hits her with a dropkick! This will definitely work! The two of them will become a dream team!

For some reason, Haruto, who had seen the scene in real time, had gotten excited and pushed the contract forward, saying that very thing would become the core of their advance into Japan, and thanks to that, they were able to finish negotiations on good terms.

"January is tight."

"Yes. For now, the plan is to rerelease the existing album in a Japanese version, then make their full-fledged Japanese debut later with a drama or film OST. To do that, we'll need to start working on the songs now."

"The girls are going to be really busy too. The end of the year is coming up, so stages will be pouring in."

"We'll have to hope they manage it well. That's why, from now on, for the sake of managing the members' condition, we don't plan to accept event schedules unless they're truly important."

Entering Japan.

At first, because of their one-year activity period, it had been something they hadn't even dared attempt, but now it was becoming reality. Still, there were many things left to do.

They still had two weeks of new-song promotions remaining, and after that, they would have to move nonstop for year-end stages and award-show stages at the broadcast stations.

Swoosh.

Sanghyeok looked at the calendar on the table.

The calendar marked with December's schedule was so packed with Iam's schedule that it was hard to find a day off.

Even the occasional days off had to be used to prepare special stages, so in reality, it was a harsh schedule with no rest whatsoever.

"We should be grateful for it."

"Excuse me? What do you mean?"

"Being busy at the end of the year means a lot of people are looking for you. On the other hand, there is nothing sadder for an entertainer than being free."

At Raon's words, Sanghyeok had no choice but to fall silent for a moment.

There were countless idol groups in Korea.

Out of those, how many could prepare year-end stages or award-show stages?

The end of the year was the season when the difference between groups at the top and groups that were not became clearly visible.

"Still, I think we need to pay a little more attention to the members' health. Their schedules are going to continue nonstop, so if anyone gets injured, we'll be in real trouble."

"Don't worry. From what I can see, if someone wants to hurt our girls, they'd need to send in special forces."

Despite what she said, Raon nodded and checked the schedule table on her smartphone once more.

"Ah, I wonder if Hyeryeong will be okay today."

"Come to think of it, the members should be filming 'that' around now."

"Yes. Still, this time it's people the girls are familiar with, so there shouldn't be any problems."

Seeing Raon speak as if she had relaxed about the special program Iam's members had gone to film today, Sanghyeok felt an inexplicable sense of unease.

'But she does have a point.'

Still, just as Raon said, today they were working with people who had already experienced the members, so all he could do was trust that they would handle it well.

***

"Contestant Hyeryeong, do you want to be an idol?"

"...Yes."

"Hmm··· you don't look like you want to."

"Judge, isn't this harassment?"

"A contestant talking back?!"

"Keugh···."

Hyeryeong was about to reach ten years in her idol career.

If she included her trainee period, in all sixteen years of her life in the industry, there had never been a moment more humiliating than this one.

The little demons standing in front of Hyeryeong right now, one eyebrow raised high and their faces full of dissatisfaction.

They were far too beautiful to be called demons, but in Hyeryeong's eyes right now, they were more vicious than any demon that had climbed up from hell.

-Miss Hyeryeong, before we film Idol Ground 100 Season 2 this time, we're planning to shoot a short variety show with a spin-off feel. Would that be all right?

Idol Ground 100.

At first, she had participated in the program without much thought, simply out of loyalty to PD Kim Miyoung, with whom she had an old connection.

But after the program became a massive hit, Idol Ground 100 had at some point proudly taken its place in Hyeryeong's career.

-The promotional effect is no joke! Ever since the broadcast, commercials and casting requests keep coming in!

Even though she hadn't appeared as a contestant but only as a judge, she had fully enjoyed the so-called Agbaek effect.

Because of that, her agency had actively recommended that she accept the judge request that came in for Season 2 as well, and since Hyeryeong was in a break period with no album promotions, she had thought it wasn't a bad idea and readily accepted.

And that had been her mistake.

"Contestant Lee Jungyoon, did you come here to show off your dancing?"

"...Hey! I'm a dancer! Stop trying to make me sing!"

"Minus one point for cooperative awareness. Only tries to show off personal dance ability."

"...Judge Ayeon, I feel like your personal feelings are mixed into this?"

" 'I feel like' is informal, Contestant Lee Jungyoon. My judging is a fair and impartial judgment that carries on one hundred percent of the teachings of a certain dancer I respect."

"..."

Hyeryeong felt pity as she watched Lee Jungyoon get harshly marked by Ryu Ayeon and torn apart.

At least Hyeryeong had been an idol, so she could both dance and sing, but in Jungyoon's case, she was a dancer who had staked her life on dance.

"Dazzling sunlight! I'll burn toward you! I'm running now!"

Pfft!

In the end, under Ryu Ayeon's pressure, Lee Jungyoon sang along to a boy group's hit song while dancing, and the sight was so cruel it was hard to watch with open eyes.

Her dancing was perfect—no, she was dancing with even more feel than the original singers—but in contrast, her wavering pitch and the beat popping out wherever it wanted were despair itself.

"We were right to leave it to the girls."

"You're going to air this, right?"

"Of course. Let's use it in the teaser too."

"Yes! I'll mark it down."

And filming that sight of Lee Jungyoon with bright smiles on their faces were PD Park Hyungsoo and the rest of the filming team.

'They're seriously insane!'

Hyeryeong thought back to the moment she accepted the offer to be a judge on Agbaek Season 2.

-We're about to start filming Season 2 soon, but before that, we're planning to shoot a pilot program.

-A pilot?

-It's nothing special. Just something light to revive memories of Season 1 and give the judges a chance to show their skills. You know how it is, right? These days, if you don't show people things clearly like this, they start talking for no reason whenever you judge.

-That is true.

-The Season 1 judges will all be the same too, so filming should probably be comfortable.

They were a band of villains who had fooled Hyeryeong and the other judges by calling it a light shoot that was nothing special.

The trio of judges had arrived at the set with light hearts, thinking it really was nothing much.

Perhaps because Season 1 had succeeded, the production team had rented out a famous private school and turned it into a set, instead of using the old dormitory facility remodeled from a military base.

They said they had quickly snatched it up while the school was temporarily in limbo because it was moving campuses, and it certainly made sense. Unlike the old Yangpyeong dormitory, where no matter how brightly they decorated it, some unknown gloomy energy seeped out, the Season 2 filming location had a fresh atmosphere that suited the program.

The environment had improved enough that Hyeryeong and the other judges wandered around sightseeing, admired the renewed filming location, and even chatted about how this season might be more comfortable to shoot.

But the only thing that had improved was the filming location.

-Today's filming concept is reverse positions!

Before the full-scale shoot began, the production team handed out the script and told them the concept.

'Are they insane?!'

Hyeryeong thought she should have run away at that exact moment.

Because the pilot program they were filming today, under the concept of reverse positions, had a bizarre script where the judges would stand in the contestants' shoes and have their Entrance Ceremony stages evaluated.

If it had simply been about becoming contestants, she could have accepted it.

But—

"You're not swinging at all!"

"This isn't even jazz, though?"

"A true idol can swing even to trot! Right, Sion-chan?"

"Please don't call me Sion-chan. Call me Judge Lee Sion."

"Judge Lee Sion! Then how should we score Contestant Jungyoon?"

"I want to give zero points for vocals, but I want to give ten points for dance, so as a compromise, I will give five points. This stage was a flaw in Contestant Jungyoon's vocals."

"Sion, you sounded like a rapper just now!"

"As expected, you understand my wordplay. It was a high-level pun in a realm Seo No-Fun couldn't even imagine."

"Oh, please! I can do that much too!"

"Then try. No, don't. After the Today in History production team, even the Agbaek production team might get disciplined."

The biggest problem was that the ones judging them were Iam.

Even now, these variety-show hyenas were biting, tearing, and tasting Jungyoon like she was delicious prey, and once they got bored, they started biting and fighting among themselves.

-Contestant Hyeryeong, are your knees too precious? Can't you go harder? If Senior Raon in heaven saw this, she'd be weeping from grief.

-That woman isn't dead!

-What I meant was that even PD Raon, who is now so old that if I ran away, she'd be too busy panting to chase after me, dances with less concern for her body than this.

-How am I supposed to go harder than this···.

-Want me to show you?

After saying that, Lee Sion had come down from the judges' seats, kicked off the floor, and done a somersault through the air.

Hyeryeong had been unable to imitate it and had no choice but to collapse to the floor.

And as if they had been waiting for that, the pack of hyenas rushed at Hyeryeong.

By now, Hyeryeong had already been bitten apart mercilessly by the Iam members and reduced to a complete wreck.

'This is so unfair!'

Hyeryeong felt deeply wronged by this situation.

In the case of dance trainer Lee Jungyoon, who had originally been famous for sharp critiques, there was hardly a trainee who hadn't received a cutting remark from her, so it wouldn't have been strange if resentment had piled up.

But Hyeryeong had always given the contestants kind words and encouragement, since they were future idol juniors.

And yet what had come back to her was a merciless attack.

Recalling the old saying that black-haired beasts were not creatures you should take in, Hyeryeong vowed that she would evaluate the Season 2 contestants harshly and without mercy.

"Hmm··· then shall we move on to the next part?"

Just as Hyeryeong was inwardly burning with fighting spirit toward the Season 2 contestants, Lee Sion's voice reached her ears.

Today's filming schedule had only just begun.